That night, Katriana lay in bed. She was unable to sleep. Again. But she had a better reason for it this time. She thought about walking the halls again, but she was too afraid to. Sighing, she rolled over and looked out the window in her room. Peter had told her everything would be all right, but she had doubts. They didn't know him. He wouldn't stop till he'd had his revenge and brought her back. Or till she was dead. She shuddered.

She heard a small noise outside her door. Katriana sat up quickly. Silence. She waited a few more moments; then she heard a voice.

"Katriana?" came a nearly inaudible voice. It was King Peter. Katriana threw back the covers and silently ran over to the door. She pressed her ear to the crack.

"Yes?" she answered.

"Are you… I mean… I hope I didn't wake you." She smiled. Peter was too polite.

"No, I was awake," she whispered back.

"Oh, good. Would you… that is… can you come out and talk?" She hesitated. Then she ran to get her robe and slippers. She carefully opened the door so as to not wake Alia, who never seemed to have trouble falling asleep. Katriana found Peter standing there in the same garb that he had been in the night she was sick. It made him look more… normal.

"Oh! Hello!" he said. He was acting very awkward for some reason. He led her over to the balcony that was by her room. She sat on the bench, but he leaned against the wall to the right, letting the shadows conceal him.

"I should have had that man put in prison for what he did to you," he said, his voice gruff. It surprised her completely.

"You didn't know, and besides, there's really no proof for you to go on to even throw him in prison. It would just be my word against his."

"Still… there should be something we can do. How… how did you come to be a human anyway? If you don't mind my asking," he said in a more gentle voice.

Katriana sat there for a few moments. Dare she tell? Could she learn to trust again? Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she answered.

"I was a dryad once, not so long ago. I am not that old, my tree is only 100 years old. I loved my life in the deep woods. It was very carefree. One day, I met a man who seemed to be in great distress. He said that he owned a hall, and that one of his singers had taken ill, and now he was in a great bind and did not know what to do since he knew that he would be having a large party that evening. I, of course, wanted to help him, and offered my voice to fill the other girl's place that night. He was very grateful, and showed me the way to this hall so that I could see what he wanted me to sing. Little did I know that it was a trap.

As I went into the room with him, I saw a hag there, who ended up being a witch as well. She immediately started yelling all sorts of things that I could not understand, and later I found out that she had put a curse on me. The hag had bound me to the man's service as long as my tree was alive. It gave him full power over me, to do what he wished with me. That was how I was bound to him with what he calls an 'agreement'. I could not physically leave the place while the spell was on me. I was trapped there for years, singing for this man. I hated him. I hated my life. I prayed to Aslan that he might lead someone along who would cut down my tree and spare me from any more misery. And so this went on for some time.

Now, for some reason, the man thought that if he kept the hag there, it would ensure even more that I would never leave the facility. I hated her almost as much as him. My mind would lead me into murderous thoughts against her. One day, when the hall was nearly empty, I heard a voice that I had never heard before. It was life, and breath, and everything else that is good. I turned and saw a lion there, as big as any lion I had ever seen before. He was the most beautiful thing to my eyes, after being in that wretched place for so long.

'Daughter of Air, why do you weep?' he asked me.

'I weep for my life's end and for justice in this world,' I answered him. I trembled, for he was very great.

'Weep no more, for your sorrows have been heard.' After he said this, he breathed on me, and I found myself a human. This quite shocked me, for it was not what I had been expecting. 'You are now free. See to it that you live like the freedwoman that you are. Go to the castle Cair Paravel and look for the children who are the rulers there. They will be good to you.' And with that, he was gone. I realized then what he had done for me. As long as I was a dryad, I was bound to the spell. But no longer, since I was now made human.

Once I realized this, I jumped to my feet. It took me a moment to get my bearings, but I did so. I ran out of the little room that the man let me stay in, and into the kitchen. Since it was morning, the cooks were not there yet. I planned on running out quietly and head north, for that is where the only castle that I had ever heard of was. The kitchen was not so empty, though. The hag was there.

Seeing me come out of that room, she must have figured out who I was. I knew that she would try to stop my departure, so I looked for a weapon to protect myself with. I saw some of the knives lying on the counter there, so I picked up the biggest one and swept 'round with it to face her. Little did I know that she had already flown at me and was almost on top of me when I did so. She landed right on the knife, and fell down dead.

This horrified me to no end. I was a murderer. How could I show myself among any Narnians ever again? At this point I found my memory fading, so I decided to leave that place as fast as I could. I ran and stumbled on for days, and when I was almost giving up hope that I would find anything Aslan had told me to look for when I met you and your brother, King Edmund. And that is my story." She ended with her voice almost a whisper.

Katriana and Peter sat in silence for a few moments as he soaked in all of what she had said.

"I was an apple tree," she added quietly. "His business, as he calls it, is more like a place to get drunk than anything. I may be free of him physically, but he still has a hold on me that I cannot seem to shake. I still fear him."

Peter stood there in silence. He did not know what to say or how to comfort her. A dryad! He still could not get over the fact that this girl used to be as free as the air itself. He wondered if she wanted to go back to being a dryad. But he didn't have time to ask this, because something from the shadows on the other side of her moved.

A man jumped out and wrapped his arm around Katriana's throat. He held a knife in his hand. "Don't you move, or even scream, or I'll cut you," he hissed into her ear. "I know that you have a friend here with you somewhere, so they'd better not make any noise either. I have this knife here, and I'll use it if I have to," he said slightly louder so that Peter could hear it.

Peter didn't move. He knew that if he did he would give away his best weapon right now; surprise. The man didn't know where he was. The man looked around, but, after seeing no one, looked down to grab his sword. That's when Peter made his move.

Peter jumped at the man, grabbing his wrist so that Katriana was free. He held the man's hand away from him so that he didn't get cut. Once Katriana had slipped out of the man's grip, Peter kicked him as hard as he could in the chest. The man lost his balance and fell, bringing Peter down with him. They wrestled on the floor for a few moments; then the man's superior strength let him be able to give Peter a cut on his arm. Peter winced, and struggled to keep the man from getting on top of him and gaining the upper hand in the fight.

When it seemed as though the man was about to do just that, Peter got the knife loose from the man's hand, knocking it into the hallway. Now that he no longer was worried about the knife, Peter could concentrate all his energy on bringing the man down. He punched the man in the nose, cause the man to reel back on the floor. Peter sat up, and was moving towards the man when he heard,

"Peter!" being yelled from the hallway. He glanced up and saw his sword Rhindon being thrown towards him, and Edmund behind it. He caught it and drew it from its scabbard. This, however, had given the man enough time to draw his own sword. Peter jumped to his feet, and found Edmund beside him with his own sword. They rushed the man as he stood up.

It was a terrible fight. The man's hate could be felt in every blow he gave the two kings. After a little bit, the man knocked Peter's sword out of his hand. Peter was caught by surprise, and this gave the man a chance to clamp his left hand around Peter's neck. The man pointed his sword at Edmund, who had been knocked down and was just getting up.

"If you take one more step I will end your brother's life."

Ed stood there, not sure what to do. He couldn't save his brother when the man had a hold of him. He faintly heard people down the hall. They must have heard them fighting. But they wouldn't be able to get there before the man had killed Peter. Peter was grabbing at the man's hand, which was tightening on his throat. He had heard the noise too.

All of a sudden, the sound of something rushing by was heard by the three fighters, and the man's knife was suddenly in his right shoulder. This shocked them all, and it caused the man to slightly loosen his grip on Peter. Peter wrenched the man's hand off of his throat, and punched him in the face as hard as he could. This sent the man reeling, and also caused him to turn his back to them a bit. Edmund took this opportunity to rush up and plunge his sword in the man's back. They heard a gasping sound, and then the man collapsed on the floor. He was dead.

The two boys stood there, breathing heavily. Peter looked up at Edmund.

"Ed, I…"

Edmund cut him off. "Don't say anything. I was just repaying you for what you did for me."

Peter nodded, and then turned at the sound off many creatures running down the hall. They were quite close now, and they could see the dead man lying on the floor in front of the boys. But Peter didn't care about that now; he needed to find Katriana.

He looked around and in between all of the servants that were starting to fill the hallway. He saw her sitting in the corner where he had been; deep in the shadows. Her legs were pulled up to her chest, and her face buried in her arms.

Peter ran to her, and knelt down beside her. "Katriana, it's all right! He's dead! Edmund killed him. It's all right now," he said as he pulled her close to him. She was trembling, and he wrapped his arms around her as they sat there together in the dark where no one noticed them. He listened to her breath as he thought of how she was now truly free.