Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.

Summary: Less than ten years before the White Witch conquers Narnia, tragedy struck the royal family and in its midst, Aslan reminded them that life goes on...

A/N: This is part of my A Light in the Darkness universe and it is part of my Pre-Winter story cycle and ties in with Praying for the Children. I recommend reading Praying for Children first, but you can give this one a whirl on its own too.

Part Six

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18 Mayblossom 889

All Cair Paravel was in mourning. The day itself was overcast as well, which seemed fitting in Leathan's mind, considering the funeral for his mother and grandmother had just concluded. Fortunately, the Galman trade delegation had agreed to delay further negotiations until the following week as a sign of respect for the loss of the Queen Consort. Unfortunately, the meeting with the army's topmost officers was scheduled for that afternoon, in only three hours' time. And, this after they had rescheduled from the night before because his father had never emerged from his room after he ordered two decanters of white milon wine, one of their strongest vintages, then banished his valet from the royal wing…the poor old Faun had been completely distraught. Llewellyn had already volunteered to make sure their father appeared for the meeting and Leathan did not envy his older brother the task.

Leathan wasn't sure where Levi and Llewellyn had gone, but he was more concerned with checking on Leith…the younger boy had nearly been late to the funeral. Actually, Petraeus had been the one to fetch him from wherever he had hidden himself. But, Leith had run back into the palace as soon as the funeral concluded. Leathan fought the sudden urge to shiver as he walked past the guards at the entrance to the royal wing, over half of them were new, but it wasn't just the change in guards…

A muffled shout came from one of the bedrooms down the hall. Leathan picked up his pace to run just as he spotted Llewellyn coming running from the other direction. They hit the doors at the same time only to stop stock still at the sight of the twins rolling on the floor fighting with each other. Leathan exchanged an alarmed look with Llewellyn before they charged forward and pried the twins off each other. "What is going on?!"

Neither twin looked at him. They both fixed their gazes on the opposite side. Leathan looked at Llewellyn and his older brother demanded with quiet force, "Liam, Leb, what is going on?"

Liam muttered, "It was nothing, just a disagreement."

Leathan exchanged a look with Llewellyn then he glanced at the water clock in the corner. Llewellyn gave an almost imperceptible nod then returned his cool gaze to the twins. "Liam, Leb, whatever is going on between you two, this disagreement, must be resolved and not here in the family wing when you could disturb the baby or cause her presence to be prematurely revealed. Nor will it be resolved in any manner that will cause further distress for our family or our people. You will resolve it under the supervision of Lieutenant Cadfael in the training yard. Now."

Liam and Leb didn't argue, for once not even offering a token protest to their oldest brother. Instead, they just turned and walked out of the room, side-by-side (as they almost always were). Leathan and Llewellyn exchanged a long look before Llewellyn shrugged, "I must see if I can get Da to come to the meeting. Let's trust that Cadfael will keep those two from accidentally breaking bones."

Leathan nodded, "Have you seen Leith?"

Llewellyn smiled slightly, "He's in the nursery, trying to get Alambiel to smile. Apparently, he's decided our sister likes him best."

Leathan couldn't help chuckling as he recalled Leith's rather unimpressed reaction when their nephew was born just over a year ago. "So, he likes Alambiel better than he liked Gavyn?"

His eldest brother shook his head, "Apparently. But perhaps it is simply because she is our last tie to Mama…and Mama made more of an effort to get Leith involved and excited about the baby than Melissa and I did." He shrugged and looked away, but Leathan could still make out the half-whisper, "Perhaps we should have listened to Mama's advice more. She knew what we didn't."

Leathan frowned, unsure of whether his brother was referring to himself and his wife or to something more painful to contemplate… "Do you think she knew this would happen? That she would be torn away from us?"

Llewellyn looked at him and Leathan could see the honest grief and hurt in his brother's brown eyes, the same grief and hurt that he knew were in his own eyes. "I do not know. Mama had seemed preoccupied the whole time Da was gone, but I had thought it was just because he was gone, but maybe that wasn't the reason…or at least not the whole reason." He sighed then clapped Leathan on his shoulder, "It does not matter now, I suppose, and we shall never know. Go to the council room, I will be there with Da, Aslan willing."

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Llewellyn straightened his shoulders and made sure he portrayed the confidence and strength required of him before he entered the council room. All were present, even the three senior members of the Parliament of Owls, and all eyes turned toward him as he walked into the room…alone. "King Lew stills mourns his queen and he is not to join us today. I will speak in his stead for this council." No one protested and Llewellyn wondered at the looks exchanged between the soldiers who had accompanied his father, but the reaction and fallout would have been worse were it known that King Lew the Resolute had locked himself in his chambers with naught but a bottle of wine for the second day in a row.

The Faun General Tiberius made his report in the same gruff tones as always. There were reports of more Fell sightings along Narnia's western and northern borders, and the Tree Guard had driven off and killed over thirty Fell in the last two days. Perhaps the attack that killed the Queen and her mother had been meant as a distraction or they had meant to attack any civilian outside the Cair's walls. So many theories and possibilities, but none could explain how the Fell troop had slipped through the outer perimeter of patrols and Cair Paravel's outlying guard posts. Then came the recommendation that Llewellyn had been privately dreading since before the meeting began. General Tiberius turned to him, "Your highness, because of the betrayal by Canute Windwolf and the necessity of flushing out any further traitors hidden among our midst, I recommend we close the borders. No ships are to leave the harbor and no one is to cross into or out of Narnia, not even through the pass to Archenland. The captains and I have vetted six battalions thus far whom I would assign to the immediate securing of the border and relieving the current patrols until we can assess them as well."

Lord Ryen stirred at that pronouncement as Llewellyn had suspected he would, "General Tiberius, we still have many among the court whose families went to represent us at Anvard's celebration of the birth of the twin princes. What of them? How are they to return home if we do not permit them to cross the border? Shall we at least send word to them regarding the reason their return is so delayed?"

Tiberius shook his head, "No, no missives regarding our defensive actions shall be sent. By necessity, we cannot allow anyone across the border, not even those of Narnia who are currently outside her borders."

"How long do you recommend the borders remain sealed? Narnia can be self-sufficient for a century or more, but we cannot neglect the islands nor our allies for overlong. Isolation will hurt us if it goes on for too long."

General Tiberius bowed to him, "You are correct, Crown Prince, but Narnia needs only close her borders long enough to shore up the strength of our patrols and flush out what other traitors may be in our midst. We must close the borders for a fortnight at least. At that time we may reconvene and I will have a better report concerning whether or not the borders can be reopened."

Llewellyn nodded then scanned the grim faces of the council, "Are there any other matters that need to be addressed?" None spoke, not even Lord Ryen, and Llewellyn nodded, "Then this council is adjourned."

Leaving the room, he was careful to keep his dismay from showing at the thought of being separated from Melissa and Gavyn for a fortnight at the least. He knew his Archenlandish wife was not always comfortable in Narnia and she was often happiest when they visited her family in Archenland, but by the Lion, he wished she was here with their son, and then he would know for certain that his little family was safe. But then again, perhaps they were safer outside of Narnia at the moment.

His bitter musings chased him all the way to the Royal family wing and down the hall. For a moment, he looked at the closed door to his father's quarters but it would be better to leave him to grieve for now. He slipped inside the nursery and patted Leith on the back, "Did you make her smile?"

Leith grinned and nodded, "Yes and…" His little brother was the picture of affronted disgust as he continued in a confidential tone, "And then she spit up on me. Silly little star." Llewellyn tried not to laugh at his brother's expense, but then Leith leaned closer and added, "I told her that next time she needs to spit up on Leb or Liam."

Llewellyn's shoulders shook from the effort of keeping his laughter subdued. "And where is our little star now?"

"Briarwind took her because she was fussing about her stomach being empty."

He frowned, "Alambiel was crying? How loudly?"

Leith shook his head as he pulled out one of the picture books Llewellyn remembered reading to the twins and Leith as well when they were babies. "She wasn't loud and it wasn't really crying, not like what happened with Gavyn. She sounds like the kitten we found last year, the one who was too little to be away from her mama."

Llewellyn squeezed his brother's shoulder when Leith looked down for a moment then scrubbed his eyes with his sleeve. "Planning to read to her?"

Leith looked down at the picture book, "She's too little to understand, but Tuulea and Grandda said we should all take turns holding her and reading to her so she knows she's safe." He looked back up with wide brown eyes, obviously consumed with a new thought, "What about Da? How will Alambiel know she's safe if Da never holds her and talks to her?"

Llewellyn pulled his brother in for a side hug, "Da will come hold and talk to Alambiel too. We just need to let him have some time to sort out all the ways he's hurting right now. Don't worry, Leith. We'll make sure Alambiel knows she's safe."

The door opened and Leith pulled away as Briarwind came back in holding their sister. Leith glanced at him then held up the picture book, "It's your turn to hold her and talk to her." Llewellyn nodded as he accepted the little bundle that was Alambiel. Such a little star. He glanced at the rocking chair Mama had always used, but he couldn't make himself sit there. Instead, he walked over to the settee nestled against the wall opposite of the crib. He jerked his head in a silent invitation to Leith, who immediately clambered up beside him. "You read the story and I'll hold her. After all, you are her favorite big brother."

Leith's face lit up and he opened the book, "Okay, Alambiel, this is the story of the Tabby Cat, Sitka, who had to teach the silly Puppy named Juneau a lesson in manners. Here look." He held the picture book in front of the baby, pointing, "This is Juneau and Sitka. Now for the story, but don't worry, I'll make sure you see all the pictures. I know you like them. Llewellyn, look, she's smiling again." Llewellyn chuckled as the baby blinked slowly, her smile changing into a tiny yawn, but Leith never noticed as the boy started reading the story that had originally been passed down by the first Queen of Narnia. It wasn't the same as holding Gavyn, but at least Alambiel would know her brothers loved her and she was safe.

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A/N: Please Read and Review!

A/N2: Have a Happy Thanksgiving!