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[Published FEB/23/2020]

"Imira, wake up," Peter said, nudging the sleeping girl.

No response.

He tried again. "Imira, sweetheart, we have to go," Still no response.

He hated waking her up, it always took her forever and she was rarely in a good mood for the first thirty minutes. But, alas, they had things to do, important things. "Imira,"

"I heard you the first time," she mumbled but made no effort to get up.

"You have to get up," Peter told her.

"No," she replied rolling to face the wall.

Peter chuckled. "Yes,"

"No," she covered her face with a pillow.

"Come on, love. You know you have to," Peter said pulling on his boots.

"I have to sleep, that's what I know," Imira replied uncomplying.

"Imira,"

"Piss off, my love," she replied sarcastically in the sweetest voice.

"Don't make me do it," Peter warned her, looming over the bed.

"You wouldn't dare," she said snuggling under the covers only to find them being yanked off her.

"Oi! It's cold!" she complained.

"I warned you," Peter said, holding back a laugh.

"You gormless plonker!" she tossed her pillow in his direction.

"Exclaimed the fair lady," Peter said, laughing as he caught it easily.

Imira couldn't help but laugh "You're such a twit sometimes," She shook her head at him but went to get dressed.

"Trousers and skirt?" Peter questioned her.

"It's bloody cold outside," Imira complained. "Last night it snowed,"

"I don't remember any snow," Peter said with a furrowed brow.

"It happened later. I couldn't sleep so I went out for some fresh air," Imira lied.

Within the hour they were ready to begin their journey North.

"So, what's this problem Edmund wants us to fix?" Imira asked as they rode. She had gotten a bit distracted the previous night and forgot to ask.

"Oh, well there are these two dwarves, right? One red and one black, and they live in the Shuddering Wood," Peter started to say, "A few days ago a complaint reached Ed, and, these dwarves, they are in a dispute over who is the owner of a particular piece of land," He took out his canteen and had some water. "As you know during the reign of the witch she took many prisoners and, unfortunately, this particular red dwarf was one of them,"

"Oh," Imira knew all about the witch's hospitality.

"Precisely," Peter said. "She turned him into a statue and his lands were confiscated and given to a loyal group of black dwarves, all followers of her. But then, well, you know, you came along and then we came along. The red dwarf was brought back and the black dwarves were killed, all but one. He got sent to the labour mines but was just released this past Christmas for good behaviour. When he returned to the lands the witch had granted him he found the red dwarf living there. As expected the black dwarf wanted his home back, he had after all been living there for over a decade and had nowhere else to go. But of course, the red dwarf did not want to leave. That was his ancestral home after all. He had only recently gotten it back, he wasn't about to give it up,"

"So now you must decide to whom the lands belong to," Imira resolved.

"Precisely," Peter said.

"And what will you do?" she inquired.

It took him a while to answer and they began to spot the edge of the wood. "I still don't know," he said giving her a bit of a worried look.

"We rest here!" Peter announced to the group. They had been riding non-stop all morning through the wintery landscape and everyone was ready.

They had reached the southern edge of the Shuddering Wood at last. Their first destination was close by.

As they dismounted Peter found it odd how Eurybe stayed by Imira's side. She usually followed her for a distance but now she was following her up close.

"What's going on with Eurybe?" Peter asked Imira when Eurybe went to help her sister make a fire. She had been ridding closer to Imira than usual and did not take her eyes off the Queen.

"What do you mean?" Imira asked. She knew what he meant, but she didn't want to tell him just yet. She had a plan after all.

"Don't you think she's been a bit too... close?" Peter asked.

"She just takes her job seriously," Imira resolved. "So, listen, there's something I need to tell you," she said, changing the subject.

"Go on," he turned to give her his full attention.

"This will sound very unlike me, but... I don't want to go north," Peter frowned in confusion at her words. "I mean I want to, but now is simply not a good time,"

"May I ask why?" Peter said. He got a feeling he wasn't going to get an answer.

"Do you trust me?" Imira asked.

"Of course I trust you, love," Peter said. He was definitely not going to get an answer.

Imira took his hand, "Then just trust I have a good reason,"

"Alright. Do you want to go to Cair Paravel?" he asked.

"Actually, how about you meet me at the old campsite. Where we met," Imira said.

"A trip down memory lane?" he asked, remembering the day he met her.

"Exactly," Imira nodded with a smile. "I'll set up camp there and you can meet me when you're done,"

"Sounds perfect,"

And so after their little break, they split up. Peter continued ridding North and Imira went south, each with their respective group of Narnian guards and soldiers.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Eurybe asked her.

"Oh, relax. We've done this already. It's just a little hunt," Imira said walking past the general to get to her horse. It had been one week since she had split from Peter's group and she was starting to get bored.

"I just mean, is it a good idea to be going on a hunt taking into account your condition?" Eurybe asked.

"Eurybe, I am pregnant, not an invalid," Imira whispered.

"I know that, but you did order me to keep you safe," she followed Imira to her horse and watched as she got on.

"Come on, Eurybe. It's just a little hunt," Imira said persuasively.

"Ah, just, don't wander off," Eurybe said, giving in.

"When have I ever done that?" Imira asked innocently.

Eurybe just rolled her eyes and got on her horse.

"I told you it would be fine," Imira said. They were returning from their midday hunt and it had gone splendidly. They had caught a deer AND a wild boar. They had also found two white tiger pups in the wood and Imira decided to take them with her. But don't worry, she didn't take them just like that. They were orphaned, their dead mother lied next to them, extremely thin and half-frozen. She couldn't just leave them there, they would have frozen to death by the next morning.

"My Lady, which do you want for dinner?" Nick asked her with a bright smile standing in front of the hunt, which was being carried by some soldiers.

"Boar," Imira replied, smiling back from her horse.

"Good choice," Nick said before going away to deal with the hunt.

"Eurybe, will you give me a hand?" Eurybe got off her horse and took the tigers from her.

"Are you going to keep them?" Eurybe asked.

"Yes, of course," Imira said, taking one pup from the general. "These lovelies are in need of a home," she said scratching the little tiger's head. "Besides, they'll make for wonderful pets, don't you think?" 

"You know," Imira said, taking a bite of her slice of boar, "I am an awful cook," she took another. "Truly terrible. But you, Nick, you've got talent," she said, pointing at the knight.

"It's all in the seasoning," he replied proudly as Alcibe and Orithia looked at him smiling. 

Suddenly a horn was heard, a familiar one.

"That's the King's" Scyleia said, looking west.

Within ten minutes Peter and his merry group of Narnians were enjoying dinner with the rest.

"So, how did it go?" Imira asked.

"Ah, it went fine, don't worry about it," he said giving her a smile. "So, will you tell me why you have two tigers or are keep pretending like that's normal?" Imira chuckled. "I found them in the woods, their mother died. So, I'm gonna keep them," Peter nodded slowly. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not if you do it right. My grandmother used to keep wild cats. They make for loyal pets," she informed him, feeding the pups a piece of meat.

"Lovely. Hey, you said you wanted to tell me something before we separated," the thought had been bothering Peter for the past week.

"Oh, yes," she placed her plate down and stood up, brushing away the wrinkles of her skirt. 

"Come with me," she said briskly heading away from the group.

Peter finished his water promptly and went after her. She stopped at the end of the camp, right in the spot where Aslan's tent used to be.

"Three years ago," Imira said, turning to face him, "We met here,"

Peter smiled, he remembered the day like it was yesterday. "You were wearing that red leather armour I like,"

"And you were looking charmingly confused, as always," Imira said chuckling a bit and staring lovingly at him. "So much has changed since then. But change is a good thing, don't you think?" she asked.

"It is when I'm with you," Peter replied, warming Imira's heart with his words.

"I'm glad to hear you say that because things are going to be changing a lot in the next few months," she said placing a protective hand over her belly.

"You mean..."

Imira nodded. "We are gonna have a child together,"