Author's Note: thank you to everyone who has reviewed! I only noticed it
now, but I have over one hundred reviews! I'm so happy!!! Thank you,
everyone, so very, very much! so Thom's stuck in the hospital tent, is he?
Poor guy…I really do feel sorry for him, out of the heat of battle like
this and everything…*smirks* I know it must be killing him to not be able
to slice people in half…but oh well! I will refrain from detaining you any
longer. (Is confusing self with last sentence) Continue on…
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"Oh my God! Thom, what happened to you? I thought I told you to be careful! I ought to kill you myself!" screamed Alanna. Thom smiled weakly up at her,
"Hey, I'll be fine. Just fix this blasted thing so I can get some sleep. I've been up all night waiting for something to kill the pain, after all. And I promised I wouldn't get myself killed-I never said anything about being careful."
She smiled. Her brother still had his sense of humor-he couldn't be hurt too badly, then. "So what happened?" asked Alanna as she began to clean the wound on his right arm.
"You were right, they were crossing the river by boat. Our sentries kept a close eye on things after we warned them and they sounded the alarm. Our soldiers were ready for the call, though, so we caught them before they made it too close to camp. One sentry was killed, and two more were wounded along with all those poor saps that ended up in here." He smiled, "We won, though."
"I meant what happened to you? I was under the impression that you were using your Gift as a shield. How'd you get slashed like this?" she pulled out a clean needle and some thread and Thom grimaced at the sight of it- he'd never liked needles.
"That's the strange part. I think Dusty threw me, got spooked or something, because all I remember was landing on the ground and losing my concentration. Before I know it some bone-headed moron thinks he's going to be the one to kill the prince and forgets all about me. We fought, he died in a ball of purple smoke, and I got this." He gestured to his arm, "Poor Dusty got a slash too, but he's being taken care of right now. Do you really have to do that? You know how much I hate needles."
"Don't be silly-you won't be awake when I sew it up anyway-and yes, I have to. It's too deep to just use bandages alone."
"Oh, fine. You're the healer. As long as you're sure it won't interfere with my dreams."
"Whatever. Now go to sleep so I can do what I have to." She reached out and touched Thom's head with her hand, sending her Gift through him to help him sleep. Then she proceeded to stitch the wound and apply medicine before wrapping the arm in bandages. She was exhausted by the time she was finished-she'd used too much of her gift for one day. She stood up, ears roaring, and fell backwards. Someone caught her.
"What are you still doing here, Lady Alanna? I thought I sent you away hours ago." It was Baird. "You don't have the training to go on THIS long."
"But…and then my brother…" she protested.
"Go to bed. We all need our strength. There's sure to be more fighting today, but you need the time off. Your Gift is too low right now to be of much use, anyway."
"But-" he pushed her out of the tent before she could get the rest of her complaint out. She trudged wearily towards Moon. She would have to ride back to her tent and she was nowhere near up to it. She tripped over a rock and landed on her hands and knees. She groaned. Not only am I tired, she thought, but I'm in no condition to ride, and now I've got skinned knees! Damn it all!
She pushed herself up from the ground and leaned against Moon for support- she was dizzy. Goddess, I'm tired! "Common, girl. I think we should go." She managed to saddle Moon, but she couldn't get herself into the saddle. She just didn't have the strength left.
Someone put a hand on her shoulder and she whirled around, only succeeding in making herself lightheaded and dizzy again. Jonathan caught her and held her steady.
"Oh, 'low Jon." She yawned. Moon lipped at her sleeve.
"I was just visiting Thom. Geez, how long have you been in there? You shouldn't be riding," said Jon, steering her towards Darkness and leading Moon by the reins.
"Um…the wounded were brought into the healers' tent earlier this evening…Baird sent for me."
"You mean to tell me that you've been in the healers' tent all night? Must you always be pushing limits? First with the hair and the clothes, well I didn't mind those-none of your friends do-but now don't go using up all of your Gift. It's just not common sense-you'll kill yourself that way. Mithros, you're dead on your feet!"
"Am…*Alanna stifles a yawn*…not."
"Stop being stubborn. You need to sleep."
"But-"
"No buts. I'm taking you back to camp and you are going to sleep." With that, he swung her up onto Darkness' back and settled himself behind her, keeping her in the saddle by putting an arm around her waist. She protested,
"I can ride by myself, ya know."
"Yeah, maybe if you weren't so drained, but you're too tired to do that right now. You don't have a choice."
She sighed, "I hate it when you're right," and leaned back against him.
"I love it when I am."
"Prick," she muttered lazily. Realizing she'd said that out loud, she crossed her fingers in hope Jon hadn't heard, but she could hear him chuckling behind her and knew he had. He didn't seem to mind, so she relaxed again. The last thing she wanted to do was upset one of the few friends she had in this nuthouse. No, not nuthouse, she thought-circus. They were definitely running a circus.
Alanna dozed on the way back, and Darkness ignored the extra weight. When they'd come at last to their circle of tents, Jonathan dismounted, plucked Alanna from the horse's back and carried her off to her own tent. Pushing back the tent flap, he entered the tent, being careful not to step on Faithful as he rubbed on his legs. He removed her boots and tucked her into bed. She was asleep the second her head touched the pillow. He watched her a moment, and then surprised himself by kissing her gently on the forehead. He held his breath, but she didn't stir. Faithful leaped onto the bed to settled himself near her face. She snuggled close to the cat, falling into a deeper sleep. Jon scratched Faithful's ears for a minute, then left the tent to tend to their horses.
The next day, Thom was out of the 'hospital' and trying to do his usual chores. Well, he was trying. Alanna did most of his things for him when she could, since his arm was causing him so much pain. That worried Alanna. He shouldn't be in this much pain, she thought, not after I fixed his wound. Maybe all he needs now is some time off. He really looks like he needs a break.
"Thom, are you all right?"
"Sure, why?"
"Your arm. You need some time off, Thom. You're trying to do too much. You don't really think you can go into battle like that, do you?"
"Of course not, but we need everyone we can get." He growled as his sister 'hmphed' at him. "I can still use my Gift! Someone has to protect the prince, and it has to be me." he retorted.
"Or-!" Alanna suddenly got a very wild and crazy idea. Like the one that had popped into her head the day she was supposed to leave Trebond and go to the City of the Gods. I could take Thom's place in the next battle! She got that excited look in her eye and Thom's own purple ones opened wide in surprise. He knew that look all too well.
"Oh, no you don't! Remember what happened the last time? Father nearly beheaded us both on the spot for trying it!"
"But-"
"No! I am NOT going to let you go out there and get yourself killed! And if anyone finds out…"
"Then no one will find out." She replied stubbornly. "Thom, we look too much alike for anyone to figure out what's going on. If I don't take off the helmet, then no one will know!"
"But, you don't have a horse! Dusty's injured!" he protested, looking for any excuse he could find.
Alanna frowned at him, "You ignorant little imp! Haven't you ever wondered why I spent so much on Moon? She's a trained warhorse, Thom!"
Thom was dumbfounded. "You didn't."
"I did. I knew something like this would happen eventually."
"You've been planning this the whole time! The whole time you've been here, you were just trying to find and excuse to go out there and fight! That's it! There's no way I'm letting you go out there! You don't know how hard it is out in the thick of the fighting, you don't have the training to fight the enemy's knights! You-"
"-will be fine. I'm a natural with a sword, AND I've been training with Jonathan, or haven't you cared to notice that we disappear every afternoon? And he's been teaching me tactics, dolt! If I can handle myself against Jon, I can handle myself against those Tusaine bastards. He IS the crown prince after all, he HAS had the best training available in the kingdom."
"But-"
"But nothing. Now come on. I want to make sure your equipment fits."
"I'm not pretending to be you! There's no way I'll dress like a girl, what with all the men in camp falling for y-" he stopped. Alanna whirled around, shocked.
"What was that?" she asked incredulously.
"Nothing." He pressed his lips together in a firm line. He wasn't happy and he wanted her to know. "If you really want to go out there and kill yourself, go right ahead. See if I care that my twin gets killed."
"Relax Thom. The old switcheroo won't fail this time. Trust me-no one will find out. And when we get back, we'll switch places again, and no one will be the wiser. I'll have had my little battle, and you will have had extra time to heal and read that sorcery book I brought for you." she tried her most persuasive tone of voice on him, and was truly amazed at how well it seemed to work.
"All right all ready! But this had better not turn out the way it did the last time. His Majesty was lenient, letting you come here in the first place, but I doubt he'll be so lenient if he finds out you impersonated a soldier." Alanna shook her head. Thom had always been the more cautious of the two, but she was the one with the real power. When she was really set for or against something, people had no choice but to listen. It was like this with Thom now. He bowed his head in grudging submission, and sulked to his tent, Alanna following happily.
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Arg…this chappie didn't come off quite the way I wanted it to, but it'll have to do for now. I hope that once I finish the story-which won't be for a while now, I can assure you-I can rewrite it and repost. This is all assuming, of course, that I even HAVE the time to spare for it later on. I don't think this story will be finished this summer, but I am doing my very best, I promise. I want to thank you all, again, my wonderfully faithful readers, for bearing with this story and it's author…who is at the moment feeling very brain-dead. Any and all suggestions you could offer for the future course of this story would be great, seeing as I made the mistake of posting before I had the story completed. Arg again…I need some caffeine pills. I feel much too calm just now. I do my best work when I'm hyper and awake…*goes in search of the little white bottle* ~Linz~
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"Oh my God! Thom, what happened to you? I thought I told you to be careful! I ought to kill you myself!" screamed Alanna. Thom smiled weakly up at her,
"Hey, I'll be fine. Just fix this blasted thing so I can get some sleep. I've been up all night waiting for something to kill the pain, after all. And I promised I wouldn't get myself killed-I never said anything about being careful."
She smiled. Her brother still had his sense of humor-he couldn't be hurt too badly, then. "So what happened?" asked Alanna as she began to clean the wound on his right arm.
"You were right, they were crossing the river by boat. Our sentries kept a close eye on things after we warned them and they sounded the alarm. Our soldiers were ready for the call, though, so we caught them before they made it too close to camp. One sentry was killed, and two more were wounded along with all those poor saps that ended up in here." He smiled, "We won, though."
"I meant what happened to you? I was under the impression that you were using your Gift as a shield. How'd you get slashed like this?" she pulled out a clean needle and some thread and Thom grimaced at the sight of it- he'd never liked needles.
"That's the strange part. I think Dusty threw me, got spooked or something, because all I remember was landing on the ground and losing my concentration. Before I know it some bone-headed moron thinks he's going to be the one to kill the prince and forgets all about me. We fought, he died in a ball of purple smoke, and I got this." He gestured to his arm, "Poor Dusty got a slash too, but he's being taken care of right now. Do you really have to do that? You know how much I hate needles."
"Don't be silly-you won't be awake when I sew it up anyway-and yes, I have to. It's too deep to just use bandages alone."
"Oh, fine. You're the healer. As long as you're sure it won't interfere with my dreams."
"Whatever. Now go to sleep so I can do what I have to." She reached out and touched Thom's head with her hand, sending her Gift through him to help him sleep. Then she proceeded to stitch the wound and apply medicine before wrapping the arm in bandages. She was exhausted by the time she was finished-she'd used too much of her gift for one day. She stood up, ears roaring, and fell backwards. Someone caught her.
"What are you still doing here, Lady Alanna? I thought I sent you away hours ago." It was Baird. "You don't have the training to go on THIS long."
"But…and then my brother…" she protested.
"Go to bed. We all need our strength. There's sure to be more fighting today, but you need the time off. Your Gift is too low right now to be of much use, anyway."
"But-" he pushed her out of the tent before she could get the rest of her complaint out. She trudged wearily towards Moon. She would have to ride back to her tent and she was nowhere near up to it. She tripped over a rock and landed on her hands and knees. She groaned. Not only am I tired, she thought, but I'm in no condition to ride, and now I've got skinned knees! Damn it all!
She pushed herself up from the ground and leaned against Moon for support- she was dizzy. Goddess, I'm tired! "Common, girl. I think we should go." She managed to saddle Moon, but she couldn't get herself into the saddle. She just didn't have the strength left.
Someone put a hand on her shoulder and she whirled around, only succeeding in making herself lightheaded and dizzy again. Jonathan caught her and held her steady.
"Oh, 'low Jon." She yawned. Moon lipped at her sleeve.
"I was just visiting Thom. Geez, how long have you been in there? You shouldn't be riding," said Jon, steering her towards Darkness and leading Moon by the reins.
"Um…the wounded were brought into the healers' tent earlier this evening…Baird sent for me."
"You mean to tell me that you've been in the healers' tent all night? Must you always be pushing limits? First with the hair and the clothes, well I didn't mind those-none of your friends do-but now don't go using up all of your Gift. It's just not common sense-you'll kill yourself that way. Mithros, you're dead on your feet!"
"Am…*Alanna stifles a yawn*…not."
"Stop being stubborn. You need to sleep."
"But-"
"No buts. I'm taking you back to camp and you are going to sleep." With that, he swung her up onto Darkness' back and settled himself behind her, keeping her in the saddle by putting an arm around her waist. She protested,
"I can ride by myself, ya know."
"Yeah, maybe if you weren't so drained, but you're too tired to do that right now. You don't have a choice."
She sighed, "I hate it when you're right," and leaned back against him.
"I love it when I am."
"Prick," she muttered lazily. Realizing she'd said that out loud, she crossed her fingers in hope Jon hadn't heard, but she could hear him chuckling behind her and knew he had. He didn't seem to mind, so she relaxed again. The last thing she wanted to do was upset one of the few friends she had in this nuthouse. No, not nuthouse, she thought-circus. They were definitely running a circus.
Alanna dozed on the way back, and Darkness ignored the extra weight. When they'd come at last to their circle of tents, Jonathan dismounted, plucked Alanna from the horse's back and carried her off to her own tent. Pushing back the tent flap, he entered the tent, being careful not to step on Faithful as he rubbed on his legs. He removed her boots and tucked her into bed. She was asleep the second her head touched the pillow. He watched her a moment, and then surprised himself by kissing her gently on the forehead. He held his breath, but she didn't stir. Faithful leaped onto the bed to settled himself near her face. She snuggled close to the cat, falling into a deeper sleep. Jon scratched Faithful's ears for a minute, then left the tent to tend to their horses.
The next day, Thom was out of the 'hospital' and trying to do his usual chores. Well, he was trying. Alanna did most of his things for him when she could, since his arm was causing him so much pain. That worried Alanna. He shouldn't be in this much pain, she thought, not after I fixed his wound. Maybe all he needs now is some time off. He really looks like he needs a break.
"Thom, are you all right?"
"Sure, why?"
"Your arm. You need some time off, Thom. You're trying to do too much. You don't really think you can go into battle like that, do you?"
"Of course not, but we need everyone we can get." He growled as his sister 'hmphed' at him. "I can still use my Gift! Someone has to protect the prince, and it has to be me." he retorted.
"Or-!" Alanna suddenly got a very wild and crazy idea. Like the one that had popped into her head the day she was supposed to leave Trebond and go to the City of the Gods. I could take Thom's place in the next battle! She got that excited look in her eye and Thom's own purple ones opened wide in surprise. He knew that look all too well.
"Oh, no you don't! Remember what happened the last time? Father nearly beheaded us both on the spot for trying it!"
"But-"
"No! I am NOT going to let you go out there and get yourself killed! And if anyone finds out…"
"Then no one will find out." She replied stubbornly. "Thom, we look too much alike for anyone to figure out what's going on. If I don't take off the helmet, then no one will know!"
"But, you don't have a horse! Dusty's injured!" he protested, looking for any excuse he could find.
Alanna frowned at him, "You ignorant little imp! Haven't you ever wondered why I spent so much on Moon? She's a trained warhorse, Thom!"
Thom was dumbfounded. "You didn't."
"I did. I knew something like this would happen eventually."
"You've been planning this the whole time! The whole time you've been here, you were just trying to find and excuse to go out there and fight! That's it! There's no way I'm letting you go out there! You don't know how hard it is out in the thick of the fighting, you don't have the training to fight the enemy's knights! You-"
"-will be fine. I'm a natural with a sword, AND I've been training with Jonathan, or haven't you cared to notice that we disappear every afternoon? And he's been teaching me tactics, dolt! If I can handle myself against Jon, I can handle myself against those Tusaine bastards. He IS the crown prince after all, he HAS had the best training available in the kingdom."
"But-"
"But nothing. Now come on. I want to make sure your equipment fits."
"I'm not pretending to be you! There's no way I'll dress like a girl, what with all the men in camp falling for y-" he stopped. Alanna whirled around, shocked.
"What was that?" she asked incredulously.
"Nothing." He pressed his lips together in a firm line. He wasn't happy and he wanted her to know. "If you really want to go out there and kill yourself, go right ahead. See if I care that my twin gets killed."
"Relax Thom. The old switcheroo won't fail this time. Trust me-no one will find out. And when we get back, we'll switch places again, and no one will be the wiser. I'll have had my little battle, and you will have had extra time to heal and read that sorcery book I brought for you." she tried her most persuasive tone of voice on him, and was truly amazed at how well it seemed to work.
"All right all ready! But this had better not turn out the way it did the last time. His Majesty was lenient, letting you come here in the first place, but I doubt he'll be so lenient if he finds out you impersonated a soldier." Alanna shook her head. Thom had always been the more cautious of the two, but she was the one with the real power. When she was really set for or against something, people had no choice but to listen. It was like this with Thom now. He bowed his head in grudging submission, and sulked to his tent, Alanna following happily.
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Arg…this chappie didn't come off quite the way I wanted it to, but it'll have to do for now. I hope that once I finish the story-which won't be for a while now, I can assure you-I can rewrite it and repost. This is all assuming, of course, that I even HAVE the time to spare for it later on. I don't think this story will be finished this summer, but I am doing my very best, I promise. I want to thank you all, again, my wonderfully faithful readers, for bearing with this story and it's author…who is at the moment feeling very brain-dead. Any and all suggestions you could offer for the future course of this story would be great, seeing as I made the mistake of posting before I had the story completed. Arg again…I need some caffeine pills. I feel much too calm just now. I do my best work when I'm hyper and awake…*goes in search of the little white bottle* ~Linz~