Emeth Tarkaan, son of Kidrash Tarkaan, grew up hearing stories of his brother's bravery in the wars of the Tisroc (may he live forever), and how he had sacrificed his life. When his father spoke of his oldest son, his eyes looked far away. The woman Emeth called Mother would pat his father's arm in a comforting way. But Emeth remembered a time when there had been a girl, Aravis he believed to be her name. He had been a child when all signs of her disappeared from the house. He remembered her in the way you remember a dream from long ago.
Preoccupied with his childhood, he'd barely noticed. The girl had always had better things to do than to be near him. But, when his father became drunk, which was seldom, he raged against the girl-child who'd brought dishonor on the house of Kidrash Tarkaan. Emeth's mother would also curse the girl under her breath. Emeth grew up, hearing the muttered oaths against the she-devil, Aravis Tarkeena.
When Emeth was fourteen, a man by Calormene standards, his father asked of the Tisroc (may he live forever) to permit Emeth to go to the northern country of Archenland with the Calormene ambassador. Rabadash Tisroc consented, and Emeth Tarkaan went to Archenland, where the aged King Lune ruled with his sons, the princes Cor and Corin.
Emeth and the company arrived in the summer, which for the Calormenes felt like winter. It was almost a relief. They were received in King Lune's throne room. The old king sat on his throne, two identical young men on either side of him. The one who stood to his left, however, was sporting a black eye and a split lip. He looked a fierce but mischievous young man, while his lookalike looked graver.
While the ambassador introduced himself, a beautiful woman entered the room. She was older than Emeth, and very obviously Calormene, with dark skin, hair and eyes. She smiled warmly at the boy to the right of the king, and smirked at the one to the left. Emeth also noticed a gold ring embedded with several diamonds on her left hand ring finger. Emeth saw a similar one on the hand of the boy to the right. Emeth was confused at her boldness. All Calormene women were docile and meek, and as this one was very obviously Calormene, Emeth didn't understand the way she behaved. Emeth was brought back by the ambassador's glare, who was motioning for him to introduce himself.
"Oh king, I am Emeth Tarkaan, son of Kidrash Tarkaan, son of Rishti Tarkaan, son of Kidrash Tarkaan, son of Ilsombreh Tisroc, the son of Ardeeb Tisroc, who was descended in a right line from the god Tash. The Lord of Calavar sends his greeting to you, oh king." After his speech, Emeth saw that the Calormene woman had gone pale. The king seemed not to notice as he introduced his own family.
"These are my sons, Cor and Corin. Cor is my heir, and the lady you see standing there is his wife, Princess Aravis." And then Emeth himself lost some of his color. Aravis? It was a common enough name in Calormen, but they were not in Calormen. And when he had said his name, the girl had looked nervous, as if she were embarrassed about something.
"Aravis, are you well?" the younger of the two princes, Corin he was called, asked.
"Yes, I'm fine," she replied, but she certainly didn't sound that way. The older prince, her husband Cor, looked as if he were trying to remember something he'd heard long ago and wished he could recall it.
"Lords of Calormen, would you care to wash the dust from your feet and the sweat from your brow before enjoying supper?" the crown prince, Cor, asked. He spoke like the others, Emeth noticed, but beneath his clipped Archen accent, there was something of the fluid way Calomene's speak. Emeth left the room more confused than he had ever been in his life. Who was the woman, and why was she so familiar?
Author's note: So here's the first chapter of my first multi-chaptered Narnia fic. Hope you enjoyed it. Oh, as a disclaimer: I was completely at a loss as to what to call Aravis's younger brother, so I stole the name from the young tarkaan at the end of The Last Battle. Other than the thoughts of the characters in this story, everything belongs to Jack.
Author's note (edited): I decided to fix some little mistakes, because frankly, they were bothering me. No real plot change, just some technical issues.