Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce.
Chapter Two – A Disturbing Vision
Alanna stared at the fallen man, perplexed at his strange behavior, and if truth must be told, somewhat annoyed as well. She looked at him closely and with a shock, recognized him as the teacher for the Gifted ladies. What was his name….Sliversing, Silverstar, silver…. She couldn't remember. Looking around, violet eyes wide, she realized that she had woken up in his chambers.
Alanna felt her fury building as she wondered if he had brought her here to take advantage of her. Breathing hard, she tried to calm herself down since there was no use in getting angry, and besides, her head was aching. Thinking about that, she realized that it was not at all likely, because if her memory served her correctly, this master had a mild distaste always evident in his expression when he looked at the girls at the convent.
It was a pity, really, since all of the girls swooned all over him. Alanna didn't really care either way. If she had been allowed to, she would have refused marriage altogether. As it were, she was hoping to put it off as long as she could. Marriage…!
Suddenly Alanna was very wide-awake, her temples pounding, remembering all that had come to pass. She didn't quite comprehend why she was in the master's chambers, but it surely had something to do with the events of the what was it…previous day, hour, week?
~&~
The door was plain and unmarked with any kind of indication of what it contained, unlike nearly every other door down this hallway. Alanna, somewhat curious, decided to enter the room to at least see if it was recognizable. Her anger had been worn out, leaving only the dejection apparent in the violet of her eyes to show for it. She laid one slender pale hand on the door and turned the knob. It turned completely, but the door did not open.
Grunting, she pushed her shoulder into it, trying to use her weight to open it in case it was stuck. It wasn't until she had worked up a sweat, that she realized that the door wasn't going to budge. Sighing, she walked away from it, two steps, three steps, four steps.
Then quickly, a determined glint in her eye, she swung about and rushed into it to see if it would fly open with this unexpected pressure. It did not give and she rubbed her shoulder, wondering what had made her think that she could outwit it, for it did not have wits. Perhaps someone with the Gift lived inside and had made the door intelligent, though.
Someone Gifted! That's it! There were spells on the door to make it stay shut. She had heard of such spells, but not ever used one herself, or even seen one in use. Not that there was much to see- it looked just like an ordinary door. She herself had the Gift, but when all the girls at the convent had been tested, she had played innocent She had imagined herself a stone, her mind blank and slippery like freshly wiped glass.
The teacher of the Gifted- she remembered his name now- was Master Silverstrip. He looked bored and merely asked her name mechanically, stifling a yawn. He then asked her if she had the Gift outright, and she, playing the innocent had said no. When he had tested her, he no doubt mistook the blankness that Alanna had forced upon herself as stupidity and a lack of Gift.
She didn't ask to be born with the Gift! It wasn't her fault it existed. But magic was dirty and disgusting- she didn't like it. Worse, even if she wouldn't admit it to herself, she was afraid of it. It might overtake her and she might lose her very will and essence.
She could do little things with it, like light candles or even make illusions, for she and her twin brother, Thom, had done such when they were young. She could even moderately heal by giving strength to a person from her own. But she disliked to reach into herself and tapped the purple stuff that flew through her veins so strongly. She did not, however, know that she couldn't just ignore a part of her. The Gift would not just disappear when it was untrained- it would grow stronger and wilder.
She paused for a moment, battling inside herself, but she was never one to give up because she was afraid. She looked at the door for one more second, and then closed her eyes tight. Inside of herself, she felt for that familiar purple ball. She searched for a long while, and finally she saw the essence, the center of her magic. It was not as easy to find as it had been when she was younger. She reached for it in her mind, teasing out a long violet thread, suffusing her body with it.
She bit her lip as the power filled her, and rode it out until it was bearably tamed. If someone had walked through the halls that instant, they would have seen a girl glowing with a bright purple light. She pointed her magic to her fingers and laid two upon the door to sense what kind of spell it was…she was not a complete buffoon when it came to her magic.
A shriek burst out of her…the fire in her fingers was burning…burning! It filled Alanna, blinding her with unbearable pain and she couldn't pull her fingers away from the door. The purple magic roared through the small girl, overtaking her. Her vision blurred, then cleared into something totally different.
'A handsome young man stood upright on a polished marble floor. The floor was covered with a pool of dark liquid, which Alanna recognized as blood. The man stood straight, unseeing, eyes glazed over with pain although his body seemed whole and unharmed. Different mixes of colors radiated from him- the most apparent were blue and violet and orange. Slowly, a tiny flame caught on the blood. But blood was not supposed to burn! Blood could not catch fire! The fire spread, its hungry flames jumping about, consuming more and more of the pool of blood. Slowly, the edges of the man's robes smoldered, and then caught on fire. The fire spread all over him, devouring his body as he screamed and screamed and screamed. Something flashed, a wall with orange runes written upon it. As quickly as it was seen, it was again gone.'
Suddenly, she had been able to see again, but she could not remove her fingers from the door. Somehow she knew it was just a simple protection spell, but her Gift was out of her control and didn't seem to just want to overcome the spell so she could pass, but to destroy it and its very essence, not to mention stop anyone, ever from respelling this door. Her Gift leeched her physical strength from her, until she fell to the floor, defeated.
And finally, the door had swung open, leaving the girl on the floor, unconscious, and revealing nothing but a sorcerer's chambers.
~&~
Alanna felt cool relief in remembering this, although there was of yet no satisfactory explanation for her presence in Master Silverstrip's chambers. She glanced down at him again, studying his features. He was handsome, though in a pale way. His features, although classically beautiful, lacked vitality.
His blond hair was tangled now, and his eyes closed. It was hard to imagine why most of her classmates had cooed over him, imagining that he would one day stroll into class and proclaim his undying affection from them. Alanna herself had never gotten caught up in such silly games such as those. That was not to say she had not been silly, of course, but she had never had crushes at all, not even on the young nobles who studied at the Convent to become sorcerers before being shipped to the City of the Gods.
She supposed that she should try to wake him up, so she hit him hard on the chest. He did not move in response, so she began to shake him. Furiously, she shook him, but still he did not move.
"Leave him, my daughter." The source of the voice that was roaring through her ears, which spoke of cool summer rains at night, but also the feral roars of lions, both terrible and beautiful, was a hooded lady. "I will wake him once our talk is over."
She pulled back her hood, and her features were perfect, so perfect that they could not have been mortal. The corners of the crimson lips tugged upwards as she noted Alanna's stare towards her, and the smile extended to the perfectly shaped large eyes. Her hair was as black as a moonless night and soft and luxurious as it fell past her shoulders, and only now could Alanna muster the courage to speak.
"Who are you? And how did you get here?"
"You know very well who I am. I have no patience for ridiculous questions. You, in particular, have been a somewhat troublesome character, haven't you?"
"I'm sorry." Said Alanna, her throat dry.
"I do not have much time to give to you now, but know this: You are one of my Chosen." Spoke the Goddess. "And although something went awry a long while ago in mortal time, you still have a great destiny for you. You shall do great things, little one. But for now, you must watch and wait, and do not seek trouble, for in time it shall come to you. Go to Corus, my daughter. You need not get married as of now-"
"But I'm betrothed!! I won't go there!! I don't want to. I'm going to run away! And if I do go, I shall have to get married!!!" shrieked Alanna, frantically, being unnaturally frank with her.
"If you run away, where shall you go? For now, go to Corus and time will tell if you get married or not. But realize Alanna, that you can choose your own path and I can give you only so much guidance without/ interfering. And mind, love is not as horrible as it seems to be. Do you understand?"
"Yes" said Alanna simply, all denials halted in her throat.
"Goodbye, my daughter. Guard her well, Small One." Said the Goddess to something or someone near her.
"Small One?" she wondered aloud, then noticed the silky black cat perched next to her on the couch. She looked at it and stopped the question asking it where it had come from in her throat, knowing better. The cat stared up at her, with a gaze eerily similar to her own, and Alanna realized that it had violet eyes like her.
Unnerved for a second, she stared back into those eyes, and then relaxed. Just because a cat had purple eyes, didn't mean anything. She had purple eyes, and she was quite normal, wasn't she? Well as normal as a girl who had wished to be a lady knight could be, she amended bitterly. With many yowls of protest on the part of the cat, she checked to see if he was male or female, and decidedly concluded that he was the former.
"What shall I call you?" she asked quietly, not expecting an answer. To her great surprise, the cat responded.
'It's not up to you what to call me either way. I am Faithful, and I shall remain Faithful. Now, Master Silverstrip is waking. Try not to be too rude.' he yowled.