It's been a good few years since I last published to this site, and this story is nowhere near completed yet. I felt like dipping my toe back in the water though and now seemed as good a time as any. This will be a multi-part story as I have just started writing part 2, but I have no idea how many parts there may be yet - potentially 5 or more. I've rated it as T for what may (and what will) occur later, although for the most part it is not a particularly shocking story.

Hope you enjoy :)

Part One

Chapter 1: Caterina

Some mornings Caterina woke up and for the first few minutes of the day, she was unable to remember where she was. Even after all these years, her first conscious moments still belonged to her ten-year-old self and her day would begin with a feeling of intense confusion and loneliness. The bright airy room she'd slept in for the past eight years seemed alien and strange in comparison to the dark chamber she'd expected to wake up in. The sea breeze drifting through the open windows was utterly different from the stuffy atmosphere she'd grown up in. For the first few minutes of the day, Caterina wondered what had happened to her life.

Things would catch up with her quickly and by the time she'd dressed, she would usually have forgotten the feelings from early in the morning. The day would pass as days usually did and it was only when she returned to bed that she ever considered how things had changed since those days. But occasionally, those feelings would stay and she'd find it unable to concentrate until she'd reacquainted herself with her new life. Things she usually took for granted took on a new significance and she would give herself over to appreciating them. Today was one of those days.

Having skipped breakfast and slipped out of the castle via the back stairs, Caterina took herself to an isolated cove. The bracing gallop on her favourite chestnut mare had wiped away some of the night's cobwebs, but it was the hour she'd spent sitting quietly, gazing out to sea, which had really begun to reattach her to this world. She buried her toes in the sand and watched the waves gently lapping at the shoreline. Even this early in the morning the sun was already warm and she lifted her lightly freckled face up towards it, taking in its every ray and enjoying its warmth. Finally, she began to shrug off the memories of the past.

'I thought I might find you here.' A shadow fell across her, blocking the sun out, and for a moment Caterina was unsure who had joined her on the beach. Then the figure crashed down next to her and she knew it could only ever have been one person who would have a clue where to find her this morning.

'It's a beautiful day,' Edmund remarked, lying back on the sand. 'I don't blame you for escaping.'

Caterina regarded her best friend thoughtfully, wondering if he was really aware of just how accurate his description of what she'd done was. The feelings of entrapment she'd awoken with had gone now, but the sensation that she was being compressed, restricted, lived on. She sometimes wondered exactly what he knew about her.

There a long pause and then Edmund propped himself up onto his elbows. A wry smile spread across his face. 'However...'

Caterina groaned.

'I'm being serious, Cat. We were wondering where you'd got to. We were worried.'

'No, you weren't.'

'We were!'

She gave him an equally wry look. 'Maybe you were. I'm sure Peter was more frustrated and annoyed.'

Edmund conceded the truth with a smile. 'He didn't seem that happy.'

Caterina knew that Edmund's elder brother would be more than unhappy at her seeming disappearance this morning. As High King of Narnia, Peter had spent the past eight years in full control of everything that took place in the country. The last few followers of the White Witch had been tracked and dealt with efficiently, whilst the few minor skirmishes on the southern borders with Telmar were easily solved with some calm and peaceful negotiations. There was little Peter the Magnificent hadn't been able to achieve in his role as King. But even now, at the age of twenty-one, he still wasn't able to control Caterina.

Edmund fell silent again and Caterina let her mind drift back to her earlier happy contemplation of the things she loved about her life now. The sun would always be her favourite thing. Having lived a childhood where the only sun she ever saw was weak and powerless, her greatest joy was to bask in whatever rays of sun she could at any opportunity. Then there was the fresh sea breeze which swept across the bay, carrying promises of adventure and exotic lands beyond her sight. One day she'd make it that far, one day Edmund wouldn't go on these diplomatic journeys without her. The goalposts for her setting sail had been continually moved over the years, but maybe one good thing which would come out of today would be Peter's having to accept that there were no more good reasons not to let her leave Cair Paravel. Maybe she wouldn't be left behind again.

Edmund was letting her stay here far longer than he really wanted to. Caterina could sense in the air that, despite his seemingly relaxed state, Edmund was thinking about the preparations back at the castle, how his sisters would be bustling around the place, barely able to control their excitement. How Peter would no doubt be pacing up and down the throne room, shoulders firmly back, jaw set, temper barely kept under control. She expected that guests would begin arriving within the hour. The stables would be kept busy as horse after horse was trotted into the courtyard, eager for food and water. Her own mare was dozing in the sunlight, having decided that sand was definitely not a recommended meal. Caterina usually liked to let the horse have a paddle in the sea before heading back. She suspected Edmund might begin to make noises if she did that; he was already being exceptionally patient.

Even his patience couldn't last forever, and Caterina felt him trying to broach the subject. It was with some reluctance that he finally said, 'We really should get back.'

'I know.'

Edmund pulled himself up to his feet and looked down at her. 'It won't be that bad, I'm sure.'

She gave him a doubtful look. 'How sure?'

He pulled a face. 'Cat, if I could make it go away I would, but you know...'

She sighed and nodded. 'I know.' She knew he would. She was being unreasonable. Everything in that castle was for her, and here she was trying all she could to escape from it. If she couldn't at least enjoy it for her own sake, she should be able to for Edmund, for his brother and sisters. Accepting his helping hand up, she added, 'It doesn't make me want to go back anymore but I know.' She brushed the sand off her dress and attempted to tidy her wild blonde mane, before presenting herself for inspection. 'How do I look?'

'A mess.' Edmund grinned.

Caterina rolled her eyes. 'I suppose that'll have to do then.' She glanced at her horse. 'Can we... walk back?' She gave Edmund what she hoped was a beseeching look from her unusually green eyes.

'Any excuse to put it off?'

'You know me.'

Edmund smiled again and picked up the mare's reins. 'I suppose, just this once, we can do what you want. After all, not every day is your eighteenth birthday. Come on. Any longer and Peter will quite possibly have a fit.'