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The_Complete_Chronicles_of_Narnia_(volumes_1-7,_in_order_of_publication)

The_Complete_Chronicles_of_Narnia_(volumes_1-7,_in_order_of_publication)

The_Complete_Chronicles_of_Narnia_(volumes_1-7,_in_order_of_publication)

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CHAPTER TWELVE<br />

THE QUEEN OF UNDERLAND<br />

TWO Earthmen entered, but <strong>in</strong>stead <strong>of</strong> advanc<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to the room, they placed themselves<br />

one on each side <strong>of</strong> the door, and bowed deeply. <strong>The</strong>y were followed immediately by the<br />

last person whom anyone had expected or wished to see: the Lady <strong>of</strong> the Green Kirtle,<br />

the Queen <strong>of</strong> Underland. She stood dead still <strong>in</strong> the doorway, and they could see her eyes<br />

mov<strong>in</strong>g as she took <strong>in</strong> the whole situation - the three strangers, the silver chair destroyed,<br />

and the Pr<strong>in</strong>ce free, with his sword <strong>in</strong> his hand.<br />

She turned very white; but Jill thought it was the sort <strong>of</strong> whiteness that comes over some<br />

people's faces not when they are frightened but when they are angry. For a moment the<br />

Witch fixed her eyes on the Pr<strong>in</strong>ce, and there was murder <strong>in</strong> them. <strong>The</strong>n she seemed to<br />

change her m<strong>in</strong>d.<br />

"Leave us," she said to the two Earthmen. "And let none disturb us till I call, on pa<strong>in</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />

death." <strong>The</strong> gnomes padded away obediently, and the Witch-queen shut and locked the<br />

door.<br />

"How now, my lord Pr<strong>in</strong>ce," she said. "Has your nightly fit not yet come upon you, or is<br />

it over so soon? Why stand you here unbound? Who are these aliens? And is it they who<br />

have destroyed the chair which was your only safety?"<br />

Pr<strong>in</strong>ce Rilian shivered as she spoke to him. And no wonder: it is not easy to throw <strong>of</strong>f <strong>in</strong><br />

half an hour an enchantment which has made one a slave for ten years. <strong>The</strong>n, speak<strong>in</strong>g<br />

with a great effort, he said:<br />

"Madam, there will be no more need <strong>of</strong> that chair. And you, who have told me a hundred<br />

times how deeply you pitied me for the sorceries by which I was bound, will doubtless<br />

hear with joy that they are now ended for ever. <strong>The</strong>re was, it seems, some small error <strong>in</strong><br />

your Ladyship's way <strong>of</strong> treat<strong>in</strong>g them. <strong>The</strong>se, my true friends, have delivered me. I am<br />

now <strong>in</strong> my right m<strong>in</strong>d, and there are two th<strong>in</strong>gs I will say to you. First - as for your<br />

Ladyship's design <strong>of</strong> putt<strong>in</strong>g me at the head <strong>of</strong> an army <strong>of</strong> Earthmen so that I may break<br />

out <strong>in</strong>to the Overworld and there, by ma<strong>in</strong> force, make myself k<strong>in</strong>g over some nation that<br />

never did me wrong - murder<strong>in</strong>g their natural lords and hold<strong>in</strong>g their throne as a bloody<br />

and foreign tyrant - now that I know myself, I do utterly abhor and renounce it as pla<strong>in</strong><br />

villa<strong>in</strong>y. And second: I am the K<strong>in</strong>g's son <strong>of</strong> <strong>Narnia</strong>, Rilian, the only child <strong>of</strong> Caspian,<br />

Tenth <strong>of</strong> that name, whom some call Caspian the Seafarer. <strong>The</strong>refore, Madam, it is my<br />

purpose, as it is also my duty, to depart suddenly from your Highness's court <strong>in</strong>to my own<br />

country. Please it you to grant me and my friends safe conduct and a guide through your<br />

dark realm."

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