Author's Note: Not the world's longest chapter, but it's respectable. A page and a half, normal formatting. I must warn you, however, that a) the chapters are going to get shorter before they get longer, and b) the chapters will be a bit slower going up. What with all of the back to school frenzy, I have to go do stuff. I'm also having a bit of writer's block on this because of my gloom about the advent of that tortuous creation they call eighth grade. I don't want to go back to school! I need another month of summer to relax! But it is not meant to be. On August 28 I will be herded into the halls of WJHS, and be forced to submit to education. Oh the horrors!
You see why I'm depressed. School has cast its dark and depressing shadow over my August, and I don't even know if my friends are in my classes yet. (The evil school people wait until the last minute to tell you all the stuff you WANT to know, and tell you the stuff you don't much earlier than you'd like.) Ah well. I'm in the process of resigning myself to my fate.
Also, my parents just spontaneously decided that we're flying to Oregon to visit my grandma towards the end of this week, so if I don't get an update in before I go, the next chapter will be a while. I'm sorry, but being only thirteen, I have minimal say in my summer schedule.
I still am welcoming ideas for the eventual fate of Alanna. Give me ideas in the reviews or email me your pet destiny, and I will ponder all of your responses as I plan the end of my story. (Can you feel the end approaching? I can, and it makes me sad. I think I'll string it out more. Sorry, but I don't want it to be over yet. I like it too much.) Anyway, enough of my blabbing! On with the story!
Chapter 9: News of a Journey
In the April of Thom's fourth year as a page, Lord Martin of Meron rode north to visit his son Geoffrey and to request additional troops for his fief. To Thom, Fief Meron meant desert—the Great Southern Desert, to be exact. Fief Meron consisted of leagues of sun-baked sand stretching from the Coastal Hills to the Tyran Peaks. This harsh land harbored the Bazhir, the war-like desert tribesmen not all loyal to the King or his governor, Lord Martin.
None of this would have mattered much to Thom if word hadn't filtered down among the pages that Lord Martin would be taking the squires back with him to the desert, so that the boys who would soon be knights would have a chance to see what the Bazhir were like. The situation with the Bazhir being as shaky as it was, there was a high probability that all of them would one day face the Bazhir, and no one wanted knights of Tortall going into battle blind.
As a fourth year page, Thom wouldn't be going, but almost all of his friends would. Jon, Gary, Raoul, and Alex were all squires. Thom was the only one who was still a page. And that wasn't it. Sir Myles, Thom's favorite teacher, was going too.
Thom bit his lip unhappily. He would just have to deal with it. He couldn't go.
~
Prince Jonathan of Conte watched his friend surreptitiously. Thom hadn't said anything, but Jon could tell he was upset about the squires' trip to Persopolis. Not only were Jon and his friends going, but Sir Myles was going too. Jon knew how Thom felt about Myles. The knight was like a second father to him.
Jon let out a thoughtful breath. It would solve everything if only Thom could come along on their trip to Persopolis. He sat up straighter. That was it! All he had to do was ask his uncle to allow Thom to go with them to Persopolis. (A/N: In case you forgot, Duke Gareth is Jon's uncle as well as the training master.)
~
Alanna pushed the hood of her burnoose back before she entered the tent, revealing her long copper hair. She ducked under the door flap and into the cool interior of the shaman's tent.
"You wanted me?" she asked Umar Komm, her teacher and the tribe's shaman. He looked up and smiled.
"Yes, Alanna." He paused, watching her. "Although I have a few other apprentices, you are my oldest student, and I know I can depend on you." Alanna waited. She wasn't quite sure where this conversation was going. At this point, it was safer to say nothing. "I need you to take a package to Persopolis, to give to the Voice of the Tribes. It is critical that this package be delivered, and I know I can trust you to get it there." Alanna nodded.
"Of course I'll take this package to Persopolis for you. It's not as if I have much else to do around here." She smiled ruefully. "I'm pretty sure I've learned most of the shamanic magic you know, and I'm afraid the village warriors are getting tired of tutoring me in the fighting arts." The man laughed.
"Tutoring you? You probably know more than any one of them! And you're right; there is little I have left to teach you of our magic. You could take the Ordeal of Shamans today, if you wished."
Alanna smiled, a little embarrassed. "Well, I don't wish to take the Ordeal, so let's leave it there. When do you want me to leave?"
"As soon as possible," he told her. As she turned to leave, he cleared his throat. She turned back.
"Yes?"
"You probably should…" He trailed off, twirling a lock of his own raven black hair. Alanna laughed, nodding, and left the tent.
She knew what he meant. Her copper hair didn't exactly look Bazhir, and it would cause a lot less problems if she didn't have to deal with people questioning her identity. She had dyed her hair black several times before in order to avoid awkward queries. It would be nothing to do it again. As for the rest of her complexion, four years in the desert had tanned her skin a warm golden-brown. White northern skin wouldn't give her away.
She ducked into her own tent and began to pack. She would enjoy her trip to Persopolis.
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Wow! I got nineteen reviews since I posted! How cool is that? (Well, actually, four of them were from opal-dragon, but she's been gone for a month or so. She's making up for lost time.) I have so many awesome people to respond to now!
Opal-dragon: Wow. So much to say. I think I'm going to have to separate this review into sections. Alrighty.
Chapter 5: Aha! I surprised you! As for The Glass Child, it was my pleasure. I seriously think it sounds like a story I might read in some fantasy anthology. One of those semi-creepy thought-provoking things that just make shiver, but that you think are really, really good. I'm not even kidding. It sounds professional. I think sometime you should try to get it published somewhere. It really is that good. Quagmire: grrrr. Not the coolest word, but still cool. And you guys are entitled to your own opinions. I can't believe you two actually agree on something. That must be a record.
Chapter 6: Yeah, that's one of my favorite lines too. Wow, Teri. You could write your own ending to this thing. It'd probably be a lot better than mine, actually. But you know. I think I might incorporate some of that in a sequel I'm thinking of writing. Actually, if I do decide to do it, maybe we could do it together. Think how good it would be then. Hey, I think we should do that. But not immediately, because I'm in the middle of several different complicated stories and everything right now. But eventually. I think I might actually write a sequel to this one now. Your ideas just sparked a lot of new ideas for me. We should definitely collaborate.
Chapter 7: You really think I'm getting better? Yay! I didn't realize that it was improving that much. I don't think I deserve you. You're much too good a reviewer and encourager and cool nice person. Thank you!
Chapter 8: I thought Thom needed a little time in the spotlight. Besides, he is necessary to the development of the plot line. He is helpful when being written about. I'm glad you like Alanna's Bazhir name. She needs one in the later chapters, and I was thinking it shouldn't be too different from her real name. What emerged was Kalan.
Dragonlady: Well, I continue to write. So now you get to review again! Yay!
Dragonwing5: Congrats on your new pen-name, Patsy! Are you going to post any of your stories any time soon? You definitely should sometime. J
Barannilwen: I apologize for the shortness, but I'm beginning to think I'm incapable of writing longer chapters. You'll just have to wait for the next update, I guess. J I'm so mean.
Jessica: Hmmm, let me think about that. ::sits and thinks for about ten seconds:: No.
Temptress: ::snorts and then begins to chuckle:: Oh, you never cease to rise to new levels! I love your reading your reviews! ::returns to chuckling::
ThePenMage: No, you should not. Expect nothing. Every chapter is a gift. You begin to take things for granted… Poof! They are taken away. You should never EXPECT things. All right, enough of that little spiel. I'm done with that. You don't care about my weird philosophy. Watermelons. Is your head a small watermelon, or a large one? Does it have two different colors of green? I love how watermelon rinds have two different colors of green in that funky little watermelon pattern. Umm, I didn't misunderstand you. I didn't see it on the first page of the TP section. Maybe the site does something weird when you re-upload chapters. I don't know, but it wasn't there for me. I'm glad you do not accept things. Never accept anything. I DO NOT ACCEPT THAT! Good motto. I only said you should cause I was tired of trying to explain things. So, finally I am going to make you happy. I will eventually go back and make that chapter happy in a way that only I could make it happy so that you can be satisfied as to a reason why they let her into the tribe. That's what I will do. Just for you. But later. Probably not for a while, but I WILL do it. Okay? So just deal with the mystery right now, and I will resolve that little discrepancy for you. All right? If you're not happy now, I'm just going to wash my hands of the whole thing, and you can just make up your own reason why they let her in.
Keziah: Thank you for the flaming effort. Really, I don't think length flames are truly flameful, but it's the thought that counts. Thank you. And thank you for your compliment about Thom not thinking Alanna would die.
Silva Sun: Wow, thanks! It is definitely the most probable pairing in my story, but hey, something else might happen. But no matter what, it will not be Alanna/Jonathan, so don't worry about that. I will do my best not to make it sappy, I'll promise you that. By the way, I love your pen name. It's so cool.
Neona: I'm glad to hear your grandfather's fine. But I can't believe they assigned you homework over the summer! That's despicable! Summer reading is bad enough, but an English paper? What cruelty! I'm sorry you don't think the chapters are long enough, but they refuse to go any longer. They'll stop when they want to, and nothing is going to make them keep going. Not even me. Not even you.
Crown: It wasn't the gender I was objecting to, but the formality of the thing. I don't know that anyone's ever seriously called me Miss before. I'm just not a formal person.
Morrigan: Wow, and I thought I rambled. Well, thank you for your rambling. It did actually make sense, and I appreciate it very much.
Punkpixie87: I appreciate the flaming effort, but really, I don't think length flames really count. Nor do slow-updating flames. Those actually show appreciation, because people want more of your writing. So really, it's not a flame. But anyway, it's the thought that counts. You meant to flame. And I'm sorry, but I'm not sure George is actually going to make an appearance before I end this fic. Perhaps in the sequel I am considering. But it's only in the consideration stages, so don't get too excited too soon. I'm not sure if I am actually going to do it yet. She will get to Corus eventually, I'm just not sure in what guise. And she is NOT going to fall in love with Jon. How many times must I say that I am A/G? SHE'S NOT GOING TO FALL IN LOVE WITH JON! JON IS NOT RIGHT FOR ALANNA AT ALL! NO JON LOVENESS! Okay? Are you convinced yet? And I will do my best to incorporate no sappiness. I'm not big on melodramatic soap-opera sap either, so there is no way I'm going to let it ruin my fic. Thank you for all the nice things you say. You are one of my nicest reviewers, it makes me all warm and fuzzy. Thank you!
KeladryLadyKnight: Thank you! Shortness of chapters is somewhat inevitable. See my answer to Neona about review shortnessness.
Slone: Yet another psychic reader! Either you guys all of ESP, or I am way too predictable. I wonder which it is?
Amelia: Thank you! J
Whew! ::wipes sweat off brow:: That was quite something! It's amazing to me that I have so many responses, and I'd like to thank all of you for reviewing my story. THANK YOU EVERYBODY!
Also, you guys should definitely read some other very nice people's fics. Namely, opal-dragon's fics, and punkpixie87's fics. They both have fantastic Alanna stories. No one should miss them. SO GO READ THEM!
Alrighty, now, since all of you awesome people are so great and encouraging, go be great and encouraging and review again, and then I can write you a happy reply. Oh, and as always, if anyone has the urge to flame something… But really, length flames don't really count. That's all I've been getting. Nobody will come and flame my story properly. Anyway, now is the time to REVIEW!