In the Dark Castle Summary

Chapter 11, In the Dark Castle Summary

The knight tells his guests about the Queen's idea of making him king of some distant land. The Queen has promised to marry him when the time comes. At that moment the Queen is at a dig site where they are digging underneath a kingdom they plan to launch a sneak attack on. The hole should be near completion within the next day or two. Jill and Eustace are appalled at the knight's lack of concern for the people he intends to steal this kingdom from. The knight is not bothered, however.

They share a meal with the knight and then he sends them to hide in his other apartment. The knight explains that he is enchanted and every night for an hour he must be tied to a chair so that this enchantment cannot hurt anyone around him.

Chapter 12, The Queen of the Underland Summary

The queen arrives at the door and tells the creatures who are her guards to make sure she is not disturbed. The queen then confronts the prince, ignoring his attempts to accuse her of being an enchantress. Instead, the queen quietly quells his arguments while she dumps a handful of powder on the fire and begins to play a soft, musical instrument. Soon the occupants of the room begin to feel sleepy, enchanted. The prince continues to speak of his real life as Prince Rilian and of Narnia, but the queen quietly begins to convince him there is no Narnia. Soon everyone agrees. However, Puddleglum persists by describing the sun and the overworld. Again the queen convinces them there is no overworld. Then Puddleglum mentions Aslan. Everyone comes out the spell for a moment at the mention.

Chapter 13, Underland without the Queen Summary

After their rest, Jill, Rilian, Eustace, and Puddleglum discuss their next move. Rilian tells them about the horses in the stable that he wants to take. Since there will be many creatures by the sea, they should find the hole the queen was having dug and follow it to the surface. When everyone agrees, they slip out the door. What they see surprises them. The creatures, once sad and quiet, are now happy and noisy. Also in the distance is a great red light that all the creatures seem to be heading toward. The guards are gone and buildings are beginning to fall around them. Prince Rilian notices many of the creatures slipping through the shadows, however, and is concerned they are attempting some sort of military maneuver against them. The prince suggests great caution.

They retrieve the horses.

Chapter 14, The Bottom of the World Summary

The creature tells Rilian, Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum that the red chasm opened all of a sudden a few minutes ago and all the creatures seemed to have remembered at one time that they were all once creatures of the world below, Bism. It is as if they were all under a spell and forgot where they had come from or what they were. They are sneaking through the shadows because they expect the queen to come and stop them from escaping into Bism. Prince Rilian tells him the queen is dead and quickly the word spreads so that all the remaining creatures make their way to the chasm and return to where they came from.

The creature takes Rilian and his friends to the chasm and shows him the wonderful red lake in Bism.

Chapter 15, The Disappearance of Jill Summary

Jill climbs up on Puddleglum and finds a hole. Jill cannot tell at first what the hole opens onto because everything is dark and disorienting. Finally, however, she realizes it is nighttime and there are snowballs flying through the air. Jill has come out in Narnia where the Dwarfs and the fauns and Dryads are dancing. Jill tries to tell this to her friends, but they cannot hear her. Then the Dwarfs pull Jill out and her friends are convinced she has been taken prisoner or injured by some enemy. In reality, she has simply been helped by Narnians celebrating the first snow with the Great Snow Dance.

Eustace decides to climb up on Puddleglum next, unaware that the Dwarfs have gotten their tools and are trying to dig them out.

Chapter 16, The Healing of Harms Summary

When Jill wakes the next morning she is in the cave and for a brief moment believes she has been returned to the underland. However, she sees the sun shining through the cave opening and remembers all that happened the night before. A faun comes and tells Jill that they have received word that the king is on his way back and that the prince has already returned to Cair Paravel. Jill and Eustace are to join him by way of centaurs, a great honor, while Puddleglum will remain in the cave until a doctor can tend to his burned foot. After breakfast, Jill and Eustace ride the centaurs to the harbor where they watch Caspian being carried off the ship on a stretcher. It seems Caspian saw Aslan and was told of his son's return.

...