Alanna groaned quietly, putting her head in her hands over the heavy book filled with problems. If only she'd never heard of math! Especially this weird type that the priest had told her about. "Algebra", they called it. It made her eyes ache and her head feel like someone was pounding on it with a club.
Thom leaned slightly over toward her, keeping his eyes on the priest, who was leaning over another page's work. "Trouble?" he murmured.
"I hate this!" Alanna hissed. "What does this mean? Or this?" She stabbed at the book accusingly.
Thom took the book from her. "Look, you do it like this." His quick fingers scribbled the steps across the piece of paper she had tucked in the book. She watched, with growing comprehension. "Ohhh, I get it now." She sighed. "Why are you so good at this and I'm not?"
Thom gave her a quick grin. "Just wait till we get out on the training courts."
Alanna started to smile. "Poor Thom. You never wanted to do this."
"Thom and Alan of TreBOND!"
They jumped.
The priest scowled at them. "Kindly pay attention in class!"
"We were-" Alanna began, but Thom clamped his hand over her mouth and said respectfully, "Yes, master."
The priest began to drone on again, and Thom took his hand off her mouth.
"What did you do that for?" she hissed at him.
"Do you what they'd do to you if we talked back?" Thom whispered. "Pile on more homework than ever. Do you want that?"
"The old bat didn't even ask why," Alanna grumbled.
"So? I'd like to get through the first day alive, brother dear."
"If he doesn't kill you, I will," muttered Alanna.
"ALAN OF TREBOND! WOULD YOU KINDLY STOP TALKING!"
Thom groaned, feeling his purpling bruises as he lay in the dust, felled by Alanna's stick. She knelt by him anxiously. "You all right?"
"Of course," Thom answered sarcastically. "I feel as if I've been stampeded by a thousand cows, wrung out by some laundry-woman, dragged by a rope behind a horse for seventy miles... Why shouldn't I be all right?"
"Maybe you shouldn't have come," Alanna worried. "You're not up to this."
"As not up to this as you aren't up to algebra?"
Alanna sighed. "That's not as bad as physical exertion."
"Since when?" he asked. "Getting beat up gives you bruises, not being able to do work gives you stress."
"Yes, but..." she trailed off, trying to find some way to put it. "If you can't do the physical work, you might not pass the tests to be a knight."
He raised one coppery eyebrow. "With my dear brother for a teacher, is there any reason I shouldn't be able to improve?"
She sighed in exasperation. "Thom! I was talking about all the extra effort on you."
"Alan of Trebond, never kneel for an enemy! Stand up and ask him to yield!"
Alanna looked up at the man who taught them, defiance blazing in her eyes. "On the contrary, sir, a truly noble knight kneels for anyone, even his enemy. And I'd hardly say my twin brother is my enemy, and I think he's in no shape to do anything else but yield!"
The man's eyes narrowed. "Two hours of extra training for your impertinence, Alan. Now get up and hold him at stickpoint like the knight you're trying to be!"
Alanna scowled darkly at him as he moved of, barking brusque commands to other pages. She looked back to her brother.
"I'm all right," Thom said, raising himself up on his elbow. "Just very, very sore. But you shouldn't have done that. You'll get in trouble every time."
"It was worth it," Alanna muttered, still scowling. "I wish I could take that beard of his and stuff it down his throat!"
Thom cast a quick glance around. "Remember Lady Catherine?"
A slow grin spread over Alanna's face. "The one who ran out of our castle after claiming it was haunted?"
"Right. Look, it shouldn't be that hard to make those same illusions. We just need to find out where his rooms are."
"Sounds better than screaming at him," she said. Pulling him to his feet, she gave him back his stick, and turned to watch as the teacher turned to look at them.
"Practice is over," he announced. "We will resume this work tomorrow. Alan, stay."
Thom gave her a rueful smile and turned to move away. She caught his shoulder and turned him to face her, worry in her eyes. "Thom, you haven't been getting much sleep lately. I can tell. You've got circles under your eyes. What have you been doing?"
"Oh, just something I found in the library," he said carelessly. He gave her a grin, lowering his voice. "Don't fuss too much, Alan, or people will think you're acting like a girl."
She swung her stick at his head, but he ducked and walked off, laughing.
"Thank you, lad," Sir Myles said, leaning unsteadily on Alanna. She couldn't help smiling as she looked at the short little man, his long brown hair and beard streaked with grey. The good natured Tortallan history teacher was a favorite of all the pages, being the teacher of the only interesting class. He was famous for his oddness and, of course, being the Court drunk. She found it interesting serving him, and it had turned out not to be the tedious duty she'd thought it would be like.
"Quiet today, aren't we, boy?" Myles asked, his large green-brown eyes turning to bore into Alanna's own.
"It's my brother," she told him. "I'm worried about him. He isn't getting enough sleep. When I go off to be with my friends, he goes and sits in the library, and reads books, all by himself. He doesn't socialize or anything."
"I was rather fond of going off to read in the library myself," Myles mused.
She gave him a wry smile. "That's you, Sir Myles. "You love libraries."
"And maybe he does, too," the man told her. "Twins aren't always the same, not by a long shot. You love to learn fighting and use a sword, and he's more interested in books and facts."
"And magic," she murmured. "He always did like his Gift. I didn't use it a lot. I'm always afraid that it will get out of control. But he was always eager to learn more about using it." She sighed. "I can't even do anything to help."
"You've been teaching him how to do the physical work better, even if he still doesn't like it," Myles said cheerfully. "That's always a good thing."
"Yes," Alanna agreed. "He helps me with algebra, too."
"And you're usually with Gary, Raoul, Alex, and Jonathan," Myles added. "They've helped you fit in, and adjust to being a squire. Maybe Thom just fits in another way."
Alanna nodded slowly. "He's high up in all our book classes, and getting better. Other squires come and ask him for help, and he always gives it to them. I think he likes it. You never can tell, with Thom." She sighed. "But he wants power. I can see it in him, the discontent when he watches knights jousting or dueling. He wants to be able to be strong."
"Maybe magic is his way of doing that, Alan," Myles told her. "The king decided against teaching the boys to use the Gift, so he has to do it on his own. That's probably why he's working harder and getting less sleep. It can't really hurt him."
"I guess not," she consented reluctantly.