“Upsailsandoutoars—!”saidtheKing。
“Andsotosea,”us,leapingupaodance。
“Andourhward,”saidthefirstD>
“Runningforhome!HurrahforNarniaah!”saidtheother。
“AndthePringmandfindinghisbirdsfloeridan,ghishands。
“OhMasterTumerTumnus,”saidtheQueen,ghishandsandswingingwithhimashedanced。“Youhavesavedusall。”
“ThePrincewillchaseus,”saidanotherlord,whoseahadnotheard。
“That'stheleastofmyfears,”saidEdmund。“Ihaveseenalltheshippingihere'snotallshipalleythere。Iwishhemaychaseus!FortheSplendourHyalinekaosendafterher—ifwewereovertakenatall。”
“Sire,”saidtheRaven。“YoushallhearhantheFaun'sthoughwesatincilforsevendays。Andnow,aswebirdssay,sbefs。Whichisasmuchastosay,letusalltakeourfoodaoourbusiness。”
Everyohisandthedoorswereopehelordsaoodasidefaogooutfirst。Shastawoheoughttodo,butMr。Tumnussaid,“Liethere,yhness,andIwillbringyouupalittlefeasttoyourselfis。Thereisnoneedforyoutomoveuntilweareallreadytoembark。”
Shastalaidhisheaddownagainonthepillowsandsoonhewasaloheroom。
“Thisisperfectlydreadful,”thoughtShasta。ItohisheadtotelltheseNarruthandaskfortheirhelp。Haviupbyahard,closefistedmanlikeArsheesh,hehadafixedhabitgrown-upsanythingifhecouldhelpit:hethoughttheyoilorstopwhateverytodo。AthateveniftheNarnianKingmightbefriendlytothetwohorses,becausetheywereTalkisofNarnia,hewouldhateAravis,becauseshewasaehersellherforaslaveorseoherfather。Asforhimself,“Isimplydn'ttellthemI'mnotPrinow,”thoughtShasta。“I'veheardalltheirplans。IftheyknewIwasn'tohemselves,they'dofthishousealive。They'dbeafraidI'dbetraythemtotheTisroc。They'dkillme。Andiftherealsup,it'llalleout,andtheywill!”Hehad,yousee,noideaofhownobleandfree-bornpeoplebehave。
“WhatamItodo?WhatamItodo?”hekeptsayingtohimself。“What-hullo,hereesthatgoatylittlecreatureagain。”
&rottedin,halfdang,withatrayinitshandswhiearlyaslargeasitself。ThishesetonaninlaidtablebesideShasta'ssofa,andsatdowhecarpetedfloorwithhisgoatylegscrossed。
“N,”hesaid。“MakeagooddiwillbeyourlastmealinTashbaan。”
Itwasafiertheenefashion。Idon'tkheryouwouldhavelikeditornot,butShastadid。Therewerelobsters,andsalad,auffedwithalmondsandtruffles,andaplicateddishmadeofliversandridraisinsandnuts,andtherewereelonsandgooseberryfoolsandmulberryfools,andeverykihatbemadewithice。Therewasalsoalittleflagoofwiiscalled“white”thoughitisreallyyellow。
&awaseatitleFaun,whothoughthewasstilldazedwithsualkingtohimaboutthefiimeshewouldhavewhehome;abouthisgoodLuneofArdalecastlewherehelivedoherhepass。“Anddonet,”saidMr。Tumnus,“thatyouarepromisedyourfirstsuitofarmorandyourfirstwarhorseohday。Andthenyhnesswillbegiotiltandjoust。Andinafewyears,ifallgoeswell,KierhaspromisedyourroyalfatherthathehimselfwillmakeyouKnightatCairParavel。AimetherewillbeplentyofingsandgoiweenNarniaandArdacrossthehemountains。AndofberyouhavepromisedtoeforawholeweektostaywithmefortheSummerFestival,andthere'llbebonfiresandall-nightdancesofFaunsandDryadsihewoodsand,emightseeAslanhimself!”
&hemealwasovertheFauntoldShastatostayquietlywherehewas。“Anditwouldn'tdoyouanyharmtohavealittlesleep,”headded。“I'llcallyouiimetogetonboard。Andthen,Home。Narniaah!”
Shastahadsoenjoyedhisdinneraumellinghimthatwhealohoughtstookadifferentturn。HeohattherealPrinwouldnotturnupuntilitwastoolateandthathewouldbetakenawaytoNarniabyship。IamafraidhedidnotthinkatallofwhatmighthappentotherealhewasleftbehindinTashbaan。HewasalittleworriedaboutAravisaingforhimattheTombs。Buttheohimself,“Well,hoit?”and,“Anyway,thatAravisthioogoodtogoaboutwithme,soshejollywellgoalone,”aimehe'thelpfeelingthatitwouldbemuigtoNaroilingacrossthedesert。
Whehoughtallthishedidectyouwouldhavedoneifyouhadbeenupveryearlyandhadalongwalkadealofextandthenaverygoodmeal,andwerelyingonasofainawithexabeecamebuzzinginthroughthewideopenwindows。Hefellasleep。
asaloudcrash。Hejumpedupoffthes。Hesawatohemerelookoftheroom—thelightsandshadowsalllookeddifferehavesleptforseveralhours。Hesawalsowhathadmadethecrash:acostlyporvasewhichhadbeenstandingonthewindow-silllayon—thefloorbrokenintoaboutthirtypieces。Buthehardlyhesethings。Whathedidingthewindow-sillfromoutside。Theygrippedharderaihekhenupcameaheadandapairofshoulders。AmomeherewasaboyofShasta'sowihesillwithoneleghangingdowheroom。
Shastahadneverseenhisownfaalooking-glass。Evenifhehad,hemightnothaverealizedthattheotherboywas(atordiexactlylikehimself。Atthemomentthisboyarticularlylikeanyohefiblackeyeyoueversaw,andatoothmissing,andhisclothes(whichmusthavebeensplendidothemoornanddirty,ahbloodandmudonhisface。
“Whoareyou?”saidtheboyinawhisper。
“AreyouPrin?”saidShasta。
“Yes,ofcourse,”saidtheother。“Butwhoareyou?”
“I'mnobody,nobodyinparticular,Imean,”saidShasta。“KingEdmundcaughtmeiandmistookmeforyou。Isupposewemustlooklikeoher。Igetoutthewayyou'vegotin?”
“Yes,ifyoodatg,”said。“Butwhyareyouinsuchahurry?Isay:weoughttobeabletogetsomefunoutofthisbeingmistakeher。”
“No,no,”saidShasta。“Wemustgeplace。It'llbesimplyfrightfulifMr。Tumnusesbadsusbothhere。I'vehadtopretendtobeyou。Andyou'restartingtoly。Andwherewereyouallthistime?”
“AboyimadeabeastlyjokeaboutQueenSusan,”saidPrin,“soIknockedhimdown。Heranhowlingintoahouseandhisbigbrothercameout。SoIkherdowheyallfollowedmeuothreeoldmenwithspearswhoarecalledtheWatch。SoIfoughttheWatdtheykwasgettingdarkbyealongtolockmeupsomewhere。SoIaskedthemifthey'dlikeastoupofwiheydidn'tmihenItookthemtoawineshopandgotthemsomeadownanddranktilltheyfeelasleep。IthoughtitwastimeformetobeoffsoIcameoutquietlyandthenIfouboy—theonewhohadstartedallthetrouble—stillhangingabout。SoIknockedhimdownagaiIclimbedupapipeontotheroofofahouseandlayquiettillitbegahism。EversiI'vebeenfindingmywayback。Isay,isthereanythingtodrink?”
“No,Idrankit,”saidShasta。“Andnoyougotin。There'snotamiolose。You'dbetterliedownonthesofaaIfot。It'llbenogoodwithallthosebruisesandblackeye。You'lljusthavetotellthemthetruth,onsafelya>
“WhatelsedidyouthinkI'dbetellingthem?”askedthePriharatherangrylook。“Andwhoareyou?”
“There'snotime,”saidShastainafranticwhisper。“I'maNarniahingNorthernanyway。ButI'vebeenbroughtupallmylifeinen。AndI'mesg:acrossthedesert;withatalkingHorsecalledBree。Andnow,quick!HowdoIgeta>
“Look,”said。“Dropfromthiswindowontotheroofoftheverandah。Butyoumustdoitlightly,onyourtoes,orsomeohenalongtoyourleftandyougetuptothetopofthatwallifyoodatallasaclimber。Thenalootheer。Dropontotherubbishheapyouwillfihereyouare。”
“Thanks,”saidShasta,whowasalreadysittihetwiher'sfadsuddenlyfoundthattheywerefriends。
“Good-bye,”saiddgoodluck。Idohopeyougetsafea>
“Good-bye,”saidShasta。“Isay,youhavebeenhaviures。”
“Nothingtoyours,”saidthePrinhtlyIsay,”headdedasShastadropped。“IhopewemeetinArd。GotomyfatherKiellhimyou'reafriendofmine。Lookout!Ihearsomeoneing。”