"I told you not to try that back flip twist," Jaer said as his younger brother rubbed at his bruised shoulder.
Jaerin stuck out his tongue at Jaer. "It would have worked perfectly if Father hadn't come in and startled me in the middle of the twist. I've done it before."
"Quiet boys. The Rulers come," Peridan shushed his sons gently.
Jaerin shifted eagerly in his saddle. The morning and early afternoon had passed terribly slowly since Jaer brought the news that they were invited to a picnic meal with the Four. He had been less excited to learn that Prince Zarak was coming too but even that did not dampen his spirits for long.
The four monarchs of Narnia walked down from the doors of Cair Paravel to where grooms held their horses. Not far behind them cam Prince Zarak, flanked as usual by the two men with colored beards. The Calormene prince looked strange and uncomfortable to Jaerin's eyes. He wore an outlandish wrapped tunic of vibrant orange belted with a strip of brilliant yellow. A turban of the same yellow material sat on the prince's head and a curved sword hung at his side. The older men dressed in a similar fashion, though the colors they wore were less bright.
Jaerin frowned a little as the prince walked down the steps. Behind Prince Zarak trailed the men whom he dared to call slaves. Jaerin glanced over at his brother to see what his reaction was. To his surprise, Jaer's face remained blank of emotion. It was a look that Jaerin remember seeing on his father's face whenever he was upset about something but knew that saying something would not help matters. Jaerin decided that his brother must have talked to their father about the slaves and he determined to imitate the older boy's calm. At least, he would not try to punch the daylights out of the prince. That probably would probably be a good idea anyway, Jaerin reflected. Knocking a foreign prince senseless while he was on a state visit was probably not considered friendly behavior. His father and the kings and queens would surely not like that. Not to mention the king of Calormene. No. All in all it would be best if he refrained from knocking Prince Zarak senseless, as much as he might wish to do so otherwise.
While Jaerin mused on the consequences of punching Prince Zarak, the entire party mounted (or simply stood up in several cases) and they moved out. In addition to Jaerin and his family, two leopards, two griffins, two centaurs (one Jaerin recognized as General Oreius) and one older woman, attended the royalty of Narnia. With Prince Zarak and his attendants, they made quite a large party.
Once beyond the walls of Cair Paravel and the beginning of a city around it, Jaerin fought the urge to kick his horse into a gallop. Doing so would hardly be considered proper and he definitely did not want to be confined to his room yet again. However, Jaerin's need for restraint was short lived. King Edmund looked at King Peter with a smirk then moved his horse to Prince Zarak's side.
"Would you care to race, Prince?" King Edmund asked.
"To pit the horses of Calormene against the noble beasts of Narnia?" Prince Zarak replied. Somehow, Jaerin felt that was not what King Edmund was speaking of and that Prince Zarak knew it. "Know, O noble king, that such an endeavor would be greatly to my liking. Perhaps we can decide the requirements for such a race after meat?"
King Edmund smiled. "While that is a good idea in itself, Prince Zarak, it's not exactly what I had in mind." The king leaned started to lean closer to the prince but checked abruptly as the slaves following him moved hands to their weapons. "That is, I was thinking of a much less formal endeavor. Shall we see which of us," with a glance King Edmund included the Peridanson brothers as well as King Peter, "can reach the picnic place the fastest?"
A grin spread across the prince's face and for a moment, his voice lost its formal tone. "I think I should like that."
"Very well then. Off!" With a joyous whoop, King Edmund leaned low over his horse's neck. Within seconds, he and Prince Zarak were in front of the company and pulling away.
"Oh no you don't!" King Peter yelled. "Come on, Jett! We can't let Philip beat us!"
Jaer and Jaerin kicked their horses into a gallop and charged after the racing monarchs. The griffins wheeled screaming overhead and one centaur and one leopard ran alongside the racing boys. Jaerin laughed with glee as the wind whipped in his face and tugged at his hair. This was his favorite thing to do. Slowly, Jaerin pulled ahead of Jaer and began to close the gap between himself and the royalty. He thought he was about to pass King Peter when the High King gave a sudden shout and his horse leapt forward in a burst of speed. King Peter drew level with King Edmund and Prince Zarak.
"Is that the best you can do?" the older king yelled. "Surely not! Come, Jett!" King Peter pulled ahead of King Edmund.
King Edmund yelled something that Jaerin could not quite catch and his horse too put on an extra burst of speed. Prince Zarak said nothing loud but leaned low over his horse's neck and whispered something in its ear. Whatever he said seemed to have the desired result as the prince's steed suddenly charged past both kings and on into the plains.
For the rest of the race it remained that way. Prince Zarak led the two kings by a full length when they reached the place where the picnic was prepared. King Peter barely beat King Edmund while Jaer came in dead last, defeated by two lengths by his younger brother. Breathless and cheerful, the five boys tumbled from their horses to sprawl out on the grass in decidedly ungraceful ways. The horses did not stray far. In fact, Jaerin was certain he heard King Edmund's horse telling the others to walk around a bit to cool off after their run. But that was impossible. No one rode a talking horse except in the direst circumstances. Even he knew that.
"Prince Zarak," King Edmund panted, "you have an amazing horse. Have you had him long?"
"But a year," the prince replied. "I chose him on my last birthday. He is the favorite of my horses, though not the swiftest."
"Not the swiftest?" King Peter said with some surprise. "I should like to see the speed of your fleetest horse then!"
Prince Zarak smiled at the praise. "Perhaps it can be managed. I am certain that my father, the Tisroc (may-he-live-forever), would be pleased to arrange a suitable trade."
"I would like that. Here now though," King Peter pushed himself up to a sitting position. "I don't believe we've introduced you to our other competitors. Prince Zarak, allow me to make known to you Jaer and Jaerin Peridanson. They are but newly come to our court from Archenland."
"It is an honor to meet you," Jaerin said with a bow. Jaer bowed beside him.
Prince Zarak nodded in acknowledgement of the greeting. "Your father is Peridan, whom I met upon landing in Narnia, is he not?" The two boys nodded in the affirmative. "He is a doughty swordsman. Surely the blessing of Tash is upon him that he should have such skill."
Jaerin opened his mouth to retort angrily retort that it was most certainly not Tash's blessing that rested on his father, but Jaer answered before the words could leave his mouth.
"Perhaps it is so, your highness," Jaer said. "I am pleased that our father's ability should find such a high estimation in your eyes."
King Edmund's voice broke in, drawing the conversation back to the subject of horses. Jaer tugged Jaerin slightly to the side.
"Whatever you do, don't say anything that could get him angry or that could be seen as us disapproving of him. Right now we just need to be friendly and then maybe we'll be able to explain later," Jaer hissed in his brother's ear. "Just be careful, all right?"
"All right, Jaer. I will." Jaerin tugged his sleeve out of his brother's grasp. "You didn't have to do that you know."
Jaer shrugged. "I can't always tell. Let's rejoin the conversation, shall we?"
The rest of the picnic party arrived nearly ten minutes after the boys reached the appointed place. The two men with colored beards looked disapprovingly at Prince Zarak who raised his chin and met their disapproval coolly. Jaerin watched the exchange with some wonder. Maybe that was why he seemed so uptight when he first saw him. Maybe he was never able to really play and race with other boys his age. Maybe he could fix that. Maybe then, he could do what Jaer said and show Prince Zarak how he was wrong about Tash. And slaves. Maybe.
A/N—Am I making it clear enough for y'all in which POV I'm in? Or do I need to put it in the chapter title or some such place? Do let me know!
Next chapter: Party Preparations