Authors Note: This is the story of Alanna of Trebond told in the point of
view of Prince Jonathan of Conte. I don't believe it's a very used idea...
but whatever! I'm going to try it out! R/R!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or plot created by Tamora
Pierce - some of the dialogue used in the story below is in her actual
books. I do not own it at all... I am just trying to create the story in
the point of view of another.
Two
~
Lessons
Jon awoke at dawn the next morning, thoroughly disgruntled by the loud and annoying ringing of the morning bell. Rolling out of bed, he threw on breeches and a tunic, stopping by the sink to splash his face with cold water, a useless attempt to wake himself up. If there was one thing Jon hated about learning to be the knight, it was the hours they had. Waking up at dawn and working sometimes to midnight, it was a ruthless journey from page to knight - and often not an enjoyable one.
Stumbling out of his chambers, Jon met up with his friends in the dining hall. The only person who seemed to be awake was Gary - and it was near disgusting how cheerful he could be at such an early hour. Shaking his head, Jon served himself some breakfast, he had learned in his first year to eat as much as possible for you needed all the energy you could get in your afternoon lessons.
Glancing around, Jon spotted Alan and smiled. "Hello there Fire- Hair," He said, with a warm - but slightly sloppy smile. "How did you enjoy your first day yesterday?"
Alan's wide purple eyes shot up to meet those of the Prince, he appeared nervous, almost high strung, "They were fine, your Highness." He mumbled, pushing a piece of toast around his plate, "Almost overwhelming," Jon grinned, he had lived there all his life and he still knew what Alan meant.
"You'd best eat as much as you can," Jon suggested, the younglings nervous manner still curious to him, "You'll need a lot of energy for this afternoon and-" Jon was about to finish his sentence when the first bell rang. "Well, that's the first class bell of my third year," He said with a sigh as he got up, Raoul right behind him. "Looks like it's time to get to Reading and Writing," Jon concluded, rolling his eyes as he took several long strides ahead of Gary and Alan - motioning for Raoul to do the same.
Once the two tall friends were far from others hearing range Jon spoke, "You remember how I ordered Ralon to come to my rooms after the fight yesterday?" He asked his quiet friend as they walked.
"'Course Jon," He said with a wide grin, "Wish I could have been there in your rooms - could have taught him my own lessons." He smirked; beating on Ralon was one of Raoul's hobbies... But it was something he rarely got to do.
"Don't hold your breath Raoul, you might still get to teach that lesson," The Prince spoke dryly as he shook his head. "He never came."
"You're kidding me! The prat! I had thought he had sense enough to listen to his own Prince." Raoul shook his head in disbelief; in his mind Ralon had just proven that little Alan was right about his manners.
"Not kidding at all. But I wanted to make sure he would come tonight and Raoul?" He asked, looking at his friend seriously for a moment, "I was wondering if you could perhaps pound that idea into his head this time? Just so he won't forget...?" Jon grinned as Raoul's expression changed from angry to positively excited.
"'Course Jon! What are friends for?" He asked, a wide smile spreading across his face as the two of them stepped into the classroom for their first lesson of the year.
~
It was a long and annoying first half of the day. Jon had forgotten how much he had grown to loathe that bell. It kept him in line, ushered him from class to class, making sure he was never late... Quite frankly, he couldn't wait to get to the practice courts to blow off some steam - and to see how Raoul handled Ralon.
Walking along the corridor, Jon spotted Alan, Gary, and Alex. Smiling, he jogged a bit to catch up to them, "Hey! How's first day going? Mithros knows I can't wait for it to be over..." He said, with a grin, clapping Gary on the shoulder.
Shaking his head, Gary smiled, "I like it well enough," He nodded, "But I can't speak for Alex or Alan here - they don't seem to be enjoying it as much as I do." Gary grinned and patted a rather weary looking Alan on the shoulder.
"It's awful, Highness," said Alan, shaking his head, "That bell... I swear to the Goddess, I could kill it." He muttered, obviously bogged down with a lot of work from the day.
Chuckling, Jon ruffled the small boy's hair, a grin curling at his lips, "If you ever need any help, youngling, don't be afraid to ask." He said with a smile as he glanced around, trying to find Raoul. "Say, have any of you seen Raoul? I haven't seen him since the last lesson before lunch..."
At this, Alex smiled, "Last time I saw him he was muttering something about preparing a lesson for Ralon.... I suppose we'll be seeing him at the practice courts."
Jon laughed, "I sure hope so, he didn't show up last night to discuss his and Alan's little squabble as I had asked... Decided to give Raoul the honors of telling him he better come tonight."
At this comment, Alan looked up at the Prince, his eyebrows furrowed, "Do you supposed I'll get anymore trouble from him, Highness?" He asked, sounded more serious then worried.
When the question hit his ears, Jon sighed; he was an honest person and most certainly didn't want to lie... But he didn't know whether this was one of those situations when it was better to lie then to tell the truth. "Honestly, I don't know. But I would suspect that you haven't seen it all..." Gary and Alex nodded in agreement with him and Alan just looked at the ground, a rather determined expression on his face.
The four of them walked in silence for a little bit, all thinking their own thoughts, all planning their own ways to rush Ralon... Shaking his head when the practice courts came into view, Jon turned to Alan, "I'm afraid this is where we leave you Alan, you have staff work and we have swords." He said, with a shrug and a small smile. "See you in riding."
~
Jonathan of Conte stood face to face with Alexander of Tirragen, his practice sword pointed upwards in a guard position. Alex was the best fencer of all of the pages and for some unfortunate reason Duke Gareth had decided to pair Jon with him. A slight scowl forming on his face, Jon stood at attention, watching Alex for a first move, hoping he may come out of this duel without injury. The pair circled each other; eyes locked on one another's, the metal of practice swords glinting in the light. Then suddenly, Alex lunged in towards Jon, causing him to stumble back with a weak block. Alex began to circle once more; he was perfect at it... There was no hint to Jon of which way he would move or when... Alex's sword play was become flawless... There was no way to beat him.
Grimacing, Jon lunged forward, his sword trying for an unblocked area by Alex's chest. But instead, Jon's sword met Alex's own and they were brought chest to chest, both boys sizing each other up, enemies for the instant at hand. Alex broke away from Jon, his strength and size unable to compete with his opponent's. Rolling away and dodging several sloppy stabs of Jon's sword, a slight smirk began to form on his face and there is was, his window of opportunity.
With a triumphant yell Alex leapt forward, the blade of his sword meeting the hilt of the other and all too soon Jon's sword flew from his grip, he backed away, stumbling down onto the mat as Alex stood triumphantly over him, his sword pointed at his throat in the 'kill' position. Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, Alex backed away and fingered the edge of his sword, clearly pleased with his victory. Jon struggled to his feet as he heard other duels going on behind him.
"Nice job there Alex." Jon said, with a grin as they shook hands, "You're going to have to give me lessons some time, I can't believe the way you move like that!"
Alex smiled, "Thanks," He said, simply, not extending the lesson idea any further. It was obvious he enjoyed being best swordsman around.
Jon glanced around to find Uncle Gareth and found him amongst the first year pages, teaching them staff work and such. He chuckled to see Alan struggling, poor boy, must be hard... Shaking his head, Jon looked to the others of his level, to see who was doing what and spotted Raoul and Ralon in a heavy duel... Exchanging glances with Alex, the two approached to watch.
"You'd better learn to respect Prince Jon, Ralon," Raoul spat, lunging forward with great speed for his large size, scraping his sword against his enemies, "Be at his rooms before lights out, don't chicken out this time or you'll hear from me - and if won't be in the practice courts.
Ralon stumbled backwards, trying to keep his balance against the raging Raoul as he lunged forward as well, swords meeting each other once again. "You'd better learn to respect me, Raoul of Goldenlake," Ralon sneered back as they were brought sword to sword.
Raoul broke away swiftly, stabbing forward but missing as Ralon dodged him, "Is that meant to be a threat?" He asked, his tone calm and soft as they began to circle once more, sweat forming on his upper lip.
"Now you've got it," Raoul's opponent hissed, circling as well, taking a quick moment to wipe a piece of hair from his eyes, "Some day you and your friends will be sorry about how you've treated me, you'll see." Ralon lunged forward with a slight yelp as he realized he had made a mistake - Raoul had been more than ready for this attack, in fact almost immediately after it he lunged forward with an attack of his own, knocking Ralon off his balance and into the ground below them.
"Be there Ralon," Raoul murmured, holding his sword against his throat, "Be there or be sorry."
~
Needless to say, twenty minutes before lights out, there was a soft knock at Jon's door and with a wide grin, Jon opened it to a rather disheveled and sullen looking Ralon. His blue eyes triumphant and cold, Jon invited his enemy into his chambers, they had a talk to be had.
"I missed you last night, Page Ralon," Jon spoke inviting him to sit on a stool across from him, "I don't believe you came as I had asked."
"No, your Highness," Ralon muttered, "I forgot," He hissed, a obvious lie as his eyes fluttered upwards to meet the Princes, a mocking expression on his face.
"Well you best not do it again," the Prince snapped, obviously offended by the older page's tone, "Unless, of course, you would like to meet Raoul and I in a place that is unsupervised by others." Jon smirked at this thought, perhaps he would invite Gary, Francis, and Alex on such an occasion if necessary...
"Of course not, your Highness." Ralon spoke, a small sneer forming on his face, he was trying to keep his temper... Trying to annoy Jon with his attitude... And it was working.
Biting back the urge to slap Ralon, Jon stood from his seat, "I don't like your tone Ralon-"
"I know, Highness," Ralon interrupted, rising to his feet as well, an aggravating smirk glued to his face.
Jon glared at him, and kicked his chair aside, circling his long time enemy as if he was about to strike. "Be careful what you say boy, learn some respect," Jon ordered, his hand trailing to the knife that sat at his belt. Then, realizing what he was doing, Jon backed away, obviously disgusted with himself. "You're dismissed, Ralon." He spat, "Get out of here before I give you what you deserve. But you're obviously hopeless; you'll never learn any true manners." Jon turned away from the boy, ready to prepare for bed as he heard the door slam behind him. Letting out a small sigh of relief, Jon furrowed his eyebrows and climbed into bed. Ralon had many lessons to be learned... And Jon, for one, had no idea how to teach them...
Authors Note: Thank you so much for reviewing! I will add the third chapter ASAP! I didn't know this fic would be so popular... It's not that great... is it? Oh well! Thanks again!!!
Two
~
Lessons
Jon awoke at dawn the next morning, thoroughly disgruntled by the loud and annoying ringing of the morning bell. Rolling out of bed, he threw on breeches and a tunic, stopping by the sink to splash his face with cold water, a useless attempt to wake himself up. If there was one thing Jon hated about learning to be the knight, it was the hours they had. Waking up at dawn and working sometimes to midnight, it was a ruthless journey from page to knight - and often not an enjoyable one.
Stumbling out of his chambers, Jon met up with his friends in the dining hall. The only person who seemed to be awake was Gary - and it was near disgusting how cheerful he could be at such an early hour. Shaking his head, Jon served himself some breakfast, he had learned in his first year to eat as much as possible for you needed all the energy you could get in your afternoon lessons.
Glancing around, Jon spotted Alan and smiled. "Hello there Fire- Hair," He said, with a warm - but slightly sloppy smile. "How did you enjoy your first day yesterday?"
Alan's wide purple eyes shot up to meet those of the Prince, he appeared nervous, almost high strung, "They were fine, your Highness." He mumbled, pushing a piece of toast around his plate, "Almost overwhelming," Jon grinned, he had lived there all his life and he still knew what Alan meant.
"You'd best eat as much as you can," Jon suggested, the younglings nervous manner still curious to him, "You'll need a lot of energy for this afternoon and-" Jon was about to finish his sentence when the first bell rang. "Well, that's the first class bell of my third year," He said with a sigh as he got up, Raoul right behind him. "Looks like it's time to get to Reading and Writing," Jon concluded, rolling his eyes as he took several long strides ahead of Gary and Alan - motioning for Raoul to do the same.
Once the two tall friends were far from others hearing range Jon spoke, "You remember how I ordered Ralon to come to my rooms after the fight yesterday?" He asked his quiet friend as they walked.
"'Course Jon," He said with a wide grin, "Wish I could have been there in your rooms - could have taught him my own lessons." He smirked; beating on Ralon was one of Raoul's hobbies... But it was something he rarely got to do.
"Don't hold your breath Raoul, you might still get to teach that lesson," The Prince spoke dryly as he shook his head. "He never came."
"You're kidding me! The prat! I had thought he had sense enough to listen to his own Prince." Raoul shook his head in disbelief; in his mind Ralon had just proven that little Alan was right about his manners.
"Not kidding at all. But I wanted to make sure he would come tonight and Raoul?" He asked, looking at his friend seriously for a moment, "I was wondering if you could perhaps pound that idea into his head this time? Just so he won't forget...?" Jon grinned as Raoul's expression changed from angry to positively excited.
"'Course Jon! What are friends for?" He asked, a wide smile spreading across his face as the two of them stepped into the classroom for their first lesson of the year.
~
It was a long and annoying first half of the day. Jon had forgotten how much he had grown to loathe that bell. It kept him in line, ushered him from class to class, making sure he was never late... Quite frankly, he couldn't wait to get to the practice courts to blow off some steam - and to see how Raoul handled Ralon.
Walking along the corridor, Jon spotted Alan, Gary, and Alex. Smiling, he jogged a bit to catch up to them, "Hey! How's first day going? Mithros knows I can't wait for it to be over..." He said, with a grin, clapping Gary on the shoulder.
Shaking his head, Gary smiled, "I like it well enough," He nodded, "But I can't speak for Alex or Alan here - they don't seem to be enjoying it as much as I do." Gary grinned and patted a rather weary looking Alan on the shoulder.
"It's awful, Highness," said Alan, shaking his head, "That bell... I swear to the Goddess, I could kill it." He muttered, obviously bogged down with a lot of work from the day.
Chuckling, Jon ruffled the small boy's hair, a grin curling at his lips, "If you ever need any help, youngling, don't be afraid to ask." He said with a smile as he glanced around, trying to find Raoul. "Say, have any of you seen Raoul? I haven't seen him since the last lesson before lunch..."
At this, Alex smiled, "Last time I saw him he was muttering something about preparing a lesson for Ralon.... I suppose we'll be seeing him at the practice courts."
Jon laughed, "I sure hope so, he didn't show up last night to discuss his and Alan's little squabble as I had asked... Decided to give Raoul the honors of telling him he better come tonight."
At this comment, Alan looked up at the Prince, his eyebrows furrowed, "Do you supposed I'll get anymore trouble from him, Highness?" He asked, sounded more serious then worried.
When the question hit his ears, Jon sighed; he was an honest person and most certainly didn't want to lie... But he didn't know whether this was one of those situations when it was better to lie then to tell the truth. "Honestly, I don't know. But I would suspect that you haven't seen it all..." Gary and Alex nodded in agreement with him and Alan just looked at the ground, a rather determined expression on his face.
The four of them walked in silence for a little bit, all thinking their own thoughts, all planning their own ways to rush Ralon... Shaking his head when the practice courts came into view, Jon turned to Alan, "I'm afraid this is where we leave you Alan, you have staff work and we have swords." He said, with a shrug and a small smile. "See you in riding."
~
Jonathan of Conte stood face to face with Alexander of Tirragen, his practice sword pointed upwards in a guard position. Alex was the best fencer of all of the pages and for some unfortunate reason Duke Gareth had decided to pair Jon with him. A slight scowl forming on his face, Jon stood at attention, watching Alex for a first move, hoping he may come out of this duel without injury. The pair circled each other; eyes locked on one another's, the metal of practice swords glinting in the light. Then suddenly, Alex lunged in towards Jon, causing him to stumble back with a weak block. Alex began to circle once more; he was perfect at it... There was no hint to Jon of which way he would move or when... Alex's sword play was become flawless... There was no way to beat him.
Grimacing, Jon lunged forward, his sword trying for an unblocked area by Alex's chest. But instead, Jon's sword met Alex's own and they were brought chest to chest, both boys sizing each other up, enemies for the instant at hand. Alex broke away from Jon, his strength and size unable to compete with his opponent's. Rolling away and dodging several sloppy stabs of Jon's sword, a slight smirk began to form on his face and there is was, his window of opportunity.
With a triumphant yell Alex leapt forward, the blade of his sword meeting the hilt of the other and all too soon Jon's sword flew from his grip, he backed away, stumbling down onto the mat as Alex stood triumphantly over him, his sword pointed at his throat in the 'kill' position. Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, Alex backed away and fingered the edge of his sword, clearly pleased with his victory. Jon struggled to his feet as he heard other duels going on behind him.
"Nice job there Alex." Jon said, with a grin as they shook hands, "You're going to have to give me lessons some time, I can't believe the way you move like that!"
Alex smiled, "Thanks," He said, simply, not extending the lesson idea any further. It was obvious he enjoyed being best swordsman around.
Jon glanced around to find Uncle Gareth and found him amongst the first year pages, teaching them staff work and such. He chuckled to see Alan struggling, poor boy, must be hard... Shaking his head, Jon looked to the others of his level, to see who was doing what and spotted Raoul and Ralon in a heavy duel... Exchanging glances with Alex, the two approached to watch.
"You'd better learn to respect Prince Jon, Ralon," Raoul spat, lunging forward with great speed for his large size, scraping his sword against his enemies, "Be at his rooms before lights out, don't chicken out this time or you'll hear from me - and if won't be in the practice courts.
Ralon stumbled backwards, trying to keep his balance against the raging Raoul as he lunged forward as well, swords meeting each other once again. "You'd better learn to respect me, Raoul of Goldenlake," Ralon sneered back as they were brought sword to sword.
Raoul broke away swiftly, stabbing forward but missing as Ralon dodged him, "Is that meant to be a threat?" He asked, his tone calm and soft as they began to circle once more, sweat forming on his upper lip.
"Now you've got it," Raoul's opponent hissed, circling as well, taking a quick moment to wipe a piece of hair from his eyes, "Some day you and your friends will be sorry about how you've treated me, you'll see." Ralon lunged forward with a slight yelp as he realized he had made a mistake - Raoul had been more than ready for this attack, in fact almost immediately after it he lunged forward with an attack of his own, knocking Ralon off his balance and into the ground below them.
"Be there Ralon," Raoul murmured, holding his sword against his throat, "Be there or be sorry."
~
Needless to say, twenty minutes before lights out, there was a soft knock at Jon's door and with a wide grin, Jon opened it to a rather disheveled and sullen looking Ralon. His blue eyes triumphant and cold, Jon invited his enemy into his chambers, they had a talk to be had.
"I missed you last night, Page Ralon," Jon spoke inviting him to sit on a stool across from him, "I don't believe you came as I had asked."
"No, your Highness," Ralon muttered, "I forgot," He hissed, a obvious lie as his eyes fluttered upwards to meet the Princes, a mocking expression on his face.
"Well you best not do it again," the Prince snapped, obviously offended by the older page's tone, "Unless, of course, you would like to meet Raoul and I in a place that is unsupervised by others." Jon smirked at this thought, perhaps he would invite Gary, Francis, and Alex on such an occasion if necessary...
"Of course not, your Highness." Ralon spoke, a small sneer forming on his face, he was trying to keep his temper... Trying to annoy Jon with his attitude... And it was working.
Biting back the urge to slap Ralon, Jon stood from his seat, "I don't like your tone Ralon-"
"I know, Highness," Ralon interrupted, rising to his feet as well, an aggravating smirk glued to his face.
Jon glared at him, and kicked his chair aside, circling his long time enemy as if he was about to strike. "Be careful what you say boy, learn some respect," Jon ordered, his hand trailing to the knife that sat at his belt. Then, realizing what he was doing, Jon backed away, obviously disgusted with himself. "You're dismissed, Ralon." He spat, "Get out of here before I give you what you deserve. But you're obviously hopeless; you'll never learn any true manners." Jon turned away from the boy, ready to prepare for bed as he heard the door slam behind him. Letting out a small sigh of relief, Jon furrowed his eyebrows and climbed into bed. Ralon had many lessons to be learned... And Jon, for one, had no idea how to teach them...
Authors Note: Thank you so much for reviewing! I will add the third chapter ASAP! I didn't know this fic would be so popular... It's not that great... is it? Oh well! Thanks again!!!