Narnia: the untold tale

Lucy

Narnia was odd in comparison to England. And not just in the way of talking animals and magic wands. It was odd in its small differences from normal life. The clothes, the food, even the very air was different here yet that still was not the oddest thing. For that title belonged to one of the things one does not think of very often. Hiding.

Ironically it was the very thing that had brought them to Narnia yet one would not think of it much. Back in London she would have run outside or hidden amongst her classmates. Lucy had always thought up something when she had needed to get away. But here it was not nearly that simple. She was a monarch, one of the pillars of the kingdom. She could not simply disappear for long amounts of time without worry that she had been kidnapped. And in this case running outside wouldn't work either. Animals were everywhere and that wasn't counting the trees or river spirits. In a kingdom like Narnia the latest gossip was spread in hours. Now imagine if one of their rulers was seen using ice magic. It would be a catastrophe of the largest proportions! The Witch had only been recently vanquished and her presence was still felt in Narnia.

And so the problem of where to practice and gain control over her new powers remained. After Edmund had shook her out of the downwards spiral she was in she had realized two things. One, she most definitely was not about to go on an insane rampage of destruction. Two, she might do just that on accident if she didn't learn how to control her ice magic. So that was her predicament. One which was leading her to pace her room in what looked like an effort to wear a gouge in the floor.

Eventually one of her handmaidens appeared to fetch her for a court meeting. The dryad named Celia had uprooted her own tree so to serve the kings and queens better. Lucy had been a bit distraught after hearing that fact but had been quickly reassured that no permanent damage had been done.

Towards the end of the day she had taken it upon herself to visit the archery range. Susan was the best marksman, or woman, of them all but it was always better to be able to use a long ranged weapon as well. There were a few boys a couple years older than her already there but she payed them no mind. Selecting her bow from the arrangement in the armoury she set about stringing it and finding arrows.

Lucy ended up having to go pull some from the targets as the sun sank ever lower. She was prepared to start firing when the whispers of the boys reached her ears.

"Who do you think she is, a handmaiden setting up a bow for her lord?"

"Perhaps"

"No, that's the queen over there. The youngest one as well, it's a wonder she could even string that bow she's holding"

"Her! The queen?"

The chatter devolved back into whispers but her throat had formed a lump in it. Something coiled inside her like a viper ready to strike but she pushed it down. There was no need for ice to start randomly appearing here. So she settled with blinking away the tears and replacing them with white hot rage. She picked up her bow and took aim. Drawing the string back to just before her ear and on her next exhale Lucy let the arrow fly. It landed solidly in the second innermost circle. She strung another arrow and pulled back her arm to repeat the process.

The whole thing in general turned out to be rather therapeutic. Imagining people as targets had done wonderful things for her aim. Of course she would never actually shoot the boys but it was much easier to burn off steam like that. Apparently it had done wonderful things to her thought process as well.

She was an idiot, she had spent all morning in the one place only a few would dare disturb her. Precautions must be taken of course but her very own room would be the greatest sanctuary that the castle had to offer.

So Lucy found herself carefully learning the schedule for the next two weeks and planning out exactly how much time she would have. It wasn't as much as she would like but this was better than what she had three days ago. The next problem that revealed itself was the simple fact that she didn't know where to start. There wasn't exactly a pamphlet to how to control ice magic stashed somewhere.

By the time her first planned time slot rolled around she still had no idea what to do so she ended up meditating instead. The simple hour of relaxation did wonders for her stress levels but moved her no closer to accomplishing her goals. Neither did the next session or the next. The days were ticked off and still she was no closer to control then she had been when this whole thing started. And even with the added meditation the random outbursts had been growing in number. Lucy was getting desperate. If this kept up she might really plunge Narnia back into an eternal winter. So She naturally decided to do what was probably the stupidest idea she had ever had.

Drawing herself back into meditation she pushed her way back to that first showing of power. Only a month ago yet the memory was already fading slightly. The scene was slightly greyed out at the edges and the colours were less real. But Lucy stood firm and pulled at the memory allowing the terror of the past to wash over her. Her gut turned to ice as the cold feeling returned with a vengeance. Much more powerful then ever before it almost spilled out of her. But this power was her own, wether she liked it or not and it would listen to her. Slowly, the cold retreated one more and the frost that had seeped into the floors disappeared. Carefully she turned to the glass of water on the table and opened her hand towards it.

The water froze instantly and slowly she raised her hand an inch at a time allowing the ice cube to rise with it. The energy was strange, different from when she had reigned it in, and her grip on it was slippery. Like trying to run down stairs in slippery socks and not fall. But one of the most prominent characteristics of the young queen was her stubbornness. So Lucy poured ever last bit of that stubbornness into the task and the ice stayed there, hovering. Then it cracked, any triumph that had been brewing disappeared as the ice shattered.

Yet something had still been achieved and so Lucy mustered up her determination and tried again. And again. And again. And again.

Over the course of weeks and many late nights the energy became easier to use. Less unwieldy and more welcome. And now the final goal she had set for herself was about to be completed. Minutes before there had stood a cube of ice, now there was a slowly twisting shape. Hovering just above the table a small mermaid was beginning to form. The ice bending and compacting to her will to form an image she knew well.

Then it was done, a figurine and testament to her achievements. Relief and happiness crashed through her and only too late did she realize her mistake. The carefully held in place cold feeling was swept away in the oncoming tide of emotions. And the ice that she had worked so hard to make disappeared. Turning back to the water it had come from.

On any other occasion a way to reverse her powers would have been welcome but now it was not. All that work for nothing! Lucy could only watch helplessly as the statue became liquid once more and dropped to the floor. Only, it didn't. The ice did turn back to water but the shape stayed hovering in mid air. And not only that but it was easier to control and well. Not quite so resistant, more... flexible.

She wanted to laugh and cry and sigh all at the same time. Of course she had been doing it the hard way all along. And really, what was ice but solid water?