Lysanders smile faded. "Well... as they sent me here, so, it would seem that no one keeps me safe." 

[i]Yes... I'm on my own. Always have been. [/i] It was a hard lesson the young prince learned early. Sure, he was pampered and spoiled as a child, but as soon as he said or did something [i]they[/i] didn't like he was shut up or locked up, no one wanted to listen to what he had to say. That made him realize that everyone close to him only did so out of obligation. He could hear their thoughts after-all, he disgusted them. He was told that he was adored by the people and when the revolution happened... well... the people who supposedly adored him tried to kill him. 

Titles and power meant nothing. Celine would now know this, her title had earned her exile just as his own had. The Queen offered him land... and he'd once again be hated monarch. Or he could keep sides with Narnia and play in Caspians shadow forever. Caspian might offer him land as well, but, the Narnians did not like him or trust him, the result would be exactly the same. Was one opportunity any better than the other?

Faith. That was all Caspian had. They had a magical summer-land where the trees dance and the animals sang, but they all just seemed to be biding time until a magic talking lion appeared to save them. What made Narnia so different from Mathias? Why would the talking-lion save Narnia rather than Mathias? [i]Paradise[/i] Jadis said the word and it was salt in Lysander's ears. Narnia was hardly his paradise, Atlantis had been grander by far, more beautiful, but it was lost forever under the sea. 

Magic. The Queen had magic and [i]real power.[/i] She turned the whole land to ice with her thoughts. Lysander could not read her mind as he could the others, her heart was cold to his empathy, her motives remained her own. She must be powerful indeed. 

"You offer a piece of the world, a fair price for any man... yet... I wish to be more than your puppet or your spy... I'd be your apprentice, and learn the secrets of magic itself, should I be worthy of it."

He had restrained and repressed his own gifts in an attempt to please his family when he was young. That had been a mistake. He had regained a bit of the talent he had shown in childhood... and surely that was only a shadow of his true potential. But he could not do that on his own...

... Perhaps Jadis would not want to offer any other a taste of the power she had earned. Lysander, for once, had no idea how she would react. He remembered when he was young and in his power felt so alone... he had felt alone ever since. Perhaps she felt the same at times, and might prefer the company of someone other than [i]Dumas[/i]...

"Is there a way that we might commune? Surely you have some magic trick to suit that purpose. The King of Narnia has my trust, the princess will soon-after. If I could remain in that trust and feed you information, well, that would be most efficient to your cause." He took a step toward her on her throne. His eyes fixed upon her frosty brow, her delicate fingers, her pale cheek. "I shall prove myself to you in this mission, then, I would humble myself before you." He knelt before her icy throne, and leaned forward in a bow, he lifted the hem of her white skirt from the floor and kissed it. 

~~~

As the vision overtook them, Caspian garbed a hold of Celine least the witch cast some spell to transport them or harm them...

... Instead was only a vision. A terrible vision. His grip on Celine tightened as he saw the animals and people enslaved. 

The magic left Caspian feeling cold and empty. His eyes wide and he stared at the sad ghost. 

"You have turned against your own sister? Or... perhaps, it was she who turned against you..." Caspian understood that family matters could be complicated, his own uncle nearly had him disposed. He hadn't thought of the Snow-Queen as humane before now, as anything more than a force of icy evil. Yet before him was evidence of her history. Perhaps her sister was the first heart she had broken. 

Or, perhaps they were being tricked, some part of Caspian was certain that anyone related to Jadis must be evil themselves. 

Yet there was something in her face, in her ghostly eyes, that made Caspian trust her words. Sorrow and Regret."I thank you for your words, kind ghost. May Aslan guide you..." He looked to his sword, a gift from Aslan. "You shall be avenged... Narnia shall be protected... and Mathias redeemed." 

As the vision departed, Caspian's arms had loosened around Celine, and slid down her arm to grasp her hand. "I swear to you both by the sword of Aslan." 

If what she said was true, then they had to keep faith in Aslan. [i]Surely[/i], Caspian thought, [i]such a thing should be easy...[/i]