I definitely did not expect to take this long to write this chapter, but I had midterms this week! Anyway I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

Adalina and the Pevensies gathered with some of the Narnian leaders earlier that day to decide on a plan for the pending war. It was decided that Lucy and Susan would go to find Aslan and in order to buy the Narnians some time, Peter would challenge Miraz to one-on-one combat. Caspian had suggested the idea, it was a Telmarine tradition, Adalina was surprised she had not thought of it herself.

So Edmund trekked across the large field with Glenstorm and Rumblebuffin, one of the giants. As Adalina watched their now-blurry forms become smaller and smaller in the distance she stood silently in the open field, playing with her dress nervously.

"It might take a while." A voice from behind startled her. Adalina spun around to come face to face with Caspian. Once she was facing him, Caspian held up a sword, placing it in Adalina's soft grasp. She accepted the weapon with a confused expression forming on her brows.

"Let's practice." He clarified while staggering away, headed to a spot farther out in the field.

Adalina had been practicing with her sword a lot lately. She figured it would be a more effective weapon in battle; however she wasn't giving up all together on her dagger. She had used Edmund as a partner several times and a few other Narnian creatures, but she had yet to spar with Caspian. She found it just a little bit odd. Nevertheless she followed him, taking a stance a few feet away from him.

Adalina waited for Caspian's first blow, staring him down with her golden eyes. It came hard and fast, Caspian swung down to her right, she had to move quickly to block it. Adalina was shocked; Caspian usually went easy on her, especially starting out, he was always afraid to hurt her. But the dark look in his eyes told Adalina that that was not the case this time.

Adalina wasn't able to get in any blows; she had to concentrate on blocking too much to even think about striking. She strained her body to keep moving, twisting left and right, gripping her sword so hard her knuckles were white, afraid she would lose her hold with every clash of metal. Adalina couldn't take it anymore, it came without warning, and she was caught off guard for this kind of relentless attack.

Finally, she took a few quick steps backward and yelled, "STOP!" Caspian immediately lowered his sword, the ominous look draining from his black eyes. They both stood panting heavily.

"Caspian, why are you fighting so hard? You know I am not as skilled with the sword as you and you are using your strength against me." It was a little whinny, but Adalina couldn't stand fighting like that. Fighting with Caspian was usually fun.

Caspian panted, trying to catch his breath. "Miraz's soldiers won't go easy on you, Adalina. And most of them will be stronger than you, you have to be prepared." It was a lame answer; Adalina could tell he was using it as a cover. So then what was his problem?

"Caspian, I know how to take out men bigger and stronger than me. I am ready to fight. You know all of my weaknesses and you are using them against me, that's not anything like a real battlefield." Adalina's voice rang louder as she continued, becoming a little more irritated at his deception.

"Anything could happen out there, it is better to be prepared. Now hold up your sword." Adalina grunted in frustration, but did as he instructed and prepared for his strike. This time however, Adalina wanted to prove to Caspian that she could handle herself. As Caspian moved to make his first blow, Adalina quickly pulled out her dagger from her belt. She blocked his blow just barely with her sword in one hand and slashed at him with her dagger in the other.

Caspian pulled back just enough to miss the sharp blade. His face held a shocked expression as stepped back and lowered his sword.

"What? Anything could happen out there, you want to be prepared." Adalina mocked, earning her a challenging raise of the eyebrow from Caspian.

That was all it took, Caspian charged back at her and she met him with just as much intensity. They slashed and parried and stabbed at each other, narrowly missing flesh at times. Adalina was good at avoiding Caspian's strikes, she could easily maneuver around him and duck below his sword; however, Caspian had more brute strength and had the force of both his arms behind his sword's blows, Caspian also had a perfected technique, taught by the best swordsman in the land.

Only having one hand on her sword proved to be a big disadvantage for Adalina, as well as she handled her dagger, her arm was tiring fast. Adalina went to duck from a high strike, but her tiring body fell back from the weight of her sword. She dropped to the soft grass, the impact of the ground pushed her down so she lied completely on her back. Caspian moved forward to call defeat, but Adalina would not let him win so easily. When he stepped into place she used the last of her energy to kick one of his legs out from underneath him. His sword swung out of his hand and landed on the grass a few meters away, but his body came down full force right on top of Adalina.

Adalina felt his heavy breath on her face, his eyes boring into hers; he was so close she could feel the tip of his nose press against hers. She loved being so close to him, it made her feel safe. It also made her feel everything she was trying NOT to feel recently. She cursed herself for being so god damned prideful, if only she had accepted defeat she wouldn't have been in this situation.

A voice broke through her thoughts. Adalina and Caspian both turned their heads to see who was calling out to them. To Caspian's disappointment and Adalina's relief, it was Peter. He stalked across the field like he had lead in his boots. Adalina quickly pushed Caspian off of her and stood up brushing off her dress.

"Adalina, Caspian, Edmund should be back soon, we need to gather to discuss battle strategies so that we are prepared for whatever happens tomorrow." Peter said as he reached them, eyeing them both with a quizzical look.

"Of course, we were done out here anyway." She looked at Caspian and then turned and started towards the How. Peter followed her with his eyes before turning back to look at Caspian. He had an odd look on his face, like the wheels in his head were turning. Caspian didn't like him looking at him like that; Caspian didn't really like him looking at him at all. So he stepped away, following Adalina. Peter paused for a moment before picking up the abandoned swords and finally walking back across the field.

Edmund returned soon and they all gathered to prepare for the battle to come. Adalina sensed more tension between Peter and Caspian than ever. Peter kept throwing Caspian odd, curious looks and Caspian had his eyes narrowed at Peter the whole time. Occasionally one of them would glance her way.

Peter raced to catch up to Adalina after the meeting. Adalina walked briskly to as to move fast, but not look like she was trying to avoid him. However it did no good, Peter caught up to her quickly, pulling her aside into an empty tunnel.

"Adalina, can I talk to you?"

"It is a little late to ask don't you think?"

Peter let out a small laugh and continued, "Well, I talked to Susan earlier and she told me some interesting things, I just wanted to ask you about it." Adalina's eyes widened. Susan swore she wouldn't tell! Did she really tell him?

"What kind of things did Susan tell you?" Adalina played dumb, she didn't want to blurt out anything just to find out he really had no idea.

"Well, she seems to think…she thinks, well, that you are in love with somebody." He struggled to get the words out, like he was still thinking about it as he was saying it.

Adalina was taken aback for a few seconds, "In love?! I don't think so. That is quite impossible." She shook her head vigorously, trying to get the thought out of her mind.

"I see." Peter's voice was disappointed, and the look he gave her made her feel like he could see right through her. Adalina was scared he could see what she was thinking, like he could see that she wasn't really sure of her words, like he knew she was lying, even though she didn't even know that herself.

"I have to go." Adalina pushed past Peter, she couldn't stay there any longer, she felt too vulnerable.

"Wait!" Peter called reaching for her wrist, just barely catching it in his grasp. Adalina glanced back quickly, letting him say whatever was left to be said.

"Did you feel anything when you kissed me?" Adalina wanted to say "yes", but she had never been a good liar and she felt Peter deserved more; she didn't want him to get his hopes up just to have her disappoint him.

"No." Peter's hand fell from her arm as the words left her mouth and entered his ears. Adalina just ran away as quickly as possible.

She didn't stop running until she felt the cool evening air on her face. The sun was just beginning to set. She remembered the first time she saw the sun set from up on that ledge. And with that thought the tears sprang from her eyes.

She had tried everything this past week, everything, to get her mind off of him. She played with the young Narnians in the meadow, she practiced her archery with Susan and the sword with Edmund, she even assisted the women cooking: she HATED cooking. And now there was no escape, Peter had brought everything she was trying not to think about to the front of her mind and she couldn't push it back.

Adalina fell back against the wall of the How, sinking down to the ground. She pulled her knees to her chest as the sobs continued to wrack her body. It was everything she was afraid of, everything she had tried to fight and then tried to hide, it was all there and she couldn't pretend like it wasn't anymore.

As the realization settled on her, her sobs slowed and she was left in silence, staring off into the darkening sky.

"I am in love." She whispered.