Aravis's birthday banquet passed smoothly, but it was no great thing, and to tell you of it would bore you. Needless to say, she did indeed have to dance with several Calormenes, but managed not to yawn too obviously as they quoted very bad Calormene poetry to her.

Emeth, on the other hand, was fortunate enough to spend most of the evening with Prince Corin. Corin seemed to have decided that Emeth was his prodigy in the art of eavesdropping, and found him to be comic relief. Emeth in turn liked Corin, and thus found the evening perfectly satisfactory.

Two days later, a rich sounding horn echoed outside the gates. Emeth, who was with Corin on the battlements, saw a medium sized party of people. I say people in the broadest possible sense.

There were, in fact, only two humans, mounted on horseback. But, there were also three other horses (one of whom was laden down with several packs), seven dogs, five fauns, and two centaurs. Circling above the group were several different sorts of birds, including hawks, eagles, and a variety of smaller birds.

Emeth was astounded. He had never seen so many animals in one place without one trying to eat another, and he had also never seen a centaur or a faun before.

"Just a warning, my young friend," Corin said. "I would never use the words 'cute', 'adorable', 'fluffy', or anything else similar, in describing the Animals. Talking Beats don't particularly like that. You should also never ride a Talking Horse, especially if you value your teeth." Emeth nodded mutely. "Good day, King Edmund, Queen Lucy!" Corin yelled down. The two people looked up and, noticing Corin, waved cheerfully. At least, Queen Lucy did. King Edmund looked more as if he was greeting a great king.

The gates opened and the party moved inside, out of Emeth's view.

"Come on, Emeth, to the courtyard. Your party will be introduced anyway, and I have to be there."

The two boys walked down the staircase, Emeth almost running to match Prince Corin's pace. It seemed the prince was eager to greet their guests. Emeth himself was indifferent, as they would no doubt forget him the moment he was no longer in their line of vision.

The courtyard was bustling with activity. King Lune was greeting King Edmund and Queen Lucy rather enthusiastically, and Prince Cor and Princess Aravis were embracing the two horses who had not been carrying anything.

"Oh Hwin!" Aravis was saying happily, "I've missed you!"

"And I you, Aravis. Why, it seems only yesterday we were riding away from... that other place," the Horse said, much to Emeth's surprise.

"And you, Shasta!" the other Horse said. "You were no more than a fisherman's boy!"

Shasta? Why had the Horse called Prince Cor 'Shasta'? That was a Calormene beggar's name. Prince Cor didn't seem to mind though.

"And charging at a lion to save me!" Aravis cut in. She smiled at her husband affectionately.

What were they talking about? Charging at a lion, a boy called Shasta, running away?

"King Edmund, Queen Lucy, it is our good fortune to have you among us!" King Lune called above the ruckus. Slowly, everyone silenced to listen. "May I present to you our honored guest, Ambassador Rishtan of Calormen." The ambassador bowed low to the Narnian sovereigns. The rest of the Calormenes were presented to the Narnians, until it was finally Emeth's turn.

At the sound of his name, he bowed. Standing before him were two people who looked to be close in age and in their twenties. King Edmund was dark of hair, with pale skin. He had a grave look to him, but his eyes glinted pleasantly. He was tall, but lean and lithe, and he had an easy grace about him. A silver crown adorned his brow. Queen Lucy was less than a head shorter than her brother, and she was smiling. She was also beautiful, in an endearing way. Her hair seemed to be red, brown and blonde all at once, and her blue eyes sparkled merrily. A silver tiara of flowers was perched atop an elegant hair style.

"A pleasure to meet you, Emeth Tarkaan," they said kindly.

"Are you enjoying your stay in Archenland?" Queen Lucy asked. Her voice was like music, flowing from one word to the next.

"Assuredly, your Majesty. It has been very pleasant thus far."

"We are glad to hear it," King Edmund said. His voice was calm and serious, and Emeth could as easily picture him leading a battle charge as delivering a sentence in court. Deciding that then was his cue to back away, Emeth returned to his place beside Corin. Ambassador Rishtan raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing.

"Perhaps Your Majesties would like to be shown to your rooms?" King Lune suggested.

"Thank you, King Lune," Queen Lucy replied. King Edmund walked over to the horse he had been mounted on and began speaking to it.

"Take Bree and Hwin to your stables, Phillip. I'll come down later."

"As you wish, King Edmund," the Horse replied, startling Emeth out of his wits. What about what Corin had just told him? Was riding Talking Horses a special privilege only kings could have?

"I thought you said never to ride a Talking Horse!" Emeth whispered to Corin.

"Yes, I suppose I should have specified. Never ride a Talking Horse unless you are King Edmund the Just, and that Horse is named Phillip."

"King Edmund's the only one?"

"Er... yes. Well, sort've, but you'll find out more about that at the anniversary party."

"It seems I'll be finding out a lot at the anniversary party," Emeth muttered to no one in particular. Corin laughed when he heard, and Emeth blushed moderately, ashamed someone had heard him.

"I'm sorry, your Highness, I didn't mean-"

"Don't apologize, it was funny. You're sure you want to return to Calormen?"

"Not quite," Emeth said under his breath, and when Corin made no reply he assumed that he hadn't been overheard.

Besides, he couldn't very well return to Calormen, at least not until he learned the truth regarding Aravis instead of his own suspicions. With any luck, the anniversary dinner would provide him with the answers he needed.

Happy New Year, my lovely readers. I'm hoping the lack of response to my last chapter is due to the fact that I posted it late in the evening. Please people, I love feedback. It would be lovely if it was constructive criticism, just to make a request. I want to know where I can improve!

I've also decided that Lucy will be twenty-five or twenty-six, and Edmund's around twenty-eight. Yes, I realize this means they would have been very young at the time of The Horse and His Boy, but bear with me. Peter was fairly young at the Battle of Beruna.

-Dryad