Born For This

18. Father and Daughter

 Chapter Eighteen – Father and Daughter

“And it-it’s my father who is trying to do it,” Aravis blurted out.

Cor stared at her incredulously. “Aravis?”

She knew that look. “I am telling the truth!” she exclaimed fiercely. “Just believe me for once!”

“Perhaps you were dreaming,” Cor suggested.

“It was no dream!” Aravis cried. “I heard them talking in the far sitting room – the little one that no one uses. They’re going to take the cordial! And it’s my father!”

“Aravis, enough,” Cor replied, a little too sternly. “Go back to bed.”

Aravis’s fierce glare made him take a small step back. “I am no liar, Shasta.”

Cor ignored her use of his former name. “Aravis, enough. We can talk about this in the morning.” She continued to protest, but he took her arm and firmly escorted her to her own room. He made sure she stepped inside and closed the door after her. Now hopefully she would return to bed and this would all blow over.

Aravis’s thoughts, however, were far from returning to bed. She hastily found her shoes and slipped them on as she tied her cloak around her shoulders. She knew it was no dream. She had to let someone know, but who? If Cor didn’t believe her, then who would? She knew that Corin would believe her, but he couldn’t do anything with his injuries. Queen Susan would probably send her back to bed. The guards would scoff at her.

She would just have to somehow stop them herself! But now that the idea crossed her mind, Aravis felt a little afraid. What if her father saw her and dragged her off to Calormen with him? That was the last place she wanted to return to.

Aravis hardened her resolve and started out of her room, slipping towards the little sitting room. She hoped that they were still there. Soft voices confirmed her hope. She sided up against the door, pressing her ear to the wood, hoping to catch snatches of their conversation. Disappointment filled her as she couldn’t make out any proper words. There was a lot of shuffling and Aravis turned to back away as footsteps approached the door. But she wasn’t quick enough and a pool of golden light engulfed her. She froze as solid hands seized her shoulders, turning her towards the light. She ducked her head, hoping she wouldn’t be recognized. Her hope soon shattered as another figure stepped out of the doorway.

“Aravis, dear!”

“F-father?” Aravis stammered as she was pulled into a crushing embrace, away from the first set of hands that had seized her.

“My, how you’ve grown my little lotus blossom!” He tweaked the end of her nose fondly, looking her up and down before squeezing her tightly again. “Ah, we’ve missed you so much.”

“Wouldn’t you have missed me if I had married the Grand Vizier?” Aravis demanded.

“Of course, dear,” he answered smoothly. “But your step-mother and I were doing it for your own good. We only want the best for our little girl.”

Liar, Aravis thought darkly. You don’t care about me at all.

“We were worried sick after you disappeared—”

Aravis cut him off. “I ran away.”

“We looked for you for weeks!” He continued as if he never heard her. “It nearly broke our hearts. Think of how relieved I was to hear that you were safe in Archenland. And the ward of King Lune himself! Well!” He patted her shoulder. “But now the inexorable Tash has brought us together again.” Her father continued to ramble quietly, while Aravis frowned darkly, trying to think of how she could get away. She hoped that Cor knew that she wouldn’t have stayed in her room.