Sniff...No one loves me!!!!! I'm updating because I have no self-
restraint. I said I wanted ten more reviews before updating but here I am,
breaking my word because I know I probably won't be getting any more
reviews. However, I do want the next chapter to get more reviews, so, yet
again, I am going to drill it into your heads that: If you don't review, I
think that you hate my fic, so I will never, ever, ever update again!
Seriously, just a simple 'I read your fic' will do, and it doesn't take
that much time! And for those of you who DID review, I'm really glad that
most of you liked Audrie, and I hope that you continue to read and enjoy my
fic.
Disclaimer: I own next to nothing. If you must know, my three year-old little sister steals everything I own. It's not my fault. I don't own Alanna, George (although we all want to), Jon or anyone else who you might recognize. I DO own Audrie, the plot, and anything else you don't recognize.
Random Stupid Note I Forgot To Mention Earlier (there will be many of these, considering my memory span): This is set AFTER the Tusaine War, but before Jon and Alanna get together, and two weeks before the midwinter festival. Yes, this is somewhat, though randomly, important. ~ ~ ~ ~
Audrie sighed as the Dancing Dove slowly shrank to the size of a pin in her vision, along with the rest of Corus. She fiddled with the foreign weight of jewels on her neck, wishing that she hadn't agreed to this.
'It's too late now.' She thought to herself, 'It's not as if I had much of a choice. It was either sneak into the palace or lose an ear.' Grimacing at the prospect, she put a hand to her ear, as if to protect it from an invisible knife. She shuddered and shook her head, convincing herself that it was best not to think of such things. Instead she began to formulate a plan on how to arrange her 'schedule' of when to steal. She finally decided that after exploring on the first day, to steal once a week would be enough to receive a decent profit yet not get caught. After all, if she stole too often, suspicion that she was not just breaking in would arise.
Throughout the entire trip to the palace she was wrapped up in planning, making sure there was no way she could be caught. By the time she was finished, she realized that the palace was within sight, which meant that soon she would no longer be 'Audrie' or 'Spades' but would instead be 'Lady Audrelinia of Seren' or just 'Mi'lady'.
A drawn out sigh was the only way she voiced a complaint as the carriage gradually came to a halt behind three or four other carriages, all far more expensive looking than her own. She could dimly hear the other ladies' names being announced as each one primly stepped out of one of the carriages. Finally it came to her turn.
"Lady Audrelinia of Seren," She stepped out as gracefully as she could, but at the last moment possible stepped on the hems of her dresses, causing her to trip and nearly fall. She heard laughter from several ladies, but chose to ignore it. Red with embarrassment, she nearly ran into a tall knight in her effort to get out of public view.
"My Lady, are you in need of assistance in carrying your bags?" The knight was over a head taller than Audrie, yet, as impossible as it seemed, an even taller knight stood next to him.
Audrie's only reply to the offer was a glare. "I have no need of help whatsoever, so if you don't mind." She promptly slammed past him, annoyed at the concept that anyone would think that SHE was helpless. She walked up to one a servant and, with a murderous look, requested to be shown to her rooms.
~ ~ ~ ~
"What was that about?" Raoul looked at Gary after Audrie had walked away. "She seemed angry." Alanna walked up to the two knights, carrying around five bags from different ladies.
" I don't know and I don't care. Take some of these bags, will you? I can't drag all of them." Gary and Raoul each helped themselves to two bags, and turned back to the palace, in order to deliver the bags.
~ ~ ~ ~
" I cannot stand nobles!!" Audrie half slammed, half dropped her bags onto the bed in the room she was to sleep. Continuing to mutter about 'stuck-up, sexist, pain-in-the-ass, useless knights' as she surveyed the room. As she looked around, everything confirmed her idea that nobles wasted their money on trivial things. The luxuries of the room, such as the glass doors that led out to the balcony that overlooked the garden four stories below, the gold-framed mirrors and the many paintings on scenery cost enough to feed half of Tortall, it seemed. Audrie snorted at the frivolities of the room.
"Who needs five different vanity mirrors in the bathroom?! Or a closet large enough to live in?!" tsking disapprovingly, Audrie changed out of the sky-blue dress she had been wearing to match her eyes. She changed into a simple black tunic with black breeches, and tied a scarf, also black, around her waist. "Finally, back into my usual outfit." She then began to take down her hair, and stuck it up into a short stiff ponytail at the base of her neck. In the mirror her reflection's eyes changed from crystalline blue to their natural emerald green, though she kept her hair the same. An image reflected in the mirror gasped. Audrie turned around to see a young maid staring at the sudden and drastic change in appearance.
"What are you doing here?" Audrie snapped. "I though I specified that I was to be left alone." Audrie's glare softened slightly as she noticed how the girl was trembling.
"Mi'lady, I did not mean to...But George said to...." The girl began as Audrie suddenly snapped to attention.
"You know George, then?" Audrie breathed a sigh of relief as the maid nodded slightly. "Then that's different. What were his directions to you?" Audrie realized that she must be one of George's 'connections', mostly likely just an acquaintance and not a thief. "He said..." The maid trailed off. "My name is Sarri. I am to be your maid throughout the few weeks you are here, mi'lady. I was told to inform you of the hidden door behind the painting of His Highness, King Roald." Sarri pointed to a painting that couldn't have been more than two feet by three feet.
"You're joking, right? That's no door. A person would barely be able to fit through it!" Walking over to the painting, she lifted the painting of its nail. Sure enough, a door not much smaller than the size of the painting was behind it. "Great. This is how I get in and out of this room. I don't believe it! It used to be, escape ways were made large, so that anyone could get through!" She groaned.
"The passageway connects to the kitchen, on the ground floor. There should be a door to the outside from the kitchen, so that you won't have to enter other rooms and be seen in order to get outside and away. That's what George wanted me to tell you. That and the fact that every once in a while he'll send another thief to sneak in to transport whatever you've stolen so far to him. I'd assume it's a thief he would trust, then. I wish he would trust me like that." The girl sighed wistfully, and Audrie realized why. Sarri had a crush on George!
Shaking her head, Audrie just went to the door that connected to the hall, putting an ear to the door. "If you know all of this, then he does. Now, that's all well and good, but I need to go look around, explore, etcetera, etcetera."
"But it's broad daylight!" The girl protested, "You'll get caught!"
"It is broad daylight, but I'm not going to be stealing anything, just looking around. No one will notice me, and if they do, they certainly won't recognize me as Lady Audrelinia. Now, the coast is clear, so I may as well go." Before Sarri could protest further, Audrie left, closing the door silently behind her.
Looking around, Audrie first went into the rooms that surrounded her own, and discovered them to be guest rooms for the other ladies who were visiting. As she left each one she found herself more and more disgusted with the noble life-style; each room was so large and so grand that it made her sick to think it was wasted on only one person. After she left that wing she went to the wing for nights in hope of finding the room of the squire George had mentioned. After failing there she went and wandered into royalty's wing. She had just gone into the Prince's room (and nearly keeled over from disgust at the quality of everything), when a cry from the doorway surprised her.
"Who are you?!" A young boy no older than 16 in squire's clothing stood in the doorway, staring at Audrie as she held a priceless porcelain vase. "What exactly are you doing the Prince's room?"
Wordlessly Audrie slammed past him into the hallway, not slowing down despite the shouts of 'Stop!' from the boy behind her. She ran past many people who turned around to look at the strange figure running down the hall. Luckily no one actually made an attempt to follow her, for whatever reason they had, but Audrie finally stopped when, while she could still her the boy, he was not quite in sight. She instantly went to work on opening a window when the boy came in sight along with the taller, and obviously older, knight from earlier that day. Had she passed him by? Obviously she had, but took no notice of either of them until she noticed several others behind the two. She opened the latch of the window, climbed out onto the roof and begun close the window when the tall knight grabbed hold her wrist.
Disclaimer: I own next to nothing. If you must know, my three year-old little sister steals everything I own. It's not my fault. I don't own Alanna, George (although we all want to), Jon or anyone else who you might recognize. I DO own Audrie, the plot, and anything else you don't recognize.
Random Stupid Note I Forgot To Mention Earlier (there will be many of these, considering my memory span): This is set AFTER the Tusaine War, but before Jon and Alanna get together, and two weeks before the midwinter festival. Yes, this is somewhat, though randomly, important. ~ ~ ~ ~
Audrie sighed as the Dancing Dove slowly shrank to the size of a pin in her vision, along with the rest of Corus. She fiddled with the foreign weight of jewels on her neck, wishing that she hadn't agreed to this.
'It's too late now.' She thought to herself, 'It's not as if I had much of a choice. It was either sneak into the palace or lose an ear.' Grimacing at the prospect, she put a hand to her ear, as if to protect it from an invisible knife. She shuddered and shook her head, convincing herself that it was best not to think of such things. Instead she began to formulate a plan on how to arrange her 'schedule' of when to steal. She finally decided that after exploring on the first day, to steal once a week would be enough to receive a decent profit yet not get caught. After all, if she stole too often, suspicion that she was not just breaking in would arise.
Throughout the entire trip to the palace she was wrapped up in planning, making sure there was no way she could be caught. By the time she was finished, she realized that the palace was within sight, which meant that soon she would no longer be 'Audrie' or 'Spades' but would instead be 'Lady Audrelinia of Seren' or just 'Mi'lady'.
A drawn out sigh was the only way she voiced a complaint as the carriage gradually came to a halt behind three or four other carriages, all far more expensive looking than her own. She could dimly hear the other ladies' names being announced as each one primly stepped out of one of the carriages. Finally it came to her turn.
"Lady Audrelinia of Seren," She stepped out as gracefully as she could, but at the last moment possible stepped on the hems of her dresses, causing her to trip and nearly fall. She heard laughter from several ladies, but chose to ignore it. Red with embarrassment, she nearly ran into a tall knight in her effort to get out of public view.
"My Lady, are you in need of assistance in carrying your bags?" The knight was over a head taller than Audrie, yet, as impossible as it seemed, an even taller knight stood next to him.
Audrie's only reply to the offer was a glare. "I have no need of help whatsoever, so if you don't mind." She promptly slammed past him, annoyed at the concept that anyone would think that SHE was helpless. She walked up to one a servant and, with a murderous look, requested to be shown to her rooms.
~ ~ ~ ~
"What was that about?" Raoul looked at Gary after Audrie had walked away. "She seemed angry." Alanna walked up to the two knights, carrying around five bags from different ladies.
" I don't know and I don't care. Take some of these bags, will you? I can't drag all of them." Gary and Raoul each helped themselves to two bags, and turned back to the palace, in order to deliver the bags.
~ ~ ~ ~
" I cannot stand nobles!!" Audrie half slammed, half dropped her bags onto the bed in the room she was to sleep. Continuing to mutter about 'stuck-up, sexist, pain-in-the-ass, useless knights' as she surveyed the room. As she looked around, everything confirmed her idea that nobles wasted their money on trivial things. The luxuries of the room, such as the glass doors that led out to the balcony that overlooked the garden four stories below, the gold-framed mirrors and the many paintings on scenery cost enough to feed half of Tortall, it seemed. Audrie snorted at the frivolities of the room.
"Who needs five different vanity mirrors in the bathroom?! Or a closet large enough to live in?!" tsking disapprovingly, Audrie changed out of the sky-blue dress she had been wearing to match her eyes. She changed into a simple black tunic with black breeches, and tied a scarf, also black, around her waist. "Finally, back into my usual outfit." She then began to take down her hair, and stuck it up into a short stiff ponytail at the base of her neck. In the mirror her reflection's eyes changed from crystalline blue to their natural emerald green, though she kept her hair the same. An image reflected in the mirror gasped. Audrie turned around to see a young maid staring at the sudden and drastic change in appearance.
"What are you doing here?" Audrie snapped. "I though I specified that I was to be left alone." Audrie's glare softened slightly as she noticed how the girl was trembling.
"Mi'lady, I did not mean to...But George said to...." The girl began as Audrie suddenly snapped to attention.
"You know George, then?" Audrie breathed a sigh of relief as the maid nodded slightly. "Then that's different. What were his directions to you?" Audrie realized that she must be one of George's 'connections', mostly likely just an acquaintance and not a thief. "He said..." The maid trailed off. "My name is Sarri. I am to be your maid throughout the few weeks you are here, mi'lady. I was told to inform you of the hidden door behind the painting of His Highness, King Roald." Sarri pointed to a painting that couldn't have been more than two feet by three feet.
"You're joking, right? That's no door. A person would barely be able to fit through it!" Walking over to the painting, she lifted the painting of its nail. Sure enough, a door not much smaller than the size of the painting was behind it. "Great. This is how I get in and out of this room. I don't believe it! It used to be, escape ways were made large, so that anyone could get through!" She groaned.
"The passageway connects to the kitchen, on the ground floor. There should be a door to the outside from the kitchen, so that you won't have to enter other rooms and be seen in order to get outside and away. That's what George wanted me to tell you. That and the fact that every once in a while he'll send another thief to sneak in to transport whatever you've stolen so far to him. I'd assume it's a thief he would trust, then. I wish he would trust me like that." The girl sighed wistfully, and Audrie realized why. Sarri had a crush on George!
Shaking her head, Audrie just went to the door that connected to the hall, putting an ear to the door. "If you know all of this, then he does. Now, that's all well and good, but I need to go look around, explore, etcetera, etcetera."
"But it's broad daylight!" The girl protested, "You'll get caught!"
"It is broad daylight, but I'm not going to be stealing anything, just looking around. No one will notice me, and if they do, they certainly won't recognize me as Lady Audrelinia. Now, the coast is clear, so I may as well go." Before Sarri could protest further, Audrie left, closing the door silently behind her.
Looking around, Audrie first went into the rooms that surrounded her own, and discovered them to be guest rooms for the other ladies who were visiting. As she left each one she found herself more and more disgusted with the noble life-style; each room was so large and so grand that it made her sick to think it was wasted on only one person. After she left that wing she went to the wing for nights in hope of finding the room of the squire George had mentioned. After failing there she went and wandered into royalty's wing. She had just gone into the Prince's room (and nearly keeled over from disgust at the quality of everything), when a cry from the doorway surprised her.
"Who are you?!" A young boy no older than 16 in squire's clothing stood in the doorway, staring at Audrie as she held a priceless porcelain vase. "What exactly are you doing the Prince's room?"
Wordlessly Audrie slammed past him into the hallway, not slowing down despite the shouts of 'Stop!' from the boy behind her. She ran past many people who turned around to look at the strange figure running down the hall. Luckily no one actually made an attempt to follow her, for whatever reason they had, but Audrie finally stopped when, while she could still her the boy, he was not quite in sight. She instantly went to work on opening a window when the boy came in sight along with the taller, and obviously older, knight from earlier that day. Had she passed him by? Obviously she had, but took no notice of either of them until she noticed several others behind the two. She opened the latch of the window, climbed out onto the roof and begun close the window when the tall knight grabbed hold her wrist.