{A/N I'd like to state again for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me.
This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.
Hope you enjoy - plotless. }
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toybox and play with them once in a while.
e-mail and tell me what you think : terra786@hotmail.com
Chapter 3
Alanna and Calisto had not slept the night before because they had to implement their plan to bring Delia down to size. Calisto who was not used to staying up late or waking up early was falling asleep in her porridge at the breakfast table. Thom was sitting across the table, eyeing them suspiciously. Alanna nudged Calisto awake just as the doors to the dining hall burst open and Delia descended the stairs majestically, her head held high. She was wearing a magnificent low cut purple dress with a matching purple bow in her hair and lots of jewellery and makeup. She would have looked perfect had it not been for the fact that her hair was bright green. One of Delia's friends got up and walked over to her. Getting up from their table Alanna and Calisto moved closer so that they could listen to the conversation.
"Um…Delia what…er…have you done to your hair?" Delia's friend asked hesitantly.
Delia smiled annoyingly, "Don't you just love it. I decided to wear something different and I had just bought this bow yesterday and it matches my dress so perfectly, don't you think?"
Her friend looked at her nervously, "Delia the colour."
"What about it?" Delia looked at her friend like she was mad. Calisto and Alanna had made sure that Delia could not see the effect of their spell in a mirror.
"It's well…uh…different," Delia's friend was getting more uncomfortable by the minute.
Alanna and Calisto chose this time to intervene. "Yes it is quite peculiar," Calisto said inspecting her hair. "Do you dye it?"
"Of course she doesn't! That colouring can only come naturally," Alanna told Calisto haughtily and they both turned away from Delia and grinned evilly. Delia seemed to detect something was wrong because she looked at her friend, stuck her hand out imperiously, and demanded, "Mirror!"
Just as Delia looked in the mirror, Alanna heard Calisto murmur the words to un-shield the spell they had done allowing Delia to see her true appearance.
Delia let out a high-pitched shriek and turned to Alanna and Calisto. "What have you done to my hair?" she cried.
"Who? Us?" they asked innocently.
"I'm going to get you for this?" everyone at the breakfast table watched Delia stomp out of the dining hall, then burst out laughing. Well, most of the Ladies that is.
"Why'd you do that to her?" Thom asked looking at then sternly.
"Oh, some people will do anything to people who are more intelligent and beautiful than them, even frame them for something they haven't done. It's despicable!" Calisto said angrily and she and Alanna turned to leave.
"Who? Me?" Thom scoffed stepping in front of Alanna and Calisto.
They had decided to just deny doing it and keep out of trouble but blaming Thom was not a good idea. "Who else is there who has the gift, besides Jonathan? Everyone knows he's wimp," Calisto said. Someone cleared their throat behind them. Calisto and Alanna spun around and gasped. Jonathan had a very annoyed look on his face and Alanna thought she should speak up. "Just pretend you didn't hear that Jonathan, you weren't supposed to anyway," she said consolingly. "Thom, we're just saying we didn't do anything to. She must have used the wrong dye in her hair. All we did was tease her a little and we couldn't help it, it's in our nature,"
Thom looked at them disbelievingly. "Fine, don't listen to me!" Alanna said angrily and stomped of. Calisto pulled a face in Thom's direction then followed her.
Alanna and Calisto had spent the day walking around the city. Alanna admired the weapons and Calisto stocked up on magical ingredients. Now they were back in Alanna's room and Alanna was practicing again since she hadn't had time that morning. Calisto, finally getting bored of watching Alanna do a whole lot of kicks and punches that all looked the same to her, wandered into her own room. A few minutes later she came running back out and started rushing around Alanna's room rummaging in all the cupboards and looking under the bed. Before she could start unpacking Alanna's trunks Alanna stepped in front of her, "What's wrong with you?" she asked. "If you haven't noticed, this is my room you're destroying!"
"I can't find it!" Calisto wailed looking at Alanna desperately.
"Can't find what?" Alanna asked. She looked at Calisto closely and knew, something was missing, Calisto looked different. Calisto's hand came to her neck as if to touch something there, finding nothing, her hand dropped to her side and she sighed dejectedly. That was when Alanna realized what was missing.
"Calisto, where's you chain?" she asked uncertainly. Since Alanna had known Calisto she had always seen her with a silver chain with a ruby attached to it around her neck. It was a family heirloom and had been passed down from generation to generation.
"It's gone!" Calisto wailed.
"What do you mean it's gone? You never take it off; you even sleep with it on. You bathe with it on!" Alanna asked incredulously.
"I must have forgotten to put it on after I had a bath last night. I can't believe I'm so stupid!" Calisto looked ready to start banging her head against the wall.
Alanna looked around the room thoughtfully, "I think I know where it might be."
"Where is it? I promise, if you've taken it I'll hex you." Calisto said looking at Alanna suspiciously.
"I've got one word for you." Calisto looked at Alanna enquiringly and she continued.
"Delia."
"You don't think she stole it, do you?" Calisto flopped down on the bed looking distraught.
"Well who else really, really hates us and would want to get revenge?" Alanna began pacing around the room. Before Calisto started to list all the possibilities Alanna carried on, "She did say she'd get us for what we did."
"So, what are you going to do about it?"
"Me?"
"I can't do anything I'm too hysterical!" Calisto looked at Alanna pleadingly then grinned. "Plus I know all your secrets and you know how bad I am at keeping secrets."
"Fine," Alanna glared at Calisto. "I was thinking maybe I'd steal it back tonight while she was sleeping,"
"As long as you get it back."
Alanna sighed, what wouldn't she do for Calisto?
Alanna crept along the corridor to Delia's room. It was midnight and she could see the full moon through one of the high windows. If she got caught she was dead meat, especially since Thom was already angry about the dummies and the thing with the hair. She arrived at Delia's room and checked the door. It was locked. Alanna reached into the pocket of her breeches and extracted a thin piece of metal, which she put into the lock and jiggled around as quietly as possible. The lock clicked and Alanna swung the door open silently. She looked around and realized she had no idea where to start looking.
"If I was a piece of valuable stolen jewellery where would I be?" she muttered to herself under her breath stepping into the room. Her eyes immediately fell on a small wooden chest on top of Delia's dresser. She walked over and looked at it carefully. It didn't look like a jewellery box but it was too small to keep clothes in. She retrieved the piece of metal again and started to move it around when a voice behind her interrupted what she was doing.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," it couldn't have been Delia because the voice definitely belonged to a male. Alanna drew in her breath. It was probably one of the guards who had seen the door open and come to investigate. Why hadn't she remembered to lock the door? She was so stupid sometimes. Alanna slowly turned around to face the worst. Casually leaning against one of the walls was a very tall man wearing breeches and a shirt, not a guard's uniform. Alanna couldn't see his face because he like herself was wearing a mask.
"What are you doing in here?" she asked annoyed.
"I should ask you the same thing," the man said angrily making his way over to Alanna. "I told the court that I was going to be here today and that no one must disturb me. Do you dare defy your king? I'll have your ears for this lad."
Alanna almost burst out laughing at that. He thought she was a boy and what was all this nonsense about being a king.
"King?" Alanna asked.
"Are you not part of my court?" the man asked.
"No, not that I know of," Alanna shook her head.
The man seemed to be talking to himself, "Probably just an amateur. Definitely doesn't know what he's doing," he addressed Alanna again, "I think you had better leave and don't think of coming to the palace to steal again. This is my territory."
"Last time I checked it belonged to the real king," Alanna said. "Now if you'll excuse me I've got work to do." She turned and began to fiddle with the lock again.
"Don't…" the man began but before he could finish the lock clicked and a terrible high pitched sound filled the room.
"I told you not to do that," the man said angrily. Delia sat up in bed, looked at them for a few minutes then began to scream at the top of her lungs.
"No, you said you wouldn't do that if you were me," Alanna said indignantly. She could hear the guard's footsteps in the corridor. The man put the chest in a bag he was carrying.
"Just come on," the man said grabbing her hand and steering her towards a tapestry hanging on the other side of the room.
"Let go of me! By the way I don't think one of us would be able to hide behind that tapestry let alone both of us."
The man let go of Alanna's hand and turned to face her, "Listen, I don't have to help you since you got yourself in this mess, but I am, so I'd appreciate it if you would just keep your mouth shut. I know a way out of this room so you either stop making smart comments and follow me or stay here and have a party with the guards."
"I'll stop talking," Alanna said quickly, picturing the look on Thom's face if he found out about this and followed the stranger to the tapestry. He swept it aside and Alanna saw there was a door behind it. He pushed the door open and Alanna followed him through it. On the other side she found herself in a dimly lit passage. The man turned right and Alanna followed him. They came to a bend rounded it and found themselves face to face with two guards. Alanna instinctively got into fighting stance.
"Stand back while I get rid of them," The man hissed at Alanna.
"Not a chance," she answered. "You take the one on the left and I'll take the other one."
Before the man could stop her Alanna had jumped forward and expertly kicked the guard in the chest while still in the air and he fell to the floor. Alanna landed on her feet in front of the guard just as he was getting to his feet and before he realized what was happening she punched him in the face and at the same time kicked him in the stomach. The guard fell to the floor unconscious and Alanna looked up to see that the man had finished of his guard and was standing staring at her.
"What?" she asked.
"You really know how to fight," he said surprised, but Alanna didn't have time to answer because they heard more guards coming. They took of at a run down the passage, Alanna in the lead. She could hear the guards behind them and she hesitated as she came to the end of the passage. She didn't know whether to turn left or right. She finally decided to just go through the door directly in front of her. They stood on one of the many balconies overlooking the palace gardens. They leaned against the door until they heard the guards pass then let out equally relieved sighs. Alanna turned to face the man.
"That was close," she said breathlessly.
"Who are you?" The man asked.
"Who are you?" Alanna asked. They both reached out and yanked each other's masks off at the same time. The man looked about twenty, (A/N: I decided to make George younger than in the books. Deal with it), had light brown hair and hazel eyes. He was actually quite handsome. Alanna mentally kicked herself at that thought.
"You're a girl!" he gasped.
Alanna couldn't help herself, "And you're a boy," she said sarcastically.
Hazel eyes met purple and it looked like the man was going to say something when they heard more guards coming.
"I think we should leave now, while we can" Alanna said when the guards had passed. They walked to the doors, turned and ran in different directions. The man going left and Alanna right.