“To be first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat”
The Horse and His Boy“To be first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat” is King Lune’s concise definition of the obligations of a king. Addressing Cor, he presents royal status not as freedom to choose or a claim to comfort, but as a duty to lead in danger and share the hardships of the people.
The Meaning of the Expression
King Lune’s formulation has two parts: the king goes first into a desperate attack and remains last during a desperate retreat. The parallel structure makes leadership a matter of exposure and responsibility. It reverses the expectation that rank should protect its holder, instead making the crown a reason to accept greater danger.
Lune extends the definition beyond battle. In a bad year when there is hunger in the land, a king must wear finer clothes and laugh louder over a scantier meal than any other man in the country. The contrast between visible royal dignity and shared scarcity makes the obligation harder, not easier: the king must sustain his people’s morale without pretending that hardship has disappeared.
The Heir and the Law
The expression appears when Lune tells Cor that he, rather than Corin, is heir to the throne. Cor objects that he does not want the crown and worries that his return will displace his brother. Lune answers that the succession is not a matter of personal preference: Cor is the elder by twenty minutes, and the law determines who inherits.
When Cor asks whether the king can choose a different successor, Lune explains that the king himself is under the law, which makes him king. He has no more power to abandon the crown than a sentry has to leave his post. The saying about royal duty therefore follows directly from the rule of succession: inheritance assigns the burden, while the king’s authority does not place him above the law that assigns it.
Kingship as Service
Cor’s reluctance and Corin’s relief give Lune’s definition a pointed context. Cor would rather not take the crown, while Corin is glad to remain a prince. Lune’s account distinguishes the roles by their obligations: the king cannot treat the position as a reward, because its privileges are bound to duties in war and hardship.
The expression also completes Lune’s response to Cor’s apology for apparently taking his brother’s future kingdom. Cor has not freely chosen the succession, and Lune does not present it as a prize to be coveted. By describing kingship as taking the foremost risk and bearing scarcity with composure, he gives Cor a standard for the office he must inherit: authority is legitimate through lawful succession, but its moral measure is service to the people.
