Lena awoke, the events of the last twelve hours a hazy blur. The bruises on her arms where he had pinned her down were the first things she saw, the dress he ripped, now lying on the floor, was the second. She pushed herself up in bed only to feel another bruise on the back of her shoulder from where he had slammed her into the wall. If she looked hard enough, she could still see the blood on her hands from where she shoved the knife in his neck to return the favor.

After the terror came a euphoric bliss she'd never felt before. Lena could still remember the look in Little King's eye as he reached his own bliss. She could remember the feel of his lips on her skin, the weight of his body against hers, and the way he felt moving inside her.

But where was Little King now? The space in the bed beside her was empty and they'd only gotten the one room. The door to the toilet was open, so he wasn't in there either. A gipping fear took hold of her. They'd been found! They came for him and left her in a foreign country alone.

Little King was dead.

Air escaped her as panic set in. She couldn't breathe. She was going to die too. She'd never see Meri again. Never get to hear her laugh, never get to dry her tears, never earn the title of Mamma.

There was a scraping of metal on metal as someone tried to unlock the door. They were coming for her! She knew what men like that would do to her. She wasn't going back to that life.

Lena wrapped herself in the sheets and looked around for anything she could use as a weapon. She saw the bloody knife lying on the floor.

Wait. That can't be right, she thought.

Lena blinked. It wasn't the same knife. It was much smaller, less bloody. It was one of Little King's throwing knives; it must have fallen out of his holder in the midst of their romp. Lena grabbed it quickly and threw it at the head that appeared behind the door. It landed with a thud in the door frame behind it. Lena grabbed another knife and prepared to throw.

"Wait! Ileana, it's me!"

"Edmund?"

Little King poked his head around the door, one hand raised in surrender. He stepped into the room slowly, locking the door behind him. One arm was braced against his ribs and carrying a bag. It took a little effort, but he pulled the knife from the wall on his way in.

"That was a good throw," he said with a smile.

"You're alive."

Little King paused in his movements, his expression turning grave. "Thanks to you."

The weight of words left unspoken hung heavy in the air between them. Lena flashed back to the look in his eye as he told her to run before launching himself at the Polkovnik. She shook the image out of her head.

Little King moved slowly towards the bed and dropped the bag on it; every step clearly sent a shockwave of pain through him. "I bought us some clothes, though, I do like that dress you're wearing." He smirked cheekily over his shoulder.

Lena knew he was trying to lighten the mood to put her at ease, but it would take more than that to pull her off the edge she was on.

"And I... acquired us a new car," he added. By now, Lena knew better than to ask how he had gotten them a car. His mood turned somber again. "We shouldn't stay here long."

"You should have woken me," Lena said softly, still standing in the middle of the floor.

"I was going to, but you looked so...at peace. I didn't want to bring you back to reality just yet."

Lena let his words sink in a moment before moving to join him at the foot of the bed.

"Merda," he whispered as he tenderly fingered one of the bruises on her arms. Then he saw the one on her back and cursed more fervently. "I'm so sorry, Lena. I never should have let him touch you. It was a stupid mission."

"It doesn't matter." Her voice was less than a whisper.

"It does matter, Lena. I promised to protect you, but I failed you."

"You didn't fail me, Edmund. You got me out of there. You...you saved me."

"As you did me."

They both fell silent as they unwillingly recalled the events of the night before. Lena once again saw her hand as it drove the knife into the Polkovnik's neck. She felt his hands digging into her skin as he tore at her clothes. She looked at Edmund just as he turned his head to look at her. His eye was still swollen shut, but her stitching looked good. There was a thin red line trickling from his ear though.

"You're bleeding again." She reached up to wipe it away, her hand grazing across his cheek.

"Lena, I..."

Before she knew what was happening, she was kissing him again. She pulled his body close to hers; their injuries momentarily forgotten. Her dress of sheets fell to the floor before his new clothes joined them.

Lena fled the training grounds in a haze of tears and found a quiet corner of the castle to have a cry. Since arriving in Narnia, all Lena wanted to do was to return home and see Little King's face again. She wanted to feel his breath on her skin as he whispered "Ti amo," in her ear.

Now, a terrible thought occurred to her for the first time. What if there was no going back? What if it was already too late? What if, as punishment for her sins, she was meant to live in a world where Edmund didn't know her?

"You look like you could use this, Lena."

The voice, so gentle and friendly, was a welcomed relief. "*Grazie a Dio sei tu, Lu." Lena wanted to laugh as she looked beside her and into the warm, smiling eyes of her dearest friend, Lucy Pevensie. What she found though, was more of the same unfamiliarity. She leaned her head back against the wall as a fresh wave of tears threatened to spill.

"I'm sorry; you don't know me," she said.

"I really wish I did," Lucy replied. "I can't imagine how difficult this must be for you."

"But you...you called me Lena?"

"Do you not like that? I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have presumed. I just thought..."

"No! No, it's perfect."

"Oh! Good. I thought you might appreciate something a little more personal and friendly because the way I figure it, if you're married to my brother then you and I must be friends. You would need someone to complain to when Ed's being an ass."

The laughter was a nice change of pace from the crying. "Oh, Lu, I have missed you. You are right, of course; you and I are very good friends in the other world. Though, your brother swears up and down that I am a bad influence on you."

Lucy snorted in laughter and reached to her side. She pulled out two cups and a clay jar. "That just shows how little he knows. Would you like a drink?"

"If it's wine then you needn't ever ask."

"See, I knew we weren't just friends solely because of Edmund." Lucy smiled as she handed Lena her cup.

"Hmm, it reminds me of this red we like from Tuscany, with a hint of...something I can't quite place."

"That would probably be the Ash and Maple; they had a very big season this year and lent their wood to the fires."

"This...this is Narnian made wine?"

"It is. Is that alright?"

"Right now...I think I'm too depressed to be bothered by it. So, what shall we toast to?""

"How about the beginning of a wonderful friendship?"

"To a wonderful friendship," Lena repeated as she knocked her cup against Lucy's. They sat and talked for a few minutes before Lucy began asking about Meri and Sara.

"Why just hear about them when you can meet them?" Lena asked.

"Even better!" Lucy jumped to her feet with the spryness of a teenager. Then she helped Lena to hers. "Do you know where they are?"

"They should still be in Sara's music lesson, but I...I'm not sure of our location in relation to the music room."

"Oh! That's in the west wing. We're not far from it.

As they walked, with Lady Bea and Lucy's own Fox guard trailing behind, Lucy asked all sorts of questions concerning the girls. "What do they call me? What do I call them? What's our favorite thing to do together? How often do we see each other?"

When they arrived at the music room, Sara was singing a simple lullaby, slightly off key, while Meri played the chords on the piano. Lena and Lucy waited for them to finish before making their presence known.

"Oh brava! Brava!" Lucy clapped enthusiastically.

Sara turned around with excitement. "Lulu!" she screeched and ran over to them.

"Hello my little darling," Lucy replied, sweeping Sara into her arms with familiar

ease.

Meri turned to Lena in confusion. 'Did she know?' her eyes seemed to ask. Lena shook her head. But that was the way Lucy had always been.

"I don't know about this, Ed. Perhaps we should wait."

"It's Christmas, Lena; there isn't a better time than now," Edmund replied.

"Caterina says Christmas is the time to be with the people who mean the most to you," Meri chimed. "Unless you can spend it in New York."

"Which is precisely why we shouldn't impose ourselves on Ed's family. We're strangers to them."

"You are not strangers to them," Edmund claimed.

"Oh? And what's it called when you've never met someone before?"

"I only meant that, I've written to them so frequently and told them all about you that they all feel like they know you already. And you won't be an imposition, Lena. Peter and the girls, especially the girls, are all excited to see you face to face. Furthermore, Susan has planned this dinner meticulously. To cancel now would be impolite."

Edmund leaned in towards Lena, one arm sliding across the back of the seat behind her while the other went to her knee. He whispered in her ear in French.

"If the dinner turns out to be too dull and you need a bit of excitement, then perhaps we could leave Meri at my sister's while you and I return to my place where I'll show you a jolly happy Christmas." His hand slowly began to slide up her thigh, sending a spark of heat with it. Lena pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and closed her eyes as she relished the feel.

The taxi came to an abrupt halt, jarring them all.

"Oh! We're here!" Edmund's hand flew off her leg in excitement.

Meri and Lena crawled out of the car while Edmund paid the driver. Lena nervously straightened her dress and coat. Every inch of Lena's skin felt like it had something crawling on it, or was on fire, or perhaps both. Her fear and doubts were telling her to flee, to take Meri and run back to Sicily, or maybe fly to New York with Caterina.

Lena never thought she'd be in the position she was, not again. She never thought that she'd be sharing a bed chamber with another Narnian King or that she'd actually enjoy it. Things with Edmund, however, felt different somehow; he made her feel different. She didn't know what it was, but she didn't want it to end and she was terrified that it would. People like her didn't deserve people like him.

The door to the brownstone opened and three figures stepped out onto the stoop. In the center stood a tall, fair-skinned and fair-haired man. His sisters flanked him; one had dark hair and the other light, both were radiantly beautiful. The light from inside cast a warm glow around them. The youngest of the three ran down the steps and threw her arms around Lena's neck.

"Lena! You're here! I'm so glad you could make it. Ed's told us all about you! I'm Lucy, but you can call me Lu. I just know we're going to be great friends! After all, you're going to need someone to complain to when my brother's being thick."

"Whoa, Lucy, calm down. You don't want to run her off, do you?" Edmund said, coming to Lena's rescue. His hand slid around her waist as though to keep her from running off.

Lucy rolled her eyes and turned to Meri. "And hello to you, Meri. Someone told me you like to play music. Well, we have a gramophone and a piano inside. I'll let you choose which one we get to use."

"Um, perhaps a bit of both, if you don't mind."

"A bit of both it is."

Meri turned back to Lucy and smiled before walking over to hug her neck. "Aunt Lulu, it's so great to see you."

Grazie a Dio sei tu: Thank God it's you.