Chapter Twenty-Five: Orient

The gates closed silently behind me as I stepped back to the crest of the hill. Somehow the world, for all its beauty, seemed dull by comparison to the Garden behind me. My companion was busily eating the lush grass.

"Rhye!"

She looked up, then waded through the grass towards me. She nuzzled my face and hair playfully. "You smell like the air of summer."

I smiled, stroking her velvety nose with my free hand. "It was the Garden. It was almost like being back in Narnia."

"But you were." Rhye shook her head, tossing that silver mane. "This is part of the Narnia, you know. This Garden, this Tree, are all part of Narnia and therefore part of Aslan and part of you. It's a deeper Narnia, larger and fuller and richer."

"I don't understand," I said. "How can there be more than...what is?"

"Can you hold a thought in your hand, good king? Or even slow one down? And yet they be. Is there not a universe within each of us?"

I looked at her, trying to follow her effortless, innocent philosophy. I knew what she said was right, though I wasn't sure why. It was something I simply had to learn to accept. It wasn't hard, not after my youngest sister had found a whole world inside a wardrobe. A universe within myself seemed not so strange at all.

"Yes," I finally said. "There is. And that would mean I'm in you and you're in me."

Her eyes gleamed with delight. "And we are all in Aslan, and he is in each of us. Fortunate are we to know this and believe through all our doubt."

I laughed. It seemed the thing to do when everything in the world is suddenly clarified and faith is finally defined. She seemed pleased with my reaction and snuffled at my face. I smiled at her horsey affection.

"Rhye?"

"Yes, King Peter?"

"I am...glad to have met you, dear heart," I said, unconsciously using Aslan's pet name for Lucy. "If you ever come to Narnia all of Cair Paravel will welcome you and you'll be shod with silver and gold shoes and every honor we can grant you will be showered upon you. I have no words or means to thank you right now, but I am in your debt for the service you have done me and if there is anything you ever need or wish, you only need ask and I will grant you anything that lies within my power."

"There is joy in service to one such as you, good my king," she replied. "There is no debt to settle between us. You have taught me song, and I am a better Horse for having met you and Phillip. Though...I would not say no the shoes of silver and gold."

I threw my arms around her neck, laughing aloud as she nickered at herself. I kissed her cheek. Stowing the apple in the small satchel Susan had made me, I pulled on my gloves and I swung up onto her back, bracing myself before her wings.

She looked back at me. "Would you like to fly fast?"

What had the trip here been if not fast? We had covered a hundred miles or more in less than three hours by my rough estimate. Phillip would have screamed NO, but Phillip wasn't here. "You can fly faster than that?" I exclaimed, for our flight here had seemed very swift indeed, given the distance we covered.

There was a wicked gleam in her eyes and she knew exactly what I wanted.

"Hold on tightly, King Peter," she ordered. "I'll show you what speed is."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

I saw the grove of trees where Phillip waited and let out a gasp of pure relief that the flight was over. I have ridden a Unicorn, one of the fastest creatures in Narnia, but not even Flisk could match Rhye for the sheer, blinding speed she demonstrated for me that day. My eyes were tearing, my ears were frozen, my nose was running and my hair felt permanently swept back off my face. My thights and arms ached from gripping her to keep my seat. It had been a thrilling, exhilarating, and frightening flight and I was glad to have gotten it out of my system because I never wanted to experience it again. Not at those speeds. We had made it back in half the time it took us to get there and that was moving against the wind.

She came to a landing a few hundred yards from the brace of trees. I didn't dismount, I simply fell off her back and landed in a frozen heap at her feet. I sat there, amazed at the difference in temperature as she ticked my neck with her nose. Flying so high gave me an appreciation for the relative warmth of being on the ground. It was several minutes before I could move. I checked the apple, wrapping it in two of the handkerchiefs, then stood. I was surprised that Phillip wasn't out here to greet us.

"Too fast?" wondered Rhye as we walked. I was a little unsteady.

I laughed, my alarm fading even as I defrosted. I knew that in time I'd remember only the thrill of the flight, not the terror. "Not at all."

We were almost upon the grove of trees where Phillip waited when Rhye stopped dead in her tracks.

Pennon stood before us, seething with anger. Beyond him I could see Phillip standing defiantly, his head high as he glared at the Lord of the Winged Horses.

Rhye snorted and stamped her hoof at her sire. "Despite you, he has succeeded, Father," she snapped. "Young he may be, but it is by prescription, by prophecy, by conquest and by Aslan's blessing that he is High King over all Kings of Narnia, and through him we are all blessed by the Lion. He is my king, and I will sing his praise."

I wasn't sure how she knew my whole title or how I had gained it. Perhaps Phillip had told her. Still, it would not due to be rude to the leader of these wonderful beasts. I stepped up to Pennon and bowed. He cast me a vicious glare and huffed at me, barely containing himself. I kept a hand on Rhindon's hilt.

"You dared to enter the Garden?" hissed the black stallion. "You stole the fruit of the Tree? Little good it will do you, fool!"

"No," I replied, "I obeyed Aslan's instructions and the Garden opened itself to me. I took an apple with permission."

"He speaks the truth, Father," Rhye chimed in, sounding rather exasperated with his aggressiveness. "I saw the gates open to him."

Clearly nothing was going to satisfy the Lord of the Herd except my absence from his land. I grew a little annoyed at that point, tired of his attitude and wasting precious time justifying myself to one who by all rights was my subject. I met his eye, keeping my expression steady and set.

"The blessings of Aslan upon you, and I thank you, good Pennon, for granting us safe leave." I spoke without a hint of sarcasm in my voice, because despite himself, he truely had been blessed with the most remarkable offspring. "I compliment you on your daughter. The wisdom you have imparted to her has taught me a great deal, and I could not have easily succeeded without her aid. If ever you or your people journey to Cair Paravel, you will be welcomed and honored."

I walked past him and began to saddle Phillip, taking care to stow the apple where it would not be damaged. "Are you hurt?" I asked softly as I slipped the bridle onto his head. For all my lofty words I found nothing about Pennon to trust. I glanced behind me to see Rhye with her head close to her sire's, whispering rapidly at him.

"No. He came alone and demanded answers."

"Did you give them?"

"I saw no reason not to. He didn't care much for the truth."

I smiled and patted his neck, saddling him up before gathering and securing the last bundle of supplies. Rhye stood some distance apart from Pennon, looking cross. The Lord of the Herd cast me a dark look. Clearly he did not approve of his daughter being friends with a Human, be he a king or no, and any Talking Horse that would allow himself to be ridden. Rhye had given him as much of a dressing down as a child can give a parent when they are in the wrong.

"Get thee from my land, High King of Narnia," hissed Pennon, "and take your Horse with you."

Phillip snorted. "I am not his. He is mine."

"Peace, Phillip," I soothed. "I'm not sure why you should so despise me, Lord Pennon. Humans might have wronged your people in the past, but you're wrong to judge my whole race by the misconduct of a few. The offense was not against you but against your forefathers. What happened is history long past and neither I nor any of the late kings and queens of Narnia had anything to do with it. Let go your grudge. Open your heart, Pennon, and listen to Aslan's wisdom and love. If ever you choose to journey east, you will be most welcome in your old home."

I meant every word. I bowed again and left him to brood, fairly certain he heard nothing good in any of what I had to say. I had met narrow-minded people like him before and I knew there was little to be done for it. I walked Phillip well past him before mounting up. It felt good to be in a saddle again and have the ground just a few feet away. Rhye followed closely and nuzzled Phillip goodbye, then bowed to me.

"Goodbye, Phillip. Goodbye, Peter High King," said the mare. "I hope we meet again."

"If you fly east, following the river and the rising sun, you'll always find a path," I said. Leaning over in the saddle, I kissed her forehead. "Thank you, Rhye. My blessing upon you, and may Aslan bless you as well." I gathered up the reins. "Phillip, let's go home."

We oriented ourselves and started towards home. Phillip cantered across the grassy plain as Rhye leaped into the sky, wheeling above us joyfully. She swooped down low enough to stir up the dust and grass right in our path. With a final whinny she arched away, back to her home, and Phillip echoed her call, breaking into a full gallop as I let loose with an exultant battle-cry:

"NARNIA!"