Chapter 14

1951, Somewhere in Central Europe

"Ileana. Ileana, please. Ileana." Edmund chased after Lena through the streets. She was fast and angry; she didn't care who she bumped into or pushed out of her way. Edmund tried to be more apologetic about it and it slowed him down, but eventually he caught up to her.

"Lena, please…"

"*Lasciami." She shoved off his arm.

"No, Lena, please look at me." She allowed him to gently turn her around. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't know." He wiped away her tears and leaned his forehead against hers. "I didn't know."

She cried softly as she leaned into him.

"You don't have to do this. I don't care what Daniels says; we'll…we'll leave." Even as he said it, Edmund knew leaving would never work.

"And go where? They know about Meri. They'll be waiting for me. There is no escape."

"I'll…I'll protect you."

"Protect me? As the best swordsman in Narnia?"

"Yes."

Lena pulled back. "But we're not in Narnia. You are not a king in this world; your life would be forfeit same as mine." She huffed and looked off to the side. "Even in this world my life is not my own. I will never be free of what they made me. Once a puttana, always a puttana."

"You are not a puttana," he said adamantly, stepping forward. "You are the strongest person I know. You are absolutely amazing, stunningly beautiful, and you are…"

"Without choice," she finished for him. "You can see that, can't you? They have me trapped; I have no choice. I must do as requested or else…" Her voiced faded. "They executed traitors in Narnia, beheading them, shaming them and their family."

"I know," Edmund replied gravely.

Tears came back to her eyes. "I cannot do that to Meri. I…I will have to make occasioni with him. But you…" She stepped away once more. "You should not be there. I do not think I want you to see me like that."

"It doesn't matter," he said, once more stepping forward and closing the distance between them. "My life is forfeit without you, Lena. I go where you go. I will not leave you to them. Promesso."

Later that day

"Pete? Peter, are you there?"

"Yeah, Ed, I'm here." The line was fuzzy and it was difficult to hear. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, I've messed up." Edmund's voice cracked as he looked at Lena across the small pub. She was sitting alone at their table, waiting for him to return, and nursing a pint of ale between her fits of tears; she had just called Caterina to inform Meri that she would not be coming home just yet.

"I'm sure it's not half as bad as you think it is," Peter reasoned. "But tell me anyways."

Edmund knew the line he was on wasn't secure, so he told his brother, his confidant, his High King, everything that had transpired in the last hour using as few words as he could. Peter understood well.

"I must have changed something somewhere, and quite royally messed it up."

"You say she admitted to flirting, dancing, and permitting the unseemly groping hand?"

"Yes, but she swore she never laid with them. And now…"

"And now she still has not laid with them," Peter said calmly. "I believe in you, Ed. I believe you will still find a way around this, but you must believe it as well. Trust in Aslan; He will not let you down."

The line clicked suddenly and turned to static.

"Peter? Peter?"

It was no use; the call was dropped. Edmund placed the receiver back on the hook. He looked back at Lena and prayed.

"Aslan, please show me the way. Help me protect her." He felt rather than heard a gentle purring in his chest that said, Trust. "I will," he whispered. "I do. Always."

Edmund took a deep breath and made his way back to the table. Lena did not look up at him even as he slid her pint closer and took a hearty drink from it. He reached for her hand.

"You won't have to go through with it," he said. She tried to pull her hand back. "No, Lena please, look at me."

Finally her eyes looked up; they were broken, and hollow, and red around the edges.

"You won't have to go through with it. I will tear the place apart. I will turn over every leaf, search under every stone until we have the information we need. And then we will get out of there. You will not have to make occasioni with the Polkovnik."

"And what if we fail?" she asked quietly.

"Failure isn't an option. I swear it to you. Just please, trust me."

There was a pause. Then she nodded. "I do. I do trust you."

Narnia

Christmas morning dawned with a fresh blanket of snow and Sara jumping onto Lena's bed.

"Mamma! Mamma! It's Chris'mas! Time to wake up!" Lena groaned and tried to continue sleeping but Sara crawled under the covers with her. She placed her hands on both sides of Lena's face and leaned in very close.

"Ma-mma," she drew out. "It's Chris'mas."

Lena mimicked Sara's actions. "Sarina, mi amore…" She smiled. "What are we doing in bed then?"

Lena started tickling Sara mercilessly. She squirmed and squealed with laughter until they were both out of breath and lying in a rumpled heap on the bed.

"All right, come one. Let's get up," Lena said with only mild reluctance; her covers had been quite warm and she'd had a rather pleasant—but possibly slightly inappropriate dream about King Edmund, and it wasn't her first one.

Sara scrambled from the bed and danced about the room singing the refrain of Jingle Bells as Lena dressed. With all of Sara's uncontained excitement over Christmas morning, Lena was concerned about the fallout that would occur when they made it downstairs and Sara saw that there was not a tree with presents stuffed beneath it. Sara, however, didn't even seem to notice the lack of tree; she ran straight to Edmund's arms. Lena smiled and bit back tears.

There may not have been a tree stuffed with presents, but there were presents. After sharing a family breakfast together, there was a small gift exchange. Sara got a new dress and some toys from Susan, Lucy and Peter. Edmund had given her a play sword that Lena wasn't too thrilled about but Sara was so in love with it, Lena couldn't deny her the bit of happiness it brought.

"A Princess needs a popper sord, Mamma, to fight de Pirate King," she said.

Meri had also received a dress, a few books, and a lute.

"You'll have to play for us once you learn how," Peter said. Even as he spoke Meri was already picking out a few chords.

Lena looked to Edmund and he nodded. "All right, there's one last gift, but we have to go outside first."

They all put on thick cloaks and made for a nearby terrace. On cue, Mr. Koff brought around the corner Meri and Sara's final gifts: a mare as white as the surrounding snow, and a pony with golden hair.

"A pony!" Sara squealed as she clapped her hands in delight.

"Careful, Love, you don't want to frighten him," Susan said, taking Sara's hand and leading her over.

"She's beautiful," Meri said in awe as she walked to her own gift.

"There are conditions," Lena said.

"Conditions?" Meri turned around. "What sort of conditions?"

"Daughter of a King or not, no daughter of mine is going to be a spoiled Princess. You will be responsible for her. You will feed her, groom her, and muck out her stalls at least twice a week—granted, it should be done more often than that, but you will have to personally do it at least twice." Lena looked towards Edmund. That had been something they disagreed on; Lena thought it should be everyday but Edmund said some days it might be impossible with the daily duties in the way. So, they made a compromise.

"That's…acceptable. What's her name?"

"She's waiting on you to name her."

"Mine's named Sugar," Sara said gleefully. "Because he likes sugar." She squealed as his lips tickled her hand, where Lena assumed she had just fed him a lump of sugar.

"I think…" Meri gently brushed her hand over the mare's white coat. "Bianca." The horse whinnied and turned its head towards Meri. "You like that, do you?"

While the girls acquainted themselves with their gifts, Edmund moved in closer to Lena.

"They'll be fine," he said. "Meri has shown exceptional skill. Philip says she is ready to be on her own."

"And you trust him? I don't mean…" Lena sighed. "It's just, it will be different, I imagine, being on non-talking horse if something goes wrong…?"

"Yes. It will be different, but Meri knows what to do. She can handle it."

"And Sara? She hasn't had a single lesson."

"But she will. When it gets warmer. And that's why we went with the old pony. He's gentle enough for young children."

Lena nodded but she still wasn't entirely at ease. Edmund ran a hand across the back of her shoulders and drew her in close so that her head rested on his shoulder. It showed a mild intimacy that neither acknowledged. It was interrupted by the distant jingle of bells and Lucy's excited gasp.

"Peter! Susan! Do you think it's him?"

"Who?" Meri asked. "What's going on?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Lena said softly.

"Come on!" Lucy said excitedly as she led the way out of the terrace and through the adjoining garden, looking very much like a little girl on Christmas morning herself rather than the Queen she was.

"What?"

"Come on; we best follow her. If she's right about this, and she usually is, you're going to have to see for yourself," Edmund said.

Susan had already helped Sara down and they were following after Lucy. Lena and Edmund went after Meri and Peter. They wound their way through the gardens following the sound of bells until they came out onto the castle grounds. Sitting in the snow was a large wooden sled being led by no less than eight reindeer. A man in thick winter robes and long gray hair stood by the sled; Lucy was hugging him.

"Queen Lucy, it's great to see you as well," the man said with a jolly laugh.

Sara squealed excitedly again. "Babbo Natale? Is it really you?"

"Indeed it is, my Princess." The man gave a little bow. Sara ran forward to hug him just as Lucy had done.

"Merry Christmas, Sir," Meri said stepping forward slowly.

"Merry Christmas, Princess Merina." He bowed again.

Lena leaned in towards Edmund with a smile and whispered. "Don't you think this is a bit much, Ed. You didn't have to do this."

"Do what? I had nothing to do with this."

Lena looked at him skeptically. "Well, it doesn't seem like something Susan would do."

"She didn't." Edmund laughed. "We didn't ask him to come; we never know when he's going to stop by for a visit. He just does. I think he's here for the three of you this time."

"Mamma! Mamma! Look! It's Babbo Natale!" Sara shouted as she took Lena's hand and pulled her to the front with Meri. Lena smiled politely.

"Merry Christmas, Sir."

"Buon Natale, Signora Ileana." The man took Lena's hand and kissed the back of it.

Lena had to admit the man was good. He certainly looked the part of Babbo Natale, from his round belly to his beard. He even had an overstuffed bag in the back of his sled. Whichever Pevensie had put this together, Lena would have to thank them later; Sara was ecstatic.

"Now, I think a few gifts are in order, don't you agree, Princess Sarina?"

"If you think so, Babbo Natale," Sara replied. Lena wasn't sure how much more excitement Sara could express.

The man pulled out the large bag and set in the snow before them. Lena saw a wide assortment of gifts and toys tucked inside; he must have been really dedicated to this role. He rummaged through it a bit before bringing out a pony-sized saddle. He set the saddle in the snow before Sara.

"For you and Sugar," he said. Wait. How did he know the pony's name already? "This saddle will not let you fall; something I'm sure your Mamma will be pleased to hear." He glanced up at Lena with a knowing smile. "And because no little Princess can ever have enough of these…" He pulled out a doll and a toy horse, who, strangely, looked a good deal like Sara and Sugar.

Sara gasped. "Thank you, Babbo Natale." She hugged the doll and horse to her chest.

He turned his attention to Meri next. "And for you, Princess Merina, I give riding leathers crafted by the finest Narnian leather makers. Comfortable and impenetrable, no blade can pierce them."

"Blade? Why would she need to worry about a blade?" Lena said. Then the man pulled out a short thin sword.

"Unbelievable," Lena muttered disapprovingly.

"I leave you with the same warning I left the High King," he continued. Meri and Lena both looked over at Peter. "This is a weapon, not a toy. May it serve you well."

"I understand, Babbo Natale," Meri said in a very solemn voice. Lena noticed something different about her daughter then, a maturity that hadn't been there only seconds before. It was like she had grown in the blink of an eye and she was no longer a child. Lena didn't like it.

"Look, Sir, this is all very generous of you and I'm sure you mean well, but I don't know what you think my daughter is going to be doing exactly, but I assure you she will not need a sword like that."

The man had the gall to take her hands again. He, at least, looked sympathetic. "My Dear Ileana, you who lost your childhood too soon now desperately crave that your daughters retain theirs. And I pray that they may." Then he embraced her and whispered in her ear.

The rest of the day was spent building snow castles, toppling said castles with snow balls, warming hands with hot chocolate and bodies by the fire, and then going back outside to do it all over again. Meri and Sara of course both wanted to ride Bianca and Sugar. Peter put Sara up on her new saddle and walked around with her. Lena was worried about Sara spending too much time in the cold air, but she never displayed any signs of a cough or labored breathing. That night, Sara fell asleep on Peter's lap. So instead of potentially waking her by passing her off, he and Meri offered to take her to bed.

"Are you sure?" Lena whispered. "Perhaps I should go as well."

"No, Mamma. We can handle this. Besides, Uncle Peter needs the practice."

And they were gone. Susan and Lucy followed soon after.

"Hey, Lu, remember you said you were going to help me with that thing?"

"What thing?"

"That very important thing we needed to discuss." Susan's eyes flicked briefly towards Edmund and Lena. Lucy's gaze followed.

"Oh! Oh, right! Yeah, I'm coming. So sorry I forgot about that. How could I forget about that?"

Susan had the grace not to roll her eyes as she and Lucy left.

"Why do I get the feeling we're being set up?" Lena asked.

"Because my sisters are rubbish at covert operations," Edmund replied as he handed Lena a glass of wine.

"Lucy is too genuinely sweet to be deceptive. Susan, however…" Lena let her voice drift away as she winked and took a sip. She looked around at the quiet and empty parlor. Even Nalsa was further away then she usually was. "So, your siblings and by the looks of it the castle staff have conspired to get us alone."

"So it would seem," he repeated.

"Whatever shall we do about it?"

Edmund grinned and held out his hand. "Take a walk with me?"

Lena took his hand and allowed him to pull her up. Then she looped her arm through his as they walked the halls slowly. Nalsa remained at a distance and the castle staff remained scarce. Lena was beginning to suspect a deeper conspiracy, but as she tightened her hold on Edmund's arm and he smiled at her, she wasn't going to complain.

"So," she began taking a sip of wine. "The girls are in bed now; you can be candid with me. Who was that man earlier? Where did you find him? Does he live on one of the islands?"

Edmund laughed and answered her questions one at a time. "I don't actually know where he lives. We didn't find him; like I said, he usually just finds us. He was Father Christmas, or as you call him Babbo Natale."

"Ed," she said skeptically.

"Lena, you are in a world where Fauns are common place, Trees walk, and good Beasts talk. You were actually born in this world, thirteen hundred years from now, and yet you traveled here from a different world entirely. But the fact that Father Christmas is real is beyond your scope of belief?"

Lena sighed. He had a point, she supposed, and when did they start using nicknames exactly? "A girl has her limits, I guess."

He smiled. "Look, I know you're not thrilled with Meri's gifts…"

"Couldn't she have gotten a doll that looks like her and Bianca?"

"Bu on their first visit Lucy got a healing cordial and a dagger, Susan got a bow and horn, and Peter got a sword and shield," Edmund continued.

"So, you're saying Babbo Natale is a *pazzo with a history of giving children dangerous weapons?"

"I'm saying he's more saint than pazzo and he has a way of giving us exactly what we need."

"But Meri…"

"Meri, like with anything she does has some skill with the sword already. And with my continued instruction she may well become the second best swordsperson in Narnia. And I imagine you would rather have her well trained than not at all."

"I would rather she not have to worry about something like that in the first place," Lena replied a little testily. Edmund pulled away slightly and looked hurt. "But," she sighed and reached for him. "I am glad you're here to instruct her. Your instruction was invaluable in the field, and I know you wish for her safety as much as I." Edmund smiled again.

They came to the end of a hall where a large window led out to a balcony. They stopped to watch the snow fall, but it was dark and too cold to step outside. They turned back. Edmund stopped them about halfway.

"I have a confession to make," he said as he withdrew his arm from Lena's.

"Oh? And what is that?"

"I had a small part to play in the sudden elusiveness of the local Narnians."

Lena grinned. "You were in on the conspiracy."

"Not a conspiracy. The sudden elusiveness of the…oh all right, the conspiracy," he amended upon Lena's gaze. Then he pulled something out of his pocket. "I, ah, I got you something…for Christmas."

Lena wanted to tease him, but she saw how nervous he suddenly was. "Thanks, Edmund. But you know you didn't have to do that, right?"

"Yeah, I know," he nodded. "I…I just wanted to."

Lena traded him her glass for the box. She untied the string, slid the wrappings off, and opened the lid with soft click. Lying on a bed of velveteen cloth was a bracelet woven in gold. At its core there lay a pearl more luminescent than any she'd ever seen. She gasped.

"Oh, Ed…"

"Do you like it? If—if it's too much or inappropriate, I can…"

"It's stunning and don't you dare take it back," she interrupted his nervous ranting.

He sighed in visible relief. "Oh, good. I'm really glad you like it."

"This must have cost a fortune."

"Not at all actually. Sara and I found the pearl one day on the beach. Pirate's treasure."

"Oh, of course."

"She said I had to give it to the Pirate Princess."

Lena bit back the sudden rush of tears. "She said that? She remembered that?"

Edmund nodded. "So I had it woven into this bracelet, Dwarven made, but I told her I wasn't sure who the Pirate Princess was. She said…"

"'The Pirate Princess falls in love with the Pirate King,'" Lena finished for him. "Silly, Eddie, how did you not know that?"

"Yes well…" he laughed; it was a nervous laugh though. "Would you like me to clip it on for you?"

"Yes please."

Lena held out her wrist in askance. After setting the cup down, Edmund stepped in closer to her. His fingers worked deftly to clasp the bracelet about her wrist. Even after he was done he held her hand within his. Then he kissed the back of her knuckles softly. Lena closed her eyes at the touch.

"I cannot give you a gift greater than the one you've already been given," Babbo Natale whispered softly in Lena's ear so that only she could hear. "Time. Try not to waste what little remains."

While Edmund still held the one hand, Lena used the other to draw his lips to hers. She kissed him. He returned the kiss with a tender hesitance.

"I have no gift to give in return," she said softly. "I'd offer you my heart, but it is already yours. Now and always."

"Then there could be nothing for which I would ask."

She smiled and drew him in for another kiss.

*Translations

Lasciami: leave me

Pazzo: madman

Eeeep... First kiss (sort of...for Edmund's part at least. This whole time thing can be confusing.) I do hope it didn't disappoint. And what does this mean for them now? Hmmm...guess you'll have to wait and see.