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"Take one of his little lordship' s hands, Peridan, of your courtesy, and I' ll take the other. And now, on. Our royal sister' s mind will be greatly eased when she sees our young scapegrace safe in our lodging."
And so, before they were half—way through Tashbaan, all their plans were ruined, and without even a chance to say good¬bye to the others Shasta found himself being marched off among strangers and quite unable to guess what might be going to happen next. The Narnian King-for Shasta began to see by the way the rest spoke to him that he must be a king—kept on asking him questions;where he had been, how he had got out, what he had done with his clothes, and didn' t he know that he had been very naughty.Only the king called it,naught"instead of naughty.
And Shasta said nothing in answer, because he couldn' t think of anything to say that would not be dangerous.
"What ! All mum ?"asked the king.I must plainly tell you, prince, that this hangdog silence becomes one of your blood even less than the scape itself. To run away might pass for a boy' s frolic with some spirit in it. But the king' s son of Archenland should avouch his deed;not hang his head like a Calormene slave."
This was very unpleasant,for Shasta felt all the time that this young king was the very nicest kind of grown-up and would have liked to make a good impression on him.
The strangers led him-held tightly by both hands-along a narrow street and down a flight of shallow stairs and then up another to a wide doorway in a white wall with two tall, dark cypress trees, one on each side of it. Once through the arch, Shasta found himself in a courtyard which was also a garden. A marble basin of clear water in the centre was kept continually rippling by the fountain that fell into it. Orange trees grew round it out of smooth grass, and the four white walls which surrounded the lawn were covered with climbing roses. The noise and dust and crowding of the streets seemed suddenly fad away. He was led rapidly across the garden and then into a dark doorway. The crier remained outside. After that they took him along a corridor, where the stone floor felt beautifully cool to his hot feet, and up some stairs. A moment later he found himself blinking in the light of a big, airy room with wide open windows, all looking North so that no sun came in. There was a carpet on the floor more wonderfully coloured than anything he had ever seen and his feet sank down into it as if he were treading in thick moss. All round the walls there were low sofas with rich cushions on them, and the room seemed to be full of people;very queer people some of them, thought Shasta. But he had no time to think of that before the most beautiful lady he had ever seen rose from her place and threw her arms round him and kissed him, saying:
"Oh Corin,Corin,how could you? And thou and I such close friends ever since thy mother died. And what should I have said to thy royal father if I came home without thee ? Would have been a cause almost of war between Archenland and Narnia which are friends time out of mind. It was naught, playmate, very naught of thee to use us so."
"Apparently," thought Shasta to himself, "I'm being mistaken for a prince of Archenland, wherever that is. And these must be the Narnians. I wonder where the real Corin is ?"But these thoughts did not help him say anything out loud.
"Where hast been, Corin ?" said the lady, her hands still on Shasta' s shoulders.
"I-I don'tknow," stammered Shasta.
"There it is, Susan," said the King. "I could get no tale out of him, true or false."
"Your Majesties ! Queen Susan ! King Edmund !" said a voice: and when Shasta turned to look at the speaker he nearly jumped out of his skin with surprise. For this was one of these queer people whom he had noticed out of the corner of his eye when he first came into the room. He was about the same height as Shasta himself. From the waist upwards he was like a man, but his legs were hairy like a goat' s, and shaped like a goat' s and he had goat' s hooves and a tail. His skin was rather red and he had curly hair and a short pointed beard and two little horns. He was in fact a Faun, which is a creature Shasta had never seen a picture of or even heard of. And if you've read a book called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ,you may like to know that this was the very same Faun, Tumnus by name, whom Queen Susan's sister Lucy had met on the very first day when she found her way into Narnia. But he was a good deal older now for by this time Peter and Susan and Edmund and Lucy had been Kings and Queens of Narnia for several years.
"Your Majesties," he was saying,"His little Highness has had a touch of the sun. Look at him ! He is dazed. He does not know where he is. "
Then of course everyone stopped scolding Shasta and asking him questions and he was made much of and laid on a sofa and cushions were put under his head and he was given iced sherbet in a golden cup to drink and told to keep very quiet.
Nothing like this had ever happened to Shasta in his life before. He had never even imagined lying on anything so comfortable as that sofa or drinking anything so delicious as that sherbet. He was still wondering what had happened to the others and how on earth he was going to escape and meet them at the Tombs, and what would happen when the real Corin turned up again. But none of these worries seemed so pressing now that he was comfortable. And perhaps, later on, there would be nice things to eat !
Meanwhile the people in that cool airy room were very interesting. Besides the Faun there were two Dwarfs (a kind of creature he had never seen before) and a very large Raven.The rest were all humans;grown-ups, but young, and all of them, both men and women, had nicer faces and voices than most Calormenes.And soon Shasta found himself taking an interest in the conversation."Now, Madam," the King was saying to Queen Susan (the lady who had kissed Shasta)."What think you ? We have been in this city fully three weeks. Have you yet settled in your mind whether you will marry this dark-faced lover of yours, this Prince Rabadash, or no ?"
The lady shook her head."No, brother," she said,"not for all the jewels in Tashbaan."("Hullo !" thought Shasta."Although they're king and queen,they're brother and sister, not married to one another.")
"Truly, sister,"said the King, "I should have loved you the less if you had taken him. And I tell you that at the first coming of the Tisroc' s ambassadors into Narnia to treat of this marriage, and later when the Prince was our guest at Cair Paravel, it was a wonder to me that ever you could find it in your heart to show him so much favour."
"That was my folly, Edmund,"said Queen Susan,"of which I cry you mercy. Yet when he was with us in Narnia, truly this Prince bore himself in another fashion than he does now in Tashbaan. For I take you all to witness what marvellous feats he did in that great tournament and hastilude which our brother the High King made for him, and how meekly and courteously he consorted with us the space of seven days. But here, in his own city, he has shown another face."
"Ah !" croaked the Raven."It is an old saying: see the bear in his own den before you judge of his conditions."
"That's very true, Sallowpad, " said one of the Dwarfs. "And another is,Come, live with me and you' ll know me."
"Yes," said the King."We have now seen him for what he is:that is,a most proud,bloody,luxurious,cruel,and self-pleasing tryant."
"Then in the name of Aslan," said Susan,"let us leave Tashbaan this very day."
"There's the rub, sister," said Edmund. "For now I must open to you all that has been growing in my mind these last two days and more. Peridan, of your courtesy look to the door and see that there is no spy upon us. All well ? So. For now we must be secret."
Everyone had begun to look very serious. Queen Susan jumped up and ran to her brother."Oh, Edmund," she cried. "What is it ? There is something dreadful in your face."
