Disclaimer × Okay, most of this belongs to Tamora Pierce, 'cept for the story line, Erin, Elton, Luke and other characters that you may not recognise. Hehe.

Author's Note × After re-reading my last chapter… I realised how many spelling and grammar mistakes I had! Oops… kinda didn't notice them before I posted it up. So, I'm gonna use spell check for this chapter. Don't know if it's going to have much of a difference, but… on with the story. I'm having a writer's block at the moment (already!)

Oh, and it's also been about a year since I read SOTL, so sorry if I make some mistakes or miss out on anything! Lol. But I have read 'In the hand of the Goddess' and 'Alanna: The first adventure' about two weeks ago? ;) I like those two books the most.

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HIDDEN THREAT

Chapter Five ◊ Mid-Autumn Festival II

Alanna sighed and shook her head. She knew Erin wouldn't last very long without meeting some of the young knights at the Palace. If she didn't know any better, she would've said that Erin was another one of those air-headed ladies of the court. However, she did know Erin well enough to know that her friend was actually a lot smarter than she let on. Alanna grabbed her brother's arm.

"Come on…" she mumbled, making her way over to where Erin and around six others were standing near the doorway between the courtyard and hall. Thom just grinned and followed her. Slowing down once she was closer, Alanna could hear part of the conversation. To her surprise, Erin wasn't actually flirting like she usually did. Instead, she seemed to be arguing something with a lithe, good-looking young knight.

"Think about it, Alex… I love balls and dressing up as much as the next girl, but honestly... Just how many dances do they really need at a convent?" Erin asked, taking a sip of a drink she was holding her hands. Alex's eyes sparkled.

"Well, you can't be expected to go to a ball and know what to do straight away. What about practice?" he asked, before adding, "it can't be that bad. Can it?"

Erin laughed, "you have no idea. Some of the classes are fun and interesting, but most are somewhat boring. I swear, their Majesties just want to punish all the young girls or something…"

Alex cocked an eyebrow at an extremely cute young man standing opposite him, "is that true, Jon?"

Jonathan rolled his eyes and grinned. Before he could reply, Erin spotted Alanna and Thom coming towards them. She put her glass down on the table and grabbed Alanna's arm, dragging her into the circle. Thom followed behind them.

"This is Alanna, she's one of my best friends…" Erin said, introducing Alanna to the others. Alanna blushed as they all stared at her, eyes widening as they saw the similarities between her and Thom. The knight beside Jon tilted his head on the side, as though thinking something over in his head.

"Is it me, or does Lady Alanna look remarkably like Squire Thom?" he asked. Thom stood by Alanna's side and gave a short laugh.

"Alanna is my twin sister, Sir Gareth," Thom replied, obviously not used to being in the other knights presence for too long. The knight looked between the two of them, a good natured smile on his face.

"Call me Gary. I'm pleased to meet you, Lady Alanna… let us just hope that you are nothing like Lady Erin here. She has a rather sharp wit that can stir a lot of trouble here at the Palace…" he said politely to Alanna, before glancing across to Erin with a slight smirk on his face. Erin hit his arm playfully.

"Ooh… I'll get you for that Gary!" she said, hazel eyes twinkling, "and if you thought I was being pert, just wait until you get to know Alanna better!"

Alanna turned to glare at her friend. That wasn't exactly the kind of first impression she wanted to make. Erin smiled began introducing the knights and squires one by one.

"That big knight with the chestnut hair, is Sir Gareth of Naxon… beside him, is the even bigger knight, Sir Raoul of Goldenlake… their two squires… [AN: um, uh… forgot their names! Geoffrey and Sacherell? Douglass?]… then the dark, quiet one is Sir Alexander of Tirragen… and the young man with the deep sapphire eyes and dark hair, is Sir Jonathan…"

Thom looked across the group as Erin was introducing Alanna to everyone, wondering why she hadn't mentioned the fact that Jonathan was also the Prince. Catching his eye, Prince Jonathan grinned slightly at Thom, and he realised that Erin had no idea that he was the Prince! Looking back over at Alanna, he realised that she seemed to have forgotten the fact that he had mentioned Erin had been talking to the Prince before. Thom shrugged, there was no reason why Alanna and Erin needed to know that fact if Jonathan didn't feel like telling them. He saw Alanna tug on Erin's arm.

"Uh, Erin… remember the reason why we came here? Yeah, well… do you think we may be able to discuss it now?" Alanna asked, hinting at the fact that they still needed to figure out what to do. Erin caught on almost immediately, though she didn't look too happy. The other knights looked slightly confused.

"Oh, I guess so…" Erin sighed, excusing herself and walking with Alanna further away from the group. Once they were out of earshot, Alanna stopped and turned to face Erin.

"Mithros, Erin! How did you manage to meet all those knights already? I knew most guys love you, but…!" Alanna exclaimed, surprised that Erin seemed to be fitting in so well. Erin rolled her eyes.

"Be reasonable, Alanna. I love flirting, but I'm not that good! Gary's squire was a family friend of mine, and he introduced me to his Knight Master and eventually I was introduced to his friends. Now, I thought you wanted to talk about why we were here?"

Alanna nodded and was about to say something when there was a startled shout from somewhere in the courtyard. The sweet, flowing music hesitated a bit before stopping. Everyone looked around uncertain, and there seemed to be some sort of commotion somewhere near the other end. Erin and Alanna quickly exchanged glances before making their way through the crowd to see what was going on. After all, they were there to observe anything strange or out of place. A slight murmur was running through the crowds now.

"Can't we enjoy a dance without being interrupted for once?" Erin muttered under her breath, as the two of them found themselves standing not far away from where the King and Queen sat. Close by to the tables, was a small break in the crowd. Lying in the middle, was an ashen faced page supported by a large knight. Beside him was a spilt glass of wine.

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AN × Sorry, not my best chapter. Not concentrating at the moment… I might change it later if I come up with something better, but I doubt it. Lol. R/R!

Reaya - If I know what I want to type, it doesn't usually take me that long to update. Hehe. I'm probably not going to update everyday, it just depends on how many reviews I've got. =) I'm probably going to update again when I have around 20 reviews or so? Make sure you update your stories soon! ;)

Lady Cyrhia - Hey, glad you like my story so far. Um… haven't decided yet who Alanna is going to end up with. I'm not really a huge fan of George, I'm actually an AJ fan, but who knows? Lol. If I had to choose now, it'll probably Jon? =) (I also like Alex, hehe ;))

HuntressDiana - I decided to use spell check for this chapter, 'cause after re-reading my last chapter, I realised how many mistakes I made! Hehe. I can't be bothered fixing up those ones, but hopefully the spelling in my next chapters will be better. Lol. Thanks for the reviews!

Charmed luver22 - Thanks for reviewing my chapters, glad you like them so far. ;) I've read the first chapter of Cousins and Demons, I'll review your story there. K? lol.

---× Lady Kalitana ×---