1. Chapter 1 (1/2)

the

motions

well,

here she was out in the woods. it was just her, the knife, and the

horse. aravis' heart pounded and her hands shook slightly, but she

refused to give in now. she ran her fingers along the edge of the

knife, gently feeling the cold keenness that would be her death. how

painful would a knife through the heart be?

this

might hurt…

how

long had it been since her misery began? aravis wondered if it had

been there her whole life, and she just hadn't noticed it until her

father remarried. father went behind her back and betrayed the family

by suddenly

inging a stepmother into the picture. the woman was and

crossed boundaries on every level of aravis' life.

it's

not safe…

aravis'

stepmother was not much better than a monster. she pushed and shoved

for social standing, she was dishonest to win the favor of tarkaans

and tarkeenas, and she was a

utal mistress of her slaves. the

ladies-in-waiting had all reported mistreatment of some kind or

other, and if aravis wasn't careful to lay low she could get in

trouble too. the pressure in social settings combined with the

pressure in her home now…aravis could barely manage.

but

i know i've gotta make a change…

aravis

wanted to rebel against the woman, but all the odds were against her.

then the worst thing happened: stepmother decided she had enough of

annoying children. at her request, aravis'

other was sent off as

a soldier, and aravis was selected as the

ide for ahosta tarkaan, a

miserable, fat old man in a miserable, crowded city. the marriage was

an attempt to get more social standing and money, and as for aravis'

other being sent away…a stroke of pure spite.

i

don't care

if

i

eak…

a

few weeks passed and aravis received word that her

other had been

killed. his armor was sent back, bloodied and bent. and aravis'

marriage was going to take place soon. that was why she was here,

alone in the forest, drawing the knife closer to her chest.

at

least i'll be feeling something…

a

strange voice

oke through aravis' thoughts. had she heard her

horse speaking? ashamed of panicked hallucinations, aravis prepared

again to stab herself. suddenly her mare came forward and knocked the

knife out of her hand. aravis could not believe that her horse was

actually talking to her…but it was. hwin described narnia, a

country of hope and freedom. aravis no longer wanted to live her life

as a rich tarkeena, but running away could be an alternative. so she

did it. maybe, just maybe, running was the answer.

'cause

just okis not enoughhelp me fight through the nothingness of

life…

aravis

and her talking horse ran northward. after they ran into

ee and

shasta, aravis began to feel wonder if she was sinking into her old

life again. just being around other people made her go back through

the patterns of pride and tradition. did she even want

to spend time with a slave boy?

i

don't wanna go through the motions…

tashbaan

made things far worse. when aravis was in the house of lasaraleen,

she was again reminded of her old life, and half-tempted to go back

to it. these thoughts scared aravis so badly she left the city as

fast as she could.

i

don't wanna go one more daywithout

your all consuming passion inside of me…

the

desert mirrored her emptiness of spirit. the gorge and the water

mirrored the hope that was hiding in the nothingness. on and on went

the runaways: horses, slave, and tarkeena. it was a long, hard walk

through the sand, and a long, hard run began the next day.

i

don't wanna spend my whole life askingwhat if i had given

everything? "run,

hwin! run!" aravis remembered shouting repeatedly. she had seen the

riders from tashbaan coming over the hills. the runaways would have

to run fast and run hard if they wanted to warn the narnians about

the impending attack. adrenaline pumped through aravis' body…this

was her chance to do something, to accomplish something…just to

feel something outside of her emptiness. so she urged her horse to go

on as fast as possible. there was so much energy in that run.

instead

of going through the motions… from

behind her, aravis heard the roar of a lion. it made

ee and hwin