A sequel to 'A Horse and His Boy'. First written in 2006 (when I was 14) on paper, with amendments made in 2019 as I have been typing it up. All characters belong to C.S. Lewis apart from my creations. Enjoy.

Chapter 1

Corin lay under an oak tree, his head facing towards the sky and sighed contentedly. It was around ten o'clock in the morning and he had set off early from Anvard to this quiet glade to relax. His horse, Jet, was tied to a nearby tree and munching the grass near the river that bubbled and clattered along. Birds were singing, the sun shone in a cloudless sky.

Corin thought of his brother, Cor, and chuckled. As Corin was a prince of Archenland and he would not be king, he did not have to attend special lessons on kingship by King Lune, his father. However, as King Lune's heir, Cor could not wriggle out of these. As lessons were over for Corin this week, he was free to do whatever he chose today. Cor had also found out he was a prince when he was thirteen years old, so he had a lot of catching up to do in the last four years, whereas Corin had almost finished his schooling. This did not mean Cor was less intelligent or brave than Corin, for Cor had to spend most of his life helping to fish, had learnt to ride a horse all by himself at the age of thirteen and then had agreed to go into a battle defending Anvard without any basic training at all. Cor had also rushed at a lion (who turned out to be Aslan, the great lion himself) to save his friends from being attacked (with great success).

Cor had proved since that he was a worthy swordsman and could defeat Corin when he was given a weapon. However, Corin was better at boxing, and often when the twins had arguments which later turned into fights, Cor usually was the one who ended up on the floor.

It was even funnier when Aravis was in a fight. She was one of the only girls the twins had met who started fights, fought in fights and was hardly ladylike at all, apart from the fact that she wore dresses. At the tender age of seventeen, she still acted and behaved like a boy. And recently Corin had noticed how stiff Cor was around her and how she blushed if he looked at her for too long. It was silly and unneeded. Why could they not act normally around each other?

'I'll never fall in love,' Corin said aloud. 'Never.'

Then a scream came, high and piercing, and it sounded like a girl. Corin jumped to his feet, grabbed his scabbard with his sword in it and ran wildly towards the direction of the noise.

In a clearing, several men had a young girl in their grip. She was struggling and yelling. The men leered at her unpleasantly and one hit out at her. Another drew his sword.

Corin clattered towards him, his sword raised and plunged it into the man's chest. He fought against all the other men, until, in their terror, they all fled southwards.

He turned to face the girl. She was not as young as he had thought in the first place. Her hair was an extraordinary colour, one he had hardly seen. It was red hair, tumbling down past her back and blue eyes that made on think of waterfalls. He found he was breathless from looking at her and was glad when she spoke first.

'Thank you. You saved my life.' She gasped as she caught sight of his leg. 'You're hurt!'

Corin smiled weakly and clutched his leg automatically. 'It's just a scratch.'

There was an awkward pause.

'Who are you?' he asked.

'I am Lily, who are you?'

'Corin. Where do you live?'

'I used to live in Calormen. I was a slave to a Tarkheena but I escaped.' She smiled shyly. 'I don't know who my parents were.' Her eyes filled up with tears. 'I don't want to go back,' she wept. She sobbed uncontrollably while Corin did his best to comfort her, something he was not at all good at. The best he could do was lend her his handkerchief he had hardly ever used in his life (he usually picked his nose or used his hands to wipe his nose when no one was looking). Then he had an idea.

'Why don't you live with me and my family? We have plenty of room.'

The girl wiped her eyes and looked at him.

'Really? Oh thank you!' She hugged him and stepped back quickly when she realised what she had unthoughtfully done. 'It's just I'm really grateful for what you've done for me. I can hardly thank you enough!'

Corin smiled again and blushed. 'Let's get you home,' he said, leading her towards Jet.

'So where do you live?' asked Lily, while they sped past the many trees in the forest.

'A few miles away from here. Not long now.'

Lily sighed and leaned back slightly on him. 'I expect you're the son of a knight or something.'

Corin thought about telling her the truth but then dismissed the idea.

'You could say that.'

Soon they were in sight of the redbrick castle of Anvard and they trotted up the path surrounded by green lawns full of lush grass. At this moment, Lily fell back on Corin, unconscious.

Two figures came running out of the castle to meet them. They were Aravis and Queen Lucy.

'Oh my goodness! What happened here?' exclaimed Queen Lucy, helping Corin lift Lily down from Jet.

Corin quickly explained while he hoisted Lily up into his arms and carried her to Queen Lucy's chamber.

'I'll get Tarusin,' said Aravis when Corin had laid Lily down on the four poster bed.

'Thank you, dear,' called Lucy as Aravis ran out of the room. She then turned to face Corin, who knelt by the girl's bed, staring into her pale face.

'So Corin, you saved a damsel in distress. A bit like Cor and Aravis really,' Lucy mused. Corin blushed yet again and stood up.

'Where does she come from?'

'From Calormen. She was a servant there.'

'So she cannot return?'

'Yes.'

'Well, that is a pleasant thing!'

'Why?'

'She can stay and keep you company.'

Corin smiled shyly and looked at Lily again. Then he realised something.

'Oh no!'

'What is it?' asked Lucy.

'Father will tell everyone how I rescued her, like he did when Cor 'rescued' Aravis. How embarrassing will it be?'

'Very,' replied Lucy, trying not to laugh.

'And she doesn't know I'm a prince of Archenland. She assumed I was the son of a knight.'

'Well, you are,' pointed out Lucy. 'And you will soon become one, when you will be knighted later this year by King Peter.'

'It'll make it more awkward when I'm with her again. I don't want her to call me 'Your highness' and think she can't be friends with me because she has no impressive ancestry.'

'She does not? I think she looks like a princess, not just a maid.'

Aravis came in, followed by Tarusin the centaur, and Corin departed from the chamber.