pOne night in early September, Alanna snuck out for a midnight ride. Galloping around the fields with only moonlight for company, she felt very free. Just then, moonlight reared, sending Alanna flying. A wild cat stood there, growling as he walked towards the stunned Alanna, his eyes evilly glowing red. As she tried to stand up, encumbered by her skirts and cursing herself for not bringing a weapon, Alanna twisted the opal ring nervously, a habit she had developed. Quickly she blinked. The cat was glowing orange! Alanna could now see the faint and unclear edges of an illusion. Startled, she ducked as the cat lunged at her and vanished, as quickly as it had appeared.

pSorcery! Alanna was unsure whether the wild cat had been just a warning to scare her, or if it could have harmed her. At least now she knew what the ring did - it showed sorcery. Perhaps the orange had been the color of the magic of the sorcerer who had conjured the cat. Shivering, she led moonlight back to the stables. Someone wanted her hurt, or dead. She couldn't think of anyone who hated her that much.

pthe next day, Alanna told Amalia about the wild cat, leaving out the origin of the ring. If it really was from the Goddess, Alanna didn't want to advertise that fact.

p"someone with orange magic is trying to kill you?" Amalia whispered, "Maybe it was just an accident - or - or a joke."

p"it wasn't very funny joke." Alanna replied dryly. Amalia only nodded, her eyes big. She looked absolutely terrified, and she was obviously hiding something. What did she know about Alanna's 'accident' that Alanna didn't?



pa few weeks later, Alanna remembered something. When Alanna had visited the painting gallery at the palace this summer, she had seen a picture of Amalia parents, Lady Lydia, Duke Roger's sister, and Lord Kenneth of Han. Both were dark haired with brown eyes. Amalia looked nothing like either of them. Also that summer, Alanna had talked to Myles about Amalia's past. He had said that Amalia had been so sick at birth, everyone though she would die; her brown eyes had had red spots on them. Amalia had blue eyes! Could she be somebody else's daughter?

pAlanna wanted to ask Jon, who had the Gift too and new much more about magic than Alanna did, about these weird happenings. Unfortunately, she didn't want to write incase Lady Charlotte or the person responsible for the cat read it. She couldn't mention her suspicions to Amalia either, because Amalia obviously knew something about it that she wanted to keep secret. Curious, with suspicions that wouldn't go away, Alanna forged a letter from Duke Gareth that let her travel to Conte for a day. Duke Roger would be at the palace, and she wanted to talk to his steward.

pthe steward of Conte, Jonakin Orson, greeted Alanna openly, with no trace of curiosity over why she had come. He was an old man, and Alanna knew he had served Duke Roger's father as well. Alanna soon explained the reason for her visit.

p"I wanted to ask you a question about Lady Lydia, Master Orson. Sir Myles of Olau said you would help me." She explained, knowing that Myles knew Jonakin well.

p"anything I can do t' 'elp, Lady Alanna." Master Orson smiled, "She was a nice young lady now; real pity that she died like she did."

p"I really wanted to know about her daughter. Is she still alive?" Alanna asked.

p"No, she died when she was only a few weeks old, poor thing." Master Orson replied.

p"Sir Myles though you would know." Alanna replied, "after all, you must know everything about the Contes."

p"Well, I've worked 'ere a long time." He smiled, "there ain't much I don't know about their little secrets. Probably why I'm still 'ere - 'Is Grace is scared I'll tell someone about it all. Not that I would, o' course."

p"of course not." Alanna said quickly, "it's just that Sir Myles and I have heard that there is a girl that claims she is Lady Lydia's daughter. Apparently Duke Roger is her guardian; but, of course, that isn't true."

pMaster Orson looked nervous for a moment.

p"Well, ye see, 'Is Grace kept it pretty quiet. There was another girl born soon after Miss Lydia's baby. 'Is Grace's daughter, actually. 'E passed 'er off as 'is niece, 'e did." He replied nervously. "Not something 'e's talked a lot a bout."

p"I didn't know the Duke had married." Alanna said, pretending to be surprised.

p"Oh, 'e did. I was one o' the only people at 'is wedding t' Lady Marcella o' Naxen. Secret, it was. But the child weren't 'er's. It was Lady Chloe o' Vaughn's daughter. She died givin birth too, so the Duke kept the girl and, as I said before, 'e says she's 'is niece." Master Orson explained, clearly happy to talk to someone. "Why did ye want t' know?"

p"Sir Myles was curious." Alanna explained, standing up, "Thank you, Master Orson, you've been a great help."

p"anything t' 'elp Sir Myles." Master Orson stood up also, "Nice t' meet ye, Lady Alanna."

pAlanna smiled at the old man as she walked outside with him,

p"don't worry about me telling anyone. I understand why he would want to keep his daughter's birth quiet. There's no need to even tell the Duke that I've been here."

pAlanna highly doubted that Master Orson would tell anyone about her visit. He probably hadn't meant to tell her all about Duke Roger's life, but the Duke wouldn't be happy that he had. And Master Orson had helped her a lot. She now knew what Amalia was hiding from her. She just wondered how much Amalia knew about her birth.

p"Oh, Master Orson," Alanna turned Moonlight around, "What color is the Duke's magic?" she asked.

p"Orange!"

pAlanna had been expecting that reply.



pa few weeks later, Alanna was walking down the terrace outside, when she heard a noise coming from the roof. She looked up as a huge boulder came crashing down, landing right in front of her. Alanna grabbed her ring, and saw an orange glow fading away from the rock. If she hadn't heard the rock above and stopped, she would probably have been killed.

pWhen Clara and Amalia reached her, alarmed by the noise, Alanna felt more anger than fear. She didn't know what she had done to Duke Roger to made him no desperate to kill her. There must have been more to his plans than the death of his daughter.



ptowards the end of October, Tortallian knights marched north to defend the border. Alanna knew that all three of her friends and her uncle were on the battlefield, not to mention Duke Roger, waiting for an attack from Tusaine. Nothing happened for a while, and Alanna in her need to talk to someone, forged another letter form Duke Gareth, asking Lady Charlotte to send her back to the palace. Lady Charlotte looked suspicious, but she let Alanna go. Alanna rode as quickly as she could, stopping late at night at inns along the way and leaving early the next morning. It took her less than a week to reach the area where the Tortallian army was camped. She knew she was being stupid, but the excitement of being on a war field edged her on. She would do what she wanted - there was no one to stop her!



pJonathan, Gary and Alex were seated around a fire one evening, when a horse galloped into the camp, with a black cloaked rider. All three men gripped their sword hilts, ready for anything.

p"Prince Jonathan?" a gruff voice from inside the cloak asked, "May I speak to you?"

p"if you can't talk before my friends, then don't talk at all!" Jonathan replied, his voice strong.

p"Fine then." A more familiar voice replied as the stranger threw back the cloak. Alanna grinned at her astonished friends.

p"Alanna!" Gary gasped, "you - what are you doing here?"

p"I wanted to talk to Jon." Alanna laughed, coming to sit beside them.

p"you'll be in trouble if you're caught here." Jon argued.

p"well, I won't be, will I?" Alanna retorted tartly, "Don't look so happy to see me." She added sarcastically.

pJon smiled,

p"Well, what was so important that you had to rush over her to ask me?" he asked.

p"Roger." Alanna replied simply, letting the curiosity and bewilderment register on Jonathan's face before she went on, "all family's have their own color magic don't they? And the Conte's is orange, right?"

p"yes." Jonathan agreed uncertainly.

p"And how can you see magic?" Alanna asked.

p"by using a magic crystal." Jonathan stared at his friend

p"So if a wild cat, conjured up by orange magic, attacked me, it would be Duke Roger trying to hurt me? And if a boulder fell from the roof, glowing orange when I touched a magic crystal, it would be Roger attacking me again?"

p"Alanna, what are you talking about?" Jonathan exclaimed angrily.

p"because that's what happened." Alanna continued calmly, ignoring Jon, "Obviously, your cousin is trying to kill me."

pthe three men stared at Alanna, who explained her conversation with Jonakin Orson, and the 'accidents' that had happened to her recently.

p"Roger wouldn't do anything like that." Jonathan argued, "well, maybe, Amalia is his daughter, but he has no motive to want to kill you. How did you see the magic anyway?"

pAlanna held her left hand, showing Jon the ring. His eyes widened as he saw it. Before he could reply, shouts were heard in the distance.

p"an attack!" Alex cried. All three men hurried away, preparing for battle. Alanna ducked behind some trees, waiting in the shadows until Gary found her there.

p"will you be alright?" Gary asked, worried.

p"of course." Alanna replied, "You'd better hurry up."

p"take my extra sword, "Gary said, handing it to her, "and don't do anything stupid."

pAlanna sat down on the ground, leaning against a tree. Soon she dozed off.

pa noise from the river direction woke Alanna. An unknown man followed a Tortallian sentry guard towards the center of the camp.

p"there's the prince's tent." The guard announced. The other man ducked into the tent, as Alanna stood up. The guard heard her and walked away, searching suspiciously. Alanna slid around a tree and peeked into Jon's tent. The man had a packet of papers in his hand. Alanna picked up a rock and crept into the tent. She raised Gary's sword and as the man turned around she leveled it with his noise.

p"going somewhere?" she asked. The man moved backwards, reaching for his sword. Alanna threw the big rock at him, and it hit his head, knocking him out. His red cloak fell back to reveal the Tusaine arms in his tunic. Quickly Alanna tied his hands and ankles together. She covered him with her black cloak and put his on, before picking up the packet of papers on looking through them.

pAlanna gasped. They were all from Princess Iliria, to Jon. Obviously he had gotten involved with her that summer, and they had kept writing. Now her letters were being stolen by the Tusaines, probably to blackmail King Roald with. If the letters got out, Jonathan would be in serious trouble for being involved with a married woman. So would Iliria, for that matter. Alanna wondered if she was helping the Tusaines, and if they really thought King Roald would surrender over the something so trivial as these letters. Still, they obviously knew the letters would be here, which put Iliria - especially with her reputation for double-crossing - to mind immediately.

pthe sentry guard was walking back. Alanna crouched over the other man's unconscious body.

p"Lord Cadmus?" the guard asked, "'Ave ye got the stuff?" Alanna stared at the man on the ground, shocked. He was Lord Cadmus, the brother of the Tusaine king. She stood up, and turned to the guard.

p"Lord Cadmus had failed to get 'the stuff'." She snapped, "and if you don't want your throat cut, then get down there by the Lord, traitor."

pthe terrified guard let her tie him up, which amused Alanna; he was a head taller than her and probably a good deal better at cutting throats than she was. She just had to hope Lord Cadmus didn't wake up before she could find help.

pJust then another man crashed through the trees.

p"Cadmus!" he cried, "Prince Jonathan is coming! Get ready!"

p"if you talk any louder they might hear you on the battlefield." Alanna turned around.

pthe man grabbed his sword and lunged at her. Alanna jumped out of the way, and he circled her, acting as if he was fighting another swordsman. Glad she had worn breeches on this trip instead of a dress, Alanna watched him carefully. Finally, she took a risk and attacked, swooping her sword down to cut the man's arm. Pleased with herself, she stood back, and he took the chance to slash at her shoulder. Alanna winced and lunged again, scraping his cheek. He stumbled back, caught off guard, and snarled at her.

phorse hooves startled Alanna. Jon rode into the clearing, and stopped, staring at her. Alanna smiled back like nothing was wrong.

pJon helped her tie up the other man, who, after much swearing and mumbling, admitted to being Prince Gamliel, the youngest son of the Tusaine king.

p"they must have sent me the message from Father to make me come back here so that they could kidnap me." Jon reasoned.

p"and they wanted this." Alanna handed the packet of letters to Jon, "with Iliria's assistance and a good sorcerer or two to help, they would have forced you father to surrender after only one battle."

p"Mithros," Jonathan whispered, "thank you, Alanna."

pAlanna didn't have a chance to reply. The world spun around her and she collapsed on the ground.

pAlanna woke in the healers' tent. Duke Gareth stood there, glaring at her,

p"Alanna, you've been very, very stupid. You could have gotten yourself killed! You should never had left the convent, let alone coming to a battlefield!"

p"what happened?" Alanna asked, "Did we win?"

p"Lord Cadmus and Prince Gamliel have been ransomed. The Tusaines have retreated and promised to never attack again." Duke Gareth replied, still not smiling.

pJon walked in at that moment. Duke Gareth bowed to him and left Alanna and Jon alone.

p"how's everybody?" Alanna asked.

p"stunned, thrilled, worried." Jon smiled, "you're our hero." He sat down on the bed beside Alanna and picked up her hand, "you saved my life. I would have been ransomed or killed, if it wasn't for you, not to mention the letter from Iliria."

p"I was in the right place at the right time." Alanna replied, disliking all the praise she was getting for doing so little. Still smiling, Jon leaned forward and brushed a curl off her cheek. He leaned closer and gently kissed her lips. Alanna pulled away, staring at the prince.

p"Jonathan - ." she whispered, but was cut off by the arrival of Gary and Alex. Jonathan turned bright red and let go of her hand.

p"feeling better?" Gary asked. Alanna nodded, still speechless with shock. She could see the Gary and Alex knew what had happened. And she was too tired to talk to them.