Back to the Corin. I worked really hard to get this one out earlier than the last. Just over a month this time. I'm going to try to get the next one out on a similar time-scale. Thanks to Faucon Bleu for reviewing.

Commander General

"You are a proper idiot," said Ren, as they hauled themselves out of the freezing moat. The portcullis clunked and started to raise behind them.

Corin grabbed her bow and an arrow off her back and aimed the arrow at the mechanism just beyond the metal-framed squares. The arrow whizzed through the air, lodging into the arm of the knight who was turning the blasted thing.

The man cried out and let go and the portcullis fell back to the ground.

"Let's get out of here," said Corin. He slung the bow over his shoulders and ran towards the trees, glancing back to check Ren was following. She was.

"I mean a proper, first class, royal moron," she said.

They cleared the first line of trees and sank into the shadows of the forest. Lord Bar might be able to find them, but they had to get the portcullis up first and Corin had a bow. He wasn't particularly good at archery – fist fighting was his speciality and Lord Bar and his men would probably remember that – but he could fire well enough.

"The knight shouldn't have abused that peasant," said Corin.

"What if Bar tells your brother you were here?" said Ren.

"Maybe Cor will come to the castle, realise how badly his subjects are being treated and strip Bar of his Lordship."

Ren snorted. They trudged through the forest in silence, dripping water, shivering against the freezing air. The forest smelt of pine wood and snow and low hanging branches brushed their faces.

"We're leaving prints," remarked Ren, so they started doubling back on themselves and walking backwards for long stretches. When they heard horses, Ren halted at a nearby tree and pointed upwards.

Within a few minutes, they'd climbed high enough that the close-packed pine branches obscured them from the ground. Fresh snow began to fall and the low-mountain wind rustled through the branches.

Ren leant her head against the tree trunk and closed her eyes. The only thing Corin saw when he closed his eyes was his father's thin fingers and sunken cheeks and then a mound of earth with daisies. So he let Ren rest – she wasn't asleep, he'd checked – and watched the fresh snow fill in their footprints on the forest floor.

A search party came by a few times, men barking orders at each other, but they didn't seem to twig their quarry might have taken a more vertical escape route. When the sun began to sink and the only sounds left in the woods were the calls of wildlife, Corin let his muscles relax. And then he started laughing. Ren's eyes flashed open. Her short hair was frosted with flakes of snow.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I haven't done something that hair-raising for two years."

"Only two?" said Ren. "No, don't answer that."

He nudged her. "Hey, don't give me that. You're a poacher who attacks noblemen. I hardly think you're in a position to be lecturing me on hair-raising activities."

"I would never walk out in front of a knight's horse in broad daylight and fight them one to six," said Ren.

"Two to six," said Corin. "Thanks, by the way. I thought you'd scarpered for a few minutes back there."

"I had to grab myself a weapon. Speaking of–" she tapped the top point of the bow above Corin's shoulder. Half of it stuck up towards the next branch and the other half dropped away behind him like an anchor. "Can I have my bow back?"

"Will you shoot me with it?"

She snorted. He pulled the bow over his head and handed it to her. "You'd better pay me extra for that adventure back there," she said. "Defending you against Lords and knights wasn't in the job description."

"Did I not mention I have a habit of getting into fights?" said Corin.

"I want another gold coin if I have to be your bodyguard and your guide," said Ren.

"Alright, but if I hire you as my bodyguard, you have to throw yourself in front of me at any sign of danger." Ren rolled her eyes. He nudged her again. "I'm joking."

"You do that a lot," said Ren.

"I'm super fun to be around."

Ren rolled her eyes again. "It's getting late," she said. "We should find somewhere to sleep."

-O-

The moment Corin closed his eyes, he saw his father's sunken cheeks. And a mound of earth with daisies on it. He shook his head to himself and opened his eyes. At this rate, he'd never sleep again. His muscles ached and his brain was getting foggy – he'd been awake for at least forty eight hours now, but he couldn't sleep. Not in his room in the palace, not in a musty cave in the low mountains.

He glanced at Ren. She lay a metre away, silhouetted by the faint moonlight filtering in through the cave mouth. Corin had suggested they sleep together for warmth (not that kind of sleeping!). Ren had said if he made any more jokes, he'd be sleeping on the mountain slope.

They'd found a pile of damp-smelling furs at the back of the cave and Ren had decided they'd 'borrow' them. "What if somebody comes back for them?" Corin had said. Ren had held one of the furs out to him. "Have you smelt them?" she said. "No one's coming back for them."

Now, her furs were pulled up to her chin and her eyes were open, shining in the moonlight. Corin tried to think of something to say to break the silence. Do you normally sleep with your eyes open?

But before he could say anything, she threw back the furs and headed towards the cave mouth. Corin looked away. She probably wouldn't appreciate him staring if nature was calling. She was soft-footed, like a hunter should be and when he looked back, she'd disappeared into the inky night.

Corin closed his eyes again. Come on, sleep. But his father was there again, burning into the back of his eyelids.

Corin sat up. Strong wind whistled down in the mountain valleys and an owl hooted in the distance. It was no good. He couldn't sleep. He'd have to talk to Ren when she got back. He glanced at her furs again. A few minutes passed. The owl hooted again. Why wasn't she back yet?

Surely she wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of getting him out of castle Bar just to run away now. And his purse was still attached to his belt, full of coins.

Another few minutes passed. What if something had happened to her? She claimed she knew the mountains well, but it was dark and the snowy paths were treacherous.

He got to his feet and wrapped one of the furs around his shoulders, then headed for the cave entrance. The wind whipped at his shaggy hair as he came out onto the rocky ledge outside. Snow clouds drifted across the sky and stars twinkled in the gaps.

Ren was a solitary silhouette on a rock. She'd rolled her sleeves up, despite the cold bite of the mountain air and was staring at her arm. Spindly scratches, silver in the moonlight slashed all the way from her shoulder to her elbow, a few reaching as far as her wrist.

"Ren?" said Corin.

She jumped, then spun round, rolling her sleeves down in one swift motion.

"Your majesty," she said. Your majesty? "Do you need something?"

"No." Corin sat on the rock next to her, closer than necessary to block out as much of the freezing wind as possible. "I was just worried when you weren't in your bed."

She smirked, but her arms dangled by her side and her shoulders slumped. "You thought I'd run away," she said.

Corin shook his head. "You didn't take my purse."

She laughed. The wind ruffled through her short hair. She smelt like mountains and dampness, and something that made him want to lean closer. He touched her sleeve.

"Everything alright?" he asked.

She turned away. The scar on her neck peeked above her shirt. "I don't like the mountains," she said.

"You know them well though," said Corin. At least, she knew where the cave was and the paths leading up to it from castle Bar.

"Don't worry, little prince, I'll get you to Narnia."

"I don't doubt it." He glanced behind himself at the dark entrance to the cave, then nudged her sleeve again. "Tell me about the scars."

Every muscle in her body tensed. "They're just scars," she said. "I'm a beast tracker – kind of goes with the job."

"You can't be a very good beast tracker if you end up with so many scars."

"Did you come out here to insult me?"

"No," said Corin, then picked up her arm. "Can I see?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"They're just scars," said Ren. "I'm sure you have plenty of your own."

"Not like yours," said Corin.

"Maybe you need to do more beast tracking."

Corin shrugged. She pulled her arm away from him. "What do you want, Corin?"

"I can't sleep. And you look like you want to be bothered by a restless prince."

She narrowed her eyes.

"That's a joke," he said.

"Don't you ever take anything seriously?" said Ren.

"Of course I do."

"I risked my life for you back there. You realise that, right?"

"Of course."

"No, but do you really understand what that means Corin? Do you really understand what it means to not be able to throw down your hood and suddenly be immune from harm?"

"I'm very grateful for your help?"

"And that man you defended is probably very grateful for your help, now that he's in all likelihood in a cell in the dungeons of castle Bar."

Corin's stomach twisted, and then twisted further when he realised he couldn't remember the man's face. "You don't know that," he said.

"Do you think that knight meant his apology?"

Probably not. "I couldn't stand by and do nothing."

"So instead you made the peasant's life worse?"

"I was trying to help."

"By hitting a knight and running away?"

"I was showing him he couldn't get away with his behaviour."

"But he will get away with it," said Ren. "Who's going to stop him now you've run away?"

Corin opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"It must be so easy for you," said Ren. "Never having to worry about the repercussions of your actions. Never being afraid of anyone or anything, because your brother will send an army to back you up if anyone so much as touches a hair on your head."

"What's the alternative?" said Corin. "Stand by and do nothing? Stand by and let a knight abuse a peasant? Is that what you would have done?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you."

"I did the right thing," said Corin.

"You ran away. The moment you stepped in front of that horse, that peasant man became your responsibility and you ran away from it. Like you're running away from your responsibility as prince of Archenland."

Corin took a long breath. A cloud drifted over the moon, darkening the night. "I told you why I left," he said. "I don't know what my place at Anvard is anymore."

Not between Cor and Aravis and all the courtiers and advisers demanding his attention. Demanding he grow up. Be someone else. His father had never demanded he be someone else. He knew Cor would take on the kingdom. Cor attended all his history lessons. Corin was left alone to do what he wanted.

But even in the few days since his father had died, that had all changed. Suddenly people wanted him to make decisions. Suddenly Cor and Aravis were behaving differently around each other. Cor was probably preparing to make her his Queen. Corin didn't mind them being together – he'd been teasing Cor about it for years and trying to help him make a move (to absolutely no success), but there was a difference between teenage antics and marriage and if Cor and Aravis grew up, Corin had to grow up too.

"I don't believe you," said Ren. "If you went back, you'd be made Commander General of the Army. Second sons in the royal family always are. You must know that. Even I know that."

Corin shook his head. He did know that. But he didn't want to be Commander General. He didn't want to grow up. He wanted his father back.

"Well I don't believe your scars are just scars," he said.

Ren went very still for a few seconds. Then she got to her feet. Cold air rushed into the space where she'd been sitting. "You know what, I don't care what you do, Corin," she said. "Just don't get me killed."

Oh Corin...

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