Author's Note:  This chapter is posted in commemoration of my dear departed freedom, which passed on this morning at 7:27 when I was forced to board a long yellow hearse as my liberty was brutally slaughtered in front of me.  ::depressing funereal dirge plays gloomily in the background::  I'd like all present to observe a moment of silence, in respect to my much-lamented liberty.  :long depressing pause::

Yes, I hate to say it, but I was forced to go to SCHOOL today.  Nine months of purgatory stretch in front of me.  But there is no reason for you to mourn, because today you get to read an update to my story!  Yay!  I feel better already.  My freedom may die, but my art will live on in immortality.  Yeah, right.  I wish.  But we'll pretend.

Anyway, you don't care about that.  I know you just want to read my story, so here we go!  Chapter Eleven!

Chapter 11:  Late-Night Encounters

Alanna slipped out of her room in the castle and headed toward the wing the visiting squires were housed in.  She had extracted the location of Thom's room out of one of the servants.

She moved stealthily down the hall, and then stopped as she heard another pair of boots padding down the corridor.  "Who's there?" she whispered.

"Thom?" asked Jonathan's voice.  Alanna frowned.

"What are you doing?"

"I would think you'd have figured that out.  Are you coming with me?"

Alanna stepped into the small pool of light from the lantern hanging in the wall.  Jonathan started.

"You're not Thom."

"No," Alanna said softly.  "You know me as Kalan."  She paused for a moment.  "You should not go to the City alone."  The Prince said nothing, waiting for her reaction.  "I'll go with you," the girl told him.  The Prince scoffed.

"You?  You're a girl!"

"So?" Alanna asked coolly.  "I know as much magic as any Bazhir shaman, and I can take on any warrior in my tribe.  If you insist, I can prove it, although I'd rather not; that would be a waste of time and energy."  Jonathan considered this.

"All right, you can come, but don't slow me down."

Alanna laughed recklessly.  "It'll be the other way around, northern boy."

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Yes, I know it's short, but deal with it.  Next chapter will appear sometime next week.  Now, to reply to my reviews!

Ice-otter/Redmountain:  No, you haven't.  I've missed you and your reviews.  I'm glad to see you're back.  : )

AngelFantasy:  Thank you!  And don't mention it: I love reading and reviewing your story.

Athena Masterson:  ::grins::  Hey, compliments!  That cheered me up from my partial gloom and doom.  If the sequel wants to be written, I promise you it will include George.  Word of honor.  Hey, but when you reviewed four days ago, you said you'd have a chapter up in the next day or so.  What happened to the update?  Was it abducted by the evil pixie who haunts FF.Net?  (No relation to punkpixie87, or course.)  If it was, I will absolve you of guilt, but if it wasn't…  Grrrrr.  No reneging!  Update!

Barranilwen:  Well, you did eventually review, and that's what's important.  Although there were three people who didn't—I'm three reviews down.  ::tear::  ::wipes eyes::  Hey, but you DID, so I'm happy.  Ah, but I'm afraid their meeting has been delayed unexpectedly.  Trips to the Black City tend to interrupt things, don't they.  ::grin::

Karina:  Thank you!  ::grins::  But I'm afraid Thom is going to have to wait to find out, at least for now.  I still haven't decided exactly how he's going to find out, but I think Alanna took precautions that her hair dye wouldn't wash out, so it probably won't be that.  Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

Opal-dragon:  Hey, that's not fair!  Update, you meanie!  Oh, ha ha, you were kidding.  ::big sigh of relief::  Writer's block, huh?  Let me see if I can encourage your muse to surface by quoting Ronald Reagan.  Teri's muse, "tear down this wall!"  Ha!  The Berlin wall went down, so you will that big thing blocking your inspiration.  So write!  And update!  I command you!  When is George coming in?  Hmm, let me think.  HE'S NOT!  That was hard.  I know you love him, but deal with his absence.  He will appear in the sequel, if we end up writing it.  Okay?  Happy?  Good.  Now it's your turn to UPDATE!

DivaBear:  Thank you!  I really appreciate that.

Keziah:  Umm, I actually didn't think about the purple eyes thing, so I blindly rendered them blind to it as well.  Sorry.  Maybe sometime I'll go back and have Thom notice it, and have déjà vu, or something.  You know, fun stuff like that.  But I don't know that I will, so don't hold your breath.

Elspeth:  Thank you!  That sends a warm fuzzy feeling all over.  : )

Katie Carr:  Thanks!  Happiness is growing!

Morrigan:  You put me on your favorites list?  Warm fuzzies!  Warm, warm fuzzies!  They're multiplying like Tribbles!  (If you didn't get that, don't worry, it's a Trekkie thing.)  Umm, you meant blackmail, not bribery.  If you said, if you post the next chapter, I'll put you on my fav's list, THAT would be bribery.  You were blackmailing me by threatening to take me off your fav's list if I didn't post.  See the difference?  Bribe­­=reward, blackmail=punishment.  Simple.  Sorry, but I'm obsessive about my words, I have this COMPULSION to fix people's usages.  Sorry if that bugs you.  Man, you really are a gifted rambler.  I think you're even better than me!  Amazing.

Temptress:  Whoah, I think I might be frightened.  Cutting up blankets?  That's kind of disturbing.  Are you sure you don't have some psychological complex or something?  Right to lord—aha, like feudalism.  I see it all now.  It actually makes sense!  Wow.  Abiento…  The closest translation is probably something like, "see you later."  Did I mention that blood-curdling screams cause my blood to curdle?  Well, that is, if I'm not deafened first.  Yes, I'm afraid school is here, and it won't go away.  ::sobs brokenly for a few seconds, and then stops::  But I wrote a obituary type thing for my lost liberty, so at least it hasn't given me really major writer's block.  Thank god, I can still create!  By the way, naming fluffy bugs is not a good habit to get into.  I hope you know that.

ThePenMage:  How many books do I own?  Several hundred, I'm sure.  Hey, I looked up who Meron is.  He's Lord Holder of Nabol, and he is most memorable by his infamous fire lizard egg scam in Dragondrums.  Aren't I smart?  The fire-lizard thing you said triggered my memory, and I went and found him in Dragondrums.  I don't remember if he's in Dragonquest—that's almost the only Pern book I don't actually own, so I don't know that one as well.  He definitely could be, though.  GEORGE IS NOT GOING TO BE IN THIS STORY!  HE'S NOT GOING TO MAGICALLY APPEAR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT, OKAY?  OKAY?  HE'S NOT GOING TO BE IN THIS STORY!  GET OVER IT!  Sorry, but you're about the fifth person who's asked me about George this chapter, so I'm kind of like, ah.  And yes, more Jon bashing next chapter.  Alanna has only just begun.  ::evil chuckle:: 

Allure:  Ah, dramatic sighs.  Those're good.  My grandma lives in Salem, so if you live there too, you might actually know her.  Wouldn't that be freaky?  I'd be freaked.  But it'd be cool too.  Anyway, Oregon's cool.  We like Oregon.

Guys, I'm all sad, because reviews went down by three since the chapter before.  ::sniffles::  Now I'm all sad and depressed, with that on top of the damper of school.  ::tear::  Review extra long this chapter and cheer me up, please!  I wouldn't want to be super gloom and doom and be too depressed to post the next chapter.