This is very AU, and if you don't like that sort of thing, this is probably not for you. The words of the song Baby's On Fire originally by Brian Eno, and preformed by "The Venus In Furs" as found on Velvet Goldmine Soundtrack.
Which I do not own, along with anyone from Tortall.
This is rated "R" for Langue and reference to sexual acts.
*Note: the little bit at the end about the wave and smile is lifted from Babylon 5, it is reminiscent to what Vir says to Mr. Morden. (I don't own any of that either!)
~Mara
***
It was another one of those endless balls. Lords and Ladies were dancing; servants were serving enormous amounts of food and wine, and young ladies were flirting with young knights. One young knight, who was not sulking like Raoul, was rather un-jovial at the moment. Every time a new group of court ladies came, it hit Thom like an arrow to the stomach.
Alanna.
She should be here.
Their father had foiled their plot so many years ago, and neither had fallen into their respectable roles comfortably. In the end it hadn't really mattered, Alanna was dead, and that was the end of the story. Thom still could not wrap his head around the incident. She had seemed quite all right back at Trebond for their father's funeral. She even encouraged him to try to be nicer to the other boys, and re-assured Thom she would see him in a year at the Palace.
But it was never to be. Thom's gut still clenched when he remembered the letter he had received not a month after they had parted ways. He still couldn't bring himself to sit at the seat where the messenger had found him, working on his mathematics.
***
"Might you be Lord Thom, Squire?" Thom looked up.
"Yes, Yes I am." The messenger held out the note, and bid the boy goodbye.
It was 3.4 seconds later that Thom's life exploded.
Quite literary.
He had loss control of his gift and had shattered the glass in the windows. The other boys, after shielding themselves from the flying shards, immediately demanded he tell some reason for the outburst.
Thom said not a word as he got up from the chair, blood running from small cuts the glass had made on his face, and walked out the door, homework forgotten.
Finally, Prince Jonathan had gotten up, and looked at the letter. He could not stop the sympathy he had for the caustic redheaded man.
Lord Thom,
It is my unpleasant duty to inform you of your sister, Lady Alanna of Trebond's death. As I am sure it has come as a shock to you, especially so near after your late father's death, I give you my regret. Your sister's clothes and belongings were found this morning in a charred room in the local inn. We can only suppose as to the reason she was there. Her body has not yet been found, however, it is the expressed belief by the constable that it was completely burned. What is found in her rooms will be returned to your ancestral home.
With Deep Apologies,
Mother Superior Anne,
First Daughter of the Covenant.
Jonathan allowed the paper to fall to the ground, and gathered the boy's forgotten homework. He would take them to Thom's chambers, and let the younger boy cry on his shoulder.
***
"Perhaps Lord Thom would care to join those in Corus now?" Jonathan joked as he hit Thom in the arm to pull him from his trance. Thom looked about at the girls, the knights, the dancing men and woman, and the servants, a blank look in his eyes. His distance troubled his friends.
He put on a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and turned to the nearest lady.
***
It was growing late, and young couples were starting to pair up, drifting out the doors to go on a walk in the gardens, or biding their time until the King and Queen left and the couple could retire to someplace quieter.
It was then that the two grand doors burst open. A young woman flew down the stairs, a naked sword in her hand. She wore a dark tunic, matched by her pants and hose in a similar color. Her hair was flaming, and her eyes, though dull, were glinting with something dangerous.
Thom's heart just about leapt out of his body, he knew with every bit of his being that it was Alanna, not dead, but here in front of him.
But she had no eyes for him. She made her way quickly to the front of the room, pushing past couples on the dance floor. The musicians had stopped playing at some point, but no one could quite recall when. Men reached for their swords only to be discouraged by the glint of steel in her hands. She slowed as she reached the Royal dais, then full stopped about twenty paces away. Roger, the King's brother stood, making his way to the woman, pulling out his sword and indicating to the others to stay put. He could take care of one measly girl.
"Take a good look, girl, as I am the last person you shall see alive."
Babies on fire
Better throw her in the water
They began to circle one another, forming their own duel of sorts. The woman snorted rather un-lady-like. "No thanks," she replied rather nastily, "I've had my fill of you for more than a lifetime, Your Grace."
Look at her laughing
Like a heifer to the slaughter
It was the Duke's turn to snort. "As if one so lowly as you could stand to look at me."
Babies on fire
And all the laughing boys are bitching
The woman bit back, "tell me, Your Grace, when you left me for dead in that burning room, beaten, broken and used like a common whore, did you ever imagine that we would once again meet?"
Waiting for photos
Oh the plot is so bewitching
The court gasped at her words, the duel had become much, much, more interesting. Jonathan made his was quickly to Thom's side, putting a restraining hand on the boy's shoulder.
Rescuers row, row
Do your best to change the subject
Realization dawned on the Duke's face as the fight dragged on, it was the girl from the inn four years ago. It was then that panic set in, he would have to do major damage control with his brother to once again get into his good graces. But first he needed to kill the brat that was holding the sword.
Blow the wind blow, blow
Lend some assistance to the object
Jonathan leaned close to Thom, "Is that who I think it is? Is that your sister?" Thom nodded in affirmation. "Then Thom, why are you smiling?"
***
The two exchanged blows, each scoring hit until both had become bloody, and the floor underneath them red and slippery. The duke had a nasty scratch down his arm, and the woman a deep gut wound.
Photographer's snip-snap
Take your time she's only burning
After a long volley of hits, the woman grinned evilly. "This is all fun, Your Grace, but I must let you know, I'm not left-handed." She tossed the sword in the air, and caught it in her right hand, and from there the duel had changed.
In the Woman's favor.
This kind of experience
Is necessary for her learning
In a flourish she disarmed the Duke, and approached him like a predator stalking a half-dead prey. The Duke, for his part, knew that he was dead; the wounds he had sustained were too much for even Duke Baird to heal. But he also saw the gash on the girl's torso; she was equally close to mortality.
If you'd be my flotsam
I could be half the man I used to
She pressed the tip of her sword to his neck, ignoring the pain that she felt in her stomach. "Tell me, you bastard, did you think it was clever to set the room on fire as you left, leaving me to die as your slut?
"But I didn't die, did I?"
They said you were hot stuff
And that's what baby's been reduced to
"I escaped, and began to plot my revenge. Do you know what kind of motivator revenge is? The best kind, the kind that keeps you warm on a cold night, the kind that keeps you sated when you have eaten nothing for weeks, the type that keeps you alive when all you want to do is crawl up and die. That is what revenge does, that is what has brought me here, four years later after nearly burning to death in that inn."
Juanita and Juan
Very clever with maracas
She got a little closer, "I am sure you want to know how I found you, right? You must have thought you were so very clever to use your gift to keep the fire contained in that one room, and maybe you were, but after I got a sniff of your gift you were as easy to track as a wounded animal. Imagine my surprise at finding out I had been . . . oh . . . deflowered, by the brother of the King. I felt so special."
Making their fortune
Selling second-hand tobaccos
"So very special to be your whore, your harlot, your little piece of chick for the night. Used, abused and left for dead."
Juan dances at Chico's
And when the clients are addicted
"But I got passed it, I scraped my life back together, learning the art of fighting, so that one day, I could stand here, and defeat you, a full knight of the Realm."
He empties their ashtrays
And pockets all that he's collected
"The vision of standing over your dead body kept me going through the bruises and broken bones. I imagined standing over you and smiling at your lifeless face, and waving a bit, like this." She demonstrated a bit of a wave.
But baby's on fire
And all the instruments agree that
At that moment the Duke struck, putting a dagger through her chest. His momentary triumph shattered by the hot pain of his nephew's sword piercing his heart.
Her temperature's rising
But any idiot would know that
It was the last image Alanna saw before her world turned black.