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Chp. 5:

Alanna woke to a start, and started laughing. Wow, I've been having strange dreams. I thought I had to go to the convent, and dance with the Prince. Glancing down, she sighed. No such luck. She was still in the beautiful lavender dress, whose skirts were now rumpled from various wrinkles all over. "Lady Alanna?" someone called, knocking on the door. "I've been sent to give you a tour of the palace."

"Oh," she said softly. She relaxed, knowing that it was only Thom, and stood up, without a glance in the mirror. Opening the door, she was shocked to find herself staring into sapphire depths.

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Prince Jonathan was getting dressed in his rooms when he over heard people talking outside his door.

".she never liked dressing up when we were little. Always hated dresses. Wanted to become a warrior maiden, and do great deeds. It was her idea for us to trade places, and I think it would have worked except someone caught us talking about it. I'm worried about her though. She seems so.different."

Jonathan opened his door to see Thom and Raoul walking by. Thom glanced at him slyly, and said with a huge grin on his face, "Hey Jonathan, we were just talking about my sister."

Jonathan flushed and said, "Yes, I heard you guys talking about her. Is all that really true? She was going to come here?"

"Yeah. I never thought she'd make it at the convent this long, being the way she is. I'm worried about her. She seems so lost now. Nothing like she used to be." There was a flash in his purple eyes as he frowned, but he pushed it aside. "I wonder what they did to her there." he muttered, more to himself than Jonathan or Raoul. "Anyway, I'm going to go give her a tour of the palace."

"Don't worry about it, I'll go," Jonathan said, the offer leaving his lips before he could even think about what he was saying. Thom glanced at him sharply, and Jonathan frowned at what he had just said. Before Thom could argue, Jonathan had hurried to Alanna's room to wake her up.

Once he got there, he knocked on the door. There was no response. "Lady Alanna?" he called, knocking again, louder. "I've been sent to give you a tour of the palace."

"Oh," he heard her say softly, as she walked toward the door. When it opened, she stared at him in shock, mirroring his look. He took in her full appearance. Her eyes were red and puffy, as if she had been crying, and her make up was smudged. Her hair was a mass of tangled curls, with little tufts sticking up here and there. Looking at her dress, he realized that it was the same one she had worn the night before, only much more rumpled. Lavender shoes were still on her feet.

"Oh! Are you okay?" he asked, shocked.

"Yeah, I-I-I'm just-" she didn't finish her sentence, but turned slowly toward her bed, and sat, hard, on the edge of it, a single tear trickling down her cheek.

Jonathan looked around. He didn't know what to do. Slowly he walked into the room, and closed the door gently. He walked over and put a comforting arm around the crying girl, sitting next to her on the bed.

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Delia was just leaving her rooms when she saw Jonathan standing at Alanna's door. When the door opened, he looked at her with huge eyes, looked around nervously, and walked in, closing the door.

Well, well, well, look what we have here, she thought to herself. Someone needs to know about this.maybe then they're get rid of that no good slut.

She smiled, and rushed off to go find Thom.

Ten minutes later, she found him, Raoul, Gary, and Alex, all headed to the indoor practice courts. "Do you know what your precious twin sister and the Prince are doing right now?" she asked them.

A puzzled frown crossed his face. "He's giving her a tour of the palace," he said, matter-of-factly.

"Oh, right." she said. "I can understand how that could start in her room with the door closed. Though it's a very small room, and they've been in there for quite some time. You'd think they'd be finished 'touring' her room by now."

Delia grinned wickedly as Thom glanced at Gary. "They did seem to like each other last night," the big knight shrugged. Thom rushed to Alanna's room, the guys hot on his heels, Delia trailing behind. This ought to be good, she mused.

I don't' care if he is the heir, Thom thought to himself, reaching the outside of Alanna's door, if he hurt her in any way, I swear by Mithros, I swear by the Goddess.

Opening the door, which was unlocked, he rushed inside with the others, glaring at the scene before him.

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Jonathan glanced up, startled. There stood Thom, Gary, Alex, and Raoul, glaring at him fiercely, with Delia smiling hugely outside in the hallway. Glancing down at the crying Alanna, he realized that she didn't even notice someone else had entered the room.

Thom took in the sight before him. Alanna sat limply, silently shaking, in the circle of Prince Jonathan's arms. She was crying, and was still in the purple dress from the night before. His eyes changed from a look of anger, to shock, to understanding. "Oh," he said softly. "I'm sorry." Turning, he ushered the others from the room, closing the door behind him softly.

He knew Alanna better than anyone else, and right then, she needed to be with someone she didn't know her, or about her, or the way she thought.

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Alanna woke up. She was laying down, still in the purple dress, and there was an arm wrapped around her waist. Jerking into a sitting position, she glanced around, she couldn't see anything. Slowly her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she realized that she was in her room, sometime in the middle of the night. She was still in the purple dress, though it was much more rumpled than it had been before. Looking down, there was still an arm on her.it was the Prince's, and he was asleep. Gently moving his arm, she got up, and tried to remember why he was in there. She slowly walked over to her wash basin, lit a candle, and washed her face off.

Taking off the purple dress, she looked through her things and selected a simple red cotton night gown. "Alanna?"

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Jonathan felt his arm move, but drifted back to sleep. Or at least, he tried to. He opened his eyes at the sound of splashing, his eyes adjusting to the flicker of candlelight. He watched Alanna silently as she walked over to her wardrobe, and unlaced her dress. What is she doing? he wondered to himself. Should I let her know I'm awake, or just pretend I don't see?

Jon blushed fiercely. Well, I guess it's a little too late to tell her I'm awake. Her dress was completely gone, and all she wore were underthings. She flipped through the clothes hanging there neatly, and selected a red cotton dress-a nightgown from what it looked like. As soon as she put it on, he asked softly, "Alanna?"

When she looked at him, he blushed.

"Jon!" she cried incredulously. "Why didn't you tell me you were awake?"

"I did! I just opened my eyes!" It's not a lie, he thought, excusing himself, I technically did just open my eyes. I blinked.

"Well, did-did you see anything?" she asked, slightly blushing.

"No, of course not," he replied.

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"No, of course not," she heard him say.

"Ok, well, I'm going back to bed," she said, to his delight, nervously. She waited for him to get out of her bed and leave. Finally, after blowing out the candle, she cursed and strode over to the side of her bed she had been sleeping on. "Don't snore, if you insist on staying," she told him, curling herself into a ball.

After a few minutes, she felt a gentle tap on her arm. "Why were you crying?" he asked, worry in his voice.

She stiffened. "Don't worry about me," she answered sharply.

About half an hour later, had she been awake, she would have felt him slide over next to her, slipping an arm around her waist. She snuggled closer to him, and slept.

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Wow, ok, done with that chapter.I'm kinda stuck though.any ideas would be great! Please r/r! I need to know if I should even finish this.I think I might stop.

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Pigasus: Thanks! Don't worry, she's not going to go for George, I don't think. I still don't know how I'm going to fit him into it!

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