The Horse and His Boy



The Horse and His Boy takes place in Calormen and Archenland, neighboring countries south of Narnia, during the reign of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy.

Plot
A young boy named Shasta lived in Calormen with a poor fisherman Arsheesh, but when a Tarken comes to the fishermans hut, Shasta runs away from home with the Tarken's talking horse of Narnia, Bree when he finds out Arsheesh is not his father and is going to sell him into slavery. Together they decide to escape north to Narnia. On a dark night, a lion begins to roar and spooks Bree, who is afraid of lions. Running away from the lion, they meet with Aravis, a high-born Tarkheena running away from a forced marriage, with her talking horse Hwin.

However, in the capitol city Tashbaan, Shasta is mistaken temporarily for young Prince Corin of Archenland, who is visiting Calormen under the care of a Narnian delegation headed by Queen Susan and King Edmund. In pure fear and shock Shasta can`t tell then who he really is. But before he can escape, the boy over hears a conversation with Susan Edmund and Mr. Tumnus that are planning to leave by night in their ship the Splendor Hyaline to escape Prince Rabadash, who wishes to marry Queen Susan. But when night came, Shasta was ruddly awaken by a loud crash! When he sees what made the sound, he finds a boy his age. The boy explans he's Prince Corin, the young ones soon make friends and then Corin helps Shasta escape the city to the tombs, but when he gets there he can't find Aravis or the horse's only a small cat. Meanwhile Aravis, who has sneaked into the Tisroc's palace to get help from her friend Lasaraleen, accidently stumbles on a secret conversation between Prince Rabadash and his father the Tisroc. Furious that Susan has escaped him, Rabadash gets permission to invade Archenland, so that he can conquer Narnia and capture Queen Susan. The two girls almost get caught by Aravis's prospective husband, Ahoshta, who is Grand Vizier.

Reunited at the tombs, the four travellers decide to ride to Anvard in Archenland to warn King Lune about the invasion. After a harrowing three day journey across the desert just ahead of Rabadash's invasion force, a lion attacks them who wounds Aravis and hurts Bree and Hwin, just when they give up hope they meet the Hermit of the Southern March who urges Shasta on alone. When he gets lost in the mountains Aslan the great lion guides him through the valley safely, Then he meets up with King Lune in a hunting party, and warns him of the invasion. They return to Anvard in time to defend it from Rabadash's force, and Shasta fights in the battle. Aided by the arrival of a defending force from Narnia under King Edmund and Queen Lucy, they are victorious. The unrepentant Rabadash is captured, and is turned into a donkey by Aslan as punishment for his aggression. Afterward, the resemblance between Shasta and Corin is discovered. It turns out that Shasta is really Corin's twin brother Prince Cor, who was lost at sea as a baby and found by Arsheesh, and King Lune is his father. Shasta (or Cor) returns for Aravis, who has stayed at the hermit's house, and invites her to stay with him at Anvard. She does, and they eventually marry. Shasta will become king, and their son will become King Ram the Great.

Characters

 * Ahoshta
 * Aravis
 * Arsheesh
 * Aslan
 * Bree
 * Cor
 * Corin
 * Hwin
 * King Lune
 * Lasaraleen
 * Prince Rabadash
 * Shasta
 * Peter Pevensie
 * Susan Pevensie
 * Edmund Pevensie
 * Lucy Pevensie

Trivia

 * This is the only book with main characters exclusively from Narnia.