Free The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander Page A

stones. In another instant he was free of the hut.
    As Taran feared, the horses had broken their tethers and fled at the sight of Llyan. Gurgi and Prince Rhun had crossed the clearing and vanished into the forest. Racing at top speed, Taran soon caught up with them. Rhun’s pace had already begun to flag, his breathing was labored, and he looked as though his legs might give way at any moment. Taran and Gurgi caught the staggering Prince and bore him along as fast as they could.
    For some while, the three struggled through the underbrush. The forest had begun to grow sparser and Taran caught sight of a broad meadow. At the edge of the flatland, he halted. Prince Rhun, he knew, had reached the end of his strength and he hoped only that they were a safe distance from Llyan.
    The Prince of Mona gratefully dropped to the turf. “I shall be up and about in a moment,” he feebly insisted. His face was pale and drawn beneath its coating of soot, yet he tried valiantly to assume his usual cheerful grin. “Amazing how running seems to tire one. I’ll be glad when we find the Master of Horse and I can ride again.”

    Taran did not answer immediately but looked closely at Rhun. The Prince of Mona bowed his head.
    â€œI can guess what you’re thinking,” Rhun said in a low voice. “If it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn’t be in this plight. And I’m afraid you’re right. It’s my fault things turned out as they did. I can only ask your forgiveness. I’m not the cleverest person in the world,” Rhun added, smiling sadly. “Even my old nurse used to say I was all thumbs. But I hate being a blunderer. It’s not what people expect of a Prince. I didn’t ask to be born into the Royal House, that at least wasn’t my doing. But since I was, I—I want very much to be worthy of it.”
    â€œIf you want to, then you shall,” Taran answered, suddenly and strangely touched by the Prince of Mona’s frankness, and not a little ashamed of his own unkind thoughts about Rhun. “I ask your own forgiveness. If I envied your rank, it was because I believed you held it as a lucky gift and took it for granted. You speak the truth. For a man to be worthy of any rank, he must strive first to be a man.”
    â€œYes, that’s what I mean,” Rhun said eagerly. “That’s why we must rejoin the Master of Horse as soon as we can. Don’t you see? In this I’d hoped not to fail. I want—well—I want to be the one who finds Princess Eilonwy. After all, I’m to be betrothed to her.”
    Taran looked at him in astonishment. “How do you know this? I had thought only your parents …”
    â€œOh, there have been rumors around the castle,” replied Rhun, “and I sometimes hear a little more than I’m supposed to. I knew there was a betrothal in the wind even before I was sent to bring Princess Eilonwy to Mona.”
    â€œEilonwy’s safe return is all that matters now,” Taran began. He
spoke slowly, knowing in his heart that he, no less than Rhun, yearned to be Eilonwy’s rescuer. But he realized there was a decision he must face without flinching. “The searchers by this time are far distant,” Taran said, each word costing him an effort, yet each word forcing him to a choice as painful as it was clear. “Without horses, we cannot hope to reach them. Continuing our own search on foot would be too hard and too dangerous. We have only one path to follow: the one that will lead us back to Dinas Rhydnant.”
    â€œNo, no!” Rhun cried. “I don’t care about the danger. I must find Eilonwy.”
    â€œPrince Rhun,” Taran said gently, “I must also tell you this. Your father asked for my oath, and I have given it, to keep you from harm.”
    Rhun’s face fell. “I might have guessed as much. Certainly I knew from the beginning, no matter what my father