***
Alanna trembled with nervous energy as she slipped into the plain clothes she had always worn to the city in her visits as the rich young "Alan" to the Dancing Dove, where George and his rogues held court. Dressed, she pulled on the softest-soled pair of shoes she owned and cast a look at her cat, Faithful, a black shadow somehow standing out in the blackness of the room.
"You promise to keep him asleep?" she whispered, glancing pointedly at Jonathan, who was lying on their bed.
You doubt me? Faithful demanded mockingly. Just get out before I change my mind about this foolishness you're always getting me into.
Alanna scowled at the cat, but slipped out the door without a backward glance, knowing her pet wouldn't let her down. Alanna would have cast a sleeping spell over her husband herself, but she feared Jonathan's magic might be greater than her own—yet Faithful possessed some unnaturalness, and Alanna had no doubt that he had magic that far surpassed anything she or Jon might have.
Few were up at this hour of the night, and as Alanna had spent eight years living in the palace, not counting her short time as queen, she knew every dark, unoccupied corridor to travel in order to get her to the stables unnoticed. Once safely there she let out an audible sigh of relief, and was halfway done tacking Moonlight up when she stopped and bit back an angry cry, cursing her foolishness. Certainly the guards would let her out—what choice had they?—but Jonathan would then get word of her nighttime escapade; she wouldn't have bothered to ask Faithful to put a sleeping spell on him if she didn't care if he knew.
Still, she wasn't going to be held up by that. Swiftly removing Moonlight's saddle and bridle, Alanna whispered a quiet apology to her horse for disturbing her, then exited the stable and slipped out the palace gate unnoticed, a small figure casting a long shadow in the night as she set out for Corus at a jog.
By the time she arrived it was late enough for George to be abed, so she didn't even bother with going through the front door of the Dancing Dove. Instead, she climbed the outside wall to George's room, halting just below his window as she recalled a time in her first year as a page when she had attempted just such an entrance and had been taken by George to be a backstabbing thief.
Shaking her head, Alanna finished the climb and pulled herself inside as silently as she could, offering a silent prayer to the Goddess that such an experience would not be repeated tonight. As she landed in the room she found herself confronted with a tall young man, and immediately called upon her Gift to flare up in a contained ball of fire she held in her hand, bathing the room and her face in purple light.
George was wearing the oddest expression that somehow made Alanna's heart ache with pain, but suddenly he was the smiling, laughing George she was used to. Blinking, Alanna wondered if she'd really seen the previous expression; it had disappeared so quickly.
"How'd you know it was me?" she demanded of the tall thief, wondering why he hadn't attacked her in the moment before her Gift revealed who she was.
He smiled wryly. "I have th' Sight, remember?" After a slight pause he added, "It alerted me t' you in time for me t' get clothed—wouldn't be fit and proper for th' Queen of Tortall t' see th' King of Thieves naked, would it?" His voice seemed to have taken on a touch of a sarcastically bitter tone, but Alanna chose to ignore it as she felt her cheeks flaming up.
"Fine, I'll leave!" she snapped, stomping to the door,
A strong hand on her shoulder stopped her, and she spun to look up into hazel eyes, her heart speeding up at his touch. Nervously she pushed it away, thinking to herself, Stop it! I'm a married woman now, and married to Jonathan. It's not like I'm a squire anymore, and one who can take my pick between two men!
"Calm down, Queen Alanna. I said it weren't proper for you t' see a naked King of Thieves, but I do believe I'm fully clothed."
Fighting an unreasonable urge to cry, Alanna looked down, unable to meet his eyes as she nodded and forced out a laugh Pressing her into a chair, George seated himself next to her and looked her over carefully, something like pain entering his eyes as he said in a strained but cheerful voice,
"So what brings royalty t' Th' Dancing Dove at this hour of th' night?"
Swallowing hard, Alanna said curtly, "Oh stop it, George. I'm still me, just in a cursed disguise as a queen."
George looked surprised as he asked, "And what's t' mean by that?"
Alanna shrugged, but suddenly found the words she could never tell to Jonathan tumbling out of her mouth.
"I hate being queen!" There, it was out. "I spent eight years as a boy getting beat up and broken and bruised so that I wouldn't have to be a lady! And now look at me. I spend all my time in court, and even though everyone insists that I'll be able to do my own knights' work, I don't see when that will ever happen!"
She paused, watching George, but the thief was silent, so she continued.
"And of course I can't tell Jon any of this, because I suppose he's giving up having adventures as much as I am—only he's been prepared to do that since he was born, and he had all those years to get used to the idea and accept it! But me… I never had plans to get married at all, much less become queen! And I hate it! I—"
She was cut off by George's voice, completely unreadable. "Alanna."
She looked into his eyes, and was startled to catch a fine glimmer of hope slipping into the hazel depths.
"Alanna. D' you love Jonathan?"
She was so startled by the question that she didn't know what to say. Her first reaction was "Of course I do", but the words were barely on the tip of her tongue before she swallowed them, stopped by the impossible thought, Do I really love Jon? She had loved him, certainly—she would never have become queen if it were not to gain the man she loved. Yet—she had grown to hate her life so much, was her resentment of Jon for dragging her into it enough to dissolve her love for him? She closed her eyes to think, and suddenly found herself wrapped in warm arms as warm lips descended on her own.
She didn't struggle, for the kiss seemed so natural, and she welcomed it. Suddenly George broke away, alarm clouding his face. With a gasp, Alanna realized what had just happened and began to tremble, tears forming behind her eyes.
"George," she whispered hoarsely. "We… we can't…"
"I know." George's face was set, made grim by pain. "You're th' queen, an' I'm just a thief. But I still love you, Alanna."
***
You didn't really think I'd let her stay with Jonathan, did you? Hehe. And for everyone who's confused about the other characters (Thayet, Buri, Thom, Liam, etc.) I promise I'll get to that in the next chapter… I meant to here but I couldn't resist writing what I did instead… so, R&R!!!
