Lena and her daughters had been in Narnia for almost a month and the days were growing cooler. On one of the last warm days, Lena took the girls to enjoy the beach one last time. Meri and Sara were playing near the water's edge, while Lena sat on a blanket on the sand between Lucy and Susan. Her friendship with Lucy was easily and effortlessly established. It took a little more for Susan to warm up to her, but their time together usually involved learning another language.

"All right, let's try this one," Lena said. "Beviamo qualcosa."

"Say it again, please, a little slower," Susan asked.

"Be-vi-amo qual-co-sa."

"Bee-vee-amo..."

"...qual-co-sa."

Susan and Lucy tried a couple of attempts without Lena's aid. Susan picked it up fairly easily, as she did with most of their lessons. Lucy struggled.

"Kahl..."

"Qual..."

"Kal..."

"Qu-wal," Lena corrected again, unable to refrain from laughing.

"No, it's all right. Go on and laugh at me. I don't think I'll ever be able to speak Italian," Lucy said.

"Beviamo qualcosa."

"*Sì! Ben fatto, Susanna."

"Thank you, now what did I say exactly?" Susan asked.

Lena laughed. "'Let's have a drink.'"

"Ooh! Sì! Let's!" Lucy shouted as she reached for the jar of wine they'd brought out. They were laughing so hard they only had a second's warning.

"King Edmund and Nalsa approach."

"Thank you, Ba'ja," Susan called to her guard while Lena swiftly took the jar of wine from Lucy and filled her own cup.

"You ladies sound like you're having a good time. What's going on?" Edmund asked.

"Lena is giving us lessons in how to speak Italian," Lucy said.

"I didn't realize language lessons could be so entertaining. I certainly don't recall my lessons with Clivent being entertaining."

"Listening to Lucy trying to speak Italian is what's entertaining. You never know what she's going to say. What did you call Todric again?" Susan asked.

"I'd rather not repeat it, nor do I think I could if I tried." Lucy looked over shoulder and her Fox guard. "And I am sorry, Friend."

"Your apologies have been accepted, my Queen. There is no need to continue them," the Fox replied. The Fox, the Hound, and the Lynx all sat at a distance that was far enough away to keep Lena at ease but close enough to hear their conversation.

"Lady Ileana," Edmund said.

Lena swallowed a mouthful of wine. She was rather hoping King Edmund might try to go on avoiding her as he had been.

"I was hoping I might have a word."

That was not the case.

"With Sara," he added.

Lena nearly spat out her wine. Sara? She was both surprised and relieved. She took another quick sip of wine to cover her shock. "I cannot guarantee your success in that," she said, looking at him at last. "For, try as I might, I still cannot control her reactions. So, know you attempt to speak to her at your own risk."

Edmund nodded. "Understood. All the same, I'd like to try."

"Very well then." Lena called out for Meri in Italian. "Meri! Bring Sara here please."

Meri looked to her mother before turning her focus to King Endmund. A bit of silent communications passed between them that did not go unnoticed by Lena. She was curious about it, but pushed it aside as something to address later.

Meri quickly brought Sara over, but she did not take her to Lena. Instead, she led Sara to King Edmund who met them about halfway. Lena watched the exchange that followed with wary apprehension, ready to sweep in should Sara become upset again. Sara, however, simply withdrew behind Meri's leg, partially concealing herself. King Edmund bent down to her level.

"Hello, Sara; my name is Edmund," he began gently. "I know I may not be the person you were hoping to see, but I have a very important question that only you can answer."

Sara stepped out from behind Meri's leg in curiosity. King Edmind took that as a sign to continue. "Would you like to be my friend?"

Sara looked up at Meri, who nodded encouragingly at her.

"I don't know," Sara replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"It's ok if you don't want to, but it would make me really happy if you did."

Sara looked back up at Meri. Then she cocked her head to the side, pinched her lips to one side of her face, and furrowed her brow as she studied King Edmund. After a long pause she asked, "Do you know how to play Princesses and Pirates?"

"Do I know how to play Princesses and Pirates? Do I know how to play..." he huffed a dramatic sigh. "That's only my favorite thing to play."

Sara's eyes went wide. "Mine too!"

"Yeah?! Who wouldn't love to play Princesses and Pirates? Do...do you want to play now?"

"Sì! Sì! *Jo'camo! Jo'camo!" Sara shouted gleefully.

"Wait, I have another question," Edmund said. "Am I the Princess or the Pirate?"

"Silly, Eddie," Sara giggled. "I'm the Princess!" Then Sara turned and ran to Lena, throwing her arms around her neck. "Jo'camo, Mamma!"

Lena hugged Sara back, swallowing back the tears that rushed forth. "Not today, Topa."

"Mamma?" Sara's face fell. Lena smiled.

"You will need someone to bear witness to all your noble deeds, and I shall sing the tale of everyone," Lena said and Sara smiled. "Now go, mi amore. Play with King Edmund."

Sara and King Edmund played by the water long after Susan had decided to return to the castle. Meri had given up on their play as well and took Susan's spot on the blanket. Now, even she was growing weary of the sun and Lucy said dinner would be ready soon. Lena decided it was time Sara headed inside as well and washed up.

"Mamma, I don't want ta go," Sara whined.

"I know, Topa. I must be so cruel to break it up. But the hour is getting late, the warmth is leaving, and dinner will be ready soon. You must go wash up first."

"But, Mamma, I already washed my hands yesterday."

"Sara, Topa, you know you must wash your hands before every meal."

"I don't want dinner. I want to play with Eddie."

"I'm sure you do, but even Pirate Princesses must eat their dinner."

"I'll make a deal with you," King Edmund said. "If you go wash up and eat your dinner now, then tomorrow, after I've finished a bit of work, then you and I can play some more."

"Really?" Sara exclaimed.

"Really. That is, if it's all right with your mother?"

"Oh, Mamma please! Please can I? Please, please, please?"

Lena sighed. "If King Edmund is willing, and if you go now with Aunt Lulu."

"Oh thank you, Mamma. Thank you!" Sara squeezed Lena around the waist and kissed her stomach before running off with Lucy towards the castle. Meri went with them leaving Lena alone with King Edmund on the beach with Nalsa and Lady Bea on guard.

"A few weeks ago," Lena began when she knew Meri could no longer hear them. "I told you I would ask nothing of you. That remains. You are not obligated to spend time with them."

"You are not asking; I am choosing," King Edmund replied. "And I do not see it as an obligation. I am pleased to do it."

"Only a few days ago you were content to ignore us. Now you wish to give them riding lessons and play games with them?"

"Content is not the word I would use."

"And what word would you use to describe your actions?" Lena turned to face him at last.

King Edmund seemed only a little surprised by her questioning. "Appalling. Juvenile. Ill-conceived and ill-mannered. A disgrace to my name and a disservice to yours. Have I covered them all or do you wish to add any?"

"You forgot 'rude.'"

"Ah yes. For my actions, I do apologize."

"Save your apologies, King Edmund; there is no need to waste them on me."

"A sincere apology is never wasted."

"And do we have your spontaneous trip to thank for this change in heart?"

"We do."

"It must have been some trip," Lena muttered.

"It was. Would you like to know where I went?"

"Not particularly, but I imagine you're about to tell me anyway."

King Edmund grinned in the way Little King would when something annoyed him and he was trying to remain polite. Lena saw that grin many times when they worked in intelligence together; she was often the cause behind the grin. Seeing it on King Edmund stirred up feelings she'd rather not have.

"I went to Lantern Waste and spoke with Mr. Tumnus about how we came into Narnia. Then I went looking for the doorway to the other world."

Lena felt a surge of hope rise within her that she promptly squashed down. Surely if he had found something then she and her daughters would have already returned.

"You didn't find anything, did you?"

"Though I did not find the doorway, I did find Aslan. And I think..."

Lean huffed. "More of this 'Aslan' business. I wish He would leave well enough alone and stop meddling in the affairs of others."

There was vicious snarling behind her, but Lena remained unfazed. She had been in Narnia long enough now to know that the Narnians wouldn't attack her simply because of her opinion, no matter how much they disagreed with her. King Edmund, however, might be another matter. Lena saw the grin vanish from his face and be replaced by a look of loathing. Lena had only seen that look on Little King's face once, during their last mission together.

"It is unwise to disrespect Him so."

"You defend His honor?"

"I do not need to; He will defend it Himself. The last person to speak of Him in such a manner, had her head ripped from her shoulders."

"Perhaps that would be better than being stuck here again."

King Edmund's anger vanished and instead he looked at her with pity. "Why do you hate it here? What could have turned you against this country so much?"

"Tell me, King Edmund, if you woke and found yourself back in the Witch's dungeon doing her bidding knowing all that you know now, would you feel any differently than I do?"

Lena could see the horror flash through his eyes as he imagined himself in that moment. She hated seeing it, and she hated more that she was the one to bring it on, but perhaps now he could begin to understand her a bit better.

"I didn't think so. This whole world is my dungeon and every bestia is a prison guard. So before you judge me for my thoughts, take it up with He who created this dungeon in the first place."

Lena turned and stalked off. She was halfway up the hill when King Edmund called out to her.

"Who was your witch?"

"What?"

"Who was your witch?" he asked again. "It's not waking up in the dungeon that frightens me. It's waking up in the dungeon and having her there. If Narnia is your dungeon, then who was your witch?"

Lena paused. Little King had never asked her that. They never really spoke of Narnia much. He had just sort of known how she felt about it.

"There were many," she finally admitted. "Which one would you care to hear about?"

"Whichever one you feel like telling me about. All of them, if you are so inclined."

Leana picked up the jar of wine and finished off its contents. "We will need more wine for that," she said, dropping onto the blanket.

Lena wasn't entirely sure why, but she told King Edmund everything over a bottle of wine and the fading sunlight. Perhaps it was because of that night in Switzerland, when Little King told her everything.

"What the hell was that?" Little King roared once they entered the safe house.

Lena went to the bar and poured herself a glass of bourbon before responding. "It's called a dance, or are you so inept as to not know what a dance is?"

"I meant the part where you threw yourself at the mark. You were only supposed to be an extra set of ears."

"You didn't buy me for my ears, Little King."

"I haven't bought you at all. You are not something to be bought. I recruited you for the S.I.S.; there is a difference."

"Whatever you call it in this world, you did not do it for my ears. Men have never wanted me for my ears alone." Lena refilled her glass. "Look, I saw that your measures were not working and we were about to lose Mark. You said the more jobs we complete the more jobs we get and the more money we earn. I did what was needed to complete the job because I need that money for my....my sister." Lena choked on the word.

"Sister?"

"Sì, my sister. She lives in Sicily."

"Meri," he whispered.

"Sì, Meri my sis...how...How did you know her name was Meri?"

"It is my job to know about my assets," Little King said without pause.

"And it is our job to extract information for the S.I.S. Information that I got tonight."

"Yes, well...you didn't have to throw yourself at him."

"I didn't throw anything. I danced with Mark. I drank with Mark. I encouraged thoughts that men such as Mark always have when they are with me. There was no throwing."

"No, it's...it's a manner of speech...and his name isn't Mark. He was the mark; his name is actually Roberto."

"I don't care what his name is. I don't remember any of their names."

Lena turned her back to Little King as she finished her second glass. It had been a long night; she was tired, and Little King seemed to be an expert at reading her facial expressions.

"That's a lie," he said softly.

Lena bit the inside of her cheek and poured another glass.

"You remember each of them, and everything they did to you. You try to forget, you try to erase the memory of them with wine and cigarettes, but you can't. They remain ever present, like the scars on your arm, a constant reminder."

Lena looked over her shoulder at Little King. There was something different about him, a vulnerability in him she hadn't seen before. "Sì. I remember," she said. "Just as you remember."

Little King nodded and walked over to join her at the bar. He took the bottle of bourbon from her and poured himself a glass. He downed the first glass, as though attempting to catch up to her, and poured himself another. "Her name..." he swallowed. "Her name was Jadis but she was widely known as The White Witch and for a time... I was her executioner."

Sì! Ben fatto, Susanna: Yes. Well done, Susan.

Jo'camo: Sara's version of giochiamo: let's play