WHO. Marie & the White Witch WHERE. Her favourite place to hide WHEN. Approximately 2 weeks ago WHAT. Marie rejects an offer. Part 1 of 2.
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Loving the high, quiet places was easy. After a day of crawling under the earth, bumping shoulders and being scared to death that this one time she'd make contact and her body would mean it, Marie was only too happy to loose herself in the unchecked wilds around the mountain.
She learned the wind loved to howl, hollowing out gullies between the mountain ridges and drying up the snow until the earth learned how to be solid again. And the trillium came gentle, a promise of early spring that pressed in on the winsome edges of Marie's heart.
Visiting all the places that bore her fruit (water cress and wild garlic, mushrooms and rose hips), she'd collected a good little bag of items before climbing her way up to her very own place to sit and just think for a spell. Long stretches of time could pass in silence, in the lack of fear, before she realized any time had passed at all.
Over the wind, the bells came again. And she remembered Rogue's words - just a little music through the trees. But the sounds grew closer and closer until a sled pulled by two heaving elk drew near. Rogue stood, curious. If this were a Grounder, she'd hail them good day. But before she could speak, a clear and piercing voice rent the air.
"Young lady." Marie bristled. That voice was clear and high, it sounded like one of the bells attached to the elk's harness. She walked forward anyway until a tall woman stepped out of the sled, wrapped in fur, with a glass scepter clutched in her long fingers. "Marie, isn't it?" She smiled like she knew all her secrets, like she'd made every trip with her from Mississippi to Canada and back again. And Marie in that moment, half wondered if she did.
"Yeah, that's my name. Sometimes I go by Rogue, but Marie's fine."
Jadis observed Marie down the long slope of her nose, as if she took measure of the girl's width and breadth. But when she spoke again, she was quiet. "I haven't been here too long, Marie. And I haven't got too many friends."
"Lady, if you want a friend there's a whole mountain of weirdo ..." But Jadis cut her off, the strain showing in white knuckles and a tone brooking no argument. "For now they do not concern me. It is you, Marie, that I came to see. Now that I am here, I know that my power can bring us home and I wanted to make a friend who could describe the concept."
"Well why can't you --"
Jadis, again -- "I can't." Three of four Pevensies were still bad news to the fulfillment of her desires and the opportunities promised to her newfound friends hidden deep within the woods. But really, she knew that any power she derived from all this would eventually mean subjugation for the sake of protection. And that centered around owning the mountain space, all while dangling the idea that home was an actionable intent. All while these various talents and powers spent themselves to entrench her further and make her all the more powerful. She softened. "Someone from my world is there and they don't think much of me. I'm embarrassed."
Marie was a finely tuned instrument upon which this ex-Queen played. She proceeded to sympathize, speaking with Jadis and pressing the need to re-ignite and re-integrate, despite the poor history cited. Their conversation kept on until it took an abrupt turn and Marie's brow grew dark.
"I'm good where I'm at, thanks." But Jadis insisted, keeping her rooted. "Hey, I appreciate the offer but I've got people who are gonna be looking for me. And maybe I don't want to go home."