A/N: Sorry! This one's short. But originally this story was going to be a oneshot so this chapter is lucky to be here. :)
Chapter 2: Palace Life
Shasta was there. Of course he would be. He was the rash that kept coming back; the fly that you could never quite shoo away. I nodded at him in greeting. It was too early for meaningless pleasantries. He looked relieved to see us. How long had he been here, in the darkness, where ghouls were said to lurk, all alone? Compassion struck me as suddenly as a lightning bolt. We had both been trying to act brave in the planning of this, but none of us were. Not the horses, scared at the mere presence of lions, and not us, frightened by legends of ghouls. And yet, we were off for a land we hadn't seen, which promised us everything on a journey which cost us nearly that much. A little fear was more than allowed, I think. And before anyone could speak either of lions, ghouls, or glory, the courageous sort we would feel upon our arrival in Narnia, we were off.
And then just like that we were there. Sure, the horses had been running for their lives and I had screamed at the feel of a lion's claws on my back. But journeys always seem so much shorter when they are over. Even ones which I thought would never end. We had reached "Narnia and the North". And Shasta, or rather Cor, was no longer a peasant son of a fisherman, but a prince. And I was a guest in his grand palace. Oh, how the roles had shifted. But, Lucy and the others were all that was amiable, I reminded myself. And it was a palace, certainly better than the life Cor had been living. As for the life I had been living… Of course it was, I thought, stifling any doubt. Ahosta was ugly and his actions despicable. It galled me not to be in control, but I had to be calm about this. Surely I should have been used to my status by now. It had been years since I had received the invitation from Cor, awkwardly dressed up in finery. We were both seventeen now, much, much older than we were when we had met.
"Aravis?" I turned to face my doorway, in which stood Cor. Despite his lack of royal arrogance, he looked every inch the prince. His chest and shoulders had broadened with age and he was now taller than me by at least five inches. "You might want to hear this."
