Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to epobbp for being the first reviewer.

Miss Moony would also like to thank azn pride alwayz, On top of cloud 9, Shinyobjectslover, nicolerenea and Starlight Chibi-chan for reviewing.

------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------

Chapter 24

You know what you must do now, do you not? Scrap asked her, waving his tail as he lay on her bed.

Alanna, having just opened the door, blinked in surprise, and then nodded. She sat down next to him, bit her lip, and then sighed. 'Will you help me?' she said finally.

The cat gave a quiet mewl of agreement, and she offered him a soft smile, reaching over to scratch behind his ears.

There was a sudden click, from the door shutting, and when Alanna looked up, Alex was standing before her. 'You were talking to the cat,' he observed, his voice oddly strangled.

Alanna blinked, and then let out a startled laugh. 'And he was talking back,' she said, not expecting him to believe a word of it. But he merely nodded, and then paced over to her window, looking out over the courtyard.

There was a moment of silence, before Alex blurted out, 'I heard about what happened to your brother.'

'Oh?' Alanna prompted him to continue.

'Um… Jon told me. He heard it from one of the maids. You- you don't mind, do you? Only that, the whole palace probably knows by now.'

She shook her head, and the muscles in Alex's back loosened up slightly.

'What are you going to do, now?' he asked quietly.

Alanna hesitated before telling him, 'Exactly what Thom did.'

'Oh,' was her godsbrother's initial response, and then, 'There's a banquet tomorrow evening. I'll cover for you, if you want to disappear.'

It was strange, the sense of relief that came over her at his words, and a smile twitched at the corner of her mouth as she rose to come over and stand beside him. 'Thank you,' she said, and he nodded.

-------

She attended the first part of the banquet – sat between Alex and Gary, and made small talk with Cythera of Elden, who was attending as Gary's date.

But the older girl's conversation grew tiring after a while. After all, there was only so much time one could spent talking about dress materials, and the various eligible bachelors at Court. And both Alex and Gary were beginning to shift uncomfortably by the time Cythera got 'round to mentioning Prince Jonathan.

Even if she is nice, Alanna thought with an inward sigh, Lady Cythera is an awful gossip.

Cythera, noticing her date's behaviour, put a hand up, covering her mouth as she giggled slightly. 'Oh dear,' she said, looking at Alanna with dancing eyes, 'I think we must have embarrassed them, Lady Alanna.'

Alanna nodded in agreement, but effectively ended their conversation there by rising from her seat and making a few feeble excuses to her companions. She was going, she claimed, to the toilet. She shared a significant glance with Alex, who nodded, and then left the hall.

Scrap was waiting for her outside the doors, looking elegantly bored. He cast her a scathing look, as if to say, "What took you so long?" and then flicked his tail and led her away.