Putting Isleton out of her mind, she concentrated on Corus. By Bayle's reckoning, she should be about three weeks away. Three long weeks, at that. Winter was closing in, and from what she remembered about the climate this far north, it would be getting very chilly very quickly.
One night, as she marked down her progress on a map Bayle had given her, she noticed that if she were to take the northern road from where she was, she would end up in Trebond. She read the name in silence, tracing the letters almost reverently. But no, she couldn't abandon what she had set out to do on a whim to see her birth place again. Besides, her father wouldn't want to see her, she knew that. He'd tell her how ashamed he was of her actions, how he was so 'put out' because of her actions over seven years ago. Sighing, she decided to put thoughts of Trebond out of her mind. He never really was her father, anyway, and with Thom gone there wasn't much point dwelling on her noble past. The only reason why she would consider going back would be to see Coram, but she was fairly sure even he wouldn't want to see her; she had said some harsh things when they had parted company.
She rolled the map up, placed it back in one of the saddlebags, and stretched out for the night.
***
She dreamt again, a peaceful interlude between herself and the Fantasy man in some extravagant gardens. When she awoke, she touched her lips, somewhat disappointed that they weren't swollen from kissing. Looking down, she also noted that she was in about the same state of dress as she had been in the dream. She blushed to herself, and pulled on some breeches. None but Swift could see the happy grin playing across her face.
***
Corus arched up around her, a grey mass sprawling across the landscape. Smoke rose from chimney's all around the city, turning the sky the same colour as the ground. The stench was incredible, sweat, waste and numerous other scents she couldn't identify. The noise was overbearing, clanging and shouting coming from all directions at the same time.
It was the most amazing sight she had ever witnessed. She had been here seven years ago, true, but she hadn't remembered it to be like this. This phenomenal…entity! The city pulsed around her, life could be seen everywhere you looked. Merchants, workmen, Nobles, thieves…
She smiled as she thought on the last one. She was a gawking foreigner to the people here, she supposed. And with a horse like that, and bulging saddlebags, she must have many items of value on her. She'd been the target of many pickpockets so far, attempting to snatch items as Swift cantered past. Some lightning fast kicks to their hands had discouraged them, it seemed, some even giving her a grin when they realised she knew what they were doing. She held nothing against thieves, it was just another way of earning a living, though one she herself would never contemplate. Besides, most of them seemed to only consider nobles as 'fair targets', and she could see nothing wrong with that logic.
"Miss! Miss! Would ya' like t' try one 'o these?" a man pointed to some kind of pastry on a small table beside him, "Only 'half a copper!"
"No, thank you."
"Miss! You look like the sort th-!"
"No, thank you."
"Miss!"
"No, tha-"
"Miss!"
"No,"
"Miss!"
She rode on, the city was something she had never expected, and it engendered a kind of buzz in her being, a buzz of shared life and curiosity, but it was somewhat overbearing, as well. She hoped to have found the inn she was looking for by now, she truly wished to rest. She'd been on the road since very early this morning, hoping to reach Corus by midday and spend the rest of the day hunting 'The Dancing Dove'. Shadows were lengthening, now, and she had only managed to search a small area of the city.
Chewing her lip in a small show of frustration, Alanna contemplated asking someone for aid.
"Can I 'elp ya', miss?"
"No, thank you."
"Oh, just that y'look lost, miss. No'fence." She looked down, seeing a small boy; no older than twelve, she thought, looking up at her with a wide smile. She smiled back at him as she realised that he probably did want to help her.
"None taken. Yes, I would say that I am lost." The boy's grin brightened, and she couldn't help but laugh. "What's your name?"
"Me names Olver, but ev'one calls me Olly, miss."
"Well, Olly. I think it's my lucky day." She handed the boy a copper piece, "I'm looking for a place called 'The Dancing Dove'. Do you know it?"
The boy's eyes widened when she handed him the copper, before he quickly thrust it into his breeches as if she'd reconsider. When he heard the name, his head jerked up and down almost comically, and he began to walk back the way she had come.
"Oh, yeah! Foll'me, miss. I'll take y'there."
"Olly, wait!" Alanna cried, trying to get Swift to live up to his name. It was understandably difficult to turn the horse around in such close surroundings, but Olly seemed to have gone off ahead. She cursed a little, oh the impetuousness of youth! Eventually Swift was trotting back up the street, Alanna scanning the crowd for any sign of Olly.
She eventually found him jumping up and down on the side of a fountain, trying to attract her attention. When she began to steer Swift towards him, he smiled again.
"Sorry 'bout that, miss. Don't norm' 'ang round w'horses. Forgot."
"That's all right, Olly. I found you again, so no harm done." He nodded, "Now, which way to the Dancing Dove?"
"This way, miss. Follow me." He leapt off the fountain, almost disappearing into the crowd again. Alanna grimaced, but managed to pick out his scruffy head among the throng. It helped that he'd leap up every once in a while, shouting out "This way, miss!" She followed, and within twenty minutes or so, she was standing outside a fairly inauspicious place that she was sure she'd been past once or twice before.
Sure enough, however, when Olly point it out to her, she noticed the faded words 'The Dancing Dove' above the doorway. She thanked him, expecting him to dart off again, but instead he grinned up at her.
"Oh no, miss." He told her, "I know t'owner's of this place pretty well. I'll see y'settled in, if you dun mind, miss."
"No, not at all. Thanks, Olly." He grinned up at her again, "You've been a life saver." He blushed – perhaps that was why he didn't want to leave. She chuckled to herself. "Can you see where I can stable my horse?" he nodded, and dashed inside. She slid off Swift gracefully, settling the saddlebags in anticipation for Swift's stabling.
After a while, Olly dashed out into the street, towing a gangly youth behind him. The youth appeared to be in his teens, a few years younger than she, and didn't seem to appreciate Olly's treatment of him.
"Olly, 'ay! Slow down, I'm comin', all right?"
"She's just out 'ere, Mak. 'Urry up!"
She smiled as Olly literally pulled the youth through the door, causing the younger boy to stumble and fall. He cursed, and rose to his feet again.
"You alright, Olly?" she asked. He nodded in the affirmative, before prodding the other boy with his elbow.
"Ow!" the other boy had been staring at her too, she noted with a flash of amusement, "Oh, yeah. Olly say's you want to stay 'ere, right?"
"Course she does, Mak! Why else would she be 'ere?"
"Shu' up, Olly." Olly frowned at the older boy, and looked ready to pounce on him.
"Yes!" Alanna hurriedly interjected, "Yes. I'd like to stay here, if you've got the room." The other boy – Mak – nodded. "Great. Where can I stable my horse?" she asked him.
"Ah, just round t'side, miss." He said, "Olly knows where. 'E'll show you. Ain't that right Olly?" Olly blushed again, before kicking the other boy in the shin and darting away before he could be hit in return. Alanna, shaking her head in amusement, followed the young boy around the side.
***
She'd stabled Swift, removing the saddlebags and the tack, before plonking down a big bale of hay for the mare. Motioning for Olly to take some of the bits she'd left, she gave him another copper as he went by. The boy had earned it, to be sure, besides – she liked the little sprout. He'd been nothing but helpful, answering her questions about the place readily. She'd found out that this was indeed the Dancing Dove that Liam had mentioned, with his 'friend' George Cooper being a prominent figure around the place. She hadn't managed to actually work out what that role was, from what Olly had told her, but she decided it wasn't really important. Giving Swift a last pat, she hoisted the saddlebags over her shoulder, and headed into the inn proper, Olly at her heels.
Propping open the doors, she looked in at what could only be described as Chaos. Men and women everywhere, laughing, dancing and drinking. Men, mostly, she noted; most of whom would be what she knew a noble would class as 'undesirable'.
She grinned. It was pretty much everything that she had enjoyed about the city so far, but on a much smaller scale.
"Can I 'elp you, miss?" she turned, noticing a large woman just following her through the stable door. "You, get." She added, pushing Olly out of her way. The boy almost fell over, but managed to brace himself on the wall.
"Uhm, yes." Alanna replied, "I was looking for a room." The woman nodded, before giving Alanna a long look, sizing her up for something. "Uh, single room, plain as-"
"We only got plain one's 'ere, miss." The woman replied, tightly, eye's still boring away at Alanna.
Alanna swallowed, why did she feel like she was being interrogated. "Oh. Good, I suppose." She offered the woman a smile. The woman didn't return it, her lips instead thinning.
"Would you," the woman asked after a moment, "by any chance, 'ave died your 'air?"
She frowned. What kind of question was that for an innkeeper to be asking? "Uh, as a matter of fact, yeah." The woman gave a small nod, expecting more. "Used to be red?" Alanna added. That seemed to be the answer the woman was looking for, and a smile bloomed across her face.
"Sure, sweetie, I gots just the room for you. Follow me." Alanna stared after the woman, who had already crossed the main floor of the inn and was almost at the stairs on the far side of the room. How she did it so quickly for someone of her size was something Alanna couldn't understand, but she adjusted her saddlebags and followed as quickly as she could.
Reaching the room the woman was standing outside; she asked the innkeep if this was it.
"Oh yes, dearie. You just put your things in 'ere, and come down when you're ready." And with that, the woman spun on her heel, thumping down the stairs back to the main room.
Blinking in surprise, Alanna walked into the room, appraising it. It was certainly modest, with only the bed looking to be of any real quality. But that was good enough for her, and she let the saddlebags slip off her shoulder onto the firm mattress. Olly poked his head in a moment later, dropping the tack he was holding in the corner.
"Thanks again, Olly." The boy smiled, before murmuring a goodbye and heading out the door again.
***
Alanna had rested in the room for an hour or so, before slipping down the stairs. The room seemed to be just as, if not more crowded than it had before, and she found it difficult to slide between the throng of people to reach the woman she had talked to earlier.
"Excuse me?" she got no response, "Excuse me!?" she tried a little louder. The woman turned, spying her, and clapped her hands.
"Ah, good. You've decided to 'tain us with your presence, miss…?"
"Alanna." The woman continued to look questioningly at her, "just Alanna."
"Oh then, miss Alanna. I swear, some o' the men saw you earlier and were askin' 'bout you." Alanna raised an eyebrow, and the woman laughed awkwardly, "Uh, but o' course, I dun even know your name, miss Alanna. So I weren't of much help, I weren't! Not me, not Nelly!"
Alanna smiled at her, "I'm glad, Nelly. I don't think I need any 'company' at the moment."
"You sure 'bout that, Miss Alanna?" the woman asked, conspiratorially. "Not even o' one George Cooper?"
Alanna froze. Add this to the question before about her hair, and it seemed that this woman knew much more than she was letting on. Her smile slid off her face, "How do you know that I was looking for him?" she asked, harshly.
The other woman, smiled at her. "No need t'worry, miss. Nothing nasty or nothing, I just got word t'keep an eye or two out for a copper 'aired, purple eyed girl, who'd be looking for George."
Alanna nodded, though she decided that she'd have to be a bit more careful in future. "Is he here?"
"George? No, miss. Not tonight, but 'e'll be in tomorrow, don't you worry." Sighing, Alanna steered the conversation towards more important matters, namely the price she'd pay for the room. The woman was tough, she'd give her that, but Shang weren't only taught to be hard on the battlefield…
***
She lay naked under crisp white sheets, the soft bed beneath her the epitome of luxury. She stared upwards at a grey ceiling, noting the small pits and cracks in the stone, as well as the surreal spirals and patterns that the soot from the torches created.
"What are you looking at?" breathed a voice in her ear. His – of course, who else would it be – breath caused her to shiver as it passed her ear, and a hand reached up to play with the hair near her ear. She glanced to the side, His blue eye's focused utterly on copper strands playing through his fingers. She pointed to the ceiling.
"Look at the patterns," she said, "the whorls, the loops. It's very interesting." She felt His eyes on her face, now. "And now you think I'm strange."
"No, I think you're perfect."
She blushed at the remark. It was very sappy, and clichéd, but it felt so good to hear Him say it. She'd never felt that anyone, besides her brother, fully accepted her before, but this Fantasy man seemed to love all of her. She rolled onto her side, facing him.
"If only you were real." She whispered. He frowned slightly, but she shook her head. "Never mind." Her hands entangled themselves in his hair, and she pulled him to her. She rolled on top of him, her breasts squashed flat against her chest, as she ravaged his mouth with her own. He trailed fingers down her back a-
"Don't move, missy."
She cracked an eye open, spotting someone hovering above her, a cold knife blade at her throat.
"Whoever you are," she calmly told him, "I am going to thoroughly kill you for what you just interrupted."
"Huh?"
Sigh. "Never mind." The pressure on the blade at her throat was increased.
"Look, just shu' up, ok? It's easier if you dun say anything." She heard him sigh.
"What are you looking for?"
"Huh? What did I just say!" he whispered harshly. She rolled her eyes, not that he could see. "Bloody…! Where do you keep your money?"
She snorted softly. "Not in here. Why, thieves could get to it in here." The man cursed at her dryly sarcastic tone, and she made her move. Grabbing the mans' arm quickly, she twisted it viciously, making sure that he dropped the knife. Sliding off the bed, she tripped him up, before picking up the knife and holding it to his throat as he had done to her moments before.
"There. Much better." She said, satisfied. Glancing down at herself, making sure that her tunic hadn't ridden up; she held the knife a little closer. "Now, what were you doing in here?"
The man, whose eyes were as wide as she had seen on anyone, began stuttering. "N-nothing! H-honest, miss! Uh, just g-got lost, or somethin'." She frowned, "Ok! Ok! I was looking for y'coin, as I said!"
"Was that all?" She asked. The man nodded, carefully. She sighed, she should take him downstairs, but she'd need to get dressed first, which would be difficult. "Get up, but don't try anything. I can throw this faster than I disarmed you." She stepped away from him, allowing him to rise. He raised his hands a little into the air, the universal symbol of surrender. "Now turn around." He did so.
She quickly launched herself at her bags, grabbing the first pair of breeches she could find. She caught his head turning at the edge of her vision; "Eyes at the wall!" she almost screeched, waving the knife at him. He turned his head back around to face the wall again, his neck popping with a click. She slid into the breeches as fast as she could, making sure that her eye's never left his back. Tying the laces was difficult, and with the knife held between her bared teeth, he'd probably have been too shocked to look down if he had turned around.
Once she had dressed, she slipped on her leather shoes that she had worn at the Shang village, and marched the man downstairs. She got a proper look at him in the light, and was surprised to see that he was about her age. Brown spiky hair framing a gaunt face, with almost girlish wide hazel eyes. If he wasn't so thin, she thought he might have been quite handsome. Still, he did try to rob her, not to mention what he'd interrupted. She blushed as she remembered the dream; oh how she enjoyed them.
"Sit." She told him, pointing to a chair around one of the tables downstairs. He sat as she ordered, and looked down, cradling his injured arm. "Why did you try and steal from me?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I dunno. You looked well off, I guess."
"Riven! By the Goddess! Where have you been!?" the rotund innkeep, Nelly, trotted into the room. She was wearing a sleeping gown, which she was tying up in a very angry fashion. "We've been worried sick!"
"I been around, Ma." The man said, sickly. "You just ain't seen me, tha'sall."
Nelly opened her mouth to yell at her son some more, and suddenly seemed to notice Alanna standing in the corner. "Oh! What's miss Alanna doing down here, at this time o' night?"
"You're boy, I'm afraid." She said, waving the knife at him. "I got a wake up call that I wasn't expecting."
The rotund woman rounded on her son. "Stealing from my patrons, Riven?! Again! Oh, you are going t'get it this time, my boy!" she marched over to him, undoubtedly to curse at him some more, but just then a knock came from the front door. Nelly looked at the door, then back to her son quickly. Quickly whispering "Don't you even think o' going anywhere, boy!" she trotted to the door, peering through the small peep-hole. With a grunt, she opened the door, and in came a single figure.
"'Ello there, Nelly!" the man said, almost jovially. "'Ow's my favourite innkeep, then?" he pulled down his cloak, and Alanna was able to get a good look at him. Tall, lithe, and with a face like iron plates, this man was one she could imagine as a thief. He looked as quick as lightening, this one. She supposed that he knew how to use the sword at his waist, as well as the countless knives that he'd surely have on his person.
"Oh, very nice Cooper. I'm afraid you've probably picked the wors' time o' night to come in." Cooper? So this was George Cooper? "I just found out that Riven's been stealin' from t'patrons again."
The man chuckled. "Ah, but 'es a smart one, your lad. Always chooses the slow witted and hefty ones, don't 'e?"
"I wouldn't exactly consider myself slow witted and hefty, Mr. Cooper, but perhaps that's just my view." His eyes widened as he realised that she was present, firstly, then widened again as he took a look at her, and realised what she was saying. "In future, I'd suggest making the difference between them a bit clearer to young Riven, here." The man gulped.
"Ah, so you're the lass Riven chose, eh?" he added, a sparkle in his eye. "'Ow do you know that it was 'im, then?" He had yet to notice that Riven was at the table next to Alanna, though it may be because Riven was leaning face down on the table, nursing his arm. He lifted his head off the wood at that, however.
"Because she attacked me halfway through." The youth lamented, "She bloody broke me arm, George!"
"And that's the least o' your worries, Mister!" Nelly screeched. "Honestly! Stealing from miss Alanna 'ere! On 'er first night in Corus, too! Why I should set Me Lord Provost on you, me son!"
"Miss Alanna?" George said quietly, before he frowned. "You've got the eye's, but what about the 'air?"
"Dyed." She said, simply. "And I suppose you're George Cooper? The friend of Liam's?"
"Aye, that'd be me." She nodded. "And so you're his, what? Apprentice."
"Initiate," she clarified. "Well, I was."
"Aye?" he sounded impressed, "So you're a Shang now too?"
"She's a Shang?!" Riven screeched. Adding, "Oh Mithros!" under his breath before he passed out on the table.
