Escape Plan
It had been a week since I was left at Arsheesh's hut and I was beyond worried about Peter, Susan, Lucy, Edmund, and Narnia. Did Rabadash muster his army yet? Were they marching on Narnia? Was Peter fighting him as I just sat here useless? Those were the thoughts that kept going through my head until I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to escape and quickly. I was sitting with Shasta mending the nets as I mulled it over.
"I could just run," I said to myself.
"It may take you weeks to reach the next town," Shasta responded having overheard my muttering. "You could die of thirst or starvation before you get there."
"If only there was a good strong horse, then it could carry both of us across Calormen." I looked at the boy. "I'm not leaving you here, Shasta. You tried to hide it by having me go get things when Arsheesh comes back from the market, but I've seen him beat you on the bad days."
My gaze shifted to the ground. "I tried to confront him on it once," I murmured.
"What happened?" My mind drifted back to that first day I saw Arsheesh beat Shasta.
-Flashback-
I knew that Shasta would try to stop me if he knew what I was going to do, so I waited until he went to the shed to tend to the donkey before I stormed up to the fisherman.
"How dare you raise your hand at Shasta! He does everything for you and all you do is treat him like an animal!" I said angrily, trying to keep my voice from raising in volume. "You don't deserve to have him as a son, servant, or slave!"
"Shut your mouth, you silly girl! You know nothing of what you speak of." Arsheesh raised his hand to hit me, but from all of my training, I was able to duck and get away from him.
-End of Flashback-
"It's not like he hurt me, but..." I was cut off as a Tarkaan came riding up on a beautiful dappled stallion.
"I demand a place to stay for tonight, and food and drink from you." When Arsheesh heard this, he bowed so low to the ground that his beard swept it a bit.
"Of course, my lord, I will bring out the finest that we have." He gave each of us a hunk of bread and sent us out of the hut. It was getting late in the evening and I was taking care of the Tarkaan's horse. I was reminded of when Ariella would let me brush her and comb her mane, but that only made me sadder and a solitary tear fell from my eye.
"Miss, why are you so sad?"
"I am missing my love, my homeland, and my family," I replied to the voice.
"May I assume that you hail from Narnia?"
"How did you know?"
"You are not surprised that I am actually talking to you."
"What?"
"Look up, miss." I raised my head and found the dappled stallion looking straight at me. "Hello, you can call me Bree."
"You're a Narnian horse," I stated with shock, happiness, and wonder in my voice. "Oh, master Horse, it is so good to see another Narnian soul so far away from our land. May I ask what brought you so far from our green fields and lush forests?"
"I was horse-napped when I was just a foal. I have acted like one of the dumb horses that live here so as to not draw attention to myself. I wish to return to the North and to Narnia. Will you go with me?"
"I would be overjoyed to be rid of this land, but I cannot leave Shasta here to receive the wrath of Arsheesh when he sees that I am not here. Besides, he is an Archenlander. No Calormene has skin as light or hair as fair as his. I, myself, mistook him for the prince when I first saw him."
Just then, Shasta came running up to us. "Lady Danielle, Father is going to sell us both to the Tarkaan! I hope he will be a kind master."
"He is a harsh, cruel master," Bree said with a voice that spoke of experience. "He will surely use the miss as a concubine or something, and you will be a slave, whipped for something you didn't do."
"He talked!" Shasta's eyes widen to be as big as saucers. "Lady Danielle, is he a Narnian horse?"
"Shasta, I've asked you to call me Dani, and yes, Bree is a talking horse from Narnia."
"Did he call you lady, miss?" Bree asked.
"Yes, I did. She is the beloved of the High King of Narnia and the childhood friend of the Queens and the King," Shasta explained.
"Please pardon my informality, my lady," Bree asked giving me a horse-ish bow. Not him, too!
"Bree, I beg you. Please call me Dani. Just Dani. Yes, I am a lady, but I never got used to the titles."
"But…"
"Bree, please."
"Very well, Dani. But, if you are a lady of Narnia, I cannot let you stay here to be taken away to the Tarkaan's palace and have Aslan knows what happen to you. Please, allow me to carry you and the young one to the North."
"Thank you, Master Horse. Shasta, gather some food once they are asleep and I'll get Bree saddled and ready to go."
A/N: Well, I finally got that out. YEA! So, I'm doing this with my other stories and it's only fair to do it with this one as well. I will not be posting a new chapter until I get 5 reviews at least. And not just reviews that say update asap. Those don't tell me what you think of the story and that is what I really want to hear. With that said, I lend you my ears, now let me hear you.
