Disclaimer: The world and characters belong to Tamora Pierce. The quotes in italics are from the first few pages of Alanna: The First Adventure, her book. The inspiration stems from a book by K.A. Applegate called Back to Before. The plot is mine, and shall stay mine.
Alanna was caught. It doesn't matter how, she just was. And when she was... she went mad.
Note: This, I think, shall prove to have more of a plot than the Twin Knights, and is not, I assure you, a typical convent story. It is not, in fact, a "convent story" at all.
It is an alternative reality, a "might have happened" where the boundaries between reality and possibility are thin, and at times the other dimension breaks through. The realm of possibility is dangerous and very deadly, and things that might seem small set off chain reactions that change the entire story. Sometimes in ways that it should not be changed.
Chapter 1
"That is my decision. We need not discuss it," said the man at the desk. He was already looking at a book. His two children left the room, closing the door behind them.
"He doesn't want us around," the boy muttered. "He doesn't care what
"We
The boy hit the wall. "I don't
"D'you think
The boy watched the girl. Thom and Alanna of Trebond were twins, both with red hair and purple eyes. The only difference between them---as far as most people could tell---was the length of their hair. In face and body shape, dressed alike, they would have looked alike.
"Face it," Thom told Alanna. "Tomorrow
"Why do you get all the fun?" she complained. "I'll have to learn sewing and dancing. You'll study tilting, fencing---"
"D'you think I
She grinned. "
*
The girl who entered the classroom was dressed not in the demure gowns of the other inhabitants of the room, but in black men's clothes, her violet eyes burning madly and her coppery hair rippling around her ears.
"My, my," Sarenday of Fairland sneered. "The Trebond girl is late."
Alanna spun on her, growling low in her throat.
"Quite uncivilized, are we?" Sarenday asked, looking at her fingernails.
Alanna leapt for her. With a scream of terror, Sarenday toppled backward off her chair as the blur of black and copper was on her, and there was a whirl as the two girls rolled over and over, smashing into the chairs and tables. Sarenday let out another scream, and the other girls of the convent rushed at them, dragging the struggling Alanna off Sarenday as the violet-eyed demon bit and scratched to get loose.
"Alanna!" The stern voice was Sister Derana's. Alanna let out another snarl of hatred as Sarenday got up. She was certainly a sight. Her fine gown was ripped and torn in several places, her hair was in wild disarray, her lip had been split, she had a black eye, and several marks on her arms from Alanna's grip.
Derana strode up to Alanna and jerked her head around, forcing her to face her. Alanna stared at her defiantly, contempt in her eyes. "This was deplorable behavior, Alanna of Trebond."
Alanna's reply was a stream of curses that would have made the rowdiest guardsman wince. Sister Derana went pale. "Alanna!"
Alanna elbowed one of the girls holding her in the gut. As she went down Alanna twisted on the other one and threw her over her hip, diving past Derana's clutching arms. She streaked off down the corridor, with shouts of "Stop her! Stop her!" echoing behind her.
A Mithran cloister boy came up blocked the way, his arms wide. She landed a punch to his nose, and there was a crack as red blood came streaming out. Sweeping his legs out from under him, she turned to face the next: another Sister. The Sister smiled gently at her. "Calm down, Alanna. You're getting worked up about nothing. Now, come here."
Alanna's dagger was in her hand in an instant.
"Where did you get that?" gasped the Sister, staring at it. More were running down the hall toward them. Alanna's only reply was another snarl of hatred as she lunged. The Sister screamed as the knife nicked her arm and glanced off, staring at the blood. Alanna spun past and raced down the hallways again, looking for a window. She crashed past two more cloister boys and a sister, landing another punch on the face of Reanne of Pilnock, who was running around shouting.
Where was the entrance on this rabbit warren? She finally came in sight of the central archway and the threshold, and was streaking toward it when a strange tingling feeling grew behind her, and she felt herself frozen in one place.
"Stop." The command was unnecessary, of course, but Alanna recognized Master Na-pan's voice, one of the sorcerers who taught the boys. She tried to lunge free, but the magic held her fast. Soon the Sisters and the teachers had surrounded her, and her violet eyes, filled with hatred, were watching for her chance.
*
Alanna threw herself against the sturdy door once again, jarring her small body. She was thrown to the floor, but got up again, pacing around the room like a wild animal. There was one window to the stone-walled room, and it had been barred. The door itself was locked from outside, and no amounts of effort could even make it shudder.
Alanna's wild violet eyes peered this way and that nervously as she paced like a caged animal. Only when it was found she was unrestrainable had they resorted to locking her in this room. And she was unrestrainable, all right.
They had taken her dagger. She felt at the place where it had been, at her waist under her shirt. It had always been there, an extra caution. And now it was gone. She crept to the window again, her feet as soft on the stone floor as that of a stalking panther. Twisting her head to look out between the iron bars, she saw the long drop. No escape there. She paced again, this time tilting her head to gaze at the ceiling, and stomped on the floor, looking for weak spots. None.
Finally she returned to her study of the door, rubbing her hands on the soft black clothes she had been wearing when she attacked Sarenday. Not a dress, of course. This was her first day at the convent, and---she smiled grimly---probably her last. Knowing the Sisters, they would either send her home or keep her locked up for the rest of her life. But that would be better than staying. She paced again, her thoughts skittering like the leaves on a windy day. Her dream of being a knight had been shattered. And when that happened, she had been filled with a cold, icy feeling that had encased her in a solid block of coldness.
She felt cut off from the rest of the world, as if she wasn't really living, but was in some strange bizarre dream. Maybe she was in some strange bizarre dream. It was all quite possible. She'd forgotten Thom, forgotten Coram, forgotten Maude, forgotten her father. Who were they? Dim figures in her memory, that didn't stir or move. She'd forgotten them. All that was left was one thing. She needed to get out of the convent. If she didn't, they'd lock her up for the rest of her life. She looked at the bars again, then went over to them, inspecting them more closely. They were flimsy things of tin. Apparently no one thought the prisoner would attempt the drop.
Alanna's eyes glittered, and she began pounding with a stone shard she had picked up near the door.
*
It was a long drop. Alanna peered out the window, gazing down at the courtyard below. Coldly calculating how many bones she would break, she turned around and backed out the window, feeling her legs dangle in thin air. Then she dropped. There was a dizzying feeling of falling, and she moved her legs into a crouching position. She hit the ground with a crunch, landing on her feet, but there was a sharp pain stabbing through her ankle. She huddled where she fell, eyes darting about. There was no one there.
Standing cautiously, she hobbled to the huge gate, feeling the pain stab through her ankle. Her ear-length copper hair was damp with sweat. Trying to force the bar on the gate out, she heard a shout from behind her.
"Hey! What do you think you're--"
She spun, her fingers scrabbling for a rock. Bringing her arm around, she swung it and the missle shot through the air. It hit dead center in the middle of the guard's forehead, and he fell backward, poleaxed. Alanna dragged the gate open and darted through to freedom, out into the dark forest.
*
Can anyone quote me a description of Liam?