The_Complete_Chronicles_of_Narnia_(volumes_1-7,_in_order_of_publication)

doors of the throne room. It was all magnificent beyond description; what they could see
of it in the dim light of the lamps.
Presently they came out into the garden-court which sloped downhill in a number of
terraces. On the far side of that they came to the Old Palace. It had already grown almost
quite dark and they now found themselves in a maze of corridors lit only by occasional
torches fixed in brackets to the walls. Lasaraleen halted at a place where you had to go
either left or right.
"Go on, do go on," whispered Aravis, whose heart was beating terribly and who still felt
that her father might run into them at any corner.
"I'm just wondering..." said Lasaraleen. "I'm not absolutely sure which way we go from
here. I think it's the left. Yes, I'm almost sure it's the left. What fun this is!"
They took the left hand way and found themselves in a passage that was hardly lighted at
all and which soon began going down steps.
"It's all right," said Lasaraleen. "I'm sure we're right now. I remember these steps." But at
that moment a moving light appeared ahead. A second later there appeared from round a
distant corner, the dark shapes of two men walking backwards and carrying tall candles.
And of course it is only before royalties that people walk backwards. Aravis felt
Lasaraleen grip her arm - that sort of sudden grip which is almost a pinch and which
means that the person who is gripping you is very frightened indeed. Aravis thought it
odd that Lasaraleen should be so afraid of the Tisroc if he were really such a friend of
hers, but there was no time to go on thinking. Lasaraleen was hurrying her back to the top
of the steps, on tiptoes, and groping wildly along the wall.
"Here's a door," she whispered. "Quick."
They went in, drew the door very softly behind them, and found themselves in pitch
darkness. Aravis could hear by Lasaraleen's breathing that she was terrified.
"Tash preserve us!" whispered Lasaraleen. "What shall we do if he comes in here. Can
we hide?"
There was a soft carpet under their feet. They groped forward into the room and
blundered on to a sofa.
"Let's lie down behind it," whimpered Lasaraleen. "Oh, I do wish we hadn't come."
There was just room between the sofa and the curtained wall and the two girls got down.
Lasaraleen managed to get the better position and was completely covered. The upper
part of Aravis's face stuck out beyond the sofa, so that if anyone came into that room with
a light and happened to look in exactly the right place they would see her. But of course,
because she was wearing a veil, what they saw would not at once look like a forehead and