01.

MOTHER DEAREST

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"Alexandra!" the queen yelled throughout the ice castle, startling the girl who tried to focus on her training. The young 'princess' took her blade in her calloused hand once more, hitting it against the ice walls that were as hard as diamond and not even the sharpest of weapons could even scratch the surface, "Alexandra!"

With a groan, she sheathed her sword at her belt, leaving her room that often felt more like a cell than a place of comfort. There weren't  a lot of comforts to be found in a room of ice, it was basic knowledge.

Her boots clicked along the frosted floors and all the way to the throne room where she had found the Queen sitting on her throne, her sceptre in hand with the same evil glare over her face as always. "Yes?" she asked the woman who could appear to be her mother at first glance, they had the same pale skin from the lack of sunlight, the same white hair and the exact mirror of a cold frown on their faces.

"We have had heard whispers through the trees from that faun by the lampost, he has caught a human. You need to go and collect the human and bring them here, understood?" she commanded, hitting the top of the sceptre in her palm over and over to come across as intimidating, but it was all just a façade. A bad one at that.

"Of course," she bowed her head and turned, the white coat trailing behind her with every step.

"Of course, what?"

A gulp travelled down her throat cautiously, "Of course, mother."

❅

The wind picked up in her white hair as Alexandra ran through the frosted woods, the weight of her sword merely weighing her down. She had been the only human to be spotted in Narnia for years. The magical land had lost all hope until the myth of the red-haired girl erupted in their chatter, they thought that she could break the curse on the land. But the original prophecy needed four humans, not one.

But all hope had been lost after the Witch had cast a new spell over the land; over her. One that frosted over her heart, draining all colour from her hair and all faith in the stories her family had told her as children. The white hair wasn't the only thing that changed within the girl, she had been frozen in time for many years, ageing as she would if she had never stepped through the wardrobe, dooming the girl to watch the realm die around her.

Within minutes she had sprinted from the castle and through the snow, watching as Narnians retreated in fear before realising who it was. Alex's gloved hands banged on Mr Tumnus' home, hearing the frightened chatter within the walls.

It was a good minute or two before he opened it, an audible sigh leaving her lips at the sight of her, "My goodness! Alex, I thought it was the Witch and not you, if only I had known then I would have invited you in. What brings you here?"

"I think you know what, Tumnus," the girl stepped into his home, immediately noticing the dim lights, "She has sent me."

"Whatever for?" he closed the door behind them, only after peering through the trees not long before to make sure that they weren't being watched.

On the other hand, Lexi's eyes searched the home from where she sat by the fireplace, her eyes instantly falling down to her feet where a cup of tea had been spilt on his carpet. She would have thought nothing of it until she found the other one of the table, he had a guest and she could only guess that it was the human from the rumours carried through the trees.

"The human, we need to get it to safety before she sends the wolves to do my job. Only they won't be as kind as I am," she stood back up to her boots, leaving a snowy trail behind her, and pulled a cushion from his couch not too far away, finding the hiding frame of a child, a girl no older than ten, "By Aslan's roar! I never thought that I'd see another human with my own eyes. Come out child, I won't hurt you."

Alex extended her hand to help the girl from hiding, "Are you the White Witch?" she asked, backing away from her ever so slightly in fear.

"Oh, of course not, I am a girl just like you, stuck in a land I don't belong. But, you can return home, only if we act fast," she turned to the fawn who peered through the curtains, "Is there anyone out there? We can get her home, but it has to be now."

"No one is watching, Princess Alex," he earned a glare from the girl who removed her coat to give to the girl.

"What is your name?" she asked the brunette whilst she pulled her arms through the sleeves to stay warm.

The small child glanced to the animal who nodded to her, "Lucy Pevensie."

"Well, Lucy, I hope you can run as fast as I can. Do you know the way back home?" she once again offered her hand to the girl who took it hastily, "Are you ready?"

She earned two nods from the others and took off running with them, "She already knows that you are here. She has the trees on her side and many spies within them, so you must be careful. I can only get you so far, I can't walk you to the wardrobe but I can take you to the lampost."

The golden light could be seen through the trees, just like it had the same day she had arrived all those years ago. As soon as it was in front of them, her gloved hand mindlessly wiped snow from the black paint.

"Can you find your way back from here?" Mr Tumnus asked Lucy, getting down to her level and taking her hands.

"I think so!" she chimed, "Will you be alright?"

The faun broke out in tears, wiping his eyes with a white handkerchief carefully as the two girls watched cautiously, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he passed the handkerchief over to her, "Here."

"Keep it, you need it more than I do," she replied and shut his hands around the fabric.

"No matter what happens, Lucy Pevensie, I am glad to have met you. You've made me feel warmer than I've felt in a hundred years. Now go," he pressed his finger lightly to her nose, the girl looked up to the Princess who stared at the lampost in awe, even though she had lived in Narnia for many years, she hadn't seen the landmark for over 30 Narnian years. Alexandra had made a promise to herself that she wouldn't return in fear that the White Witch would realise where the connection to the human world was.

"Princess Alex?" Lucy called out, breaking her from the trance that washed over her suddenly.

She got to her knees in front of the child, pushing hair behind her ears, "Lucy, it was an honour to meet you. Just remember, you aren't safe in Narnia. You can't return, not ever. Now, stay safe and keep away from the forest."

The girl nodded and stepped away from the two, waving before breaking out in a sprint to go back to the wooden wardrobe and leaving the fawn and the princess behind her.

"Will you be okay?" Mr Tumnus asked the girl beside him, his doe eyes immediately softening at her frame that still stared at the lamp in awe.

There was an awkward silence freezing between the two before she managed to pull her grey eyes from the metal and to finally look at the Narnian with a glint of fear, "She can't do anything to me that she hasn't done before. It's you I'm worried about, Mr Tumnus. When I return and tell her that there was no human, she will send the wolves to sniff it out. They will pick up Lucy's scent and only Aslan knows what would happen to you."

Realisation seemed to wash over the faun's face, he hadn't thought of that. The White Witch was known for using her frozen heart as her biggest weapon and everyone knew that if she was willing to harm the girl that she had nurtured as her own child, then she was prepared to harm any Narnian that got in her way.

"I'll try to buy you some time," Lexi's hand was placed onto his shoulder carefully before she turned, giving the fawn time to look at the ice burns that scarred her back and climbed up her neck that could easily be seen under her hair white hair.

"Thank you, Princess Alex. For all you have done for Narnia, truly."

"I'm not a princess," she remarked and trailed her way back through the trees and towards the ice castle where she could only fear the punishment that she would receive once the Witch finds out that she had been lied to.

❅

It had been merely an hour since Alexandra had returned to her room in the castle, she had told Jadis the White Witch that there had been no sightings of a human in Narnia. She had almost locked herself in her bedroom to hide from the woman and away from her fury when she realised that she had been lied to.

Alex heard the howling of the wolves get closer and closer until they were at the gates of the castle, leaving the human to anticipate the reaction from the Queen. Alex even swore that she could hear screaming outside the walls but it was soon to halt entirely, leaving her in silence once more.

"Alexandra!" Jadis boomed as she stormed into the room to see the girl sat on her wooden bed frame with her hands in her lap, ready for what was about to happen, "I sent Maugrim to confirm what you had said, only to find that there had indeed been a human, other than you, in Narnia. You lied to me."

"Jadis-" Alex started and finally stood to her feet, but the Witch wasn't having it.

"No!" she screamed, Lexi stepped back in fear, "I am your mother!"

"Mother," Alexa rephrased to ease the conversation and to hopefully lessen the blow of whatever punishment she would receive, "I-" she stumbled on her words, the human swallowed harshly, "I sent the girl away from here, she won't be returning. So whatever sick plan you had for her, you can rethink it."

Jadis needed the girl, only then Alexandra noticed the glass of the wand under her white cloak. Without a word leaving her lips, the wand came up and missed Alex's face by several inches, yet she still felt the pain. The only time that she felt the cold of the ice is when the wand's magic was used on her. The blue scar spread across her cheek in a frost burn, scorching her skin with the lowest of temperatures impossible.

"You speak to me with respect, child," she shouted over, "Got it?"

Alex pushed her hand from her cheek and back to her side, tears brimmed her eyes but never once fell down her cheek, "No."

"Fine," the scowl on the Witch's lips only doubled, no tripled, in size as the wand wiped across her face once more; leaving yet another blue scar across her fair skin. The girl only fell down from the impact before another blow was directed at her, this time hitting her back repeatedly as screams of pain left her lips and echoed throughout the whole of Narnia.

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⋆hi! welcome to obligation to the queen, the first of my narnia stories! please don't forget to vote, follow and leave comments! keep your eyes peeled on my page for upcoming stories that might be of interest to you <3 ⋆