Alliance

Chapter 25- Deliciae

Deliciae

Latin

Delight

-

beyond all hope,
i prayed those timeless days
we spent might be made
twice as long.

-

"Never thought I'd say this, but Aslan bless Su." Edmund said five hours after he'd laid Jem to sleep in his own bed- and he hadn't woken up crying once.

His parents, however, felt like crying themselves- out of sheer joy and relief.

"Give her all my jewellery, I don't wear it anyway." Sanya yawned as she rocked to-and-fro in the rocking chair which was in the corner of Jem's room.

"Yes, you do." Her husband rolled his eyes at her, dropping down to sit on the carpeted floor, moving away a soldier toy which had been strewn there. "You happen to love those tiny star earrings I got you, you wear them all the time."

"I do love them, but I usually wear jewellery only occasionally." She said, yawning again. "Parenting is exhausting, Edmund."

"Well, you were the one who adopted him, so serves you right, Moonshine." But his retort was half hearted- he really was quite sleepy.
Not to mention, he'd turned out to be quite happy with the adoption, in the end.

"But who knew it was so exhausting?"

"Probably our parents. Or, you know, all parents." And they had to deal with normal human children, he thought. We deal with a magical faerie prince who had his memory wiped by his real mother and now just thinks he's a normal human child.

"You get extra sarcastic when you're tired." She didn't even have the energy to stick her tongue out at him. And her back hurt even more than it usually did. She was quite sure she was too young to be suffering from lower back pain.

"I thought you liked me being sarcastic." His tone was one of mock-hurt and disappointment, and she chuckled.

"Not when I'm too tired to think of a good retort."

"Come on, then." He got up with difficulty- they should stop making the floors so comfortable to sit on- and walked over to where she was sitting. "Let's get to bed." He said, extending his hand.

"Won't carry me?" She teased with a mock-pout, but took his hand and moved to Jem's bed- where each softly kissed his forehead and whispered wishes of happy dreams and sweet slumber.

"I mean, I am strong, but I'm not that strong, darling." He laughed quietly after they'd turned away, leading her out of the bedroom and through the hallway which connected their chambers to Jem's.

She scowled at him, but restrained herself, only saying, "I bet I could carry you."

He laughed much louder this time, as they entered their own quarters. "And thus, we now know that you speak nonsense when you're tired, as it so appears."
Though, despite his jest, he knew that she was right. She was much more physically stronger than him, and would likely have no problems carrying him around. At least until she got tired and dropped him down, which was also something he knew.

"Try me." She said challengingly, before immediately falling into bed.

"The only thing I want to try right now is sleeping." He said firmly, kicking off his slippers. "You can show off your formidable physical strength tomorrow."