Disclaimer: Alani's mine, but not much else is!
Chapter 11 - Back To Corus: Thayet, Raoul, and Buri left the next day. A week after that, the Pirate's Swoop party left as well. Alani rode next to Aly, on a borrowed horse, since Midnight would be hard-pressed to keep up if Alani rode her. They had been riding for a few hours when they were met by Daine and Numair, who were returning to Court as well. As soon as Numair caught sight of Alani, he said triumphantly, "I knew it! You are Alani, Niamara!" Alani winced. She urged her horse over to the couple.
"About that," she began. "I only lied to avoid awkward questions. I'm sorry." They shrugged. "It doesn't matter," Daine assured the younger girl, and Alani smiled.
The rest of the two-day ride was uneventful. But then, they were at the gates of Corus, and Alanna sighed. "I can't believe he's doing this," she muttered darkly. George murmured something to her the others couldn't hear, and Alanna relaxed slightly.
To Alani's surprise, they didn't go to the palace, but to the townhouse of Alanna's adoptive father, Myles of Olau. Alanna said, "I may be forced to appear at Court, but I won't live there." Alani wondered if she got her stubbornness from her aunt. Maybe it was something in the Trebond blood.
Myles and his wife, Eleni - who was also George's mother, making Alanna and George almost stepsiblings besides being married, which Alani felt was a bit strange - were very hospitable. They were glad to see the family, and pleased to meet her. Once again, she found herself telling tales of Emelan, but what amused her was that Aly, who'd asked for these stories more than anyone, could now finish them herself. So she did have help.
On her second day in Corus, Alani went exploring, feeling hemmed in. It was easy to let go of homesickness in wide-open Pirate's Swoop, where the air was scented by the sea, like back home, but here in Corus... it just wasn't the same. Alani sighed. These bouts of homesickness were quite annoying. She returned to the house, but only to get her borrowed horse, Shadow. She decided to ride up to the university, which was just outside Corus's borders. Numair had talked about the place to her until she'd wanted to scream, but his words had aroused her curiosity despite that.
Alani got directions from her uncle, and after about a half hour, she arrived at the university. A hostler took her horse and Alani wandered in. She wasn't really sure what she meant to do here, but she didn't get the chance to find out.
"Um, who exactly are you?" a voice said. Alani spun to see a man of average height and build. He shimmered with magic in her Sight.
She sighed. "Alani of Trebond. I'm here to look around. I've heard a lot about this place." The man smiled wryly.
"I'm Harailt of Aili, the Head of the Mages' School. Numair told me all about you. You're from Winding Circle in Emelan, right?" Alani nodded. She probably shouldn't have. She spent the rest of the day among the mages, all of whom wanted to know about ambient magic, how it worked, and how to teach it. As it turned out, they wanted to create an entire area at the university for ambient mages, but their knowledge was so limited that they had no hope of reaching this goal without help.
Alani agreed to help where she could, but she wasn't sure what she could do. They finally let her leave, and she fled back to Myles' townhouse. Alanna met her outside, looking unhappy. "There are seamstresses here. They need your measurements for court clothes. We go tomorrow." Alani grimaced and went in. Court. What would it be like?
A/N: This was dumb, I know, but I needed to establish a connection with the university because Alani is going to be involved with them.