[fourteen: Mr. Tumnus]

As the day changes into night, Edmund finds himself in chains that are shackled around his ankles and his body temperature had fallen so low that he feared he may soon pass out from the cold.The ice dungeon he was currently in was just as he would have imagined, cold, lonely and unpleasant in every way. Edmund chews a bit of the dry looking black bread he had been given by Ginarrbrik only minutes before, but chokes and reaches for the cup of water which is unsurprisingly frozen due to the abnormal temperature. Edmund sighs in frustration as he then throws the cup it back onto the tray and pulls his knees closer to him in order to conceal the warmth in the body. Someone speaks up next to Edmund and he sharply looked to his side and saw a faun huddled against a wall in the neighboring cell, shivering much like Edmund was.

"If... If you're not going to eat that... " The Faun started to say between breaths as he shivered, missing the warmth of his own fire and a cup of warm tea.

Edmund and the faun carefully crawl towards each other and Edmund gives him the bread, watching as the faun devoured it despite the mold that was present on it.

"I'd get up, but... ...but my legs." The Faun said and Edmund looked down at the legs of the faun and saw that they were chained up and Edmund suddenly looked up at the faun in realisation.

"Mr. Tumnus." He whispered and the faun looked up at him with sad eyes as he finished the bread and looked to the son of Adam in front of him.

"What's left of him. "Mr. Tumnus states as he looks him up and down, noticing Edmund properly for the first time. "You're Lucy Pevensie's brother."

"I'm Edmund." Edmund introduced himself as he once again pulled his knees closer to him to contain the warmth.

"Yes. Yes, you have the same nose." Mr. Tumnus started with a small smile before his face paled even more as he looked at Edmund with a worry. "Is your sister all right? Is she safe?"

"I don't know." Edmund said truthfully as he looked up where the growls and barks of wolves could be heard. Maybe they didn't find them, Edmund hoped before a loud slam dominated the room.

The White Witch slams the gates open of the dungeon and both Edmund and Tumnus quickly scoot back to their places in fear, pretending they had never spoken or interacted at all.

"My police tore that dam apart. Your little family are nowhere to be found." The Witch growls as she grabs Edmund by his shirt collar and lifts him right off the ground. "Where did they go?"

"I don't know!" Edmund stammers as her grip tightens on his shirt collar before the Witch throws him across the floor before raising her wand and pointing it towards him causing Edmund to cower in fear.

"Then you're of no further use to me." The Witch raises her wand and points it at Edmund again, causing him to shake with fear as he racks his brain for something that could save him from this situation.

"Wait! The beaver said something about Aslan!" Edmund remembers and the Witch makes a confused face before it returns to the stern one she held before as she looks at Edmund expectantly.

"Aslan? Where?"

"I..."

"He's a stranger here, Your Majesty. He can't be expected to know anything." Tumnus interrupts the two, hoping to stop Edmund from revealing where the true King of Narnia was and also to save Edmund from becoming more of a traitor than he already was. Ginarrbrik hits him in the bottom of his staff and Tumnus whimpers again as he stays quiet.

"I said... where is Aslan?" The Witch slowly demands Edmund and Edmund looks at Tumnus with pleading eyes and after noticing, the Witch sharply looks at Tumnus with a glare.

"I... I don't know. I left before they said anything. " Edmund says as he watches the Witch glare at Tumnus. "I wanted to see you!"

"Guard!" The Witch scream and a guard enters before bowing towards the Witch who practically ignore the gesture before looking towards Mr. Tumnus with a smirk.

"Your Majesty."

"Release the faun." She states simply and the guard breaks the shackle around Tumnus' ankles and Tumnus cries out in pain as they drop him in front of the Witch.

"Ah! Ah!"

"Do you know why you're here, faun?" The Witch asked expectantly, trouble dancing across her icy smile as the faun looks up at her.

"Because I believe in a free Narnia." Tumnus proudly stated before the the Witch shakes her head as she looks at the poor Faun in front of her.

"You're here... ...because he, " she points at Edmund with her wand."turned you in. For sweeties." Tumnus looks at Edmund in disbelief and Edmund looks away in guilt as he knows that he had in fact caused all this to happen to to say he was ashamed of himself was an understatement.

"Take him upstairs. And ready my sleigh. Edmund misses his family." The Witch says to the guards as Mr. Tumnus is dragged out of the room in agony. The White Witch turns and walks out leaving Edmund curled up in the corner of the icy dungeon, wishing he was in a warm bed with the company of a familiar face.

+++

"Now, Aslan's camp is near the Stone Table just across the frozen river. " Beaver says as the gour children and the Beavers walked through the snow in the direction of the Stone Table and Aslan's camp.

"River?" Peter asked, wondering how they were supposed to get across a moving river.

"Oh, the river's been frozen solid for a hundred years." Mrs. Beaver assured but Genevieve scoffed as she walked with Lucy asleep on her back as she gave her a piggyback.

"I highly doubt that's the case now, it's been getting warmer." Genevieve noticed as she saw from icicles dripping as if melting even in the cold atmosphere.

"It's so far!" Peter groaned as he thought of the distance they would all have to walk and Mrs. Beaver scoffed as she looked at him.

"It's the world, dear. Did you expect it to be small?"

"Smaller." Susan murmured to Genevieve who laughed slightly as they ventured forward, almost happy with life for that short moment.

+++

An isolated door opens and Edmund and Ginarrbrik walk through it into the courtyard full of statues from before and Edmund sighs, happy to be out of that dungeon and into a slightly warmer environment. Edmund stops short when he sees a new statue within the courtyard and his eyes widen as he looks at it.

"Mr. Tumnus." He whispers as he looks at the statue of the faun who held a harsh and abrupt expression that read pain and misery in its touch.

"When you're ready, Son of Adam." The Witch states and Edmund turns to her with tears in his eyes as he boards the sleigh as it sweeps out of the castle doors and across the frozen lake surrounding it.

Edmund quietly huddles on the floor whilst the Queen sits upright, wrapped in her furs as they venture forward into the day. Edmund was unsure as to where they were going but he was sure that it would somehow lead to his brother and sisters and Genevieve and he knew that was not a good thing.

"Yah! Yah! Yah!" Ginarrbrik yells as he forcefully plunges his whip against the sleigh as they rode faster across the river into the day.