As crown princess, one of Penelope's jobs is to be married to a suitable noble line and secure an heir for the dynasty. But after every organized meeting with a husband-to-be, where invariably the useless man is put off by the redheaded firebrand, Penelope collapses into the arms of Katherine, her friend since childhood and martially inclined daughter of a border march. Katherine loves Penelope. she knows Penelope doesn't love her back the same way, and it hurts every time she gives her best friend and future queen an orgasm to know that she'll never be requited, but she can't bring herself to stop, to break their relationship and force the distance she would need to disentangle her feelings. so for now, Katherine will eat out Penelope. She will laugh at her jokes as she fingers the crown princess. And she will ignore the sucking pain of sadness and longing in her stomach. Because at least she gets to be near the princess. That alone is a massive boon that very few houses get.