"Yes please, your Majesty," said Edmund, whose teeth were chattering.
    
    The Queen took from somewhere among her wrappings a very small bottle which looked as 
if it were made of copper. Then, holding out her arm, she let one drop fall from it on 
the snow beside the sledge. Edmund saw the drop for a second in mid-air, shining like a 
diamond. But the moment it touched the snow there was a hissing sound and there stood a 
jewelled cup full of something that steamed. The dwarf immediately took this and handed 
it to Edmund with a bow and a smile; not a very nice smile. Edmund felt much better as he 
began to sip the hot drink. It was something he had never tasted before, very sweet and 
foamy and creamy, and it warmed him right down to his toes.
    
    "It is dull, Son of Adam, to drink without eating," said the Queen presently. "What 
would you like best to eat?"
    
    "Turkish Delight, please, your Majesty," said Edmund.
    
    The Queen let another drop fall from her bottle on to the snow, and instantly there 
appeared a round box, tied with green silk ribbon, which, when opened, turned out to 
contain several pounds of the best Turkish Delight. Each piece was sweet and light to the 
very centre and Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious. He was quite warm now, 
and very comfortable.
    
    While he was eating the Queen kept asking him questions. At first Edmund tried to 
remember that it is rude to speak with one's mouth full, but soon he forgot about this 
and thought only of trying to shovel down as much Turkish Delight as he could, and the 
more he ate the more he wanted to eat, and he never asked himself why the Queen should be 
so inquisitive. She got him to tell her that he had one brother and two sisters, and that 
one of his sisters had already been in Narnia and had met a Faun there, and that no one 
except himself and his brother and his sisters knew anything about Narnia. She seemed 
especially interested in the fact that there were four of them, and kept on coming back 
to it. "You are sure there are just four of you?" she asked. "Two Sons of Adam and two 
Daughters of Eve, neither more nor less?" and Edmund, with his mouth full of Turkish 
Delight, kept on saying, "Yes, I told you that before," and forgetting to call her "Your 
Majesty", but she didn't seem to mind now.
    
    At last the Turkish Delight was all finished and Edmund was looking very hard at the 
empty box and wishing that she would ask him whether he would like some more. Probably 
the Queen knew quite well what he was thinking; for she knew, though Edmund did not, that 
this was enchanted Turkish Delight and that anyone who had once tasted it would want more 
and more of it, and would even, if they were allowed, go on eating it till they killed 
themselves. But she did not offer him any more. Instead, she said to him,
    
    "Son of Adam, I should so much like to see your brother and your two sisters. Will 
you bring them to see me?"
    
    "I'll try," said Edmund, still looking at the empty box.
    
    "Because, if you did come again-bringing them with you of course-I'd be able to give 
you some more Turkish Delight. I can't do it now, the magic will only work once. In my 
own house it would be another matter."
    
    "Why can't we go to your house now?" said Edmund. When he had first got on to the 
sledge he had been afraid that she might drive away with him to some unknown place from 
which he would not be able to get back; but he had forgotten about that fear now.
    
    "It is a lovely place, my house," said the Queen. "I am sure you would like it. There 
are whole rooms full of Turkish Delight, and what's more, I have no children of my own. I 
want a nice boy whom I could bring up as a Prince and who would be King of Narnia when I 
am gone. While he was Prince he would wear a gold crown and eat Turkish Delight all day 
long; and you are much the cleverest and handsomest young man I've ever met. I think I 
would like to make you the Prince-some day, when you bring the others to visit me."
    
    "Why not now?" said Edmund. His face had become very red and his mouth and fingers 
were sticky. He did not look either clever or handsome, whatever the Queen might say.
    
    "Oh, but if I took you there now," said she, "I shouldn't see your brother and your 
sisters. I very much want to know your charming relations. You are to be the Prince 
and-later on-the King; that is understood. But you must have courtiers and nobles. I will 
make your brother a Duke and your sisters Duchesses."
    
    "There's nothing special about them," said Edmund, "and, anyway, I could always bring 
them some other time."
    
    "Ah, but once you were in my house," said the Queen, "you might forget all about 
thern. You would be enjoying yourself so much that you wouldn't want the bother of going 
to fetch them. No. You must go back to your own country now and come to me another day, 
with them, you understand. It is no good coming without them."
    
    "But I don't even know the way back to my own country," pleaded Edmund. "That's 
easy," answered the Queen. "Do you see that lamp?" She pointed with her wand and Edmund 
turned and saw the same lamp-post under which Lucy had met the Faun. "Straight on, beyond 
that, is the way to the World of Men. And now look the other way'-here she pointed in the 
opposite direction-"and tell me if you can see two little hills rising above the trees."
    
    "I think I can," said Edmund.
    
    "Well, my house is between those two hills. So next time you come you have only to 
find the lamp-post and look for those two hills and walk through the wood till you reach 
my house. But remember-you must bring the others with you. I might have to be very angry 
with you if you came alone."
    
    "I'll do my best," said Edmund.
    
    "And, by the way," said the Queen, "you needn't tell them about me. It would be fun 
to keep it a secret between us two, wouldn't it? Make it a surprise for them. Just bring 
them along to the two hills-a clever boy like you will easily think of some excuse for 
doing that-and when you come to my house you could just say "Let's see who lives here" or 
something like that. I am sure that would be best. If your sister has met one of the 
Fauns, she may have heard strange stories about me-nasty stories that might make her 
afraid to come to me. Fauns will say anything, you know, and now-"