A/N: Wow, was I stunned when I saw I had 48 reviews! Thanks for your reviews ppls! Anyways this is the last chapter I'll do for now. *People throw tomatoes* FOR NOW I SAID! I've got exams coming up and I really need to study for them. You'll have to wait at least 5 weeks for the next chapter….Solliez ppls! Hope you enjoy!
Alanna's training started the very next day. Thom had left as soon as she arrived, the reason being "I don't want to mess your fun." She demonstrated in front of Raoul, so that he could see what were her weaknesses and strengths and what she knew. She thought that she was quite well prepared, until Raoul threw her over his hip and she landed on her back.
"Alanna, are you all right? Maybe this wasn't such --"
"I'm fine, Raoul. I'm just a bit… stunned, that's all" panted Alanna.
Raoul told her, "We'll end the session. You've done well today. If you hadn't gone to the convent, you could've been a lady knight Do you need help getting back to your room?"
"I'll manage. So same time tomorrow?" asked Alanna, still a bit breathless.
"Yes, though I think you might've lost your mind when you decided to train with me." He held open his door.
She laughed as she walked down the hallway. "Maybe you're right, Raoul."
Returning to her rooms after having breakfast she overheard a conversation between two palace servants. "—hear today? The Prince didn't go to his rooms last night! He went into the Royal Forest instead!"
"Do you know why?" the second palace servant asked eagerly.
"Nope, no body knows for sure but you should've seen Lady Delia, when he said he wasn't feeling too feel. Her face was as sour as a lemon!" The first servant that spoke, laughed.
"You should've seen all the other ladies! You could see on their faces that they wanted to spend the rest of the night with him! But for some reason they didn't" pondered out loud the second servant.
"Well, I don't think that they would have a chance with the Prince," remarked the first servant, "Not with Lady Delia here anyway. She still is the prettiest woman at court!"
"And also the meanest," added the second servant "Remember last year when she "accidentally" tripped Lady Charity of Tirragen? Poor woman, she ended up having a sprained ankle!"
Alanna entered her room, having heard more than she wanted to. So Jonathon had pretended to be sick. But why? Why did he come into the forest and talk with her? Was it because he felt comfortable around her? Did he like her as a friend? Or something more? Or did he pretend to be sick because he saw her walking into the Royal Forest alone? Did he do it because he felt sorry for her? Frustrated, she pushed her thoughts aside and decided to take another stroll around the Royal Palace. She was just about to go out of her rooms when Maude suddenly appeared in the doorway. One look at her face was all Alanna needed to retreat back into the room.
"Alanna ", asked Maude sweetly, her tone dangerous, "Where were you this morning?" "Oh –I-I-I went to the er-er-er….I went to breakfast!" said Alanna triumphantly.
" What I meant was BEFORE breakfast, where were you?"
"Oh, before breakfast." She gave a nervous laugh. "I was um-um…." Suddenly Raoul appeared at the door, flustered. "Alanna, come quick!"
"What? Why?" asked Alanna, worried.
"I'm not too sure myself. But Thom told me to come get you!"
"Alanna –" began Maude
"Not now Maude, you heard Raoul! I'll be back later!" and with that Alanna and Raoul were gone from the room.
"Hmph, every time I try to lecture her, that Raoul keeps appearing. Why does--" a smile slowly appeared on Maude's face. "Ah, I see why. Alanna's all grown up now. Lady Alanna of GoldenLake and Malorie's Peak. I like the sound of that."
Alanna followed Raoul into Thom's room, where Thom was muttering to himself. He stopped when he saw his twin. "Alanna I need your help desperately!"
"You know I'll always help you. What's the big emergency, Thom?"
"Today there's a big archery competition and everybody's going to be there!"
"So?" she said puzzled.
"You know how I am at these kind of things!"
"But surely you've better now? All that physical training you've been doing, you must have improved! "
"Well yes, I have improved, but not much. In swordplay, I can barely defend myself, in combat I always break at least one bone, my horse doesn't like me –"
"Alright, I understand. But I don't see how I can help you in this archery competition. What is the big deal about it? By the sound of it, no body will expect you to do well."
"But the thing is, I need to, no, must do well today!" he said with frustration.
"Why?"
"I made a bet with Jeris that I could best him at archery…" his voice trailed off.
"How much?" demanded Raoul.
"30 gold nobles…" was the small reply.
"30 GOLD NOBLES?" echoed Alanna. "You don't have that kind of money!"
(A/N: Okay maybe that's not a lot…maybe I should've said 100 gold nobles…I'm wasn't sure about economics in those days, alright? Just think of 30 gold nobles as a lotta money)
"Jeris? JERIS OF NYLORD? Mithros Thom, what were you thinking?" Raoul exploded. "He is the best archer amongst you squires! Why in the world would you make a bet with him!" The last part came out as a statement.
"He wasn't being chivalrous?" he said weakly.
Raoul opened his mouth to fire back at Thom, but Alanna beat him. "Look, explain later Thom and then Raoul you can say whatever you want to him! You said I could help Thom. But how? I don't have that kind of money myself! Tell me, how can I help?"
He looked at her gratefully, even though she was angry. "You can take my place."
"What?" said Raoul, unbelievingly. "This is no time for a jest, Thom. She's female!"
"So? She can shoot as well as a male squire! You saw the other day!" Thom retorted. "She might be better than Jeris!"
"Hmm, you might have a point there." Raoul said, somewhat reluctant. "She does shoot well and she could be Jeris's match. But how can she pass as you Thom?"
"I can disguise her!"
"How?" chorused Alanna and Raoul in unison.
"Alanna, you can wear my clothes since we're the nearly the same height, I can cast a shrinking spell on your hair and you don't have to worry about your pierced ears, because the hair will cover them. You can lower your voice a tone or two to sound like me."
"Um, you forgot one other detail."
"What? I've covered everything!"
"Raoul, could you excuse us for a moment?" she asked.
He went into his room, closing the door between him.
"Thom, what about my chest!" she whispered fiercely.
His face turned a nice shade of scarlet red. "Oh… well, you – you can bind them flat!"
"With what?"
"I don't know! Um…how about some of that bandage material? Please help me, Alanna!"
She considered being in the competition. She really didn't mind taking Thom's place; in fact she was excited! But what if someone found out? Then she would be a disgrace to her home. But not if I won the competition! She thought. Wouldn't that be something, a girl winning an archery competition! But if people did know about this scheme then Thom's reputation would be destroyed. They would look down on him. She couldn't let that happen. No, she thought firmly I can't tell people that I was the one in the competition, not Thom, no matter what.
Sighing, she faced Thom. "Alright I'll do it."
Thom's smile was as bright as the sun. "Okay then. While you change into these clothes," he pointed to a white linen shirt, a pair of breeches on his bed and a pair of boots "I'll tell Raoul what's happened and I'll fetch the bandage material as well."
Alanna was about to pick up the clothes when Thom caught her arm. "Thank you, Alanna for doing this. You are truly a wonderful person." He said sincerely, his violet eyes warm. Suddenly the mood changed and Thom walked to Raoul's room briskly.
