The Song Of The Rose

Jaelawyn Noble [ Jaelawyn@attbi.com ]

Disclaimer: Love 'em, dun own 'em
Pairing: Alanna/Jonathan
Rating: PG-13
Note: DDA. Dark, Depressed, Angst. I'm in the mood to write something like this... For some reason, I feel like dying... *eyes arm* I'll try and be good... No promises... JaeJae sick.... *sighs and writes her DDA* Also... I got this idea from a ReBoot writer. Don't hurt me... I liked her/his idea and made it Tortall.

~

A single red rose petal flew through the air.

Alanna looked at it. She knew what it meant. She knew what it meant when rose petals flew through the sky. The gods were weeping. Weeping for the loss of one great person. One whom was dying. It was tragic.

She walked around the street of Corus. No one seemed to notice her. Years before the Scanran War, people would have stopped her and gushed on how much they loved her. Every now and then, a man would try and propose to her. She would only have to wave her left hand, and they'd leave.

She smiled, pushing her vibrant red hair away from her eyes. Nothing seemed to have changed. Not much, anyway. The people still owned the streets, children still stole for their meals, women in tight dresses still stood in doorways... She walked past the Dancing Dove. It was nothing more than a burnt down frame of wood, soot, and charred cloth. It had exploded from the ale and wine when the Scanrans had laid siege to Tortall almost seventeen years ago.

Seventeen years...

Had it been that long already?

Alanna shook her head, hands in her pockets. Seventeen years... Amazing. In those seventeen years, a memorial made of marble and jade had been erected. It was in remembrance of those who had fought so bravely in the war. Scanran had been beaten, but at a price that was larger than even the Immortals War. The gods hadn't intervened. The immortals stayed out of it... And everything was how it was suppose to be.

Alanna looked at the names. Amazing that almost all of Tortall had died in this war. The rivers had gone red with the blood of millions of innocents and solders who had died... Died for freedom and for their country. Alanna saw a name that made her want to cry. She touched it, outlining the carefully carved letters that were inlaid with gold... The gold that represented a noble.

She didn't know how long she stood there, fingers on the name, tears coursing down her cheeks. Long enough for the day to pass by. Long enough for her to want to put her job off as long as possible. The job that had brought her back to Tortall... The one place she hadn't been for many years. Longer than seventeen... Longer than twenty.

She turned away from the memorial, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her white gown. She turned toward the Temple Way. Up towards the palace she walked. It was time for her to visit an old friend. One whom she should have been here to protect. Yet, he had lived anyway. He was lucky... The luck that the gods had granted him, though, was at an end.

It was time to see Jonathan.

~

Roald watched his father as he slept in his bed peacefully. His mother had died not too long ago... Maybe only two years. He didn't recall. And it was strange... The Great King of Tortall that had beaten back the savage Scanrans and killed all of them who set foot on Tortallan soil didn't even mourn her.

Was it true, then? What all the court said? That his father had only married Thayet for lust? To spite an old lover... One who married his best friend? They were old wounds, Roald knew. He also knew better than to try an open them... They'd burn as badly as if you'd poured salt and vinegar on them.

Neal came in. "Roald?" he asked softly. He looked up. In the doorway, all of his fellow knights and friends were there. He smiled shakily. "How's the king?"

Roald drew a breath. "Not much longer now... At least he will be out of his pain."

Neal nodded. Kel, Fal, Cleon, Merric, Owen and others came in. They offered their condolences. All Roald wanted was for them to shut up so that he could try and focus on his father - the great king that was dying. Kel knew what was going through his head. She motioned for them all to hush.

Then Jonathan awoke. "R...Roald?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm here, father..." he said, holding his father's cold hand.

Jonathan's head turned toward the door. They noticed his tired blue eyes open. "Alanna..." he breathed.

Roald choked back a cry. His father had forgotten. She had abandoned them all. The baron had killed himself not two days after Alanna had left. Thom had turned cruel and only worried about himself and his Gift. Alianne had become a murderer and had killed her own twin. Pirate's Swoop was in ruin.

Jonathan gasped in pain. "It hurts," he murmured.

"Papa... Please! Don't!" Roald cried. He didn't care that he looked like a child. He didn't want his father to go.

Jonathan smiled softly. "I love you," he said, his voice light.

"Papa... Oh gods, don't do this to me!" Roald cried. "I love you... Gods dammit! I love you Papa! Don't leave me!"

Jonathan was jerked out of his trance like state. "Roald... You are my son. You know how to rule. It's in your blood. You will be a great king..."

"Not as great as you..." he whispered.

Jonathan reached out toward the doorway. "Take me," he whispered out.

And his eyes closed, and his hand dropped. Roald cried out, sobbing.

~

Alanna stood close to the door as she watched her dearest friend.

Jonathan...

He was dying. Not to ever see another sunrise again. She remembered the first time they had made love. He had woken her up before dawn... Wrapping a blanket and his arms around her. They walked out onto the balcony in his room. Together they watched the sun come up. He had said that the sun represented everything that was beginning anew... The moon represented things that died, but continued to live.

Now, she smiled as he looked towards her. "Alanna..." he murmured.

"Hey love," she said, smiling sadly at him. He was in pain... Everyone who looked at him could see it. That was the sad thing. He used to be so strong and proud. Now... Now he was a shadow of the man he used to be.

He gasped in pain. "It hurts," he whispered.

Alanna walked over to him, kneeling by his side. "It won't hurt that much anymore. I promise, lover. It'll be fine soon."

He smiled softly, saying in a light voice. "I love you..."

Alanna nodded and walked over to the door. "Now, say your good byes. It won't be easy for them."

"Papa... Oh gods, don't do this to me!" Roald cried. "I love you... Gods dammit! I love you Papa! Don't leave me!"

Jon looked at his son, love in his gaze. "Roald... You are my son. You know how to rule. It's in your blood. You will be a great king..."

"Not as great as you..." he whispered.

Jonathan sighed. "Take me," he whispered to her, hand outstretched.

Alanna winced. "All right love..." She took his hand, and then everything went dark.

And then, light burst into the room where the Crown Prince - now king - sat there, crying.

But the sun brought the new... While the night took the old.

And as the sunlight reached Corus City, it fell upon the monument, outlining the one name that Alanna had touched earlier.

"Alanna the Lioness of Pirate's Swoop, Trebond, Olau... May you forever be kept in peace...."