Disclaimer: Not only am I penniless (all my money goes to gas and occasionally candy, which makes me happy because gas prices were down this weekend yay!!!!) but I don't own anything from Tortal, that concept is owned by the illustrious Tamora Pierce. (much as it pains me to change my disclaimer I have to 'cause gas prices rose again this week and now I'm sad… L oh well on to the A/N.)
A/N okay, I haven't gotten reviews on the third chappy yet but I figure I may as well write this here thingy anyway. I guess one week has passed since Gill's encounter with the magic people.
Gill sat swinging her legs at the kitchen table. Her grammar book lay open on the table in front of her, a plate with bread and butter for breakfast was at her elbow and so was reclining and chewing on the end of a pen, "Do I 'ave to do this?" she whined barely slipping into her former accent.
"Yes you must, and you should eat your breakfast before it gets cold," Eleni replied briskly as she bustled about preparing her own meal.
"When's George coming over?"
"He left yesterday on business; I'm not sure when he'll be back. Why?"
Gill shrugged she was had been looking forward to the day's fighting lesson. George was a master of street fighting and dirty tricks. She had come to love her daily weapons session with him. It certainly broke up the tedium of the book learning Eleni forced on her, "No reason," Gill replied tossing down the pen and picking at her breakfast.
"He told me that Stefan or Rispah would be by to give you your lesson for today after lunch sometime," Eleni put in nonchalantly as she joined Gill at the table with her own toast. Gill's face brightened.
"Really?" she said and took a bite of bread.
"Yeah, as long as you've finished you bookwork by then."
Gill wolfed down the rest of her breakfast and wiped her hands on her legs before snatching up the pen and scribbling out her work. Five algebra problems, ten poorly written sentences to correct, and a poem about a stupid flower to read and then write about, Gill rushed through it all. When it was done she glanced through to check for mistakes and grudgingly fixed the ones she found.
As she stood to find Eleni and hand in her work she stretched and noted that a few hours had gone by while she sat there. She spared a mournful thought for the wasted morning and set off to check Eleni's study.
The other woman wasn't there so Gill wandered trough the house periodically calling out to her teacher. Eventually she found her in a small workroom with dried plants and obscure charms and medallions hanging everywhere.
"What is this place?" Gill asked looking around wide-eyed and forgetting the papers in her hands.
"My workroom," Eleni replied without looking away from whatever it was she was doing.
"Oh."
"Do you have a reason to be bothering me here?"
"Oh… right my work is done… where do you want it?"
"Put it in my study."
"Okay," Gill replied absently still gawking. She left slowly and then rushed back to the study where she plunked down the papers. Just then the sound of knocking echoed through the house.
"Get that, won't you Gill dear?" Eleni called.
"Sure thing," Gill replied and dashed down to the door. When she opened it a red-haired woman was standing there impatiently waiting.
"Is George there?" she asked grumpily.
"No, sorry Ma'am," Gill replied, cowed by the woman's forceful demeanor.
"Who are you?"
"Gill, Ma'am."
"I see, and what are you doing in Mistress Cooper's house?"
"I… uh," Gill stood speechless for a moment before blurting out; "Ah'm stayin' 'ere fo' th' momen' miss."
"What? I would have thought that Eleni would have you speaking sense if you are he assistant."
Gill recovered her new grasp of grammar and managed to say, "I'm not her assistant. George is keeping me here for a while…"
A puzzled look crossed her face, "George is keeping you here? What's that supposed to mean girl?"
Gill shrugged, "I was at the Dancin' Dove and one of his stooges brought me over ta meet him and he insisted that I come stay with 'is mother seein' as I had no place else to go. And seeing as how he thought my arrival to the city was a bit too much of a coincidence."
"Well he certainly had the right idea," the woman said ruefully, "Too bad he had the wrong kid… alright so do you know when he'll be back?"
"No, but if you want ta leave a message I'll be sure he gets it."
"Tell him Alanna came by and wanted to see him … I'll probably be gone by the time he gets back here though, tell him to ask Raoul or Gary if he wants to know where I am."
"Okay, thanks for comin' by Miss Alanna," Gill said not sure why the woman had bothered coming over if she was just going to stand in the door and gabble. She also wondered what the stranger had meant about George having the right idea but the wrong kid.
Eleni came into the entryway wiping her hands on her apron just then, disturbing Gill's train of thought.
"Who was it?"
"Someone who called herself Alanna."
"Red hair?"
"Yeah…"
"That would be George's fiancée," Eleni said with a rueful grin. Gill understood why she had only wanted to see George now, "She is also the King's Champion."
"What? But the king's champion is a knight," Gill said startled.
"Surely you have heard of The Lioness? Tortall's lady knight…"
Gill's jaw dropped when she finally recovered her ability to talk everything came out garbled, "Ya mean she's real? Lak, no' jus'uh fairy tale?"
"Didn't she look real to you?"
"Yeah, but, well, they always tol' us that such stories were foolishness an' we should jus' keep ta our work…"
"I see. Well she is as real as anyone else in Tortall. So what did she have to say?"
Gill shrugged, "She wanted ta talk ta George 'bout somethin'…"
"She wanted to talk to George about something," Eleni corrected smartly.
"Right an' she mentioned something about George being right about coincidences but catching the wrong one…"
"In relation to?"
"To why I'm here."
"I see. Well, let's get lunch so you'll be ready for you fighting lesson," Eleni made them both lunch and they ate and had cleared the table by the time a tall and boisterous woman showed up.
"Aunt?" the lady's voice drifted in from the entry, "I'm here for the girl's lesson."
"Rispah, come on in, we're in the kitchen."
Rispah came into the room a moment later. Gill stared at the lady for a moment. She wondered how the woman managed to breath without an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction, let alone how she intended to fight in her getup.
"Hi there darlin'," she drawled, "Ain't you just precious?"
"Hi," Gill replied dazedly.
"This is my niece, and George's cousin, Rispah," Eleni introduced, "Rispah George's urchin, Gill."
"I don't belong to George," Gill said startled out of her shock at her new instructor.
"No you don't, 'sides he already has a girl so how about we start the lesson?"
"Like that?" Gill gestured taking in Rispah's attire.
"Yeah, like this. Come on out to the backyard we'll do it there."
"Alright," Gill replied doubtfully as she followed the woman outside. Eleni went off somewhere and Gill had the entire afternoon with one-on-one attention from Rispah.
During the course of their practice session Gill acquired a nice collection of bruises and a new respect for her new teacher. She was also very pleased to note that he suspicions about Rispah's ability to find her closet were largely unfounded. The woman had fared just fine in their sparring.
"Tell Aunt Eleni goodbye for me?" Rispah asked with a smile. Gill had seen her to the door and they were exchanging pleasantries.
"Yeah, I will."
"George told me he would try to be back for your lesson tomorrow but if not Stefan or I will be over. Night precious," Rispah winked and smiled as she left.
A/N Okay this un's done hope you liked it. If so review J if not review J ummm… you know the begging drill so I'll cut it short. Night all.