A/N: okay guys, here's chapter four!

Pie of Doom: thank you soo much for continuing to follow this story and I'm glad you like my version of events1 please continue to read and review!

Now I'm trying to keep Alanna's world as close as possible to its original creation as I possibly can, so if anyone spots any mistakes in that sense please let me know. I also have no idea how these people tell the time, or whether they use months or weeks or what so if anyone has any info regarding that stuff also let me know. Okay I'll shut up mow, enjoy, Newspaper Taxi :D

Alanna glared murderously at the ceiling. 'Gods, I hate it here!' she thought. Alanna had been at the convent for a little over three weeks now, and she was not enjoying her stay. Lady Eleanor had seen to that.

Alanna's roommate, it seemed, was at the top of the social pyramid of first-year students at the convent. Sadly for Alanna she rarely had contact with students who were anything but first years, and as such could not escape Eleanor's influence. For the first few days Alanna had been very quiet and had not spoken to anybody; she was still sad and bitter about having to leave Trebond and her twin to come to this place. This had proven to be unwise, for it had given her vindictive roommate time to spread rumors about her and given them time to take root. Alanna, of course, had found herself too busy wallowing in self pity to hear these rumors, and had therefore been unable to combat them and set her classmates right. So by the time she felt ready to once again take notice of the outside world and maybe begin to make some friend, the other girls had already decide she was a misfit, and actively avoided her.

Lady Eleanor was meant to be Alanna's sponsor. However, Eleanor did not want to talk to her new charge, so she simply…didn't. This was hardly helpful to Alanna, who was completely unversed in matters relating to the convent or the life one was meant to lead whilst living there. So when she was woken in the morning by the sound of a melodic bell pealing out across the convent, she pulled a pillow over her head and tried to go back to sleep. She succeeded. When she next peacefully drifted up from her slumbers again it was midmorning. Alanna bit her lip, she doubted that the Daughters would let her stay in her room all day, so she slipped into a dress (much to her disgust) and stepped out into the corridor. She continued to wander around the halls until she was found by a rather unimpressed Daughter, who promptly escorted her to the lesson she was now over an hour late for, embroidery class, and instructed her to go and see the First Daughter at the next bell. Alanna had followed the Daughter's instructions and gone to see Daughter Ophelia; she'd been deeply unimpressed, and in addition to the extra work set by her embroidery teacher she also gave Alanna a paper to write on the importance of punctuality and made her swear never to be late again.

Lady Eleanor was pleased with the fact that Alanna had messed up all on her own; she'd only had to be very quiet in leaving that morning. She was also glad because this gave her more ammunition in her private war against Alanna; she told people that the new girl thought it was below her to have to attend classes, and that Alanna was a terrible snob. The girls believed Eleanor, and she was very proud of her work.

When Alanna did eventually come out of her self-pitying retreat, she began to notice how talk halted abruptly when she enter a room, the whispers that followed her down the corridors and through the dining hall at all three meals and the side long glances that slid her way as she passed. Alanna was not happy about this. She hadn't been happy to begin with, but when she realised how completely opinion had turned against her, and that no matter how she tried she would make no friends, she became even sadder. The older girls did not help either - to them, she simply did not exist, their eyes slid over her as if there was nothing there, as if she where invisible, or a ghost. But no, Alanna thought savagely to herself, if she was a ghost, they would at least scream.

Alanna had no one to talk to so instead she began to observe more. She watched the other girls whispering about her and soon noticed that most of the whispers seemed to start with her roommate. Alanna once again began to fume, not at Maude this time, but at her roommate. Alanna had done nothing, nothing to her and yet the girl seemed to be set on making her life as hard and unpleasant as possible. She hated it, and this hating of Eleanor lead her into a downward spiral. Soon, she began to hate Maude again for forcing her to come to this horrid place, she even began to hate Thom, for leaving her. She could be free! They could both have been free, but no. Instead, he'd left her. She seethed. She hated them all, the stupid old hag, her vindictive roommate, her father, her brother. No, that was a lie; she didn't hate him, she was just so lonely, and so sad, she just didn't want to be there. Alanna made up her mind, she must write to Thom, and hoped against hope that it would make her feel better.

Dearest Thom,

Now what would she write, what could she write? Could she tell him about Lady Eleanor? No. Could she tell him that she had no friends, no one to talk to? No, it would only make him worry. Could she tell him that she was so lonely she some times wished she where dead? No and no again. She wished she could find the words to tell him how utterly miserable she was. Perhaps she should lie to him and tell him she was having a wonderful time, that she had made many friends and was happy? No, he would know, they were twins. She could only write the truth.

Dearest Thom,

I miss you.

Alanna

That was all she could write. That was the truth. Alanna put the letter in an envelope and sealed it, ready to be sent the next morning. Writing the letter had not made her feel any better, she just felt even more lonely. Alanna lay down on her bed and cried herself to sleep.

Two weeks later Alanna was feeling slightly happier. She had caught a mouse, not any special kind of mouse, just a small grey one. The poor thing had been cowering in the dining room corner, terrified by the screaming of two dozen silly girls. It hadn't hurt them. So she had saved it from almost certain death, and in return this little mouse was going to help her get back at her dearest Lady Eleanor.

Lady Eleanor had, the week before, celebrated her 11th birthday, and had received present from her father, the lord of Merton Valley, a dress. Even Alanna had to admit that the dress was something special. It was deep rich red velvet, with a full skirt and leg-o-mutton sleeves. It was all trimmed in cream lace, and had been delivered with matching cream petticoats. Needless to say this dress was Eleanor's pride and joy; she would rather have died before letting anything happen to it. Alanna, however was not going to give her that choice.

This was why she was so pleased about catching the mouse. One good deed deserves another, and so this little mouse, who she had saved from almost certain death, was going to help her get back at her roommate.

Later that night, after yet another mealtime full of stares and whispers, Alanna returned to her room as swiftly as she could without causing suspicion. She sat on her bed for a moment and stared at her wardrobe. The mouse was in a small wooden box at the bottom of it, with bread crusts to eat and scraps of fabric to sleep on. She opened her wardrobe, retrieved the box and crept past the partition that separated her section of the apartment from Eleanor's, and towards the wardrobe that contained her prized dress.

"Really, are you sure? I heard…"

Alanna froze. There were voices coming from the other side of her door. If Eleanor was back and found her… but no, the voices moved away. She let out the breath she didn't realise she'd been holding and continued to tip-toe towards the wardrobe. She opened the door and then looked down at the box in her hand smiling,

"Now I wouldn't want to keep you cooped up in there for to long" she told the little mouse, keeping her voice to the softest whisper as she raised the lid of the box, "Come on, it's time for you to go." Alanna tipped the box to one side, and the small furry creature slid into the palm of her hand. She opened the wardrobe door and carefully placed the mouse on top of Eleanor's most prized position, the dress.

"You be as dirty as you can possibly be, and please feel free to chew on anything that takes your fancy."

She smiled at it and shut the door, wandering back to the other side of the room she suddenly had an urge to cry, that mouse was the first friend, sort of, it was the first living thing that she could talk to, and she was sad now to have to part with it. Alanna also felt slightly guilty. She had save the poor helpless creature and was now all but murdering it, but putting it in her roommates wardrobe to destroy her dress was a chance she couldn't pass up.

Lady Eleanor had been furiously heart-broken when she next took out the dress, only to discover that it was covered in small brown stains, holes nibbled through the sumptious fabric and that the beautiful cream lace had previously decorated the neckline was now completely shredded. Alanna's mouse had done its work well- almost the entire convent heard Eleanor's initial wail. Needless to say, the damage was irreparable, and the mouse seemed to have escaped without a trace.

Three days later Alanna received a letter from Thom. It was the very best week she had experienced since arriving at the convent.

Dearest Alanna,

I miss you too. It's actually almost bearable here, although we are required to get up at some Gods forsaken hour every morning. I am finding this experience…interesting.

The mornings are actually alight, we have good classes, reading and writing, arithmetic, Deportment (that one though is such a bore!) and history, among other things. I like history best, although the teacher and some of the older boys seem to spend a lot of time arguing about something called the Code of Chivalry. I don't quite understand it but it seems to have something to do with defending one's honor, the sort of thing you would love. I just think it's a bit silly.

I met a boy called Rallon of Mavlen on my first day, in fact he was the first page I met, he said some very unkind things, now he claims that snakes are following him round, mostly very big ones, with red eyes.

My sponsor's name is Gary, he's the training master's son, he makes me laugh, which is good, and is trying to help me be not quite so bad at whacking things. I haven't improved much though. Gary's friends are all very nice and are helping me find my feet.

I have to go now, it's time for lights out.

Thom

It was good to know that Thom was alright and making friends, he sounded a lot happier than she felt. For the first time since Alanna arrived at the convent she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

A/N: okay hope you liked that! Please R and R, I don't care whether you thought it was crap and think I should stop writing this, I would just like to know if anyone is reading it!