Cleaning up the battlefield went smoothly, and the Telmarines complied. Preparations for Caspian's coronation began.
Kayla had decided to ride off one day by herself to the ruins of Cair Paravel, mainly to get the chests of her belongings. She had a dress in mind to wear at the coronation ball.
She also wanted to go to relive the memories, should the family be going back to the other world and not know if and when they would return.
"Here I am, beautiful Golden Age of Narnia. I'm not Queen Susan the Gentle or Queen Lucy the Valiant. You remember me as Dame Kayla, Lady Protector of Narnia, Baroness of Dancing Lawn, and Guardian of the Dancing Trees and the Dryads. The country's storyteller. I don't know if this is my last time here. Only Athair knows. I hope it won't be. I still have a country to rescue, and so does Lord Ivar."
She headed down to the treasure room, using a ball of flame as light. She stood before each statue, remembering the best and worst memories of each person they represented in the Golden Age. She reaches her statue and wonders if she will be the woman she once was. Her personality has only changed twice in her life, and even then not so much.
"Somehow, I knew I would find you here, Kayla."
"Ivar!"
"Edmund let me borrow his electric torch to see my down in here. I figured you would be after the dresses you had in the Golden Age. I even brought a wagon."
"Why?"
"The others asked me to grab their chests, as well."
"Fine then, 'cause I have more than one chest myself."
"It's Caspian's coronation, and you want to be the belle of the ball?"
"I am almost certain Caspian would have no objections."
"Kayla, if, if we should have to go back to our old world, what do you think would happen to our countries?"
"I don't know if I want to picture that. It was prophesied we would take back our kingdoms. If it takes every bone in my body to convince Athair that we need to stay, then so be it."
Ivar walks around the treasure room, glancing at each of the statues, and stopping at Peter's remembering the promise he made Peter keep.
"So, besides the storytelling at Dancing Lawn, what are your favourite memories of the Golden Age?"
"Hmmm. I would have to say just being here in general. We're around the creatures we were always told didn't exist. A beaver that made the best marmalade roll I have ever tasted. A faun that gave me a book of OUR history."
"You still have it, don't you?"
"Do I still have what?"
"The book Mr. Tumnus gave you."
"I think I do. I think it's in my chests somewhere. What about you? What were your favourite moments?"
"I say eating things I always thought would taste disgusting. The Marsh Wiggles were always sending me complimentary dishes, and I would often go fishing and hunting with them. I never thought I would like to eat frog."
"You ate the frog legs I fried that one time! Frogs from the Marshlands, I may add."
"You're right I did."
In that moment, Ivar was really wishing he had the ring he was going to propose to Kayla with. But he still wanted to ask permission for her hand. He still had permission from Peter and Edmund. He just needed the permission of her fathers.
Before she even knew what was happening, Ivar had grabbed Kayla's hands and pulled her closer to him. If he could not propose to her yet, he was at least going to try and start courting her.
"Ivar, what are you doing?"
"Something I've been meaning to do again since the Golden Age. Something that you know needs to happen."
He kisses her strongly, and she kisses him back without hesitation. He almost has to pick her up because of the height difference. As they kissed, the fires in the torches got bigger and bigger by the minute, making Kayla stop the kiss. As the pulled away, the fires shrank.
"What was that?"
"What?"
"You kissed me back."
"Are you mad that I did?"
"Of course not, but why did you?"
"That was not our first kiss, Ivar."
"I know this, Kayla. I've known you practically my whole life. Our first kiss was more simple, and it was a goodbye kiss. But why did you kiss me back?"
"I honestly don't know. It just seemed to be the right thing to do."
"Same goes for me. Now you know why I cried when you gave yourself up to Rabadash so that we could get away."
"You cried?"
"I was afraid you wouldn't make it."
"And I told you that I would. And I did."
"I know."
"And someone had to stay in the cells of Tashbaan. So, I decided it should be someone that the four monarchs of Narnia would not risk war over. I was the distraction you all needed to get away. And it worked. I showed up later at the battle of Anvard, remember?"
"I remember very well. Well, maybe we should put these chests on the wagon before the others wonder what happened to us."
"Yes, we should."
They loaded the chests onto the wagon as fast as the could and headed back to the Telmarine castle.
"I will tell you something else I miss from the Golden Age, Ivar."
"And what would that be?"
"Not what that would be, who that would be. Erdudvyl. I miss how she was the most optimistic animal I have ever seen besides Athair."
"I honestly miss Dagvid's pessimistic comments. They were worrisome enough to make someone laugh. They certainly made me laugh."
"As they did to everyone around him."
They made it to the Telmarine castle, and their arrival made Peter's eyebrows raise a little bit.
"Ivar. Kayla. You two were certainly gone long enough."
"Shut up, Peter."
"We brought the chests back."
"I see that."
"How are the preparations going?"
"Everything seems to be going good except for one thing."
"What thing is that?"
"The ball. Caspian said something seems off about it. That it needs both a Telmarine and Narnian feel to it, and I told him that there is only one person who can give it the Narnian feel."
"You did not tell him I would plan it, did you? I haven't planned a ball in centuries!"
"Someone has to, and no one plans a ball like you do."
"He's right, Kayla."
"Fine. I'll do it. Only if it gets you to stop begging me about it."
"I won't say another word about it."
Later on that day, Kayla met with the castle cooks, the florists, the dressmakers, and everyone else she needed. The coronation was the next day.
