The village market was bustling that spring morning. People filling the streets of compact dirt with noise and smells that usually followed large crowds. The farmer's market was in full swing. Stall owners crowing their advertisements, chatter from the shoppers, the sounds of animals in pens. The accompanying smells lingering in the sunshine as well. Ahren wove through it all. His dark green cloak brushing the back of his knees as he shouldered his bag of prizes. Some stolen by quick hands, others legitimately brought, all hanging from the bag strapped to his shoulder. His clear face smiling politely as the wove his way through the crowd.

"Sorry", he muttered as he bumped into a couple of women perusing a stall selling threads. They giggled at him and he smiled charmingly back as one hand slipped a few reels into his pockets. "Have a good day", he wished them, Telmarine accent as thick as any villager here. Then he was disappearing through the crowd, hood pulled up just over his short wavy brown hair. The chill still lingering over the spring mornings enough to excuse his cloak and hood when seen. While the summer was approaching, it was not there yet.

With the thread safely in his pockets his tasks were complete and he allowed his feet to leisurely carry him through the crowd towards the road leading away from the market. As he walked, the more the people around him thinned until there were only a few on the road. He had swiped a cheesy bread roll from as passing baker stall and he fished it out of the bag to chew on as he walked. The bread was no longer warm but it was fresh and soft as he ate, happily humming an old tune to himself as he did.

It was easy for him to stray from the road onto the small path that led towards the forest. His gait did not change and he acted for all the world like he was supposed to be going that way. If once acted confidant enough then they weren't normally questioned or given much thought. They did not attract the eye in the same way as someone acting visibly nervous or suspicious, even when walking towards the very same forest the Telmarines all feared. Ahren just grinned to himself as he reached the trees and allowed them to cast him into shadow. The browns of his trousers and the shade of Green of his cloak merged with the foliage so that if anyone had been watching him, it would seem like he had vanished.

He finished his bread and allowed his feet to carry him quicker into the woods. Seemingly following a path through the trees that only he could see as he finished his roll. It did not take long though. Barely a mile in and a familiar set of figures were emerging from behind a large oak tree. Summer was scowling at him, her long blonde hair braided over her shoulder and her knife strapped to her belt. She was in her late twenties now and apparently that came with all the adult disapproval she felt she owed the seventeen year old. "Wren", her voice made him stop. Ahren ran a hand through his hair and offered her a shaky smile. "Didn't Willowbranch warn you about spending time with the humans?"

"She did", Ahren tilted his head like a bird and grinned innocently. The telmarine accent falling from his words like water off a rock as his voice took on the narnian accent he had grown with. "But she did not forbid me. Besides, I am human".

Summer sighed deeply at this familiar arguments. "And the humans want you dead".

"They believe me dead", Ahren's smile fell and his tone became harder. "The villages do not know who I am, nor would they be able to recognise me. My father never returned from us trip and the regent believes I perished either in the fire or from the arrow they shot me with. Maybe he even thinks I was killed by savage narnians". He rolled his eyes at the last part, tone sarcastic. "I am safe enough to visit a few markets".

"Savage narnians!" A third voice called from the trees. Bree leapt out from the bushes and tried to take on a threatening stance. The thirty year old acting just as he had as a young adult. It was safe to say that he had not changed any in ten years. "Boo!" He declared.

Ahren sniggered. "Very savage", he complimented.

Bree relaxed out of his stance and grinned. He was shirtless, as usual, but this time he was wearing a tan coloured waist coat and his belt carried a little pouch. "Did you get my threads?" He asked excitedly, hooves stamping the Earth eagerly. Ahren merely pulled the reels he had stolen from his pockets and dropped them into the satyr's waiting hands. The blonde squealed gleefully. "You got yellow! And purple! How did you get purple? It's so rare. You also got such a lovely dark blue. Summer! Look at this shade of blue!"

"You shouldn't be encouraging him", she huffed but obediently clopped over to take a closer look at the blue thread her brother was exclaiming over.

"And there's a pink. Wow, you really out did yourself Wren. I am going to make you such a pretty tunic with these".

"Din't bother", Ahren waved the offer off as he started walking. Summer immediately fell into step with him, their pace somehow matching despite their difference in legs. Bree took an extra second to stuff the threads into his pouch before catching up. "I don't need a pretty tunic. It would stand out too much".

"But you deserve pretty things", Bree pouted as the trio wove their way through the woods towards their homes.

"Pretty things get ripped climbing trees", he pointed out as he climbed over the large moss covered rocks that served as the boundary between the forest and the cliffs. They could hear the river now. Water rushing out of sight between the trees. Above, the sun had risen to midday and was climbing higher.

Summer and Bree scaled the rocks easily. Their goat legs allowing them to bound over the surface like it was nothing more than a flat plain. Ahren had to dig his fingers into cracks and heave himself up. When he was little, they used to carry him over. Now he was far too big and had to resort to climbing. Both blondes reached down to grab his shoulders and haul him up the last bit just to save an extra minute. Then they were all jumping of the off sideline feet hitting the Earth with thuds. "But you've grown up so handsome", Bree reached over to ruffle Ahren's wavy hair.

Ahren ducked the touch. "That he has", Willowbranch agreed as she stepped out of the mouth of their cave. She fixed the three of them with amused looks. "Wren. Have you been to the village again? You've been gone all morning".

Ahren pulled the sack from his shoulder and held it up to the centaur. She took it and turned around to lead the way into the cave. Ahren followed her down a narrow tunnel just big enough for her horse body, before it widened out into the cavern where he lived. Her horse hooves carried her over to the large wooden table, higher than a human one, where she tipped the sack out. Objects thumped, tumbled, clattered, chimed as they landed on the surface. There were a few more rolls, both with cheese and without. A wax wrapped cheese the size of Ahren's foot. A bottle of mead. A iron Kettle with matching teaspoons. A few colourful ribbons. Some buttons that pinged off the wood. Some coins that made metallic noises.

"The ribbons are for you", Ahren offered. "The buttons are for Bree. The cheese is for Summer. The bread was because I got hungry".

"We needed a new kettle", Willowbranch remarked as she began picking the objects up and sorting them out. Bree jumped forwards to adore the buttons while Summer reached for the cheese. She sniffed at the wax wrapping and smiled at the cheddar. It was her favourite.

"So?" The centaur turned to smile at her adopted son. "How is your Prince?"

"Caspian is not my prince", Ahren grumbled as he helped himself to another roll. He had missed breakfast and it was lunch time.

"But he was all you could talk about for months when you first arrived", Bree teased. "I miss Caspian. Caspian is so amazing. He can fight with a sword like this. He has so many books. He's so brave". A button went bouncing off his head.

"Shut up".

"Him and Tello", Summer corrected. Her tone was not teasing. It sobered Bree up and the older satyr resumed his gathering task.

"Othello", Ahren corrected. He could pronounce the name now.

He had never told them of last summer. Of how he had snuck into the cemetery when Othello was buried on the anniversary of the fire. He had been surprised to see his prince there. Caspian had grown but it was still recognisably him. The same black eyes as dark as a cloudy night sky. Ahren had wanted to run to him, hug him tight and apologise for breaking their promise. Instead he had run away, like a coward. He had been such a brave child. Where did all that bravery go?

"So did you hear any gossip?" Willowbranch prompted after a moment of silence. She sent him a warm but sneaky smile.

Ahren sighed, seeing no escape. "Miraz's wife is going to have a child soon. If it survives and is a Son, I worry of what it would mean for Caspian. Miraz tried to kill me because my family was a threat to his power. Caspian may be in danger". He hated the tears that welled to his eyes at the memory and the thought of Caspian dying. He was such a cry baby now.

Willowbranch could read the emotions from the tense set of his shoulders. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he rested his head against her abdomen, feeling the worn leather of her shirt under his cheek as his tears started to fall. "I can't protect him", he sobbed. "I broke so many promises to him. He doesn't even know I'm alive. I know I can't tell him but I want to". He couldn't tell him. If he did, it would put his new family in danger.

"I know. You're so brave Wren. You're doing the right thing", Willowbranch soothed, fingers combing his hair. Ahren knew he was, but still it hurt.

Unedited