Standard disclaimer inserted.

CHAPTER TWENTY

By now, Alaine knew that she was experiencing another memory through her dreams.

She was standing in a paddock of some kind, but with flat lush green grass that stretched on forever. She was dressed in loose dark breeches, and a pale yellow shirt that covered her from neck to wrists. Her usually bright red hair was a dark titian colour, glinting almost dark amber in the sunlight.

Her face felt rounder and her chest flatter. These small features only emphasised her youth, but before she could examine herself more, Danae's excited laughter caught her attention. The young girl was swinging between two youths—the red head she recognised as the brother in her dreams, Thom—and the other was a raven haired boy of the same age with piercing silver eyes.

They both had annoyed looks on their faces, as if they would rather be elsewhere than minding the bubbling child ready to burst with excitement. Behind them, Jon—garbed in flowing white robes that covered him entirely—told Danae to be quiet, and the girl immediately did. Her grin remained petulantly.

Finding a spot a couple metres down, Danae lay on the grass on her stomach, watching with interest as Thom and the other boy sparred with their swords. The two of them were taunting each other, but laughing as well. Alaine herself stood to the right, with Jon instructing her on how to hold the silver sword correctly in her hand. As she adjusted it comfortably, she let her shoulders relax and blocked Jon's light attack instinctively.

Spurred on and feeling mischievous at the thought that Lady Loucelle, a teacher from the convent, would have a heart attack if she saw Alaine wielding a sword—she let herself feel the rhythm of the sparring. Jon's grin made her feel proud, and she was aware of Danae's cheering from the sidelines.

A few seconds later, when she felt the tug of wakefulness calling her from her dreamful memories, she wondered who Alanna was and why Thom and his friend were calling her that.

That afternoon she approached Jon and asked the question that had been weighing on her mind for months, "What happened that day that you found me, Jon?"

His blue eyes were suddenly guarded, and Alaine wondered why he had never told her earlier. "A lot of things, Laine."

"Tell me, please. I need to know."

He looked at her thoughtfully for a few agonising seconds, before he started explaining. "I don't know how things happened for you. I can only assume that your father must have sent you and your brother to head to one of the main shelters when you were attacked and fell. That's the only logical explanation as to how you gained a head injury and forgot your memories."

Nodding, she urged him to give her anything else. "Ho—how did you find me?"

"I was taking Danae and Aula to the same shelters. We were coming from the other direction, but I heard the sounds that could only belong in a fight. I'm th—I'm trained as a knight, Alaine," saying this, he looked away, but not before Alaine caught the self-disgust, shame and guilt in his eyes, "So I came to see what was happening. By the time I got there, you were lying there alone, with Captain Arundel dead and your brother nowhere to be found. I was too late."

Alaine swallowed, wishing she could remember.

Darkness suddenly entered his expression, "I thought you were dead. But when I realised that you were only injured and unconscious I knew I had to get you out of the country. You, my sister and Aula. I had originally planned to get you all past the border, and then return by myself to handle everything else, but things changed."

"What do you mean?"

"I got scared again. I don't know if you remember, but power always held a fear for me."

Jaw dropping, Alaine couldn't understand. "But why?! You're a leader now. Surely…"

But Jon shook his head in dispute, "No. It's different for who I am. My status and my world are all about power."

Realising that he was finally treading on a subject that she was wary about, she didn't realise that she herself had suddenly become much closed off. "And who were you, Jon? You said you were trained as a knight."

Looking at her, she saw the desperate pleading in his eyes to trust him. "I was…no, I am the son of a very important nobleman. Our family is one of the most respected in Tortall."

Knowing how close it sounded to her guesses, it was odd for her to feel so shocked, "Jon… a knight's duty is very important. I don't know why I know that, but I feel it. I have no right to judge you, but…" Then suddenly, a dreadful thought entered her mind, "Am I keeping you from going back to Tortall to fight for what's right in our country?"

"No! The only person keeping me from doing my duty is myself." Suddenly, he was very close, and Alaine ached to ease the tortured agony clearly dominating inside this young man who had done so much for her.

How could he keep this weight on his shoulders for so long? How could she have not noticed?

Before she could comfort him, a loud banging on their front door surprised them both. Their conversation interrupted, they looked at each other before Jon moved to the door. Thinking it might be either Mistress Richoter or one of her daughters, Alaine was astounded to see three tired people that she had only thought existed in her dreams.

"Raiden?!" Jon choked, and then he embraced the tall figure in front of a familiar red-headed twin and an older woman named Maude.