The Telmarine Wife

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Peter knew they shouldn't be riding as hard as they were. It had been a long, tiring battle—facing off with the Giants of the north always was—and he was exhausted beyond reason. All he wanted to do was get home; Susan needed him, especially after the fiasco that occurred in Tashbaan, and he hadn't heard from Ed or Lucy yet on how things went at Anvard.

Peter knew they shouldn't be riding as hard as they were but he needed to get home, and they were close. They'd reach the Cair before nightfall. So, he rode hard, eager to make it there. He wasn't the only one. The Narnians were just as eager to get home as he was. So long as they continued to ride hard and steady then so would he.

There was a commotion up ahead. The Eagle's squawked and circled down. Jagar, his trusted Guard and friend, pinned his ears to his head and crouched low while Orieus and a few Fauns closed rank around him.

"What's going on?" Peter asked.

"The scouts have spotted a woman in the forest," Orieus replied.

Peter could hear the soft hum of conversation but he could not make out the words. "Does she appear to be a threat?"

"It is unknown, Sire. She does not answer Deos or Brak."

"Jagar?"

The Cheetah sniffed the air but did not relax his stance. "She is frightened, my King, and she does not trust the good Fauns."

"Frightened? Yes I am sure she is frightened. But is she a threat?"

"It is difficult to say without closer inspection, my King," the Cheetah said through his barred teeth.

"Well then, let us inspect closer."

Peter slid from the saddle of his steed and handed the reins to one of the Fauns for safe keeping. With Jagar ahead of him and Orieus at his side, he approached the front of the convoy where two young Fauns were talking to an obviously frightened woman.

Peter called out to them in a friendly greeting and offered his assistance. The woman's eyes flew to him at once. She looked at him in a most curious manner. Her colorless eyes raked over him; her head tilted to the side as they finally met his gaze.

"Peter?"

She sounded confused, but she couldn't be as confused as Peter felt. She looked as though he ought to know her, but he didn't. Peter wasn't quite sure how to respond. He could feel the eyes of the other Narnians on him as he stood silently trying to place where he might have met the woman. He came up empty.

The woman took an involuntary step towards him only to have the way swiftly blocked against her. Jagar crouched to the ground. Peter could hear the soft roll of a snarl forming in the Cheetah's gut. The woman seemed almost unfazed.

"Peter, what is this? What are you doing here? How...how is this even possible? Where are we?" she asked, her eyes desperate for an answer.

Peter wasn't given the chance to respond; Brak did it for him.

"You are in Narnia, and you are speaking to the High King. You will address him as such."

The woman responded in a foreign tongue Peter didn't know and looked at Brak with disgust and hatred so deep Peter had never seen the likes of it before. Even the Calormenes weren't brazen enough to show such disdain towards a Narnian while in the presence of one of their monarchs before. The fur of Jagar's back bristled with the affront to a fellow Narnian.