The Horse And His Boy

Edmund warns that Rabadash intends to capture them and force marriage upon Susan if she refuses to accept his proposal freely. In addition to the Narnian humans, there are other talking animals who enter the discussion and warn that Calormenes are treacherous. The discussion turns to Rabadash’s ultimate political aims, with Edmund saying, “Most likely he hopes to make one mouthful of Narnia and Archenland both” (73). As Sallowpad, the talking raven, discusses the geography the Calormenes would encounter when trying to invade Archenland and Narnia, he mentions a shortcut across the desert that Shasta listens to closely.

The conversation turns from Rabadash’s motives to how to get Susan safely out of Calormen. Tumnus suggests that the Narnians tell the Calormen they are planning a great feast for Rabadash and his courtiers on their ship the Splendor Hyaline the following night, implying that Susan will accept the prince’s proposal during the feast. At night, they will leave Tashbaan and sail back to Narnia. Everyone leaves the room to put the plan into effect. Tumnus tells Shasta to remain still until he feels well and provides him the finest meal he has ever eaten.

Alone in the room, Shasta wonders how to get out of the palace and rejoin his companions. He decides he must not tell the Narnians he is not Prince Corin, believing they might take him for a spy and kill him. Shasta falls asleep and is awakened when he hears the crash of a falling vase next to the open window. He sees a boy his age. Dirtied and bloody, with a black eye and missing tooth, he is otherwise identical to Shasta. Shasta realizes this must be Prince Corin.

Corin explains that he got into several fistfights defending the honor of Queen Susan against some Calormen boys. He had gotten arrested and persuaded the guards restraining him to enjoy some wine until they became drunk and he escaped. On the way back to the palace, Corin says, “I found the first boy—the one who had started all the trouble—still hanging about. So I knocked him down again” (85). Shasta asks if he can climb out the same way Corin climbed in. As Shasta is leaving, Corin tells him to go to Archenland and tell his father, King Lune, that he is a friend of Corin’s.

Shasta climbs out of the palace window and makes his way along the rooftops. He can see the northern vistas, including the river, the tombs, the desert, and the distant mountains where he is ultimately bound. Alone, Shasta makes his way to the northern gate of Tashbaan, crosses the river and walks north. Gradually he loses all other pedestrians and comes to the tombs just as the sun is going down. They are reportedly haunted by ghouls. Shasta decides to wait there as agreed until Aravis and the horses arrive. He wonders if the others got there before him and have already started across the desert, leaving him behind. While he doubts Aravis, he believes Bree would not go on without him.

As it grows darker and more frightening, Shasta is startled by the sudden arrival of a large housecat that rubs against him and stays with him, offering him comfort until he falls asleep. He is awakened by the sound of jackals howling in the desert and growing closer to him. When they are extremely close, a huge lion bounds out from the tombs toward the desert and gives such a terrifying roar that the jackals disappear. Thinking he is about to be eaten by the lion, Shasta prepares himself to die. Lewis writes, “But instead of teeth and claws he only felt something warm lying down at his feet. And when he opened his eyes he said, ‘Why, it’s not nearly as big as I thought! [...] I do declare it’s only the cat’” (95)

The next morning as he continues to wait, Shasta studies the landscape and determines the proper direction that will take him to Archenland. He goes back into Tashbaan for food and drink, then hastens back to the tombs in case the others arrive. As the sun sets, Shasta sees a soldier leading Hwin and Bree to the tombs but does not see Aravis. He remains in hiding, wondering if Aravis has been captured and if sending the horses to tombs is meant to trap him as well.

A flashback shows that, after Shasta was taken away with the Narnians, another entourage of important people pass by Aravis in the streets of Tashbaan while she stands holding the bridles of the two horses.

This caravan has a litter bearing a Tarkheena named Lasaraleen, an old friend of Aravis, who recognizes her and calls her up into the litter beside her. Aravis closes the curtains and tells the servants to bring the two horses with them. Lasaraleen knows that Aravis’s father is looking for her and she is excited to become part of the intrigue. They go to Lasaraleen’s palatial house, where she commands that no one leave the premises, meaning no servant could share the secret that Aravis is with her.

Aravis tells her story. Lasaraleen is astonished that Aravis does not want to marry Ahoshta, who is now the Grand Vizier. Still, she agrees to help Aravis escape to the desert by leading her through the Tisroc’s palace to a gate by the river. Lasaraleen has the two horses fed and watered and puts food in their saddlebags. Because there is to be a great feast (the diversion planned by the Narnians) Lasaraleen compels Aravis to hide out one day before the plan is enacted.

The next evening, dressed as a servant girl, Aravis accompanies Lasaraleen to the Tisroc’s palace. As they make their way through the lower reaches, the girls see the light of deaf and mute candle bearers coming toward them and sneak into an anteroom, hiding behind a sofa. Soon the candle bearers along with the Tisroc (the aged Grand Vizier, Aravis’s intended husband) and Rabadash enter the room.

Lewis continues the narrative from within the anteroom where the two girls are concealed. Aravis can see and hear the conversation in which Rabadash demands that his father allow him to get revenge upon the Narnians for sneaking away on their ship the previous night. The Tisroc is unwilling to go to war against the Narnians since there is the legend that Narnia is guarded by a demon who takes the shape of a lion.

Rabadash has a plan. He will take 200 cavalrymen and seize the castle of King Lune in Archenland. From there they will launch a surprise attack into Narnia, the goal of which is merely to kidnap Susan and return her to Calormen. Rabadash intends to retain control of Archenland, where he will gradually build up his forces until they can successfully surprise and overwhelm Narnia. The Tisroc gives his permission for the mission with the caveat that Rabadash is on his own and the Tisroc will deny any knowledge of the raid if it fails or causes diplomatic upheaval.

Once Rabadash leaves the room, the Tisroc and the Grand Vizier have a candid conversation during which it becomes clear that the Tisroc has no affection for Rabadash and would not be upset if his son’s plan fails and he is killed. The Tisroc says, “I have eighteen other sons and Rabadash, after the manner of the eldest sons of kings, was beginning to be dangerous” (129). At last, the Grand Vizier and the Tisroc leave the room without detecting the girls’ presence.

Lasaraleen is terrified and wants only to return to her home and pretend she heard nothing. Aravis is determined to escape across the river and rejoin her friends. Lasaraleen understands that any mention of what they heard will result in their immediate execution. Aravis persuades Lasaraleen to take her to the river, where she gets into a small boat and crosses the water. She finds the servant holding the horses and tells him to return to the Lasaraleen’s house. When he leaves, Shasta emerges from where he had been hiding. Aravis relates Rabadash’s plan to them. Shasta shows them where he marked the proper direction toward a valley oasis in the desert. It takes the four of them several days to cross the desert, stopping to rest and be renewed at the oasis.