Time and Again

Time and Again

Chapter 3

Rated PG (Just in Case)

By LynaQT

E-mail: Lyna_Q.T@miakaandtamahome.com

Disclaimer: These amazing characters belong to Tamora Pierce. I haven't a dime, so don't sue. The plot is mine, however.

Chapter 3: A Lady?

"Like I said, things have changed. I must say though that Jon's discriminating tastes in women has improved with time. Any change from that cow Delia would be a VAST improvement," Squire Alan took off her itchy black wig and tossed it to the nearest nightstand. "Oh, and don't think changing the subject will make me forget what we were talking about. I'm not a child you know. I could walk by myself; I didn't need Raoul to carry me around like a damsel in distress."

Alanna stretched her arms and folded them behind her neck. This was going to be a long night. "No one can know that you are my younger self. If I allowed you to walk, everyone would have figured out that you are not Thom's daughter. As it was, I'm surprised that no one thought you and I were one and the same."

Alan fluffed her pillow and adopted the same position as her future self. "What does walking have to do with being discovered?"

"Jon caught me once dressed up like a lady and he said he knew it was me because I walked like a boy. If he saw you walk, he would recognize it from that day he saw me in that same black wig walking in the palace garden." An emotional silence filled that air as Alanna remembered that day, which the girl next to her had yet to experience. Alanna turned slightly to see Alan fingering her short bob of red hair. She is so young. What am I talking about? I was so young. "Judging by the wig and the pale pink satin gown you were in the Temple of the Goddess again weren't you?"

"Yes, I needed time to meditate and get away from Jon." Alan sat up from her reclining position to hug her knees. "He confuses me. Sometimes he wants me to be the perfect gentleman with the ladies of the court and then he gets mad when I do or if I merely talk with the boys. Now, Jon is not just Jon, he is KING Jon with a wife. I don't know what to feel, so tell me. You're me, what happens?"

"I don't know now," Alanna sighed and brought her hand to her worried brow. "The Mortal Realm has become a free-for-all to all immortals and magical beings. I've seen the Goddess in visions since the gate between realms opened. The Goddess offered me a chance to go and protect the future in 454, an offer I refused."

"I'd imagine that with the conflicts between the immortals and mortals you wouldn't want to leave Tortall unprotected."

"No, it wasn't that. The Goddess has the power to send a person to the future and that person would not age during that trip. Afterward, the Goddess could return that person to the exact second that she left. I would not have missed a minute. However, I refused because the future belongs to those that have the ability to change things. If I went at that time, I would have responsibilities waiting for me back home that would hold me back." Alanna reached out her hand and clutched Alan's. "At sixteen, you have all these possibilities open to you. The things that you will learn in 454, you can apply in your life when you go back to being a squire in King Roald's Tortall. When you go back, you will have the knowledge and experience to probably make different decisions from the ones I've made. The future is not set in stone."

Alan's mind was spinning from the beginnings of a time paradox induced headache. "So what am I supposed to do here?"

"For right now, you are Thom's daughter, who was sent to this time and place for protection. No one is to know that you are me. You are the Lady Alexis of Trebond. Which reminds me, close your eyes and keep your mind open." Alanna gingerly touched Alan's temples with her fingers and recited words Alan had never heard before. "What I have just done will help you adjust to this time. The spell is called a psychic implant. I put knowledge in your mind that will allow you to inherently know how to act as a lady. You will be able to talk, walk, and finally curtsy with equal grace, if not more than, the queen herself. You maybe able to act like a lady, but don't worry. You're still the same Alanna, so make me proud."

"Lady? What will I do as a lady?" Even now the spell was taking effect. Alan could feel the tone of her voice soften and her words coming out more cultured and eloquent.

"I will pull some strings with Lord Wyldon of Cavall as well as with the Queen's Riders. You will continue your lessons with the pages and squires and learn different fighting arts with the Queen's Riders. In private, I will help you with your skill with the sword and the weaponless art called Shang. You will have to partake in the feminine arts, but hopefully I might get you out of them. There is also a favor I'd like to ask of you. There is a new page Keladry of Mindelan, could you take care of her?"

"Her?"

"Exactly. Wyldon won't let me near her because he says that it would be favoritism and my own personal bias, but he never said anything about a certain new young lady that is dire need of a friend, right Alexis?"

A/N. I REALLY should NOT have been writing this today. After SAT2, (I TOTALLY BOMBED THAT!!!!) I really SHOULD have started my homework!!! I'm sorry to say this, but don't get used to seeing a new chapter a day. I have to prepare for APs and actually do the homework assigned to me. (My brain feels like it is about to explode.) Like I said before, I will try to write in EVERY spare minute.

Please read and review. A BIG THANK YOU to those that have, you are the reason I wrote this when I should have been suffering through log inequalities and the Invisible Man. Plot Copyright 2001, May.