The Regents : the Forgotten Chronicle [COMPLETED]

Chapter Thirteen : Rescue and Restoration

Although my sister eluded her Telmarine pursuer to the best of her abilities, he would have caught her if a talking owl hadn't swooped down from the boughs and attacked him. Lydia urged her horse away from the scene and to an open field. The owl guided her to Reese and Brennan who were returning with their war party from the confrontation with the Telmarines on the western borders . . .

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Reese and Brennan leapt from their horses as soon as Lydia fell from her saddle. They ran to her, and Reese embraced her, removing her gag. Brennan cut her bindings and winced at the sight of her bloody wrists, rubbed raw from the rope. He was jarred by the sudden urge to punch the person who had done this to her. He wondered how she could make him feel that way after being so cruel to him yesterday. 

Breathlessly, Lydia explained. "The Telmarines . . . kidnapped us . . . Eliza . . . a prisoner."

Reese's shoulders tensed. "Where?" he pressed her urgently.

"In-in the woods." She pointed back the way she'd come. 

The rest of the war party approached the lords and lady. "My lord," a faun addressed Reese, "would it not be prudent for you or your brother to lead the rescue party and for the other to return with the lady to Cair Paravel?"

Reese's head swiveled to the faun as if he'd forgotten the faun was there. "Yes," he replied distractedly. Then, he shook his head, regaining focus. "Yes, separate us so as not to fall into a trap." He looked to Lydia. "Where was the Telmarine camp?"

"I'm not sure. It's in that direction on the other side of the field where Peter Pevensie fought the White Witch."

"Beruna." The word exited Brennan's mouth as soon as he'd thought it. 

Reese nodded solemnly at his brother. "You lead the rescue party, Brennan." He stood while helping Lydia to her feet. "You're more than capable of navigating in the dark." Reese started to lead Lydia to his horse

Brennan glowered at his oblivious brother. Unfortunately, his brother was right - already Brennan could mentally picture the land rising and falling from what maps he had seen and what trails he'd ridden in the past. But did his brother have to boss him around like that?

Lydia noticed Brennan's displeased expression, but thought it was caused by their last encounter. She detached herself from Reese's firm grip."Brennan," she said and stepped toward him. She paused and lowered her gaze. "I know I can't ask you to go for me, but please . . . do it for Eliza's sake. Not mine. Hers."

Brennan blinked in surprise. He was unexpectedly touched by her plea . . . but it wasn't enough to make him forgive her. "Fine," he consented in an uninterested tone. "I'll do it for her."

Lydia pursed her lips. Not exactly the heartfelt response she'd been hoping for. As if unaware of the tension between Lydia and Brennan, Reese immediately ordered two leopards to act as his escort back to the castle and gave the rest of the group, numbering at fifteen, to Brennan. Reese took Lydia by the elbow, and she let herself be led to and lifted onto his horse with Reese leaping into the saddle behind her. Brennan refused to look her way, but she watched him with sad eyes until Reese's horse carried her over a hill and out of sight.

Brennan hurriedly mounted his horse and set the pace for the war party at a brisk trot. Sometimes he swayed in the saddle as his mind disoriented to picture the landscape, but a faun or satyr would always be there to steady him. When Brennan detected the signs of travel such as hoofprints or broken twigs, to his surprise he heard his dad's voice instructing him on how to track. Almost involuntarily, memories resurfaced after years of being away from home. While physically riding through the Narnian woods, Brennan mentally hiked familiar trails with his dad and brother or forged new ones away from the path, despite Reese's objections. Their dad had always had a taste for adventure and the unknown, and for a moment, Brennan wondered how he would have reacted if he had come to Narnia.