Lena pushed the bile down as his hand slid a little lower than what was considered decent for such a public setting.

"Monsieur!" She smiled and scolded him in French with faux modesty.

The key was to be loose enough to inspire such actions but to project enough modesty to show that nothing more would happen without significant persuasion. Men were more likely to let something slip when they were off-balanced, and Lena was very good at making men off-balanced. After more than a year of working together, Little King was still not a fan of Lena's methods; he'd rather she simply sit, watch, and listen, but he could not argue with the results they obtained. They were, by far, the most effective team for the S.I.S.

The mark this time was a mid-ranked officer of the local regime named Strucker. Little King suspected Strucker of having sensitive intel. Strucker's knowledge of the French language was limited to, 'hello', 'goodbye', and 'dance,' but he certainly had a weakness for pretty French girls. With her mastery of the French, Italian, and Spanish languages, Lena could pass herself off as any one of them.

In response to her sultry French, Strucker moved his hand up her waist a fraction of an inch to show compliance while not-so-subtly pulling her closer making his own wishes clear. Lena was spared from having to issue further warnings by the approach of another soldier. He leaned in close to Strucker and spoke in German. It was a simple, nonsensical greeting, but it was evident that he didn't want to say more around her. Lena made sure to keep her look innocent and naïve as she snuggled into the Strucker's arms. Her tactic worked as she knew it would.

"Speak freely," Strucker said in his native tongue, while his hand slid down Lena's back once more. "She's just a dumb french broad."

Lena kept her smile. "Monsieur, eef your friend wants a taste, 'e will 'ave to wait 'is turn." She kept her accent thick and heavy.

"Madame, there will be no sharing tonight."

"Oui," she said. Then she continued in French with her most seductive smile. "Because you smell like a pig and you make me sick."

Strucker grinned and roughly pulled her even closer so that his lower region was flush against hers. "Hurry this along, Klaus. I have pressing matters to attend to."

Lena laid her head on Strucker's chest while her hand traced lazy patterns on the back of his neck. The Soldier, Klaus, cast a wary eye towards her before delivering his message in German—which Lena was not supposed to understand, but did. Strucker swore and pulled back; Lena made sure her eyes displayed a sense of longing from the withdrawal.

"Madame, I need..." He began in French but it was clear he was struggling to continue. Finally he settled for their common English tongue. "Leave. I must leave."

"Monsieur, no. Stay wiz me." She had to put up some fight to sell her sincerity.

"I would but I really must leave. It is worse for you, I think; oh the things I would do to that body..." He sucked in a breath as his eyes raked over her form. "But duty calls."

As he walked off, Lena made sure she looked forlorn and disappointed for as long as necessary. Then she looked around the room casually. She spotted Little King across the room dancing with a blonde made of nothing but legs. Lena felt a knot twist and coil tightly in her stomach at the sight. He looked up, caught Lena's gaze, and left the leggy blonde in an instant. Lena turned and walked away. They met in the shadows outside.

"What have you learned?" he asked, leaning against the wall casually.

Lena found it hard to talk due to the knot that had worked its way up to her throat; surely it was a remnant from her proximity to Strucker because what else could it be? She swallowed and forced it down.

"It is as you suspected," she said and he nodded. "They move tomorrow."

"Then our people will have to move tonight. I'll inform Daniels. How...how are you?"

Lena shrugged. "*Bene. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Strucker was groping you."

"It doesn't matter. It's nothing a tall glass of wine won't wash away. Now, if that is all, I hear that glass calling me now." She turned to walk back inside.

"Ileana, wait," Edmund stopped her with a hand on her arm. "About Celeste, I..."

"Who?" Lena turned around feigning confusion.

"Celeste, the girl I was dancing with..."

"Oh. You mean the one with nothing but legs, a dress that was too tight for public decency, and the cheap hair? What of her?" The knot was suddenly back in full force. Strange, Lena thought; washing Strucker away would require something stronger than wine.

"It was nothing," Edmund said, looking at Lena curiously. "She was just a cover. It wouldn't have gone anywhere."

"I believe the loo would have been far enough for her to cover you."

One side of Edmund's mouth quirked up; he thought he knew what this was about now. "There's no need to be jealous."

"I'm not jealous," she said with a huff. "But you...you know she was a *puttana, right? She would have said anything to have you for the night. I should know."

"You are not a puttana, Ileana, and it wouldn't have mattered what she said. It wouldn't have worked on me."

"Unlikely," Lena said, looking off to the side and unable to meet his eyes. Then she added softly, "she was beautiful."

"She's not my type."

"Too tall for you, Little King?" Her eyes snapped back to his.

"Too blonde," Edmund replied.

His eyes didn't leave hers, and Lena had never felt anything like the intensity behind them before. Her breath caught in her throat. The knot in her stomach twisted into something unfamiliar. She couldn't move and she couldn't look away. Slowly, Edmund pushed himself off the wall and stepped towards her. He was closing the distance between them when his eyes caught sight of something over her shoulder. He swore.

"What is it?"

"No! Don't turn around," he said, quickly grabbing her shoulders. "The other soldier, the one that approached you and Strucker."

"Klaus?"

"He's coming this way. He can't see you talking to me; it will blow our cover. We need..."

Edmund was cut off by Lena suddenly kissing him. She spun them around so that she was pressed against the wall, his body flush against hers concealing her entirely from view. He looked like any random John catching the time of his life in an alleyway.

They did not kiss with the reckless fumbling of beginners but with the practiced ease of old lovers, and Edmund found it difficult to breathe when Lena finally pulled back. His heart was thumping wildly, his mind racing with thought, with memories. His hands clung to the silk dress around her waist; hers were on his chest, surely she could feel how his heart raged. He wanted more. He needed more. One kiss would not satiate him, but...she wasn't ready for that yet. She wasn't ready to know.

"He's gone," she said with a breathy whisper. She did not meet his eye.

Perhaps she had not been completely unaffected by the kiss either. But she couldn't know what it meant to him. She couldn't know all the years he'd been waiting for this, how he searched for her, how he longed for the day when he would be hers.

"We should move before he returns. It is unwise to risk such a close encounter again," she said.

She couldn't know how he loved her. Not yet.

"You are right." Edmund swallowed. He let her go and stepped back. "I think we have gleaned all we can tonight. I will take you back to the hotel, and then I will touch base with Daniels."

"It will save time if we go to Daniels together."

"NO!" he said with more sharpness than intended. "No, I...after this close encounter, we should be together as little as possible. And, besides, you don't like Daniels."

Lena could not refute what he had said, but she couldn't help wondering if there was another reason why he suddenly didn't want her around. Without any suggestion to prove otherwise, she assumed it was so he could sneak off to find the leggy blonde again. Lena wasn't sure why that irritated her so much.

Something shifted between Lena and King Edmund after their talk on the beach, much as it had after their talk in Switzerland. She couldn't quite say what it was, or why it happened, only that it had. Lena felt a little less resentful towards King Edmund, and King Edmund had taken measures to make Lena feel more at ease in Narnia by removing her personal guard. For her part, Lena was attempting to be a little less hateful towards the Narnians.

Lena pulled her shawl around her shoulders as she stepped out into the garden. The day at the beach had turned out to be the last warm day for weeks. The air now had the bite of approaching winter. That did not keep King Edmund from what had become a near-daily routine. He would find Meri in the morning and they'd spend time in the music room, or on the training grounds, or riding horses, whichever Meri preferred and the weather permitted. Then, later in the afternoon, he and Sara would go on some wild adventure together; after which, he and Lena would talk.

Lena wasn't sure what the adventure was this time, but when she found them King Edmund was lying on his back on the cold stone while Sara stood over him. Lena smiled at seeing the joy on Sara's face. When Sara looked up and saw her, that joy expanded.

"Mamma!" Sara ran to her, Lena bent down to meet her.

"Oh, Sara, mi amore. What happened to your dress? And your hands are filthy."

Sara giggled. "I told Eddie you wouldn't wike it, but he says...he said that sometimes dresses get dirty in battle."

Lena's eyes flashed over to King Edmund who had propped himself up on his elbows; he was grinning.

"He also said to say 'I wove you and all would be bene," Sara continued.

Edmund shrugged.

"Ah," Lena said. "Three words I cannot fight." Then she kissed Sara's forehead. "And what were you fighting in battle to get so dirty?"

"The ebil Sara-bus!" Sara pointed excitedly to a corner where Nalsa was caged by a ring of dirt. The Wolf sat stoically on her hindquarters.

"A Cerberus? Well, you must have been terribly frightened."

"Princesses don't get fright-end, Mamma!"

"They don't!? Well, then you must be the bravest little Princess I have ever known. But even brave little Princesses must eat and Cook has something very tempting brewing in the kitchen. I smell roast and potatoes, and..."

"Apples? I wan' apples!"

"Hmm, I think so, but first, what must we do?"

Sara bit her lip in thought and Lena had to point it out. "Oh." Sara giggled. "Wash our hands!"

"Sì. And you must change your dress too. Lady Bea, would you be so kind as to take Sara to find Meri and see that all this is done?"

"Of course, Lady Ileana. This way, little pup." The Hound made it as far as the door with Sara before Sara ran back.

Sara threw her arms around Lena's waist and kissed her stomach. "Ti amo, Mamma!"

"Ti amo, Topa."

Sara ran for King Edmund. She threw her arms around his neck and toppled him to the ground again. "Ti amo, Eddie!"

Lena inhaled sharply. King Edmund simply smiled. "Ti amo, Sara."

Lena could not look directly at King Edmund for a while, and used his guard as a distraction. Using her foot she swept away some of the dirt and released the Wolf from her cage.

"It was good of you to go along with Sara's imaginings, Nalsa," Lena said.

"I saw no harm in it, Lady Ileana. Her threat level was negligible," the Wolf replied.

"All the same. Thank you." Lena adjusted her shawl before turning back to King Edmund. "And you, I hope she wasn't too rough on you."

"Not at all. She is a true delight."

"Yes, well, she will wear you out if you let her. I would hate for her to be the reason you shirk your duties as a King."

"Bah." He waved off her worries and sat up. "Pete is more than capable of covering for me, and besides, Narnia is at peace. Rabadash is confined in Calormen. The Archen court is rejoicing in the return of their lost prince. The Giants have been tamed, and the winds do not make for optimum sailing this time of year so there is little chance of an invasion from the sea."

"Well it sounds like you have the threat assessments well in hand." She held out her hand to help him up.

King Edmund smirked. "I see what you did there." He went to take her hand, but she pulled it back at the last minute.

"Don't even think of pulling me down with you."

"Me? I would never!"

Lena scoffed. "Yeah, I've heard that too many times to believe it again." She held her hand back out. He looked as though he were considering it for a moment before he finally accepted and pulled himself up.

"It's no fun if you know it's coming," he reasoned.

They stood toe-to-toe for a minute, hands still clasped, and eyes locked on each other. Lena could see King Edmund's laughter reflected in his eyes, and she felt a familiar coiling in her stomach. She pushed the longing down and freed her hand from his.

"You should get cleaned up too," she said, adjusting her shawl. "You sister would have my head if you showed up at dinner looking like that."

"I think it more likely she'd take my head. My sisters are too fond of you."

"This is true."

He huffed. "You could at least pretend to deny it."

"Don't take it too hard; people generally like me more than you."

"Humility: a fine quality to have," he teased as they began walking.

"It was my job to make people like me, and I usually had a very short time frame in which to perform. Little King was the more logical tactician behind the scenes who organized jobs and relayed the information."

"What sort of information were you trying to gather?"

"All kinds of information. Names. Locations. Numbers. The movement of parties or goods."

"Was the country still at war then? I remember there was a war when we left."

"The big war was over. This, this was something different. A silent war almost. Everybody was spying on everybody else but no one wanted to admit they were doing it. It was stupid; most of the men running it were idiots."

"Most men cannot fathom a woman being as smart or as capable as them."

"Like I said, most men are idiots."

King Edmund smiled. "If you were so against spying and dancing with random men every night, then why did you do it?"

"I did it for Meri. The money I earned working with Little King was better than the money I earned singing at Le Caveau. Everything I made I sent to her. I figured, if I could not be a mother to her, then the least I could do was see that she had enough money to live by so that she wouldn't have to live the life I lived."

"And why did you think you couldn't be a mother to her? The two of you seem so bonded now."

"Because I...I was ashamed and frightened. I was ashamed of what I was, of what I was forced to be, and I was frightened that..that she would follow in my steps and that she would find me disappointing. I never had a mother to set an example. My own mother was gone before I was five. Madame cultivated me for the life of a cortesana. Catalina was the closest I had probably, but I was sixteen when I met her; the damage had already been done."

"But something changed all that. What was it?"

"It wasn't something; it was someone." Lena wiped away a tear. "It was you."

Bene: Fine

Puttana: Whore