Chapter 1

A delicate, rather expensive vase smashed against the door and fell onto the floor in pieces. An enraged Alanna stood glaring at said door, the very one her father had left through after telling his children his plans for their future.

"What is this crap? I can't believe the nerve of that man. Agh!" Alanna screamed with rage and in one swift and deft motion of her arm, swept the contents of her father's desk onto the floor. She didn't even wince at the sound of breaking glass or the ink that splattered across the costly carpet.

"Please Alanna, calm down," her twin brother Thom meekly said from the corner in which he was cowering in. He loved his sister but she was awfully scary when she got into a rage like this. "You wouldn't want to upset father."

"Ha!" the red-haired, violet-eyed girl threw back her head and laughed. She tugged at one of the bookcases in the room and succeeded in toppling the whole thing and the books onto the floor. "Upset? Him? The only thing he would be upset about is if I burned his books, which is quite tempting right now…" An evil look came into her eyes. The thought was tantalizing sweet. Thom sighed and went over to his sister. In looks they were exactly alike, with Thom being some few inches taller than his sister, but personality wise they were complete opposites. Thom always thought that Alanna should have been born the boy, and he the girl.

Their father had called them into his study that afternoon to tell them of the schools he had enrolled them in. For Thom, their father had enrolled him in the most prestigious school in Tortall, Conte d'Royale, most notable for its fencing and equestrian departments; for Alanna, a high-ranking, religious, all-girls school. Thom had seen the stubborn set of Alanna's jaw after hearing the news and knew that a storm would soon follow.

While Alanna was now looking thoughtfully at the hi-tech, expensive computer determining how easily it would break, Thom tried to reason with her.

"Come on Alanna, it can't be that bad. I have it worse! I'll be expected to take part in all that sword-fighting crap and other physical sports. I hate all of that!" Thom exclaimed.

"You think you have it bad? At least you have a choice! You can sit inside and study and not do any of that! I have to wear a skirt! I can't do fencing or ride a horse! I can't take camping trips or play field hockey! I won't be able to do what I love! I'm going to be learning how to be a good mother and wife! What the hell is up with that? I mean are we seriously in the medieval ages or something?" She turned around, lifted up the desk and threw it against the wall, making a noticeable dent.

"Just the idea of being surrounded by a bunch of giggly girls makes me sick! No boys to joke around with. The nearest guys are at that Tech School down the road..." A light bulb suddenly sprung up in her mind.

"Wait a minute! What if we switch places?"

"Huh?" Thom was thoroughly confused.

"You write a letter to that stupid girl's school and say there was a misunderstanding and that you were supposed to be enrolled in the Tech School, and I'll take your place at Conte d'Royale. Your handwriting looks exactly the same as fathers!"

"Are you crazy?" Thom exclaimed. "Conte d'Royale is traditionally a boy's school! How the hell are you going to mascaraed as a boy for four years?"

"It'll be easy." Alanna said excitedly as she paced up and down in front of her brother. "I don't even have a girls figure so that'll be easy to hide. I'll just cut my hair in a guy's style but long enough that it will cover some of my face. No problem."

"But what about sharing a dorm room and going camping and swimming and one thousand other things that could go wrong?"

"I can say that I have some sort of medical condition that prevents me from going swimming. And I can always request to switch to a single room." Alanna answered, her plan becoming more appealing and more possible with each second.

"I don't like this at all Alanna," Thom tried to sway his sister's mind. "I know the Conte school accepts girls but no girl has ever been accepted. And if you go ahead with this crazy scheme and dress up as a boy, what will you do if you get caught? Because I know you will get caught."

Alanna sighed again and looked into her brother's eyes, as purple and shining as her own.

"Thom," she huffed and placed her hand on her hip, adopting a pose Thom knew too well, one where she would stubbornly stand until she won an argument.

"Let's put it this way alright? Other people have told us how to live our lives for fourteen years. Our lives! Father won't have to live my life. And he certainly won't have to live yours. Why should we leave it up to him? Don't you think it's time to do things our way?" Thom hesitated. It was his dream to become a top engineer and start his own mechanical engineering company. His whole room was filled with design plans, books and models of many buildings and machines. This was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He would be better off if he attended the Tech School to learn the trade he so loved.

"Yes Alanna I do think it is about time we start making our own choices. I'm in." he said with a small smile. "But if you get caught, then I never had anything to do with this ok?" Alanna violently grabbed him by the shoulders and hugged him until he was out of air. He was bigger than her but she was stronger.

"Ah-laaan-naaaa," he choked out.

"Oh sorry!" Alanna let go and spun around the room. "Just watch me Thom I'll become the greatest student that stuck-up school has ever had. It'll be easy!" As she continued to spin, she proceeded to fall over the desk she had previously thrown.

Thom groaned. Not a great start.