CHAPTER FIVE THE DEPLORABLE WORD

THE children were facing one another across the pillar where the bell hung，still trembling，though it no longer gave out any note．Suddenly they heard a soft noise from the end of the room which was still undamaged．They turned quick as lightning to see what it was．One of the robed figures，the furthest-off one of all，the woman whom Digory thought so beautiful，was rising from its chair．When she stood up they realized that she was even taller than they had thought．And you could see at once，not only from her crown and robes，but from the flash of her eyes and the curve of her lips，that she was a great queen．She looked round the room and saw the damage and saw the children，but you could not guess from her face what she thought of either or whether she was surprised．She came forward with long，swift strides．

“Who has awaked me ？ Who has broken the spell ？”she asked．

“I think it must have been me，”said Digory．

“You ！”said the Queen，laying her hand on his shoulder-a white，beautiful hand，but Digory could feel that it was strong as steel pincers．“You ？ But you are only a child，a common child．Anyone can see at a glance that you have no drop of royal or noble blood in your veins．How did such as you dare to enter this house ？”

“We’ve come from another world；by Magic，”said Polly， who thought it was high time the Queen took some notice of her as well as of Digory．

“Is this true ？”said the Queen，still looking at Digory and not giving Polly even a glance．

“Yes，it is，”said he．

The Queen put her other hand under his chin and forced it up so that she could see his face better．Digory tried to stare back but he soon had to let his eyes drop．There was something about hers that overpowered him．After she had studied him for well over a minute，she let go of his chin and said：

“You are no magician．The mark of it is not on you．You must be only the servant of a magician．It is on another’s Magic that you have travelled here．”

“It was my Uncle Andrew，”said Digory．

At the moment，not in the room itself but from somewhere very close，there came，first a rumbling，then a creaking，and then a roar of falling masonry，and the floor shook．

“There is great peril here，”said the Queen．“The whole palace is breaking up．If we are not out of it in a few minutes we shall be buried under the ruin．”She spoke as calmly as if she had been merely mentioning the time of day．“Come，”she added，and held out a hand to each of the children．Polly，who was disliking the Queen and feeling rather sulky，would not have let her hand be taken if she could have helped it．But though the Queen spoke so calmly，her movements were as quick as thought．Before Polly knew what was happening her left hand had been caught in a hand so much larger and stronger than her own that she could do nothing about it．

“This is a terrible woman，”thought Polly．“She’s strong enough to break my arm with one twist．And now that she’s got my left hand I can’t get at my yellow ring．If I tried to stretch across and get my right hand into my left pocket I mightn’t be able to reach it，before she asked me what I was doing．Whatever happens we mustn’t let her know about the rings．I do hope Digory has the sense to keep his mouth shut．I wish I could get a word with him alone．”

The Queen led them out of the Hall of Images into a long corridor and then through a whole maze of halls and stairs and courtyards．Again and again they heard parts of the great palace collapsing，sometimes quite close to them．Once a huge arch came thundering down only a moment after they had passed through it．The Queen was walking quickly-the children had to trot to keep up with her—but she showed no sign of fear．Digory thought，“She’s wonderfully brave．And strong．She’s what I call a Queen ！ I do hope she’s going to tell us the story of this place．”

She did tell them certain things as they went along：“That is the door to the dungeons，”she would say，or“That passage leads to the principal torture chambers，”or“This was the old banqueting hall where my great—grandfather bade seven hundred nobles to a feast and killed them all before they had drunk their fill． They had had rebellious thoughts．”

They came at last into a hall larger and loftier than any they had yet seen．From its size and from the great doors at the far end， Digory thought that now at last they must be coming to the main entrance．In this he was quite right．The doors were dead black， either ebony or some black metal which is not found in our world． They were fastened with great bars，most of them too high to reach and all too heavy to lift．He wondered how they would get out．

The Queen let go of his hand and raised her arm．She drew herself up to her full height and stood rigid．Then she said something which they couldn’t understand（but it sounded horrid） and made an action as if she were throwing something towards the doors．And those high and heavy doors trembled for a second as if they were made of silk and then crumbled away till there was nothing left of them but a heap of dust on the threshold．