On the Streets

by jilla kala

a/n: my apologies to all of you who have been reading this story and have been patiently awaiting this chapter. I could offer many explanations as to why I have been so long in an update, but I am sure you are not that interested in the personal problems of an authoress, but only in the fact that I have neglected to update, especially after having done two chapters in as many weeks over Christmas break.

I would just like to say that the entire time I have been away from you all, I have felt very guilty for not working on this story and am very sorry, again

disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates, and umm… that's it so far…

dedication: to the reviewers who have been faithful in reading my updates, and to the first time reviewers for last chapter, may you all continue to be pleased with the work I'm doing.

Chapter Eleven

Roger of Conté was sitting in his room idly reading a book of history when his squire burst into the room. The Duke merely raised his eyebrows as the door slammed shut behind Squire Alex, not even bothering to turn and face the boy.

"You should always knock Alex, you never know what you might stumble upon if you just barge in on someone," he reprimanded, no feeling showing through in his voice.

"I'm sorry Sir, but I have very important news for you," he paused, when the Duke didn't respond, only flipped another page in his book, Alex hurried on, "Gary and his friends are back. They brought a commoner with them. A commoner, from what I've heard, that they claim is the missing Prince Jonathan."

The Duke rose to his feet, slamming the large book closed. "What?" he roared.

Alex took a step back, the Duke could be a very formidable man when he wanted to be. "I, I said that they--"

"I heard what you said!" the Duke interrupted, his face contorted from an unknown emotion, "How is this possible? The prince is dead! DEAD!"

"Well, sir, I--"

The Duke interrupted him yet again, suddenly calm, his face smoothed over and a small smile appeared on his face, "Take me to see my cousin, Alex."

"He's asleep, your Grace. Their Majesties sent him to his room, believing him to be exhausted, he and his companion."

"Companion?"

"Yes, a girl. Some commoner. Annie something I believe."

"Well, Squire, if our guests are asleep now, I shall have to go and see them first thing in the morning. Now get out so I can rest."

Alex bowed and swiftly left the room, closing the door shut behind him with a soft click.

The Duke did not go to bed immediately, as he had told his squire he would. Instead he stayed up for long hours, absentmindedly tracing designs with his fingers on the desk as he thought about the new developments.

~*~

Jon awoke the next morning to a servant bringing water for him to wash in and fresh clothes. He lay in the bed, unmoving, watching the man go about his work. His eyes carefully followed the attendant around the room as he made a fire and placed a tray of juice on the desk. Jonathan did not move from the bed until the man had left the room and Jon was sure he would not come back soon. When he finally did climb out of the bed he went into the other room and quickly undressed, sinking into the warm water in the tub. He sighed, in his comfort forgetting for a moment that his life had been completely turned around.

~*~

He must have dozed off in the bath, because he abruptly jerked up into a sitting position, not knowing the reason for his sudden alertness. A creak of floorboards came from the other room, and he saw movement in the form of a shadow through the crack under the door. Slowly he climbed out of the tub, careful not to make any noise. He scuffed his feet on the throw rug in the room as he slid a knife out of the folds of his clothing in a pile on the floor. Not for the first time thankful that he never did anything, including sleeping, without at least one weapon on his body.

He moved to stand by the door, cautiously easing it open and, moving into a fighting stance, shifted into the opening so he could see into the room.

"Jua!" he said, surprised.

She spun around to look where the voice was coming from. "I thought you were an intruder!" he told her.

"No, just me," Her face broke into a grin, as she looked him over, "What you do, Jon, forget to get dressed this morning?"

He blushed as he looked down, realizing he hadn't bothered to put anything on when he came out of the bath. She tossed him a pillow off the bed, which he promptly used to cover himself with. "Go get dressed, Jon. Breakfast can wait a few more moments for you to get decent."

With a still crimson face he turned and went back into the other room, shutting the door as he dressed in the clothes the servant had brought.

When he came out of the room Jua was sitting at the desk, sipping a glass of juice. "We need to get some of this juice and bring it back to the house, it's incredible." He laughed at the look on her face as she gulped down the rest of the drink. "Alright, let's go to breakfast. This place is bound to have delicious food, and lots of it!" she told him.

They walked down to the dinning hall, Jua talking about all the different types of food they would have for them to eat. "You've never seen so much food in your entire life, Jon! Apples, oranges, breads, cakes, waffles…." The list went on and on.

To their disappointment, when the arrived at the table, the breakfast that morning was a simple meal of hot cereal, fruits and pancakes. None of the amazing foods they thought there would be could be found.

"Now what kind of a castle serves oatmeal for breakfast?" she complained, taking a bite, "I make better oatmeal than this stuff!

As Jua complained and Jon chuckled, a servant came up beside them. Bowing he said, "Their Majesties request to see you in their chambers when you are finished with your breakfast, Highness." Jon nodded and quickly finished his meal, laughing and joking with Jua.

~*~

When they finished their meal, they brought their trays up to be cleaned and walked out of the hall, stopping on the other side of the door. Jua turning down a side hallway, towards the library and Jon walked to the King's rooms. Just as he was about to knock on the door, a servant exited, carrying a tray upon which were the King and Queen's dirty dishes.

"Just go on in, Highness," she told him as she hurried down the hall. With a sigh at her use of the title, Jon entered the room, only to be greeted by the Queen engulfing him in a huge.

"Ah, Jonathan, I'm so happy you're back with us. Please, come and sit. We have much to talk about." He didn't say anything; he just took the seat opposite his father on the soft couch.

"Lianne and I wanted to discuss your introduction and future here, with you today. I know, this may seem quite sudden, but everything is always so busy here, and if we don't do it now, we may never get to it. You understand?" He nodded.

"Now, as everyone but a few of the most trusted palace servants and friends, are unaware of your return, we were thinking a formal re-introduction to the people is in order. We will be hosting a banquet, with dancing, entertainment and of course plenty of food, in a couple of weeks. You will be introduced then. How does that seem to you?"

"Fine. That is fine with me, Majesty," Jon answered.

"Father. I am your father, no need to be so formal."

"Yes, Father."

"Now, after the banquet, you cannot just stay around here all day. Your mother and I were thinking that it would be a good idea if you began your page training as soon as possible. Now I know you are older, and should be a squire now, but we will work something out so everyone is happy. It is important for the future King to be a knight of course." The king beamed. "My heir has returned!" and proceed to hug Jonathan and the Queen tightly, not giving Jon a chance to voice his opinion about anything he had just said. Everything happens so quickly here, he thought.

~*~

Jua wandered around the library, picking up a book and then putting it on the shelf. "History… no… philosophy… no… mathematics… Gods no. Don't they have anything interesting in this library?"

"There are plenty of interesting books in here. What are you looking for?" Jua spun around, quickly getting into a fighting stance at the sound of the voice behind her. She pulled a dagger out and held in up as she glared at the newcomer. To her surprise, the man laughed.

"Now, now, my dear. Put that weapon away. Though I suppose this is what I get for startling someone such as yourself now isn't it?" The man commented.

"Such as myself?" she asked, not lowering the dagger. "What's that s'posed to mean?"

"The type of woman who can take care of herself. Now, no need to get off on the wrong foot. I am Roger, Duke of Conté, your friend Jonathan's cousin."

Jua lowered the knife, still not putting it away though. "Anna Weaver."

"Pleased to meet you My Lady," the Duke said as he raised her hand to his lips. "Please, come and sit. Talk with me. I long to see my cousin, but I have been busy and currently he is with my Uncle and so I have time to spare for the moment. It has been so long since I've had much conversation, I've been working on a spell for their Majesties in terms of defense, you know."

"You're a mage?" Jua asked as she took the offered seat.

"Yes. I'm quite a powerful one at that. Now, please, tell me about yourself Lady Anna." Jua proceeded to tell him how she was "the daughter of a tailor and a seamstress," and all about how she had come to be living with Jon. The Duke asked many questions about the Prince, his eyes searching hers as they spoke, never leaving her face. Jua was so entranced by the conversation that she barely noticed the dull ache creeping into her skull, until much later after the Duke had left.

A/n: all right, I know this is pretty rushed and really not one of my best works, but I really wanted to get something up for you guys. Also, as this seemed like a good enough place to stop and the other part I had didn't quite fit in just yet, I'll save that part for the next chapter so I can work out the bugs. As always, hope you enjoyed it, and please review. Suggestions would also be much appreciated, as I know what I want to do, but some of the parts in between are a little fuzzy to my sleep-deprived mind.

Thanks, much luv, Jilla Kala (the slow-yet-every-returning-authoress)

Thank you notes:

Keziah: Thanks! Too bad I only have eleven chapters so far, *sigh* I wish I had more time to work on this darn school. Yeah you're right about that.

Rizka: yup, definitely a long time, but I enjoy doing it, so s'all good :)

kurleyhawk2 : surprise you, huh? Well, this chapter prolly isn't much in terms of surprising, but I'll see what I can do. Any ideas would be much appreciated (although, then it wouldn't be a surprise for you *wink*)

~~R~~ : thanks. I try really hard on the spacing. I have to upload each chapter like four times before ffn show the proper format… grrr…

Miss-Sexy-Ass-Kicker: don't worry, there will be some romance at some point in the future of this fic. Of course, it isn't going to be for awhile yet, the characters didn't have much romance in the books until the second one, and I will prolly stick to around that time, as it seems to work for the romance planned.

Wild Mage of Tortall: yeah, it is a small site :) thanx for your review

Everyone who reviewed: thank you so very much, your reviews seriously make my day *hugs*