CHAPTERSEVENARAVISINTASHBAAN
WHAThadreallyhappehis。WhenAravissawShastahurriedawaybytheNarniansandfoundherselfalowohorseswho（verywisely）wouldn'tsayaword，sheherheadevenforamoment。ShegrabbedBree'shalterandstoodstill，holdingboththehorses;andthoughherheartwasbeatingashardasahammer，shedidnothingtoshowit。AssoonastheNarnianlordshadpassedshetriedtomoveonagain。Butbeforeshecouldtakeastep，anothercrier（“Botherallthesepeople”thoughtAravis）washeardshoutingout，“ay!WayfortheTarkheenaLasaraleen!”aely，followingthecrier，edslavesandthenfourbearersgalitterwhichwasalla-flutterwithsilkensandalla-jihsilverbellsandwhitedthewholestreetwithperfumesaerthelitter，femaleslavesiifulclothes，andthenafewgrooms，runhelike。AndnowAravismadeherfirstmistake。
SheknewLasaraleeasiftheyhadbeenatschooltogether—becausetheyhadoftehesamehousesahesameparties。AndAravis'thelplookinguptoseewhatLasaraleenlookedlikenowthatshewasmarriedapersonindeed。
Itwasfatal。Theeyesofthetwogirlsmet。AelyLasaraleensatupierandburstoutatthetopofhervoice。
“Aravis!Whatohareyoudoinghere?Yourfather—”
&amomeased'sdelayAravisletghttheedgeofthelitter，swungherselfupbesideLasaraleenandwhisperedfuriouslyinherear。
“Shutup!Doyouhear!Shutup。Youmusthideme。Tellyourpeople—”
“Butdarling—”begahesameloudvoice。（Shedidn'timindmakiare;iherlikedit。）
“DowhatItellyouorI'lloyouagain，”hissedAravis。“Please，pleasebequick，Las。It&#htfullyimportant。Tellyourpethosetw。PullallthesofthelitteraahereI'tbefound。Anddohurry。”
“Allright，darling，”saidLasaraleeninherlazyvoice。“Here。TwoofyoutaketheTarkheena'shorses。”（Thiswastotheslaves。）“Andnowhome。Isay，darling，doyouthithesdrawnonadaylikethis?Imeantosay—”
ButAravishadalreadydrawains，engLasaraleenandherselfinaridsted，butratherstuffy，ki。
“Imustn'tbeseen，”“shesaid。“Myfatherdoesn'tknowI'mhere。I&#a>
“Mydear，howperfectlythrilling，”saidLasaraleen。“I'mdyingtohearallaboutit。Darling，yonmydress。Doyoumind?That'sbetter。Itisanewone。Doyoulikeit?Igotitat—”
“Oh，Las，dobeserious，”saidAravis。“Whereismyfather?”
“Didn'tyouknow?”saidLasaraleen。“He'shere，ofcourse。Hecametotowerdayandisaskingaboutyoueverywhere。Andtothinkofyouandmebeiherandhisnotknowinganythingaboutit!It'sthefuhingIeverheard。”Aoffintogiggles。Shealwayshadbeenaterriblegiggler，asAravisnowremembered。
“Itisn'tfunnyatall，”shesaid。“It'sdreadfullyserious。Wheree?”
“Nodifficultyatall，mydeargirl，”saidLasaraleen。“I'lltakeyouhome。Myhusband'sawayandnoonewillseeyou。Phew!It'snotmuwiththesdrawn。Iwanttoseepeople。There'snopointinhavinganewdressoogoaboutshutuplikethis。”
“Ihopenooneheardyouwhenyoushoutedouttomelikethat，”saidAravis。
“No，no，ofc，”saidLasaraleemiyouhaveoldmeyetwhatyouthinkofthedress。”
“Ahing，”saidAravis。“Youmusttellyourpeopletotreatthosetwohorsesveryrespectfully。That'spartofthesecret。They'rereallyTalkingHorsesfromNarnia。”
“Fancy!”saidLasaraleeing!And，haveyouseenthebarbarianqueenfromNarnia?She'sstayinginTashbaaheysayPrinceRabadashismadlyihher。Therehavebeewoiesandhuntsandthingsallthislastfht。I'tseethatshe'ssoveryprettymyself。ButsomeoftheNarnianmenarelovely。Iwastakenoutohedaybeforeyesterday，andIwaswearingmy—”
“Horeveellihatyou'vegotavisitor—dressedlikeabeggar'sbrat—inyourhouse?Itmightsoeasilygetroundtomyfather。”
“Nowdon'tkeeponfussing，there'sadear，”saidLasaraleen。“We'llgetyousomeproperamoment。Andhere>
ThebearershadstoppedaerwasbeiheshadbeendrawnAravisfoundthatshewasinacardeheoShastahadbeeoafewminutesearlieriofthecity。LasaraleenwouldhavegoneindoorsatoAravisremindedherinafranticwhispertosaysomethingtotheslavesaboutnottelliheirmistress&#evisitor。
“S，ithadghtoutofmyhead，”saidLasareleen。“Here。Allofyou。Andyou，doorkeeper。obeletoutofthehousetoday。Agaboutthisyoungladywillbefirstbeatehenburerthatbekeptonbreadandwaterforsixweeks。There。”
AlthoughLasaraleenhadsaidshewasdyingtohearAravis'sstory，sheshowednosigiall。Shewas，infact，muchbetterattalkingthanatlisteedonAravishavingalongandluxuriousbath（ehsarefamous）andthendressihefihesbeforeshewouldletherexplainanything。ThefussshemadeaboutgthedressesnearlydroveAravismad。SherememberednowthatLasaraleenhadalwaysbee，ihesandpartiesandgossip。Aravishadalwaysbeeedinbowsandarrowsandhorsesanddogsandswimming。Youwillguessthateachthoughttheothersilly。Butwhenatlasttheywerebothseatedafterameal（itwaschieflyofthewhippeddjellyandfruita）iifulpillaredroom（whichAraviswouldhavelikedbetterifLasaraleen'sspoiledpetmonkeyhadn'tbeengaboutitallthetime）Lasaraleenatlastaskedherwhyshewasrunningawayfromhome。
WhenAravishadfielliory，Lasaraleensaid，“But，darling，whydon'tyoumarryAhoshtaTarkaan?Everyone'syhusbandsaysheisbeginhegreatestmeninebeenmadeGrandViziernowoldAxarthahasdied。Didn'tyouknow?”
“Idon'tcare。I'tstaofhim，”saidAravis。
“But，darling，onlythink!ThreepaladobeautifulonedowIlkeen。Positivelyropesofpearls，I'mtold。Bathsofasses'milk。Andyou'dseesue。”
“HekeephispearlsandpalacesasfarasI'med，”saidAravis。
“Youalwayswereaqueergirl，Aravis，”saidLasaraleen。“Whatmoredoyou>
Intheend，however，Aravismaomakeherfrieshewasiaodiss。TherewouldbenodiffiowaboutgettiwohorsesoutateaheTombs。oporquestionagroomihesleadingawarhorseandalady'ssaddlehorsedowntotheriver，andLasaraleeyofgroomstosend。Itwasn'tsoeasytodecidewhattodoaboutAravisherself。Shesuggestedthatshecouldbecarriedoutierwiththesdrawn。ButLasaraleelitterswereohedthesightofonegoinghthegatewouldbetoleadtoquestions。