When we reached the How, everyone went their separate ways. Edmund was off to inform Peter that Miraz had agreed to the duel. I chose to inform the Queens that the deal had been struck and they could get ready to leave. Glenstorm and Wimbleweather each went off in different directions, likely to prepare for a battle.

I made my way to one of the secret tunnels that led outside. It was where the few horses we had were kept. I had also agreed to meet the two Queens there. They both looked in my direction as I turned the corner—I wasn't trying to be quiet—and smiled when they saw it was me. Silence passed for a moment as I tried to tell them that Peter's plan had been successful. For some reason, it got stuck in my throat and I wasn't able to say the words I needed to say. Susan managed to break the silence.
"I take it Miraz agreed to the duel then?" she asked.
"Yes." I nodded. "It took a little bit of persuasion on Edmund's behalf, but eventually he agreed to it."
"Edmund's good at that," Lucy said with a smile.
"There is a reason he was always the diplomat," I pointed out while trying to keep my concern about the battle from showing. But Lucy was good at reading me.
"Is something wrong?" she asked and both eyed me curiously.
"Edmund and I believe they will not honor their end of the deal," I told them. No use hiding it. "If they lose, they will likely attack."
"Let's hope Peter can keep them occupied long enough for us to find Aslan," Susan said.

I nodded and heard footsteps behind us. The girls didn't seem to notice and when I turned to look, Lucy chose to speak up again. She must've thought I was hiding something from them. Admittedly, I was, but nothing that would affect the impending battle or their search for Aslan.

"Is there anything else, Ana? You were quiet at the previous meeting," Lucy pointed out.
"What? Oh... I just thought this was one of Peter's better plans as of late. I don't particularly like the idea of him dueling with Miraz, but I understand his reasoning. I couldn't argue with what he said or offer a better solution."
"It's the best way to hold them off," Caspian said suddenly and I turned around, realizing he was the one I had heard approach. "Only I didn't plan on Peter being the one to fight my uncle."
"What do you mean?" I asked. I knew Peter had told him it was too personal but I wondered why the Prince thought he should be the one to fight.
"This is my battle. I brought this upon the Narnians. My uncle's quarrel is with me and my claim to the throne. I'm the only reason the Telmarines are set on killing off what remains of the Narnians."

I hummed, unsure how to respond to that. Luckily, Lucy had it covered.

"I'm going to assume you already tried to convince Peter to let you fight," she stated and at the Prince's nod, continued. "Aside from repeating what he told you earlier, I can guess what else Peter told you. 'You're too important to Narnia. If anything were to happen to him, you would have to take over.'"

Caspian looked surprised. Susan and I glanced at each other and then at Lucy. She merely grinned and stared at the Prince.
"Something like that, yes," he said, glancing at Susan.

As soon as they made eye contact, Susan looked away. It was strange, seeing as the two were rarely seen talking to each other. Every time the Prince tried to have a conversation outside of meetings, Susan avoided him. She was never shy; even with potential suitors she at least talked and turned them down politely. But this time, Susan seemed to be going out of her way to avoid being alone with the Prince. I did wonder why but knew it wasn't important at the moment.

"How did you know?" Caspian asked, bringing my focus back to the conversation at hand.
"We talked," Lucy supplied. "He told me he believes you capable of leading the Narnians should anything happen."
"I'm not sure I am," he responded with a bit of sadness in his voice.

Frowning, I watched as Caspian approached the horses. Without saying anything he selected a horse and saddle. I recognized it as the one he rode when we were fleeing the castle. As he saddled the horse, Susan and Lucy double-checked that they had everything they needed while I merely watched. I wanted to see them off but didn't know what to do to help.

After securing the saddle to the horse's flank, Susan mounted. Lucy climbed on behind and looped her arms around her sister's waist. Caspian fiddled with the stirrups, making sure they were secured.

"Destrier always served me well," he told them. "You're in good hands."
"Or hooves," Lucy commented with a grin, making me chuckle a little.
"Good luck."
"Thanks," Susan nonchalantly stated, looking forward. Still acting strange.

The look on the Prince's face helped fill in some blanks. The rest of their conversation also helped and I was finally able to piece together why they were both behaving strangely—Caspian had been nothing but awkward since he walked into the room.

"Look," Caspian stated, reaching into his bag. "Maybe it's time you had this back." He pulled out Susan's horn and offered it to her.
"Why don't you hold onto it? You might need to call me again," Susan said, barely holding back a smile.

Then, without another word, she flicked the reins and the horse trotted off. Caspian was left speechless and I stared at them, trying to hold back a laugh. They were attracted to each other and neither wanted to admit it!

Caspian shook off his surprise and realized I was staring at him. "What?"
"Nothing," I grinned, teasingly. I turned on my heels and quickly left the room.
"No... What is it?" he commanded, running a bit to catch up. "Please tell me."
"Nope," I answered, barely holding back my laugh at the situation. "It's nothing important. I just realized something is all."
"What?" he pressed.
To cut off any more of his questions, I changed the subject. "I need to find Peter. We have to talk before he goes to face your uncle."
"He was selecting his seconds and changing into his armor last I saw of him."

I nodded and headed in the general direction I thought he might be. Caspian followed silently, seeming to realize I wouldn't answer his questions. It wasn't any of my business and I wasn't the kind of person to tease them about it either. So I just decided to let the matter drop and pretend I hadn't noticed anything.

Before I could get too far, Peter turned a corner. He was followed closely by Edmund. Peter was clad in his full armor and he looked surprised to see us. I simply needed to know my involvement in this plan of his so I approached.

"Ana, Caspian," he said before I could say anything. He made eye contact with the Prince. "You and Edmund should get ready. I need to speak with Ana."
"Of course," Caspian responded and headed back in the direction he came. Edmund nodded to his brother and left as well, leaving the two of us alone in the hall.

All I was going to ask him was what all his plan entailed and where I would be stationed. He obviously had other ideas in mind. As he guided me away from prying eyes, I realized this was meant to be a private conversation. I wondered if this was when he would get on me for my outburst earlier. While I was curious, I was also worried that was the case. I did feel a little guilty, but I said what needed to be said.

"Peter I—" I began when we were far enough away from prying ears. But he held up his hand to cut me off.
"Ana, I'm sorry," he said, catching me off guard.
"What?" I blinked in confusion.
"I'm truly sorry. For everything I said and how I treated you. I was rude and disrespectful, I didn't appreciate your contributions. You're like a sister to me and I was worried about you. When you disobeyed my order to stay behind at the castle, I thought for sure you were dead. My relief at seeing you alive was washed away by the fear I had of losing you. That combined with my anger at our failed attack resulted in me blowing up at you. I lost my temper. I'm so sorry..."
"I... Peter..." I didn't know what to say. I had never seen him this remorseful and I didn't know what to do.
"I was angry about what happened to Narnia and I was upset that we had abandoned you. I was filled with such regret that we left you to defend Narnia on your own. I couldn't shoulder the blame so I pushed it on to you. And it nearly cost me everything.

"I almost lost my best warrior, a friend that has been there for everyone. Someone who has a loyal heart and isn't afraid to speak up when they see something is wrong. Who wasn't afraid to point out what a foolish King I had been. You were right, about everything. Even the part where you said I wasn't behaving like a King. Still, you stuck with me, if only for the Narnians' sake and not mine."
He was apologizing and he seemed to really regret everything that had happened. I decided to say something. "I understand, Peter. It's f—"
"No!" He cut me off again. "You better not say it's fine because it's not. Everything about the way I acted towards you was just wrong. When we came back, Narnia wasn't the same and I felt guilty. So I found someone else to take the blame: you. It was wrong of me to do so. You did the best you could and you suffered for it.

"I didn't see it at the time, but I see it now. You've changed so much and I see a bitterness to you that wasn't there before. A little bit of your light has disappeared and the warrior seems to have lost her spark. But I want you to know that nothing that happened to Narnia was your fault. It was mine and I should've accepted responsibility for it instead of blaming you."
"Stop!" I said, halting that train of thought immediately. "Peter, stop it. Now's not the time to blame yourself. What happened was no one's fault. Things just happened. I don't know why Aslan allowed things to happen the way they did, but He did. And we have to accept that. Even if you can't, you have to push it aside. You have an army to lead and an usurper to fight. They need their King, their leader."
He seemed surprised that I would say that but he slowly nodded. "I know I don't deserve it but do you think you'll ever be able to forgive? I know it seems silly but I need someone to have my back and will look after the others. If I should fail—"
"Peter," I said in a soft voice. "You will not fail. Nothing is going to happen."
"You have more faith in me than I have in myself," he answered. There were the beginnings of unshed tears in his eyes.
"I have my faith in Aslan. It's the only thing that got me through everything. And it's what helped me to forgive you. Now you must do the same and forgive yourself."
"Y—You forgive me? After everything I said."
"Of course," I smiled. "You're my King. I would follow you anywhere, no matter how you treated me because you're my family. Unforgiveness just results in bitterness and I've spent enough time being bitter. I want to feel free again."

Peter looked shocked and relieved. Then, to my surprise, he reached forward and enveloped me in a hug. I stiffen at first, unprepared for such an action since he rarely hugged his siblings. It was even more unusual for him to hug me. But after only a moment, I relaxed and hugged him back.

"Thank you, Ana," he said, pulling away. "How do you know I'm going to succeed?"
"You're doing Aslan's will now. He will see you through."
"But what if His will is for me to fail?"
"You know Aslan doesn't want Narnia to fall to the Telmarines. He's on your side. You need to believe it more. Like you used to."
He sighed. "I'm sorry... It's just been hard. I was upset with Aslan as well for letting Narnia fall and I thought I could fix it on my own. I know now that was a foolish thought. I trust you and I trust Aslan. We can win this."

I smiled and nodded. He grinned triumphantly, pleased with his conclusion. "I'll see you out there," he said. "You can join the rest of the archers outside along the How. I need someone to keep a lookout for Susan and Lucy's return."
"I'd be happy to," I told him with a slight bow. He was finally starting to trust me again.
"Do you want to talk about what happened? I'm ready to listen now. I wasn't before, but I am now."
I shook my head. "Not now, probably not ever. But especially not right before you're going to fight. I prefer to keep the past in the past."

Peter frowned at my response but didn't press the matter. I wasn't sure which situation he was referring to: how he had treated me or how I had suffered, but I decided to not bring up either one. They didn't matter anymore.

He informed me of the rest of the plan—in case the Telmarines didn't keep their word. I listened silently and when Peter was finished he went on his way. I stood in the hall for a moment, shaking. I thought I had forgiven Peter but it wasn't until now that I felt like a great weight had been lifted off my chest. A rush of emotions swelled up, almost bringing me to my knees but I reached out a shaky hand to steady myself on the wall.

I took a moment to collect myself, wondering why I was feeling the way I was. Why I had such a surge of overwhelming emotions. I never got an answer, but when the shaking stopped, I made my way out to join the others. There was no time for me to process my emotions. The enemy was at our door and we had to stop them.

The army cheered as Peter exited the How, Edmund right beside his brother. The remnants of the Stone Table were chosen for the place to duel. It put the Telmarines closer to our side, and they likely knew it was meant to play in our favor. Under one collapsing archway, Glenstorm and one of the Bulgy Bears awaited the arrival of their Kings. They were Peter's selected marshals along with Edmund. Across the way sat Miraz and his three chosen marshals stood behind him. I looked around for the Prince but didn't see him anywhere.

Figures moved in the distance and I quickly looked in that direction. I promised Peter I would be on the lookout for the Queens' return. But I saw no approaching riders. Instead, one lone Telmarine made his way through the woods. It looked a lot like the Prince, but it was hard to tell from a distance. I could only hope if it was Caspian, that he had a good reason for abandoning us now. There was no logical reason to do so, especially when our very lives stood in the balance. Shaking my head, I refocused my attention on Peter and the battle he was about to face.