Chapter Twenty; The Drell river valley.
George had ridden with her this far, she was on the crest of a hill, below her was the Drell Valley, in between Tortall and Tusaine.
On her right was Fort Drell, but on her left, situated in a cleft in the ground near a waterfall was Jonathan's camp, near a small wood. She really should present herself at the fort, to the Commander, but that would mean long, false explanations to Duke Roger. How she had 'just happened' to be passing by (in the opposite direction to Corus, where she was meant to be going) and thought she'd stop by and see if any of the men needed shirts mending. Somehow, after the episode in the woods with the wolves, she doubted he would believe her.
So she turned, down to the encampment. Although her hair had grown longer, she was wearing breeches and shirt and could easily be mistaken for her twin. This was, to be true, her intention of dressing like this. She wore her sword belted openly at her side, a true test of her disguise. It was best in its simplicity. No one would expect Lady Alanna of Trebond to be riding, dressed in men's gear, in a war area.
She found Jon's tent easily, guessing it would be where her friends would be gathered. The Prince's lodgings were larger than the other tents and in the very centre of the camp, something Alanna knew must be intensely annoying for him.
Cautiously, she pulled one of the door flaps aside. The tent was empty, except fro a camp roll, a low table with maps strewn across it and what looked like last night's dinner.
"Squire Thom!" A hand landed on her shoulder. It was one of the foot soldiers, a giant of the man, and almost as wide as he was tall. "Th' Prince is over at th' fort with th' Conté Duke. We thought we saw you ridin' off with him when we was on guard duty."
"I came back for something." She tried to deepen her voice. "Thank you."
Ignoring the slightly suspicious look she was getting from the man, she remounted Moonlight and rode off.
She left the camp easily, the sentries nodding at her as she passed them by.
To get to the fort, she had to pass through a small copse of trees and over the rocky point.
When she was halfway to her destination, her mare sped up. Alanna slowed her, wondering what had upset her mount. Then she smelt smoke, the thick, cloying scent of resin burning. Gently she urged Moonlight towards the source, It came from behind a pile of rocks taller than a man's head, next to the river. Four men were standing there, dressed in dark tunics and cloaks to conceal themselves within the night.
The smoke came from a torch one man had carelessly put down. It had set fire to a bunch of wet leaves and a few twigs. One of the other men was struggling to put it out with his wet cloak, revealing his Tusaine uniform to Alanna.
To her further dismay, Alanna heard the creaking of wood and the rhythmic dripping of water as more troops rowed their way across the river.
Silently, hoping the crackling of the leaves beneath Moonlight's hooves would be discounted as the roar of the waterfall, she rode off.
When they were clear of the woods she rode as fast as they could go to the nearest guard point. As soon as she was in hearing distance, she called out to them.
"Blow the summons! Tusaine troops are coming!" The men did not question her, but did as she ordered. One blew the warning horn which hung on his belt, whilst the other lit the beacon fire.
As Alanna continued to ride towards the camp, she saw the other fires spring up in warning, now all the men knew that a battle was fast approaching.
The gates yawned before her and she was through them in another second. She paused, standing upright in her stirrups. When she sat, it was only to have a leather jerkin and gauntlets thrust upon her lap.
"They're already gone – th' knights. Squire Thom."
She did nothing to correct the man's assumption that she was her twin. Instead she pressed her knees into Moonlight's sides.
"Come on girl. This is where we go and show them what we can do. Besides- we've got to go protect Jonathan and Darkness don't we?"
With a plunge of her head, Moonlight sprung up and Alanna rode into battle.
She watched for a few seconds, absorbing all she could. She had read books on war while at the palace, taken from her twin's room usually, but nothing could have prepared her for this. The battle in front of her was a complex, twisting pattern of men, interwoven among each other. The patterns shifted and changed as she watched.
Her attention was drawn to the centre of the fight, where she was a group of men in Tusaine colours heading for a silver clad figure in the middle of the fray, rising above the others as his black horse reared high.
She galloped down the hill, her sword raised. The Tortallan soldiers saw her, and in a silent charge, lead by the slim figure on the golden horse, they hewed a chunk out of the Tusaine ranks.
She found herself near Jonathan's circle when their speed was lessened by the press of soldiers. Determinedly, setting her jaw, she worked her way towards him.
She had a shield but she was unused to defending herself with one. It was round and study, and heavy enough to make her arm ache. Instead, she held it down by her unprotected thigh and used her sword to fight and defend.
Alanna knocked an axe flying and cut deep into the man's neck. As she pulled away, she was attacked by another, she dodged his stroke and cut through his defences before scoring a deep red line across his chest.
He fell and Alanna pushed herself onto Jon's right side.
"Thom?" He gasped, confused about something. She grinned up at him in a free second.
"Not quite. Guess again."
She battled with a foot soldier as he tried to ram a pike into her neck. She chopped the weapon in half then cracked the man around the head with the flat of her sword.
"Alanna!" Jon stared at her in amazement, dismay, and she was surprised to notice a touch of fear. Not for himself, but for her.
"You promised…"
"No I didn't." Alanna said, unrepentantly. "I never promised that I wouldn't come here."
Jon engaged a Tusaine knight but called over his shoulder.
"If we both get out of this alive I am going to kill you!"
Laughing, she called back. "
"In that case I better make sure you get out of this alive!"
He continued to stare at her, shaking his head in amused disbelief as she joined him in battle against the Tusaine army.
And that was Alanna's devious plan, as featured in chapter thirteen.
How was it? Let me know…
HuntressDiana