Author's Note: Hey Everyone! Here's a new story for all you FanFicFans! I've been working on his one with my good friend Christen (her account on here is Little-Miss-Anime-Princess. Check her out, she is a brilliant writer) and one of the characters that I'll introduce later on is based on her. I'll do my little disclaimer now: I don't own Alanna, Corus, or the Tortall universe. That was Tamora Pierce's stroke of genius, and I am forever grateful to her! I do, however, own Taryn, her mother, her father, and Greenwood. So please, please don't take them! Finally, I would really appreciate constructive criticism and ideas for the future. I hope you like it!
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"Are you sure you're doing the right thing, Taryn? I mean, you could be a lady who gets a good, wealth husband. You can't get married if you're dead." Taryn's mother, Lady Sonya of Greenwood, wrung her hands nervously.
Taryn sighed. "Mother, you know that this has been my dream ever since Da told me about Sir Keladry of Mindelan and Sir Alanna of Pirate's Swoop earning their shields! I'm no good at being a lady, and you know it. Becoming a knight would be so fitting of me!"
"Yes, it's all nice and romantic, but you know that it's not proper for a young lady to run around fighting immortals. Leave that job for the men," Sonya trilled. She was so tired of her daughter's pleading about becoming a knight. She had no intention of having her daughter go and train at the page school in Corus. That was out of the question. Having a daughter running about like a man would ruin her reputation in court.
"You're so old-fashioned, mother!" Taryn spat. She stormed out of her mother's quarters and slammed the door behind her.
"Oh, Taryn," Lady Sonya sighed. "When I was your age, I was much more respectful." She sighed to no one in particular, then picked up her embroidery and continued to stitch the little edging of her handkerchief. It was small, dainty and frivolous, just the way she liked it.
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Out in the gardens, Taryn was in a rage. Her usually calm and peaceful personality had given way to an equally aggressive and unreasonable side. The abnormally tall ten-year-old found her favourite horse, a golden mare named Harvest Sun.
Summoning her to the fence, Taryn mounted Harvey bareback, just as she always did. The horse and rider moved as one form out of the paddock and into the forest. No one saw her go except for a stranger in a black cloak.
Taryn and Harvey rode for hours before Taryn realized that they had gone farther into the aptly named Greenwood forest than they had ever been before, and they had no food. Night was falling quickly, and Taryn would have much more difficulty finding her way back to Fief Greenwood after dark.
Fortunately, Taryn had brought back her logical mind during the ride. Okay, she thought, I'm caught outside tonight. No one knows where I am, not even me. I need heat, food and water if I am to remain conscious until daylight.
Then, to Harvest Sun, she explained, "Harvey, we have to find water, and maybe a hollow tree. We're going to go, okay?" The mare snorted in reply, and Taryn remounted.
As she settled back onto her horse's back, she shivered. Her thin summer breeches and cotton shirt weren't any match against the cold night air. Gradually, there was not enough light to ride, so Taryn seated herself behind a large tree. If any bandits came through, Taryn prayed that she wouldn't be seen.
Taryn snuggled up against Harvest Sun for warmth. The night air was a prelude to autumn, and the sunny day had been but a tease. Taryn cursed herself for the hundredth time for not packing a saddlebag.
A sudden movement in the trees caught her attention. Harvey got up, startled by the movement. Taryn soothed the horse, but she was spooked herself. One word was on her mind. Spidrens. These half human, half spiders were vicious immortals that did nothing better than kill. And they enjoyed it. Out of the corner of her eye, Taryn saw the shadows shift again.
Taryn shivered again. Then it came to her. Fire, she thought. I need fire.
She didn't carry blazebalm on her regularly, and the tinder box was in the stable. Taryn wished she had the Gift like her father. He could make fire just by thinking about it. Fire like that on the tip of an arrow would kill an immortal for sure.
Struggling to stay calm, Taryn thought of fire, of warmth, and of control. She cupped her hands in front of her and thought of a barrier between her and the creatures. Almost as if she could actually make fire, her hands became warm.
Without warning, the world dissolved. Taryn was plunged into her aura like one would dive into a pond. Immersed in a broiling mass of liquid gold, something gave. The liquid gold burst through its container and pulsed through Taryn's veins.
Outside, the dark was penetrated by a dazzling gold light. Harvest Sun started in alarm as her rider's pale skin turned into the transparent cover to golden fire. Golden flames were leaping in her cupped hands. Her usually blue eyes turned to an intense gold, staring straight ahead into empty space. Then, as quickly as it had happened, Taryn collapsed and it was dark. Dark, save for a purple light moving towards the girl.
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Taryn opened her eyes and found that she was sitting in front of a pain woken table. Seated across from her was a familiar man who she hadn't seen for over a year.
"Da!"
The pale man smiled devilishly. He was tall with shoulder length blond hair. His blue eyes twinkled with amusement. He was simply a larger, male version of the person opposite him.
"Hello, Taryn Orr. What brings you here on such short notice? I barely had time to change!" Sir Oron of Greenwood's eyes twinkled with the old joke.
Taryn giggled as well, and then remembered, "Da! I got the Gift! And it's gold like yours was!" Then her face fell. "Da, Mother isn't going to let me train as a page. I want a sword like your Taryn. I'll call him Oron, after you."
"Well, girlie, good luck with your mother. You'll need it." Oron chuckled as he got up from the table.
Taryn's eyebrows knitted together in worry. "No, Da, you can't be going yet! I haven't hugged you since – since you went away!" But already Oron was walking away. Taryn tried to get up, but she found that she was bound tightly to the chair by invisible ropes.
Plunged into full hysterics, she screamed, "No, Da! Da! Come back!" Then he was gone, and she couldn't see him any more.
For minutes afterward, Taryn screamed. When her voice was gone, she stared at the vacant chair across from her, tears blurring her vision. For what seemed like hours, she stared until finally purple flames engulfed her, putting her out of her misery and bringing her back into the real world.
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"Lady Sonya, I think she's coming round. Welcome back, Goldflame." The voice was female, but deeper than that of the bred ladies that she knew from court with her mother. Curiosity compelled Taryn to see the new woman.
The woman looking over her was the short and stocky type, only an inch or so taller than the youngster herself. Coppery hair framed her face and a ruby hung around her neck. The most unnerving thing, however, were the amethyst eyes staring into Taryn's.
"So, Taryn of Greenwood, how are you? You've had quite a trip."
It was only then that Taryn realized that she was no longer back home in Greenwood, but her mother's quarters in the Corus palace. The first words out of her mouth came almost without thought. "What happened?" she croaked.
The woman smiled and said, "Don't you want to know who I am? Where you are? Or how you got here?" The purple eyes twinkled.
Taryn shook her head no. "I just want to know what happened. Leave the rest for later."
"Well, I'll tell you since you insisted. A little birdie told me that a certain young woman was planning on becoming a knight. I was passing through your lovely fief when I saw you enter the woods. I followed you and your lovely little horse until it got dark and you stopped riding. I saw you let out your Gift and let me tell you, I've never seen anything like it in all my years. You have some power inside your little frame, even more powerful than mine was when I was your age. Once your fire went out, I heroically slung you over my shoulder and saved another innocent life." The woman smiled smugly at her tale.
Taryn struggled to sit up in the bed. "You needn't brag," she muttered.
The woman laughed. "At least the girl has a sense of humour. She'll need it if she's to be a page," she said to Taryn's mother, who was sitting on a stool in the corner. Her skin was very pale and she was, once again, wringing out her hands with nervousness.
Taryn's eyes widened with surprise. "I – I'm to be a page? Not a lady? Taryn spluttered.
The woman nodded. "Now, would you like to know who I am?" she asked.
Taryn had almost forgotten. "Yes, please!" she shrieked childishly.
The woman opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by a page opening the door and calling, "Sir Alanna, King Raoul is ready for you and the applicant."
Taryn stared. "Sir Alanna of Pirate's Swoop?" she gasped.
Alanna smiled. "Who else would it be?"
Taryn rustled to get up out of the bed. "Sir Alanna, it's a pleasure to meet you!" she cried. The page still stood in the doorframe, looking at Taryn and her white cotton nightdress.
Alanna yelled at the page, "Will! Wait outside while she changes. We require respect as pages!"
Taryn grinned at what was happening. She was really meeting the king to talk about becoming a page! And she was with Alanna! The world kept looking up.
Alanna opened Taryn's trunk that she kept in the room year round. Taryn took out her favourite dress, an emerald green number with blue and gold embroidery. Slipping the garment over her head, Taryn was vaguely aware of silk slippers being put on her feet, a comb being pulled through her long blond hair followed by a plait, and a necklace tied to her neck. It was a part of her father's Gift, a gold flame. Then the Lioness took Taryn's hand and pulled her out the door.
The halls were quiet but for her mother's complaints of how little time she had to paint up her daughter. Some mothers never change, she thought to herself as she skipped giddily along.
As she got to the page's dormitories, Taryn saw another girl leaning on her doorframe in the corridor, staring at the small party. Her eyes were an icy blue, but Taryn was sure that her eyes turned bright pink as she passed.
Taryn shrugged it off. I was just her imagination.
Soon the image was out of her head, as she had just arrived at the great wooden doors of the King's chambers.