A/n: Thank you LOVEM, PeterCaspianRlz, QueenElenaofnarnia, EC, Aslanmane, CairParavel, Daphne, QueenLucyfan, Connors, GoldenAgeNarnia, Emma, Bella, Evalin Ashryver, Narniafan, Emily, and all the other guests. ;D

(National Art Museum of Archenland, Anvard)

~Lucy's POV~

After a day of catching up with my family members, it was time for me to explore Archenland. Explore Anvard, at least. And there was no better person than the Crown Princess — soon to be Queen — of Archenland I could ask for as my tour guide.

"I really wanted to pay a visit to this amazing museum when I was in Archenland last year," I said to Gilda as she showed me around. Not only was Kat with us, I also had my new maid in waiting with me — I was introduced to Madam Greta just yesterday. Her twin sister, Madam Marta, as well as their eldest sister, Lavinia, Lady Bulloch, Duchess of Kinross, served as Susan's handmaidens, whereas their sister Madam Louisa was Gilda's new maid in waiting, with us today as well.

"That was when you visited to negotiate a betrothal between myself and Caspian, correct?" Gilda asked.

"Yes. You know how much I love art," I grinned.

"Of course. I do remember your portraiture series of me and Caspian. It's called the Swan Sittings, right?" she winked.

"Right! Oh, it must have been so awkward and embarrassing for you and him back then. I thought it could bring you two closer together but it had only backfired. If only I had known that each of you was in love with someone else already I wouldn't have put you through all of that," I said apologetically.

"Worry not. You'd made up for it by giving me and Ed the idea of our elopement. So I don't think he and I would be together had it not been for you," she smiled. "Let me show you this series of portraits that basically documents my growth. At one end of the hallway you'll see me as an infant in my parents' arms. At the end, well, that one's painted just last year before I went to Narnia," she beamed. "Come this way."

We rounded a corner to get to a corridor that displayed many family portraits. They were pretty eye-catching; whenever King Nain was in the portrait, His Majesty was depicted as quite the family guy as opposed to his usual illustrious countenance. As for Queen Dionne, I found that cerise was a splendrous color on Her Majesty — she looked gorgeous in various hairstyles; I was envious of her for that! But still, I was distracted, my attention fully captured, by the sight of someone else at the far end of the gallery: Xavier.

It seemed Xavier was visiting the museum too with his brother Darren and their mother Amelia, the Duchess of Millville. I was then reminded that Her Grace was an Archenlander herself, from the noble Holloway family of Odessa.

"Your Majesties," said Lady Millville and her sons complaisantly.

"Your Grace, my Lords," said Gilda collectedly, echoed by myself and our handmaidens who trailed behind us. I could maintain my composure but I felt like I wasn't doing as good a job at that as Gilda at any moment could. I guessed it was because after all she was groomed and trained to be Queen and to behave that way. As for myself, I'd only ever learned, never coached.

I kept my eyes on Xavier the whole time and he held my gaze sorrowfully too. Perhaps our lingering eye contact was too pervasive and obvious that all the others in the gallery were making excuses to wend somewhere else, like G volunteering to show Duchess Amelia and Marquess Darren around, Kat and Greta returning to the Red Keep to tidy my wardrobe and chambers, blah blah blah, so that Xavier and I could have the privacy to chat.

As soon as everybody was out of earshot, the awkwardness between me and Xavier could be shattered. "Well, I don't want to run into anybody else here. Shall we go somewhere else to talk?" He asked.

"I'll go anywhere with you," I found myself replying softly.

"Then I have the perfect place in mind."

(Odessa, Archenland)

Xavier had whisked us away from Court and now our carriage had just arrived at a place called Odessa. "It's my mother's hometown. Although our chief residence is in Millville, we do come here to visit, from time to time. My brothers and I were born here, in fact."

"I see," I nodded and beamed, looking around and admiring the place. "I don't think I would have known about this beautiful, quaint place had it not been for you."

He grinned. "We can stay here for a while before going back to Narnia, after the regales and events this week."

His smile was so radiant it did crush me to say this. "I...don't think I can make it. I'll be back to Narnia briefly but then I still have to go back to Calormen by the end of the month."

His crestfallen facial expression was restored. "Oh. Right. I can't believe it had slipped my mind that you're not here to stay. I'm sorry; I should have remembered."

"Please don't say that you're sorry," I sighed. I was beginning to get frustrated with myself and I hated this feeling because I never knew if I ought to keep it in and let it wither away or if I should allow the flames to be fanned, let it accumulate and ultimately be unleashed. "You shouldn't be," I said crisply. "This is not your fault; it's all mine."

"Well, I just...I just wish that I could get to spend a little more time with you since I won't get to see you often," he expressed candidly and seemed to know exactly what he wanted to say and how he felt.

My face fell. It had pained me too. What agony it is to be separated from someone you feel so strongly for. "You could come to Calormen with me…" but what would be the point? I asked myself. Just so he could see me and Tomas together all the time? Ridiculous. I must remind myself to think of the carking affliction that I'd be putting him through. Would I be so cruel as to inflict that on him whom I claim to have feelings for? Would he still be able to love a woman, a Queen so flagitious? I wasn't like that with other people...only with him. Or perhaps I was overestimating the magnitude of any effect I had on him. I was not the center of the universe, although I'd like to think that I was the center of his.

"No, my presence would just get in the way…" he spoke, chapfallen like a tot who didn't receive anything for Christmas when everybody else had a pyramid of presents in ornate wrapping.

"But your letters won't. I'd be obliged to hear from you," I said hopefully. And now Father Christmas approaches the tot with a small gift.

"My letters?" He gave me an incredulous frown. "You...you received them?"

"I…" I gulped in realization. "I did."

"But I...I didn't receive any reply from you. I thought they were cut off by the messengers in Calormen. I wrote one after another, hoping at least a fortunate portion would fall into the right hands. But when I got no reply…" his doleful voice had trailed off. Once again a pang of contrition struck me, like a slap in the face.

"I had received every single one of them. I even kept them stacked up in a box after reading them," I confessed dismally. "And I did write the replies," I added. "But they're in the box too. I never sent any of them."

"Why would you write them but withhold them from me?" He asked emotionally. Should I be glad to see anything other than dolor and melancholy surface?

"I thought that it would bring you even more sorrow! My sister has written to me and she's told me about her conversation with you. Every reply from me would be a sign of hope, a sign that you still stand a chance," I explained.

"Well, do I?" He queried, perturbed.

"I don't know. But what I do know is that you should have given up because I couldn't afford to give you any more hope," I said, keeping my tone flat but the tremble in my voice had betrayed me.

"Give up on what?! On you? On us? Is that what you truly want, Lucy?" To let loose his unhampered exasperation must have been a relief, but more than that, a privilege. He was not the one with a country to think of.

"Queen Lucy. Please. If you would refer to me as that thereafter, it would be so much easier for you to get over me," I advised. I wanted to be able to give him an easy way out, especially because I wasn't entitled to one.

"I don't WANT to get over you!"

"You NEED to!" I insisted. If it hurt so much to hold on, why couldn't we just let go and be done with each other already?

"Just like you need to be marrying the Tisroc for Narnia's sake, right?" He questioned icily. "But you're right. I can't not love the 'Queen' and just love 'Lucy', for that would be selfish, but you are selfless."

I gasped. "You don't believe that. You won't buy that. Who taught you to say that?" I demanded. "Was it Susan? Did she say that to you?" I was honestly not as selfless as he had made me out to be.

"No, it wasn't Her Majesty," he replied dismissively and reluctantly. "It doesn't matter who it was. He's right anyway."

"A 'he'? Oh, by the Mane. Tomas has spoken with you," I concluded in shock. "When? Where? Why? How?"

"None of that matters," he shook his head dejectedly, turning on his heel and paced back to the carriage.

"Wait!" I exclaimed. "Xavier, listen to me, please," I said precipitately. "I said I didn't want to give you any hope. But I can give you something else." I walked up to him and took his hands in mine confidently. The warmth of his hands felt just right — I could never go back to coping with the frequent heat waves in Calormen. "I can give you my love. All of it, if you will accept it. But that is all that I can afford you, at the moment."

He remained silent, but the dejection had gone out of his eyes at my affirmation of my love for him. His gaze grew softer and he squeezed my hands. His body language had said it all.

"There are so many things I need you to understand, Xavier," I sighed softly.

"Teach me, then. I learn quick," he suggested, his tone just as soft as mine.

Placing my hands on his shoulders, I planted a kiss on his lips, followed by another, and another. His hands were on my waist when I looked him in the eyes and said, "first, you must learn to love Narnia as you love me."

(The suburbs of Archenland)

~Susan's POV~

I absolutely loved Archenlander cuisine, so tonight's dinner was very enjoyable, and I was so glad that Tyrone had found this wonderful restaurant for us to dine at. Apparently it was recommended to his parents by the Duke and Duchess of Millville. I wondered if Ed and G might ever get to visit this restaurant and see for themselves how scrumptious the prawns here were, or if they'd be having their every meal in Anvard Pass pretty much most of the time.

After dinner, we walked around some more and even got to be entertained with a fireworks display while we were on a canoe. It was honestly amazing and I was so happy and so was Ty.

As a result, though, I was pretty spent when we got back to our chambers and I just collapsed onto the bed facing down. I almost fell asleep, even, since the bed was so comfy, but I remembered that I had better get into more comfortable sleepwear first. So when I looked over my shoulder I had caught Tyrone getting out of his clothes. Not that it was anything embarrassing but I giggled. It was quite a different feeling, seeing him undress for the sake of getting into more comfortable clothes rather than for sex.

He saw my reaction and chuckled. He was wearing nothing but his underwear and he didn't look as if he was about to reach for his pajamas. "Need some help?" He pointed at my corset.

I nodded lazily, my cheek pushed against the pillow that felt cool and made me a hundred times sleepier suddenly.

"I'd be happy to," he said, kneeling on the bed as he unlaced my corset. My handmaidens had been thoughtful in packing my clothes. All of the outfits that I'd brought with me were the easiest ones to put on and remove. It was doing me a huge favor. I knew I had to thank Duchess Lavinia and Madam Marta quite profusely once I got back. Speaking of, they were probably with their sister Madam Greta at the moment managing my chambers as well as Lucy's, since Katrina wasn't around that often anymore. I sure hoped young Greta wasn't finding it all too much to handle.

With as little energy as possible, I shimmied out of my skirt and let Tyrone get me out of my petticoat and my hose. I also pulled my blouse over my head and placed it on top of my corset, as I let him feast his eyes on the exposed skin on my thighs and legs. He'd always found them sexy and he was damn right. I then felt his hands on me and instantly I knew there was only one thing he could be up to.

"Ty, I'm like, exhausted already," I complained, but didn't brush his hands away.

"Well, I could give you a massage," he offered lightheartedly. "But we both know, from experience, that we're just going to end up doing something else, and I'd still get what I want."

I knew I probably shouldn't be thinking about this, but I couldn't help but wonder if he ever behaved so affectionately with Lady Sophia, his ex that we had run into earlier today. Deciding to block these thoughts from my head, I turned around to face him and said resolutely, "I want to be the one to give you want you want."

From the look on his face, I could tell that he thought I was going to stop him before we got too far. But what I said had surprised him. "Of course, Susan. You're my wife. Naturally I'd be —" he sighed. "You're not thinking about Sophia, are you?"

I pouted and looked away. He could read my mind so easily. "No," I insisted stubbornly. "Why would I even spend time thinking about her? She's not my competition, is she? It's not like she's the one who's married to you, right? She's probably never going to be part of our lives again, so whatever. I don't care."

He lied down next to me instead and took my hand in reassurance. "Honey, if anyone should be jealous, it's her, of you. Not the other way around."

"I know, but she's quite attractive and she's must have had something special with you, at least once upon a time."

"And you're not attractive, sweetheart? Don't you have something special with me too?"

I blinked at him softly. "That's true."

"Right. So what is it that you think she has but you don't?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "She was your first."

"And you'll be my last, darling. My only. Isn't that what truly matters anyway? I don't really care about your exes either —"

"Because they've been dead for more than a millennium," I added. "Sophia's very much alive and apparently she wants to invite you to her residence."

"Sweetheart," he said tenderly.

"You're mine," I protested. "I don't ever want to have to share you, with her, or with anyone."

"I'm yours indeed. Only yours," he cooed.

"And you promise you'll always love me?"

"Of course, love. I'll always love you just as you'll always love me. I promise. Would you like me to prove my love true to you?"

I smiled. "With a massage?"

He winked. "To start with."

(The Red Keep, Anvard Pass, Archenland)

~Lucy's POV~

Catching up with my family had certainly reminded me of my promise to Susan, that I would break it off with Tomas if my heart was telling me to choose Xavier instead. And just today I had asked/instructed/requested/wanted him to learn to love Narnia as he loved me. But even if he could do that, there would be no point if my heart wasn't set on leaving Tomas for him anyway. I knew then that it had come down to a choice between my love for Narnia and my love for Xavier. It looked simple, but was never easy.

I remembered the day of my coronation. I had sworn to put Narnia above all else. This was my vow and in return Aslan had permitted a crown to be placed atop my head. I had taken an oath, and the Great Lion was witness to it, but I had also made a promise to my own sister, and I knew Aslan was aware of it too. He was omniscient and nothing could ever escape His notice.

It seemed to me that either way, I would have to go back on my word, and damage would be done somehow. So if that was the case, which promise should I choose to break?

A/n: Susan may have Tyrone's reassurance now but Sophia will for sure return to pose a threat to the marriage between Su and Ty in the near future. Anyhoo, there will be more Madeleine in the next chapter and her relationship with Peter may be about to take a turn.