Disclaimer : I don't own a magical country full of magical talking animals, however I do own Middle Earth. I am just visiting.
The Mirror of Honor
To say the Oreius was a great friend to Peter was an understatement. Oreius was, without a doubt, the only reason Peter became the man he was meant to become. Growing up is hard to do in England, were all he had to worry about was school and getting classmates, and the war, which he was not even taking part of. However, in Narnia, he had many more responsibilities and what seemed like a lot less time just to be. Oreius was a father figure, loyal friend and outstanding teacher. Not only did he teach Peter how to lead his country and family, he also showed him how to be a man.
Oreius helped take Peter's responsibilities of his siblings off his shoulders alone; he also guided Peter in the ways of being a noble and honest person. By following Oreius's example Peter became a Just king to his subjects, making sure they were treated with equality and understanding. He became a Gentle brother to his siblings. He talked to them about adventures and their lost home world. As they grew older, he listened and gave advice to their stories of desperate longing, fears of Narnia's future and of Aslan of course. Peter became a Valiant warrior, protecting his country against bandits, giants and Kings. In return, when Peter needed protection from himself, or guidance through an issue, personal or otherwise, Oreius was there with a comforting hand and priceless advice.
Peter has always been remarkable with a sword. Oreius even said he might have been a prodigy after he was told of the fight with the White Witch. Under Oreius's guidance Peter became the most formable warrior in Narnia, and perhaps in the entire world. In less than two years of training, Peter was able to defeat Oreius himself. When Peter was full grown and able to take care of himself, and others, Oreius was always one step behind both kings. In addition, if there was any trouble from the enemy, Oreius protected his kings until the enemy or he were dead. While planning battles Peter always asked for Oreius's opinion, knowing he had the experience beyond Peter's expertise.
Peter knew he was one of the best warriors in the world. Peter learned all he knew of dueling and swordplay from Oreius, but he also learned honor. Peter, when faced with his own death, would have died with honor, not wanting to give himself a chance that was not fair. Not daring to hurt an enemy while he had his back turned, he would back away from the man, centaur or beast and waited to commence the fight. Not even King Edmund, known for his justice and cunning, would have been as generous every time.
As Peter grew into manhood, it was clear he was becoming an exceptionally good-looking man. He was a strongly built man from years of training and his features were quite nice to look at. The scars he bore from battles did not hurt either, as they showed his bravery. High King Peter could have a woman, Narnian or foreign, in his bed that he chose. He knew that many kings enjoyed un- marital sex, but Peter never did. He talked to and even kissed a variety of young women, but he knew that sex was for people in love. People in love were married. Oreius taught that, as Oreius himself waited half his life to marry a centauress. Also, after talking to Oreius, Peter knew he was not ready for a child when he barely got his own siblings to adulthood. Therefore, while Peter knew an heir was vital to Narnia's survival, he knew that bringing a child into a world where the parents barely knew, or liked, each other, would only hurt the child.
After Peter left Narnia and was a young boy yet again in England, he never forgot all that Oreius taught him. His parents had nothing but praise and amazement (and perhaps a little confusion) of how he became such a courteous gentleman. His teachers were equally amazed on his newfound knowledge of everything from math to P.E. Yet, while his easy intelligence did surprise them, it was the way he walked away from petty bullies and now sat with the loner at lunch that truly shocked the faculty. The Peter from before and after the country was the same but he seemed to grow up a lot quicker than his classmates. When a trusted teacher asked him how he had changed as much as he had, he gave a small smile and with a twinkle in his eye said, his friend in the Country was a great mentor.
A/N One quote from Prince Caspian that always stuck with and the screen writers overlooked, was when Reep said that Peter was the mirror of honor, which I thought was a fantastic way to put it. So so I literally made Peter the mirror of honor.
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