CHAPTERELEVENTHEURAVELLER
&awentthroughthegatehefoundaslopeofgrassandalittleheatherrunningupbeforehimtosometrees。Hehadnothingtothinkaboutnolanstomake:hehadonlytorun,andthatwasquiteenough。Hislimbswereshakiitchwasbeginningihestdroppingintohiseyesblihemahemsmart。Hewasunsteadyooo,ahaurnedhisankleoone。
&reeswerethiowthabeenandinthemoreopeherewasbra。Thesuhoutmakingitahadbeeohosehot,graydayswheobetwiyfliesasusual。Shasta'sfacewascoveredwiththem;hedidoshakethemoff—hehadtoomuchelsetodo。
SuddenlyheheardahreatthrobbinghorhehornsofTashbaanbutamerrycall,Ti-ro-to-to-ho!hecameoutintoawidegladeandfoundhimselfinacrowdofpeople。
&lookeda。Iherewereaboutfifteehem,allgentlemeihtheirhorses;someinthesaddleaandingbytheirhorses'heads。Iersomeonewasholdiirrupforamantomount。Andthemanhewasholdingitforwasthejolliest,fat,applecheeked,twinklingeyedKingyouagine。
AssoonasShastasightthisKingfotallaboutmountinghishorse。HespreadouthisarmstoShasta,hisfacelitup,ai,deepvoicethatseemedtothebottomofhischest:
“yson!Andonfoot,andinrags!>
“No,”paa,shakiPrin。I—I—knowI'mlikehim。。。sawhisHighashbaahisgreetings。”
TheKingwasstaringatShastawitharaordinaryexpressiononhisface。
“AreyouK-KingLune?”gaspedShasta。Ahoutwaitingforananswer,“L—fly—Anvardshutthegates—enemiesuponyou—Rabadashandtwohundredhorse。”
“Haveyouassurahis,boy?”askedohergentlemen。
“Myowneyes,”saidShasta。“I'veseenthem。RacedthemallthewayfromTashbaan。”
“Onfoot?”saidthegentleman,raisinghiseyebrowsalittle。
&heHermit,”saidShasta。
&ionhimnomore;Darrin,”saidKingLuhiridefentlemehere,fortheboy。Youridefast,friend?”
Foraaputhisfootiirrupofthehorsewhichhadbeeowardhimaerhewasinthesaddle。HehaddoahuhBreeifewweeks,andhismountingwasverydifferentnowfromwhatithadbeenonthatfirstnightwhenBreehadsaidthatheclimbedupahorseasifheweregahaystack。
HeleasedtoheartheLordDarrinsaytotheKing,“Theboyhasatruehorseman'sseat,Sire。I'llwarrantthere'snoblebloodinhim。”
“Hisblood,aye,there'sthepoint,”saidtheKiaredhardatShastaagainwiththatcuriousexpression,almostahungryexpression,inhissteady,grayeyes。
Butbynow—thewholepartywasmovingoffatabriskter。Shasta'sseatwasextbutheuzzledwhattodowithhisreins,forhehadouchedthereinswhilehewasonBree'sback。Buthelookedverycarefullyoutoftheersofhiseyestoseewhatthe(assomeofushavedoieseren'tquitesurewhiifeorforkweweremeariedtogethisfi。Buthedidn'tdaretotryreallydiregthehorse;hetrusteditwouldfollowtherest。Thehorsewasofordialkihadquitewitsenoughtorealizethatthestrangeboyonitsbaoursandwaserofthesituation。ThatwaswhyShastasoonfouhetailendofthepro。
Evenso,herettyfast。Therewerenofliesnowandtheairinhisfacewasdelicious。Hehadgothisbreathbadhiserrandhadsucceeded。ForthefirsttimesihearrivalatTashbaan(howlongagoitseemed!)hewasbeginningtoenjoyhimself。
Helookeduptoseehowmuearerthemountaintopshade。Tohisdisappoiheotseethematall:onlyavaguegrayness,rollingdowntowardthem。Hehadneverbeeninmountaintrybeforeandrised。“It'sacloud,”hesaidtohimself,“aingdown。Isee。Uphereinthehillsohesky。Ishallseewhattheinsideofacloudislike。Whatfun!I'veoftenwondered。”Farawayoandalittlebehindhim,thesuioset。
Theyhadethkindofroadbynverygoodspeed。ButShasta'shorsewasstillthelastofthelot。Owitheroadmadeabend(therewasnowuousforestoneachsideofit)helostsightoftheothersforasedortwo。
&heypluhefog,orelsethefogrolledoverthem。Theworldbecamegray。Shastahadnotrealizedhowdwettheinsideofacloudwouldbe;nrayturoblackeed。
&heheadofthehehorneverynowandtheimethesoundalittlefartheroff。He'tseeahersnow,butofcoursehe'dbeabletoassooroubend。Butwhenherouill'tseethem。Infacthecouldseenothingatall。Hishorsewaswalkingeton,”saidShasta。Thehehor。Breehadalwaystoldhimthathemustkeephisheelswelltur,andShastahadgottheideathatsomethierribleenifhedughisheelsintoahorse'ssides。Thisseemedtohimanofit。“Lookhere,Horse,”hesaid,“ifyoudon'tbuckup,doyouknowwhatI'lldo?I'lldigmyheelsintoyou。Ireallywill。”Thehorse,however,tookhisthreat。SoShastasettledhimselffirmlyinthesaddle,grippedwithhisknees,chedhisteeth,ahehorse'ssideswithhisheelsashardashecould。
Theowasthatthehorsebrokeintoakierotforfiveorsixpadtheoawalkagain。Andnowitwasquitedarkaohavegivenupblowingthathorn。Theonlysound-dripfromthebrahetrees。
“Well,Isupposeevenawalkwillgetussomewheresometime,”saidShastatohimself。“IonlyhopeIshan'trunintoRabadashandhispeople。”
&onforwhatseemedalongtime,alwaysataace。Hebegahorse,andhewasalsobeginningtry。
&lyhecametoaplacewheretheroaddividedintotwhichledtoAnvardwheartledbyanoisefrombehindhim。Itwastheinghorses。“Rabadash!”thoughtShasta。HehadnowayofguessingwhichroadRabadashwouldtake。“ButifItakeone,”saidShastatohimself,“hemaytaketheother:andifIstayatthecross-roadsI'msuretobecaught。”Hedismountedandledhishorseasquicklyashegtheright-handroad。
ThesoundofthecavalrygreidlynearerandiwoShastarealizedthattheywereatthecrossroads。Heheldhisbreath,waitingtoseeouldtake。
Therecamealowwordofand“Halt!”theofhorseyrilsblowing,hoofspawing,bitsbeingegpatted。Thenavoicespoke。
“Attend,allofyou,”itsaid。“ithinafurlole。Rememberyourorders。OnceweareinNarnia,asweshouldbebysunrise,youaretokillaslittleaspossible。OureyardeverydropofNarnianbloodasmorepreagallonofyourown。Oure,Isay。ThegodswillsendusahappierhourandthenyoumustleavenothiaravelaerweareinNarnia。HereiisahionthiscastleofKingLune's,nothispeed。Showyourmettle。Itmustbemihinanhour。Andifitis,Igiveitalltoyou。Ireservenobootyformyself。Killmeeverybarbariahinitswalls,dowhatwasborerday,ahingelseisyourstodivideasyouplease—thewomehejewels,theons,ahemanthatIseehangingbaweetothegatesshallbeburheashtheirresistible,theinexorablefor>
Withagreatcloppitty-cloptheomove,andShastabreathedagaiakeherroad。
Shastathoughttheytookalongtimegoingpast,fhhehadbeentalkingandthinkingabout“twohundredhorse”allday,hehadnotrealizedhowmanytheyreallywere。Butatlastthesounddiedawayandoncemorehewasalohedrip-dripfromthetrees。