Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Author's Note: Okay, I take back what I said. Don't flame me, but criticism is fine, as long as you don't mean it to be nasty. Thank you to Robinwyn for the excellent advice. I'll be sure to use it to my advantage.
"Tell me what happened, George," Alanna gently pried. "I need to know."
George looked up. He watched as her violet eyes filled with tears, though she tried to brush them away. "I couldn' fall asleep that night. I'm sure you couldn't either. . ." he fell into his tale, getting lost in his memories as he related the story to her. . .
George drifted through the streets of Corus rather aimlessly. He couldn't sleep, and he couldn't stop thinking about the coronation. He knew he should have stayed in bed with his mind digressing, because it made him so vulnerable to attacks by his rivaling thieves. But he didn't care; his sorrow far exceeded his logic.
His wanderings finally brought him to the front of the palace. It was still littered with the bodies of his friend and foes, mingled together in one heap of bodies. He began to sift through the piles, lifting up slabs of stone which had fallen from the palace ceiling. Under one of the larger stone slabs he found something that confused him. Marek, his friend and long time rival, lay under the stone. George let out a cry of shock, his sobs echoing through the remains of the palace. Marek wasn't even supposed to be at the coronation! He must have come by when he heard the commotion, too curious for his own good. He carried Marek to the front and laid him down upon the ground, and returned back to the palace.
He made his way through the sea of bodies to the front alter, the last place he had seen Alanna. He sat upon the alter and thought, not in words, but in emotions. Hate rose up inside him to replace the grief. Tortall would have been a wonderful kingdom under Jonathan, and Roger had ruined the Utopia that had been forming in George's mind.
He thought he heard a noise and turned his head. A mournful sound pierced the air, coming from something animal-like. He glanced upon the floor, and stopped crying. Faithful was swaggering toward him, his hind leg mangled. His midnight fur was covered in a thick coat of dried blood. He collapsed at George's feet, mewing pitifully.
George, I'm sorry this happened. I should have warned Alanna, but I couldn't. I was busy trying to stop him, Faithful meowed.
"It's okay." George told the cat, "It's not your fault that this happened. So what exactly were you doing?"
I was spying on Roger. I finally found out why Jonathan couldn't hold the land together with the Dominion Jewel.
"What happened?" George sighed. "I knew something had gone wrong!"
The jewel Alanna carried was a fake. Roger stole the real one! He used Thom's magic to summon it to him. That's why Thom is so ill right now. His magic has been corrupted by the evilness of Roger.
George moaned. "How in the name of Mithros did this happen? We shouldn't have told the court that Alanna had the Dominion Jewel!"
It is too late now. Tell Alanna what went wrong. With that, Faithful ceased his breathing. George picked him up and began to carry him outside. He stumbled over a body, and looked down to see who it was.
It was the Shang Dragon. George laid Faithful on top of him and carried the both of them to the front of the palace. There he laid them both down next to Marek, and wiped the tears that were now blurring his vision.
We ran back to the Dancing Dove's barn. He hitched a cart up to a pony which had woken up when he had staggered into the stables. They trotted rather loudly back to the palace and he loaded the bodies of his friends into the cart.
He forced the pony to the edge of city and up into the hill overlooking the beautiful town of Corus. When he reached the top, he collected braches and dry leaves and piled them up. He placed his friends upon the pyre and set it aflame with a quick swipe of flint. He bowed his head, and sat there next to the funeral pyre until dawn broke upon the streets of Corus.
The King of Thieves sat back down on the cart, and rode back down into the city he called home.
