RUTH:

The day after the wedding, a soft knock at my door woke me from an exhausted sleep. I opened my mouth to say "Come in," but the words were stuck in my throat, which burned as if I had swallowed a match. When no reply came, Peter opened the door slowly. I squinted; the afternoon sun was too bright.

"Ruth? Are you alright?"

I shook my head. I swallowed and croaked, "I don't feel good."

"Oh." He rushed to my bedside and placed a hand on my forehead. "I'm sorry to wake you, I was just worried. And rightly so, you're burning up."

"I don't feel good," I said again, my throat aching.

"Don't talk, love, it's alright. I'll be right back."

"No vial," I called after him as he disappeared. He reappeared in the doorway.

"Ruth..."

"No vial."

He shook his head sadly and disappeared. I closed my eyes again, curling up into a ball and pulling my covers tighter around my body. By the time Peter returned, I was shaking with cold.

"Oh, Ruthie," he sighed, setting a glass down on the table next to me. "Cold?"

The only response I could give was a soft "Yes" around chattering teeth.

He sighed again. "That's not good. Let me go get Susan to draw a bath. That would help, don't you think?"

I pulled my pillow over my head and pulled the sheets even tighter.

"Another blanket it is, then." A few moments later, I felt Peter tuck another blanket around me. "Do you want to sleep more?"

I nodded, hoping the pillow moved too.

"Alright," he responded. "I'll come back every few minutes to check on you. And when you wake up, this is just water, okay?"

"Thank you," I managed.

"Of course." Peter lifted the pillow to kiss my forehead. "I love you, Ruthie."

"I love you too."

I dropped into sleep, full of fitful and confusing dreams. When I woke again, the sun had set, and in place of my sore throat was a plugged nose and a dull, throbbing headache. Once my bleary eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw the figure of Peter curled up on a chair in the corner, a blue blanket draped over his broad shoulders and tucked under his chin. I couldn't help but smile despite the shooting pain the smile sent through my face; he was adorable. I tried to sniffle quietly, but he jerked awake anyway.

"Sorry," I whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's alright." He tossed the blanket aside and knelt beside me, a small smile turning his lips upward as his eyes met mine. "How are you feeling?"

I shook my head in response. He placed his hand on my forehead, and his smile faded.

"Do you want some fresh air?" he asked. "It's rather warm in here."

I nodded. I moved my sheets aside and stood on shaky legs. Peter wrapped one arm around my waist, and snuggled me in his cloak. We made our way to the porch, and I sank slowly to my knees, dizzy and out of breath. Peter sat next to me, pulling me closer and tightening his cloak around my trembling body. The summer night was still and cool, and the full moon illuminated the water with its milky glow.

And Peter and I just sat there. In the silence, under the clear sky, content with each other and the world around us. I rested my head on his shoulder, wishing I could smell the pine and salt water that inevitably clung to his clothes and his hair. I'm not sure if it was sickness or passion or both, but my heart raced in my chest, and I snuggled closer to Peter. He absently stroked my tangled hair, breathing the night air deeply and occasionally kissing the top of my head.

I don't know how much time passed, and I don't remember falling asleep. But I found myself in my bed again the next morning, and Susan was in Peter's stead.

"Good morning, Ruth. Feeling any better?"

"No," I replied, stretching my aching limbs.

"Peter's asleep, so you know. Do you want me to get him?"

"No, it's alright. I'm glad he's asleep."

"Me too. He's been worried sick."

I sighed. "I'm alright. Just a head cold, I think."

"I agree, but he loves you too much to not worry."

I smiled.

"Have you two talked at all about getting married?"

I was so surprised by her question I had a minor coughing fit before I could answer. "What? No, of course not."

Susan sat on the edge of my bed, passing me a goblet of water. I pushed myself to a sitting position, leaning back on my pillows. "What do you mean, of course not? Ruth, you're so in love, and you have been for nearly eight years now. What did you think would happen next?"

"I don't know," I admitted, sipping the water slowly. I stared into the silver cup for a couple of moments. "I've never thought too much about it. I'm happy. I'm finally happy."

"So is Peter," she replied. "So are the rest of us. We're all happy. But what if you could be happier?"

I felt a blush rise to my cheeks, despite feeling less feverish than the night before. "You don't mean just the...?"

Susan laughed. "No, of course there's more to marriage than just that. It would still be nice, but-"

I tossed a pillow her direction, which she swatted away with a giggle. I smiled and finished the last drops of water in a big gulp.

"Is Peter thinking about it?" I asked after a moment of silent contemplation.

Her smirk was the only answer I needed. I felt my face grow hot again, but then a dose of reality returned me to my senses. "What about when we go back home? What about when we're fourteen again?"

She pursed her lips, looking at the ground before her blue eyes met mine. "Then you get to fall in love all over again."

🦁

After a couple more miserable days in bed, my sickness was diminished to a persistent cough. I was able to get out of bed and pull a new dress - Peter's favorite - over my head and brush my hair before making my way downstairs.

"Hey, look who's up!" Edmund said when I left my room. I turned around and smiled.

"Hullo, Ed! Where's your brother? I'm going to surprise him."

The smile faded from his face. "I think he's in the kitchen."

"What's the matter?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "You should talk to him yourself."

My gaze wandered to his leg, where a sword was strapped. I gasped, and ran to the kitchen. I burst in to see Peter lost in thought, staring out the window with a full cup in his hand.

"What's wrong?" I puffed, doubling over in a coughing fit.

"Ruth!" He set the cup down and scooped me up in a hug when I stopped coughing. "You're better!"

"I am. What's the matter? Edmund said to talk to you. Are you alright? Is the castle safe?"

He brushed a strand of hair out of my face. "I'm alright, love. The castle is safe. We are safe."

"Then why did Edmund have a sword strapped to his leg?"

"We received word yesterday of a dwarf uprising in the western wood. It's no big concern, love, truly. Edmund volunteered to go in my stead to investigate because you were unwell, but since you are better, I suppose we'll go together."

"I want to go too!" I protested. A bit too violently, it seemed, as I had another coughing fit.

He chuckled. "No, Ruth. Stay here and recover. It shouldn't be more than a couple of days' journey."

I looked into his eyes and clasped his hands in mine. "Will you be safe?"

"I promise," he said, kissing my forehead. "I'll be back before you know it."

"When are you leaving?"

"Likely after lunch." I suppose my face conveyed my distress, because he kissed me again. "I'll be safe."

I threw my arms around him and held him tight. He hugged me back briefly before pulling away. "You've barely eaten in four days, Ruthie. Are you hungry?"

I nodded emphatically. "Do we have any lettuce?"

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "Lettuce?"

"I really want lettuce. A salad, really. But it has to have lettuce."

Peter laughed, and reached into the little icebox Edmund had fashioned so many years ago from memory and extracted a head of lettuce. Thanks to his knack for assembling and disassembling knickknacks, some of our English appliances had begun to make their way into our home. I helped when I could, but I was never a tinker-er. That was more Mary's talent.

I took the lettuce and began to chop it.

"Do you want a salad too, Peter? Is it lunchtime? Did I sleep in too late?"

He laughed again. "No, it's still breakfast time. And sure, I'll take a salad."

"Take a seat, then! Two salads coming up!"

I threw two salads together, and the two of us enjoyed a quiet breakfast before he left. The girls and I sent our boys off with plenty of food supplies and blankets, along with Lucy's cordial and a supply of arrows. With the entire castle to ourselves, we gathered in the living room and spent the night braiding each other's hair and eating cinnamon toast and talking about Peter... again.

This time, Lucy started it. "Ruthie? How do you know you're in love?"

I was again startled, but this time, I laughed. "Lu, do you have a secret?"

She blushed. "No. I don't feel like I'm in love with anyone, but how do you know?"

I sighed and settled back into my chair, fiddling with my braid. "How do you know you're in love? Well... it's different for everyone, I think."

"When did you know you were in love with my brother?"

"It started slowly. I was always happy to see him, even though I got a little nervous when he was around. When we were close though... everything felt right. A big part of love is trust. And I trusted him, and he trusted me." I bit my lip, but continued. "My mother always told me that true love doesn't change. When you love someone, really love them, getting angry or sad doesn't mean you love them less. And that was true, for both of us, and we both knew it. Not right away, but... with time."

"Like when you ran away?" Susan asked.

"Oh, that." I felt my face grow hot. "Exactly. I thought Peter hated me. But when he found me on the battlefield, he came to me right away and hugged me and let me cry and helped me however he could. After that, I just knew. I just knew."

"Is that when you fell in love?"

"I don't think so. I don't know. I don't think so, but I know that in that moment, I realized that it was for real."

Lucy giggled. "Then marry him!"

"If only it were that easy!" I exclaimed, joining in her giggles.

"So what I'm hearing is... you're ready?" Susan asked with a smirk.

I beamed. "I think so. Now I just need to wait on him."

The three of us burst into a fresh round of giggles. We soon retired to bed, but I couldn't sleep. Images of Peter on one knee, then in his nicest outfit, then in bed next to me, then holding a baby swarmed in my mind. I willed myself to sleep eventually, but not before I had thought to myself that Adam Michael Pevensie had a nice ring to it.

The next day passed uneventfully. We were far from bored without the boys, spending most of the day in the library, but it was oddly quiet. We waited anxiously for news, but none came.

I woke up in the middle of the night coughing. But when my coughing ceased, I heard scuffling outside my door. I grabbed my sword and threw a helmet on my head, suddenly thankful that we had installed doors between our rooms in case this ever did happen. I locked Lucy's door, and entered Susan's next. I locked her door and shook her awake.

"Ruth? Why are you wearing a helmet?"

"Intruder," I whispered, hurrying to the chest at the foot of her bed and handing her a sword and her bow.

She looked at me, her face white. Her hands shook violently as she took the weapons. I motioned to her to follow me, and we entered Lucy's room. She was already half-awake because of the sound of me locking the door.

"What's the matter?" she mumbled. When she opened her eyes and saw our weapons, she jumped out of bed and grabbed her knife from her chest. "Where is he?"

In spite of the gravity of the situation, I smiled. "You seem ready."

She nodded, gripping her knife tightly. I opened her door, and we stepped into the hallway soundlessly. I carefully closed the door behind us, gesturing with my chin in the direction where the footsteps had been going. Three girls in night gowns with weapons a little too big for them all going out into the dead of night to defend their home... what a sight we must have been.

Behind us came a low growl. I whirled around and shoved the younger girls behind me.

"What are you doing here?" I snarled at the wolf creeping towards us.

"Oh, my lady," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "how lovely to see you up. I had heard from my spies that you were ill. My sincerest congratulations on your recovery."

"Such sweet words fail to distract me," I replied. "Oh, majestic wolf, how I tremble at the sight of you. Perhaps my question slipped your mind in your abundance of joy at seeing me here, very much alive and well. What are you doing here?"

"Making sure everything goes as planned." He was about five feet away from me now.

"Stand back," I said to the girls. "I'd hate for your night gowns to be stained with the blood of such an evil creature."

"Why must you speak about yourself in such degrading terms, my lady?" the wolf sneered.

"I don't want to have to kill you, wolf. But if I have to in order to keep my family safe, I will."

"Such a fine lady as yourself wouldn't dare!"

I lunged forward and slashed across his nose. A non-lethal blow, but a painful one nonetheless. As he howled in pain, Susan, Lucy, and I took off in the other direction.

"Get outside, get outside!" I said as we ran. "We don't know how many they have here, but we don't want to become trapped indoors, especially with a wolf and who knows what else."

"Why could they possibly be here?"

"I don't know. I don't know."

I looked over my shoulder and groaned. The wolf in the hallway was now joined by four others, and all five of them were pursuing us.

"The ladder!" Lucy gasped. "They can't climb!"

"Good idea," I replied, struggling for breath. "You first," I croaked, doubling over in a coughing fit as she jumped over the railing and began to descend as quickly as possible. Susan followed suit.

"Ruth, come on!" she screamed. But I couldn't stop coughing, and the wolves were quickly approaching. They couldn't climb, sure, but they could chew through the rope quickly, sending us all plunging to our deaths. I dropped to my knees and called down to them.

"Run to the beach and light a fire. If anybody sees it, they'll come as soon as possible. I'll stay to hold off the wolves."

"Ruth, no!" Lucy wailed. "Come with us!"

"You don't have to be the hero, Ruth!" Susan added.

I coughed again, trying to catch my breath. "Do you trust me?"

She nodded reluctantly.

"Then go. I love you. Be safe, and bring us help!" I turned around, coughing a couple more times before spitting on the tile. I tightened my helmet, then tightened my grip on the sword. The wolves descended upon me. There were even more than five now; at least ten, if not more.

"Why are you here?" one asked.

"I could ask you the same thing, and with much better reason," I retorted.

"We heard you were... incapacitated. According to plan."

"Plans change," I said, despite the fear settling in my bones. Plan? "What else was in your plan?"

"Your death," a different wolf snorted. "And it's looking like it will be a success."

"Stop talking and kill her already!" a wolf in the back snarled, lunging forward. I slashed left and right, my arms feeling heavier than usual with every blow. I felt claws rake against my bare calf, and I kicked the wolf away and over the ledge. Fortunately, he was far enough away from the ladder to not hit the girls, but Lucy's scream when he hit the ground, dying instantly, gave them away.

"There they are!" one of the surviving wolves barked. "Split up!"

"No!" I cried, fighting with renewed vigor. Soon, four wolf carcasses surrounded me. I took off in the direction of the other wolves, but they were too fast for me and disappeared around the bend. I fell to my knees, coughing. "Aslan," I choked out, "help us. We can't do this alone."

I don't know what I was expecting, but nothing happened. So when I stopped coughing, I gathered my courage and caught my breath. I started to pursue the wolves, but the sound of twin screams propelled me toward the ladder. I could see from the balcony that Susan and Lucy had assembled the wood and leaves needed for the fire, but that a ring of creatures were closing in on them. Making a split-second decision, I threw my sword off the balcony, blade first. It lodged itself into the mud. I pulled my sleeves up over my hands, grabbed either side of the ladder, and jumped. The rough rope cut through my sleeves easily, and my hands burned, but I couldn't stop.

When I reached the bottom, I yanked my sword from the earth and dashed forward. As I got closer, I examined the threat. Dwarves. More wolves. A few other monsters I had never even seen. What did I do? What did I do?

I looked to the sky, for a reason I did not know. Rolling clouds were approaching rapidly. I gulped. Maybe the fire wouldn't work.

I did the only thing I knew how. I knew I needed to protect my family.

I sprinted forward, sword ready. I burst through the line of creatures, effectively surprising them, and took the side of the girls.

"Ruth, what do we do?" Susan asked softly. Lucy drew her knife and held it in front of her.

"No matter what happens, light the fire," I replied. I cleared my throat and yelled at the top of my lungs. "Why are you here?"

"To kill you, of course," a voice replied. "We know you're alone here."

"How do you know that?" I hoped this would work. Behind me, I heard Susan and Lucy trying to start the fire. I had to keep them talking. We had to have the fire.

"Why should we tell you?"

"Because we have Aslan on our side!"

That made them nervous. A murmur swelled among the creatures, but one of them laughed hoarsely.

"Oh yeah? Where is he now, then?"

A roll of thunder sounded all around us, louder than anything I had ever heard.

Susan grabbed my arm. "Ruth, the fire is pointless, we need to run before we're overpowered. It's going to rain! Look!"

"Wait." I looked up to the sky. Surely enough, the clouds loomed overhead, looking ready to burst in a downpour at any second. "We should stay."

"Stay? Ruth, this is madness, the fire can't light in the rain!"

"She's right," Lucy said, her voice hushed as if she were seeing a ghost. "We need to stay."

"Why on earth would we do that?" Susan hissed.

"Aslan is here!" I announced to the crowd. "If you try to kill us, you will not succeed. As you can see, I am here, which you were not expecting. Much the same way, we are not alone."

They murmured nervously.

"Aslan, help us," Lucy whispered behind me. "Please."

"I don't see him," Susan fussed. "We should leave."

The skies opened above us, and rain poured down. The crowd's worry turned to amusement.

"Where's your lion now?" they jeered. "Where's your rescue fire?"

Right here, a voice inside my head said. Behind us, the fire roared to life, despite the pouring rain.

"Did you hear that too, Ruth?" Lucy asked.

I turned around and nodded, smiling from ear to ear.

"Hear what?" Susan asked.

I smiled even wider. "Our miracle has arrived." But my smile faltered when I looked at the crowd, still looking rather murderous, if slightly more intimidated. "Now we just need our help."

"Why should a fire scare you?" a booming voice from deep in the woods called. "Get them!"