MAJOR AUTHOR'S NOTE-ARGH! NO! As some of you might notice, this is a revised version of this chapter. I realized about two minutes after I posted that Jonathan wasn't supposed to know about Alanna yet. Argh. Grr. Well, those of you who noticed my mistake, I hope this corrects it.

-A very annoyed dragonlady

Kat-Thank you sooo much! And Ariela will definitely be in chapter thirteen.

The Grand Mage

By Dragonlady

Chapter Twelve-Revelations

It was the first day of Ileana's fourth and last year as a page. The first hour of the first day, in fact, and she was already running late. She ran into the breakfast hall just as the bell rang and all the pages sat down.

"Slept late, Gerry?" Jon teased. "That's what, the first time?" Ileana got similar comments from Gary, Raoul, and Alanna-Alex was as quiet and secretive as the books had said-all of whom were delighted to see the infuriatingly organized "Gerry" do something wrong. She made a face at the Prince.

"Now, see, if I hadn't been helping you all with your undone homework-"

It wasn't their fault, and you know it, sleepyhead.

That was Anjeyla. Ileana didn't bother to reply to that one, just looked across the hall and glared. Her friend, her changing eyes currently a mischievous light blue, just grinned. No one had ever remarked that Anjeyla had been at Court three years and didn't look a day beyond eighteen. In fact, she wasn't really. The Goddess had said it was necessary for the two girls to be the same age, so Anjeyla wouldn't age until Ileana gained her shield at age eighteen. Ileana found it interesting that Alanna and Jonathan (I'm changing things) would be eighteen then too. Thinking about the Prince made Ileana look at him, and he grinned at her. Well, maybe he is a little handsome. Thinking about that gave Ileana the perfect retort.

Well, Anjeyla, I should think you would be the sleepy one. Don't think I didn't see you and Gary sneak out of the hall last night…

Anjeyla blushed, and Ileana grinned wickedly. Both of her friends, with their sharp wits, got along very well.

That day was a normal one for Ileana, who wasn't late again after sleeping late that morning.

That evening, Jonathan, Alanna, Gary, Raoul and Alex all gathered in Ileana's rooms to do homework. The warning bell struck, and Ileana grabbed Alanna's sleeve as she was about to walk out. Ileana waited until the door had closed before saying anything.

"Alanna, could I talk to you, please?"

"Sure," Alanna said. "Gerry, what's on your-" Then she realized what Ileana had called her. "I think you have some explaining to do," she said quietly, violet eyes flashing. "Why did you call me that?"

"Stop that," Ileana snapped. "If I was going to tell on you, Alanna, don't you think I would have said something by now? As to how I know, that's a long story. But before we get into that, there's something I have to show you." Ileana did something she hadn't done in a long time-she removed her illusion. Her hair curled until it was a mass of ringlets, and grew all the way down to her knees. She grew taller and slimmer, her chest filled out, and her features altered back to their perfectly exquisite selves. As the Goddess had foretold, she would soon, if she wasn't already, be the most beautiful woman in the world. Ileana's violet eyes, of course, remained the same.

"Well," Alanna said, almost speechless. "This changes things a bit. But how did you hide your Gift? It's very powerful, I can sense it. Who are you, really?"

"My name is Ileana Melinsere," Ileana said. "As to the rest, well, you're not going to believe it, but I'll tell you anyway. Now, see, it began when I was thirteen…" She told Alanna everything that she had told Anjeyla. Even though the last time she had told her story had been three years ago, she felt like she had told her story over and over again. Ileana told them about coming from Earth, going into Tortall as others including Alanna herself, her training to become a sorceress, the price of losing everything she had known, what the Goddess had said about the rings, and being the Grand Mage. After she said all this, Ileana took a deep breath and waited for her friend to react.

It took Alanna a moment for everything to sink in. When it did, she said nothing, only reached out with her mind. Ileana let down her shields, and Alanna probed at her friend's magic. She was surprised at the amount of violet fire that she sensed. "You have a lot of magic."

"Not really, just more training. If you let me teach you some things, you will be as powerful, you and Jonathan. But we can go into that later. So. Do you believe me?" Ileana was not as calm as she knew she looked. Not only was Alanna central to the success of the Order, she was also one of Ileana's best friends.

"I believe you," Alanna said without hesitating.

"Good. Would you like to become a member of the Order? George agreed, when I told him everything a week ago."

Alanna agreed, and Ileana called the Goddess, who presented Alanna with her ring.

"I'll teach you how to use it later," Ileana said.

"If we have time," Alanna said. "But there's one thing I want to ask. This won't change anything, will it? I realize that you're the Grand Mage, but-don't take this the wrong way-I'm not exactly, um, the following type."

Ileana laughed. "That's the understatement of the century. And no, nothing's changed. Gods know that you know as much of what's coming as I do."

The bell rang then, and both of them jumped. Disregarding dignity, the future Lioness made a run for her rooms before the teachers caught her out of bed.

Fun chapter! Black City next.