"Alanna, you need to go. Now, as soon as it's dark. They'll catch you for sure. Claw probably already knows that you're here." George straightened as he wiped his eyes. "I'll come with you."

"No, George, you can't. We need someone who can stay here if we want to get Roger off the throne. Who better do we have than you to spy on Roger for us?" Alanna told asked him.

"I guess you're right." George's mouth pulled into a grim line. "I'll set our smilin' friend straight!"

"That's the spirit." Alanna gave him a weak smile.

They both stared out the window as the sun began to set in the streets of Corus. It drifted out of sight, painting the city in shades of pinks and oranges. Alanna sighed, and looked away from the window just as the sun disappeared on the horizon. "Mithros, I'll miss this city. I get the feeling that I won't be coming back here for a while."

George pulled Alanna up into a hug. The held together for a few seconds, and pulled away. "I'll miss you Alanna." George whispered, as he wiped at the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes. "Gods all bless."

Alanna grabbed her bags and cane and walked out of the room, pulling her shawl up over her hair. She hobbled out the door, and turned. "Goodbye, George," she hesitated, and then added, "I love you." She turned and left, before he could see her face turning as red as her hair.

George smiled. "I love you too, Alanna." he whispered into the night.

Alanna hurried to the stables. She pulled a small bottle of black dye from her bags, and worked it into the spots on her horse that had begun to regain their golden sheen. She saddled Moonlight quickly, barely stopping to breathe. She hitched her bags up to her horse, moving as quickly as she could. She swung herself onto Moonlight, and they trotted out of the stable.

It was already black as midnight, though the sun had barely set. The moon shone brightly over the city. Stars twinkled down on Moonlight and her rider as they made their way to the outskirts of Corus towards the forest there.

Alanna slowed Moonlight down as they entered the forest. The branches of the trees overhead were comforting. She felt safe, though her gut still told her to be wary of thieves and bandits that could be camping out nearby, or waiting to spring upon a lone traveler. She grabbed out at her sword, just to make sure it was still there and within reasonable reach.

An owl swooped over her head, breaking the silence of the forest with its low cry. Moonlight started, and then took off along the path. Alanna pulled on the reins as hard as she could, but her normally fully contained horse was out of control. Moonlight galloped through the forest, gathering speed and momentum as she went. She began to slide from the saddle, clutching to the reins for her life.

Alanna gave a final tug on the reins, before Moonlight slowed down enough for Alanna to slide back into place on the saddle. She glanced around to see how far they had gotten from where they had started. The last place they were was nowhere in sight, but this part of the forest was familiar to Alanna. She knew of a clearing up ahead where she and Moonlight could rest at.

Her horse definitely needed a break as soon as possible. Moonlight was panting; her once black dyed coat was just making her look dirty and unkempt and black sweat dripped from her body. Alanna dismounted to ease Moonlight's burden, and led her horse to where she remembered the clearing was.

When she was one hundred yards short of the clearing, she saw something that made her head spin. She heard laughing and singing, and the smell of cooking venison hovered in the air. From the spot where the clearing was, she saw a huge fire, surrounded by men. They were all sitting on various riffraff, everything from old stumps and logs, to overturned buckets that looked like they were used for laundry.

Alanna groaned as she surveyed the scene. She had almost walked straight into a bandit camp! She pulled Moonlight towards her in a thick patch of trees, and Moonlight began to whinny at the tug at the reins. Alanna quieted her, and looked out again at the bandit camp. She weighed her options. She could go back to where she was earlier and camp out there, but that seemed too dangerous. The band of rogues could be on their way to Corus to consort with the Court of the Rogue who presided there. No, her best bet was to hold them with her magic for as long as she could, and then make a mad dash to the edge of the forest.

She quickly used a little bit of her magic to water her horse down a bit. She swung onto Moonlight's back, and urged her forward to a gallop. A sentry for the camp yelled out an alarm, and various things whizzed past her. She saw a few arrows, but mostly knives and cooking utensils. She held a hand up from the reins of her horse, and violet fire poured forth. It enveloped the camp, creating a barrier between them and her. She slowed Moonlight to a stop.

She poured forth more of her magic into it as the stunned bandit camp gazed at her in awe. A few tried to blast at the barrier with their own untrained magic, but they were unsuccessful. She sealed off the barrier so that it would last a good fifteen minutes, and spurred Moonlight back to a gallop. Though exhausted, horse and rider hurtled through the forest, at a faster pace than they had been before. They finally burst forth from the trees, and Alanna began her descent down from the hill.

An old inn lay at the bottom of the hill. Though a trained mage would be able to see through an illusion, she poured the rest of her magic into disguising herself and Moonlight. She tucked her shawl into her saddle bags; its roughness had begun to irritate her skin. Alanna had become strawberry blonde young woman with blue eyes, and Moonlight was a pinkish roan mare. Though her own disguise was not very good, she knew that if she didn't get the proper rest she needed she would let down Jonathan and his faithful supporters.

She led Moonlight up to the door of the inn with a sign bearing the name "The Horse's Tail." A plump, older woman opened the door when she gave a loud knock. "Ya poor dear! Whatever has ya up so late this hour? It's okay, Connal here will take yer horse for ya." She gestured for a young teenage boy, half-asleep on a stool at the table. Alanna removed her bags from Moonlight, working to unclasp them as her tired fingers fumbled with the buckle. At last the buckle released, and she gathered her bags up in her arms. Connal got up and walked to the door, taking the reins from Alanna. He gave her a sleepy grin.

"That's a beautiful horse ya got their miss, if ya don't mind me saying." he said to her, as he turned to lead Moonlight to the barn. "Does she prefer oats er hay?"

"Hay's fine, young man." She gave him a small smile, and turned back to the plump woman. The woman grabbed Alanna's wrist, and pulled her inside. The warmth of the inn embraced Alanna, rejuvenating her body slightly.

"Don't think I introduced meself, the name's Bella. Bella Waterford. I'm the innkeeper here. Connal's my grandson, a fine boy if there ever was one." Evidently this kindly lady was fiercely proud of her grandson. Alanna surmised that she had better keep her stay at the inn very brief, if she didn't want the entire village to know that Bella Waterford had a visitor to her inn. She quickly made up an explanation.

"My name is Silvia, and I live back in Corus. I was out for a ride in the woods, when I lost control of my horse. She was spooked by a rabbit, I think, that darted across the path. It's too late to go back now, not with bandits lurking everywhere." Alanna felt bad for lying to this friendly old woman, but it was necessary for her safety, and the safety of Jonathan and his supporters. She hoped the woman wouldn't suspect anything as Alanna blushed, her face turning as red as her hair used to be.

"Right you are bout' them bandits. The place is swarmin' with them. I wish that the new king would do something bout' them, but I guess he has a lot on his hands now." Alanna perked up at the mention of Roger. She was eager to get any news from those people who were impartial toward the new king and his circle of followers.

Bella continued, "Don't mind me sayin' so, but that King Roger is bad news. That poor lad Jonathan would have done a much better job, him carin' for us common folk and all. I hear Roger sits on his throne all day, barely liftin' a finger, 'cept to cast magic on those who disagree with him."

Alanna nodded her agreement, then said, "It's been lovely talking to you, but I'd best be getting to bed. I have to wake up early if I want to get back to Corus before my parents are worried. Ma's so protective of me, I probably won't get to ride out by myself again after the scare she's having now."

The old woman chuckled, "Right ya are there, dearie. If anything like that happened to Connal, I wouldn't let him outta my sight 'til I'm dead and buried. Come up here, dear, I have a couple extra rooms."

Alanna and Bella walked up the wooden staircase. A row of rooms lay at the top. Bella pulled a set of keys from her apron, and slid a key off. She handed it to Alanna after opening the door for her. "Make sure ya don't lose that key. If ya wake up early and leave before we're all awake, leave the door open and put the key on that chair over there."

Alanna peered into the small room. The ceiling was low enough that it would skim the top of any of her knight friends' heads, but not her. The room was bare, except for a small bed, a chamber pot, and a chair. A small, dirty window lay above the bed, an unlit candle in the sill. Alanna said goodnight to Bella, and closed the door. She would have lit the candle with her magic, but there was almost none left. She removed her disguise, and dropped her travel bags. With the last of her strength she crawled into bed.

Alanna awoke late the next morning. She berated herself for sleeping when there was much to be done, but what was done was done. She pulled off her clothes from the day before, and pulled on fresh ones from her bags. She pulled a brush through her tangled red hair, and pulled it back with a violet ribbon. She walked to the door, and almost pulled it open. She stopped herself just in the nick of time. She had almost forgotten to magic up her disguise!

Alanna summoned her magic to her, willing it to envelop her with her previous disguise. Her body momentarily regained the blonde, blue eyed form, then her disguise flickered and died. Alanna wailed a cry of disdain. She sighed, and pulled her shawl from her bags once again. She wrapped her hair into a bun, out of sight once her shawl was on. She resolved to look no one in the face as she pulled a few silver nobles from her purse. She left them and the key on the bed, and hurried out the door, bags in hand. She made her way quickly down the steps.

When she reached the bottom, she stifled another sigh. Bella was already there, working on something in the kitchen, with plain view of the whole room. Alanna walked past, muttering, "The money and key are on the bed. No time to talk." Bella hurried around the counter to stop her, but Alanna made a dash for the door. Connal was sitting on the chair by the door, absorbed in reading a thick novel, with a picture of a horse on the front. He muttered, without looking up from the book, "Leave her be, Grandmother. She's in a hurry." To Alanna, he said, "Yer horse is in the stables."

Alanna thanked him as she opened the door to the inn. She found the stables at the back of the barn. Moonlight's disguise was still on. Alanna muttered darkly about stupid magic that wore itself out for stupid things, and took the spell off. She rubbed Moonlight down with the black ink again as her magical strength returned to her. Alanna wiped her hands down in a pail full of water by the barn door. She then returned to her task of saddling her horse. She hitched the bags on faster than she had taken them off the night before, and led Moonlight to the door. They walked through, and then closed the doors behind them. She mounted up, and urged Moonlight to a trot.

By daylight, the country was beautiful. Alanna urged Moonlight to a gallop, and stopped at regular intervals for her to rest. It was a beautiful day, a few clouds drifting over a shamelessly sapphire sky. The sun warmed her, but it wasn't excruciatingly hot. Alanna wished that she could be warming up in the practice courts with Raoul or Gary, but that was impossible. She grinned without humor at her depressing day dream.

She spent most of the day on horseback. At midday she stopped by a nearby stream she found. She used the trickle of magic that had returned to her for checking the stream for impurities. Finding none, she led Moonlight to the water as both of them drank from it. Alanna sat on the stone bank, and pulled out a piece of jerky from her bags. She chewed it thoughtfully, staring out into the cerulean

She glanced down the long stretch of road. Finding no travelers in sight, she removed her shawl from her hair, letting it fall from the bun upon her shoulders. She looked up at the sky once more, reveling in the warmth of its glow. She washed her face in the stream, washing away the uncomfortable feeling the shawl had left on her face and ears.

Alanna saw a flash of movement in the forest on the other side of the stream and looked up. A doe stood in the clearing. Alanna saw the fear in the young dears amber eyes, and followed her gaze. A rider galloped down the road, a brigade of soldiers on horseback followed close behind. Alanna gasped, and grabbed Moonlight's reins. The doe vanished back into the forest, as quietly as she had come. Alanna and Moonlight, crossed the stream, Alanna shivering as the water soaked her up to her knees.

She and Moonlight walked deeper and deeper into the forest, Alanna never looking away from the road. When they were far enough that Alanna couldn't decipher the road from a branch on the tree, she left Moonlight and crept back to the spot on the banks. She was dimly aware that she had left her shawl on the bank.

As the bank itself loomed into view, Alanna stifled a moan. The soldiers camped out on the bank, already starting to set up camp. She noticed a soldier had already claimed her shawl, using the worn down old thing as a cloth to polish his boots with. She crept stealthily back to Moonlight, her head spinning with what she had seen.

She apologized to her horse for leaving er, and led her deeper into the forest. She hitched Moonlight up to a tree, and started to make camp. She rolled out her bedroll and dug a latrine trench with a small spade she had rolled up in an old cloth. It was too risky to make a fire, so Alanna ate stale biscuits and fed Moonlight an old apple. Moonlight sniffed in disgust, but greedily devoured the apple anyway.

Alanna brushed Moonlight down, thinking as she stroked. If she was to get back to Jonathan soon without being caught, she would have to sneak past the brigade unnoticed. There was no telling how long the soldiers would set up camp, and if they were after Jonathan and the rest she would have to warn them. She resolved to sneak out in the middle of the night.

She patted Moonlight on the nose, and told her to get some sleep. The horse gave a soft whinny of agreement, and closed her eyes, breathing deeply as her large horses' lungs would allow her. Alanna patted her again with approval, and made her way to her bedroll. She climbed inside, willing herself to asleep. She drifted off eventually, with the knowledge that if she didn't fall asleep, Jonathan could very well die.