Title: The Seer
By: Mizu-chan a.k.a Vannila_Fox

Disclaimer: The Song Of The Lioness, all trademark and related indicia are property of Tamora Pierce. ( The Immortals included.)

Author's Note: I'm focusing mainly on how the characters feel right now, and their thoughts. You'll see that almost every paragraph has a character's name in front.

Continuation: Myles rode back to Corus two days after the letter was sent. "Congratulations, Alanna!!" he chuckled, and hugged his daughter. "Wonderful news. Unfortunate that George isn't here to know about it, though." Alanna nodded. "Do you know what this means? No fighting, no horse riding, no training, nothing to stress myself out with. Meaning, I'm going to be so bored." Myles laughed. "You won't be so bored after he or she is born!" Alanna made a face. "I need to talk to Eleni. She never told me that the charm had an expiry date!!" Myles chuckled again and ruffled her hair. But really, she needed to talk to her about something else. She wanted to talk about the tiny blue gift that she sensed inside her.

*~*~* Jon paced his study, biting his lip. There was too much for him to handle right now, the attacking forces, missing Riders and now, this. He was stumped. The last time he had bedded with Alanna was... before he had married Thayet! But maybe it had something to do with the charm- maybe it wasn't made properly, and delayed the... Ieffects/I. He sighed nad flopped down on his chair. He was certain that Alanna felt the gift as well. Only, maybe the others didn't. But Jon could only hope. But the colour of George's gift was uncertain. What if it was blue as well? But he wasn't a Conte, so that was quite unlikely.

Alanna looked through the cottons in the marketplace with Thayet, feeling extremely guilty and uncomfortable. Thayet had rushed her out of the palace, excusing her from a meeting on Planting. She had insisted that Alanna busy herself while 'waiting'. And she was going to teach the Lioness how to knit. They were going through nice purples and greens, when Thayet held up a soft card of cotton. It was blue. Alanna smiled. "That's a nice colour- but isn't it too nice for me to mess up with?" Thayet just laughed. Alanna bit her lip, and thought of what was going to happen, if indeed, the child was ihis /i. But it could happen to just look entirely like Alanna, if she was lucky, or maybe his gift could just be from long contact with someone with a gift of that colour. Alanna sighed and put the cotton cards she had bought into her basket.

Thayet was curious. Alanna was acting strange, not quite her usual witty, sharp- tongued self. And so was Jon, he kept on answering her in mono- syllables. She figured it must have been the stress of work- after all, the Tusainians had taken a whole group of Riders, she herself was worried. Alanna's mood, though, was easier to account for. She had mood swings, of course. It came with being with child. Thayet paid for the box of metal knitting needles she had bought for Alanna, just in case she broke some. Then, she nudged the brooding woman towards the carpentry shop, where a small crib was. Alanna smirked. "Thayet, I know you're excited, but I still have around seven more months to go." Thayet just laughed and walked ahead, letting Alanna scowl and follow her.

Duke Baird sat down tiredly on his pallet. He could swear he was getting too old for all this. And one of his biggest helpers was all grown up, and with a big problem. He felt the Gift inside Alanna, he saw the colour, and he knew that only Contes had that kind of Gift. "Mithros, and the Great Mother help you, Alanna. Your path has seemed hard, it will be harder now." he sighed and fell into slumber, seeing blue.

The Great Mother sighed as she looked into the pool which she used to look into her chosen. Mithros walked up beside her, his voice booming. "You know that it was predestined to happen. They were meant to be together, as Sarra had said. She is the one who sees the string holding soulmates together. Both of them have grown up, and I'm sure that they understand each other better, and are more responsible." The woman with bright emeralds for eyes looked at her brother. "I understand, but it would be a hard thing for her. George Cooper will be not as understanding as usual, I'm not too sure. I can't see that far, the path is too clouded. I am afraid for my daughter." She turned back tot he pool and stood up. The Green goddess, Sarra, the wildmage's mother, faced her. "Do not worry, I can see, and I see that they still care a little bit more for each other than just as friends." The Great Mother smiled. "I cannot say I am not worried. Perhaps one of your calming teas will help."

A/N: I know this is a bad thing to do, but I'll fast forward a lot from now on. Let's say, six months?

Alanna scowled at her reflection in the mirror, and turned away from it. Thayet chuckled at the scene. The Lioness wasn't showing much, but she still looked quite larger than usual. The Duke Baird had said that the baby was diagonal in position, and not the usual angle, so it wouldn't be TOO obvious. Clearly, Alanna didn't think that. "But Daine wasn't showing AT ALL!" she protested, and muttred about the world not having any justice towards pregnant ladies. Right now, she was wearing a gown that didn't show too much skin, but the bulge was obvious nonetheless. Today was the day in which they celebrated midsummer's night. It was nothing short of Beltane, but more joyful, celebrating the joy and birth of Tortall's first king.

Thayet helped Alanna up, and both of them walked down the hallways silently, until they reached the ballroom, and were announced. Gasps were audible as they saw the King's Champion, who looked uneasily around. Some were shocked, some were smiling kindly, some were gaping, while, a select few, whispered to each other. It was going to be a long night. Alanna sighed, before she was drawn into her old circle of friends. Raoul, who had just come back from a trip to Carthak, smiled broadly at her.

"So, the famous Sir Alanna is finally showing, eh? Somehow, I couldn't imagine it..." Alanna grinned and punched him on the shoulder. "You try waddling around, we'll see who can imagine what. I haven't used the punching bag in such a long time, Mithros knows I'll need it afterwards." They all laughed and joked, until Jon asked her for a dance, laughing. "Jon, if I step on your feet, forgive me, since I can't see where they're going." Everyone watched with grins as she shufled around and tried not to step on the king's feet.

Later on, they were talking around a table, when a panting messenger came up, dried blood obvious on his torn tunic, and mud on his boots. He ran up unceremoniously to Alanna and gaved a small bow to the king, who helped him up. Thayet rushed to get bandages, while Buri sat him down. Alanna stood in front of him, frowning concernedly. "Take slow breaths... ok. Now tell me, what happened?"

The boy, no more than sixteen, most likely, looked up, pale. "The Master- The- the- Rogue... he's, he's...." Alanna paled. "No... He's injured, isn't he?" she asked, with a quivering laugh. The young man shook his head. "No, ma'am. He... he, there was an ambush... and he saved... the whole Rider group, and the whole city of Helmsoft... That part of Tusaine is ours. He, he asked me to, to tell you that he loved you, and will be with you, forever. He also asked me to hand you this and say sorry to King Jonathan for not being to live." Everyone stood there, aghast. Alanna swayed suddenly, fingering the gold-and-amethyst locket. Gary leapt forward, and caught her as she fainted.

So, how's this to give you? It's sort of a make-up for the short prologue, but don't expect chapters this long everytime. Usually, they're only three MS Word pages long. I'm being sso mean. I like A/J, but I don't hate George, ok? But George fans, keep on reading, cos you're going to have a surprise. No, he isn't coming back to life... well, I'm not too sure. This story will have two epilogues, one with a sad ending, another with a happy ending. SO, R& R, sil vous plait!!