Turkish Delight

• The Queen asks Edmund whether he is a beardless dwarf. He explains that he is a boy. She asks if he is a "Son of Adam." Confused, Edmund doesn't answer. Finally the Queen, who is losing her patience, asks if he is human. He says yes.
• The Queen asks Edmund how he came to her country. He tells her about coming in through the wardrobe door, and she says that she has heard of doors from the world of men.
• Suddenly, the Queen raises her wand in anger. Edmund is sure she's going to harm him, but then she changes her mind and invites him to sit with her on the sledge, wrapped in her mantle.
• Edmund obeys the Queen and goes to sit at her feet. She offers him something hot to drink and he accepts.
• The Queen pours a single drop out of a strange bottle onto the snow. When it hits, it turns into a jeweled cup, full of a creamy, sweet, hot drink. Edmund thinks it is delicious.
• Next, the Queen offers Edmund something to eat. She asks what he would most like to eat at that moment, and he requests Turkish Delight.
• (We interrupt this plot summary for a quick Lesson in Tasty Confectionery: Turkish Delight, if you haven't had it, is a sweet gummy candy made with rosewater and nuts and covered in powdered sugar. It is really tasty, so we're not surprised that Edmund wanted some. The candy is common in lots of Middle Eastern cultures, not just in Turkey, and goes by many names. OK, now back to Edmund and the Queen!)
• The Queen uses her magic bottle again, and this time the drop turns into an enormous box of Turkish Delight.
• Edmund eats his way through several pounds of candy while the Queen asks him questions. The more Edmund eats, the more he wants. As he gets obsessed with the Turkish Delight, he answers all the Queen's questions without thinking.
• The Queen learns from Edmund that he has two sisters and one brother. Edmund also tells her about Lucy's previous visit to Narnia and her meeting with Mr. Tumnus.
• Eventually, Edmund finishes all the candy, and the Queen finishes her questions. Edmund is craving more Turkish Delight, and it turns out that the candy was enchanted so that anyone who ate it would want more and more of it forever. (We at Shmoop think all candy is like that, but apparently in this case it's magic.)
• The Queen promises Edmund that he can have more Turkish Delight when he brings his brother and sisters to her house.
• The Queen describes her house, telling Edmund that it has whole rooms full of Turkish Delight and that she would bring him up as her son, a Prince, and make him King after she was gone.
• Edmund wants to go to the Queen's house right away so that he can keep eating Turkish Delight, but the Queen tells him that he will need courtiers as a king, so he has to go and get his siblings.
• Edmund complains that he doesn't even know how to get home. The Queen tells him that the world of men is somewhere past the lamp-post. She also explains to him how to find her house, which is between two hills.
• The Queen tells Edmund that Lucy may have heard nasty stories about her from the Faun, and so he will need to trick his family into following him to her house. Edmund will agree to anything as long as there's more Turkish Delight at the end.
• The Queen tells the Dwarf to drive on and leaves Edmund standing alone in the snow.
• After the Queen is gone, Lucy arrives. She is excited that Edmund has made it into Narnia. He apologizes for not believing her before and asks her where she has been.
• Lucy says that she had lunch with Mr. Tumnus and he is fine, so the White Witch must not know about her previous visit to Narnia.
• Edmund asks who the White Witch is. Lucy explains that she calls herself Queen of Narnia, but she is really a usurper, and everyone hates her tyranny. Lucy describes the Witch's appearance and the way that she travels in a sledge, and Edmund realizes that it's the same woman he just met.
• Edmund tries to downplay Lucy's story about the White Witch, telling her that Fauns will say anything, which is something the Witch said to him.
• Lucy and Edmund head back to the wardrobe to go home. Lucy is excited, because she thinks now that Peter and Susan will have to believe her story. Edmund is less excited; he doesn't want to have to admit to them that he was wrong, and he feels like he and Lucy are already on opposite sides of Narnian politics.
• Lucy and Edmund arrive back in the spare room. Lucy notices that Edmund looks ill, and he feels quite sick but says he's OK.
• Lucy sets out to find Peter and Susan and tell them about the latest adventure.