My Notes: Hey there, Person-who-is-reading-my-story! I've got a few announcements to make before the story starts, so I'll try to make them quick. Yes, I know, I haven't updated in FOREVER but my muse abandoned me and that's no fun. I finally started writing last night and I just finished this chapter, so I'm posting it. Please keep in mind that I love constructive criticism and I don't seem to be getting much, so I'm encouraging everyone who will be honest about my story and say if they think it sucks to review. I don't care if you flame. Next announcement: I'd like a beta-reader…I don't know if anyone's interested but I'd really like to get a second opinion before I post these things. Yes, I'm a bit self-conscious about my writing. Final announcement: I found an interesting way to name all of Alanna's teachers that weren't mentioned in the books and I'd like to ask everyone to guess where I got the names from. The person who guesses will get a chapter dedicated to them and my thanks. That's all.
Disclaimer: I'm not Tamora Pierce. Duh. I don't own anyone but myself…and my kitty Calvin, but he likes to attack me so I don't really own him.
ON WITH THE STORY!
Alanna of Trebond cursed quietly but steadily as she ran through the halls of her gigantic, prison-like university, a croissant in one hand and her books in the other. Damned Scholars! she thought hotly as she skidded past the kitchens for the third time that morning, They just HAD to build this place like a labyrinth, didn't they? Alanna shrieked a word that would have made even the hardiest knight turn as white as a sheet as she passed the kitchens again. She strode into the afore-mentioned rooms, demanding directions to her primary classroom of the day.
The cooks, much to Alanna's dismay, began laughing at her as she voiced her plea and quickly pointed her down a small corridor behind a tapestry of a major happening for magic in Tortall. And those stupid year-mates of mine just HAD to make it harder for me by waking up earlier than I did so I wouldn't be able to follow anyone to class! Alanna proceeded to mutter curses at everyone from the First Daughter of the convent to the weaver of the Gods-cursed tapestry the cooks had pointed her through as she ran down the narrow corridor, chewing on her croissant.
"Even Arram, scratch that, Numair, forgot about poor little Alanna of Trebond," she continued to herself, now passing narrow doors through which she could hear classes beginning, "No one thinks of the little people!" Alanna finished with a slight raise of her voice as she finally found the door to her first class, swallowed the rest of her breakfast, and entered the room quietly. The redhead was painfully conscious of every eye in the room upon her but one, which belonged to the one-eyed stuffed finch the priest who taught this class (Master Bina, Advanced Magick) liked to keep on his desk, as she timidly slid into her usual seat by the late Arram Draper, now Numair Salamin, who nodded at her in greeting and turned toward the shorter-than-Alanna Master.
Master Bina was a small, slightly pot-bellied priest, whose greatest thrill in life was selecting new material for his many classes. He was also very unsure of himself and rarely gave out punishments for fear of his students disliking him. So, of course, when Alanna arrived late for his class, the soft-spoken man simply imitated her friend in nodding at her and resumed his lesson. Sighing slightly, Alanna relaxed and began playing with the hem of her orange robe.
She remembered all too well the grueling exams she had to go through to reach the orange robe, which showed the world that she was a Dedicate of Magick. Soon enough, the girl promised herself, I'll don the Red robe and be a Master, the first female Master in quite some time. Thank Gods, she thought with a grin, For my father. If he had never sent me to the convent, I wouldn't have had this chance. Of course, being a knight WOULD be better, but… The chiming of a deep bell that symbolized the end of her first class interrupted Alanna's musings. Standing, she walked from the room at a brisk pace, not stopping to wait for Numair, although she would most likely get lost without his guidance. The years had done nothing to better Alanna's navigational skills, which were weak, at best.
"'Lanna, wait up!" Came a voice from behind her. The redhead simply stuck up her nose and quickened her pace, having not an inkling of where she was headed anyway. From behind her, Numair Salamin shook his head at his best friend, taking longer strides to catch up with her. Numair, always resembling something of a stork because of his thin-and-tall body build, had no trouble keeping up with Alanna, taking only slightly longer strides than he usually did.
"So, divine lady Alanna-who-knows-all, where is Mithros's name are we going? Our next class is in the other direction…" He stated with a slight grin. Rolling her eyes, Alanna stopped suddenly and turned the other direction, starting up again that way. Indulging in a full smile, Numair also turned to follow Alanna. The pair ambled in silence for a few minutes, and only a few minutes, for minutes, if not moments, after they had started in that direction, Alanna uttered a curse after tripping on one of the slightly uneven stones that made up the floors of the University. Glaring at the floor, Alanna began hopping down the corridor on one foot, the other foot currently in her arms. Numair smiled again, fondly, at his unofficial sister, who, no matter what, managed to trip over something.
Reaching the classroom, Numair stopped, and raised his mobile eyebrow at his friend, who was still hopping down the corridor with as much dignity as she could muster while caressing her injured foot with one hand and attempting to balance her many books with the other. Clearing his throat loudly, Numair made a show of slowly striding into the room, not bothering to mask his satisfaction as Alanna hopped in behind him, sitting down near the only window. Numair sat down next to her, yawning as the priest who taught this class entered with a bang, literally, as he threw down his books. Tortallian Geography taught by Master Poorna-Kalash. Honestly, Numair didn't know why they bothered. No one enjoyed the class, with the exception of Alanna, who was mental anyway, at least in Numair's opinion.
The class started, and most of the students had already sunk into their usual stupor before Master P. Kalash had commenced calling role. With the exception, of course, of Alanna, who was listening avidly and taking notes, to boot. What there was to take notes of was a mystery to Numair, and the rest of the class as well, in all probability, but his mental friend always found something to take notes on in this particular class. And as long as Alanna took notes, he could catch up by copying them, so Numair wasn't complaining…much.
"Very well," began the Master, "We will begin with a brief review of what we have learned so far. I believe you all know how this goes by now; I ask a question and whoever knows the answer raises their hand and waits politely to be called upon." He was met with the usual silence that greeted him whenever the Priest asked a question. Taking this as confirmation, the freakishly tall Master continued by asking a question of his class.
"What is the one city built by the Bazhir that stands to this day?" He was met with silence. The Master shifted slightly from foot to foot and added, "Its purpose was to watch over the Black City…?" To no one's surprise, Alanna's hand shot up. With a slight nod to her from the priest, Alanna answered, "Persopalis."
"Very good." Master Poorna-Kalash smiled at his pupil and continued with the questions,
"Here's an easy one: where is the University of Magick located?" Alanna raised her hand once again. "Anyone…?" Poorna-Kalash laughed in disbelief, "A fine bunch of scholars you lot are; the only one in my entire class who can answer this question is a girl who was kicked out of her Convent!" Titters erupted from the back of the classroom at the reference to Alanna's "disrespectful" past. The girl in question glowered at her teacher and lowered her arm with a dangerous glare toward the back of the room. The snickers were stifled immediately and a few young scholars were surprised to find themselves unable to open their mouths.
"Remember, 'Lanna, making your teachers explode is NOT a good thing," whispered Numair to his friend, whose ears seemed to have steam coming from them. But, intoxicated with his success, Master Poorna-Kalash continued to make fun of his star pupil, unaware of the danger he was putting himself into.
"Does no one here have any more brains than a tom boy with an attitude problem? Anyone?" Now the whole classroom was completely silent and said girl was turning a very interesting shade of red in her rage. Finally seeing Alanna, the priest added hastily,
"Of course, there's nothing WRONG with being a tomboy…. I mean, of course there's something wrong with it, but we all grow out of it." He finished lamely. Raising her hand slowly, a very angry Alanna glared at her teacher as if daring him to call on her. Shifting from foot to foot again, the thoughrally frightened master debated calling on her or not with himself. Finally deciding on the former, the master nodded to his pupil, who spoke four words with such venom that the class could imagine them horrible curses with meanings so disgustingly vulgar that a sailor would banish them from his vocabulary for fear of them being too colorful.
"City of the Gods."
"What?" Asked the befuddled Professor, so sure only moments before that she would turn him into something grotesquely unnatural.
"City of the Gods," Alanna repeated, "The University of Magick is located in the City of the Gods."
Nodding, slightly relieved, Master Poorna-Kalash answered, "Correct."
It was then that a quiet but echoing knock came on the door. "Enter," rumbled the Master, glad at the diversion. A small errand-boy came in and whispered something to the effect of,
"Master Si-cham requires the presence of one: Dedicate Alanna of Trebond."
"Dedicate Alanna will come as soon as her lesson is finished," said Poorna-Kalash with a slight tone of haughtiness in his voice. It seems, thought Alanna with a slightly evil smirk, That Master Poorna-Kalash's pride has been returned.
"Please, sir," squeaked the frightened boy, "Master Si-cham was quite insistent that she come without delay."
"Very well," drawled the Master, "You are excused, Dedicate Alanna." Standing, Alanna dipped her head slightly at the classroom in the way of adieu and swept from the room with as much grace as a court lady, though, upon thinking of it later, Numair was quite baffled by his usually clumsy friend's newfound elegance.
Walking behind the messenger-boy, Alanna had to fight to keep up with the wiry boy-child, who was much quicker than he had originally looked. They walked in silence, which was better for both parties, because the poor boy was quite intimidated by the living, breathing, Alanna of Trebond, whose reputation as an evil witch had preceded her by far, and because Alanna did not think she could tolerate polite conversation at the moment. Master Poorna-Kalash's comment had stung, even if she unwilling to admit it publicly.
Upon arriving at Master Si-cham's chambers, Alanna paused only briefly to contemplate what he had requested her presence for. She had done nothing very serious lately, or, at least, so serious that the Master of the school would have to discuss it with her. Shrugging to herself, Alanna entered the room and seated herself in a hard, carved wood chair directly in front of a desk of the same wood as the chair. Looking around the room, the girl had to admit that the Master of the University lived fairly well. The curtains in the windows were a chocolate brown, almost the same shade as the polished wood furniture that inhabited the room. There was a thick rug on the floor, also brown, and the only other piece of furniture in the room, other than the desk and chairs, and of course the book shelves filled with, what else, books, was a large cabinet, also wood, the purpose of which was a mystery to Alanna, though she guessed it contained information on each student in the school. Master Si-cham was seated behind the desk in a chair of the same wood as the rest of the furniture in the room, but with a small seat cushion.
The Master surveyed Alanna through half-closed eyes, dreading the reaction he would receive when he told her the news a messenger had brought just that morning. Crying maidens were not the old man's area of expertise, and he was sure that the girl would cry at least once after he told her what he needed to. Clearing his throat, the red-robed old man began,
"Alanna, new has reached us…"
"News?" She asked with a cocked eyebrow, "What kind of news?"
"Bad news. Alanna, it's about your brother…"
"Thom?" Alanna laughed, "What has he done this time? Did he break a bone? What?"
"No, no, nothing like that." Master Si-cham sighed and rubbed his temples, deciding on a different approach.
"Have you heard of the mysterious disease circulating around Corus?" He asked, "Some call it the Sweating Sickness."
"Of course," Alanna scoffed, "Who hasn't heard of the Sweating Sickness?"
"Then you are aware, Alanna, that the Prince has died from this disease?" Alanna nodded, confused as to what the Prince dieing had to do with her,
"Well, the Prince is not the only one who has been killed by this Sickness…that is…" Master Si-cham watched his student become more and more confused, finally deciding to tell her outright,
"Alanna, the Sickness has claimed your brother."
(No name given): Here's some more…it's late, but it's more…^^;
Loki-goddess of destruction: Wow…my story is nifty! COOL! Yeah, it's all partially explained in this chapter. Err…well…I wrote more…not soon, but it's more…
Glowbird: Thanks! And yes, she was, but it doesn't really fit with the plot to have her afraid of her Gift, so I'm changing Alanna's character slightly in this story…I mean, if YOU were stuck in a convent for years and the only way to get out was to use your magic, wouldn't you do it? I guess the thought of escaping the Convent made Alanna get over her fear…or, at least, that's my theory…
Blue Roses: Thank you…I don't particularly like that chapter, but thanks all the same! Actually, I tried not to change Thom too much, but it said in the books that he cared about his sister, so I'm going off that. Yeah, my change-of-P.O.V.s could use some work, but I'm trying…you realize, though, that the last chapter was written at about 12:00 a.m. on a school night so it definitely won't be one of the best ones I write…at least I hope…heh
Ananda: Thank you, I hope you like it!
Angel of Hope: Thank you! I really tried to be original in this, but I wasn't sure if someone else wrote one like it or not…I guess not…Thanks again!
AleniaOceanstar: Really? Wow…that really means a lot to me, someone saying that I stayed somewhat true to the original characters…