A/N:
Hello! This is my first time writing a serious fanfiction and I only have school English, so please bear with me! :D
Since I was little The Song of the Lioness was my favourite book, and I absolutely love the characters.
Reviews are always apreciated! I hope you enjoy it!
The only time Alanna saw her brother after they parted, was when the The Daughters of the Goddess decided to show the ladies-to-be the capital of Tortall.
For a month they resided in the palace and while all the other twelve-year-old girls where gossiping and following the pages and squires, Alanna preferred to wake up early and watch the combat training.
She would stand silent in a shadow, with big violet eyes and a hood over her bright red hair, so that she would be unnoticed. She watched as her brother was trying clumsily to shoot an arrow or stumbled over his own two left feet, with his head bright red. And she remembered the afternoon, in which they decided to stick to their father's wishes, since Thom was such a coward. She sighed unhappily. Of course, it wasn't just Thom's fault; it was just easier to blame him.
She met often with her brother, telling each other stories, which mostly consisted of his new wounds and her pranks, which she played on the High Daughter or the other girls. Sadly, she noted that neither he nor she had made any friends in those two years, but he introduced her to his acquaintances. There were the open and funny Gary, the tall and friendly Raoul, the mysterious and silent Alex and most impressive of them all the very handsome and calm prince, Jonathan of Conté. They didn't seem to be very fond of her brother, but Alanna noted, that all of them weren't bad persons. It was just, that her brother liked to keep to himself. While Thom didn't spend any time practising combat except when he was forced to, he buried himself in books. Much like their father, Alanna noted with distaste. He tried spells in his chamber and more then once had ignited a fire, so that the servants and nobles where keeping distance. Alanna just shook her head with a little smile. That was Thom, the brother she loved, the brother that wouldn't be changed by something as trivial to him as becoming a knight.
One morning, when she was watching the combat practise of the pages, the teacher noticed her standing in the shadow.
"Oh, so the mighty Thom is granting us a visit at last? It seems that your skills are already those of a knight, since you don't seem to need the training! Show us, what you can!" he sneered.
Alanna gulped. She was dressed in breeches and a shirt and only her longer hair would have made her be recognized as Alanna and not as her brother. Thom hadn't come to the practise this morning. She imagined him reading some book until the morning hours and falling asleep over it. For a moment she hesitated. She could just run. Her brother was already known as somebody not fond of fighting, so why not. But something made her hold back.
She remembered her wish to become a knight, to prove to everyone, that even a woman could accomplish that. She remembered all the times in the convent she bit her lip, so she would not scream out of frustration, because of the shallowness of the girls or the boredom of the tasks. And she remembered every night she sneaked outside, practising with a stick, with stones and with a self-made bow. Now she could prove to herself, if her dreams could become reality.
She took a step out of the shadow and into the cold morning light, her hood still covering her hair. The training court was filled with pages and squires, who now had stopped their practise to watch the humiliation of Thom, which they were sure to see.
"Oh, so you will demonstrate it at last." The teacher, Aram Sklaw, mocked. "Well, let's find you a worthy opponent… Let's see… You! Alexander of Tirragen, step forward!"
Alanna's eyes grew cold. The teacher had purposely selected the best swordsman among the squires, which wasn't fair to a page and even less to Thom. The boys around them started to grin.
As Alanna looked around she could only see few sincere faces. Among them were the Prince, Raoul and Gary. Somebody shoved a sword into her hand. It was her first time holding a sword, so she wasn't used to its weight, which startled her.
"All right! Get into position!" Aram Sklaw yelled. "Begin!"
Alex's sword came swiftly down and she only managed to jump out of the way in the last moment. Loud booing came from the gathered boys, but Alanna tried to ignore it. The next time Alex made a move she was prepared: With all her strength she held against him and managed to yank his sword away.
Suddenly the crowd was silent.
"That was not a move I taught you! You need to fight honourable!" came the angry voice of Aram, but both Alex and Alanna continued, new respect in Alex' eyes.
Alanna couldn't get to Alex' level of swordsmanship, but she managed to hit him once or twice, which earned her some cheers.
Alex started to move faster, with Alanna only blocking as best as she could. He pushed from the left and darted towards her throat, when he brushed her hood. Alanna only noticed the gasps, after some more moves, when Alex stopped.
"What is it?" she asked. "Have you given up?"
He looked her up and down and then grinned not very friendly.
"So that is how you became a better swordfighter… Thom." He said.
"What-"Alanna started but was cut off by a panting shout.
"I'm late…sorry…again…hel…oh?" Thom ran into the court coming to full stop in front of his sister.
"Alanna? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"That is a very interesting development, but I'm afraid I'll need to tell this to the High Daughter of the Goddess." Aram Sklaw said. "Practise is finished, go steal food from the kitchen, or whatever it is you useless lot do." he waved them off and walked out of the court.
Alanna was very aware of the fact, that every face was pointed in her direction. Her face was the colour the shade of a tomato.
"What…were you doing here?" Thom asked again suspiciously, even though he already could guess.
"Your sister was fighting at your place, Trebond. And, sadly, she was better." A boy out of the crowd answered him.
Thom grasped the situation faster than Alanna had imagined. He took her hand and led her away into his chamber.
"Why, Alanna, why?" he asked.
"You know me!" she answered him furiously. "From the start I wanted to be here, wanted to switch places! It was you who was afraid! And now I only wanted to prove to myself that I'm not just a stupid dreamer! It doesn't matter anyway, it's over."
"Alanna, you're a girl! Forget those dreams and accept reality!" Thom urged.
"You want me to accept reality? Don't tell me that you're happy with the way things are! I've seen you, you hide it well, but I know you!" she shouted.
A knock on the door stopped both of them.
"Come in." Thom said.
When the visitors entered they saw the two flushed red-heads looking into their direction in surprise. The argument was heard in the hall.
"Your Highness!" Thom said surprised and Alanna curtsied clumsily.
"Oh, call me Jon already, Thom, everybody else does that!" Jon stepped into the room accompanied by his three friends, Alex, Raoul and Gary. "I just wanted to talk to Lady Alanna."
Alanna could see where this was going. "I'm sorry, your highness, I really shouldn't have done that! I've disgraced my father and brother and-"
"I'll support you, little Lady." He said and laughed at her surprised expression. The fifteen-year-old boy looked into her eyes and said: "I admire your will." He looked from one fire-head to the other and then continued: "You look the same, but you aren't similar in the least, am I right?"
Obviously, he didn't expect an answer, because he laughed.
"Well, that's all I needed to say, I'll be talking to the High Daughter myself."
Thom bowed and Alanna curtsied, both astonished.
The Prince went out of the room, his friends staying a bit behind as everyone seemed to want to express their support.
Alex told Alanna, that he had never seen such a worthy opponent her age, neither girl nor boy,
Raoul patted her shoulder and Gary grinned and said that he never had managed such a good prank himself.
When all of them were gone Alanna and Thom stood there, looking at the closed door.
After a while Alanna looked at Thom. With an amused expression she said: "Well, they are nice, why aren't you friends with them?"
Thom rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated shout.