Disclaimer: I own no one, nothing, nada, zip, zero. Or at least, nothing
except for anything you don't recognize. Simple enough, right? So don't sue
me, I don't have anything you'd want anyways.
Author's Notes: Yay!! I'm so happy that everyone likes my fic so far! Thank you to those of you who reviewed; it's so nice to know that people actually bother to read it. It seems that cliffhangers get lots of reviews...hmm.... For the record I've already got the next chapter done, so all I need is a lovely ten reviews before I post it! And it includes Audrie stealing more loincloths! (And playing a small practical joke for revenge with them). Bet you can't guess whose. Anyway, I have a favor to ask: in my profile I have a list of Tamora Pierce fics that I may write. I would appreciate it if you would vote on which one you think I should write next. Thanks!
~ ~ ~ ~
* Audrie had opened the latch of the window, climbed out onto the roof and begun close the window when the tall knight grabbed hold her wrist.* She gasped as she recognized him not only as one of the knights from earlier that day, but realized she had also seen him before at the Dancing Dove. Who was he? As she pondered this, she realized he had been talking to her.
"- not safe to go climbing on roofs." Audrie stared blankly for a second, before self-defense kicked in. In a split second a knife hidden within her boot was in her hand, slashing across the knight's arm and shoulder in a lightning-fast movement. He stumbled back in surprise, cursing profusely.
As he stumbled back, Audrie took a step back. A piece of broken tile lay several feet away. Running towards the tile Audrie leapt onto it, and within moments she was sliding bumpily down the roof with the tile beneath her feet. Wind and momentum took her flying off the roof to twenty feet away from the base of the castle.
~ ~ ~ ~
From the window, Alanna watched in amazement with the others as the mysterious girl seemed to soar down to the ground. At the last second, they saw her touch the ground at an odd angle, and saw her crumple to the ground. She quickly stood up and ran along the castle sides, for some unknown reason turning at the castle corner rather than running straight into the woods, though from here there was no way that they could follow her. However, as the girl ran, Alanna couldn't help noticing that the girl had a slight limp, and seemed to be running slower than when she was running in the hallway.
"Who was that?" Gary asked. He was confused about the whole commotion. He had only been talking with Jon in the hallway when he saw 'Alan' and Raoul running past and decided to follow.
" I saw her looking in Jonathan's rooms. I had gone back to get something in my own when I saw the door open. When I found her and asked where she was going, she just fled. I was following her." Alanna snapped, slightly annoyed at the fact that she hadn't been able to catch the girl. "I don't see why she was in there. I doubt it was any of her business what's in your rooms, Jon."
"There's not much we can do about this. She's too far off to try to catch, though she may show up again. I wonder what she was doing." Jon pondered for a moment before continuing, "No matter, though. We can only watch out for a strange girl in all black, nothing else."
They all nodded quietly, and a strange silence settled in as Jon, Alanna, Raoul and Gary wondered about the strange girl.
Finally, Gary broke the silence. "Where's Alex?" He looked to the others, who all shrugged.
"Practice ring, no doubt." Raoul grinned, "That man has no life. Really, he should get out more, meet people." He winked as they all knew he was talking about Alex's strange lack of lust towards Lady Delia.
The group of four decided to see what he was up to in the rings, walking side by side talking about beautiful ladies, Alex, sentry duty, beautiful ladies, what the best place to buy armor for a cheap price was, how boring philosophy class was, and beautiful ladies. By the time they met up with Alex, they had forgotten about the appearance of the girl, let alone to mention it in full to Alex.
~ ~ ~ ~
Audrie winced in pain as she ran around the corner of the palace. At the last instant possible the angle at which she was landing changed, causing her to land incorrectly, jarring her entire body as foot met with solid, packed dirt. The fact that she had to keep running did nothing to soothe the pain in her ankle, that felt as though it were both on fire and frozen at the same time. Finally she came to a wooden door in the back of the castle, and entered quietly. Sure enough, she was in the kitchen, where no one seemed to bat an eye at her coming in the door and heading directly to the pantry.
In the pantry was a small, almost invisible door that opened to a thin vertical corridor with a tall ladder. It was pitch black, so dark that Audrie didn't notice she had come to the top until her head hit the ceiling. One hand holding onto the ladder, she felt around for a latch to open the door. After a moment's fumbling, she found it, promptly swinging the door open. Unfortunately, the door opened to the inside, so it smashed into her face.
Cursing aloud about evil hidden doors seemingly made to be inconvenient, she ducked her head around the door to find the back of the painting still in her way. Swinging the painting out of her way, she came to, at last, the sight of her room.
She 'gracefully' squished through the door and fell onto the hard wooden floor, grimacing at the added pain. After righting herself, Audrie stood up as Sarri entered the room with a small duster. Audrie walked towards Sarri, prepared to tell the maid to leave while she changed clothing. Sarri frowned at the limp in Audrie's step, and instantly walked over to support the girl.
" What happened ?" Her tone was partly chastising, partly sympathetic.
Audrie sighed, " I'm alright. Really" She avoided answering the question, knowing she would get an 'I warned you' from Sarri. She really didn't feel like having to listen to that right now. "You can go. I'll be fine."
Sarri refused, insisting on helping Audrie change into a clean red dress, and put up her hair once again. She insisted that it was not only her job to do such things normally, but even more so when the person is injured. "And you go straight to the healers as soon as your back to Lady Audrelinia."
"Healers are for people who can't take pain." Audrie snorted, " Besides, I'm fine."
"No, you're not, and you're going to the healers whether you like it or not, because otherwise people will suspect." Audrie sighed, and knew she was right; a limp could make the difference between minor suspicion and discovery, and would make a getaway of any sorts next to impossible. And her ankle hurt so much.... It couldn't hurt to use a healer just this once.
~ ~ ~ ~
Author's Notes: Yay!! I'm so happy that everyone likes my fic so far! Thank you to those of you who reviewed; it's so nice to know that people actually bother to read it. It seems that cliffhangers get lots of reviews...hmm.... For the record I've already got the next chapter done, so all I need is a lovely ten reviews before I post it! And it includes Audrie stealing more loincloths! (And playing a small practical joke for revenge with them). Bet you can't guess whose. Anyway, I have a favor to ask: in my profile I have a list of Tamora Pierce fics that I may write. I would appreciate it if you would vote on which one you think I should write next. Thanks!
~ ~ ~ ~
* Audrie had opened the latch of the window, climbed out onto the roof and begun close the window when the tall knight grabbed hold her wrist.* She gasped as she recognized him not only as one of the knights from earlier that day, but realized she had also seen him before at the Dancing Dove. Who was he? As she pondered this, she realized he had been talking to her.
"- not safe to go climbing on roofs." Audrie stared blankly for a second, before self-defense kicked in. In a split second a knife hidden within her boot was in her hand, slashing across the knight's arm and shoulder in a lightning-fast movement. He stumbled back in surprise, cursing profusely.
As he stumbled back, Audrie took a step back. A piece of broken tile lay several feet away. Running towards the tile Audrie leapt onto it, and within moments she was sliding bumpily down the roof with the tile beneath her feet. Wind and momentum took her flying off the roof to twenty feet away from the base of the castle.
~ ~ ~ ~
From the window, Alanna watched in amazement with the others as the mysterious girl seemed to soar down to the ground. At the last second, they saw her touch the ground at an odd angle, and saw her crumple to the ground. She quickly stood up and ran along the castle sides, for some unknown reason turning at the castle corner rather than running straight into the woods, though from here there was no way that they could follow her. However, as the girl ran, Alanna couldn't help noticing that the girl had a slight limp, and seemed to be running slower than when she was running in the hallway.
"Who was that?" Gary asked. He was confused about the whole commotion. He had only been talking with Jon in the hallway when he saw 'Alan' and Raoul running past and decided to follow.
" I saw her looking in Jonathan's rooms. I had gone back to get something in my own when I saw the door open. When I found her and asked where she was going, she just fled. I was following her." Alanna snapped, slightly annoyed at the fact that she hadn't been able to catch the girl. "I don't see why she was in there. I doubt it was any of her business what's in your rooms, Jon."
"There's not much we can do about this. She's too far off to try to catch, though she may show up again. I wonder what she was doing." Jon pondered for a moment before continuing, "No matter, though. We can only watch out for a strange girl in all black, nothing else."
They all nodded quietly, and a strange silence settled in as Jon, Alanna, Raoul and Gary wondered about the strange girl.
Finally, Gary broke the silence. "Where's Alex?" He looked to the others, who all shrugged.
"Practice ring, no doubt." Raoul grinned, "That man has no life. Really, he should get out more, meet people." He winked as they all knew he was talking about Alex's strange lack of lust towards Lady Delia.
The group of four decided to see what he was up to in the rings, walking side by side talking about beautiful ladies, Alex, sentry duty, beautiful ladies, what the best place to buy armor for a cheap price was, how boring philosophy class was, and beautiful ladies. By the time they met up with Alex, they had forgotten about the appearance of the girl, let alone to mention it in full to Alex.
~ ~ ~ ~
Audrie winced in pain as she ran around the corner of the palace. At the last instant possible the angle at which she was landing changed, causing her to land incorrectly, jarring her entire body as foot met with solid, packed dirt. The fact that she had to keep running did nothing to soothe the pain in her ankle, that felt as though it were both on fire and frozen at the same time. Finally she came to a wooden door in the back of the castle, and entered quietly. Sure enough, she was in the kitchen, where no one seemed to bat an eye at her coming in the door and heading directly to the pantry.
In the pantry was a small, almost invisible door that opened to a thin vertical corridor with a tall ladder. It was pitch black, so dark that Audrie didn't notice she had come to the top until her head hit the ceiling. One hand holding onto the ladder, she felt around for a latch to open the door. After a moment's fumbling, she found it, promptly swinging the door open. Unfortunately, the door opened to the inside, so it smashed into her face.
Cursing aloud about evil hidden doors seemingly made to be inconvenient, she ducked her head around the door to find the back of the painting still in her way. Swinging the painting out of her way, she came to, at last, the sight of her room.
She 'gracefully' squished through the door and fell onto the hard wooden floor, grimacing at the added pain. After righting herself, Audrie stood up as Sarri entered the room with a small duster. Audrie walked towards Sarri, prepared to tell the maid to leave while she changed clothing. Sarri frowned at the limp in Audrie's step, and instantly walked over to support the girl.
" What happened ?" Her tone was partly chastising, partly sympathetic.
Audrie sighed, " I'm alright. Really" She avoided answering the question, knowing she would get an 'I warned you' from Sarri. She really didn't feel like having to listen to that right now. "You can go. I'll be fine."
Sarri refused, insisting on helping Audrie change into a clean red dress, and put up her hair once again. She insisted that it was not only her job to do such things normally, but even more so when the person is injured. "And you go straight to the healers as soon as your back to Lady Audrelinia."
"Healers are for people who can't take pain." Audrie snorted, " Besides, I'm fine."
"No, you're not, and you're going to the healers whether you like it or not, because otherwise people will suspect." Audrie sighed, and knew she was right; a limp could make the difference between minor suspicion and discovery, and would make a getaway of any sorts next to impossible. And her ankle hurt so much.... It couldn't hurt to use a healer just this once.
~ ~ ~ ~