Amelia's eyes glazed over as she stared at the walls lining her cell. The veins of the ice crept and crawled until eventually they formed a picture. Amelia sighed; it had been a long time since her "ability" had shown itself. The picture formed in the ice was one of a girl. She had her arms stretched out to her sides and was holding out what looked like food to the woodland creatures that stood around her. There was a bird perched on her shoulder and a lion by her side. Amelia's head tilted slowly to the left. The girl seemed peaceful, unlike Amelia herself.
Amelia could still feel the red hot anger course through her veins despite the cold cell that seemed to numb everything else. She was still weak, too weak to even stand up. This only added to her frustration.
How could he? How could Edmund just give them up? How could he do this to them, his family?
She only hoped that they made it out alive. Without them she was alone in Narnia... Edmund did not count.
Amelia's head snapped towards the cell gates as a ghastly creature, an ogre she thought it was, walked in with its green slimy skin and dishevelled, misshapen face.
"The Queen wishes to see you, Silvanus wretch."
Amelia shuffled closer to the back wall as he walked closer. Fear was pumping in her blood, "Silvanus? What is that?"
The ogre paused in its steps, confused by Amelia's confusion, but nevertheless, he continued without a word. Using a large key he unlocked the chains around Amelia's ankle before he tossed her over his shoulder. Amelia groaned as a wave of nausea flooded into her stomach, only powered by the fear that already seemed to be eating away at her insides, not to mention the highly unappealing view she had. There was no hope in struggling, not that she really had any energy to.
They walked through the many twisting corridors. Amelia would often see glimpses of pictures forming from the veins in the wall before they rounded another corner. Her head bobbed lazily against his back as the blood rushed to her brain. It only made her more tired. There was an ever growing fear in her heart that she would not make it out of the castle... alive.
Amelia heard a loud creak as the doors to the courtyard opened. It was morning, but the sun made no effort to heat up the cold air. It was just as frosty as it was the night before. The ogre grunted as he lifted Amelia off his shoulder and onto her feet. Amelia's legs shook as her weight was pressed into them and she collapsed onto the ground in a fit of coughs and gags.
A wicked voice sounded in the cold air, "Amelia, does my presence weaken you so much that you cannot even lift your head to look me in the eye?"
Amelia slowly lifted her head, ignoring the pain in the back of her sore neck. Her eyes met the cold one's that belonged to the witch, but they also fell upon a familiar face.
"Mr Tumnus?" Amelia asked, her eyes wide as she stared at the faun in disbelief. Despite all the hope she had when she was around Lucy and the other Pevensies, there always seemed to be this little nook in the depths of her heart that told her he was already dead. Yet there he stood and she could not believe her eyes.
Another ogre was holding him up. He pulled the faun's arm's back, causing his back to arch at an unbelievable angle. The faun's eyes were wide with fear and relief at the same time.
"Amelia! Oh thank Asl –" the ogre kicked his legs and they buckled underneath him. Amelia's heart ached for him. She could feel the tears streaming down her cheeks. She couldn't speak with the shock still freezing her brain. Mr Tumnus yelped in pain as he was pulled to his feet once more, "Lucy! Where's Lucy! Is she saf-"
"Enough!" The witch interrupted as she glared at Mr Tumnus, "We have more pressing matters to attend to." she turned to Amelia, "My police searched every inch of that dam. The rest of your little party seems to have disappeared."
Amelia let out a sigh of relief, grateful for their safety, "Thank goodness," she quietly whispered to herself.
The witch only glared on, "Thankfully, Edmund has mentioned the name of someone who might be very important to them." She paused, "I don't suppose you've heard of Aslan, have you?"
Amelia's eyes widened and her heart started racing. It made sense that the beavers would take them to Aslan. The beavers said that Aslan was the true king of Narnia; the only person who could defeat the witch. He was their only hope to get Edmund back. They would want to find him.
The witch only smirked, "That's all the proof I need," she turned to Mr Tumnus and raised her wand. The iced tip was pointed directly at the faun's heart, "So then, any last words?"
Amelia gasped as she realised what the witch was about to do. She started scrambling on the floor, using every ounce of her remaining energy. She had to save him. She had to. She tried to crawl, faster and faster.
"Long live Asla-!"
To no avail the witch raised her wand to the screaming faun and turned him into stone.
"NO!" Amelia's voice cried out. Her throat was raw from thirst and her eyes were in pain from what she had just seen. Mr Tumnus, her friend, was gone. Amelia wailed as she cried. The pain in her heart was unparalleled to any other kind she had ever felt. Death was not something she wanted to be acquainted with. The tears ran like river's down the heart-broken girl's cheeks.
The witch gazed at the young girl, "The cold drains you because the cold is death. The ice will weaken you because the ice is death. The frost will sadden you because the frost is death, and you, Silvanus, do not like death. Unlike your mother."
Amelia couldn't stop herself from sobbing. Her head was like a thunderous cavern; words were echoing everywhere.
Lucy. Tumnus. Peter. Tumnus. Aslan. Tumnus. Edmund. Tumnus. Susan. Tumnus.
Death.
She couldn't describe the pain she felt. It was more than just loss, it was spiritual. It felt like a piece of her had been taken. She couldn't understand why she felt his way. Yes, the faun was her friend, but she had not known him for very long. He wasn't family. She had only met him once. So why did it hurt so much?
"That's it, Amelia," The witch cooed, "Feel the pain. Feel the loss. Feel the absence of a precious life. You may protect life, Silvanus, but you will not stop me from taking it."
As the witch turned away Amelia could feel her already existing anger bubble and rise. In a surge of courage, the crying Cromwell cried out to the witch, "You knew my mother?"
The witch paused in her tracks. Amelia couldn't see her face, but she knew she had surprised the enchantress. The woman slowly turned around, but her face seemed more neutral than it had ever been. She was keeping something.
"Your mother," the witch started, "was a fool. A stupid girl running about the land in search of love and hope. She met your father and she had you, but only then did she truly realise her stupidity." Amelia felt a shock in her heart at the news. Her mother was a Narnian? How was that even possible? Her father is human... The witch moved to walk away, into the carriage that stood in the far back of the courtyard, but Amelia stopped her again.
"Don't talk about her like that!" Amelia shouted, "She was wonderful! A much better person than you will ever be!"
"And how would you know that? You never met her. She left you and your father after you were born- or rather, your father left her."
Amelia stayed silent. What... Amelia's father had never actually told her much about her mother. Only that she was a beautiful and kind woman who unfortunately died long after they had separated, although he knew she was dying while they were still a pair. He never said more. He never told the whole story; who left who and such details. That was all she knew and for her whole life that was enough. Now there were too many factors. She didn't know what to believe anymore. My mum's a Narnian, but my dad is human? How is that possible? Did my dad lie to me? Did my dad leave her? Did she leave him? Did my own mother abandon me like I had always thought she did? Or was it us who abandoned her?
Amelia could feel how she was lifted off from the floor and carried across the room, but it was as if her brain couldn't comprehend it. She was tired... so tried. She was confused... so confused. She was cold... so cold. She was empty... so empty.
The ogre placed her on the carriage floor. She leaned her back against the front barrier so that she was facing the seats. Amelia heard the booming clang of the courtyard gates before the witch said, "When you're ready, son of Adam."
Amelia sat on the floor of the carriage, numb. She knew Edmund had gotten on next to her, but she really did not want to speak to him. She was still mad at him. This anger was only the tip of the iceberg. She couldn't believe what he had done.
Despite all these thoughts running about in her head, the Pevensie boy rested a hand on her shoulder and asked, "Are you okay?"
She let out a breathy laugh, "Just peachy."
___________________*__________________
Hello everyone! How are you all?
Well, this is chapter 8, next chapter should be up soon! I'm trying my absolute best to finish this story by the end of the year and hopefully that goal will be reached :)
This chapter emotionally drained me, which is why I love it so much! I really felt like I was there as Amelia while I was writing it, and i really hope you guys feel the same way, because trust me, it took AGES to come up with all those cool things that the witch says :D
I actually wanted to tell you guys about my blog. My blog, Epiphany, is going to pretty much be the main way for anyone to get in touch with me from now on, however, I will still be on Wattpad everyday so no need too worry about getting a hold of me here through personal messages or comments, I will see them :) Anyways, this blog is where I post cool facts about the stories, like why I did certain things to the characters, why they said certain things and certain things that I went through while writing the chapters. I also post previews of the chapters so that you can see a bit of the chapter before I actually publish it and all things like that. It is mainly related to writing, but I want to fill it up with questions and pictures and gifs and all things like that that you guys give me. So ask me questions and send me cool pics and memes! I will try to add it to a post or my about page :) Be sure to specify if you want to referenced in the post/page :)
So if you wanted to go check it out, I've attached the link to this chapter and you will also find thee link on my profile page. I may even add the pictures to future chapters!
So, back to the chapter 8, what do you guys think about Amelia's mother? Who/what do you think she is? Oh and poor Mr Tumnus! Our favorite faun! Dear me, let's hope he will be alright ;) Let's not forget that weird word, Silvanus! What do you guys think it means? Comment below!
Have a wonderful day everyone! It's almost Christmas!
Bye Lovelies
-Gabbi