The Horse and His Boy

The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis, 1954 Geoffrey Bles

     During their initial visit to Narnia, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy defeated the White Witch and at Aslan's behest took the thrones at Cair Paravel. The Horse and His Boy takes place during the years the Pevensie children lived in and ruled Narnia.
     Shasta is a young boy who lives in the country south of Narnia, Calormen. He doesn't look like the other Calormenes, and lives with a strange old fisherman who punishes his curiosity for what lies beyond the hills to the north with grueling labor. One day the Tarkaan, Anradin, comes to the fisherman's hut and the fisherman takes the opportunity to try and sell Shasta. The boy learns he isn't the fisherman's son, but that he was found in a boat with a soldier who had later died.
     Relieved, he wonders aloud how Anradin will treat him. The man's Horse speaks out, startling Shasta, and tells him death would be a better fate. Shasta and Bree, the Horse, make plans to escape north to Narnia.
     Bree had been taken from Narnia as a colt, stolen from his mother and sold into the Calormene army. He directs Shasta toward Tashbaan, a large city where they may cross the river, and along the way tells the story of his life. After a couple weeks of riding, the pair encounter another rider and horse. Bree is cautious at first of the mare and her rider, but when it appears a lion is chasing them, the two horses run alongside each other. When they are safe, the other rider speaks, but before Shasta can answer, the other Horse responds. Bree identifies the Horse as Narnia also, and despite her rider's objections the two decide to continue to Narnia together. The rider reveals himself to be a Tarkheena, a girl named Aravis. She tells her tale: how she is the descendant of the god Tash, how her mother promised her to a man she cannot love, and how the amazing talking Mare saved her from taking her own life. The Mare, Hwin, convinced Aravis to escape to Narnia; the two were free.
     Shasta, Bree, Aravis, and Hwin continue together to Tashbaan, but once in the city Shasta is recognized by a visiting Narnian delegate. The delegate insists that Shasta is Corin, Prince of Archenland a mountain country between Narnia and Calormen. He learns that Queen Susan is being courted by the son of Calormen's ruler, Rabadash, but she has chosen not to marry and they must escape quickly and secretly. After they have gone Shasta discovers the real Corin climbing through the window, the two chat before Shasta must go to meet his companions.
     When he gets to the meeting place, Shasta's friends are nowhere to be found. He waits overnight, and is protected by a large, noble cat who appears to become a lion when some jackals hover too close. The next morning a servant brings Bree and Hwin, but Aravis isn't with them. She had been recognized by her close friend, Lasaraleen Tarkheena. Las took Aravis and the Horses to her home, and after listening to Aravis's story agreed to help them escape the city.
     When the girls try to leave through a watergate, they run into the Tisroc, Rabadash, and the Grand Vizier. The girls hide behind a couch in a side-room, but the three men go into the same room. Rabadash is angry at Susan's escape and proposes a plan to invade Narnia, taking Archenland as part of the Calormene empire, and taking Cair Paravel, then retreating with Queen Susan when she disembarks. They would return later to finish conquering Narnia. When the men leave, Las tries to convince Aravis to remain and marry the Vizier, but Aravis denounces him and meets Shasta and the Horses.
     When she arrives, Aravis shares what she's learned with her companions. Shasta shares the route he'd overheard while with the Narnians and the quartet rush across the dessert as quickly as possible. They finally find the fissure through to the mountains. As they near Archenland Bree becomes arrogant and refuses to put in the effort, but suddenly a lion appears changing his attitude. Shasta sees the lion catch Aravis and yells, surprisingly scaring it away. He leaves Aravis and the Horses with a Hermit and hurries forward to warn the king. Shasta is again mistaken for Corin when he encounters the king in a glen; he reveals Rabadash's plans and the king's group rushes to prepare.

     Shasta has never learned to ride a normal horse and falls behind. The king's party continues forward and the oncoming army and Rabadash gain on Shasta and his meandering horse, but a wrong turn in the growing fog keeps Shasta safe. However, the boy becomes more and more downtrodden as he is lost in the mist. Suddenly he feels a presence, in his fear Shasta asks who it is and is answered with the request for Shasta's sorrows. He answers the boy's fears with a story of His own journey, of the lions that chased Bree and Shasta, of the Lion that protected him from the jackals, of the Lion that scarred Aravis's back. The Lion reveals himself to be Aslan, appearing through the mist. When Aslan disappears Shasta thinks it was just a dream, but continues down the mountain, finding himself in Narnia.
     The news of the attack on Archenland spreads and a Stag is sent to Cair Paravel with the news. King Edmund arrives with an army and Shasta is reunited with Corin--who convinces him to join the battle despite Edmund's directive against it. The battle is viewed from the point of view of the hermit and Aravis, but switches back to Shasta at the Calormene surrender.
     Those at the hermit's hut discover Shasta has survived and a visit from Aslan himself precedes a visit from a surprise visitor: Prince Cor of Archenland. Prince Cor invites Aravis to join him at the castle, where the king decides the fate of Rabadash. When he refuses the king's mercy, Aslan appears and gives Rabadash an ultimatum that sends him home to Calormen. After Rabadash's departure, the Narnians and Archenlanders celebrated. Cor was revealed Crown Prince, relieving Corin of the job and they continued to fight as brothers do, Aravis and Cor married when they'd grown to adulthood, and they lived happily.
     Like the other Narnian chronicles The Horse and His Boy is intended for middle elementary students, but appeals to readers of all ages. While the fifth installment of the series, The Horse and His Boy is the third book in the chronology of Narnia.