A/N: I don't have the books to read at the minute so if I get any facts wrong, please tell me. My first TP fic.

I sat on the edge of the dance floor, watching. Everybody was dancing out there. Everyone but me…and her. She walked over to me.

"Would you like to dance?" she asked.

"It is not respectable for two ladies to dance together, Delia," I told her. Delia shrugged…or as close as she can get.

"It is respectable for a lady to dance with a knight," she said.

"I don't dance, Delia," I told her, facing her.

"Squire Alan danced with me."

"Squire Alan had to otherwise Squire Alan would be in trouble with His Royal Highness over there," I said through gritted teeth and gesturing to where Jon was happily dancing with Thayet.

"You like him, don't you?" she asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, shaking my head, red locks flowing about in front of my face.

"You like him, don't you? After all, he did propose to you, when you were out in the desert. He must love you," she said, sitting down on the chair next to me.

"You got it out of me," I sighed. "I do love him, but we just wouldn't be good together. I would never make a good queen. Then look at Thayet, she makes a perfect queen. That was one of the reasons I invited her to stay at the palace, that she would be perfect for Jon." I stopped, causing Delia to turn and look at me.

"Why did you stop?" she asked me.

"Why am I telling you this?"

"I don't know. You need to let it out though. I can't be good to have all that building up inside of you, being the only one who knows," she said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged. "Anyway, if I'm going to tell you, you can't tell anyone. Got that?" I asked her.

"I swear I won't tell anyone," she promised.

"I may as well start at the beginning. I was still a Squire when I found out he loved me. I already knew that George loved me. After my ordeal, when I went to the desert, it gave me some time to think about both of them. I missed them both, but it was George that I missed more, even if it was only slightly more. When Jon came down to become the voice, I still missed George. When he proposed to me, I couldn't help thinking he was doing it for the wrong reasons, to rebel against his parents." I stopped and took a sip of my drink.

"I said I needed more time to think, but when he ordered my belongings to be packed and my horse readied, I realised I didn't love him like that, I loved him as a brother. We had a huge argument, just before he left. When I came back north, I went to stay with George. I knew he wanted to marry me as well, but he didn't say anything about that, he just comforted me."

"When I went north for the Domination Jewel and met Thayet, I immediately knew she was perfect for Jon. My first priority was to get her over the border into Tortall, after that I invited her and everyone else to stay in the palace in Olau quarters. When Jon and Thayet met, I could see there was a spark between them. During what happened at his coronation, it brought him closer to Thayet and it brought me closer to George."

"I went back to the desert after that, to get over losing Thom and Liam at the same time. I found out that Jon was going to marry Thayet, according to my unspoken plan. George came down to see me and that is when I told him I would marry him. I knew he had wanted that for years," I finished, taking another sip of my drink.

"That is a lot to live with. And on top of that, you were one of the Great Mother Goddess' chosen ones weren't you?"

"Yeah."

I was surprised. I didn't think she would listen to all that, without interrupting. She seemed to have genuinely changed after the coronation. She also seemed to be without a man. Or she could have one, but he was away like George.

"Baron George Cooper of Pirates Swoop!" shouted the herald at the door. George walked through the door, nodded to Jon and immediately came and sat next to me.

"Well, speak of the devil…" I muttered.

"George, it's been a while," Jon said, coming over with Thayet and sitting down across the table from me.

"That it has, Jon," he replied.

"Anyway, Alanna, I saw you were in conversation with Delia. What were you talking about? Or don't I want to know?" Jon asked, turning to me. I looked towards where Delia was sitting but she had disappeared onto the dance floor with someone.

"You probably don't want to know, but I'll tell you anyway. We were actually talking about us," I said, gesturing round the table at everybody.

"Delia?" George asked.

"She's changed. And anyway I swore her to secrecy," I said.

"I told her what happened when I was a Squire; about finding out that you two both loved me. I told her what happened when I was in the desert with the Bloody Hawk. I told her about you, Thayet, and why I brought you to the palace. I told her how things when with my unspoken plan. That's pretty much all of it," I told them.

"Nothing really important, then?" asked George, laughing.

"Nah," I said. "Not really. Anyway, it's getting late. I'm off to my nice warm bed," I said, getting up.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't forget about me!" George shouted after me.

I turned around, laughing. "Oh yeah, I forgot my nice warm husband!" I said. I walked over to him, grabbed his arm, and dragged him out the room, leaving Jon and Thayet laughing.

"Guess we should follow their lead," I heard Thayet say. I could hear the love in her voice and knew what she had planned.

I reached my room, hid behind the dressing screen and quickly changed my clothes. I had collapsed onto our bed by the time George reached our room. He quickly changed and fell next to me. I didn't fall asleep for a good time after that…

A/N: Done. I wrote this in one sitting, which is unusual for me. Anyway, tell me if I got anything wrong and please tell me what you think.