Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that you recognize from Tamora Pierce's works.
Pretty Important Authors Note:
This is an Alternate Universe story. It diverges from canon around the time of the Great Market Riot in Lioness Rampant. Everything that happened afterwards has been disregarded. The backstory of the current situation will come in pieces, and the states of most of the main characters will be explained in the first few chapters. The storyline of this fic involves a lot of attention to both major and minor details, so something may have passed me by unnoticed. If a detail regarding canon is wrong and it's important to you that I change it, then it's important to me as well. So, please let me know.
Huge thanks to Sweetmari, who has been helping me out with this from the get go.
Also, I am considering a beta, since this story will require a lot of keeping track of small details and I need some help with that as well as proofreading for grammar and spelling. PM me if you're interested.
Prologue
The Great Market Riot had changed everything. It all started with the death of a young child caused by the future king's own stallion. A rumor, sprouted from the grieving mother's angry words, spread like wildfire. Jonathan of Conté's future reign as King of Tortall was, in the mind of the kingdom's population, doomed. Thus it had ended before it even began. A man could not hope to hold the throne without the support of his people. Shortly thereafter, with a possible civil war looming, the young Conté king-to-be inexplicably rescinded his claim to the throne and fled the capital.
A different man bound to the throne by blood, who had been carefully planning and meticulously plotting for longer than anyone assumed, rose to power. His coronation was swift and forceful, leaving no time for anyone to doubt the seemingly dire need for the change in kings.
The Lioness, a well known figure in the land, returned to Corus, spurred on by the frantic words of a Doi fortuneteller. She came with a former princess, a K'miri, and the Shang Dragon in tow; but bore no other fruit of her travels. Upon her arrival, she found the majority of her close friends preparing to flee, the man she killed alive and newly ascended to the throne, and her beloved kingdom a terribly different and dangerous place.
Shortly thereafter, the new monarch announced his future queen, which brought an even bigger shock to the already shaken Kingdom of Tortall. Surely, though, the future queen's shifting loyalties meant that she too had believed that Prince Jonathan's reign would have been cursed. Surely it meant only one thing — the mighty and powerful were, indeed, placing their support fully behind the new king. While some select courtiers spoke words such as "traitor" in hushed tones and in back halls, there were no doubts that the future queen had committed herself fully to the future of Tortall. Whether that future was to be prosperous or disastrous was yet to be seen.
On the eve of her coronation, Alanna of Conté and the new Queen of Tortall, shifted restlessly from one foot to another. With each set of eyes she met, the weight of the crown grew heavier on her brow. There was not a single expression to be found on any of the courtiers that was simple or easy to read. She saw faces with hints of accusation, disgust, respect, hope, and everything else in between. Questionable loyalties and even more questionable motives were blurring the lines that had been so clearly painted years ago.
Her breath grew more and more strained as noble after noble came up to offer their congratulations and wishes for her well-being. Oh, how easily lies come to our lips these days, she thought, her eyes ablaze with thinly veiled frustration. They spilled from poisoned tongues, but were honeyed with sweet ambiguity. Nothing was black and white anymore. Her world was swaying from light to dark like a pendulum set madly off-kilter. She feared that nothing short of the Gods' intervention would ever set it right again.
It was sad, but telling of just how skewed things had become, when Alanna realized, with a sharp ache in her chest, that she was doing for her new husband exactly what she had vehemently refused to do for Jon. However, current circumstances had made the decision for her. She'd grit her teeth and bite her tongue for as long as was necessary, but by the Goddess, she'd be the queen this kingdom needed. She feared that, without her protection, King Roger of Conté would bring the Kingdom of Tortall to its knees.