Jadis sits stoically in front of me in the sleigh. Her crown is tall and proud on her ice-white hair. While I sit wrapped in furs and thick layers of clothing, Jadis wears her shawl wrapped loosely around her shoulders. The cold is her domain, her power. We had been riding for perhaps an hour when we entered a very familiar part of the wood.

In the back of my mind, I wondered what had become of that girl from yesterday.

"Yah!" Ginarrbrik shouts from his seat at the front of the sleigh, his whip cracking the air at the reindeer's flanks. Suddenly, the dwarf pulls on the reins, bringing the sleigh to a halt and jumping down from the platform.

The reindeer chuffed and struck their hooves against the snow anxiously. I hear a voice call out.

"What is it now, Ginarrbrik?" Jadis askes impatiently.

She doesn't turn her head to look at the scene, but I'm desperate to peek around the side of the sleigh.

"Make him let me go! I didn't do anything wrong!" The voice calls out to Jadis.

Distinctly male, but definitely young. Jadis stands sweeping out of the sleigh as Ginarrbrik threatens the boy again.

"Wait." Jadis commands.

I can only imagine Ginarrbrik's knife held high, and imagine the boy's face, perhaps an expression of terror plaguing him.

"What is your name, Son of Adam?" Jadis asks.

Son of Adam. Another human.

"Uh, Edmund." The boy replies.

"And how, Edmund, did you come to enter my dominion?"

"I don't know," The boy stutters, "I was just following my sister."

"Your sister?" Jadis cuts in quickly, "How many of you are there?"

"Four, Lucy's the only one who's been here before; she said she met some faun called Tumnus. Peter and Susan didn't believe her. I didn't either." He explains.

Four of them. By the ancestors, the prophecy could be true. And the boy had told the queen the name of the faun. Oh no.

Jadis ushered the boy to the sleigh, saying something about the cold. As he rounded the corner and his face came into view, a small puff of steam came from his mouth as he exhaled, his eyes fixed on me.

He looked about twelve or thirteen, with well-kept black hair. His cheeks were flushed pink with cold and he wore a strange blue-green coat unlike any I'd seen in Narnia.

Jadis sat and encouraged the boy – Edmund – to nestle into her fur shawl.

"How about something hot to drink?" Jadis asks.

"Yes, please, Your Majesty." Edmund grins, the boy catches on fast.

Jadis uses her magic to produce a goblet of hot chocolate. A cheap trick I've seen her use countless times, but the human was mystified.

"How did you do that?"

"I can make anything you like."

"Can you make me taller?" Edmund asks.

Jadis laughs heartily and shoots me a glance. I laugh along with her.

"What do you think, Cressida?"

"I think we have a witty one, Your Majesty." I smile warmly.

Edmund's cheeks flush, and he smiles shyly back at me.

"Anything you would like to eat, Edmund?" I ask.

"Turkish delight?"

I watch as Jadis repeats the same process, again the magic mesmerising Edmund. I feel a pang of guilt as I know I'm helping Jadis play him. When she finally asks to meet his family I know exactly what she intends to do with these children.

Around a mouthful of sweets, Edmund argues that his family are nothing special. Jadis laughs; though it may seem real, I know her little tells. I can see her growing frustration.

"Oh, I'm sure they're not nearly as delightful as you are, But you see Edmund, I have no children of my own." Jadis explains.

Edmund looks at me, confusion written on his face.

"Cressida is my ward, you see, not of my blood and has no interest in the throne."

"Really?" He asks me.

"Oh no, I am not cut out to rule a kingdom as great as Narnia." I smile gently, my heart twisting in memory of my own homeland.

"And you, Edmund, are exactly the sort of boy who I could see, one day, becoming Prince of Narnia. Maybe even King." Jadis explains.

Edmund's eyes light up until Jadis explains that he'd need to bring his family.

"Oh, do you mean, Peter would be king too?" He casts a small glance my way.

Peter. Perhaps an older brother. Jadis laughs reassuring him to the contrary but that a king needs servants. At this point, Edmund was eating out of Jadis' palm, hanging off her every word as she told him where to find her palace.

Her words had thoroughly convinced him. The sweets and little shows of magic hadn't hurt either. I knew he was hooked when he asked for more Turkish delight.

Anything made from Jadis' magic was dangerously addictive, a cheap trick yes, but a powerful one to those weak to temptation.

"No!" Jadis snaps, though she recovers quickly with a smile, "Don't want to ruin your appetite. Besides, you and I are going to be seeing each other again very soon, aren't we?"

Edmund nods eagerly before looking at me.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Edmund; I am sure we are going to be very good friends." I smile shyly at him, playing my part.

The boy jumps down from the sleigh.

"Until then, dear one, I'm going to miss you." Jadis smiles, before flicking her eyes quickly to me.

"Don't keep us waiting too long." I grin.

Ginarrbrik snaps his whip and the reindeer speed off, pulling the sleigh and leaving Edmund in its wake.

Jadis is fuming by the time we reach the palace. She was silent and stone-faced on the journey back but now her anger is explosive.

Throwing open the doors with a mighty crash, I know the storm is about to wreak havoc.

"Maugrim!" Jadis barks.

The chief of the secret police stalks into the room, his sentinels tucked close behind.

"Your Majesty." He growls.

"I have an arrest warrant for you, for the faun Tumnus." Jadis snaps. "On the charge of comforting my enemies, and fraternising with humans."

The wolves behind Maugrim snarl and strike their claws against the ice floor.

"It will be done immediately, Your Majesty." Maugrim growls, lips curling back to reveal his fearsome teeth.

Jadis flicks her head in dismissal, and the wolves move out with a howl.

The witch begins to pace the grand hall as I wait, hands tucked tightly in front of me.

"They think they can come into my land and take my throne." She fumes.

"The Narnians believe they can help humans and get away with it; well, this should send the necessary message."

I nod along with her, hoping to get out of the situation as quickly as possible.

"And you, Cressida, well, my dear, you played your part very well. The sweet little flirtations only added to the intrigue.

"Even at that age, boys only want one thing, and when a pretty face gives it to them, well, they'll be eating from the palm of your hand. How lucky you are."

"I never want to do that again." I argue adamantly.

"Oh, my young ward, you may yet have to; what if Edmund needs convincing? Or his brother? What was his name?" she pauses. "Yes, Peter. Cressida I tell you when to stop playing your part, am I understood."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Good, now, go get some rest; with any luck, we'll have the humans in our grasp very soon."