Title: Two
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia
Pairing: Gen - Edmund, Peter, Oreius, Phillip
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None.
Summary: -- Tell me about the stars, Peter will reply, for if he cannot sleep he might as well spend his lost hours fruitfully.
Disclaimer: All not mine.
Notes: In response to penknife's TV Tropes Challenge - Horse of a Different Colour. Thanks to forochel and ailura for the glance-through.


I.

It is not unusual for Peter to find Oreius awake in the early hours of the morning, either watching the stars’ passage or starting his breakfast. It is a lengthy affair, breakfast, for centaurs have two stomachs – one of a horse and one of a human – and therefore must satisfy two appetites.

Some mornings, Peter brings Oreius his hot mash and oats, to which Oreius will say, -- My King, in a mixture of surprise and gratitude.

-- Tell me about the stars, Peter will reply, for if he cannot sleep he might as well spend his lost hours fruitfully.

II.

King Edmund the Just cuts a fine figure astride his steed Phillip, and it is said that in battle, horse and its rider are indistinguishable from each other; a single unit in perfect synchrony.

The riders of Narnia go to war with no tack. Narnian horses, unencumbered by reins or saddles, are the swiftest of foot, agile and relentless.

What legend does not mention is that riding bareback also has its downsides – after a day’s hard riding the young King can often be found in his tent examining bruises in unspeakable places, with Phillip whinnying his apologies through the tentflap.