A/N: I would just like to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to all the people who reviewed my first fanfic (Lady Alanna – Part 1)!! I was sooo happy when I discovered that I had nearly 20 review so thank you thank you thank you! I'm not sure if this chapter will be as successful as the first one, but plz review again! I'll try to post the future chapters sooner! Once again, THANX 4 UR REVIEWS!
The next day, Alanna went wandering around the palace dressed in breeches and a shirt, her shoulder-length hair tied back into a ponytail. Although no body had seen her wear this outfit at the convent, she always wore it while practicing combat and swordplay, which was taught to her by a few of her friends in the convent.
She walked into the practice courts, speculating all the action that was going on. A few pages were out and all of them stared in shock, at the petite figure with violet eyes, dressed in practice clothes.
One of them came over, a boy with sandy blond hair and cold gray eyes. He took a look at her and sneered, " Are you trying to pass as one of us? Is this a joke? Girls can't fight at all! Go back to where you came from!"
Alanna looked at him calmly, although her heart was beating nervously, and said " Is this how you treat a lady?"
He sneered once more and replied " You ain't a Lady! You look more like a pig!" and laughed.
Alanna was trying to get her temper under control but couldn't resist making a remark. "Well, you aren't much different yourself. You look more like a cow than a page with those legs and your big head."
The boy yelled out angrily and made a grab for her hair, but Alanna had been expecting this. Quickly, she bent his arm and twisted it around his back, while she kicked his knees, causing him to fall to the ground. The boy struggled, trying to get back up but Alanna put her whole weight on his body.
"Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. If you're sorry, nod your head. If you're not then nobody will recognise you by the time I'm finished with you. Okay? Which will you choose?" The boy nodded furiously, and she let him go. She backed away from him and noticed that she had a crowd of pages and squires, staring at her in amazement.
" Where did you learn to fight like that?" asked a boy, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.
" That's for me to know and you to find out" she said mysteriously and strolled away. When she was half way to her rooms, she heard someone drawl " Well, Alanna dear sister, I can see you haven't lost your fighting edge."
Whirling around she came face to face with her brother who had the same coppery hair and violet eyes as her. "Thom!" she shrieked and embraced him. He returned the hug and then held her at an arm's length, admiring her.
" Hmm, I thought they taught ladies at convents how to attract young men, not fight with them" Alanna made a face and released her brother, who was laughing.
" I can't believe that you fought Ralon of Malven," he said as they began walking down the path leading into the Royal Forest.
" Well, " she said, mock indignant " he wasn't treating me like a Lady. And besides I needed to see if I could defend myself."
"Ah, I see. So tell me about your life at the convent" She told him all the experiences she had had, how she had made many enemies and a few friends, funny stories, Maude and how she was achieving her dream by practicing swordplay and doing combat work. When she ran out of things to tell him, she asked him about his life at the palace, and asked endless questions about his training. He told him about the friends he made at the palace and about the sorcery lessons he was having. He was in the middle of telling her about the Tusaine Battle by the River Drell when he was greeted by one of friends.
"Hey, is it just me or am I seeing double Thom?" said Thom's friend, while Alanna giggled.
"Raoul, this is my sister Alanna I told you about yesterday. Alanna this is one of my best friends: Raoul of Golden Lake and Malorie's Peak. He's also my knight-master" He gestured to the powerfully built man, who had black curly hair and dark eyes.
She started to curtsy to him and then remembered she wasn't wearing a dress, so she just smiled and nodded.
"Well, I finally get to meet the famous Lady Alanna of Trebond," said Raoul " Thom's been very excited about you coming here."
"So am I" replied Alanna wickedly " I haven't seen Thom since that time I ducked his head in the fish pond."
Raoul laughed heartily.
" Umm…yeah….well anyway, where's Jon and Gary, Raoul?" Thom wanted to avoid Alanna from telling any more embarrassing child hood memories.
" Well Gary went out the door as soon as he heard that some new noblewomen had arrived at court and Jon's there as well cause his mother ordered him to be. His mother said that it was good for Jon to meet new people" grumbled Raoul. "Every body's interested in the Grand Ball. Since I'm a knight, I have to attend as well. It didn't say that when you became a knight, you had to go to these kind of things!"
"Social events aren't exactly Raoul's kind of thing" explained Thom to Alanna. " He's more of a fighting-in-battles-and-wars kind of guy."
" Really? We already have something in common in then. Social events aren't exactly my kind of things. I would prefer to do some combat work than dance " said Alanna
" What? Are you joking?" Raoul was instantly shocked.
"Nope, she's not joking. She's dead serious" confirmed Thom.
" But I thought most ladies would be interested in choosing dresses and doing their hair and flirting and— "
"Well, 'I'm not most ladies'" interrupted Alanna. Did all people think that noblewomen were interested in those kinds of things? she pondered. " I was wondering could you teach me any techniques on how to improve at archery?"
An hour later, after finally convincing Raoul that Alanna was serious about weapon training, they were in the outdoors practice courts facing a target.
" I'm not sure. Are you sure you can lift that bow up? I mean I've never seen –" Alanna fitted the arrow onto the bow with ease, lifted it, pulled the string back to her ear and let the arrow flow straight into the bull's eye.
Raoul stared at her flabbergasted while Thom looked at him smugly.
"Now do you believe her?" asked Thom
"Um---" hesitated Raoul. Still don't believe me hmm? Fine then, I'll prove it to you again thought Alanna. Before anybody could say a word, she reloaded her bow 3 times, each arrow striking dead center in the bull's eye.
She turned to face Raoul. To her surprise, his flabbergasted expression was now replaced by one of respect. They stared at each other until Thom broke the silence.
"People, as much as I would like to stay here and stare all day until the cows come home," he said dryly " I think it's time we headed back towards our rooms. I don't think that Maude would be pleased you've been out all day Alanna, and Raoul I think we better head back as well. "
"So now that you've seen what I can do, perhaps you can give me lessons?" asked Alanna. " I promise that I won't giggle at you or expect you to recite poems to me. Deal?" Grinning, she held out her hand.
"Deal!" Raoul shook her hand enthusiastically, grinning in return. " So when shall we start?"
Along the way back to the palace, the trio came up with a suitable time for Alanna to undergo training in one of the less-used practice courts. Finished discussing that, they talked. By the time they arrived at the palace, Alanna felt that she had known Raoul as long as she had known Thom.
"Well I guess this is where we say goodbye. I'll see you two tonight. If I don't find either of you in your rooms, you'll regret that you knew me at all!" Laughing, both men assured her that they would be and the three of them parted.
She entered her room quietly, praying that her fussy caretaker wasn't there, but luck didn't seem to be on her side. "Alanna!" scolded Maude " Where have you been? Why didn't you tell me? Why are you wearing those clothes? Explain!" Alanna sighed wearily, as she began to change into one of her dresses. It was going to take a long time for Maude to calm down.
Just when Maude finished giving her lecture on how noblewomen should act and was about to start a new one, Raoul came by her door. Maude abruptly stopped talking. Raoul who was feeling a bit uneasy by Maude's reaction hesitated what he was going to say. Alanna hastily made introductions and then steered Raoul out of her room, saying over shoulder " I'll be back in a little while, Maude." She shut the door behind her and then turned to Raoul. " Thank Goddess, you came by!" she exclaimed, "You're my hero! I thought I'd never be able to get away from Maude's speeches!" Raoul now comfortable laughed.
" Well, Thom said what Maude was like, so I thought I better rescue you. That's one of the reasons why I came by."
"Oh, what's the other one then?" asked Alanna.
"Well, I was wondering if you could help me with a problem" he hesitated before going on, " As you might know already, the Grand Ball is tomorrow night." Alanna rolled her eyes " and I am hopeless at making small talk with other people. So could you be my companion? Wait, what I meant was, could you just accompany me? Make sure I don't turn into a block of wood or embarrass myself? Please? I'd rather be outside doing archery, but the prince has ordered me to go and I can't refuse, so could you?" he added, pleading filled his dark eyes. Alanna thought it over. Well I guess it would be mean of me to NOT help him. Besides, he is one of Thom's best friends and I have to go as well, so it might as well be someone that I know. Also, I doubt that Jonathon would remember me at all. He's probably got million of beautiful women swarming around him. He probably forgot me already. " Sure, why not? I need someone to go with, since I have to be there as well." She said cheerfully, although she was a bit sadden that by her thoughts.
"Really? You will be? Thank you!" said Raoul, relieved. " I thought I might have to lie to Jon and say that I was sick, but that wouldn't be such a great plan, because he probably would send a healer to me and then when the healer would find nothing wrong with me, I might have to explain my reasons. He wouldn't be pleased."
"Hmm, your friend Jon seems to have a lot of power over you" remarked Alanna. "Well, he is the Prince. Jon is Prince Jonathon of the Tortall Kingdom." Raoul told her. Suddenly it was hard for Alanna to breathe. " Would Prince Jonathon have black hair and blue eyes?" she asked urgently.
"Why, yes " said Raoul, surprised. "How did you know? Wait, that was a stupid question. All women know what Jon looks like. I mean, they say he's the most handsomest man at court, plus he is a knight and the prince which makes all us other knights look shameful" he joked. "Alanna, what's the matter?" he asked, noticing her pink face.
"Nothing, nothing at all." She assured him. "So tell me how being a knight is." As Raoul proceeded to do so, Alanna thought No wonder he was so mysterious yesterday! He's the Prince! Oh well, I hope that I don't bump into him again! He probably thought I was a dolt! Shaking her head, she returned to listening to Raoul. They talked until it was sunset and parted, Alanna reminding him that she would be in his chamber to start her training. She stepped inside her room, expecting Maude to fire questions at her, but instead Maude was watching her.
"Maude are you feeling alright?" she inquired worriedly. "Do you need to see a healer?" "No, no. I was just thinking about something, that's all " said Maude and then said, "Where are you going tonight?"
Alanna began to strip off her dress and then slipped into the bathtub. " Nowhere really" she answered as she began cleaning herself.
"Ah, I see then. Well, after you've finished your supper then you can do whatever you please." Alanna stopped cleaning herself and just stared at Maude, her mouth in a perfect 'o'. Maude had never let her do whatever she pleased! She had to beg Maude for 3 weeks before she let her train with the maids at the convent! She thought about protesting, then immediately stopped herself. She might not have another chance! And she did want some time alone without having to care that Maude would give her the guilt trip! Sighing contently, she rinsed herself and then began to dress. Maude had disappeared while Alanna finished bathing, so Alanna could do whatever she wanted. After supper, she would visit Thom and then take a walk into the Royal Forest by herself. She decided to gather her hair in half a ponytail and to add a few touches of make-up to surprise Thom. I really have changed she thought there was time when I absolutely refused to put face-paint on!
