One of a Kind
Disclaimer : Tortall and it's inhabitants (and gods) belong to the great Tamora Pierce, except so far for anything to do with Eagles Reach, the priestesses, Rhiannon belongs to herself (she's basically a friend of mine if she had been born and raised in Tortall), and the name Ruatha is borrowed from the Dragons of Pern books. Oh, and Tat and Toffee are completely mine, so if for some bizarre reason you want to borrow them for anything, please ask first.
Chapter seven: Enter the Dragon
Alanna opened her eyes, trying without success to bring the blurry faces above her into focus, then closed them again, wondering what had happened. She vaguely remembered settling down in front of the fire, and then … she was sure it wasn't a dream, but how could what she thought had happened have actually happened? Her brother, the prince, the healing … all of it. Magic, she thought, feeling sick at the power that had been unleashed. Was I even in control of it? Or was it just chance, or maybe Thom. It couldn't have been me. I don't have that sort of power. I don't want that sort of power!
"Alanna?"
Her eyes opened, and the faces above her swam into focus as a hand touched her temple. Tat, Rhiannon, Sophia, even the First Daughter were clustered around her, all wearing almost identical expressions of concern. The First Daughter removed her hand from Alanna's temple. "How are you, child?"
Alanna blinked slowly. "Not too bad, First Daughter. Where am I?"
"The infirmary." Tat said. "By the Goddess, you scared us, Alanna. Sophia came to us at breakfast and told us Maude had found you keeled over unconscious in front of you fire, looking half dead. You've been asleep here for the better part of a week!"
Alanna started up. "A week! That's impossible!" And being pulled out of you body to save someone's life by your brother isn't?
"You were, actually. Delia started spreading this ridiculous rumour that you'd somehow caught the Sweating Sickness, until Tat suggested she keep her mouth shut and learn something about healing before making a diagnosis." Replied Rhiannon as she gently pushed Alanna down again. Alanna grinned, realising what sort of persuasion Rhiannon had meant when she said Tat had made her suggestion. Delia had learned that Alanna and Tat were both more than capable of retaliating to her nasty comments, and this gave them some sort of advantage, although Delia wouldn't hesitate in running to Clothilde if she gained any proof that they were behind the pranks they played on her, which limited what they were able to do.
"Go now, ladies, lady Alanna no doubt needs her rest to recover." Alanna was about to protest that she wasn't tired at all, but the look on the First Daughter's face made her close her mouth again without saying anything. Tat and Rhiannon bent down to hug her, before curtsying to the priestess and being shooed out the door by Sophia, who followed them, shutting the door with an audible click.
"What really happened, lady Alanna?"
The bluntness of the First Daughter's question all but took Alanna's breath away. "I don't know, First Daughter."
"Don't be coy, lady Alanna." Alanna gulped. "You have the Gift, do you not?"
Wondering what was going on, Alanna nodded. Does she know? she wondered, Could she?
"You are aware, then, that often when a person performs magic you can see it, as a coloured substance."
Puzzled, Alanna nodded again. Even the unGifted knew that.
The First Daughter continued. "The Goddess has granted me the ability to see magic on those occasions when most people would not be able to see it, and when magic has been recently performed. When I came here after your maid found you, you were glowing with the residue of your magic - and - it was interlaced with silver magic. The colour of the mark of the gods is silver, did you know?"
Feeling sick, Alanna shook her head. The thought of being surrounded by that much magic while she was unconscious terrified her.
"It is my guess that you attempted to call on the greater powers - the Gods, for the sake of some spell, and made a mistake in it. Am I right?"
Alanna stared fixedly at the blanket covering her. Her hands plucked at a loose thread. "No, First Daughter, I wouldn't attempt that sort of magic for no reason. I hate using my magic for almost anything, in fact. I don't want the Gift."
A hand under her chin gently pulled her head up until she was staring into the First Daughter's eyes. "Please don't make me tell you what happened." She pleaded. She felt fingers gently probing her thoughts briefly and then the First Daughter nodded. Standing, she smiled down at Alanna. "You should be back on your feet and in class soon. Get some rest, lady Alanna."
Alanna nodded and lay back.
***
Jumping down from Toffee, Alanna turned to grin at Rhiannon. "Enjoying your first trip to the City of the Gods, Rhia?"
She laughed. "I wouldn't know, since we only just got here."
"You will." Assured Tat from her other side. It had been a month since Alanna had healed the prince of the Sweating Sickness, and the First Daughter had decided she was well enough to give in to Alanna and Tat's pleading and allow them to go to the City of the Gods. Since Rhiannon had been in the convent for four months and not seen the city, the two girls had asked if they could show their younger friend around it. They had been to the city several times since Alanna's first time, and their collective instinct for mischief meant that they had come to know the city very well.
Alanna glanced across at Sophia. She didn't often accompany the girls to the city, although she was in a sense their 'guardian priestess,' the priestess whom they went to for help or to ask permission to do something like go riding in the woods in their free time. This time, however, she had come along to replenish some healing supplies, since she, in addition to taking both Gifted and unGifted for healing, also worked in the convent infirmary.
Sophia smiled. "Go on then," she said. "I'm sure you've lots of things you want to do today before we head back to the convent. Be sure to stick to our schedule." She shouted after them as all three remounted and began to trot off.
"Yeah Sophia. The central square at an hour past midday!" Tat shouted with a wave over her shoulder at the young priestess as they trotted away.
As they reached the stalls, Alanna gently pulled on Toffee's reins to bring her to a halt. Much as she hated to admit it, her tough little pony was getting old, and could no longer do the sort of riding she was once capable of.
Scanning the crowd for a stall where Tat could purchase some cloth to have her maid make new breeches out of, since the combination of hard riding and fighting with Alanna on the practice courts meant all her old pairs were looking distinctly worse for wear, Alanna took the opportunity to observe some of the people there. Most of them were priests or sorcerers, or in training for that, but one in particular caught her eye. Tall and well muscled, he had the expression and stance of a warrior, although he bore no weapons. That and his hair, as copper as Alanna's own, made him stand out from the crowd, and Alanna felt a wave of curiosity sweep over her before Tat said that she had spotted a stall and Alanna turned Toffee to follow Vixen. When she looked back, the copper haired man was no longer visible, and, shaking her head, she dismissed thought of him from her mind, her attention claimed by Tat holding up some light, rough silk and doing a spirited imitation of Delia as she picked through silk, wool and linen to find appropriate cloth, soon drawing Alanna and Rhiannon into her search. When the girls finally left the stall, it was with a lot more cloth than they had originally meant to get, both Alanna and Rhiannon having decided they needed some new practical clothes to ride and fight in.
They continued to shop and made their way to the square where they had been told to meet Sophia, and told her of their purchases over lunch in an inn.
After lunch Sophia excused herself, saying she wanted to visit an old friend whom she hadn't seen in some time, and left, Alanna, Tat and Rhiannon set out again, this time leaving their mounts with Sophia's cream horse, Lady, (who was anything but) to allow them to explore more freely, having had enough of shopping.
They wandered down to the area of town that was mostly inhabited by the less fortunate servants, thoroughly enjoying themselves. It was only as Rhiannon pointed out that the sun was beginning to set that they suddenly realised they were late for their rendeverous with Sophia.
Hurrying back through the city, they found themselves in an area they didn't realise. Alanna's neck prickled as though she was being watched.
Alanna frowned. "We must have taken a wrong turning somewhere. C'mon, let's go back."
"I don't think so." A large black shape stepped out of the shadows and into the dingy light cast by an inn at the end of the street. Alanna frowned again, sure that she had heard the voice somewhere before, then involuntarily gasped as she recognised the boy who had been the ringleader of the pack who had attacked Alanna and Tat in Alanna's first visit to the city.
More boys - and some young men stepped out of the shadows. Beside her, Alanna saw Tat's eyes narrow at the sight of one.
"That boy, I saw him before. Took one look at us and ran round the corner. He must've told them we were here."
The youths formed a circle around them and began to close in. Automatically Alanna and Tat shifted to stand back to back, Rhiannon between them.
Alanna's thoughts flew back to what she had said to them both a month ago. I do know when I'm outnumbered. Well, if ever she had known that, it was now. But her honour wouldn't allow her to give in without a fight, she realised a she blocked a punch and reached down for her boot dagger, wishing desperately for her staff, of anything she could use as one. She caught the knife of one attacker on her dagger, then slashed at him. The cut wouldn't kill him, something Alanna was glad of - she didn't really want to kill anyone, although it would put him out of action for a while and all hell broke loose as the gang realised what she had done to the boy.
They closed in, separating the girls. Using all of her speed, Alanna hopelessly tried to fend off her attackers. She heard Rhiannon scream and spun in that direction. Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, two of the boys grabbed her, pinning her arms against her sides, and dragged her forwards.
Looking around, she saw Tat and Rhiannon in similar positions.
The leader of the boys walked forward. "You've been very bad. Look what ye did to poor Timmy." He gestured to the boy Alanna had slashed, supported by two others. He drew back his fist and Alanna shrank away, waiting for the blow.
It never came.
The boy grunted. Alanna looked up, and saw that the man she had seen before had come up behind the youth and grabbed his wrist, holding back the boy's punch.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's not polite to hit girls?" he asked in a conversational tone. The flesh on the youth's wrist turned white and he stared at the man, pain showing in his face. "No?" the man enquired. "Well, now I have. I suggest you let them go."
The look on the youth's face now became one of fury, and he spun to attack the man, and then suddenly went flying backwards as the man kicked him in the stomach. Two well-aimed kicks had the boy's holding Alanna on their backs and she fell forward, surprised by the sudden release. He turned and, lightning quick, administered the same treatment to a number of other youths. The rest ran as he turned to face them, not wanting to risk trying to fight him, and he turned back to Alanna. Up close, she could see that her was around mid- to late twenties, with an oft-broken nose, sensuous lips framed by a moustache and a variety of scars.
Extending a hand to her, he asked "You alright, lass?" as he gently pulled her up. She nodded, and he turned to pull up Tat and Rhiannon. The younger girl had a cut along one arm, shallow but long, and Alanna ran forward with a cry, ripping at her volumous sleave to make a bandage for it.
He looked them over. "You three look a bit young to be wandering these sorts of streets at night. Shouldn't you have a guardian with you?"
"We do. We were supposed to meet her a little while back but we got lost." Tat said.
He nodded. "I see. Where were you supposed to meet her?"
"Hang on." Alanna said, thinking, true, he did just get rid of those brutes, but we know nothing about him, after all. "I don't suppose you're going to tell us who you are."
The man grinned at her and Alanna had a sudden impulse that they could trust him. "So, you do seem to have some sense, after all." He bowed. "Liam Ironarm, Shang Dragon. Now will you tell me where you were supposed to meet your guardian?"
Alanna was rendered speechless at the realisation they had just met the Shang Dragon, and Tat, seeing this, told him the name of the inn they were to meet Sophia at.
"I know where it is. I'm staying there in fact. I'll show you to it." He said, and beckoned for them to follow them as he walked down the street.
Sophia was waiting for them outside the inn, her young face creased with worry. She spun at the sound of their shoes on the stones, and ran towards them. "What happened to you? I told you to be here the best part of an hour ago!"
Liam bowed introducing himself, and explained what had happened, then turned towards the girls and bowed again. "Goodbye ladies," he said, before turning and walking into the inn.
Rhiannon bit her lip and Tat wrapped an arm around her, placing a hand on her cut to heal it enough so she wasn't in much pain for the ride home.
Dismounting at the convent stables, Alanna looked over at Rhiannon and said, "Rhia, I don't care what you say, we're teaching you to defend yourself." Tat nodded agreement, and Sophia looked over at them sternly. "You two would be better off practising your own defence and leave the teaching to me, although after what happened last year it's entirely possible the First Daughter will never let you out of the convent again, you realise."
***
A week later, after their class on healing, Sophia motioned for Alanna to stay behind. Walking up to the desk, Alanna wondered what she had done.
"Alanna, the Fist Daughter wishes you to go to her office after dinner this evening. That's all."
Alanna nodded, wondering why the First Daughter wanted to see her, and related it to Tat and Rhiannon, who were waiting for her outside the door, to see if they could come up with anything as they walked to their next class.
After dinner that evening, Alanna said goodbye to Tat and Rhiannon, who walked off to do their homework together in Tat's room, as the three often went to one or the other's bedroom to work together.
Walking towards the doors of the First Daughter's office, Alanna stopped before the priestess standing beside it and asked to be let in. The woman nodded, Alanna walked into the office.
She stopped dead at the sight of the Shang Dragon sitting in a chair before the desk.
"Lady Alanna," the First Daughter said as Liam rose to bow to her. "I believe you have met the Shang Dragon, Liam Ironarm." Startled, Alanna nodded. "Sit down, child."
Alanna sat. Liam looked at her. Tell me, lady Alanna, what do you know of the Shang?"
Alanna frowned, gathering her thoughts, and began to tell what she knew - not a lot, she realised as she recited it.
Liam nodded as she finished. "True. The part about children not being accepted to study over seven, however, is what I wished to discuss with you. There have been cases - although they are rare, where a person has been accepted a few years over that age, if they have had previous weapons or fighting training, if it is believed they can keep up with the training. When I came upon you and your friends in the City of the Gods last week, I saw you fighting. The First Daughter tells me you are receiving training," Alanna nodded, "and from what I saw, you have potential. If you would like to, I would be willing to take you on as my student."
Alanna stared at him, mouth open. "You - you're offering to teach me Shang? To fight the way you do?"
"If you would want too. I must warn you it's difficult however."
Alanna nodded, grinning. "Yes, I want too. Very much."
"Lady Alanna." The First Daughter spoke quietly. "I have no objection to this, but you must understand that your father has given you into my care first and foremost to learn the skills of a noblewoman. This will be allowed, but only on the condition that it does not affect the rest of your work here."
Alanna nodded, dizzy with astonishment. Anything to learn Shang! She thought, as the First Daughter dismissed her and she walked dazedly back to her rooms.
***
Alanna woke early the next morning to Sophia shaking her. "Sophia? What is it?" Sophia tossed her some breeches and a shirt. "I've been sent to get you, apparently your training is to start this morning."
"Now?" Alanna looked out the window. It was still dark.
"Yes, now. I suggest you get moving. It's not a good idea to keep anyone waiting at this time of morning, and the Dragon doesn't seem like the type to like waiting at anytime of the day."
Stumbling down to the practice courts, Alanna stifled a yawn.
Liam was already there. He nodded a curt "Good morning." and told her to warm up.
"Now," he said, when she had finished stretching, "let's see what you can do."
He got her to show him what she knew in a mock-fight, and then began to teach her a simple punch when that was done. This went on for an hour, and Alanna was exhausted by the end of it. "You'd better get going." Liam said at last. "Meet me here, at this time, every morning. Don't be late." He warned as she hurried of to change before breakfast.
And so it began. Mornings and other free time when he thought she needed it belonged to Liam, evenings to Sophia and homework and - if she had any left after practice and such, a bit of free time then, and the day was spent in classes. Alanna gradually got used to it, although the extra hours of physical work she did left her in no doubt as to why Thom, with his hatred of physical work, disliked his training so much, as she knew from his letters.
