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 High King Peter, Queen Susan, King Edmund, and Queen Lucy Pevensie.

Plot
A young boy named Shasta lived in Calormen with a poor fisherman Arsheesh, but when a Tarkaan came to the fisherman's hut, he ran away from home taking with him a talking horse of Narnia, Bree, because he found out Arsheesh was not his father and was going to sell him into slavery. Together the horse and the boy decided to escape north to Narnia. On a dark night, a lion began to roar and spook Bree, who was afraid of lions. The two ran from the lion, and met Aravis, a high-born Tarkheena who was running away from a forced marriage, with her talking horse Hwin.

However, in the capitol city Tashbaan, Shasta was mistaken temporarily for young Prince Corin of Archenland, who was visiting Calormen under the care of a Narnian delegation headed by Queen Susan and King Edmund. In pure fear and shock Shasta couldn`t tell then who he really was. But before he could escape, he overheard a conversation with Susan Edmund, and Mr. Tumnus that they are planning to leave by night in their ship the Splendor Hyaline to escape Prince Rabadash, who wished to marry Queen Susan. When night came, Shasta was rudely awakened by a loud crash! When he saw what made the sound, he found a boy his age. The boy explained that he was Prince Corin and the boys quickly became friends. Corin helped Shasta escape the city to the tombs, but when he arrived he couldn't find Aravis or the horses only a small cat. Meanwhile Aravis, who had snuck into the Tisroc's palace to get help from her friend Lasaraleen, accidentally stumbled on a secret conversation between Prince Rabadash and his father the Tisroc. Furious that Susan has escaped him, Rabadash asked permission to invade Archenland, so that he could conquer Narnia, and capture Queen Susan. The two girls almost got caught by Aravis's prospective husband, Ahoshta, who is Grand Vizier.

Reunited at the tombs, the four travelers decided 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 attacked them and wounded Aravis also hurting Bree and Hwin. Just when they gave up hope they met the Hermit of the Southern March who urged Shasta on alone. When he got lost in the mountains Aslan the great lion guided him through the valley safely. Then he mets up with King Lune in a hunting party, and warned him of the invasion. They returned to Anvard in time to defend it from Rabadash's force, and Shasta fought in the battle. Aided by the arrival of a defending force from Narnia under King Edmund and Queen Lucy, they were 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) returned for Aravis, who has stayed at the hermit's house, and invited her to stay with him at Anvard. She did, and they eventually get married. Shasta eventually became king, and their son became King Ram the Great.

Characters

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

Trivia

 * This is the only book with main characters exclusively from Narnia.
 * This book is actually a story told by Puddleglum to Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb during their adventure in The Silver Chair.