IHEDESERT
“Hovedreadful!Howperfectlydreadful!”whimperedLasaraleen。“，Iamshtened。I'mshakingallover。Feelme。”
“eon，”saidAravis，whherself。“They'vegoothenewpalacewe'reoutofthisroomwe'resafeenough。Butit'swastedaterribletime。Getmedowntothatwater-gateasquickasyou。”
“Darling，howyou?”squeakedLasaraleen。“I'tdoanything—notnow。Mypoornerves!justliestillabitandthengoback。”
“Whyback?”askedAravis。
“Oh，youdon'tuand。You'resouic，”saidLasaraleeocry。Aravisdecideditwasnooercy。
“Lookhere!”shesaid，gLasaraleenandgivingheragoodshake。“Ifyousayanoingbadifyoudon&#metothatwater-gateatonce—doyouknowwhatI'lldo?I'llrushoutintothatpassageahenwe'llbothbecaught。”
“Butweshallbothbek-k-killed!”saidLasaraleen。“Didn'tyouhearwhattheTisroc（mayheliveforever）said?”
“Yes，andI'dsoohaoAhoshta。Soeon。”
“Ohyouareunkind，”saidLasaraleen。“AndIinsuchastate!”
ButintheeogiveintoAravis。Sheledthewaydowheyhadalreadydesdalonganothercorridorandsofinallyoutintotheopenair。Theywerenowinthepalawhichslopeddowothecitywall。Themooly。Ohedrawbacksaboutadvewhehemostbeautifulplacesyouareoftentooanxiousaoappreciatethem;sothatAravis（thoughsherememberedthemyearslater）hadonlyavagueimpressionofgraylawlybubblingfountains，andthelongblackshadowsofcypresstrees。
&heyre“achedtheverybottomandthewallrabovethem，Lasaraleenwasshakingsothatsheotue。Aravisdidit。There，atlast，wastheriver，fullofreflelight，andalittlelandingstageandafewpleasureboats。
“Good-bye，”saidAravis，“andthankyou。I'msorryifI'vebeenapig。ButthinkwhatI'mflyingfrom!”
“OhAravisdarling，”saidLasaraleen。“Won'tyouind?Nowthatyou'veseenwhataverygreatmanAhoshtais!”
&man!”saidAravis。“Ahideslavewhoflatterswhenhe'skickedbuttreasuresitallupahisownbackbyeggingonthathorribleTisroctoplothisson'sdeath。Faugh!I'dsoonermarrymyfather'ssthaurelikethat。”
“OhAravis，Aravis!Howyousaysuchdreadfulthings;andabouttheTisroc（mayheliveforever）too。Itmustberightifhe'sgoingtodoit!”
“Good-bye，”saidAravis，“andIthoughtyourdresseslovely。AndIthinkyourhouseislovelytoo。I'msureyou'llhavealovelylife—thoughitwouldn'tsuitme。Closethedoorsoftlybehindme。”
&oreherselfawayfromherfriend'saffebraces，steppedintoapunt，castoff，aerwasoutihahugerealmoonoverheadaedmoondown，deepdowheairwasfreshanddasshedrewherbahehootingofanowl。“Ah!That'sbetter!”thoughtAravis。ShehadalwayslivediryandhadhatedeverymiimeinTashbaan。
&eppedashoreshefoundherselfiheriseoftheground，aoffthemoonlight。ButshemaofindthesameroadthatShastahadfound，aashehaddoheendof。thegrassandthebeginningofthesand，andlooked（likehim）toherleftandsawthebig，blabs。Andnowatlast，bravegirlthoughshewas，herheartquailed。Supposihersweren'tthere!Supposingtheghoulswere!Butshestuckoutherdalittlebituetoo）araighttowardthem。
ButbeforeshehadreachedthemshesawBreeandHwinandthegroom。
“Yougobaistressnow，”saidAravis（quitefthathe't，uesopem）。“Hereismoneyforyourpains。”
“Tohearistoobey，”saidthegroom，aoffataremarkablespeediioherewasellhimtomakehaste:healsohadbeenthinkingagooddealaboutghouls。
ForthefewsedsAraviswasbusykissingthetingthenecksofHwiasiftheywerequiteordinaryhorses。
“AndhereesShasta!ThaheLion!”saidBree。
Aravislookedround，aenough，wasShastawhohadeoutofhidihesawthegroomgoinga>
“Andnow，”saidAravis。“There'solose。”AndinhastywordsshetoldthemaboutRabadash'sexpedition。
“Treacheroushounds!”saidBree，shakinghismaampingwithhishoof。“Anattatimeofpeace，withoutdefiawe'llgreasehisoatsforhim。We'llbetherebeforeheis。”
“we?”saidAravis，swioHwin'ssaddle。Shastawishedheou。
“Brooh-hoo!”snortedBree。“Upyouget，Shasta。dwithagoodstarttoo!”
“Hesaidhewasgoingtostartatonce，”saidAravis。
“That'showhumanstalk，”saidBree。“Butyoudon'tgetapanyoftwohundredhorseaeredandvictualledandarmedaartedallinaminute。Now:what'sourdire?DueNorth?
“No，”saidShasta。“Iknowaboutthat。I'vedrawnaline。I'llexplainlater。Bearabittoourleft，bothyouhorses。Ahhereitis!”
“Now，”saidBree。“Allthataboutgallopingforadayandanight，likeinstories，'treallybedobewalkandtrot:butbrisktrotsandshortwalks。Andalkyoutwohumansslipoffandwalktoo。Now。Areyouready，Hwin?Offwego。Narniaah!”
Atfirstitwasdelightful。Thenighthadnowbeengoingonforsomanyhoursthatthesandhadalmostfinishedgivingbackallthesuhadreceivedduringtheday，andtheairwascool，fresh，andderthemoonlightthesaionandasfarastheycouldsee，gleamedasifitweresmreatsilvertray。ExceptforthenoiseofBree'sandHwin'shoofstherewasnotasoundtobeheard。Shastawouldnearlyhavefallenasleepifhehadnothadtodismountandwalkeverynowandthen。