It was after the coronation of the Pevensie children in Narnia that the events of this story began to unfold. The coronation ball went on into the next morning. Lucy and Edmund were especially pleased; neither had been up this late. Peter and Susan made the most of this opportunity to get to know their people.

It was just before the sunrise when they agreed to send Lucy to bed. Half an hour later they sent Edmund to bed as well. Susan looked into Lucy's room to check she was asleep. From Susan's point of view, she was. From Lucy's she wasn't.

Lucy couldn't sleep. She was unsure of whether it was because she had just been crowned queen of Narnia or because her balcony faced eastwards and the sunlight streamed in. But Narnia was a difficult place to sleep in and eventually she had to get up and stand on the balcony for a moment.

As she stood, she looked out over the mighty waters that lapped at the shore. As she looked she saw someone walking along the shoreline. She ran back into her room, across the floor and into the corridor. She down the stairs and into the entrance hall.

"Lu?" Uh oh. Lucy froze and turned to face Peter and Susan. It was Peter who had spoken. "Where were you going?"

"I thought you were asleep." Susan said.

"I couldn't." Lucy said, looking at Susan. Her eyes flickered back to Peter, "I was going down to the beach. I had spotted someone on the shore and I was going to see if they were alright."

"Alone?"Peter asked. "And unarmed?"

"Yes, well actually-," Lucy began but the look on Peter's face made her backpedal, "Yes."

"Susan, fetch your bow and arrows. Lucy bring your dagger and meet back here in half an hour." Peter commanded. Susan grabbed Lucy's hand and they ran together up the stairs to Lucy's room. Lucy dressed and grabbed her gifts. She met Susan in the corridor and they found Peter waiting at the top of the stairs. Together they left Cair Paravel and walked down to the beach.

"There she is." Lucy whispered. Peter and Susan looked in the same direction. They saw a young girl the same age as Edmund, skipping stones, standing in the fringe of the ocean. She turned and the three Pevensie children hid behind a tree. She walked back to a cloak and began retying the laces of her shoes. Once she had done that, she slipped the cloak around her shoulders and continued walking along the beach to Cair Paravel.

"Stop, who goes there?" Peter asked. The girl turned, frightened. Her eyes widened as Peter and Susan appeared from the shadows, Peter with his sword, Susan with her bow and arrow.

"Please sir, I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was just walking to Cair Paravel. I had heard news and I wished to see the new kings and queens. I have come such a long way and it would be a shame if I had to go back Eona without having seen them."

"What is your name?" Peter pressed.

"Catherina." The girl replied.

"Well Catherina, you are in luck. You have just met three of the four."Peter returned his sword to the sheath. Lucy came out from behind them and Catherina dropped to her knees.

"Your Majesties are sacred to the people of Eona." She said. Susan lowered her bow.

"Forgive me," Susan said. "But where is Eona?"

"It is some miles north of the Lone Islands. At least a week by boat to the south of Narnia and then a fortnight on foot to Cair Paravel, Your Majesty."

"Come on, let's take her back to Cair Paravel so she can meet King Edmund!" said Lucy.

"I would like that. Thank you Your Majesty."

"Come with us." said Susan, holding her hand out to the young girl. Catherina took it and they walked with her, not hurrying her, but matching her pace. She chattered away to the girls about her childhood. Then she graciously struck up a conversation with Peter about which horses are best for battle.

Edmund was in a foul mood. His brother and sisters had disappeared in the early morning and none of the servants or courtiers had seen them. Also he had gone to bed later than normal and, as everyone knows, he was tired and that made him grumpy.

He sat at the long breakfast table alone with a breakfast, served for four, that could have fed twenty. Edmund had eaten all he could, yet there was still food left. He leaned back in his chair.

Suddenly there was a small commotion outside and a pageboy stumbled through the door, still half-asleep.

"His Majesty, the High King Peter. Their Majesties, Queen Susan and Queen Lucy and guest." Edmund flicked his wrist and the pageboy left and his brother and sisters came in.

"Where have you been?" Edmund said, jumping to his feet.

"We were down at the beach." Lucy replied.

"Well, thank you for inviting me." Edmund retorted sourly. "I've been here for hours and hours and none of the servants or courtiers have seen you!"

"Edmund, please calm down." Susan said.

"Edmund, we have a guest. Please show some dignity." Peter said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Edmund shrugged it off and, turning on his heel, left.

"He had a late night, didn't he?" Catherina stated. It wasn't a question, more a statement of fact. They looked at her in shock. "What? I have five brothers. I tell a mile away. He's eaten nearly all the food, his crown was slightly askew, he looked bored to death and he had awful bags under his eyes. I'll go talk to him." She pushed past them and began walking in the same direction as Edmund.

"Catherina, wait." Peter called after her. She turned back. "Edmund had his sword."

"I know." She said.

"But you're unarmed." He said.

"I know." She repeated. She walked over and placed her hand on his hip. Peter looked at her, shock crossing his face. She turned and walked away with his sword in her hand.

"Do you reckon she could teach me that?" Lucy asked as Catherina slipped through the door. Peter and Susan looked at her. "What?"

Catherina found Edmund on the balcony facing the ocean. She hid the sword behind her back.

"Hello." She said. Edmund turned his head slightly to the right to look at her and then turned to look at her fully. She came up to him and set his crown straight on his head. He looked at it and smiled at her.

"Thank you. I'm sorry about my behaviour earlier. I had been there for a long time and I'd had a late night. My coronation was last night." He explained.

"That's fine. I don't mind. I just came to see if you were alright."

"I'm great, thank you." He smiled and she smiled back. Her head was level with his and he stared straight into her eyes. He moved his head to whisper in her ear. "Why do you have a sword?"

"Oh, I thought I might need it." Catherina said, moving it out from behind her.

"Girls can't use swords." He said.

"Really?" She said. He pulled his sword out of the sheath and they began fighting.

Peter, Susan and Lucy were waiting for Catherina's return in the dining hall. They were worried about what had happened and what had been said, when they heard swords clashing.

"No way!" Susan said. They all ran out of the room. They found the pair fighting and by the looks of things it wasn't going well for Catherina. She was knelt on the floor with her back to the steps. But with one swift move, she was standing, her sword at Edmund's throat, his sword, in her hand, pointing at his stomach.

"What were you saying about girls and swords?" She asked.

"That they are lethal with them?" Edmund replied. Catherina released him and handed him his sword. "Not bad, can you teach me that?"

"Sure." Catherina smiled, "I'd like that."

"Would you like some breakfast?" He asked.

"Yes please."

He gestured for her to go first. She ducked inside. The others came out onto the balcony.

"What was that about?" Peter asked.

"I said girls can't use swords and we had a duel." Edmund explained. Susan raised her eyebrows. "A friendly duel!"

"So you two are friends?"

"Yes."

"You lost to a girl."

"I lost to a girl." Edmund admitted crossly. He wasn't cross because Catherina had beaten him; he was cross because Peter was asking silly questions. He felt a strange urge to talk to her again.

"Well, we'd better have some breakfast." Susan concluded. She and Lucy went back inside. Peter and Edmund followed. They found Catherina standing in the dining hall, waiting for them. They sat down and then she sat down beside Edmund and opposite Peter. As they breakfasted, Edmund wasn't eating but he was willing to assist Catherina in any way he could, Peter and Catherina continued their discussion.

"What is Eona like Catherina?" Lucy asked from the other side of Edmund.

"Well, it depends on the time of year that you go. If you go in the summer, it is always sunny and there are picnics and games every day. There are competions for the children and we all have a jolly good time. In the winter we have snowball fights and build snowmen and snow castles!"

"Snow castles?" Lucy asked excitedly. Catherina nodded.

"They are so big. One of my father's friends built one so big the governor and his family lived there for the entire season! But now it's only the governor and his sons left." Catherina hung her head and the Pevensie children could feel the sadness exuding from her.

"Hey, it's okay." Peter said, reaching his hand across the table to pat hers.

"It's not okay Peter! It's only the governor left! Nearly the entire family died. You don't understand!"

Peter had snapped back into a sitting position when she had begun to shout at him. As soon as Catherina had stood, he stood with her. Now they mirrored each other, both had their hands on the table and were leaning across, Catherina matching Peter's hard look. Catherina broke first and pushed away, striding across the long hall, to the door.

"What don't I understand?" He shouted at her retreating back. Catherina whipped around so fast with such force; Lucy cowered against her seat with the wind and fear.
"My father's the governor! My mother and six sisters died and I came to Narnia to ask for help. Half my family died. I have to help run a nation! I came for help and I shall have to go home empty handed!" Catherina turned and ran out of the hall before the tears could overcome her.
"Well done Peter!" Susan said, sarcasm lacing her words.
"How was I to know?" Peter asked.

"It doesn't matter. She's going to go home now and tell them that the prophesied kings and queens don't do their jobs properly."
"Wait, a minute! Where's Edmund?" Lucy asked. Susan and Peter looked at Lucy and then Peter's eyes flickered to Lucy's right to find she was right.
"Catherina!" Peter said and they ran out of the hall. They came to the balcony and the girls were about to go down the steps when Peter threw out an arm. They looked at him in confusion but then they realised why. Catherina was on the dock, about to get in a dingy and Edmund was jogging towards her.

"Stop! Why are you going home? You just got to Cair Paravel. Please don't leave yet." Edmund begged.
"Your brother made it clear I wasn't welcome. I might as well go. I'll talk to the Lone Islanders on my way to Eona." Catherina flung a bag over her shoulder. "If it was just you, Lucy and Susan then I might stay."
"Peter's not so bad. If you stay, please, then you can get to know him. Please stay." Edmund said. "You put up a good fight, I must say. I'll stay." She agreed. Edmund smiled. "But until I get what I want."
"I'll talk to Peter." Edmund promised, "I promise."
"Okay." Catherina said before they hugged.

Back on the balcony Peter turned to Susan and Lucy.
"Do you know what this means?" He said.
"No." Lucy replied, but the look he gave Susan made Susan understand.
"Oh." was all she said. Peter nodded meaningfully. Lucy looked with confusion between her siblings.

Just then, Edmund and Catherina came jogging up the steps.
"Don't worry." Edmund said, "All is forgiven."
"I'm sorry for shouting at you." Catherina apologised to Peter. She turned to face the girls, "To all of you."
"That's alright. I deserved it I guess. I was perfectly beastly to you at breakfast. Please come and play against me in a friendly game of chess." Peter replied.
"Okay. Chess it is." She smiled. Peter put his arm around her shoulders and guided her inside. The others followed, unwilling to miss this opportunity.

Five years had passed since Catherina had arrived. Catherina had become a regular feature at court. She was Susan and Lucy's head lady in waiting. She was one of Peter's generals. She and Edmund had become as close as anything.

They had all changed physically. Peter had grown and looked like a king. Susan had grown into a willowy young woman. Edmund's face had begun to harden into the face of a young man and he had grown at least one and a half feet. Lucy had lost the baby fat and grown a foot.

Catherina had been in bed with growth pains in her legs so had not been in court for two weeks. Edmund was worried greatly about her as she grew. Only Lucy was allowed to visit her in Beruna and she wasn't allowed to speak about her.

Soon the time came when Catherina could walk and she came to court. The two kings and two queens took their places in their thrones. The rest of the court lined the walls. A pageboy entered.

"Catherina of Eona." He announced. He stepped back the double doors opened. Catherina entered and Edmund nearly fainted from shock. Peter and Susan looked at each other then at Lucy. Lucy smiled.

Catherina had grown at least a foot and a quarter. She had lost all traces of baby fat. She had slimmed into a womanly figure. Her honey-hazel hair fell over her chest in soft waves. She was wearing a gown of light blue silk.

She curtsied when she reached them. "Your Majesties." She said.

"Catherina, you look wonderful." Peter said.

Susan nodded, "Stunning."

"We shall see you in the dining hall for a game of chess in a moment." Lucy said. Catherina curtsied and turned and began walking back down the aisle.

"Catherina!" Edmund called. She paused halfway down and turned back. He did the last thing anyone in the court expected next. He stood from his throne and ran down the aisle to her. They hugged in front of everyone. Applause echoed through the great hall.

They stepped back at the same time.

"I have to look up at you now!" Catherina whispered, gazing up at him. He laughed.