Tear 1- a tear of hope

Tear 1- a tear of hope.

Part II

A/N: Sorry, I forgot the author's note on the last story. This story is by Neil of the Three Musketeers. We'll put whoever wrote the story, whether its me, Terry, or Dave. Disclaimer: the characters, places, and time frame all belong to my idol, Tamora Pierce. And to all of you who have read Squire by now, all I have to dsay is, OH MY GAWD!!!!!!! Read on and enjoy!!

Alanna and George stayed with her tribe for another month or so. They lay about and did nothing, until Alanna got too bored and then she went out and hunted with the men of her tribe. She wondered frequently if her tribe still thought of her as sexless, the woman who rides like a man, when she was betrothed. Did her tribe think that George was crazy, wanting to marry someone who was sexless? These thoughts should bother me, but I'm too happy to be bothered, Alanna thought and then giggled.

Hakim looked over at her inquiringly. His look seemed to say, why are you laughing when we are out hunting? All the men looked at her similarly, which just caused Alanna to giggle harder.

And everyday, she woke up to the feeling of knowing that someone was hers, hers forever. And she would cry with happiness over the fact that that man was George.

The light of love never went out of George's eyes, either. And Alanna was happy, oh so happy.

* * * *

Alanna and George left Alanna's tribe after their month their, and headed back to the castle and then swoop around and go to Alanna's new home, Pirate's Swoop. (A/N: sorry bad pun, heehee)

They were riding through the desert when George stopped suddenly. Alanna turned back to look at him. He turned his horse around and smelled the air. Then Alanna heard it, horses, moving quickly.

"It's Hillmen. Should we make a run for it?" George asked his fiancé.

"They're moving too fast. The horses wont make it. We'll have to fight," Alanna replied.

She uncovered her shield, cursing the fact that they were wearing no armor. This was supposed to be a pleasant ride, she thought to herself. She checked to make sure that her weapons were all at easy access, and then she drew out her new sword. She steeled herself, preparing for battle.

As the Hillmen drew closer, Alanna charged Moonlight to meet her new enemy. A beast of a Hillman took Alanna's challenge and as they met, you could hear the clash of metal against metal throughout the area. Alanna tried to focus on her fighting skills and not on the ringing of metal on metal behind her. She sent a little prayer to her patron, the Goddess praying that George would be all right, even though she knew it was foolishness. George could take care of himself.

The beast/man barred his teeth at Alanna, hoping to scare this small lad, as she looked in her breeches and shirt. Alanna just grinned the crazy grin she only wore when she was fighting. She held the beast off with her left arm, while she reached behind her and grabbed her war axe and cut him through.

She then moved onto the next Hillman. A thin, ogre of a man, was her opponent. She took him down easily, then turned to see whom she could fight next. The others ran. Alanna turned to George with a grin of triumph, and he smiled back.

All of a sudden he turned to look where the Hillmen had left. And just as quickly he pushed Alanna out of her saddle, to the point where she almost fell. She could see George's face, and she saw the pain register on it. George then turned a sickly green. Alanna sat up again, to see an arrow embedded deeply in George's left shoulder. He was obviously in huge pain, and Alanna didn't have the supplies to clean it, to make sure it healed properly. Before she could think of what to do, George fainted, leaving Alanna deeply worried and unsure of what to do. He was loosing blood so quickly…

A/N: sorry, I hate to leave you guys hangin, actually, I love it, but I'm going to. That's just my style. I'll probably do this a lot. I tried to make this one longer, and it is, a little bit, but I promise the next one will be longer, I promise.