Chapter 7 Chapter VII Aravis in Tashbaan

Here's what actually happened.Aravis did not lose her mind for a moment when she saw Shasta being hastily carried off by the Narnians and found herself alone with the (very cleverly) silent horses.She took Bree by the rein and stood motionless, reining in the two horses, and though her heart was beating like a hammer, she showed no emotion.The Kings of Narnia had passed, and she tried to go on again.But before she could move, she heard another yelling ("These people are disgusting," Aravis thought to himself) yelling "Get out of the way, get out of the way! Make way for Tekhina Rasaraleen !” Immediately following the one who yelled, four armed slaves and four bearers carrying a sedan chair, with silk curtains fluttering around the sedan chair, silver bells jingling, fragrance and flower scent permeated the whole road. street.Following the sedan chair, there were four slave girls in fine clothes, several attendants, errand servants, footmen, and so on.That's when Aravis made her first mistake.

She knew Lasaraleen very well—almost as if they had gone to school together—because they often stayed with the same family and attended the same social gatherings.Now that Lasaraleen was married and in fact a very wealthy man, Aravis couldn't help raising his head to see Lasaralene's face. This is bad.When the eyes of the two girls met, Lasaraleen immediately sat up from the sedan chair and shouted loudly. "Aravis! What on earth are you doing here? Your father..." Can't relax even for a moment.Without a second's delay, Aravis let go of the horse, grabbed the edge of the sedan chair, jumped into the air, and rushed to Lasaraleen's side, angrily whispered in her ear

"Don't yell! Do you hear? Don't yell. You must hide me. Tell your servant..." "But baby..." Lasaraleen began in the same loud voice as before. (This makes passers-by look at her intently, but she doesn't No mind; in fact, she liked being seen that way. ) "Do as I tell you, or I'll never speak to you," Aravis hissed. "Please, please hurry up, Lars. The matter is dire. Tell your squire to take these two horses." Ma, let down all the curtains on your litter, and run to a place where no one can find me. Hurry!" "Okay, baby," Lasaraleen replied in a languid tone, "hey, you two take Tekshina's horse." (This was addressed to the slave.) "Now , go home. Listen, honey, do we really have to put down the shades on a sunny day like this? I mean..."

But Aravis had drawn down the curtain, enclosing Lasaraleen and herself in a rich and fragrant but rather stuffy tent-like thing. "I must not be seen," she said. "My father does not know I am here. I am running away." "Oh, my dear, that's exciting," said Lasaraleen. "I'd love to hear the whole story. You're sitting on my dress, my dear. Move it, will you? Now Much better. Here's a new dress, do you like it? I bought it at..." "Oh Lars, please don't be kidding me," Aravis said, "where is my father?" "Don't you know," said Lasaraleen, "of course he's here. He came into town yesterday and asked about you. Just think about it, you're here with me, he And don't know anything. That's the funniest thing I've ever heard." Her words broke into giggles.Aravis remembered now that she had always been a dreadful giggling woman.

"It's not funny at all," she said. "It's terribly serious. Where can you hide me?" "It will be no difficulty, my dear girl," said Lasaraleen, "and I will take you to my house. My husband is away, and no one will see you. Sunny, the palanquin curtains are drawn." It's no fun. I want to see the common people. If a person has to go out in the street like this, it's no fun to put on new clothes." "I hope no one hears you when you talk to me so loudly," Aravis said. "No, no one heard, of course," said Lasaraleen absent-mindedly, "but you haven't told me what you think of this new dress yet.

"And one more thing," said Aravis, "you must order your servants to treat these horses with respect. They are part of the secret. They are indeed the Narnia speakers." Talking horse." "How strange!" said Lasaraleen, "how exciting! Now, my dear, have you seen the barbaric queen from Narnia? Now she stays in Tashbaan. It is said that Prince Rabadash Crazy in love with her. The last two weeks have been full of grandest parties, hunting, and other things. I can't see how beautiful she is. But a few Narnian men do It's beautiful. I was taken to the Riverside Ball the day before yesterday and I put on my..."

"How can we prevent your servants from telling others that a visitor—a young beggar dressed like a beggar—has come into your house. The news might easily reach my father." "Don't make a fuss all the time, you're a good baby if you're obedient," Lasaraleen said. "We'll find you some suitable clothes in a minute. We're home." The bearer stopped and put down the sedan chair.When the car curtain drew back, Aravis found himself in a courtyard similar to the one into which Shasta had been taken a few minutes earlier in another part of the city.Lasaraleen was about to go through the door at once, but Aravis reminded her in a wild whisper to tell her slaves not to tell anyone about the mistress' strange guest.

"I'm sorry, baby, I totally forgot," Lasaraleen said. "Listen, you all, and you, porter. Whoever talks about this young lady, if I get caught, first Beatings, followed by burning, followed by six weeks of deprivation of bread and deprivation of water. That's it." Though Lasaraleen had said that she was eager to hear Aravis' tale of misfortune, she gave no sign of really wanting to hear it.In fact, she was much more competent and pleasant in listening than in speaking.She insisted that Aravis take a long and luxurious bath (the Calormene baths were famous all over the world), and dress her up in her best clothes, before allowing her to explain anything.The fuss over the choice of clothes almost annoyed Aravis.Then she remembered that Lasaraleen had always been like this: interested in dresses, parties, and gossip.Aravis was always more interested in bows, arrows, dogs, horses and swimming.But when they had eaten (mainly whipped oil, jelly, iced fruit, etc.), the two sat together in the beautiful columned room (if the monkey spoiled by Lasaraleen hadn't been crawling all the time Go, Aravis will like this room even more), Lasaraleen finally asked why she had escaped from the house.

After telling Lavis her story, Lasaraleen said "But baby, why don't you marry Taikan Ahosta? Everyone's crazy about him. My husband said he Will be the greatest man in Calormen. Now that old Aksarsha is dead, he has just been made Prime Minister, you know?" "I don't care. I can't stand seeing him," Aravis said. "But, darling, think about it! Three mansions, one of which is very beautiful, is on the shore of the lake in Ilkin. I heard people say that it is really a string of pearls. Bath with donkey's milk. And you can see me often." "He might as well keep his pearls and his mansion, which have nothing to do with me," said Aravis.

"Aravis, you have always been a queer girl," said Lasaraleen, "what more could you ask for?" After all, however, Aravis managed to convince her friend that she was serious, and even discussed the plan.Now the two horses will have no difficulty going out of the north city gate to the cemetery.No one would stop or question a richly dressed squire who was taking a war horse and a lady's mount to the river, and Lasaraleen's house had plenty of squires at their disposal.Not easy to decide is what to do with Aravis himself.She suggested that she could sit in the sedan chair, draw down the curtain of the sedan chair, and be carried out of the city.But Lasaraleen had told her that sedan chairs were only used in the city, and seeing a sedan chair go out of the city gates would certainly arouse people's doubts.

They had been discussing it for a long time—Aravis found it difficult to keep her friend from getting too far away, so it dragged on—at last Lasaraleen clapped her hands and said, "Ah, I thought of a Idea. There is a way to get out of Tashbaan without going through the gate. The gardens of Tethrok (may he live forever!) stretch down the hill to the river, where there is a water gate. Of course, only for People in the palace use it—but you know, my dear (here she chuckled a little), we're almost palace people. I say, it's your luck that you come to me. Dear Tisrok (may he live forever!) is so kind and amiable, almost every day he calls us into the palace, the palace is like our second home. I love all dear princes and princesses, I adore Prince Rabadah so much What. I can run to any lady in the palace at any hour of the day or night. After dark, why don't I take you into the palace and let you out of the city through the Watergate? Watergate There's always some punt or something tied up there. And, even if we get caught," "Then it's all over," said Aravis. "Don't get so excited, baby," Lasaraleen said, "I'm gonna say if we get caught everybody's gonna say it was just a crazy joke I made. My joke Becoming quite famous. Just a few days ago—listen, my dear, it's terribly funny—" "I mean it's all over for me," said Aravis, a little angrily. "Yo-ah-yeah-I see what you mean, honey. Say, can you think of any other good plan?" Aravis couldn't think of a better way, and replied, "I can't. We have to take a risk. When can we start?" "Oh, not tonight," said Lasaraleen, "of course not tonight." There will be a great banquet tonight (I must have my hair done in a few minutes) and the whole palace will be ablaze with lights.And there are such a large group of people.Had to change it to tomorrow night. " It was bad news for Aravis, but she had to make the most of it.The afternoon passed slowly, and it was a relief when Lasaraleen went out to dinner, for Aravis was so tired of her giggling, her chatter about dresses and balls and marriages and engagements and scandals.She went to bed early, and for one thing she appreciated how comfortable it was to be back on the pillows and sheets. But the next day passed very slowly.Lasaraleen wanted to cancel the whole arrangement, and kept telling Aravis that Narnia was a country of perpetual snow and ice, inhabited by demons and wizards, and that she would be mad to go there. "And with a country boy!" said Lasaraleen. "Baby, you think about it! That's not good." Aravis thought about it a lot, but now she was ignorant of Lasaraleen's bewilderment. Tired of it, she began to think for the first time that traveling with Shasta would indeed be more interesting than the fashionable high society life of Tashbaan.So she just replied "You're forgetting that when we get to Narnia I'll be a nobody, just like him. And, anyway, I was the one who promised to go with me." "Just think about it," said Lasaraleen, almost shouting, "you could be a minister's wife if you had brains yourself!" Aravis ran out, and the two horses whisper something. "You'll have to get to the graveyard with a squire just before sundown," she said. "No more pack packs. Get you saddles and bridles again. But Hwin's saddlebags have to be Some food, Bree, and a skin full of water on your back. The servants have ordered you to take your time on the bank away from the bridge to drink it up nicely." "Drink enough water and go straight to Narnia and the North!" whispered Bree, "but what if Shasta isn't in the graveyard?" "Wait for him, of course," said Aravis. "I suppose you're quite comfortable here." "I've never had a better horse bottom in my life," said Bree, "but your friend, Teekshina, giggling, if her husband pays the head of the page to buy the best The oats, then, I think the head of the page is cheating the master." Aravis and Lasaraleen dined in the Column Room. After two hours they were ready to go.Aravis was dressed like a high maid, with a veil over her face.They had already discussed it, and if anyone asked, Lasaraleen would pretend to say: Aravis is a slave girl, and she will give this slave girl as a gift to a certain princess. The two girls went out barefoot.In a few minutes, we arrived at the gate of the palace.There were soldiers guarding the door, of course, but the officer knew Lasaraleen very well, and he told his soldiers to stand at attention and salute.Immediately they entered the black marble hall.Many courtiers, slaves, and others were still moving about the hall, which made the two girls even more inconspicuous.They went on, into the Hall of Columns, then into the Hall of Statues, along the colonnade, and past the copper-leaf doors of the audience chamber.Everything they could see in the dim light was magnificent, beyond words. Soon they left the palace and entered the imperial garden, which meandered down through many terraces along the mountain.They came to the old palace on the other side of the garden.It had grown very dark, and now they found themselves in a maze of corridors, occasionally lit by a torch on a bracket on the wall.Lasaraleen comes to a halt at a fork in the road: it's either you go left or you go right. "Go on, go on," Aravis urged in a low voice, her heart pounding terribly, and she still felt that her father was likely to bump into them at any corner. "I'm wondering..." said Lasaraleen. "I'm not absolutely sure which way we should go out from here. I think it's the one on the left. Yes, I'm almost sure it's the one on the left." .how fun it is!" They took the road to the left, and found themselves in a dark passage, which soon became a series of descending steps. "By the way," said Lasaraleen, "I'm sure we're on the right track now. I remember the steps." But just then a moving light appeared ahead.A second later, from a distant corner appeared the black shadows of two people, holding tall candles, walking backwards.Of course, people walk backwards only in front of the king and royal family.Aravis felt Lasaraleen grab her arm—a sudden grab, almost a twist, that meant that the person reaching for it was actually terrified.Aravis thought it strange that Lasaraleen should be so afraid of Tithrok, if Tithroch was indeed her friend; but Aravis had no time to dwell on the question either.Lasaraleen was urging her back to the top of the steps, groping frantically along the wall. "Here's the door," she whispered. "Quick." They went in, closed the door softly behind them, and found themselves in total darkness.Aravis could hear Lasaraleen's panic from her breathing. "God Tash help!" whispered Lasaraleen. "What shall we do if he walks in here? Can we hide?" There is a rug under their feet.They groped their way into the room and bumped into a sofa in a panic. "Let's lie down behind the sofa," Lasaraleen whimpered. "Oh, I wish we hadn't come." There was just enough room between the sofa and the curtain wall for the two girls to lie down.Lasaraleen managed to occupy a better position, completely covering her body.The upper half of Aravis' face was visible behind the sofa, so that if anyone came into the room with a lamp in his hand and happened to look into this corner, he would see her.Of course, since she was wearing a veil, it wouldn't look like a forehead and eyes at first glance.Aravis pushed hard, trying to make room for Lasaraleen.But Lasaraleen was so selfish in her panic now that she pushed him back and pinched her feet.Desperate, they lay motionless, slightly panting.Their breathing seemed terribly loud, but there was no other sound in the room. "Is it safe here?" Aravis said finally, as quietly as he could. "I -- I -- I think it's safe," Lasaraleen said. My poor nerves..." And then came the scariest sound they could hear at this moment. The sound of the door opening. Then the lights. Because Aravis could stretch her neck behind the sofa, she could see everything. in the eyes. First came in two slaves (deaf and dumb, as Aravis had guessed, for the most secret meetings), holding candles, walking backwards.They stood on either side of the sofa.This was a good thing, because once Aravis had a slave in front of her, of course it was harder for anyone to see her, but she could look out between the slave's heels.Then came an old man, very fat, in a curious pointed hat, by which she knew at once that he was Teesrock.He was covered in jewels, worth at least more than all the clothes and arms of the royal family of Narnia combined, but he was so fat, and he had so many trims, ruffles, little wool balls, Buttons, tassels, wards, Aravis could not help thinking that Narnian fashion (for people, anyway) looked much more refined.After Tithrock came a tall young man with a feathered and jeweled turban wrapped around his head, and by his side a scimitar of ivory and leather.He seemed agitated, his eyes and teeth flickering fiercely in the candlelight.Finally, a stooped, dry little old man entered, and with a shudder she recognized him as the new prime minister, her newly engaged husband, Taikan Ahosta himself. As soon as the three men entered the room, the door was closed, Teesrok sat down on the couch, and with a breath of contentment, the young man took his seat, and stood in front of Teesroque, the Prime Minister on his knees. Get down, lean on your elbows, bow your head and face on the carpet.