The hilly, lush greenness of Archenland was a stark contrast to the burning gold of the desert they had just crossed, but the reprieve was nonetheless welcome.

They'd been greeted at Castle Anvard by King Lune and his other son, a very distressed Corin who thought he should have gotten to go as well, and Aravis was immediately tended to by a nurse and sentenced to bed rest until her wounds healed up.

Bree and Hwin departed for Narnia, their families likely worried about a routine visit to their friends turning into a week-long venture.

The other guests were left to their own devices for the most part. The castle, grounds, and city were theirs to entertain themselves.

[for the rescue crew duh, and still NFB. OCD coming up!]

Aravis waited until the timing seemed right, then tried to catch the eyes of her friends. She leaned forward to murmur a quick warning to Hwin, then gave a sharp whistle and drew her scimitar as they turned on the guards trailing them.

( A change of plan )

[Part two of this post. THIS IS THE LAST PREPLAY OMG I PROMISE I AM DONE SPAMMING YOUR FLIST until I put up the actually-live-played post tonight. Freaking Narniaverse time, condensing a week to two days! As with all the others, NFB, NFI, OOC = woo.]

Aravis's body ached with Hwin's every step. The past few days' pampering had done nothing for her sore muscles or bruising, and the tight, opulent clothing that she had been dressed in for the trip wasn't helping.

Neither were the guards making up half their party.

Aravis was just praying that the plan had spread through the group, and fingered the hilt of her scimitar, tucked securely under her skirts and behind her legs.

She hated riding side saddle, but it did have at least this one advantage.

( The trip back home )

[SECOND TO LAST PREPLAY POST YAY. Continued here.]

Aravis had shed her veil and was curled up in a chair at the end of the hall with her second glass of wine. It wasn't helping her relax at all. Probably had to do something with the fact that she'd done everything in her power to not be married at fifteen, and yet she was sitting next to her shiny new husband.

It was nice to see her friends, though. "How did you all even get here? Horses, I know, since apparently Gavin can't manage to sit on one."

( In which there is exposition, and Aravis's friend hits on everyone )

[NFB, NFI, sugar-free, no MSG, not tested on animals, etc.]

Aravis hadn't returned to her room until after eleven (11:04, to be exact), and had immediately laid down on her bed with a cool cloth over her eyes.

She was determined that tomorrow she'd stay out later, or sleep in a common room. But tonight, her eyes hurt too much. Possibly this had been aggravated by wandering around with a veil on, trying to see people through it. Never let it be said that Aravis took the smart option when there was a harder way to do something.

In any instance, she was perfectly content to lie on her bed, listening to the radio and thinking about her conversations with Gavin and Hermione.

[door closed, post for Seely, but open before if you'd like.]

Aravis had had a very, very busy week.

( busy, busy week )

So now she was relaxing and enjoying the shade while waiting for her hair to dry from said workshop, with a book she'd picked up to keep her company. She was a bit embarrassed to be reading it, and still didn't understand why the insult in the title was to be a good thing. But in any instance, she was prepared to hide it if she was found and pretend she had been reading a book of poetry from home the whole time.

[open! tiny bit of SP from 2-5 EST or so! and Aravis's reading material is all whitedeathpod's fault.]

Aravis, who was still marveling a little over the cab ride over, stared at the store.

"...it's bright and there is a lot of pink," she finally commented. "Do I really need modern clothing? Truly?"

[For Rikku and Hermione, and NFB for distance, presumably.]

Aravis had had a very, very long and eventful week.

( long week, omg )

And then today she'd had to spend the morning on the phone with idiots, though there had been nice aspects as well.

Now? She was content to sit in her alcove and mull over the book she had borrowed from the library.

[open to other abominable types! Wee bit of SP this afternoon and evening, but otherwise am around!]

Aravis had brought out a blanket and spread it out under the shade of a tree, preferring to be out in the open air while trying to work on the letter home.

Dear Cor Corin Bree? Hwin,

I am settling in quite comfortably, and much better than I had anticipated. I am taking several workshops one of which will help me in my dealings with the twins and am learning a fair bit. I have been making the acquaintances of the other students here and one of them is from THE STARS and all seems to be going well except that King Peter is here and only seventeen and I am so confused.

Please make one of the boys scribe a letter in return. I look forward to your correspondence.

- Aravis

Yeah. Not going as well as she'd like. But she was quite interruptable.

[open! *is bored and on break*]