Disclaimer: This is so stupid. Why would anyone think this is mine? I mean, come ON, it's on a site dedicated to fanfiction, under the category books - Tamora Pierce. It's not gonna be mine. You're all smart people - you figure out who it belongs to (hint: it has something to do with the category).
Chapter eight: Riding and Such
Alanna smiled as she watched her two best friends - Tat and Rhiannon, circling each other , staffs raised. Sophia had long since given up matching Rhiannon against Alanna on the courts, given that Alanna's speed and extra training with the Shang Dragon made it impossible for Rhiannon to win against her, and was usually disarmed in a matter of a few minutes at most.
Alanna leaned forward onto the railing. Even at this distance she could see Rhiannon wasn't putting as much effort into her movements as she could. Raising her voice, she shouted "C'mon Rhi, put some effort into it! You'll never win if you don't try!"
Shouting equally loudly, Rhiannon replied "Don't want to win! I don't care about this fighting thing one way or the other, you know!"
Taking advantage of a weak block on Rhiannon's part, Tat spun her staff to stop close to Rhiannon's neck, a blow none of them ever used at full speed, given that it would break the neck of the person on the receiving end if it connected hard enough.
"You won't be saying that when these lessons save your life down a dark alley one day," she said, as she lowered her staff.
"Yes, well, unlike you two, I have enough sense to stay out of dark alleys, thank you very much." She said, nose in the air as she threw her staff at Alanna, who caught it with the ease of long practice, stifling a laugh at Rhiannon's expression.
"C'mon, o aspiring-warrior-maiden, let's see how you far against the ice princess."
Alanna smiled, tossing the staff back at Rhiannon's feet. "Oh no, you need the practice much more than I do, rider girl."
Rhiannon glared at her but Alanna simply smiled sweetly as she picked up the staff again with a sigh.
***
Alanna stopped just inside the doors to the dining hall, scanning the tables for Tat and Rhiannon, then spun at a tap on her shoulder.
"There you are. I was just looking for you. Where were you two?"
Rhiannon grinned as Tat rubbed her eyes. "In bed of course. It's a rest day, what else would we be doing?" she asked. "No doubt you were as well, so why did you even need to ask?"
"I wasn't. I've been down in the practice courts, going through my exercises." She replied as the three picked up trays and began to pile their breakfasts onto it.
Tat stared at her in surprise, a ladle filled with porridge suspended over her bowl. "But you told us the Dragon had left for some Shang thing or other. Why on earth were you practising?"
"Because," Alanna replied as she reached over to turn Tat's hand so the porridge dripped into her bowl. "If I don't, then when Liam comes back I'll be out of shape and he'll know I haven't been practising, which is what he told me to do."
"But one day wouldn't make a difference, would it?" Rhiannon asked in her deep alto voice.
Alanna smiled, shrugging. "I was told practise makes perfect. I've yet to see it proved otherwise."
Tat snorted in disgust as she searched for three seats at the tables, and discovered that the only ones together were a few spaces down from where Delia and her little clique were sitting.
Plonking her tray down unceremoniously, she gestured Alanna and Rhiannon to take the seats beside her, which they did.
Delia paused in her nibbling of an orange to stare down her pert little nose at them. "So, you lads have decided to sit with us today? I'm sorry, this table is reserved for ladies."
Gritting her teeth at Delia's slur - 'lads' indeed! Alanna looked back at Delia, matching stare for stare. "Really? Then, whatever can you be doing here, Delia? I was under the impression noble ladies were taught to use their manners."
Beside her, Tat ducked her head away from Delia, grinning at her porridge.
"That is indeed so. However, we are intelligent enough to keep our manners for those deserving of them."
"Really," Drawled Rhiannon beside Alanna, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "That must explain why you got such excellent marks in the test priestess Sophia gave us yesterday."
Delia turned an unattractive shade of mottled red, and Tat gave up and snorted loudly at her expression.
Alanna frowned in mock puzzlement. "Are you trying to colour coordinate your dress and you face, lady Delia? I was under the impression that pink silk and red noses didn't go well together."
Delia stood up, opening her mouth to shout some insult at Alanna - no doubt loudly enough for the whole hall to hear, but before she could, a priestess came over to see what was going on, and Tat sent her Gift at a pitcher of juice, knocking it over, and quickly told the priestess that Delia had knocked over the juice and stood up to prevent it getting on her dress, before Delia could say otherwise.
Glaring after the priestess, Delia turned her venomous gaze on Alanna. "You'll pay for that, you little Trebond bitch."
Alanna rolled her eyes and went back to her conversation with Tat and Rhiannon. She could pay Delia back for her comment later - and when they weren't in full view of the entire convent.
Discussing what they planned to do that day, Rhiannon brought up they idea of a ride through the woods not far from the convent, as they often did.
"I don't know about you two, but I don't really want to sit around being 'ladylike' all day, and somehow I don't think that we'll be allowed to go to the City of the Gods, for some reason."
The others agreed, and after breakfast was over, went up to Sophia to ask for a note giving them permission to take their mounts and go riding.
At the stables, clad in their riding clothes - breeches and a shirt, they encountered Clothilde, who was apparently in some sort of argument with the chief hostler.
She turned her gaze on them. "And where do you think you're going?" she asked imperiously.
"Out riding," Tat replied pertly. "we have permission from priestess Sophia." She added, handing Clothilde the note.
Clothilde scanned it and Alanna felt someone poke her arm. She turned to Rhiannon, who was pointing at Delia. The girl was standing beside Toffee, nonchalantly feeding her horse an apple with an eye on them, smirking as she reached out and stroked Toffee gently on the nose. Toffee sneezed, and Delia recoiled from the pony, the front of her dress spayed with pony spit.
"Toffs has got good taste," Rhiannon muttered, and Alanna grinned.
'You'll have to change, ladies. I will not allow to you go out dressed like that. You will go and put on dresses suitable to your rank." Clothilde announced, as the three, stifling groans, went to change.
***
Waling through the forest, Tat and Rhiannon chatted while Alanna sat quietly, distracted from their talk by the memory of their encounters with Delia that morning, both at breakfast and in the stables, and by Toffee's restive behaviour, which was most unlike the usually placid little mare.
Spotting a fallen tree trunk in a little clearing up ahead, Tat grinned and kicked Vixen into a canter, leaping over the big log with ease before circling back around to where Alanna and Rhiannon waited for her. She raised her eyebrows in an unspoken challenge and Rhiannon rolled her eyes, urging her dark brown mare, Beauty, forward to jump the tree. "Easy." She said and Tat snorted as Alanna bit her lip, knowing that it wasn't.
Tat looked over at her. "What about you, Alanna? You can try it on Vixen if you don't think Toffee's up to it."
Alanna looked down at her little pony, who looked up at her, dark eyes gleaming. She bit her lip and started to dismount, but Toffee shifted and she clung to the saddle to keep from falling off. "I don't think Toffs likes the idea of me riding another horse. What do think, girl? Reckon you could manage it?"
Toffee snorted and Alanna grinned.
"If you say so."
Kicking her forward, Alanna leaned low in the saddle, enjoying the feel of the wind blowing her loose hair out behind her like a fiery banner, and let out a whoop of joy as Toffee leapt over the log. She leant back to bring Toffee back to a walk, and screamed as little pony bucked wildly, leaping forward. She reared and Alanna's feet, clad as they were in thin soled slippers, slipped out of the stirrups. She bit her lip, fighting to keep her seat in the less-than-secure sidesaddle, then yelled as Toffee pitched sideways, throwing Alanna over the pony's head, to land on the ground some distance from the little mare.
Alanna looked up.
"Toffee?" she whispered, crawling back towards her pony.
Rhiannon and Tat had dismounted and hurried forwards to her, but she barely noticed them. Toffee's leg was stuck in a rabbit hole, bent where no pony's leg was ever meant to bend. Alanna stared at the mare, wondering what had caused her to act like that, then spotted a trickle of blood trailing out from under the back of the saddle and down Toffee's flank.
Lifting the saddle, Alanna found a long, cruel looking tapestry needle buried almost up to the thread the hooked it into the saddle in her pony's back. Staring at it in horror, she pulled it out. Tat gasped. "Talk about finding a needle in a haystack." She said, taking it from Alanna's nerveless fingers.
Alanna crawled around to cradle Toffee's head in her lap, stroking it gently, as Rhiannon knelt to examine the pony's leg.
"That's a bad break. Toffs is old, and that wouldn't heal properly even if we did somehow manage to get her out and back to the convent. None of us can use our Gift to heal animals. It would be kinder to -"
"No!" Alanna stared at her. "I can't." her voice broke on the last word, and she felt the tears that had been gathering in her eyes spill down her cheeks.
She ducked her head, looking into Toffee's huge dark eyes, filled with pain. Toffee keened in agony, a sound that ripped into Alanna's heart and soul. How could she kill Toffee?
"Alanna." Tat's hand gripped her chin, forcing her to look up into Tat's grey green eyes, shining with tears. "She's in a lot of pain. I'll do it, if you're not able to." Tat's voice was filled with compassion, and Alanna glanced down at Toffee again.
"I'm sorry, girl." She whispered, stroking her soft muzzle.
She looked up at Tat. "Do it." she looked away, tears streaming down her face as Tat's dagger bit into Toffee's throat, crimson blood staining the dark earth.
***
"Delia did it, I know she did. She was in the stable when we went to go riding. And it's just the sort of thing she would do, putting a needle in Toffee's tack." Alanna paced the room as she said it, fighting tears. It had been a week since Toffee had died in the clearing - since we killed her, a part of Alanna's mind whispered, and although she had accused Delia of it in front of the First Daughter, she had no more proof than what she, Tat and Rhiannon had seen, and Clothilde had defended Delia, claiming that the girl had done no such thing.
Since then Alanna had been attending riding lessons on fussy, ill tempered old gelding belonging to the convent, who liked it no more than Alanna did, and made every lesson as difficult as possible.
She had told Thom about it when he had sent to her in the fire two nights ago, and he had been sympathetic, although more concerned over her refusal to use her Gift after the healing then Toffee's death, Alanna admitted to herself.
"Are you sure it was Delia? Yes, she's vindictive, but doing that when she knew that Alanna or Toffee could be seriously hurt of even killed?" Rhiannon asked from her chair by the fire.
"You don't know the feud between those two like I do. Delia would do that if she got the chance. She probably cackled about it all the way back to her room." Tat disagreed looking at Alanna concernedly. "Are you alright, 'Lanna?"
Alanna nodded, not trusting her voice to be steady, and tugged on the end of her braid.
Tat stood up, and coming over to Alanna, wrapped her arms around the tiny girl's shoulders, hugging her. "Don't worry, we'll find a way to prove Delia did it somehow."
***
Thom grinned as he, Jonathan and Gary rode down the street where he had first met George, remembering. He and Gary had been walking down the street when Thom had suddenly realised his belt purse felt considerably lighter. Catching sight of an urchin running down the street away from him, Thom had stopped him with his Gift and approached him. He had known by the boy's thoughts that he was lying, and had been about to convince him why it wasn't wise to lie to Thom of Trebond, when George had arrived on the scene. He had told the urchin to give Thom's money back, and had convinced Thom to forget about it, and had invited them both to have a drink him.
Since then, Thom had introduced Jonathan and Raoul to George, and all four had become friends with the thief. Gary's father, the duke, had decided that they had earned the day off, (Raoul was working extra hours in the stables for a prank he had pulled on some of the other squires,) and, as had become their custom when they went down to the city, they were headed for the dancing dove for lunch.
Entering, George spotted them at his table near the fire and, rising, beckoned for them to join him.
"Greetin's, lads. What brings you here today?"
"Why, the pleasure of your fine company, of course, your majesty." Said Gary, grinning as he seated himself, ordering a tankard of ale from a barmaid who appeared next to them.
"And the usual for you two?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at the young prince, who she was very much taken with, as Thom hid a grin, nodding as Jon did the same beside him. George, however, chuckled, and the barmaid blushed as she hurried off to fetch their order. "That's the longest amount of time I've ever seen Nelly taken with the one person, Johnny me lad. Quite the compliment to you."
Jon grinned. "Indeed it is."
The barmaid arrived with the drinks and Jon jokingly winked at her, much to the amusement of his friends.
"Drink," ordered George. "You must be parched if you walked here from the palace."
"We didn't." Thom replied. "We rode."
"Ah. That reminds me of something. Didn't you tell me that pony of yours was getting on a bit, Thom."
Thom nodded. "Chubbby's getting to old to be ridden, which is a problem. I really should get a horse but I haven't got around to it yet. Why do you ask?" he queried curiously.
George chuckled. "I brought a couple of new horses the other day, and I intended to send a message up to Stefan for you to see if you wanted to have a look, since one of them would probably suit you down to the ground, but you saved me the job by coming down today."
Thom nodded. "Thanks. I'd like to have a look. After lunch though." He added as their lunch arrived, smelling as appetising as much of the food the pages and squires normally ate at the palace.
After lunch, George took them to the dancing doves stables, and led Thom to a handsome chocolate brown gelding with large intelligent eyes and a mane and tail threaded with gold.
"This is the fellow I wanted to show you. He calm, and not afraid of magic, which would be necessary for a horse for you."
Thom nodded, looking the horse over. "I don't know much about horses. Is this a good one?"
Jon and Gary both looked the horse over. "Nice," commented the prince. "I'd like a horse like that myself."
"So would I," added Gary, but I've already got one."
George raised an eyebrow. "I got this one as well, Jon, if you wanted to have a look at him." he said, steering the prince over to a large black stallion in the stall next to the gelding.
Thom's attention was caught by a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned to see a silver-white mare with a pale, pale gold mane and tail staring over the top of her stall door at him with enormous amber eyes flecked with gold that were twins to the eyes of the gelding her was petting.
Walking over to her, he could see that she was a beauty, and he thought of something.
"George," he called. "Is this one for sale too?"
George came over. "You don't want her, lad. She's too high strung for you. You wouldn't be able to manage that one, even if she is a beauty."
"No, not for me," Thom murmured, gently reaching out a hand to her. "I meant I'd like to buy her with the gelding, for someone else."
George looked sceptical, and named his price. "That's for the both of them, with tack. For the gelding, it'd be half that."
Thom frowned. George reached out to pet the mare, and said. "They've got lovely eyes, haven't they? She's sister to the gelding, you know." And that made up Thom's mind.
He looked at George. "I don't have the money with me, but I'll come down in two days."
George raised his eyebrows. "You're getting both of them?'
Thom nodded.
Jon spoke up at that point. "I'll come with him. I'll take the stallion."
"And so you shall," interrupted Gary. "But not if we don't get a move on, because if we're not back at the palace within the next bell, my honoured father will have us doing punishments for the next month for being late."
Realising he was right, the boys bid George goodbye and headed back to the palace.
Later that night, in his room, Thom carefully forged a letter from his father to the treasurers at the palace, allowing Thom to withdraw the amount of money required for the two horses from the inheritance stored in a trust fund for the twins from their dead mother.
***
Two days later, true to their word, Thom and Jon walked down to the dancing dove to collect the horses, Thom with the money the palace treasurers had given him after he had given them this 'father's' letter.
They took the horses after having a drink with George, and left them at them palace stables to go and complete the homework they had been set that day.
After that was done, Thom took out a fresh piece of paper and loaded his quill, before beginning to write.
Sister dear,
I know you feel that nothing could replace Toffee, but as you told me of the foul-tempered beast you are currently riding, I assumed you needed a horse. Please don't feel that I'm being insensitive by sending you this one, as you would have needed a new horse anyway even if Toffee hadn't died. I found her while getting my own horse, and George, who sold them to me, tells me they're siblings. At least now you can continue your mad obsession with riding. She's not named, George told me, and I leave those honours to you. I'm sorry I didn't have time to make this longer but I will send to you soon.
Much love, Thom.
The next day before breakfast, Thom hurried down to the stables and had the mare sent, along with his letter and one to the chief hostler at the convent, to the convent.
***
Alanna squirmed uncomfortably in the saddle of the gelding she had been riding for the past month. Liam had intended to start her on the rudimentaries of horseback fighting when he got back, but he could hardly do it if she was still riding this brute, as Tat called the spotted gelding, when he got back.
Climbing down, she attempted to remove his bridle and was rewarded for her efforts by a nip on the shoulder.
Coming over to her, one of the lads took the gelding's reins out of her grasp, grinning sympathetically. "I'll take care of 'im. Ye want to go over t' the chief and the ridin' priestess." He said, winking.
Wondering what he meant, Alanna walking over to the priestess who instructed them all in riding, and curtsied.
"I was told to come and see you, priestess."
"Ah, yes," said the priestess, Catherine, looking her over. Alanna was one of her favourite students. "This is for you."
Taking it, puzzled, Alanna saw the seal her brother used on it. Breaking it open, she quickly read the contents.
"It arrived today, along with another for the hostler here and your new horse, from Corus."
She gestured behind her to reveal the most beautiful horse Alanna had ever seen.
"She - she's mine?' Alanna whispered, reaching out gingerly to stroke the horse's soft pale grey muzzle.
"Unless there be some other Alanna of Trebond staying here that I don't know about." Said the hostler. She looked at him, grinning.
Hearing a low whistle behind her, Alanna turned to see Tat and Rhiannon walk up. "What a beauty." Rhiannon whispered. "Who's is she?"
"Mine." Alanna replied.
"She's gorgeous," said Tat. "What's her name?"
"She doesn't have one. I'm to choose it."
"So … what will it be?"
Alanna frowned thoughtfully. "I think I'll call her Luna."
***
About two weeks after Thom had brought Luna, when Raoul had finally finished his punishment, he, Gary, Jon and Raoul sat in the dancing dove with George, discussing events both in town and at the palace.
"Thom and his new horse - what'd you call him?"
"Mage," answered Thom.
"Mage," continued Raoul, "seem to have appeased the duke, since he gets on better with that one than the palace one he used to ride."
"Glad to hear it." said George. "By the way, what did you do with that mare I sold you, Thom? Who'd you give her to?"
"My sister." Came the answer.
George slammed his mug down. He stared at Thom. "Tell me you're joking lad."
Thom shook his head. "No, I'm not."
George's mouth fell open. "You idiot! That's not a horse for a soft young noble lady! Some warriors I know couldn't handle a horse like that!"
"George, calm down. Alanna's anything but a soft young noble lady. She's a superb rider, and from what she's told me, to all appearances she's completely head over heals for it. I checked on her in the fire yesterday, and as far as I saw, the feeling's mutual. I wouldn't give my twin sister a horse I didn't know she'd be able to handle. Alanna called the mare Luna, by the way."
George looked at him. "I hope you're right, Thom."
***
Leaning low over Luna's neck, Alanna yelled over her shoulder at Tat and Rhiannon. "Catch me if you can, girls!"
Since Thom had sent her to Alanna, in addition to riding her in class, Alanna had also ridden Luna out with Beauty and Vixen, with Tat and Rhiannon, and everyone agreed that the six of them made a striking view, but this was the first time Alanna had got to test Luna's speed. The surefooted mare galloped across the valley they had gone to, outrunning the other two horses in the race, and had impressed Rhiannon very much, something Alanna appreciated, knowing how much the girl knew about horses.
They had agreed to have a final race back to the convent, although all knew by now that Luna would win, and Luna slowed to a walk as they entered the gate, Alanna sitting tall on her back.
Tat laughed as she came up behind Alanna. "You look quite the little noblewoman there, Alanna."
Alanna grinned at her, sticking her nose in the air and putting on the most proud, vain expression she could manage, before dissolving into giggles.
They dismounted and Alanna took out a currycomb, brushing down Luna as she told Tat and Rhiannon about her lesson with Liam that morning, before the three of them went inside for their dinner and the evening lesson with Sophia.
Grinning at the memory of riding Luna across the valley, Alanna climbed into her bed, and mentally reminded herself to write to Thom the next day, before falling asleep.
