Oreius stared at the irate teacher, who had begun to turn an ugly puce colour in his anger.
"I must demand an explanation from you sir or from these two children…" Mr Johnson's voice was fairly controlled despite the colouring of his face.
Just as Oreius was about to appease the man Corin had to open his big fat mouth again.
"I am not a child sir, I am the Prince Corin of Archenland and neither is my brother Cor, who is the Crown Prince." Corin had a dark look on his face as he glared down at the teacher.
Corin being the younger of the twins and defiantly more easily angered, always had a way of speaking without thinking first. Luckily his brother was a lot more rational, yet it seemed unlike Oreius he had not resisted the urge to sigh and hit his brother sharply across the back of the head.
"Shut up Corin…" Cor said giving his brother a hard look and an apologetic one to Oreius. "I'm sorry Mr…"
"Johnson" The man ground out still looking a little puce.
"Well Mr Johnson, I must apologise for my brothers actions, I understand you have had a long few days and the last thing you want is more incidents to occur, I understand the situation must be a little hard for you to understand but if you could follow us up to the castle we can sort this whole mess out without too much stress?" Cor said calmly, it was a tone that held wisdom beyond the boys years and it seemed to calm the teacher.
"Ahh well that seems acceptable, however I still wish to know the whereabouts of my missing students…." Mr Johnson said, now looking at Oreius expectantly.
"Mr Johnson, your err… 'students' are safe up at the castle, I can assure you no harm will befall them, the sooner we leave the sooner you can see that for yourself if that is acceptable." Oreius was a patient man, yet this son of adam was rating on his last nerve. Oreius had schooled his expression into one that was as blank and hard as marble.
He didn't wait for the teacher to reply, just started walking towards the path the two young princes had entered from.
Oreius sensed Corin and Cor on either side of him, but did not acknowledge either boy until Corin spoke.
"Sorry Oreius I didn't realise the situation was as complicated as this… I wish to apologise to you personally for my brash behaviour, my temper gets the better of me sometimes, I know this is no excuse for my behaviour but I wish to express my apologies anyway… "Corin was fiddling with his horses reins, not looking at the centaur, a look of shame plastered on his face.
"Yes it is no excuse to blame your temper for getting the better of you, however I thank you for your apology and will expect to see you tomorrow at dawn in the training grounds." Oreius said simply giving the boy a hard look before a mischievous smile.
"Meet you at dawn on the training ground… whatever for…?" Corin looked rather confused, but Cor Oreius could see was holding back his laughter.
"Come on young Princeling you did not think I would let you off that easily… get a good night's sleep for we will rarely take breaks tomorrow…" Oreius let his words sink in, seeing the look of shock and fear on the boy's face caused Cor and himself to break into raucous laughter.
"No… Oreius that's not fair… Cor help me out here…" Corin pleaded with them, pulling an excellent puppy face which he simply ignored.
"Hey, hey don't look at me. You got yourself into this mess you can get yourself out I'm not going to help you, maybe then you'll learn to think before speaking... Besides Oreius was it wise to leave that lot to their own devises..."Cor looked nervously behind him as he said this.
"Don't worry about them Cor, they'll follow because they don't know what else to do... they either follow or spend more time wandering around the woods probably getting themselves killed." Oreius said sighing. "Before you say it, I know that's harsh but they don't come from here they don't understand how to live out in the wild especially those children... Their world is completely different from ours."
"Woah... I guess I never thought of it like that." Cor said looking thoughtful, Corin it seemed had calmed down and was looking just as thoughtful.
"Yeah, me neither... Hang on a moment who's that?" Corin now spoke up towards the castle.
Meanwhile at Cair Paravel
"Ugh well we were going to have to tell them anyway at some point... It's just a little earlier than we expected." Lucy said her usually cheerful face was looking unusually serious.
"I know Lu but this was one of the times we wouldn't have to tell them for a long time... How are we ever going to explain this. No one is going to believe us especially not the teachers..." Peter said sighing, rubbing a hand over his face.
"Well they either believe it or they don't. It's not like they are going to be able to do anything about it are they? So why don't we just be ourselves and do what we need to do, we know we are right that's all that matters, they'll come around eventually, Narnia is enough of a shock for them this might kill some of them..." Ed said with a sarcastic smile, he looked wistfully into the distance as he imagined some of his least favourite people keeling over in shock.
"Smack" "Shut up Ed, although I think your right, I think we need to just go with it and not worry about what they say." Ed was rubbing the back of his head after Susan had smacked him round the back of his head.
"Right then let's get changed and go meet them shall we?" Ed said turning to Giles looking expectantly at him.
"As you wish, your Majesty." Giles said looking amused at Edmunds antics.
As they walked to their old rooms in the castle Giles filled them in with the events which had occurred after their disappearance.
It appeared they had not missed much noted Edmund, a few murmurings from the Calormen at their disappearance but nothing major. However he also noted he would have plenty of paperwork to sort out when lunch was through and the current issue dealt with. Also he feared the training sessions Oreius would devise to make up for the lost time. He shared a look with Peter who had obviously had the same thought as he. His sisters saw their exchange and stifled smiles.
As they reached their rooms, Giles told them they had not been touched since their disappearance. The fox left them to arrange some food for them in the main hall for them and their guests.
Edmund entered his own room taking in the large portrait of a lion above the fire place 'Aslan' he thought, and another painting on the wall beside doors of his balcony of his siblings. He knew they each had similar portraits in their rooms but each one was slightly different from the others.
There was a dark mahogany door to his left beside the large four poster bed, which he entered. This was his closet and for some unknown reason they had never thrown out their clothes from when they were younger so luckily he had some proper clothes that fit him. It was almost as if they had known they would need them again.
He swiftly changed revelling in the feel of the soft silks of his shirt and comfortable worn leather boots. A knock startled him slightly and Susan poked her head around the door. "Ed are you ready? The rest of us are just about to go and this was your idea after all."
"Yeah I'm just coming, just wanted to find my bearings again you know" said Edmund, smiling as Susan returned the knowing smile.
The walk down to the stables was a quick and familiar one. Edmund found he was walking a little faster the near he got.
"A little eager are we?" A voice halted Edmund, and he turned quickly to see Philip, fully tacked up and waiting.
"Well we all know how much Ed likes show off when he's riding." Peter joked ruffling Ed's hair.
"Get off, besides its one of the few things I'm better than all of you at" Ed stuck his tongue out cheekily causing his siblings to laugh.
"Well are we going to stay here and annoy Ed, as much as I enjoy doing that I thought we were going to do things today..." Lucy said, already seated upon her bay mount, Isabella.
"Alright Miss Impatient we're coming, although I can say I also enjoy you lot annoying me..." Ed smiled ruefully, as he mounted Philip smoothly.
Peter and Susan mounted up quickly onto their horses, and they trotted quickly out of the castle and down the path towards the training ground.
It quickly became a race with Edmund spurring Philip on in the lead. Unfortunately the race was cut short when they met the party coming up the hill.
"Well, well, well look who it is the midget brigade" Chuckled Edmund pulling Philip up short in front of Oreius, Cor and Corin.
"By the Lion's mane Edmund?" Corin stared at him like he was a ghost.
"Woah, woah who are you to call a midget... look at yourself..." Cor said looking affronted, causing Edmund to laugh and nod in agreement.
"I suppose I can give you that, although technically I am still 7 years older than you, so listen to your elders runt" Edmund said as he walked Philip forwards to ruffle Cor's hair.
"Hey watch the hair!" Cor batted away Edmund's hand, making his brother laugh.
"MR PEVENSIE! GET OFF THAT HORSE THIS INSTANT! WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN! DON'T ROOL YOUR EYES AT MY YOUNG MAN!" A very familiar voice almost screamed.
Edmund simply rolled his eyes again as he turned to face the already purpling teacher.
"I'm not 'that horse' I have a name it's Philip, I also have rather sensitive hearing. So please do be quiet sir..." Philip said stamping his hoof angrily at the teacher.
"I must agree with Philip here Mr Johnson, you are disturbing a few people with your shouting. I will not get down because you are in no position to be ordering me around, therefore it is also none of your business where I or any of my siblings have been. Is there anything else you wish to waste my time with?"Edmund said with a perfectly arched eyebrow.
Mr Johnson spluttered for a moment under Edmunds icy stare before taking a breath and talking more calmly.
"Don't take that tone with me boy, I can assure you it is entirely my business where you go as I am responsible for you on this trip. You cannot just go wandering off around by yourself. No I must insist you get off 'Philip' before you injure yourself." Mr Johnson said walking towards the group now giving Edmund an equally hard glare.
Edmund could see the rest of the students and teachers watching with an air of curiosity and also of anger at the situation.
"Now, now sir I can assure you my brother is an excellent rider, not even mentioning the fact Philip would never let Edmund fall off or get injured if he could help it." The voice of reason it seemed had appeared in the form of his sister.
Edmund watched Mr Johnson's mouth open and close in amusement.
"Well I think we can acknowledge the fact that I won this race. Also I don't know about you but I getting rather hungry, who wants lunch?" Edmund said smirking at his siblings who had all just rolled their eyes.
"Well I think that I'm faster than all of you combined, so you might want to hurry up before I eat everything, even all the cake" Corin called out as he began to canter towards the castle.
"Knowing him he will... It's amazing he can think of other things than his stomach at times..." Cor said shaking his head at his twin.
"I wonder who that reminds me of then" Peter joked causing Edmund to glare at him playfully.
"Well then we can't have that, besides me and Philip can beat him easily can't we?" Edmund said patting the horse fondly.
"Of course Your Majesty!" Neighed Philip, rearing slightly, causing the students behind to gasp.
Edmund laughed as Philip shot forwards into a fast gallop, hearing his siblings, Cor and Oreius chuckles behind him.
The ride up to the castle was a blurred one, Edmund deciding against using some of the shortcuts in favour of just passing the younger boy who he could see trotting up ahead.
"Hurry up slow coach, wouldn't want lunch to get cold now would we" Edmund said tapping Corin's shoulder as he passed.
"By the Lions mane!" Corin twisted sharply, almost falling of his horse in the process.
Edmund simply turned and stuck his tongue out childishly, making Corin's face harden in determination and spur his grey steed after Edmund.
"Before you say it he will never grow up when it comes to races... Anything else he can be serious as you need him, races however are a step too far I fear" Susan said making Lucy and Cor laugh heartily.
Peter looked at the group of students and teachers standing a little way off from them.
"Well at least we know he's not going to be a problem unlike them." Peter gestured over towards the group.
"I know what you mean, but there's not much we can do really except take them up to the castle and then find things for them to do to keep them out of our way." Lucy said sighing. "But I can't see any of the teachers being particularly happy with that, especially Mr Johnson."
"I know what you mean I doesn't help that we don't look our actual ages, therefore our stories no that plausible." Peter said knowing his face was furrowed with a large frown.
"Why don't you?" Cor asked. Peter jumped, as he forgot Cor was even there.
"Well that's rather a long story and one a lot of people will want to know." Lucy said. "I must admit the boys have the right idea I think some lunch would go down nicely right now. Then we can work everything else out. We're not going to get anything done sitting here." She began to gather up her reins, stroking Isabella gently.
"Your right, you go ahead I'll deal with this lot..." Peter sighed, turning his own horse Kingston towards the group.
"Hello everyone would you like to follow me up to the castle, and we can have some lunch and explain a few things after" Peter said simply, Kingston walking forwards a strides, before stopping so Peter could make sure they were following.
It was a much longer ride up to the castle then down from it, and it was not because of the speed at which he was going. To say the ride had been tense would have been a gross understatement.
Peter could sense the stares the bored into his back. There was a large range of emotions Peter could feel ranging from curiosity to annoyance and even a little anger in there.
"Is everything alright your Majesty?" Kingston whispered, "You feel a little tense..."
"Yes I'm fine Kingston, just a little hungry and in need of a good night's sleep. The last few nights have been a little rough." Peter said scratching the horse fondly.
"Well don't even think about doing work today then, the work will be there tomorrow but if you don't look after yourself you may not be one day" Kingston warned, turning his head slightly to stare pointedly at me with one eye.
"Yes Sir!" Peter replied mockingly "You sound like Oreius when I had that cold"
"Yes well I'd rather not go through that again thank you very much..." Kingston replied "Although it was quite funny to see him running around like that" He flicked his tail happily at the memory.
"Yes well seeing as I was unconscious at that point I've had to rely on accounts of what happened, I'm sad I missed it." Peter smiled ruefully.
"Well I'm sure we'll have enough time to have another recount of it at lunch, speaking of which we're here" Kingston pricked his ears up at the sight of the drawbridge and the castle walls.
"Finally I am craving something other than day old sandwiches... Now make sure you get some rest too tonight, my old friend I want to take a look around at some point tomorrow to check up on the state of the grounds and the surrounding villages." Peter said as he dismounted swiftly giving the dappled horse a firm pat and an apple he had found in his chambers earlier.
"Of course your Majesty, would you like me to tell any of the others?" Kingston said, waiting by the entrance to the stables.
"Ummm, yes please, tell Philip, Ed will probably want to go for a ride anyway, however I'm not too sure about the girls they may have said something already."Peter replied, seeing the horse nod in acknowledgement he turned to face the crowd which had gathered behind him the courtyard.
Peter could see the looks of awe which had been similar to his own as they got the first real chance to take in all of Cair Paravel in all of its beauty.
"Right then if you would like to follow me into the Great Hall, so we can sit down to lunch and then answer any questions you have afterwards." Peter said, gesturing towards the large Oak doors which were currently standing open.
"Mr Pevensie, may I please remind you that I am still your teacher and should be treated with the respect that is due." Mr Johnson said tensely.
"Mr Johnson I give respect where it is due, at present I do not feel you have earned my respect with your current behaviour..." Peter said simply, before turning at the sound of Lucy's voice.
"Peter are you coming or are you just going to stand there, everyone's waiting in here... Ed and Corin are going take matters into their own hands and to straight to the kitchens if your not careful..." She teased coming down the steps to pull Peter up them by the elbow.
"Alright, I'm coming Aslan knows I wouldn't set Ed and Corin onto the kitchens alone and unsupervised." Peter chuckled before ruffling Lucy's hair and moving swiftly up the stairs out of the reach of Lucy's range.
"I'll get you back for that brother" Lucy sang sweetly, making Peter pale slightly before he saw her face.
"Nice try Lu, we both know I'm your favourite sibling!" Peter smiled teasingly back at her.
"Yeah yeah whatever makes you sleep at night Peter" She said giving him a playful punch before looking back at the group of sheep like students and teachers. "Well it seems that they aren't immune to the charm of Cair Paravel."
Peter looked at them quickly seeing the looks of awe and curiosity. They were currently walking through a veranda on the side of an inner courtyard, the bright green lawn and the coloured marble paving shining in the sun was definitely a sight to behold.
The doors of the Great Hall were open letting the scents of cooked meat and fresh bread out making Peter's stomach grumble slightly.
"Hungry are we?"Lucy joked, obviously hearing Peter's stomach.
"Yeah well day old sandwiches are only so filling..."Peter replied, laughing at the face Lucy had just pulled.
"Finally... I thought I was going to starve here..."Edmund called out from inside the hall.
"Don't be such a drama queen Ed..." Susan's voice drifted out as well, Peter could see inside the hall now. The tables were laden with food, creatures filled one of the great tables, the other was empty obviously for the group behind them. The table upon the dais also had food, and Edmund and Susan were already seated up there, along with Oreius, Mr Tumnus, Giles and several of their other advisers.
"You can sit along this table" Lucy motioned to the empty table, and many of the students sat down gratefully not caring about the teachers who were protesting slightly.
Peter ignored them and made his way up to the dais along with Lucy, upon taking his place by his seat he stared out feeling the warmth of the sun on his back through the stained glass window.
'Ding, ding, ding' Susan had tapped her knife on one of the crystal goblets, quieting the hall.
"Thank you dear sister. Before we start I think we owe you a few words, to explain our selves. Dear Narnians we did not mean to leave you, it was a simple act of our own curiosity that caused us to return to the place we are originally from. I am expressing my siblings relief as well as my own here when I say I am glad to to be back and that no harm befell you in our absence. Please welcome our guests, they are not used to our ways so please be patient with them. Now we will explain in more detail later and ask any questions later. However I for one am too tempted by this delightful feast which has been prepared to talk now. So to finish off I would like to propose a toast." Peter paused as he lifted his goblet "To Narnia and to Aslan" He said.
"To Narnia and to Aslan" The people repeated, although Peter noted that the English table had not uttered a word. He finally sat down sinking gratefully into the padded throne.
"I wish to propose another toast" Oreius called out "To the safe return of our beloved Kings and Queens, To the High King Peter, Queen Susan, King Edmund and Queen Lucy"
The Narnians repeated the toast loudly. "Let the feast begin" Peter intoned simply letting loose the hungry hordes on the mouthwatering food.
The feast was like many of the others Peter had seen, as soon as the main savoury dishes were eaten and much wine was drunk, the Fawns and Satyrs started to pick up instruments and pick up a lively tune causing dancing to erupt, Lucy being taken in immediately and was dancing as gracefully as ever.
Peter was most amused however by the faces of the students and particularly the teachers, who looked onto the scene with horror and confusion. However it may have had something to do with the wine he had just consumed as well he thought.
'Well that's one issue out of the way with now... However what the Lions name am I going to do with our 'guests' its not like I can just ignore them. Nor can I expect them to understand this situation looking as we do and the evidence they have our stories not plausible if only we could return to our actual ages, but I suppose that would be too simple.' Peter stared out at the crowd, noting several of the Narnian creatures were trying to encourage the Londoners to join in with the dancing, but to no avail. 'No this is just a problem that can never be fixed I fear especially if certain people start talking... Oh Aslan what should we do...'
Hey everyone, I'm so sorry it has been so long for a new update, I have been really busy lately so I haven't had time to write anything... I hope you had a great Christmas and have a excellent New Year!
Hazelsd xxx