Disclaimer: nothing's mine ;)
AN: I've got so many stories that I've started and abandoned and I swear I'll get back to them eventually. But this one knocked on my temple and demanded to be written, so here I am. I dunno if anyone will even like it, but I liked the concept. Sooo here goes.
Ransom was a fine specimen of horseflesh. Painted in a deep cobalt hue, he fell from a line of palomino mares, extracting his coloring from his sire's gene pool. He was a figure of pure muscle from hoof to withers, from whisker to tail. One slender foreleg pawed at the ground, silky mane cascading down in a waterfall effect onto his sinewy neck as he shook his head from side to side, eager to be gone from this dark forest. Slim auditives flicked back towards his rider as his sensitive, paper-thin nares flared impatiently, intelligent, wide-set eyes taking in his surroundings.
Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau gripped the reins tightly with one white gloved fist, holding back the prancing animal cautiously. Just like the horse, she gazed around into the forest as if enemies could be behind every tree. In this respect, they worked together to keep each other safe.
Her other hand rested lightly on a sword hilt, ready to pull the weapon out at a moment's notice. The blade's shimmer attracted too much attention and so she kept it sheathed, but she felt more reassured when in contact with something so familiar in the midst of such strangeness.
Chancing one last glance around, she was finally satisfied. "Alright," she said softly, letting an inch or so of rein slip through her fingers. The horse leaped forward eagerly, though was careful not to take advantage of her gentle hands. He kept to the consistent canter they'd set since the day before, hooves producing a quiet thunder when they collided with the tightly packed mud the forest had grown over. Alanna shifted forward into a two-point, leaning over his neck to take her weight off his back.
They were not supposed to be in so far deep. And in the truth of it all, it was not supposed to be her. This was George's mission. But he'd taken an enemy arrow in the side and so she rode against his wishes to Scanra. For George, it would not have been such a dangerous mission. He knew how to blend in, how to conceal his identity, how to finesse certain situations. She knew none of this, which was why it was lucky that the person she had to find was not someone she had to worry about seeing through her façade. Instead, she just had to worry about what could happen to her on the way there.
She leaned her weight back as they came to the end of the forest, half-halting gently. Ransom slid to an abrupt stop, bringing his haunches up underneath him and for a moment appearing to be one of the 'dancing horses' the Court ladies rode. They stood for a moment, the horse chomping on the bit irritably. The lady knight ran a hand down his neck soothingly, staring out across the open field with a certain amount of trepidation. She didn't like the open target she'd become if she rode out there with no cover. But she had no other choice.
George wouldn't hesitate, Alanna told herself. Taking a deep breath, she set her chin in determination, clicking her tongue ever-so-softly. The thought of her husband, lying somewhere in a bed being tended to, his life hanging in the balance, brought things into perspective. The faster she finished this mission, the faster she could return to him. And all the more faster she could avoid the wrath of a king who didn't know it was not his most trusted spy out here smack dab in the middle of Scanra and she could leave this country that had given her the creeps and caused the hair on the back of her neck to rise the moment she'd crossed the border.
The first lady knight in over a century had never backed down before. And so she rode forward at a brisk trot, keeping her eyes and ears open for something, anything. The feeling in the pit of her stomach grew worse, and somehow she knew she would not be allowed to pass without trouble.
It was Ransom that caught the sound of hoofbeats first. The colt whirled around, tail lashing behind him as he stared down three approaching horsemen. Alanna unwillingly tightened her grip on the reins, adrenaline surging through her veins. The horse yielded to his mistress's command, backing up a few steps, although every muscle in his body was tense and anxious. She flexed her right rein to pull him sideways, ready to flee at any moment.
The three horsemen stopped a good while away, though within hearing distance. She remained silent, realizing there was no way she could hide her identity. Her flaming locks framed her face, her purple eyes shone through the cloudy day, and the hilt at her waist was finely made. If they didn't know who she was, Fate smiled too fondly upon her. Finally, the apparent leader of the three spoke. "Why is a lioness so far from home?" The words were snarled more than said and Alanna blinked, wondering if she was supposed to be intimidated by his tone. If that was his intent, it was a poor effort indeed, for she instead felt an urge to laugh in his face.
"I simply lost my way," she called back. At the sound of her familiar voice, Ransom settled down, though his ears displayed his alertness.
"Your way lies with us, that way," he replied, pointing.
"I don't think so," she said sweetly, a polite smile flickering briefly across her face.
He returned the smile, though his was anything but polite. "It all depends on you under what terms you travel."
She lifted her chin, smiling grimly this time. "You want me? Come and claim me!" Ransom caught the urgency in her voice and a pair of slender forelegs tucked under his chest as he half-reared. Alanna unsheathed her sword in one swift motion, raised it high above her head, and then turned Ransom's head to the north, sending him forward.
She didn't need to look back to know they were being followed. But there was no way their horses could catch Ransom; he was one of the finest horses in all of Tortall. She gave him his head as he thundered across the field, flattening herself against his neck. It was moments like these that made her a knight, bravery like this that came from instinct and pure lack of thought. She could almost forget her pursuers as she briefly lost herself in Ransom's joy to be flying. Because they were flying. Alanna couldn't even feel when the colt's hooves hit the ground. Her knuckles scrubbed needlessly against his neck; he was already giving her all he had. But somehow he found more, as if recognizing her urgent plea and their shared interest in leaving these three fools in the dust created by this headlong flight. His strides lengthened, eating up the ground in an effort to put more distance between them and their pursuers.
Neither of them saw the added threat. Alanna heard the sound though and as Ransom shied to the side, she had time for one panicked thought. Archers!
Then she hit the ground and everything went black.
Just a little prologue ;) Alanna went on one of George's spy missions cause he was badly injured and Jon doesn't know and now she's been captured, to summarize it up quickly for ya. Anyone catch the LotR reference? lurved that scene.
Hmm what happens next! I kinda know, do you? :) reviews! Please! I even love flames :-P
love, linza