Hey! My fluffy fic, (Kel is in trouble with Neal, title sucks but whatever)
has got loads more reviews that this. What's with that? It was only
something I worked on in my room one Sunday afternoon. Oh well.
Crown : Thom IS NOT dead! He is dead to Alanna in the sense that she wishes that he had never been born and couldn't care less about him.
Thanks to everyone else who reviewed. You guys are all the best!
**Disclaimer: Damn you, you evil characters. Alanna is bawling, SHE doesn't want to go to another dress fitting. Jon is angry, HE'S in a mood cos he's not been in it yet. Thom is just Thom and Roger's threatening me 'cos I wont let his carry out his evil plans (yet!). If they were mine I doubt that they'd make so much fuss. Then again ..**
The next morning Alanna decided to look around the palace. Then I won't have any reason to let Thom escort me anywhere, she told herself. Wondering around the vast gardens she came across all types of people. Watchmen travelling too and from their duty, lords and ladies, servants, pages and squires, mages and a handful of people Alanna couldn't group. Among the roses and violets, the honeysuckle and lilies, Alanna sat and filled herself with thought. She was rudely interrupted by a young noble man who had walked into her by mistake.
"Please accept my humble apologies Lady, uh,"
"Alanna, sir."
"Lady Alanna. I am sorry."
"It was nothing."
The young man walked away blushing. Alanna stood up gracefully and returned to her room to be met by Thom. In her mind she sighed. Would she ever be rid of him? She only wanted to live out the rest of her life in peace if she could not have happiness. Why must he wreck this for her? He had messed up her life once before and now look, she would soon be married off to an old lord so that her father could hoard her bride price. He had always planned to use her as a marriage pawn, to gain money and power. This ruthless tactic disgusted some of the more progressive Tortallans although it was still very much in practise.
"What do you want, oh brother of mine?" Alanna asked her insides burning with hatred but her face and voice calm and well mannered.
"Only an ear, my oh so beautiful sister."
"You are to kind." Alanna repeated the common phrase.
"Do you wish to come riding with myself and some other lords and ladies this afternoon?"
"I am so sorry, Sir Thom. I have a prior engagement of utmost importance." **A/N- Dress fitting! Ha! I knew I could fit one in somewhere! **
"Well I guess I will see you at the ball tonight in that case. Farewell till then Lady Alanna."
"Till then Lord Thom."
AT THE DRESSMAKERS:
"What should I wear?" Alanna politely asked the ladies who were accompanying her and choosing themselves dresses. "Which color?"
"Green?"
"Blue?"
"No, no. What are you thinking of? Those colors would swamp Alanna. How about a silver dress? It would go well with your eyes."
"Thankyou Liania." Alanna replied to her half-friend. She selected a silvery material and pointed it out to the dressmaker. The lady nodded approvingly and began to cut lengths of it.
LATER, BEFORE THE BALL:
Alanna paced her room. The dress looked well on her and her hair was pulled into a fashionable knot at the base of her neck. A fine chain lay draped around her neck and on it was hung a pendant cupping a mother of pearl disc. As she walked her skirts made a gentle swooshing noise. Eventually she found herself being announced. After descending the long staircase a squire came up to her.
"A dance, lady"
"Why certainly." Alanna replied though inside she was dying of embarrassment at the thought of all the derogatory comments being made by all the very prim Ladies about her dancing with a mere squire. When that dance was finished, for some reason another man asked her to dance. Remarkably, this one was a knight. He was very dashing, in a cold sort of way. His eyes were ice blue and she did not like them. Other than that he was charming and they talked idly of such things that were often talked of as couples danced. At the end Alanna curtsied and the Lord bowed.
"I am Duke Roger of Conte, by the way." He said as he walked away.
Alanna left the room and went back to her chambers, unaware that she was being followed. Her pursuer heard her door shut, heard the rustle of silks and then the desperate tears, the result of her unhappy life. The pursuer sank to the floor and a solitary tear crawled down his face.
"Alanna, sweet, you aren't alone in your misery." He whispered. In the morning Alanna would wonder whether the whispering she had heard last night was real. She would then dismiss it as the wind. But a person had been there, and he loved her, loved her oh so much. Thom felt strongly for his sister and wished that she would love him, love him as he loved her.
Crown : Thom IS NOT dead! He is dead to Alanna in the sense that she wishes that he had never been born and couldn't care less about him.
Thanks to everyone else who reviewed. You guys are all the best!
**Disclaimer: Damn you, you evil characters. Alanna is bawling, SHE doesn't want to go to another dress fitting. Jon is angry, HE'S in a mood cos he's not been in it yet. Thom is just Thom and Roger's threatening me 'cos I wont let his carry out his evil plans (yet!). If they were mine I doubt that they'd make so much fuss. Then again ..**
The next morning Alanna decided to look around the palace. Then I won't have any reason to let Thom escort me anywhere, she told herself. Wondering around the vast gardens she came across all types of people. Watchmen travelling too and from their duty, lords and ladies, servants, pages and squires, mages and a handful of people Alanna couldn't group. Among the roses and violets, the honeysuckle and lilies, Alanna sat and filled herself with thought. She was rudely interrupted by a young noble man who had walked into her by mistake.
"Please accept my humble apologies Lady, uh,"
"Alanna, sir."
"Lady Alanna. I am sorry."
"It was nothing."
The young man walked away blushing. Alanna stood up gracefully and returned to her room to be met by Thom. In her mind she sighed. Would she ever be rid of him? She only wanted to live out the rest of her life in peace if she could not have happiness. Why must he wreck this for her? He had messed up her life once before and now look, she would soon be married off to an old lord so that her father could hoard her bride price. He had always planned to use her as a marriage pawn, to gain money and power. This ruthless tactic disgusted some of the more progressive Tortallans although it was still very much in practise.
"What do you want, oh brother of mine?" Alanna asked her insides burning with hatred but her face and voice calm and well mannered.
"Only an ear, my oh so beautiful sister."
"You are to kind." Alanna repeated the common phrase.
"Do you wish to come riding with myself and some other lords and ladies this afternoon?"
"I am so sorry, Sir Thom. I have a prior engagement of utmost importance." **A/N- Dress fitting! Ha! I knew I could fit one in somewhere! **
"Well I guess I will see you at the ball tonight in that case. Farewell till then Lady Alanna."
"Till then Lord Thom."
AT THE DRESSMAKERS:
"What should I wear?" Alanna politely asked the ladies who were accompanying her and choosing themselves dresses. "Which color?"
"Green?"
"Blue?"
"No, no. What are you thinking of? Those colors would swamp Alanna. How about a silver dress? It would go well with your eyes."
"Thankyou Liania." Alanna replied to her half-friend. She selected a silvery material and pointed it out to the dressmaker. The lady nodded approvingly and began to cut lengths of it.
LATER, BEFORE THE BALL:
Alanna paced her room. The dress looked well on her and her hair was pulled into a fashionable knot at the base of her neck. A fine chain lay draped around her neck and on it was hung a pendant cupping a mother of pearl disc. As she walked her skirts made a gentle swooshing noise. Eventually she found herself being announced. After descending the long staircase a squire came up to her.
"A dance, lady"
"Why certainly." Alanna replied though inside she was dying of embarrassment at the thought of all the derogatory comments being made by all the very prim Ladies about her dancing with a mere squire. When that dance was finished, for some reason another man asked her to dance. Remarkably, this one was a knight. He was very dashing, in a cold sort of way. His eyes were ice blue and she did not like them. Other than that he was charming and they talked idly of such things that were often talked of as couples danced. At the end Alanna curtsied and the Lord bowed.
"I am Duke Roger of Conte, by the way." He said as he walked away.
Alanna left the room and went back to her chambers, unaware that she was being followed. Her pursuer heard her door shut, heard the rustle of silks and then the desperate tears, the result of her unhappy life. The pursuer sank to the floor and a solitary tear crawled down his face.
"Alanna, sweet, you aren't alone in your misery." He whispered. In the morning Alanna would wonder whether the whispering she had heard last night was real. She would then dismiss it as the wind. But a person had been there, and he loved her, loved her oh so much. Thom felt strongly for his sister and wished that she would love him, love him as he loved her.