Time started to move fast. Before Alanna knew it, it was the day before the Ordeal. All thoughts of contacting the Goddess were pushed to the back of her mind. She found though, that this time, she wasn't at all nervous.
"I guess I know what I'm facing this time, so that makes it a lot easier on me," she told Faithful, as she was riding around the palace.
"Better still look nervous, so no one get suspicious," Faithful replied.
"Alan! Wait!" Alanna turned around to see who was hailing her. She smiled. It was Gary. She pulled on Moonlight's reins so the horse stopped.
"Good morning, Gareth of Naxen."
"Good morning, my sweetling," Gary replied, tweaking her nose. "I had an inkling you would be riding around. Not nervous, are you?" He asked jokingly.
Alanna tried to make her laugh sound forced.
"Come on, let's go down to the city. Have some fun before your big day."
"Fine with me, I guess," Alanna replied. She hadn't really seen George since the time he had promised he would always do her bidding. The thought of seeing him really did make her nervous. Gary and Alanna started riding down to the city.
As usual, they found George on his throne. George gave Alanna somewhat of an appraising look which made her even more nervous.
"At least I don't have to act," Alanna muttered.
"Shhh!" Faithful chided her.
"Hello, lads. What's new in the palace? Haven't seen ye around here lately."
"It's been busy at the palace," Gary replied. "I forced Alan to come down and enjoy he-, I mean his day before the Ordeal."
"That's right, lad. Your Ordeal is tomorrow. I've got a god luck charm for ye down in my chambers. I was hoping you would come see me." There was a somewhat of a pleading note in George's voice, and Alanna's stomach turned over.
Gary must've noticed the change in George's voice too, for he pulled Alanna aside and asked, "Why do you always go down to his chambers? What do you do down there anyhow?"
"Gary! George is one of my best friends. He would never do anything of the sort!" Alanna whispered hotly. "Why in the world am I pleading for extra time with George?!" she thought to herself. And once again, Alanna found herself down in George's chambers. This time, however, she kept a wide berth between them.
"You're not afraid of me lass, are you?" George asked, his eyes sad.
Alanna stuck her chin up. "I'm not afraid of anything." At hearing that, George crossed the room in three great sides, and gave Alanna a bone-crushing hug. Alanna finally relaxed, and even returned the hug.
"Don't get yourself into a mess," Faithful warned. For once, Alanna ignored her pet.
"Well, let's drink to your Ordeal tomorrow," George told her, pouring out two glasses of whiskey for them. Alanna, completely relieved at George's change in behavior, drank the cup to the very last drop.
As her eyes became leaden with sleep, she thought to herself, "I can't believe I fell for it again!"
* * *
Alanna woke up out of her drugged sleep, and found herself back in her palace room. She turned her head toward her window. It looked like it was three in the morning, but Alanna felt refreshed like she had slept for days.
"Nice to see you're up, sleepyhead," Gary greeted her, cheerfully. Alanna jumped.
"I didn't see you there!" she yelled at him, accusingly. Gary grinned at her. Alanna started to get out of bed.
"No don't!"
"What?"
"You'll get out of bed in your flimsy nightdress, and one thing'll lead to another, and you'll be too tired for your Ordeal."
"Nonsense," Alanna retorted. "You were probably the one to dress me, anyhow."
"Yes, well, that involved a lot of self-control on my part," Gary said wickedly.
"Well, I don't care." Alanna got out of bed, walked over to Gary, and plopped herself down on his lap.
"Alanna!" he said, exasperated. But he was too weak to protest as Alanna covered his mouth with hers. They were so busy, they didn't notice Faithful walking into Jon's room.
"Alanna?"
"Jon?" Alanna thought to herself. "Oh well, he's going to have to wait for a couple of seconds.
"Alanna!"
"Go away, Jon!" Alanna's mind screamed. Gary didn't even seem to notice there was a third presence in the room.
"Alanna! Alanna! Alanna!"
Alanna's temper got the better of her. She tore herself away from Gary and faced Jon. "What?!" she cried, very angrily.
"Well, I just wanted to let you know you had a bit of Gary on your face. But not to worry or anything, he's gone now," Jonathan replied, backing far away from Alanna. He moved away just in time to miss a kick from a very angry redhead. Gary didn't care. He was laughing as loudly as Jon was.
"Cousin, you have a good sense of humor for someone who's going to be Kind someday," he informed Jon.
"Gary, I think we better let Alanna rest. Go on through my bedroom back to yours."
Gary shrugged at Alanna. "Can't decline a royal order," he told her. As he walked out of the room, Alanna glared at Jon.
"What? I only listened to your cat!" And he left quickly too, closing the door behind him.
"Faithful?" Alanna asked, dangerously calm.
"I agreed with Gary when he said, ahem, extraneous activities would tire you out." He jumped out of the way, narrowly missing a flying pillow.
"Well, it was pretty funny," Alanna thought to herself, settling down on her bed. Before she knew it she was being awaked by a rough tongue licking her forehead.
"Hurry! Wake up, it's time for the Ordeal!" Faithful
mewed. "Jon and Gary are waiting. Alanna put on her ceremonial clothes
in a hurry, and walked out of her bedroom. It was time for the Ordeal.
End of Chapter! Yay! The next one's about the Ordeal, and that should be somewhat long too. That should be really fun to write. Well, thanks for still reading after so many days of waiting. Love you all!
Su
Ooo, P.S. I shamelessly stole a line from a fic I read somwhere.
But she stole the line from somewhere too. So don't hurt me!
I just needed to put it in for the fluff part of this chapter!