Lord Alan and his children took their place at the top of the stairs

Lord Alan and his children took their place at the top of the stairs.

"Read this when you announce us," Alanna whispered to the herald as she shoved a piece of paper at him.

Nobles can be so rude, he thought with a shake of his head. Clearing his throat he cried out, "Announcing Lord Alan of Trebond and his children, Master Thom, mage of the black robe and Sir Alanna, knight of Tortall."

As he read the last words written on the piece of paper he quickly blinked his eyes, wondering if he had read it read. He had! The crowd fell silent. Someone dropped a champagne glass. Lord Alan was half way down the stairs when he heard the herald's words.

"How dare you?!" he accused his children.

Alanna brushed past him, ignoring his accusation.

"You're…you're…you're a girl?!" Raoul stuttered as she walked past him on her way to the king's table.

"Of course I'm a girl! That's why I never went swimming with you!" she answered turning to face him.

"You mean you've seen me naked?!"

Alanna just rolled her eyes and finished making her way to the king's table.

"Your majesty," she said bowing even though she was wearing a dress, "I apologize for deceiving you, but it was the only way possible for me to earn my shield, but at the moment there are more pressing matters. I have uncovered a plot to kill you, the queen, and Jon. I must also apologize for the way I uncovered this information for it is unbecoming of a knight."

The king's eyes blazed with fear and anger.

"Who is this perpetrator?" he demanded.

"Roger," she answered simply as she placed the evidence up on the table.

"You," the king accused Roger pointing his finger towards his nephew, "after all I have done for you this is how you repay me."

"I have done no such thing your majesty. It is a ploy that this whore has created so that you forget that she has kept her identity secret from you!"

"It is not," she said defensively, her violet eyes filling with rage.

"Fine," Roger replied, "I challenge you to a duel. If you win, then I am guilty as charged, but if not then I did no such thing."

"I accept," she said.

"No," Lord Alan said firmly, "I will not allow any daughter of mine to fight."

"Too late father, I already accepted and besides I'm 18 and a knight so I can do as I please."

"Very well Alanna, you have one hour left before your blood spills on the ground," Roger quickly said before Lord Alan could say anything else, before he turned away and walked of to prepare for the fight.

"How long will you be gone Alanna?" Jon asked.

"At least as long as it takes for them to forget I'm a girl."

"Well, have fun with the Bazhir, my love."

And with that Coram and Alanna rode off into the rising sun.

Note: Sorry I didn't include the sword fight, but Tammy already wrote it in her books and I didn't want to rewrite it. Just take out the part when her true identity comes to light. I have to admit the story didn't turn out how I wanted it, but oh well. Defiantly, not my best story. I also apologize for the long wait for me to update, but I was busy working on writing my story The Yamani Knight. A much better story. Signing out for the last time,

Sea-Aggie