Thom found her on the window seat in one of the westward facing rooms, wrapped in blankets and sipping tea as she gazed at the sunset.
"How is the invalid today?" he asked, strolling into the room and pulling an armchair closer to where she sat. "Feeling any better?" he queried as he sat down.
She flashed him a bright smile. "Much better, thanks, but Eleni wants me to rest and drink more tea than I ever wanted to drink in my entire life and every time I argue or try to pour it into the plants, she has one of her very willing foot soldiers, my so-called friends, come in and stop me. They love me you know." She laughed.
"I am well aware of that. You got very lucky. You managed to find yourself a new family," his voice had a melancholy hint that would have been missed by anyone but his twin.
"If you let them, they would be yours too," she squeezed his hand. "And you always, always have me. No matter what happens."
"Sound like you're talking about the near future," he responded perceptively.
Alanna sighed and turned her gaze back to the sunset, which flared bright pink across the western sky. "I told you," she replied, "I just have a bad feeling. I'm waiting for someone to jump, for something to happen." She balled her hands up into fists. "I hate waiting."
Thom said nothing, feeling the worry rolling off his twin. Now that they were back together again, their emotions seemed so much more potent. He knew that twins often had connections but the amount of the Gift they shared seemed to amplify everything. He could feel her anxiety in his very bones.
"You seem ready to jump, too."
She turned back to look at him. "I don't like sitting still, you know that. I like to be busy. I've little to do except go to council meetings and worry, worry , worry. All we talk about are the rumors and the threats but until we get something concrete, I can't act. It is my job to keep Jon safe but right now I'm fighting the shadows of ghosts." The frustration was plain in her eyes.
"What does George say about all of this?"
Alanna sighed. "I don't think he is telling me half of what he knows and I don't think even he knows half of what is going on. Claw has been a clear threat for months but he has intimidated most of the lower city and no one will talk. I can tell George is worried but he can only trust a handful of people now. Claw has got him backed into a corner. Luckily, Claw underestimated George. The fool didn't think George would exhaust every option, including breaking the Rogue's law, to protect his people." Alanna smiled. She didn't have any sympathy with those who underestimated George. As she remembered her own dealings with Claw's agents, she became serious again. She searched her brother's eyes and bit her lip, debating whether or not to reveal a certain piece of information. "Don't tell George," she warned, "but I had a run in with Claw myself while I was in Maren." Thom's fire-red eyebrows rose and his pale amethyst eyes widened. "He sent men to kill me. I don't understand why though. Clearly they meant to hurt George by hurting me but it would have taken months for the news to even reach him, never mind the fact that they went through an awful lot of trouble to hunt me down. There are many others closer to home that would have served the same purpose."
Thom shook his head. "The same purpose? I don't think so. George loves you more than anyone. All anyone has to do is watch him look at you when you aren't looking at him. During those moments, his eyes betray the depth of his feelings for you. Even I didn't realize how much he cared about you until I caught him staring at you when you were showing Jon that new spell the other day. So to correct your faulty assumption that killing someone else would've caused George the same amount of pain, I'd say that your death would hurt him more than anyone else's could."
"I don't know if that is true anymore, Thom. It was once…since I was fifteen. But now, with Liam," she shook her head, "I just don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"He kissed me when I returned home but other than that he has been nothing but a friend. I'm afraid I hurt him by getting involved with Liam. We never said we would wait for each other like Coram and Rispah did but maybe he thought it didn't need to be said. Maybe he thinks I betrayed him." She turned sad eyes to the window and Thom reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze.
"Please don't worry about this now. You have enough on your plate already. Just trust me, ok? He loves you."
Alanna simply squeezed his hand in reply.