I do NOT under any circumstances own the Tortall books, or any of the characters in them, though I wish I did.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Gunfire rang in her ears as she lay there helpless. There was nothing more to do, the only option left was to just give up and die. She grimaced, thinking about the bullet wound she had received in her abdomen. It hurt, but the pain was slowly becoming duller, just like her sight and hearing. Her mind blurred as the darkness crept up on it. She sighed, just letting death come.

Ana-Mara Julio was a queen; but not in the sense we think of queens being. No, she was the queen of a gang. The very feared gang called 'The Deadly Rose'. She had done terrible things to get to that position. For a while she felt amazingly guilty for the crimes she had committed, but after a few years, she just stopped feeling. She had never wanted the life of a gangster, but growing up where she did, in the poor areas of L.A., she had little choice. Her older brother had entered the gang scene and then pulled her into it. She didn't love her life, and she didn't hate it either. She liked the adrenaline rush she got when preparing to face down Ninth Street or jacking a record number of cars in one night. Tonight had been one of those nights. An adventure night, but it had turned out a nightmare. Somehow Ninth Street had found out and set a trap. Of course both gangs started firing. Ninth Street because the Deadly Rose had figured it out so fast and the Deadly Rose because they were pissed at Ninth Street.

Mara felt her life slip away as she heard sirens turning the corner. A silver mist enveloped her as her breath caught and stopped.

IN TORTALL

Alanna sighed; she hated balls with passion. She sighed again, not knowing her night was about to get a lot more interesting. Suddenly a silver mist entered the center of the room. Slowly it disappeared, leaving a body in it wake. The red haired knight pushed through the crowd to get to it. When she reached it she stopped dead. There was a girl lying there. She wore strange cloths and had a strange piece of metal in her hand. Her black hair covered her face, showing only bits and pieces of the tan skin under it.

The girl stood up slowly. Some of the ladies screamed. She took a step towards Alanna, but stumbled, falling to her knees. She stood up once again, clutching her hand to her stomach. Only then did Alanna notice the horrific amount of blood pouring out from between her fingers.

"Help. Please, help." the girl whispered hoarsely. Then she fell again. By now the the knight had had gotten over her shock and rushed to the girl's side, hands glowing purple and she fought to save her life.

When Mara woke up she was staring at a white ceiling lying on a soft comfortable bed. I must be in heaven. She thought. Someone leaned over her and she found herself staring into an unnerving purple.

"Well hello. You've been out for sometime now. Thought we'd loose you for a while there." a lady's voice said. "Hey, Baird! The girls woken up!" An older man walked up.

"Good day, miss..." he trailed off, not knowing her name. Mara sat up, ignoring the pain that shot through her.

"Ana-Mara Julio, Queen of the Deadly Rose. Bu', ya can call me Mara fo' short." she answered, her spanish accent thick.

"What's the Deadly Rose?" the purple eyed lady asked.

"It's the gang I'm in." Mara answered simply. Baird's eyes widened a little bit at that.

"Oh, forgive us. We haven't introduced our selves yet. This is the chief palace healer, Duke Baird of Queenscove. And I'm Lady Knight, Alanna of Pirates Swoop and Olua."

"You're a knight?" Mara sputtered. Alana nodded, amused. "I thought girls couldn't become knights."

"Well, they didn't know I was a girl while training." Oh. Well, that answers that. Mara concluded.

Now Duke Baird stepped in. "Miss Mara, you need to be getting some rest. You just about died. Luckily Alanna's magic reserves were full and I was here. Now get some rest." he said sternly.

Mara nodded, then realized what he had said. "Wait, magic?" she whispered as sleep pulled her into it's dark ocean.