Disclaimer × Don't own any of the characters, places, etc… that you may recognise. But I do own some of the characters that you don't recognise. Uh, um.. yeah… other than that, they pretty much belong to Tamora Pierce. ^^ Don't sue!

Summary × Yes, I know… another Alanna-goes-to-the-convent story… ×sigh× but I couldn't think of any other storyline… plz don't flame! Anyway, more on the summary… Alanna went to the convent, Thom went to the Palace. But when the convent that she's staying at goes under attack, Alanna and her best friend uncover a plot against the Royal Family in Tortall. Swearing revenge for their many friends who were hurt from the attack, they decide to try their luck and stop the scheme and whoever is behind it.

Author's Note × It's my very first Tamora Pierce fanfic (my second fanfic over all…) so please be nice! Hehe. Oh, and a warning for any A/G fans… It's not that I don't like George, but he's not one of my favourite characters… so read my fan fic if you want, but plz don't expect the two of them to get together. But, who knows… anything could happen ;) Personally, I'm an A/J fan, but I don't know where the story is going to go yet. Lol.

Think I've blabbered on enough? I do. Let's get on with the story…

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HIDDEN THREAT

Chapter One ◊ The Attack

Alanna grimaced as her friend pulled out a rather low cut dress from her trunk. Flipping her long, dark red-brown hair over her shoulder, she shook her head and sat down on the end of her bed.

"Oh, why not?" Erin asked, laughing at the face Alanna had just pulled.

"You know perfectly well, why not!"

Erin ignored her, and turned back to look at the dark crimson dress with a fine black overlay. There were diamonds and amethysts studded around the waistline, and the sleeves were long and flowing. Holding it up, she looked at it, to Alanna, and back to the dress.

"It'll look perfect on you…" she sighed, "you may not be the prettiest girl in the convent, but you'll be fairly close to it with this on…"

Alanna scowled, "gee, thanks a lot?"

Erin grinned and lay the dress back down. "I would do anything to have your looks…"

She must be crazy… Alanna thought, staring at her friend. Erin was known for her wild schemes, daring personality and charisma, yet she seemed to care about her looks as much as she did adventure.

With her light brown hair, that was naturally streaked, sparkling hazel eyes and pert smile, she was the envy of just about every other girl in the convent. Alanna, also known for her adventurous nature, was usually shifted off to the side when meeting new men from nearby towns. But that's not to say that Alanna wasn't pretty.

With her lustrous reddish-brown hair falling halfway down her back, and mischeivous smile, she wasn't too bad looking herself. However, it was her bright amethyst coloured eyes that got people's attention.

"I can't believe we have to go to another ball! We just went to one last month," Alanna complained, as she let Erin fiddle around with her hair, wondering what to do with it.

"I know you may not like it, but you're going to end up going whether you like it or not. You might as well look good at it…" Erin replied, brushing her hair from her eyes. Alanna groaned. Sometimes Erin's logic never seemed to make much sense to her.

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Alanna stood to the side of the hall, fiddling with her long sleeve. She didn't know how she managed to do it, but Erin had eventually talked her into wearing the dark crimson dress. Alanna watched as Erin stood in the centre of a small group of young men, talking and flirting with them. Her laugh rang clear across the hall.

Even though most men were fascinated and drawn to Alanna's looks, she wasn't exactly very sociable, and they found that it was easier to start talking to one of the other girls instead. Alanna didn't know whether to be insulted or relieved that she was left alone for most of the night.

"I'm going outside for some fresh air…" she mumbled to Erin, as she walked past. Before her friend could answer, she was already pushing open the door and outside in the small courtyard. The moon and stars were covered by clouds, and there was a cool breeze in the air. She sighed, and leant back against a large tree.

There was a rustle in the bushes nearby, and Alanna straightened immediately. As far as she knew, most of the other guests were still inside. The rustling stopped, and she told herself that it was just the wind.

Maybe I should just go back to my room… Alanna thought wearily, as she smoothed out her dress and began making her way across the courtyard. She didn't care if she got in trouble later, it was better than standing around the hall watching all the eligible young men avoid her.

She had just reached the beginning of the corridor when she heard a loud crash and some screams coming from the Hall. Alanna froze. What was going on?

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"Erin!" Alanna called, as she ran back into the hall. It was absolute chaos inside the hall. Girls and guys alike were running across the hall in all directions. It was hard at first to see why or what they were running from. Scanning the hall quickly, Alanna saw that the front main doors had been broken in to two.

"Erin! Where are you?" she called again, as she moved to the side of the hall, careful not to get trampled by those who were heading out.

"Alanna?" she heard Erin call out. Looking in the direction of the voice, Alanna spotted Erin and another guy supporting a girl between them. Without a second thought, Alanna pushed her way through the crowd and made her way over to them.

"Wha- What is going on?!" Alanna asked, having to shout above the screams. As she got closer, she realised that the girl Erin was supporting had fainted.

"We need to get out of here…" Erin muttered, shifting her weight onto her other leg. One of the girl's arms was around her shoulder. Erin looked around, her eyes wild. Alanna grabbed her arm.

"Erin… what is going on…?" Alanna asked again, quieter this time. She didn't like running unless there was a good reason. The young man beside Erin answered Alanna's question.

"We don't know exactly what happened, but the doors just crashed open like they were struck by lightning, and then…" he hesistated, unsure of what to say next, "and then… I don't know. It was as if the hall had been plunged into a bucket of ice water. We all got this really bad feeling. Some people screamed, and others ran. Celeste fainted, and Erin managed to catch her before she hit the ground…"

"Please Alanna… we need to get out of here," Erin said again. Alanna nodded her agreement. Together, the four of them made their way towards the exit. Now that the guy had mentioned it, Alanna did feel a vaguely unsettling feeling. She couldn't wait to get out of the hall, and quickly.

Halfway across the hall, Erin stumbled and swore. "Can you take Celeste for a second, Ben?" she asked, as she began unstrapping her high-heeled shoes. Ben nodded, and lifted Celeste up in both hands. Just as Erin had taken off her second heel, she grabbed Alanna's arm suddenly.

"Erin, wha-?" Alanna began, before Erin had pushed her suddenly off to the side. Caught by surprise, Alanna hit the ground hard. A moment later, something bright hit the spot where she was standing a second ago. It's some-one's Gift! Alanna thought with a shiver, not wanting to think of what would've happened if it had hit her.

"Ben, take Celeste and go!" Erin shouted, already making her way over to help Alanna up. There was a force in her voice that made him obey, and he ran as quickly as he could, still carrying Celeste. By now the hall was just about empty, and the only source of light was coming through the doors outside.

"Come on, Alanna… we need to go!" Erin said, reaching Alanna. Throwing her long hair back over her shoulder, Alanna got up. She was still shaken by what happened. She had a million questions to ask, but she also knew that now was not exactly the best time.

Once they were both up and running after Ben towards the exit, they heard more screams coming from outside. Both Erin and Alanna swore this time, "oh, what is going on now?!"

Stopping just inside the doorway, Alanna looked outside quickly to see men on horses riding through the courtyard, scattering people everywhere. She turned back to Erin.

"Um, I don't think we really want to go out that way…" she whispered. Erin nodded, and for a while, they just waited in the dark and empty hall, hoping that the riders wouldn't decide to come any closer.

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AN × Okay, so it didn't exactly turn out like I wanted it to. I admit, it's not exactly that great either… but I promise it'll get better later on! Or, at least, I hope it will… Please R & R! I want to know whether or not I should bother continuing…

× Lady Kalitana ◊