Disclaimer: It just occurred to me (major lie there) that I should put one of these up…so here it is, I don't own any of the characters here except for Jeris of Nylord, they all belong to Tamora Pierce. Don't sue me otherwise I won't be able to write any more fics. And this goes for every chapter I write, okay?!
Message at the bottom (maybe I should stick to this routine, whaddaya think?)
Alanna rushed up the stairs to Thom's rooms, praying that he be already there. She knocked on the door and unfortunately no reply came. Damn it! Where was Thom? She slid down against the wall. If he didn't come soon enough, she would have to endure another painful experience given to her by the crowd.
After receiving her reward, the crowd had surrounded her and congratulated her, by slapping her back hard enough to make her cough, messing up her hair and giving her handshakes with a grip that nearly broke Alanna's bones. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, the crowd let her go, making her promise to spend some time with them. She had just nodded and merely smiled, no definite answer given.
Her muscles ached, her feet were exhausted and sweat swept her body, but Alanna felt proud. Even great. She, Alanna of Trebond, a girl who had spent 6 years at a convent, had just beaten the best squires in all of Tortall. Not to mention the fact that they were all male. And they had had more training than she had. And they didn't have to learn two sets of things at the same time. And they –
Someone shook her. "Thom! Are you all right?"
Alanna's head snapped up. Jonathon was peering at her, the expression of worry clearly etched on his handsome face.
"Oh-oh me?" she spluttered, surprised. "I'm-I'm fi-fi-fine! Just err…err…taking a rest! Tir - tired. The competition exhausted me."
"Ah, I see. Congratulations on your win by the way! But I say, wouldn't it be more comfortable to be inside your room?"
"My room…? Oh! My room! That's a good idea! But err, I can't, cause you see…I err…err…I – "
"Because he forgot his key and has a forgetful memory." A voice joked. "Which is why I'm his knight-master." Raoul appeared behind Jonathon.
"Yep, that's it! Raoul hit the nail right on the head! Don't you think he's smart Jon? I think he's the smartest person alive!"
The Prince raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure you're all right?"
"What? Of course! I'm as fit as a fiddle!"
Raoul coughed. "Must be the heat out there. I hear it can cause some damage to the mind."
Jonathon nodded slowly, his eyes sceptical. "Yes I see."
Thom's knight-master ushered Alanna into the unlocked room. "Well, I think Ala - Thom needs a bit of a rest, so best leave him to it."
"Absolutely. Well, tell him that we'll do something to celebrate his win. When he's well that is. "
"Sure thing, Jon." Raoul promised
The prince nodded briskly and walked away. Raoul watched him until he could see him no more and then motioned for a cloaked figure to come into his room.
"What in the Great Goddess's name took you people so long?" Alanna demanded angrily when her twin appeared.
Thom removed the cloak. "I got held up, okay? Everybody was trying to congratulate you, so I had to wait till everybody was gone and then I could get here!"
"You sure took your time!" she retorted.
"Jeez, what's your problem Alanna? I thought you'd be happy after winning!"
"What's my problem?! I'll – " Alanna shook her head. "Sorry. I don't know what came over me. Can we just get the spell done?"
"Okay, okay. Sit down on that chair and I'll undo the spell."
"There better not be any mistakes" she grumbled as she sat "otherwise I will see to it that you'll have frogs coming out of your throat!"
Later that day (a/n: around evening/night time), Alanna was reading a book (a/n: okay I know that so isn't Alanna, but hey it's my story!) when a knock sounded on the door. She opened it to reveal Raoul. Knowing Maude was trying to see who it was at the door, she hastily closed it behind her.
"What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" she asked, concerned something might have happened.
"I'm in a hurry at the moment but yes, everything's fine. Meet me outside the palace gates, under the big tree when the 10th bell rings. Thom will be coming as well."
"What? Why? Where are we going?"
He smiled secretly. "You'll just have to meet us there to find out."
"At least tell me where are we going? Raoul? Come back here! Tell me!" she demanded as he walked away.
"Remember to meet us under the big tree when the 10th bell rings!" he called over his shoulder.
Muttering, she entered her room to find Maude grinning at her like a Cheshire cat, with her hands clasped in front of her. "Ah, Alanna my dear child. You've grown up right in front of my eyes!"
She backed away from her, cautious. "Maude? Have you got a fever? Because you've been acting very strangely lately!"
"Me? I'm fine! Nothing's wrong. Enough about me. Alanna dearest, have you decided what you are going to wear when you meet Raoul tonight?"
"What - How did you – Did you eavesdrop on us? Wait, don't answer that, I don't want to know." Alanna returned to reading her book, sighing. "Besides, it's not what you think. It's not a date. And as to what I'll be wearing," she shrugged " I'll just pick something out later. Probably the blue dress I wore yesterday."
"What?!" Maude snapped of her happy mood. "Alanna! You cannot be serious! It has so many stains on it! And a rip in the side!"
"So?" questioned Alanna, turning a page in the book. "I don't care. Besides I don't know where we're going. And it's not going to be just – "
"Alanna! Haven't you learnt anything from the convent? You are 16 years old! It's time to find a husband! I won't always be here to look after you, you know. You do want to look your best don't you? Well then, let's start getting ready! Put that book down!" Maude ordered.
The next three hours were spent preparing Alanna for her mysterious outing, involving Thom and Raoul. The first hour saw them both arguing which outfit to wear. Whenever Alanna chose one, Maude said it was either too boring or the colour didn't suit her and whenever Maude chose one, Alanna said it was too sharp or too revealing. Finally, they settled on a dark-coloured dress with sleeves that flowed and a low neckline (but not too low to make Alanna conscious), which also included pockets (so Alanna could bring a dagger, in case of any incidents), set with dainty slippers and a cloak. The next hour saw Maude fixing Alanna's tangled and tattered hair. It took half an hour just to get rid of all the tangles and to straighten it, complete with Alanna's yells of pain. And then it took a further ten minutes to decide what to do with her hair. Again, none of them could agree on anything, so in the end they decided for the simple, neat yet sophisticated look: a plait with a few tendrils to frame her face. The last hour saw Maude's unsuccessful attempts to place face-paint on Alanna. Maude wanted to do an all-out makeover, but Alanna wasn't having it. She didn't want any at all in fact, but in the end a swipe of blush appeared on her cheeks.
"Stand back Alanna, let me have a look at you " said Maude
She obeyed and Maude nodded with satisfaction. "You know, if you'd only wear just a bit of face-paint each day you'd actually look like a proper Lady."
Alanna gave a snort. "Fat chance of that happening. You should know that by now Maude."
The bell rang accompanied by a watchman's cry 'the 10th bell at night'.
"Well there's my signal. Guess I better go. Goodbye Maude. Remember to blow out the candles and don't wait up for me." Alanna threw her cloak over her shoulders and disappeared into the corridor, leaving Maude pondering what time she was going to come back.
It was dark outside the palace, but a small ball of bright purple fire lighted the night. Two figures could be seen, a boy sitting on a rock and a young man leaning against an enormous tree.
"Did you get the money from Jeris today?" asked Raoul, crossing his arms.
"No," Thom shook his head and smiled grimly "You know what he did? He opened his door a bit and then said 'You want it? Well you ain't gonna get it! I don't own you any money!' and slammed the door in front of my face! That – that piece of trash! That chicken! I ought to smash his face in! "
"Indeed, you should," a voice said dryly " but I doubt you have the strength to do that."
Thom directed his ball of light to where the voice had come from. "Alanna! Thank God you're here! We've been waiting for ages! So can we go now Raoul?"
"Not yet " he replied, looking towards the palace. "We still have to wait for someone else to come."
"Where are we going anyway? And who's the other person? Is it Jon? Gary?" asked Alanna.
"Jon said that he might not make it tonight, but he'd try," her twin answered. "His mother wanted him to meet some new ladies that arrived today."
"Oh," she said, "Well is it Gary?" She tried to fight the disappointment inside her that had risen when she heard about Jon.
"Gary?" laughed Raoul. "Nah. He's too busy spending the night with Cythera of Elden. Apparently, 'she has eyes like the moon and lips you'd think were from the goddess'. Needless to say, he's infatuated with her. He won't be coming."
"So who are we waiting for then? And where are we going?" she asked again, impatient.
"We're going to celebrate your win tonight!" Thom slung an arm around Alanna's shoulders.
"Really? Wow…Thanks! But you don't have to…"
"Are you kidding? What have you done with my sister Alanna?! Of course we have to celebrate! You beat Jeris of Nylord today, the best squire archer! And you won 100 gold nobles! Come on!"
" Well…err…okay…if you say it like that…but who are we waiting for?" she asked again, annoyed now. "If we're going to celebrate my win, don't I have the right to know who's coming? Could you please tell me Raoul?"
"Turn around and you'll see " a familiar voice said right behind her.
A/N: Oh no! Another cliffhanger! Eeek! And I promised that I won't any of those in, in the future! Double eek! Okay, enough with the eeks. Again thank you to the ppl who reviewed…(I don't care what any of you say, I'm gonna include that sentence in every chapter)…hope you all have a merry x-mas…and a happy new year…also I took longer than usual to write this chapter…sorry again…one of youse gods said that you'd like to see George to make another cameo…yeah he's gonna make one…just look out for him in the following chapters…I have a problem…should I end the story at the grand ball or should I write a few more chapters after? Tell me what you think and remember…always be a responsible person and r-e-v-i-e-w …otherwise no more Lady Alanna! And we wouldn't want that would we? Mwhahaha …. *coughs* …okay just review it…pleaze? Pretty please? Oh yeah nearly forgot, flames and criticism are greeted 'with arms wide open'…lolz…remember to review! Damn it…I nearly passed two thousand words! Okay I'll just write more pointless stuff here…3 more words! Wohoo…past the two thousand words mark! Okay review…I'll shut up now…
