Betray and Betrayed
PROLOGUE
Alanna sat uncomfortably down at the hard-backed chair staring at the floor, listening to the charges held against her.
"–impersonating a man, going for their knighthood, and deceiving the entire court and even the king!"
Alanna closed her eyes. How could I have been so stupid! That bastard from Tusaine just had to cut me down my front and I just had to pass out and the healers just had to heal me and discover that I'm a girl!
Alanna, who had been staring at the floor now looked up to the eyes of the king, King Roald, Lord Provost, other random delegates and formal men that Alanna had no clue as to who they were, and lastly Jon.
Jon, on the other hand, was looking everywhere but at Alanna. He looked uncomfortable there, and she could see pain in his face but said nothing. Alanna looked at the interrogator since he had just asked her a question.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked.
"I am asking as to anyone in the palace knowing about your plan," he said with plain disgust.
Alanna looked at all the people there and finally her sight lingered on Jon's face for a second longer than the others. "No, there was no one who knew. This was all my fault," she replied. Worst than that lie was the fact that Jon did nothing about what she was saying and worst; he wasn't even going to admit that he knew about her secret. That had hurt Alanna more than anything that the gossipers were going to say.
Through their two years together as squire and knight-master, Alanna and Jon had grown close. Actually, just mere nights ago, Alanna and Jon had told each other that they loved each other. Now, however, she could see that those feelings were probably nothing more than a crush.
Finally returning to the current situation, the fifteen year old red head listened to her punishments. All around her she could see the people debating as to whether or not to give her the death penalty. Finally Lord Provost stood up and went over to the king to tell him their decision.
King Roald stood up and after hearing what Lord Provost had to say, cleared his throat.
"Lady Alanna of Trebond, the charges against you are great. How do you plead to all of the charges against you?"
"I plead guilty you Majesty," said Alanna, not even caring about her fate anymore since the one person that she trusted in this room seemed to not care either. Her heart wretched inside of her and she felt like her heart was shattered and there was nothing that she could do about it.
"Very well," said King Roald, "the court has deemed it appropriate that you shall be banished from Tortall for three years. Furthermore, once you return, you shall no longer be treated as a citizen of Tortall, or even a noble, but rather a person of another realm. From this day forward you are no longer a citizen of Tortall."
Alanna's eyes looked up in shock, that punishment was worst than death, tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but she forced them down and took on a mask of stone.
"Very well your Majesty," said Alanna.
"Then you may go pack your things and then leave Corus. You shall have one day to get out of town, and if you are caught here within the next three years, then the consequences will be dire."
With that Alanna left without even looking back, she did not wanting to be even more hurt from the fact that not once did Jon help or defend her. Her punishment was in a way a blessing and a curse. It was a reason for her to leave and never to return and she didn't have to face her friends' reactions when they find out.
Alanna went to her room and packed all of her things. She packed light since she knew that she would have to cover a large distance. Also, Alanna brought along a purse with all of her money for emergencies.
Looking back, her only regret was not saying goodbye to George and her brother Thom. Sitting down Alanna wrote her final farewell letter to the both of them.
My dearest brother,
It is I, your sister, Alanna. I am writing you this letter hoping to find you in good spirits and that I have some bad news. During a sword fight I passed out and during a healing, the healers found out that I was a girl.
My punishment is exile for three years from Tortall and I have been disowned from my country. This letter is my final letter to you, and I just want to tell you Thom, that I love you more than anything in this world, and that I will be fine. Goodbye my dearest brother.
From your loving sister,
Alanna
Alanna's eyes spilled from her eyes as she wrote the letter and she could see the stains on the letter but she didn't care. Taking up another sheet of parchment, Alanna started another letter.
Dear George,
No doubt you will have already heard the news from your sources by now so I need not tell you the details. I am writing this letter to tell you that I appreciate all the help that you have given me over the years.
You have been a true friend and I shall miss you terribly. I am sorry that it has to end like this George. This letter will perhaps be my final farewell and I hope that you will just forget about me George, though you shall always remain in my heart. Goodbye my friend, you shall always remain in my heart.
Yours truly,
Alanna
Alanna sealed off the letters and on her way out gave it to Stephan, the hostler, to give to George and to send the other to her brother.
She started to saddle up Moonlight, her horse that was a gift from George, with all of her belongings except a few daggers on her person and Lightning, her sword. Seeing the puzzled look on Stephan, Alanna realized that the information in the council room had not yet reached the public.
"Going on a little trip," she said, trying her best at a smile but it trembled.
"Of course Master Alan," he replied questionably.
After Alanna finished, she mounted Moonlight and said to Stephan, "Goodbye Stephan, and thank you for everything over the years."
Then Alanna turned Moonlight away to avoid looking at Stephan's puzzled face and rode off towards south.
She wore a pair of clean brown breeches and a solid black tunic that were both quite simple to not draw attention. Over that Alanna wore a cloak with a hood that covered her face from lookers.
Alanna rode hard and fast to get out of Corus as quickly as she could and when she could only see a dot as the city did the tears finally flow. They spilled down and streaked her face. Alanna had never cried as much as she did now except for one other time, the time her mother had died.
Her heart shook and felt like it was being torn and shredded into millions of pieces and that little by little they were fading away into nothing so that her heart was just a glimmer of what it had been. So this is what comes from giving away your heart. I told him that I loved him and he did to me also, but this is the result? Never again will I give my heart away to another. It is better to never feel love again than to feel this afterwards.
During her rush to get away from the city, she didn't notice a pair of sapphire blue eyes staring at her from a window. The lovely blue eyes watched her until they could not see her anymore. All the while, the eyes overflowed and streaked down his face; they didn't stop even when the figure was gone from sight, but rather cried even harder, until they finally tore themselves away from the window, and walked over to the bed. With his head in his hands, the owner of those gorgeous blue eyes, cried until he saw no more.
Alanna kept riding until it became dark and she stopped to set up camp. Once Alanna got the fire going, she set up the wards against robbers and bandits that she had learned from her brother, the mage.
Leaning against a tree with her hood up to cover her face she was deep in thought that she didn't notice a hooded figure approach.
"My daughter, may I share in your campfire?" the figure asked. Alanna could tell that the person was a female and that her voice was as sweet as honey.
"But of course," said Alanna before she realized what the lady had said before, "wait, how do you know that I am a woman?"
"The same way a mother knows all of her children," was the mysterious reply.
"Who are you?" asked Alanna.
"I am your mother, my daughter."
"My mother?" asked Alanna, puzzled. The figure lowered her hood and Alanna gasped. She had seen the woman's portrait and statues everywhere of course. Her raven black hair seemed to snake down her body and a face that was inhumanly beautiful.
"Goddess!" cried Alanna.
"So a child does recognize its mother," she replied with a smile.
"Dear Goddess, why are you here? Do you not have more important matters to attend to than to come and speak to me?"
"I have come to tell you that you must have known by now that you are one of my chosen."
"Your what! But I thought that those chosen by the gods must be important and special?"
The Goddess smiled and chuckled, "But my dear, you must realize that you are special! But no matter, you shall come to see that in time. Today I am here to tell about your fears and about your heart."
"I fear nothing!" replied Alanna.
Again the Goddess smiled, "Even as you say that you must doubt yourself. No my daughter, you fear three things above all else. Firstly and perhaps the thing that you fear most, you fear love. Secondly, you fear that your dream will be shattered now. Your last fear is one that not even you know about yet so I shall not tell you until the time is right."
"Goddess, if all of these are true, then what should I do?"
"Trust in yourself and believe in your instincts my daughter. Only then will you overcome these fears. As for love, never avoid love my daughter, it is perhaps the most important thing for all humans. Without love, you are but an empty shell."
"But my mother!"
"Remember my daughter, and overcome your fears because love is closer than you think." With a mysterious smile, the Goddess faded away in a cloud of gray-silver smoke and left Alanna with a lot to think about.
A few time changes later a band of men came into sight from Alanna's camp. They came over and Alanna could see them even closer. She could see that there was a man about only a couple years older than her, no more than five years, who had a pale blond color hair and deep emerald eyes. He seemed to be the leader even though the rest of his party seemed to be ages older than him. Alanna could see that even though in the firelight that he was very handsome, maybe as handsome as Jon, she thought, and then dismissed the idea since it brought too much hurt.
"Might we share in your fire kind my lady?" he asked in Common. He could see her face since her hood was down and even though the cloak was thick, Alanna no longer bound her chest but rather wore a breast band so that she was quite distinguishable from a man even though her hair was only shoulder length.
"Of course," was her simple reply also in Common.
"Many thanks," and he smiled a smile that would have sent many court ladies into a faint. Alanna just returned a small smile and just sat and closed her eyes while the men unpacked their supplies for dinner. Alanna sat there away from the fire and leaning against the tree still since she had already ate.
A few minutes later the blond man came over to her. "So what's a charming young lady like yourself doing out here by yourself?" he said with a charming smile.
"My business is my own," was her curt reply. The man, however, didn't seem fazed.
"Might I have your name at least? Mines is Charles, but just call me Char for short."
Alanna hesitated at first but in the end decided to give her name as it couldn't do any damage, "Alanna."
"Alanna?" he said as if trying the name on his tongue. "That's a might pretty name."
"Thank you," she said, "well now that you got an answer out of me I could ask you what are you doing out here?"
"And I so greatly quote, 'my business is my own'," he replied cheekily.
Alanna sighed, "Very well."
In the distance, Alanna and Char could hear his men talking about her and what to do next. A man bigger than the rest, about as big as Raoul replied, "We should just kill her and then rob her and make it out of here!" He said that a bit too loud that the rest, including Char, flinched and turned to see what Alanna's reaction would be.
To their surprise Alanna was smiling. "You will find sir, that the task may be harder than you think," was her pert yet mysterious answer; she also had a strange glint in her eyes.
The man snorted, "A woman? The task will not be hard at all! It will probably be over in about ten seconds!"
The smile was wiped off of Alanna's face and her eyes took on a harder and icier look, "Would you care to prove that sir?" Alanna murmured.
"And hurt a woman? No thanks. I don't need the others making fun of me about hurting a lady."
"I assure you sir, that I will hold no grudge and that the result might… surprise you a bit," Alanna said while taking up her sword resting on her right hand side. Alanna stood up and walked over to the man and said, "Draw your sword sir."
That was all that Alanna said before she drew her sword, took off her cloak and got into a fighting stance. The man looked confused and after a look at Char, who nodded, he took his sword and unsheathed it.
He saw that the small lady was ready and swung at her with speed but was prepared to pull back at the last moment he was shocked when his blade contacted with hers. She actually looked like she blocked it with ease.
Surprised, the man attacked over and over again only to have his blade get stopped in its tracks. Now anger and annoyance took the place where shock was.
He was even more shocked when her blade snaked around his and rested on the hilt of his sword and the next thing that he knew was that his sword was on the ground and hers rested at his neck.
"Now I suggest that you never underestimate your opponent again sir," was her reply when she sheathed her sword and strode back to her place.
The other men were staring with their mouths open, they were all thinking the same thing; the man that she had just bested without even breaking a sweat had been the best swordsman among them, let alone one of the top in Tusaine.
Alanna turned picked up her cloak and put it on including the hood and leaned against the tree and told the party of men, "Try anything and you shall regret it dearly." And with that she closed her eyes and started to drift off to sleep.
Char was the first to recover and he went over to the fire and got some of the stew cooking. The other men followed suit soon afterwards.
"That girl is very strange," one of them grumbled.
"Come on now Thor, you just don't like her since she beat you in a duel," said a brown haired man about mid twenty. His eyes sparkled when he said this to the man called Thor.
"You were always too cheerful for your own good Rye," Thor retorted, "so what shall we do about her Char?"
"Right now I seriously don't have a clue; maybe I could find out more about her in the morning and then make up my plan. However, I think that she should come with us to Tusaine and help in the army or something. A girl of her talent could be very valuable."
"Hah! What a jest," cried a red headed man, "you just want her to come since you got a crush on her!" All the men laughed at this except Char, who glared at the man.
"And you, Stephan, do not know when to hold your tongue!"
The final man, Abe, who was in his early thirties, asked Char, "So you do like her!"
Char said, "No, I do not! It's just respect for her that I have, wouldn't you think so Thor?"
The other man grumbled and said something about letting down his guard. The other men laughed.
"But I do think that she could help the Tusaine army greatly," Char said.
Reluctantly the other men agreed.
"Well we'll find out in the morning after you lot go to the stream and bathe, I'll find out where her loyalties are."
Alanna woke up to the smell of toast near the fire and she opened her eyes.
"Morning Lady Alanna. Might I congratulate you on your win last night?" said Char. He and she were by themselves.
"What happened to the others?" she asked.
"They went off to the stream nearby to bathe. So what do you say that we get to know each other better?"
Alanna glared at him but finally said, "Fine."
"Will you tell me your story and I will tell you my story?" asked Char
"Fine and you can go first."
"Very well my lady."
"Firstly, don't call me that because as you can see, I am no lady, well like those of the court in both Tusaine and Tortall."
"How did you know that we're from Tusaine?"
"Your Common is drenched with the Tusainian accent. So get on with your story."
"Very well. My men and I are soldiers in Tusaine's army. I am also a noble or the fief of Finwood in Tusaine. We're here to scout on enemy land and see how our relations were with them."
Char looked at Alanna to see how she would take it. Surprisingly she seemed like she did not care that they were enemies.
"That makes sense," she replied, "and I will tell you that your relations are not very good with Tortall. Bandits and raiders from your country have put Tortall in a very hostile attitude towards your country."
"Pray tell la-Alanna," he corrected himself, "how do you know such things."
Alanna smiled and said, "So I guess that it's my turn to tell my story? I was actually Lady Alanna of Trebond. My brother wanted to become a mage and I wanted to become a knight so we switched places and I stayed disguised as a man for about six years. Then I was found out and I have been disowned and banished from my country." Alanna had finished with sadness and regret and mostly anger.
Char noticed how she said it and saw that there was hope that she would like to go with his men and him. Because I respect her, not because I love her or anything like that, he consoled himself.
"Do you still want to become a knight?"
"Yes I do, if not in Tortall then in another country."
"Do you want to come back with us to Tusaine? Women there are allowed to become knights though it is untraditional, it is not against the law. In fact, the last lady knight died but 30 years ago."
Alanna perked up at this bit of information and asked, "Why are you telling me this."
"Because your skills with the sword are unbelievable and that you shall be of great help in the army. However, if you do join the army and become a knight then there is a good chance that you shall have to fight against Tortall." Char looked at her face to determine how she felt about that.
"Tortall is no longer my country, if that is what you are trying to find out. I will do it and become a knight, if not for Tortall then for Tusaine."
"Do we have a deal?" He held out his hand and smiled warmly.
"Yes I do believe that we do," said Alanna as she took his hand and shook it and smiled for the first time that day. Her smile reached her eyes this time, not the other times; now her eyes glittered and shone causing Char to stare at her, aware of how beautiful she looked when she smiled, and promised to himself to try to see another one of those fleeting smiles.
Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce owns everything and all I own is the plot and Charles of Finwood.
Author's Note: Yayyness! This is my second story so let me know how it is alright? Let me just say that unfortunately, this is very long and my other chapters will probably be a lot shorter so sorry. Also, I request at least 5 reviews before I put up my next chapter since this one was a pain in the butt to write since it was so long! So if you're reading this then take out just a minute to write something okay? Thanks!
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