A/n: Hugs and kisses to elomeno, Connors, Narniafan, GoldenAgeNarnian, LOVEM, CairParavel, EC, Artemis-hunt-goddess, Emily, QueenLucyfan, QueenElenaofnarnia, Aquafin, Emma, Bella, PeterCaspianRlz, Aslanmane, and all the other guests! There will be many conflicts and disputes in this chapter. Enjoy, anyway. :(


(Telmarine Castle, Narnia)

~Chronicler's POV~

At the dungeons, King Caspian turned to the guard. "Thank you, Orion. You are dismissed."

Orion bowed and left the dungeons to attend to his other duties, leaving Caspian to have a moment with Lady Katrina. He decided to be very direct with her.

"Katrina, I really need to ask you this. Did you take Lucy's necklace unlawfully? If you did, it's better for you to own up to it now. Tell me the truth, and a lighter sentence can be arranged."

Katrina looked at him incredulously. Out of all the people in the world, Katrina had honestly believed that, besides her sister, it would be Caspian who would stand firm and say that she was innocent. But apparently she thought wrong.

"How can you say that?! You don't believe I'm innocent? I'd never take what doesn't belong to me. I'm here to serve Lucy, not to steal from her," Katrina exclaimed.

"It's not that simple," Caspian said gloomily.

"Not that simple?! What's not simple?! It certainly seemed simple to you, and easy too, to just give an edict and look at where I'm at now," Katrina said scornfully.

"What do you want me to think? I saw the necklace in your bedroom. So did the servant, and so did Orion. It was hidden. It had to be deliberate. I can't think of any other reason why it would be there," Caspian said ruefully.

"And what about the Kings? Do they believe that I would do such an immoral thing? I was raised better than that, Your Majesty," Katrina shot back spitefully. "Do you think the Queens for a second believed that I was guilty of thievery? They were sensible enough to refuse to believe in this madness. You, on the other hand. I trusted you, and you did nothing. You didn't stand up for me. I thought I could count on you, but apparently I can't!"

"Look, if you are innocent, we will prove it," Caspian said weakly.

"'If'? My King, I am innocent. Forgive me; I must speak plainly and freely. You know what stupidity is? It's knowing the truth, but choosing to believe in the lies instead. My time is precious and I would not like to spend it with stupid people. So, I would like to be left alone," Katrina said acidly.

"Katrina, please," Caspian gritted his teeth. "I'm trying to help you."

"Well, try less, Caspian," Katrina glared at the Telmarine King before retreating back to sit on the wooden bench in her cell. Caspian stood up, sighing, and left reluctantly, heading to the lounge where everybody else was.

"Any news?" Queen Susan asked.

"I asked if she did it and she keeps saying she didn't," Caspian said sitting on one of the chairs.

"That's because she didn't! She's telling the truth. If you're not going to believe her, why bother asking?" Lady Ines threw her hands up in the air.

"Katrina spends almost all her time with me for the past couple of months. I think I really would have noticed it if something was off about her, or if an item was missing from my jewelry box," Queen Lucy said, biting on her lip.

Princess Gilda frowned at everyone. She couldn't believe it what she was hearing. "Am I the only one standing for the facts here?"

All eyes turned to her. "You think she did it?" Caspian asked.

"Well I'm pretty sure Lucy's necklace didn't just fly from a locked box and landing in her handmaiden's bedroom, carefully wrapped in a white napkin, and under the mattress," Gilda analyzed. "So there's only one explanation. She did it, and now she's denying it."

"Well you're wrong! I know you never liked my sister because she is much closer to King Caspian than you are. Your animosity toward her seems to have been automatically extended to me, as well, as if I had earned your disapproval simply due to my close association to her. You can loathe us all you want, but your rancor cannot turn her from innocent to guilty. You do not have the right to accuse her of something that you don't know for sure happened," Ines stood up. She had had enough.

"At least I'm honest with what I think. I'm not blinded by prejudice," Gilda stood up as well.

"Honest? I'm not sure you quite understand what honesty means, Your Highness," Ines said sardonically.

"Gilda, give it a rest," King Edmund said with an admonitory tone. If Gilda let anything slip about their…secret, more trouble would come, as if there weren't enough already. "And Ines, please be respectful to your superiors. Politeness and deference is expected of you at all times. Gilda is a Princess; you are a Lady."

"Well excuse me, my King, but until she is married to King Caspian, she is not my Princess and I don't have to accept what she's saying, especially when it's not the truth. She accused my sister of stealing, when Katrina was innocent, and you know it; you do! So, the Archenlander must be lying, and now she claims she is the one being honest. You are the Just King; do you see the loophole here? Because I do," Ines said in fuming rage.

Gilda rolled her eyes. "You know what? That's what happens when you choose girls from villages who have no manners, instead of girls with class, to be your ladies in waiting." She looked at Susan and Lucy skeptically. "If I were you, Susan, I'd be careful, and search her bedroom as well," she sneered, jabbing a finger in Ines' direction. "If the younger girl could steal jewelry, who knows what this one's doing? After all, it is glaringly obvious she enjoys our lifestyle, or she would have never seduced your brother just to be the future High Queen."

"Gilda?" Lucy whispered. She'd always known Gilda to be a sweet person. The Valiant Queen was in shock once again. How could something so venomous slip out of the Princess' mouth?

"Look here, that's enough, Gilda," King Peter seized control over the situation. "While I agree that certain manners and codes of decorum are to be followed, and that Ines should not have talked to you like that, you did say something awful things about her family and I won't tolerate that."

"Are you just defending her because you're courting her?" Gilda raised her eyebrows at Peter.

"You may be Caspian's fiancée and the future Queen of two countries. You do have a lot of power. But let me remind you that I'm still the High King of Narnia. Ines, listen too. Princess or not, courter or not, you two bickering and arguing and spitting insults at each other is not going to help at all. So stop. I don't want to have to resort to more drastic measures. Is that understood?" Peter said sternly. Now this was why Aslan made Peter the High King of Narnia.

Gilda maintained her composure and collected exterior. She was too well trained to act otherwise. "Of course, my King. Your Majesty will accept my sincere apology." She bowed her head slightly and executed a flawless curtsy, one that must have been perfected over years and years of practice.

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again," Ines added.

"Alright," Lucy said, trying to light up the mood in the room. "I think there's something that doesn't quite make sense. My necklace had to be stolen from my jewelry box during the feast."

"Why during the banquet, Lucy? It could have been stolen before," Queen Susan frowned.

"No, I'm fairly sure it was stolen during the party, because when I was getting ready, my necklace was still in the box. Katrina was helping me get dressed at that time, and she left my room at the same time as I did," Lucy recalled the events from last night.

"She could have gone back your room after you left, without you knowing," Gilda pointed out.

"But that can't be. The feast was getting started already. She wouldn't have had the time to," Susan analyzed.

"Yes, she was dancing with me. I can testify for that," Caspian piped up as Gilda shot him a dirty look.

"She could be in this area as often as she likes since she's a lady in waiting." Gilda was relentless.

"She was at the banquet the whole time. I can guarantee that," Ines stepped up.

"Well there is something we can do. We could question guards that were stationed at the staircases. They'd know if Katrina did visit here during the party," Edmund suggested.

"Yes, indeed. But if I remember correctly from their shift schedules, we'd have to wait till tomorrow earliest," Susan added.

"And until then, my sister will be in jail, treated like…I don't know," Ines sighed and rubbed her eyes while Peter hugged her.

"Well," Gilda said emotionlessly. "Lucy, what will you do, now that you don't have a lady in waiting? Will someone take her place?"

"According to the rules laid out at the start of the training program, which we Queens have agreed to already, there's the next in line," Lucy answered.

"So I suppose we ought to go ask Viscountess Beryl who the next in line is," Susan suggested.

"There's no need to consult Lady Newport," Ines said right away, looking crestfallen. "It's Carissa."

"What?! Lady Carissa Atherton of Selby?! No, not her, please," Edmund complained.

"Do I look pleased she'll be so close to us? I'm not happy either, but rules are rules, and we are not to deviate from them," Lucy said in a queenly manner.

"But that girl and her father tried to assassinate us…even if we couldn't exactly prove it," Edmund pointed out.

"She would totally be the type to take revenge though. She never liked us; that was clear enough. And she got really angry once she knew that she couldn't be a handmaiden to either of the Queens. She'd do anything just to get what she wants," Ines muttered.

"But, like Katrina, she was also at the ball, so she has the perfect excuse," Caspian sighed in desperation.

"I'm really sorry to say that there is nothing we can do at the moment apart from waiting till tomorrow to see what information our trusty guards can offer us," Susan said. "Ines, I'll give you the day off today."

"I'll stay with you all day," Peter said to Ines in reassurance.

"I'll send a page Selby, to let Lady Carissa know that she will be my lady in waiting," Lucy said dully, excusing herself and leaving the room. And one by one everyone left, hoping the next day would come quickly.

Edmund, however, followed Gilda to her chambers.

"Gilda," he called out.

"Hey Edmund," she turned around, facing him with a sweet smile on her face.

"What was that just now?" He demanded, folding his arms.

"What are you talking about?" She grew wary.

"You did just insult Ines' family," he stated.

"Oh that," she explained. "Did you hear what that girl said to me? She doesn't respect her superiors. Look at the education her family gave her. As a lady in waiting, she will be expected to be at the Queens' side when receiving guests and speaking with dignitaries at social occasions. If she keeps acting like that, Narnia will lose face, and be known for bad manners instead. That will reflect badly on Narnia's rulers. On her sorry courter, Peter. On your sisters. On you. And on me. I'm not saying that Lady Harrington is an ineffectual trainer. None of the handmaidens I've met are quite as…feisty as Ines was. Frankly, I can't see what positive qualities she might have that would make Peter so drawn to her. That was why I concluded that she must have adopted other tactics."

"Well, either way, it was a horrible thing to say. That is something that known as discrimination in my world," he explained, looking disappointed. "It shouldn't matter if you are rich or poor. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect."

Gilda was about to defend herself and argue that Ines had misbehaved as well, but frankly she had never seen Edmund so upset before. She held back the words she was going to say and said this in reply instead. "Well, that was how I was raised to think. That's what all Archenlanders are taught. In Archenland, we're not mean to villagers or commoners, but each social class should know their place. We will never socialize with the lower classes. They'll stay where they belong, and we, the royals, stay way above them, where we should be. I would never allow my lady in waiting to be someone, you know…"

"Someone what? Poor?" Edmund sighed.

"Yes. They don't have manners. They don't know how to act properly at meals or at parties. Royals should only socialize with royals, aristocrats, nobles, and at most the gentry," Gilda stated as if she were memorizing lines from a textbook.

"Well I never thought you were so superficial. Let me tell you something, Gilda. Back in England, my siblings and I were poor. Our father was in the army, while Peter had to be the man of the house, taking care of me and my sisters, especially when our mother needed to work so we could have food and pay our bills. So as you can see, we aren't royals. We don't have 'royal blood', like you and Caspian do, that you so take pride in," Edmund said sternly. "But we treat everyone with kindness, royal or not. And you are going to be Queen of Narnia someday soon. Equality is the core value of Narnia. It's something you must uphold if you should rule this land. And even if not, I think that you should be respectful to everybody regardless of their social standing anyway. You didn't have any say in who Susan's and Lucy's handmaidens would be, and I can understand it if you don't like Katrina for obvious reasons, or if you don't like Ines because your personality doesn't match hers. But now that Carissa, born noble, is going to replace Katrina, do you think she is a better person simply because she descended from barons? Our social rank or wealth is not what defines us. It's how we behave, how we present ourselves. That's what matters. I hope you understand."

And with that, he turned on his heel and walked downstairs, leaving Gilda ashamed.


A/n: So, it's time for Carissa to step up as one of the Queen's ladies in waiting, as she has always wanted to be. Time for her to shine now.