Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.

Summary: Don't judge a book by its cover...or a knight by their rumors... A lesson Peridan and his family learned as they adjusted to their new life in Narnia.

A/N: This is part of my A Light in the Darkness universe. I recommend reading the main story arc (Awakening, Shadowed, and Revealed) first, but you can give this one a whirl on its own too.

Chapter Two

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Peridan breathed a sigh of relief when Sir Rupert confirmed that Thane and Shane had not managed to find their way into the armory. After sending Tarrin to fetch two shirts belonging to the twins, the three of them had begun scouring the courtyard and several of the gardens in search of the vanished twins. Please Aslan, don't let my sons break anything or anyone...or each other. Marsalla will kill me if they do. Peridan also desperately hoped his sons wouldn't cause difficulty for anyone extremely important in the Cair.

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Oreius was weeding his way through several reports of low urgency. Thank Aslan, once they managed to survive everything that had accompanied last summer's peace summit there had been next to nothing extreme or deadly that occurred to plague Narnia or more specifically the Four and Katerina Alambiel as well since if she was not the target, she still managed to be caught up in plots against the Four. Of course, there was always the upcoming summer for trouble. He shook his head at the thought. Better to avoid worrying about it and thus avoid inviting trouble or, as Katerina Alambiel enjoys telling me, don't speculate about Murphy unless you want him to visit his law upon you...which almost makes sense.

Oreius was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a faint noise on the other side of his study door. He frowned as he moved from behind his desk and opened the door only to see...nothing. That was...odd, he had been certain he had heard something or someone out here, but now he heard nothing. If he hadn't been certain that both Kings were thoroughly exhausted from the race up the Cair's tallest tower he had added to the end of their training that morn, he would have suspected that King Edmund was attempting to pull off a prank.

Just as he turned back to his study, Oreius heard a pair, no, two pairs of running feet right before a small body bounced off his left foreleg. He raised an eyebrow as he took in the surprising sight of two young foals sprawled on top of each other on the floor in front of him. Both eyebrows shot up when he realized the foals were identical even in their clothing. One of the foals rubbed his head, "Ow! What'd you do that for? S'pose to stop 'fore you landed on me."

The other colt scowled, "Didn't! Ran into a..." The colt paused as he looked around until he spotted Oreius, "Ran into a horsey?"

Oreius closed his eyes at that name...not again. At least this time Katerina Alambiel was not present to witness yet another Human foal call him...'Horsey.' He opened his eyes and looked down at the twin colts. Clearing his throat, he waited until the foals finally looked up and immediately had to suppress a chuckle when their eyes grew wide and their mouths dropped open when they saw the Centaur towering over them. "So, young ones, how did you come to be in my quarters?"

Heads tilted as far back as they could go as they stared up at him, they didn't answer. Oreius sighed softly and tried again, this time taking care to gentle his tone, "What names did your mother bless you with, young ones?"

That loosened their tongues. They spoke in unison, "I'm Thane, he's Shane!"

The twins looked at each other, then the one to his right scowled, "I'm Thane, you're Shane!"

The other foal shook his head and shouted, "I'm Thane, you're Shane!"

Oreius reluctantly admitted he was at a loss. The foals were actually arguing over what name they had been cur- blessed with... Folding his arms over his bare chest, Oreius decided it would be better to wait the squabble out before he attempted to find out who exactly they belonged to…until the foal on the left launched himself at his brother, fists flying and still shouting, "I'm Thane, you're Shane!"

Oreius sighed. It was oddly similar to how the Kings would at times tussle with each other...only a fair bit more chaotic and not quite as playful. Leaning down, Oreius promptly snagged one twin and hauled him up in the air then caught the other one when the foal tried to lunge at his brother again. He frowned and the stern edge crept back into his voice as he easily cut through the twins' continued shouting at each other, "That's enough. Who are your parents?"

The twins finally ceased arguing and blinked up at him. His frown deepened but a knock and Sir Rupert's voice called for his attention before he could ask again. The foals immediately began arguing again, only this time in whispers. Still keeping his grip on the back of the twins' tunics, Oreius growled, "Come!" By Aslan, he hadn't been in the company of these foals long but he hoped they were attached to some trade delegation and would soon leave the Cair...they were worse than all of the Raccoon kits together.

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Peridan shifted his feet then stilled as he tried to hide his nervousness. Their search was going nowhere and now Sir Rupert insisted that they needed to get the General involved in order to organize a far larger search party for his sons. Where could those two be? This was also not how he wanted to be introduced to the General.

A deep voice growled, "Come!" And, Sir Rupert's ears flicked forward in interest before the Fox looked at him with a grin. The Fox opened the doors and Peridan's heart nearly stopped first from shock then from a steadily growing sense of embarrassment. A large Centaur stood in the middle of the room holding Thane and Shane by the back of their tunics as the twins argued in fierce whispers, completely ignoring the fact that they were dangling about a foot off the ground. Oh no.

Sir Rupert's amusement was nearly rolling off his red coat, "I see you've already found the matter we were coming to see you about, General."

Peridan suddenly wished the floor would swallow him then and there...he hadn't felt that way since a particularly embarrassing moment in his and Marsalla's courtship. He had to amend his earlier thought...this was not how he wanted to be introduced to the General. Asking for help to find his wayward sons would have been far more preferable to finding his wayward sons in the General's company. Tarrin peeked around him and gasped at the sight. The Centaur gave him an impassive look then raised the twins slightly, "Am I to understand these are your sons?"

Marsalla wouldn't like it if he denied them...though Aslan forgive him, he was more sorely tempted to do so than he had been in months. "Yes, sir, they are mine. I'm afraid they slipped away earlier this morning. I apologize for them." Peridan hesitated then asked, "They didn't break anything, did they, sir?"

The Centaur looked down at the twins who were still dangling from his grip and still arguing then he pinned Peridan with an odd look that vanished behind the same impassive expression as earlier before Peridan could identify it. "No, other than attempting to break each other because they could not agree upon their names." Oh no.

Peridan frowned at his sons, "Thane." The boy dangling from the General's right hand looked up sharply then paled a tiny bit. "Shane." The boy dangling from the General's left hand looked up and paled in precise imitation of his brother. The Centaur set Thane down first then he lowered Shane to the floor and folded his arms across his chest as he watched the twins drag their feet as they walked toward Peridan. Peridan took a breath then bowed formally to the General, "I apologize for my sons' intrusion and the trouble they have caused you, sir. Thane, Shane, apologize."

His sons looked up at him then bowed to the General as they chimed, "We apologize for our antics." Peridan fought the urge to drop his head in his hands...just where had they learned that apology? Tarrin snickered behind him and then Sir Rupert dropped his head as he struggled to suppress his own chuckles, but the General...that fearsome warrior merely inclined his head then turned toward another door, clearly done dealing with Peridan and his sons.

Sir Rupert cleared his throat and spoke before Peridan could signal him not to do so, "General, Lord Peridan was interested in having a meeting with you today to discuss several matters."

The Centaur paused and looked first at the Fox then at Peridan. His tail swished his flanks before he stated, "Lord Peridan, I will be able to meet with you this afternoon at three hours past noon."

Peridan bowed, "I will be here, General." The Centaur entered the other room and firmly shut the door, which Peridan interpreted as a clear dismissal. He set a large hand on either twin's shoulder and steered them from the room with Tarrin trotting behind him. Sir Rupert led them back to the main corridor that would take them to their assigned quarters before he left after wishing Peridan luck.

Peridan didn't dare let go of his sons until he had them in their bedroom, "Tarrin go let your mother know that we found your brothers."

Tarrin nodded and hurried out. Peridan turned back to his sons only to pause when Raisa poked her head in the door, "I told you it was a bad idea to leave without telling Mother. What did you do this time? Did they break something, Father? I'm sure they did because they always break something."

Oh he didn't need this. "Raisa."

The ten-year-old blinked up at him with her large brown eyes, "Yes, Father?"

"Why don't you go help your mother with Maisee? I will handle Thane and Shane." Raisa nodded her head so vigorously that her red curls bobbed up and smacked her in the face before she went running off. Peridan breathed in and out slowly then looked down at his sons. Completely identical from their russet brown hair to their brown eyes to their penchant for mischief, Thane and Shane watched him with a slight hint of a pout framing each little mouth. "What were you two thinking?"

Thane fidgeted slightly, "We was looking for a new hiding spot, Father."

Peridan sighed, "Were not was. So, in order to go looking for a new hiding spot, you left our quarters without letting anyone know where you were going or why. You two could have been lost or severely hurt. What would have happened then? How would we find you? And, worse, you frightened your mother. You know she's still sick and frightening her is bad for her health." Peridan had begun pacing as he spoke only to stop when he heard Shane sniffle. He had allowed his own fear to cause him to forget he was talking to two six-year-old boys. He dropped to one knee in front of his sons and gentled his tone as he continued, "Do you understand that you scared your mother...and me too?"

Shane sniffed, "You was scared?"

Peridan nodded, "I was afraid something had happened to you and we've only been here a short time, so I had no idea where to look for you two."

Thane and Shane exchanged looks then threw their arms around Peridan's neck, "We're sorry, Father!"

Peridan wrapped his sons in a warm hug, "I know, but from now on if you want to go exploring or leave our quarters, you have to get permission from either your mother or myself and you can only go if Raisa or Tarrin goes with you."

Thane and Shane immediately howled, "Not Raisa!"

Peridan hid a grin and held up a hand, "If she's the only one available to go with you, yes Raisa." He fixed the twins with a stern gaze, "Now I need to know exactly what you said to the General...the Centaur who was holding you when I found you." He hoped it was nothing too terrible or insulting.

Thane suddenly laughed, "Shane called him a 'horsey' like he was four or something!"

Peridan groaned in spite of himself...he didn't need to be a native Narnian to know that referring to a Centaur as a horse was highly insulting and calling one 'horsey'...it was their age that saved his sons from a painful lesson in Narnian etiquette, of that he was certain. Wonderful, just wonderful, his sons had not only managed to insult a Centaur the first time they got out of the family's quarters, but they had managed to insult the Centaur who was the General of the Narnian Army. Peridan hung his head, "Thane, Shane, both of you may go eat your breakfast now."

As he expected, the twins hurried off at the mention of food. Peridan remained kneeling for a moment, and then he went to find Marsalla. She was sitting in their parlor, cleaning Maisee's face of the remainder of her meal. She looked up at him and smiled faintly, but her smile vanished as soon as she got a good look at his face. She put Maisee back in the small crib at her feet then asked, "Peridan, what is it? Is it the twins? Tarrin said they weren't hurt. Was he mistaken?"

Peridan immediately knelt by her chair and grabbed her hand, "No, my dear, the boys are fine. Please do not worry. I'm sorry for frightening you. I was just lost in thought."

Marsalla gave him a hard look before whispering, "What did they do?"

He sighed, "They found the General. And, they were apparently arguing about whose name was whose...and this after I found out they insulted the General by calling him 'horsey'."

Marsalla clamped her hand over her mouth, "Oh Peridan, what- What about your request to join their majesties' service?"

Peridan sighed and stroked the back of Marsalla's hand, "I had no opportunity to ask. But, the General agreed to meet with me today at three hours past noon. I just don't know how much bearing this morning's events will have on his final decision and I suspect that he won't allow just anyone near the Four in the capacity I hope to serve them."

Marsalla ran her fingers through his hair, "But surely he'll see how capable you are, after all you spent twenty years serving King Lune and his father before him. I still say you should have let Lune knight you last year as he wanted."

It was an old argument of theirs, even though Marsalla was well aware of why he had never accepted any of Lune's offers to knight him. In any case, he chose not to revisit it. Instead, Peridan smiled then captured Marsalla's hand again and kissed it, "With your faith in me, o queen of my heart, no one would be allowed to doubt my abilities...least of all, myself. But, I suppose we'll find out just how true the rumors are about Narnia's knights soon enough."

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A/N: Please Read and Review! Let me know what y'all think about this one and also let me know if you have any guesses/suggestions as to what sorts of rumors are swirling about Archenland in regards to Narnia's knights (yes this includes both Oreius and Kat) either via your review or in a PM.