The Princess's Secret [completed]

3: New Arrivals.

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Caspian.

Caspian was awakened to the sound of the horse neighing loudly. He quickly rose, drawing his sword from its sheath and approaching the entrance.

Peering outside, he scanned their surroundings. He saw nothing, but knew his stallion had to have been saying 'hello' to something. Suddenly his gaze stopped on movement deep in the bushes.

A horse and rider. Suddenly he realized that they were being surrounded by men on horses!

Were they his own men, or the men they were running from?

He couldn't wait to find out. He hurried back into the cave. "Wake up!" He whispered, shaking Tamar's shoulder.

She bolted upright, instinctively slapping his hands away. She gasped, blinking as she realized what she'd done. She began to apologize, but he quickly silenced her with a hand. There was no time for apologies.

"We need to move quickly and silently." He told her, rapidly gathering the bedroll and picking her up. He carried her to the horse and lifted her onto the saddle once more.

"We're going to have to ride double, and fast. Brace your foot as best you can, and try not to make a sound." He instructed, strapping the bedroll on and helping her get situated.

"Caspian?" Something about her voice made him pause. Fear. He heard fear edging into her voice.

"We're being surrounded. I don't think they know we're here, but we need to get out now. I can't tell if it's my men or not, but we won't take that chance." He mounted, swinging his leg over the horse's neck to avoid hitting her. He nudged the animal forwards, peering out the entrance to pick a route.

Nearby was a fairly bushy area where he saw no one. He pointed his steed in that direction, feeling Tamar hesitantly wrap her arms around him to hang on as they moved swiftly across the space.

He started to think they might make it, when suddenly a shout erupted from behind them. His chest tightened and he glanced over his shoulder. These men were not his soldiers. He tapped Tamar's arm in warning, feeling her grip tighten. The stallion broke into a gallop, dodging around the trees and quickly gaining speed.

If anything went wrong at this pace they could be killed, but the chance of escape was better than the idea of trying to talk to their pursuers...

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Tamar.

Tamar tightened her arms around Caspian's torso, gritting her teeth as the bouncing of the horse running jarred her foot. Suddenly, she heard a strange clicking sound behind them, different from the sound of hoofs.

Tension coiled through Caspian's body at the sound, and suddenly they were veering around dozens of trees, switching directions over and over. She glanced over her shoulder.

Trees hid them from their enemies, but she could still hear them coming. Suddenly, he stopped beside some shrubs, leapt off the horse and lifted her out of the saddle. "What're you doing?!"

"Hiding you, I can lose them if it's just me on the horse, then I'll come back for you." He lowered her into the shrubs, handing her a small sword.

He quickly covered her with the branches and made certain it wasn't obvious they'd stopped there, then leapt back onto the stallion. She sat there staring, mouth open in shock.

Thoughts and doubts raced through her mind; would he really come back? Or had he decided she was too much trouble and left her behind? Her grip tightened around the sword’s hilt as the riders came into view.