Alliance

Chapter 32- Beatifico

Beatifico

Latin

Blessing

-

oh, Muses, my guides, write an end to it:

say, this girl, this one here,

she is the end of your madness

-

Shockingly silent.

That's how Sanya and Edmund's nights were.

Princess Selene Pevensie was a temperamental child. She screamed, she howled, she cried till there were no more tears left, she threw tantrums if her father wasn't there to pick her up from her crib when she woke up, puked and pooped like there was no tomorrow- thank Heavens for baby nurses, Sanya had not been raised to change so many diapers- but as soon as night fell, and the Moon and the Stars came out, all her rage and chaos dissipated into nothing but serenity and silence.

It almost worried her parents, until Sanya’s parents and brother visited two weeks after Selene's birth (their journey, thankfully, had been careful and safe).

On that occasion, Sanya’s mother had casually mentioned to her son-in-law that she had, as well as two nurses, used to stay up with Sanya every night- the then-baby never slept till it hit eight a.m., and by that hour, it hadn't been possible for her mother to go to sleep.

“Do you mean-” Edmund had asked, trying and failing to not sound scared, “you didn't sleep for days after Sanya was born?”

"Oh, of course not, dear." She had laughed, tossing her curls, and he'd sighed in relief. "I didn't sleep till she was nearly two- apart from naps in the afternoons- and I felt that she was old enough to be looked after by governesses without my help. Sameer was a bit better, he tuckered out sooner, being an energetic child, but-"

The Just King had been too horrified to listen fully to the rest- but from then on, he and his wife had decided to take the silent nights without any pinch of salt or worry, and simply be grateful for them.

“I think it might be because of the divine blood.” Sanya shrugged to her husband one late February day, on one of Selene’s quieter days, the baby princess content in her arms and Jem racing ahead intent on catching at least one of the hundreds of butterflies which graced the air above the Cair Paravel gardens. “Perhaps it inexplicably draws her to be quiet at night.”

"Whatever it is, I'm not complaining." Edmund replied at once, eyes fixed on their eldest in case he ran out of sight. "Nightmare-plagued as it is, I happen to love my sleep."

"You and me both, husband." She laughed. Oh, she adored sleeping. "Where did you say my family is leaving from? Surely they didn't park the carriage in the Gardens."

He rolled his eyes, "Don't be daft, wife. They're at the Stables, of course. They are to take the lesser-known path from its back.”

"If you see Orieus, tell him I'm grateful that he offered his second-in-command's platoon for protection of my family. I truly appreciate it."
The centaur was not yet absolutely back to being fighting fit, according to his wife Tempesta, but everyone knew well that she was just being paranoid- but, nevertheless, Orieus had acquiesced to her demands and had yet to come back to the castle.

“Yes, I think Su and I might go visit him in a few days.” He nodded, turning his face to smile at her- and in that moment, Jem squealed loudly, and Sanya nearly dropped Selene in shock.