A/N: Super writer's block and Korean dramas are to blame (Im Joo Hwan as Park Kyu! Droool)! Plus Christmas vacation, plus work leaving me physically and mentally drained that I can't speak, let alone write a coherent sentence. Also, I'm not sure what to call the Calormene clothing, so I'll just call them "saris" (specifically, in my mind, they are "shalwar" sarees). It's going to be short but I want you to know I'm still alive.
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Aravis was still at the door when there was the sensation of her dress being unfastened. She whirled around and slapped the unknown intruder across the face. The elderly serving woman (for that's who it was) stumbled back, the silk sari she had brought for Aravis slipping from her hands and pooling onto the floor.
Aravis immediately knelt down beside her. The tarkheena's sudden movement caused the servant to flinch. Shock colored her expression when Aravis' hand reached out not to strike but to gently touch her cheek.
"Oh no! Are you all right?"
The servant looked at Aravis as if she had grown a second head before resuming a servile attitude.
"Pardon my sudden intrusion, my lady, but I have been ordered to prepare you for your audience with the Tarkhaan as quickly as possible."
"Zoya."
The servant's head snapped up in surprise "My lady remembers me?"
Aravis helped Zoya to her feet. "Yes. I am so sorry, please forgive me. I hope I did not hurt too badly."
"My lady has every right to hit me."
"No, I do not. You are a daughter of Eve, the same as I. Being a tarkheena does not enter into it."
Zoya blinked at her, completely nonplussed. "You are not the Aravis Tarkheena I remember."
Aravis gave her a rueful smile. "I hope not."
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Cor looked up as he passed under the gate of Calavar, the city Kidrash Tarkhaan was lord over . . . and Aravis' home. The gate was much like the one in Tashbaan and almost just as big. From the sight of constant foreign merchant traffic Calavar had obviously built its wealth as being a major stop in the trading route.
Cor blew at his new fringe. It kept touching his eyelashes, annoying him to pieces. How did Corin deal with them? With a sigh he wondered how long it would be before it was discovered that it was Corin shut up in his chambers (seemingly in deep despair), and not him. Cor was deep in Corin's debt indeed. Cor knew how much his brother loved adventure, rescue missions especially. If ever Cor appreciated his twin brother, it was now and he vowed he would make it up to him. Somehow.
Cor pulled his mind back into the present. He looked at his cloaked guardsmen around him.
"Let's find Aravis."