"Well," she says, still teasing, laughing, "if you wish us to answer your questions, I fear you may have to, yes," she says, because she knows men like this.

Men who come to Narnia through different routes. Those are always someone looking for an answer. "And we are all at a ball, so I fear that is the only way," she says, although she's not entirely serious. If he were to ask her truly, she would tell him.

But he has to earn it, just a little.