Alex of Tirragen
Two/Three

Author's notes: Yeah, I know. I take forever to update, but I wanted to say something. I'm going to put this story in one chapter because its going to be just one chapter, so when I update, it'll be added to this chapter. Also, I have all my stories and etc. on my website: Please visit?


I watched him swing the lady about the ballroom. Delia, courting and capturing the hearts of every boy…except mines. My heart is already reserved for another.

I carefully eyed the red-haired boy that swung the bitch around. It was hard to tell, but he was definitely a girl. It hurt me a little that "Alan" had told the prince her secret, that she trusted the prince. She trusted the other boys of their group too: Gary, Raoul, and the others. But she doesn't trust me. No, not me. She already suspects me because I'm Roger's squire...

Ah Roger. He is like a father to me. He uses me, but I love him as if he were my father. He acts cold sometimes, but he isn't really that evil. He loves me; he tries not to show it, but he really does. Sometimes in the corner of my eye, I can see him watching me, wishing that he didn't have to put me through this. But I love him and that's why I'm helping him capture the throne.

Alex of Tirragen closed the diary and tossed it into the flames. As the tongues of fire lapped around the book, burning it into cinders, he recalled his memories as a squire.

Alanna, still clothed like a boy, stepped through the dance timidly. She hated to dance and her face showed it. Alex smiled at the memory. She pouted as she swirled the lady around. Delia, that bitch. She leaned herself closer to Alanna, placing her delicate head on the girl's tightly bound chest. She smiled with victory as she was led around the dance floor, her eyes bright with victory. That whore. Alex frowned at the memory of Delia. Frustrated, he recalled another memory; one of Roger.

The fire before him crackled. He glanced at Roger, sitting in another chair beside him. The older man smiled, a true genuine smile. Not the deadly smirk that he gave Jonathon or the manipulative smile that he turned on Delia, but a real fatherly smile, that as far as Alex knew, Roger never showed. The smile gave Alex a great feeling of acceptance and love because Roger was the only one who ever really cared for Alex like a father; like the father that Alex never had.

The diary gave one last pop in the fireplace before being completely engulfed. The sound brought Alex back to reality. He didn't need those memories anymore. Emotions are a weakness. He had learned that the hard way. He will help Roger finish his plans and then he'll disappear from court. Alex planned to return to training as a Shang again. He doubted that they will accept him at such an age, but it was worth a try.

Alex smiled sadly, for it would be his last. Alanna is coming back today to witness her beloved's crowning. And what a surprise she will have.


Alex walked freely about the castle. Despite his involvement with Roger, he wasn't sentenced to any sort of punishment because the people believed that he was under some sort of trance, which was absurd. He gave his last farewells to the things he would miss: the bedroom, in which he spent his years as a page in; the cafeteria, which he would never dine in again; the field, where he first learn to joust; the pool of water, where he played with his friends in the summer; and even the arena, in which he had pinned Alanna to the ground, almost killing her. After the events of tonight, he would never see these things again.

At last, he turned a corner in the hallway and knocked on the door of the soon-to-be-king. "Come in," said an exasperated voice. He opened the door softly, giving a quick peek before swinging the door fully open. A handsome man was still working through papers as Alex entered. The man looked up and as soon as he recognized the guest, he grinned. Although Jonathon had stolen Alanna's heart, Alex was still quite fond of the prince.

"Still memorizing your lines, your majesty?" taunted Alex. It looked as if Jonathon hadn't had any sleep for a few days. The prince waved his hand lightly in the air. "You need not call me that. I'm not king yet." The knight looked over Jonathon's clothes and sighed. He didn't want to help his friend into his death clothes but time forced him too.


After a quick dress, the prince looked himself over in the mirror. Alex sat on the bed, staring at the man. So this was the man who took Alanna's heart away. Dressed in blue and gold, Jonathon was certainly a sight. His handsome features even outshone Roger's, which was quite an accomplishment. Ruffling his ebony hair, the prince turned his head to face Alex. "How do I look?"

"Like an idiot, your majesty," Alex replied in a teasing tone. The statement caused Jonathon to turn red, but he was too tired to fight back. The prince sighed and flopped down on the bed next to Alex.

"Remember our days with as a page, Alex?" he said after a period of silence, his face still buried in the bed.

"Yes, your majesty, I do."

"What did you see in the Ordeal?" he asked slowly.

He might as well tell the prince since Alex would never see him again. Without turning to face his old friend, Alex recited the events of the Ordeal. "First, my father was whipping me as I lied on a table, my back bare." Jonathon grimaced, remembering the scars on Alex's back. "Then I saw my mother pinned to a cross. She was calling my name and I tried to reach her, but there were chains on my feet. My father was at the foot of the cross, grinning with a torch in one hand. He threw down the torch and burned my mother. The whole time, she was screaming my name and I couldn't do anything." Jonathon winced and opened his mouth to say something but Alex continued. "Afterwards, I was in a sword fight with Alanna. I think Roger was behind me because I heard his voice scream my name before Alanna was about to kill me. The Ordeal ended before her sword touched me." For the last time, silence enveloped the two men.

Alex felt Jonathon slowly get up from the bed. Standing with his back to Alex, the prince started, "Alex-"

"It is nothing, your majesty. That was years ago, it hardly hurts anymore." Jonathon turned around to speak but the words wouldn't leave his open mouth. It was true. There were not tears on his companion's face. Any man recalling such a memory should have shed at least one tear. Before he could say anything else, a maid suddenly burst into the room.

Her face was flushed and her hair drenched in sweat, but she still managed a shaky curtsy. "Your majesty, it is time."

Jonathon sighed. "Of course it is." Addressing the knight, he said, "Maybe we'll continue this another time Alex."

"Maybe. But for now, you must get going. Good bye, your majesty." Alex said solemnly. The prince nodded. "I understand. Good bye, Sir Alex." With that, Prince Jonathon walked out the door, only moments away from king.

The moment Jonathon left the door, Alex collapsed on the bed, his eyes brimming with tears that he had held back when the prince was present. The maid reappeared at the door.

"By the way Sir Alex, Alanna has arrived. Would you like to meet her? She's in the courtyard." Concealing his tears, Alex raised himself from the bed. "Yes, I supposed I would but not now. I have to prepare for the coronation." The maid bobbed her head and rushed out of the room. Taking the room in with his eyes for the last time, Sir Alex walked out the room for the last time.