~By the Lion's Mane: The Call~

Part II

BTLM: The Call

Part II

Chapter Eighteen

We set out for Anvard a week later to rebuild the bonds that had once been so strong between the Royal Family of Archenland and our own. Many feasts and balls had been shared between our countries, and I had had many friends at Anvard. During wars, our two countries had supported each other in battle, and there had been an open border between us.

 Among our company were Trufflehunter, Trumpkin, Glenstorm and a few of his sons, Reepicheep and his Mice, and several Talking Beasts and fauns. Caspian and I were at the head of the group, mounted on Destrier and Anduril. One of the centaurs loped along behind us carrying the red and gold Narnian banner with the emblem of the Lion on it. It had now replaced all of the silver and midnight blue banners of Telmar, one of the first steps to regain Narnia's former glory.

We rode south along the Great River until the crossing at Beruna all of the first day, and then camped in the forest that night. I spread out my bed roll and laid down on it, using my pack as a pillow. Caspian rolled his out next to me, and I couldn't help but notice he seemed a little nervous. He took a long time to perform the simple task, and fidgeted with the straps on his packs.

"Are you all right?" I asked him in a whisper.

"Huh?" He jerked toward me. "Oh, yes, I am fine."

I raised my eyebrows, urging him silently to tell me what was wrong.

"What?" he asked, a little defensively.  

"I sleep with a dagger under my pillow and in my boots and my hand on my sword beside me. We are surrounded by warriors. You have nothing to be worried about in these woods," I said to reassure him, and then rolled over to sleep.

I listened to him fuss with his things little longer, but finally he climbed into his bedroll, and with a little rustling of blankets, he too went to sleep.

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I was up with the sun the next morning, and we continued riding. The sunlight filtered down through the late summer leaves, dappling the forest floor in gold. We rode along quietly, the silence broken only by the snapping of twigs, the rustling of the damp litter underfoot, and the whisper of the morning breeze through the treetops. Memories of mornings like this flitted through my brain. As I thought back to those happy, golden years, I felt myself slipping back into depression.

I guess Caspian could see the pain in my eyes, or maybe my feelings were plain on my face, because he cleared his throat and broke the silence.

"So. How much farther is it before we reach Anvard?"

I reluctantly dragged myself back to the present and out of my memories to answer him.

"Well," I said, looking around. "Judging by the position of the sun, it's about 2:00 in the afternoon, and the slope of the ground is getting steeper, which means we are growing closer to the foothills. Depending on whether the geography has changed since my time, which it most likely has, we may have to camp again tonight in the valley on the other side of these smaller northern mountains before continuing in the morning. Then the going will be slower because we will have to find a safe way through the steeper mountains, but I think we could probably estimate to reach Anvard by about half past two tomorrow afternoon." I said all of this as a monotonous soliloquy, leaving Caspian bewildered into silence for a moment.

"Oh," was all he managed.

I sighed and nudged Andy into a canter. I was tired of the easy walking because it left too much time to think. I wanted to drown out my thoughts with the muffled pounding of my unicorn's hooves along the leafy floor and focus on weaving through the trees while staying on track.