Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia.

A/N: If you will just give me a moment of your precious time, I want to explain something that I find really cool. You see, I didn't really come up with Tran and Shar. I found them in the Horse and His Boy. "WHAT?" I bet you're asking. "What is this crazy person talking about?"

Get your HHB copies, Narniacs. Chapter 13, the fight at Anvard. Especially note the part that says, and I quote,

"Oh, good! good! The gates are opening from the inside: there's going to be a sortie. The first three are out. It's King Lune in the middle: the brothers Dar and Darrin on each side of him. Behind them are Tran and Shar and Cole with his brother Colin."

–The Hermit of the Southern March

Impressed? Okay, I'll quit talking now.

An arrow whistled overhead, missing Shar's head by barely an inch. He heard a thud behind him, and then a sharp gasp. Whirling around with his sword in his hand, Shar saw the worst sight in the world.

"Aravis!" he screamed, running toward his younger sister, whose face was white in shock and pain. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh Shar," Aravis murmured, sinking to the ground.

An arrow protruded from her right shoulder. Shar dropped his sword and grabbed her, setting her gently on the ground.

"Aravis, can you hear me?" he asked fearfully. "Aravis, say something!"

"You left us," Aravis murmured, tears streaming down her white face. "We thought you were dead!"

"Aravis, I—" Shar's stopped as his sister's eyes closed. "Aravis! Wake up!"

"It's no good," Tran's voice said from behind him. "She's dead. She died the day you left her."

"No!" Shar screamed, grabbing his sister like he was afraid she would disappear. "Aravis! You can't die! You can't!"

"Shaaar…" came a far away voice, piercing the shock that enveloped Shar.

"Shaaaar…wake up!"

Someone shook him, and Shar opened his eyes. Startled, he looked around, searching for Aravis. Tran was looking at him like he was loosing his mind.

"You fell asleep. You must have been very tired. King Lune is ready to attack," Tran explained. "Are you all right?"

"I…I'm fine," Shar managed to say. "Just a bad dream."

He stood shakily, and drew his sword from his sheath.

"Let's teach Rabadash a lesson," he said, straightening and lifting his chin as he caught the eye of young Lord Darrin.

"To battle!" several men cried.

"To battle!" Shar and Tran answered them.

King Lune drew his sword and stepped up to the gates. Dar and Darrin stood to his right and to his left, and the two brothers, Cole and Colin, stood behind the king. Tran and Shar took their place behind the brothers, and waited in silent anticipation.

"Open the gates!" King Lune ordered.

The gates slowly creaked open, and King Lune stepped outside. Archers covered them from the walls. Before Shar left the safety of the castle, however, he saw Araleena in a doorway, watching him fearfully.

It's okay, he thought, nodding to her. I'll be fine. She nodded back, giving him a tiny smile.

"To battle!" the men cried, and King Lune charged forward.

The Calormenes were almost gone. A small knot of men stood together, back to back, with Rabadash facing the Narnians, and Chlamash toward the Archenlanders. Shar saw the Narnian army on the other side of the Calormenes, and knew that they more than outnumbered Rabadash's men. This battle was won.

"You!" came a shout from Shar's elbow.

Rabadash's black eyes glared at Shar and Tran in horror and shock.

"How did you get here?" he asked, swinging his sword toward Shar's head. "Traitor!"

Shar ducked and kicked the prince back, knocking Rabadash's sword beyond his reach.

"Aslan was watching over us," he replied, smiling a bit as he stood over Rabadash.

Rabadash's face twisted into a snarl, and he reached into his boot and withdrew a dagger he had hidden there.

"Tash has his revenge!" he screamed, throwing the knife with deadly accuracy.

Shar moved to his left, but then cried out in pain. The dagger pierced his right shoulder, pinning him to a wooden part of the castle wall. Rabadash grabbed his sword and came toward Shar, ready to finish him, but King Edmund stepped between the two Calormenes and engaged Rabadash in a furious battle of swordplay. Shar grasped the knife in his shoulder and pulled it out, yelping again as a fresh burst of pain ran through his arm. The days of travel, the loss of blood, and the weariness that came with staying up for hours on end finally consumed him. Shar slumped to the ground, and the world disappeared.

When Shar awoke, the first things that came to his ears were shouts of joy and praise. The Calormenes had surrendered! Then, everyone started to laugh, and when Shar saw the source of their amusement, he smiled as well. Rabadash was hung up on the wall. His face was very red, and his face was contorted in anger and embarrassment. Then, a twang of pain ran up Shar's arm, and he examined his wound.

"Shar!" Tran cried, running up to his friend. "We won!"

"We surely did," Shar replied, smiling at the childlike eagerness of his friend. "Did you see Rabadash?"

The Prince was being helped down, and everyone laughed again as he was put in irons and led away.

"Apparently," Tran was saying, "he cried, 'the bolt of Tash falls from above', just as he jumped! I wish I had seen it!"

"Me too," Shar agreed.

"You two," Lord Darrin said, glaring at them, "enough rejoicing. There are wounded to attend to."

This sobered them down a bit, and Tran and Shar helped wounded men, Calormene, Narnian, and Archenlanders all into the castle. Shar found Araleena helping wounded men in the makeshift infirmary in one of the barracks.

"Oh Shar!" she cried, running to him and embracing him. "I was so afraid for you!"

"Shhh," Shar soothed, "It's all over now. There isn't anything left to worry about."

"Ah, good lady," boomed a loud voice, echoing through the barrack, "How fare the wounded men?"

Both turned to face King Lune. At his side stood two young boys, exactly alike in every way except for their clothing.

"Many men were wounded, my lord," Araleena replied soberly, "but most will heal."

"That is very good," King Lune replied jollily. "And now, my lady, if you have a minute, will you tie a bandage on my son's hand?"

"Were you in the battle?" Shar asked the boys.

"Why of course we were," the one on the king's right said. "We were with King Edmund!"

"He let children fight?" Araleena asked in a shocked voice.

Both of the boys straightened up at this, and the first boy said, "I'm not a child. I'm fourteen years old!"

"And so am I," the other added.

"Sorry," Shar apologized with a smile. "I didn't know."

Araleena grabbed a bandage, and the king smiled at her.

"I'll leave these two to help you, but I have other work to do. Be good, Cor; Corin."

"Yes, father," the boys replied, almost in unison, but Cor seemed to falter over the word.

"So which one of you is wounded?" Araleena asked after a moment.

Corin pushed his brother forward, stating, "He is."

Cor blushed.

"It's not really a wound!" he said embarrassedly. "I only scratched the skin of my knuckles. I really don't need it bandaged."

"Let me see," Araleena ordered, holding out her hand.

Cor obeyed, and Araleena studied his hand.

"It isn't that bad," she admitted after a moment, and Cor tried to pull away, but she held on. "But, it's still bleeding. We might as well bandage it."

She ripped a piece of soft cloth off of a bigger roll, and she gently wrapped Cor's hand in it.

"There. How does that feel?"

"Much better, thanks," Cor said, smiling shyly at her.

"Were you in the battle?" Corin asked Shar, sizing him up. "You were on Rabadash's side, weren't you?"

"Actually, Prince Corin," Shar said, winding more cloth into a roll of bandage, "I fought for Archenland."

"Yes he did," Araleena put in, "and he almost died as a spy for you in Calormen."

"Really? You're a spy?" Cor asked, now interested.

"Was," Shar replied, not looking at any of them. "I was caught."

"Who did you spy on?" Cor asked curiously.

"I doubt you've ever heard of him," Shar replied, smiling at the lad. "Ahoshta Tarkaan."

Cor gasped, and Shar looked sharply at him.

"So you have heard of him?"

"Yes, but not much. Aravis was supposed to marry him."

"What?" Now it was Shar's turn to gasp in shock. "How did you know that?"

"She told me," Cor replied, shaking his head as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "Wait a minute. How do you know Aravis?"

"I was just going to ask you that," Shar said angrily.

"I met her in Calormen," Cor said.

"How did you end up in Calormen?" Shar asked.

"It's a long story," the boy replied. "I lived in Calormen before I knew who I was. Then, I decided to run away, and I met Aravis, and we escaped together."

"So you and Aravis came all this way by yourselves?" Shar questioned, not quite believing what he heard.

"Well, we did have Bree and Hwin," Cor replied, scratching his head. "They're horses. Talking horses."

Shar leaned back and shook his head. Then he remembered the hermit.

"How did you come across the desert?" he asked the boy.

"We just crossed it," Cor said simply. "Then we saw Rabadash behind us, and then the lion started chasing us,"

"A lion?"

"Yes! It wounded Aravis, and then we came to the hermit, and he told me to run straight ahead and I found King Lune, I mean, father, and told him about Rabadash."

"So you were the boy the hermit mentioned," Shar surmised. "What a story!"

"It's true!" Cor insisted, and Shar nodded.

"Don't worry, I believe you. It's exactly the thing Aravis always got mixed up in."

"So how do you know Aravis?" Cor asked curiously.

"I…" Shar knew he had to tell someone. He was tired of secrets. "She's my sister."

A/N: Please tell me what you think. Your opinion matters, and I am very interested in what you have to say. Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll check back for the next chapter when Aravis and Shar are reunited…