A/n: Thank you so much my dear Artemis-hunt-goddess, Muirgen79, Lea97, EC, QueenElenaofnarnia, Aslanmane, Narnianfan, Connors, QueenLucyfan, KesseGirl1, elomeno, Emma, PeterCaspianRlz, CairParavel, Emily, GoldenAgeNarnian, WendyAliceJuliet, Hermanote, and all the guests! HQP and I figured that it'd be nice to have a sisterly moment between Ines and Katrina so here it is. ;D

(Telmarine Castle, Narnia)

~Chronicler's POV~

Katrina felt her heart sink when she saw King Caspian and Princess Gilda sharing their New Year's kiss. Why was she so sad and so affected by it? And why did she feel as if her whole world was falling apart? All she wanted right now was just to go to bed and sleep. The next day was a public holiday, meaning she could sleep all day if she wanted. Still, she wanted to drop a word for her sister first. She looked around and found Ines saying goodbye to King Peter.

"I was looking for you," Ines said, beaming.

"Why?" Katrina asked plainly.

"I need sleep. I'm exhausted. I just want to know if you're going to stay here or go to sleep as well. Because I want to make sure you won't be left lonely," Ines said, stretching her arms and trying to hold back a yawn.

"I'm going to bed too," Katrina said pointedly.

"Are you sleepy or are you upset?" Ines asked rhetorically. Of course she knew the answer. It was both.

"Both?" Katrina replied, shrugging.

"Why? Did Carissa say something to you?" Ines questioned.

"No. I just need to sleep it off," Katrina shook her head.

"If you wish then," Ines said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Katrina said emotionlessly and threw herself onto the bed. After tossing and turning for quite some time, presumably a couple of hours, she stood up and left the bedroom. Normally, if she couldn't get to sleep she would have easily gone to the kitchens to get some tea. But, because that would just remind her all too much of a special person, she went to her sister's room instead.

Ines woke up when she heard the knocks on her door. "Who could still be awake at this time of the night?" She thought to herself, finding it strange.

"Ines? Are you still awake?" Katrina's voice came from the other side of the door.

Ines opened the door right away. "Hey. What's wrong?"

"I couldn't get a single wink of sleep," Katrina sighed.

"Well come on in," Ines patted the bed and looked at her sister, pulling the covers aside for Katrina to climb in. It was quite cozy.

"So, what is happening?" Ines asked patiently.

Katrina bit her lip before saying, "Ines, how do you know if you love someone?"

Ines chuckled. "Well it's easy, I suppose."

"How come?" Katrina inquired.

"Because if you're in love with someone, that person is constantly on your mind and invades your every thought. You just want that person to be around you all the time. Like you actually need his presence to make you feel happy, and safe too. When you see him, you feel a sensation that's just really indescribable, but 'butterflies in your stomach' is as close as can get, I guess. And you'll love everything about that person," Ines answered.

"Literally everything?" Katrina enquired. "Even their flaws?"

"Yes," Ines nodded. "Because when there is love you will realize that you can look beyond these imperfections. They're also part of this person, and you've got to love a person as a whole. You'll just adore and appreciate his voice, his laugh, and everything that he does. You sort of feel like you'd do anything for that person."

"Well then isn't that a dangerous feeling?" Katrina frowned.

"I suppose to a certain extent love does make us vulnerable," Ines replied. "But turning away from love doesn't make us any stronger either. We accept the love we think we deserve. Love takes our choices away, but it also gives us the strength and courage to face whatever may come our way. It's just magical like that."

"Is that what you feel for King Peter?" Katrina asked.

Ines looked away for a moment, before finally turning back to her sister and nodded. "Yes."

"You're in love with him?" Katrina asked again.

"Is it that hard to believe?" Ines joked. "I am. He's done so much for me. I think it's evident that he cares for me. I'm not saying this in a vain or boastful way but…it's just how I feel. And I'm equally willing to give up everything and put everything on hold just for him. Just to be with him. You know, Katrina, when I love, I give it my all. Our mother taught us this when we were younger. You were too little to understand it at that time, but I was slightly older and I can still remember it. It's still imprinted in my mind."

"Well, I remember vaguely what another thing our mother taught us," Katrina said. "She told us to listen to our hearts."

"And it happens to be a piece of advice you could use?" Ines inquired.

"Somehow, yes. I don't know how I landed in this situation, but I'm not sure if I really should listen to my heart. Because if I did go ahead and do what I really want to do…then the outcome should prove to be quite disastrous," Katrina said darkly.

"I think I have an idea who you're talking about," Ines said slowly.

"I don't know what to think. Why would a King choose me, a common girl who might or might not end up being a lady in waiting, over a Princess, a future Queen?" Katrina reasoned. "Honestly, if I were a King myself, I would have chosen the latter option as well. So, I just think that he thinks of me as his special friend. Even he's called me that himself. The other day."

Ines chuckled. "But you know, Katrina? When men speak of their 'special friends', they don't really mean a special friend. I mean, the 'special' part is undoubtedly true, but the 'friend' part? I wouldn't be so sure about it."

"What do you mean?" Katrina enquired.

"I mean that King Caspian doesn't see you as a friend," Ines explained.

"Then what does he see me as?" Katrina sighed.

"A love interest, I'll bet," Ines shrugged.

"That's impossible," Katrina rolled her eyes. "He's engaged. It's not funny. And I feel guilty that I'm falling for him. Because I know he'll never be mine. I know he's promised to a Princess. There's no hope for me."

Ines inhaled deeply. "Katrina, could you please tell me, what exactly did you observe of His Majesty that made you think he is in love with Her Highness?"

Katrina didn't say anything after a whole minute of pensive silence.

"Nothing at all, right? Precisely," Ines said.

"It's true then? That His Majesty doesn't really love Her Highness, even though they're engaged?" Katrina queried.

"Quite probably yes that's the case. We all know that's just a political alliance that would benefit both nations," Ines replied. "And I will also tell you one more thing that I've observed. It might shock you a bit, but it's just my conjecture and it doesn't necessarily reflect anything about the couple."

"Mm hmm. Go ahead. Tell me," Katrina nodded.

"King Caspian is not the only one who happens to have found love outside an engagement," Ines stated.

"Princess Gilda too?" Katrina frowned. "But…she has King Caspian. Why would she look elsewhere? Oh, if I were engaged to His Majesty I wouldn't even look twice at another man."

"Well come to think of it. That may not be the case for the Princess. When King Caspian was talking to you, who kept Princess Gilda entertained?" Ines asked.

"Well…I'm guessing, King Edmund?" Katrina replied.

"Correct. And, who did we see Princess Gilda dance the most with when King Caspian is otherwise occupied?" Ines asked again.

"King Edmund," Katrina said with more certainty this time.

"Finally, who do we see Princess Gilda with the most? Her fiancée, or the youngest King?" Ines asked.

"King Edmund," Katrina repeated.

"See? The two of them are with each other all the time. I'd even say they spend more time together than any engaged couple would. So, this means the engagement-alliance isn't really going that well. However, this is an international pact and it's not up to them to just say they want to quit. So they have to sit through it no matter how displeased they are," Ines analyzed.

Katrina sighed. "It doesn't change a thing. You agree that their engagement won't be dissolved anytime soon. So that means nothing's changed. I still won't ever stand a chance with His Majesty. Ever."

"I'm sure that's not true, Katrina," Ines said firmly. "Think positive. I think His Majesty would much prefer an optimistic and bright and lively and cheerful Katrina to a pessimistic and negative and depressed Katrina."

"Hmm, you're right," Katrina smiled. "I should go to sleep now. If I run into His Majesty tomorrow I don't want my eye bags to ruin it."

"That's my little sister," Ines smiled. "Now goodnight for real."

"Goodnight."

At breakfast, it was very obvious that King Caspian and King Edmund barely said a word to each other. The usual morning greeting was only unwillingly uttered under their breaths. This morning, Queen Susan and Queen Lucy needed to hold their daily council meeting. King Peter decided that he had to do something to heal the rift between his brother and the Telmarine and so, once Caspian exited the room, he grabbed Edmund.

"Tell me why you and Caspian aren't talking to each other," Peter decreed.

"I just can't keep anything from you, can I?" Edmund asked rhetorically.

"Never. Don't even dream about it, brother."

Edmund sighed and explained what happened last night. "So that, brother, is why Caspian thinks there's something going on between Gilda and myself."

"And there isn't?" Peter inquired.

"What do you mean?" Edmund frowned.

"That there's nothing going on between you and Gilda. Is that true? Is Caspian wrong in suspecting so?" Peter questioned.

"I don't like your tone," said Edmund warily. "Gilda is my best friend's fiancée. That's what's going on between us."

"Good, and it's gonna stay that way, because Gilda and Caspian don't need another person steering them away from the right track," Peter said grimly. "I can't imagine the mayhem that could really be caused if they were…derailed."

"Who else is there?" Edmund enquired. "Is there someone else pursuing Gilda?"

"Your use of the word 'else' makes me uneasy," Peter said, looking grave. "As far as I know, there's nobody else. Should that ease your worry?"

"Yes," Edmund replied solemnly. "What about Caspian? What's his distraction?"

"Plenty of pretty girls. Lethal ones," Peter remarked.

"Lady Carissa?" Edmund raised his eyebrows. "I thought she was warned to stay away?"

"Katrina," Peter corrected. "That one isn't staying away. Caspian would slaughter us if we tried to make her go away."

"Listen, I want Caspian to be with the one he loves, and I also want Gilda to be with the one she loves. It gives me a headache knowing it's not each other they fancy," Edmund groaned.

"I think they've put equal amounts of effort in trying to fall in love with each other, but I think it backfired a little, and now Caspian feels uneasy around Gilda. She's a nice girl, but when you look at them together, I mean as a couple, you know, something just…isn't right," Peter said, shaking his head. "It's just a matter of time before King Nain and Queen Dionne realize that too. Trust me, sooner or later it's going to happen."

"Well, I'm still going to see if apologizing to Caspian is going to help. I'm going to go to his office now. To make amends. We can't stay like this forever, not talking to each other," Edmund said decisively.

"Got it. But if Gilda is there in his office too, try not to stare at her in adoration like you're a lovesick puppy," Peter said wryly.

"Bye-bye, Pete," Edmund said with a sing song voice and left for Caspian's office.

~Caspian's POV~

This morning, Gilda was here in my office. "Caspian, I need to speak to you," she said urgently.

"About what?" I inquired, keeping my tone neutral. I was still a little apprehensive about what happened last night. If Edmund was falling for my fiancée, I wasn't sure if I could forgive him. It wasn't like I was jealous. Of course I wasn't jealous; I wasn't in love with Gilda! But really, Edmund was a King. And Kings really should have known better than to fall for someone they could never have. Just like my case with Katrina. How ironic this was. I thought Kings would be the most powerful people within the nation, but now it appeared we were so powerless when it comes to who we loved.

"About your row with Edmund. Your best friend," she said. Deep inside I was thankful that she wasn't planning on talking about our kiss.

"Yes?" I motioned for her to continue.

"You really should do something to fix it," she said simply.

"Well, Gilda, look here. If you think, for one moment, I'm going to swallow my pride, and go to apologize, simply because I agree that my behavior toward him last night was really unbecoming of me, and that I should have never acted toward anybody like that, especially not my best friend, that I've disappointed him, you, and myself, and people I care about," I sighed and looked at her apologetically. She was bracing herself for the worst. "Then in that case, you are completely correct. I am going to say sorry to him."

Gilda let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. You had me thinking you really were going to ignore him forever. That would really hurt him."

"Yes, it would. But have you ever thought that it would really hurt me as well?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Well, you obviously already saw that for yourself, so I don't have to look out for you," she shrugged.

"But Edmund needs looking out for?" I enquired slightly challengingly, but not impolitely.

"He's younger," she said uneasily.

"No, he's actually older. He's been King for a longer time than I have been. He's more mature than I am," I replied. "He would never be temperamental. Unlike me, in that respect."

I could tell that Gilda was about to say something in reply, but just then, the guard at my door knocked.

Wonder who that could be, I thought. "Come in," I raised my voice. The door opened and I wasn't surprised to see who was standing at it. "Edmund," I greeted as casually as I could manage.

"Caspian," he replied, sounding a little strained.

"Perhaps I should leave," said Gilda as she shifted toward the door.

"No, wait," I halted her. "You should stay and tell us first how you know of the fight we had. I thought you were asleep?"

"Well I was, but it was you two who woke me up," she replied sheepishly.

"Sorry," said Edmund and I at the same time.

"It's fine," Gilda shrugged. "Now, you two really should just…"

"Yes, we know. That's what I'm here for. I'm here to apologize, Caspian, if I've made you feel as if I'm playing your part for you when you are perfectly capable of being an ideal fiancé to Gilda. Please don't worry; you have her," Edmund said calmly.

"And I'd like to apologize too. I shouldn't have let my temper get the better of me. Perhaps I'm just, in a way, a spoiled Prince, but now I'm a King so that means I'll really have to rectify this flaw of mine," I explained humbly.

"Edmund and I can help you change. You don't always have to be that hot-tempered, hot-headed boy," she grasped my hand, and I wished I could feel some magic there but again nothing happened.

"Thank you for that, then," I remarked.

"So, are we all good now?" Edmund asked, holding out his hand for me to shake. This was a gesture that originated from Earth, I was sure, but in the Golden Age, Edmund and his siblings spread this custom everywhere, including to Archenland. Archenland preserved this mannerly gesture for many, many years and so now that I'd be twinning my own nation with Archenland I had gotten used to it.

"Yes, of course," I took his hand and shook it. We were best friends again.

A/n: Will the peace last long? We'll see about that. In the next chapter we'll have a Susan/Tyrone scene. At least there's one couple not stuck in a dysfunctional love triangle...