"Ouch! Damn it, what is the point of this…this folly? Why do I need to do embroidery? Why, Maude, why?" cried Alanna of Trebond as she sucked her bleeding thumb
" Alanna! Put your thumb out of your mouth! You shall never do that in front of your suitors, you understand? Never!" scolded Maude, her caretaker, pushing Alanna's thumb away from her mouth.
"Alright, alright, no need to get mad. But Maude, I simply do not see the point of this! Why do I need to learn sewing? It certainly won't help me when I'm in battles, fighting. I mean, I can't exactly kill people with a thread and needle can I?" complained Alanna.
"Alanna, how many times have I--"
Suddenly a Daughter of the Goddess, knocked on the door. " Pardon me, Lady Alanna but the Head Daughter of She Who Rules Us All wishes to see you. If you shall come with me", she gestured towards the door. Alanna followed the Daughter of the Goddess, healing her thumb with her Gift. Why did the Head Daughter of the Goddess wish to see her? Had she done something wrong?
Deeply involved in her thoughts, she didn't know that they had arrived in the Head Daughter rooms until she heard the Head Daughter's voice. "Sit down, Alanna." She obeyed. "Alanna", sighed the Head Daughter," The Grand Ball is being held at the palace in Corus. It is time for you to meet suitors who shall marry you." Alanna snapped out of her thoughts immediately. "But, Head Daughter, I am too young", she protested putting on a sad face.
But the Head Daughter was not easily tricked "No, Alanna those tricks will not work on me. You are a young woman now. It is time, Alanna dear child. Your future awaits you." Although, the Head Daughter did not tell her this, she had always been fond of this redheaded girl with her violet eyes. She had bought her laughter over the past 6 years at the convent.
"But Head Daughter," pleaded Alanna, " I-I- haven't acquired the skills that a lady---" The Head Daughter interrupted her. "No, I cannot let you stay any longer. I am sorry child, but your time has come. I have already sent horses to take you and Maude to Corus. The Grand Ball shall be held in a week's time. Please Alanna, you shall never achieve your dreams as a warrior maiden if you remain here. Now go." The Head daughter dismissed her with a wave of her hand.
Alanna trudged back to her rooms. Maude had packed their bags, while Alanna had been gone.
"Now, Alanna look on the bright side of things. At least you will get to see your brother Thom! And then you can ask him about weapons and archery and all those other fighting things you are so interested in. Which you will not demonstrate at the Grand Ball", added Maude sternly.
" Alright, alright. I guess it will be wonderful to see Thom again." Alanna suddenly grinned, her violet eyes dancing wickedly " And I can tease him when I ducked his head in the fish pond when we were little! You know what, Maude? This isn't looking so bad after all!"
Squire Thom of Trebond was lying on his bed, reading a book when his friends came by his room. "Hey Thom, do you want to go to the Dancing Dove with us?" asked the man with curly black hair and dark eyes. "No thanks Raoul, I want to finish this book, before I have to go and serve at the Grand Ball" replied Thom. "The Grand Ball," Raoul of Golden Lake and Malorie's Peak groaned. "Mithros, somebody tell me why we have these? I'd rather be in Scanran than go to the Grand Ball!"
Gareth of Naxen, the Younger, answered him. " So we can go and see if there are any young beautiful maidens to court. I want to actually speak to one of them before all of them notice Jon and flock to him like geese. That's one of the disadvantages of having a Prince as your cousin. They notice him, instead of you."
Jonathon of Conté protested " It's not my fault that they all come to me. You should thank me, Gary." "Thank you!?" Gary said in disbelief.
"Yes" replied his cousin. " Sure some of them are beautiful, but sometimes they talk about the most boring things in the world. They flirt with you and when you say something, they giggle annoyingly. And that's not the worst part of all. It's when you have to dance with them."
"But think of all those beautiful, vulnerable women surrounding you!" exclaimed Gary "Shouldn't you be use to it, Jon?" asked Thom curiously.
" Yeah he's got a point," agreed Raoul " After all you are Prince Jonathon of Conté, the MOST handsomest man at the Tortallan Court."
"Arggh, don't remind me" said the prince in disgust. " I want a break from all of this. For once I would like to meet a Lady who is interested in weapons and wars, instead of one talking about poems, marveling at me because I'm the Prince. I guess there will never be such a lady", he sighed.
"Don't worry, Jon. Surely you can find a lady that will ---" Thom stopped in mid-sentence.
"What's wrong?" asked a concerned Raoul.
"I just remembered, my sister's the same age as me."
"So what? You're both 16. Wow." said Gary bitterly.
"You don't understand," whispered Thom " my sister's 16. It means that it's time for her to come to the court. She'll probably be arriving here in a few days' time. I'll be able to see her!" he said excitedly. "My sister's coming! I'll be able to see her! After 6 years!" Gary, Jonathon and Raoul exchanged glances. They had never seen Thom this excited about anything, except for sorcery lessons.
Thom wasn't taking notice. He told them, "Wait till you meet her. I guarantee that you'll be surprised. Just you wait!"
A few days later after travelling in and out of towns, Alanna and Maude arrived at the palace in the capital of Tortall. They were escorted to their rooms and then left alone. "Maude, I'm going to have a look around is that alright? Maude?" Alanna turned to face her, only to discover that she was already snoring gently. Smiling Alanna left her caretaker in her room and closed the door quietly behind her. She decided to wander around the palace, to see if she could have a reunion with her twin brother Thom. As she let her feet carry her around; her head was filled with questions. Would Thom be the Thom she knew from her child hood days from Trebond? Would he be more arrogant? Would he be awkward to talk to? She was so busy thinking, that she did not realised she had bumped into someone, until she felt herself being steadied.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, I did not mean to." She pulled away and curtsied, with her face down as she had been taught at the convent, while her face was blushing furiously. A deep voice answered her.
" It's alright. Don't worry about it." Alanna turned to face her speaker. He was half a head taller than she was, with black coal hair and brilliant blue sapphire eyes. His nose was straight and proud and laughter was in his eyes.
He's very handsome, thought Alanna. I wonder who this young man is.
"I haven't seen you before. Where might you be from?" he asked.
"Trebond, sir. My caretaker and I just arrived today." She replied, looking anywhere but him. Not even a full day in Corus and she had already embarrassed herself!
"Lady…?" She supplied her name. " Lady Alanna, sir". Then feeling a bit more comfortable she asked, "May I be so bold to ask your name sir?" Her speaker, it seemed was a bit amused by her question and he seemed to know something that she didn't, but she didn't care. " It's Jonathon." She frowned. It sounded familiar. Very familiar. Where had she heard it?
Noticing that he was staring at her intently, she decided that it was time to make her escape. " I thank you for your kind manner sir and I am sorry about the accident." She curtsied and then walked quickly past him.
"Wait" he called out" do you know your way around here?" She didn't, but she wasn't so sure if she should trust this kind stranger. Come on, said her daring self, how often do you get to spend the day with a glorious guy, hmm? You could ask him about Thom. He might know him.
"Well, no sir" she replied slowly. Jonathon seemed pleased by her answer and offered to show her around the palace, lending his arm. He showed her stables, the Royal Menagerie, the Royal Forest and the practice courts.
Throughout the day, she told him about herself, about her family, why she was here and stories at the convent, some of them making him laugh hysterically. She discovered however, that Jonathon did not reveal much about himself. Except that he had the Gift and he was a knight at the palace, something that she was VERY interested in, he remained quiet. The embarrassment had disappeared and she was comfortable enough to made jokes, some at which he found amusing. He asked her opinion on things and she spoke her mind out about them, something that he liked about her, it seemed. He was fascinated about her knowledge about weapons and they had long discussions about wars and battles in the past. As the hours went by, she forgot all her lessons to court young men and instead enjoyed just having a friend.
Finally the sunset began to show and Alanna knew it was time to go back to her rooms. "Well, I guess I better go back otherwise Maude will have a fit" she said reluctantly.
"Oh, do you have to go? We were having such a wonderful time." He glanced at her and sighed " yeah, I suppose you better. I wouldn't want you getting into trouble. Will I see you again?" he asked.
"Unfortunately you will", she said with a grin, when he laughed " I'll be scouting around tomorrow trying to find Thom and seeing if I can spot anybody practicing in the practice courts. Also I'll be at the Grand Ball" she groaned. " Goddess, help me. Will you be there?" she asked him, hopefully.
"Yes I will be. If you see me, please come and talk to me. Otherwise if you don't, then I shall be most displeased. Well goodnight Lady Alanna", he said with a smile, a smile that melted her heart. "It has been a pleasure talking to you and I hope to see you soon" With this, he took her hand and kissed it gently, then walked away.
Wow, I never had a more wonderful time, she thought while watching him walk away, I certainly hope to see HIM soon.
" Alanna! Put your thumb out of your mouth! You shall never do that in front of your suitors, you understand? Never!" scolded Maude, her caretaker, pushing Alanna's thumb away from her mouth.
"Alright, alright, no need to get mad. But Maude, I simply do not see the point of this! Why do I need to learn sewing? It certainly won't help me when I'm in battles, fighting. I mean, I can't exactly kill people with a thread and needle can I?" complained Alanna.
"Alanna, how many times have I--"
Suddenly a Daughter of the Goddess, knocked on the door. " Pardon me, Lady Alanna but the Head Daughter of She Who Rules Us All wishes to see you. If you shall come with me", she gestured towards the door. Alanna followed the Daughter of the Goddess, healing her thumb with her Gift. Why did the Head Daughter of the Goddess wish to see her? Had she done something wrong?
Deeply involved in her thoughts, she didn't know that they had arrived in the Head Daughter rooms until she heard the Head Daughter's voice. "Sit down, Alanna." She obeyed. "Alanna", sighed the Head Daughter," The Grand Ball is being held at the palace in Corus. It is time for you to meet suitors who shall marry you." Alanna snapped out of her thoughts immediately. "But, Head Daughter, I am too young", she protested putting on a sad face.
But the Head Daughter was not easily tricked "No, Alanna those tricks will not work on me. You are a young woman now. It is time, Alanna dear child. Your future awaits you." Although, the Head Daughter did not tell her this, she had always been fond of this redheaded girl with her violet eyes. She had bought her laughter over the past 6 years at the convent.
"But Head Daughter," pleaded Alanna, " I-I- haven't acquired the skills that a lady---" The Head Daughter interrupted her. "No, I cannot let you stay any longer. I am sorry child, but your time has come. I have already sent horses to take you and Maude to Corus. The Grand Ball shall be held in a week's time. Please Alanna, you shall never achieve your dreams as a warrior maiden if you remain here. Now go." The Head daughter dismissed her with a wave of her hand.
Alanna trudged back to her rooms. Maude had packed their bags, while Alanna had been gone.
"Now, Alanna look on the bright side of things. At least you will get to see your brother Thom! And then you can ask him about weapons and archery and all those other fighting things you are so interested in. Which you will not demonstrate at the Grand Ball", added Maude sternly.
" Alright, alright. I guess it will be wonderful to see Thom again." Alanna suddenly grinned, her violet eyes dancing wickedly " And I can tease him when I ducked his head in the fish pond when we were little! You know what, Maude? This isn't looking so bad after all!"
Squire Thom of Trebond was lying on his bed, reading a book when his friends came by his room. "Hey Thom, do you want to go to the Dancing Dove with us?" asked the man with curly black hair and dark eyes. "No thanks Raoul, I want to finish this book, before I have to go and serve at the Grand Ball" replied Thom. "The Grand Ball," Raoul of Golden Lake and Malorie's Peak groaned. "Mithros, somebody tell me why we have these? I'd rather be in Scanran than go to the Grand Ball!"
Gareth of Naxen, the Younger, answered him. " So we can go and see if there are any young beautiful maidens to court. I want to actually speak to one of them before all of them notice Jon and flock to him like geese. That's one of the disadvantages of having a Prince as your cousin. They notice him, instead of you."
Jonathon of Conté protested " It's not my fault that they all come to me. You should thank me, Gary." "Thank you!?" Gary said in disbelief.
"Yes" replied his cousin. " Sure some of them are beautiful, but sometimes they talk about the most boring things in the world. They flirt with you and when you say something, they giggle annoyingly. And that's not the worst part of all. It's when you have to dance with them."
"But think of all those beautiful, vulnerable women surrounding you!" exclaimed Gary "Shouldn't you be use to it, Jon?" asked Thom curiously.
" Yeah he's got a point," agreed Raoul " After all you are Prince Jonathon of Conté, the MOST handsomest man at the Tortallan Court."
"Arggh, don't remind me" said the prince in disgust. " I want a break from all of this. For once I would like to meet a Lady who is interested in weapons and wars, instead of one talking about poems, marveling at me because I'm the Prince. I guess there will never be such a lady", he sighed.
"Don't worry, Jon. Surely you can find a lady that will ---" Thom stopped in mid-sentence.
"What's wrong?" asked a concerned Raoul.
"I just remembered, my sister's the same age as me."
"So what? You're both 16. Wow." said Gary bitterly.
"You don't understand," whispered Thom " my sister's 16. It means that it's time for her to come to the court. She'll probably be arriving here in a few days' time. I'll be able to see her!" he said excitedly. "My sister's coming! I'll be able to see her! After 6 years!" Gary, Jonathon and Raoul exchanged glances. They had never seen Thom this excited about anything, except for sorcery lessons.
Thom wasn't taking notice. He told them, "Wait till you meet her. I guarantee that you'll be surprised. Just you wait!"
A few days later after travelling in and out of towns, Alanna and Maude arrived at the palace in the capital of Tortall. They were escorted to their rooms and then left alone. "Maude, I'm going to have a look around is that alright? Maude?" Alanna turned to face her, only to discover that she was already snoring gently. Smiling Alanna left her caretaker in her room and closed the door quietly behind her. She decided to wander around the palace, to see if she could have a reunion with her twin brother Thom. As she let her feet carry her around; her head was filled with questions. Would Thom be the Thom she knew from her child hood days from Trebond? Would he be more arrogant? Would he be awkward to talk to? She was so busy thinking, that she did not realised she had bumped into someone, until she felt herself being steadied.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, I did not mean to." She pulled away and curtsied, with her face down as she had been taught at the convent, while her face was blushing furiously. A deep voice answered her.
" It's alright. Don't worry about it." Alanna turned to face her speaker. He was half a head taller than she was, with black coal hair and brilliant blue sapphire eyes. His nose was straight and proud and laughter was in his eyes.
He's very handsome, thought Alanna. I wonder who this young man is.
"I haven't seen you before. Where might you be from?" he asked.
"Trebond, sir. My caretaker and I just arrived today." She replied, looking anywhere but him. Not even a full day in Corus and she had already embarrassed herself!
"Lady…?" She supplied her name. " Lady Alanna, sir". Then feeling a bit more comfortable she asked, "May I be so bold to ask your name sir?" Her speaker, it seemed was a bit amused by her question and he seemed to know something that she didn't, but she didn't care. " It's Jonathon." She frowned. It sounded familiar. Very familiar. Where had she heard it?
Noticing that he was staring at her intently, she decided that it was time to make her escape. " I thank you for your kind manner sir and I am sorry about the accident." She curtsied and then walked quickly past him.
"Wait" he called out" do you know your way around here?" She didn't, but she wasn't so sure if she should trust this kind stranger. Come on, said her daring self, how often do you get to spend the day with a glorious guy, hmm? You could ask him about Thom. He might know him.
"Well, no sir" she replied slowly. Jonathon seemed pleased by her answer and offered to show her around the palace, lending his arm. He showed her stables, the Royal Menagerie, the Royal Forest and the practice courts.
Throughout the day, she told him about herself, about her family, why she was here and stories at the convent, some of them making him laugh hysterically. She discovered however, that Jonathon did not reveal much about himself. Except that he had the Gift and he was a knight at the palace, something that she was VERY interested in, he remained quiet. The embarrassment had disappeared and she was comfortable enough to made jokes, some at which he found amusing. He asked her opinion on things and she spoke her mind out about them, something that he liked about her, it seemed. He was fascinated about her knowledge about weapons and they had long discussions about wars and battles in the past. As the hours went by, she forgot all her lessons to court young men and instead enjoyed just having a friend.
Finally the sunset began to show and Alanna knew it was time to go back to her rooms. "Well, I guess I better go back otherwise Maude will have a fit" she said reluctantly.
"Oh, do you have to go? We were having such a wonderful time." He glanced at her and sighed " yeah, I suppose you better. I wouldn't want you getting into trouble. Will I see you again?" he asked.
"Unfortunately you will", she said with a grin, when he laughed " I'll be scouting around tomorrow trying to find Thom and seeing if I can spot anybody practicing in the practice courts. Also I'll be at the Grand Ball" she groaned. " Goddess, help me. Will you be there?" she asked him, hopefully.
"Yes I will be. If you see me, please come and talk to me. Otherwise if you don't, then I shall be most displeased. Well goodnight Lady Alanna", he said with a smile, a smile that melted her heart. "It has been a pleasure talking to you and I hope to see you soon" With this, he took her hand and kissed it gently, then walked away.
Wow, I never had a more wonderful time, she thought while watching him walk away, I certainly hope to see HIM soon.