The woods are dim as snow drifts softly across the sky. The bare trees coated in white powder and brilliant blue icicles. The skin of my fingertips is red with chill, my fur-lined gloves stuffed deep in the pockets of my white fur coat.

When all falls quiet in the wood, I let the tendrils of my magic unfurl, twisting and twining through the cold winter air. The gold of my magic is pale, more akin to a light, almost white, colour. The trees lean towards my magic, pulling it towards themselves. I feel my muscles loosen and my nerves smooth as the magic flows through my veins.

Suddenly a twig snaps. My magic recoils, pulling back to me with a whiplike snap.

I sprint on silent feet across the snow to hide behind a powder-covered log. Pulling up the hood of my white coat, I'm virtually invisible. My eyes dart through the trees seeking out the sound.

A small creature couldn't have made a sound that large. It had to have been a dwarf, or perhaps a small faun. My eyes catch on the soft glowing light of the lamppost.

There.

Someone wanders around the base of the post, their body language strange...almost curious. I sneak closer, staying low to the ground, my coat swishing lightly across the snow. I press myself against a solid birch, the wet cold of the snow soaking into my gown. The figure turns; she's small, only about the size of a full-grown dwarf, her face rounded and jovial with youth. A strange creature indeed. 

The little female turns away from me, taking in her surroundings. I was tempted to move closer, desperate to reach out and touch her. Just as I was about to break through the tree line a faun rounds the corner.

Both he and the girl scream and startle, stumbling away from each other. I pressed my lips together, silencing my breath while I watch their exchange.

The girl presses herself against the lamp post as if its thin base could shield her. Her palpable fear turns to that familiar curiosity as she carefully walks forward. Snow crunching under her small shoes. Her clothing seems strange and impractical for Narnia.

Some Narnians wear next to nothing, of course, like the faun now watching the girl from around the tree. His chest is bare, and a bright red scarf is slung around his neck. His legs, like all other fauns, are goat-like and covered in hair. He seems young, considering his horns only just poke through his shaggy crop of hair, and the hair on his chin is short and well-kept.

The girl starts to speak, and I strain to hear.

"Were you hiding from me?" She asks, her voice soft and light.

The faun stammers some response about not wanting to scare her. He seems totally on edge, as though trying to assure himself of something. Find figurative ground to stand on. Clearly he was just as confused as I on who, or what, this female was.

"If you don't mind my asking, what are you?" The female asks cautiously, though I could sense a hint of humour in her voice.

Fauns are incredibly common, especially in these parts.

How can she not know?

"Well, I," the male hesitates, taken aback. "Well, I'm a faun. And what are you?" He asks in return. "You must be some kind of...beardless dwarf."

"I'm not a dwarf, I'm a girl!" The girl laughs. "And actually, I'm tallest in my class."

"Do you mean to say that you're a daughter of Eve?" The faun asks quickly.

My breath catches in my throat, it can't be. The girl mutters some response about her mother but is cut off by the faun.

"Yes, but you are, in fact, human?" 

"Yes, of course." She responds, confusion lacing her voice.

I dig my nails into the bark of the birch I hide behind. By the ancestors, a human. In Narnia.

The conversation between the faun and human continues, but my mind races too quickly to keep up. If humans were in Narnia, the prophecy could be complete. The people could stand a chance against Jadis. I could have my freedom.

The pair wander off, and my heart clenches in my chest. If he turns her over to the Witch...all could be lost. I follow a safe distance behind; while their steps are loud and obvious, mine are silent. Living in a palace made almost entirely of ice and snow for nearly a decade allowed plenty of time to practise moving unnoticed. When I could go unseen, none of Jadis' ghastly courtiers would bother me.

The faun leads the human back to his home, built within a small cliff face. I hang back a few moments as the faun closes the door. Crossing the open space and pressing myself against the rock of the cliff, I let my magic unfurl again. A needle-thin tendril snakes towards the window at my head height.

With all the precision I can muster, the thin tendril slips between the pane and the sill, unlatching the window. I quietly pull it outwards and peek over the bottom edge.

The pair sit in the faun's cosy living room. The girl sips tea as the faun produces a pipe. Fauns are not magical creatures, but their music is legendary. It was said that once, long before, the most powerful faun music could cause all who heard it to dance until they died.

Notes fill the air, and I feel the magic within my veins shriek and cower. I clamp my hands tightly over my ears and duck down to the ground, no longer able to see through the window.

This music was powerful, this faun knows what he is doing. And I know what he intends to do once the girl is incapacitated. The music grows louder and louder until I can hear it calling to me. Lulling me softly to oblivion. My eyes grow heavier and heavier until it all comes crashing down. A roar nearly makes me jump out of my skin.

I shoot up with a gasp before remembering the open window. Ducking quickly, I peek over the sill again. The faun sits in shock, pipe clutched loosely in hand. He mutters something to himself as he stares blankly at the unconscious human. I tell myself it's now or never.

With quick work, my magic unlocks the door, and I fling it open. With my hood pulled up around my face and the bright light of the day at my back, I know I will be unrecognisable. The faun gasps, leaping up from his chair and skittering backwards.

"Who are you?" He demands.

"It matters not who I am, Faun." My voice booms through the space with the regality and authority I recall my mother and father using many years ago. 

"What do you want?" He quivers.

"You have acted against your fellow Narnians; before you turn this girl over to the imposter queen, think of what she will do," I command. "Return this child from whence she came."

The Faun looks stunned as I leave without another word. Once out the door, I run through the snow-covered woods, terrified of what I've done, of what anyone may have heard. It could already be too late for the daughter of Eve, spies may already be carrying word back to the Queen.

What a fool I have been.

I send out my faintest pulse of magic, hoping that one of my spies feels the call. Praying they are close enough to answer.

Tiny footsteps run towards me, and I whip my head to my left in time to see Fox running to intercept me.

"My lady, what's happened?" My animal spy questions.

"Tell me quickly does the snow carry word this night?" Fox knows this phrase and knows precisely what I ask.

I see his ears twitch as he runs beside me, his sensitive hearing working overtime.

"No mistress, I hear no messages."

"Ancestors be thanked." I mutter and slow my pace.

"Is this all you require, my lady?"

"Yes, that is all. Though I must confess, I wasn't expecting you to answer the call, Fox. You have become quite the recluse."

"An unfortunate collateral mistress."

"Can I still trust you, Fox?" I narrow my eyes at the Narnian.

"Of course, my lady. To you, I owe my first allegiance, and I shall still carry out my mission against your great enemy..."

"But?"

"But I have been summoned for another mission by a great power beyond any of us."

"You are stretched too thin, Fox."

"I shall still serve you justly, My Lady, and you can count on my presence when the time comes to fight."

"Good, now go; we may have already drawn too much attention." I command.

Fox dips his head and scampers off into the snow-covered underbrush. I look around slowly, straining to listen to the tiny sounds of the wood.

Nothing but silence.

Magic unfurls gently from my outstretched hands, spreading out along the snow-covered ground. The magic senses nothing, not a creature or whispered breath nearby.

I gaze back towards the faun's house only once before heading home, to the palace.