A/N: Sorry this too so long, I've been very busy with school and all, but I
hope to start actually updating this thing now. Enjoy!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I cooked the meal that evening. Alanna sat next to me, watching me, which made me somewhat uncomfortable, though I tried to hide it.
"Do you plan to marry?" I asked suddenly.
"What?" she cried, startled.
"You heard me. Your plans for the future - do they include a husband? Children?"
I thought this was an innocent enough question, though a bit nosy. Alanna obviously disagreed.
"Give up my shield after working so hard? Spend my time at court or on my husband's lands? I have no patience for that kind of life."
She assumed that the man she would marry would be a noble. I wondered if she was thinking of Prince Jonathan, who had been rumored to be her loved; a rumor that Coram had practically admitted to. But the position of princess, and then queen, would be far different to jus living on her husband's lands, or spending time at court.
"I just wondered why you feel you have to be all warrior or all woman." I said calmly.
Alanna turned away, towards Coram as he approached us. I brushed her hand lightly, to see if she was truly angry, and she turned back, her eyes gazing into mine.
"Kindly wait t'romance her 'til I'm not here." Coram said sternly. "I've a father's interest in my lady still. And go easy on her. She's not used to the game you're playin'."
I grinned as Alanna turned bright red, and turned on Coram, furious. " I can speak for myself."
'If you wanted to.' A little voice said. Coram laughed, and I realized it was Faithful who had spoken.
Alanna stormed off, but returned a little later to show Coram a lady in the fire. I had learned that her name was Rispah, and she was Coram's lover, and soon-to-be wife. Purple fire flickered around the flames until the lady appeared and Coram gazed at her. I stood up, hurrying towards the stream where I could be away from the magic. I was lying under one of the willows there when Alanna found me.
"You use your magic a lot." I said flatly as she came up behind me.
"I've had it all my life. I'm used to it now." She sat down beside me. "you must have seen plenty of sorcery, roaming the way you do."
"No one is Gifted in Shang." I replied softly.
"You keep us out on purpose? Why?" she demanded.
I couldn't look at her. "The Gifted use their magic for a crutch. They won't surrender to Shang study, because they know the Gift can always win them an escape."
"We cheat, you mean." She sound annoyed; no, she sounded furious.
"You'd be helpless, if your Gift was taken." I replied.
"Of course not!" she cried.
"How do you know?"
She didn't say anything. She didn't know.
"I can't help being Gifted." She said finally. "I tried to fight it, when I was a page. Then the Sweating Sickness came ands a lot of people died. Prince Jonathan would have died, too, if I hadn't used my Gift."
"I just told you what we're taught." I replied coldly, not meeting her eyes.
"Tell me, where would your great Shang masters be without healers and their magic? Where would you be? My tribe would've fallen to the hillmen, without my Gift and the Gifts of my students. I use my magic to heal, to pay back for some of the lives I take. What do you do to repay?"
"Whatever it is I do, Lady Pry, I do it with my own two hands!" I snapped. Instantly I regretted saying it. It wasn't her fault she had magic. Like she had said, it was part of her, something she was born with. It was something that she couldn't - and shouldn't - ignore. She had every right to use it. I shouldn't take my fear out on her. "Alanna, wait! I didn't mean - I have a temper."
"So do I," she snapped, allowing me to pull her back down.
"Shang allows healers to work on us, it's true. The students are Giftless. Not so much because the masters think people use it for a crutch as because the know training the Gift takes the student's attention away from other things. When you follow Shang, you only follow Shang - if you're to succeed." I stroked her hair. "Don't scowl so, kitten. You've got me shaking in my boots."
"I can't change what I am." She said quietly. "I never asked to be half witch and half warrior."
"I know." I took a deep breath and continued. "Listen. I got heated up because I'm - because I'm afraid of magic."
She glared at me. "You aren't afraid of anything."
"Everyone's afraid of something." I replied. "I fear dying for nothing. I hate being helpless. Then what's the good of being a Dragon?"
"Or a Lioness." She whispered.
"But I'm also afraid of the Gift - I don't even let healers use magic on me. Some folk are afraid of spiders-with me, it's that."
She shuddered when I said spiders, betraying her fear. "I never heard of someone fearing magic, not like that. Disliking it, yes."
"Well, I'm afraid of it." I couldn't tell what she thought of me. Disgust? Hate? She was fingering that stone at her throat.
"Liam?" she said finally.
"What?" I asked.
"How." she paused and I looked at her. She was blushing, I could tell, even in the dark. "How can we be - well, anything - if you fear my Gift?"
Was that all that was worrying her? I put my arms around her and pulled her close, even though I was wondering the same thing. "I want to try anyway. What about you?"
"I don't know you very well at all." She whispered. "You don't know me."
"That's the fun of it, kitten." I smiled and kissed her gently, then passionately. I forgot about her magic, and her higher status, and all the problems we had for the time being.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I continued to work on Shang fighting with Alanna every morning as we traveled through Maren. When we finally reached Fortress Jirokan, on the border of Maren and Sarain, we could see all of the people feeling from Sarain trying to make their way through the city. It was painful to watch all of the starving, penniless people struggling to survive each day.
We stopped at the Mongrel Cur for the night. I didn't want to cause anyone to notice a Shang warrior and Knight of Tortall in the inn, because with the city the way it was, there might be problems. So we dressed as ordinary travelers when we sat in the Common Room that evening.
My mistake.
Coram and I played chess after dinner, and Alanna watched us, occasionally glancing over at the group of Marenite Guardsmen drinking and messing around. I didn't pay any attention to them until one of the ladies with them wandered over to our table.
"So quiet ye lads are." She purred, a hand on my shoulder. I glanced up at her, surprised. "Don't ye care for female.companions?"
"Where I come from, it's considered polite to keep to the man you're with." Alanna hissed.
The woman looked surprised. She could tell that Alanna was female in the dark room, and without anything proclaiming that Alanna was a knight and I was the Shang Dragon, she didn't know who we were.
"What - the boy's in love wiv' ye, then?" the woman asked. I couldn't help chuckling as I glanced up at the woman.
Coram put a hand over Alanna's mouth and hissed something in her ear. But as soon as he took his hand away, Alanna snapped, "What're you looking for, Liam, fleas?"
She was jealous, that mush was obvious, and acting it too. It was rather amusing to watch Alanna glare at the woman as she ran a hand through my hair.
"Lads're no fun, and this one don't look like he knows much. Now me, I appreciate a man."
Alanna cried out, but Coram hand over her mouth stopped her from saying anything. She sat back, still glaring at the lady who was paying no attention to Alanna.
Just then a roar interrupted the quiet of the common room. One of the guardsmen was making his way towards me, and the lady backed away. It didn't take much to figure out what he was angry about.
"This is wasn't you think." I said quietly, knowing it would do no good. Now, if I had worn Shang insignia, he would have known not to mess with me. As it was, he grabbed my tunic and snarled,
"On your feet!"
"Forget this. I'm Liam Ironarm, the Shang Dragon." I grabbed his wrist.
"Expect me t'think a Shang warrior'd sit with us ordinary folk?" he laughed. He tried to pull me up. I tightened my hand around his wrist and his yelped in pain. I stood up, and the guard backed away.
"Next time you're told someone is Shang, pay attention." I turned to Alanna and Coram, wondering if Alanna was still angry with me. "This place is too lively for me."
The guard flew at my back. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alanna reach for her knife - trust her to bring a weapon when I told her not to - but Coram held her back.
I twisted around, swinging the man over my shoulder. He crashed into a table, but he was up in a moment, charging at me again. I turned and kicked my left foot into his stomach, and then his chin as he dropped. Two more men rushed forward, but I calmly kicked a sword out of one's hand, and threw the other one onto the table. No one else moved.
"Anything broken?" I asked the first guardsman, pulling his to his feet. He just stared at me, so I checked him all over, and then dropped him again. "You'll live."
Turing back to Alanna and Coram, I headed for the door. "Let's find some place quieter."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that night Alanna and I were seated on a wall overlooking the Shappa River. Coram had left to find a card or dice game, and Faithful was off somewhere.
"I like how you fought back there." Alanna said sleepily. "No mess, no broken bones, no dead. Nice."
I had thought she'd be angry with me, but obviously she didn't care much anymore. She had to have realized that when I realized how jealous she was, I was just teasing her. "I'm glad they too the hint."
"Traveling with you is fun." She paused, and then continued. "Did Coram tell you why were bound for the Roof of the World?"
"He said you had a map for some treasure. It makes no sense, risking your lives for gold that might or mightn't be there." I added, "But if you have no better plans -"
"It isn't gold." She interrupted. "It's the Dominion Jewel. I want to find it and bring it home, for the glory of Tortall."
I considered that. The Dominion Jewel had been the stuff of fairytales, but it was very possible that it was real and that Alanna knew where it was. Story said that it could be used by anyone who had the ability to rule, and it could make anything happen. King Norrin and Queen Anj'la of Maren had used it to create peace and prosperity years ago, and ever since there had been no wars or plagues. Of course, it could be used for evil too, like Giamo had used it to conquer land from other countries for his Gallan Empire. A king with sorcery, like King Roald of Tortall, the man who Alanna would give it to, could do even more with it. The thought was slightly scary, as wonderful as the idea seemed.
"Not to mention that the deed would prove you're worthy of your shield." I jumped down from the wall and held up my hands to her. She slid down and I kissed her. "Gifted one, when it comes to a hero's deed, you don't think small."
"Liam?" she pleaded. "What're you doing next?"
I had said I'd only ride to the border, but with nothing better to do, and a dangerous quest ahead, I wasn't going to leave them now. "Riding with you and Coram, I expect."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As we traveled, I continued to drag Alanna out of our now-shared bedroll in the morning and put her through a strenuous workout. Whether or not she wanted to, she was going to become almost as good as a Shang warrior if I had my way. And I knew she did want it. Just maybe not so early in the morning.
Sarain was a wasteland. We saw no one, but four days into the country we came across a huge pile of skeletons with armor and weapons thrown about randomly lay in front of us, evidence of the war.
"Heavy fighting." Alanna murmured, kneeling to inspect it. "Some archery at first, but close quarters after. An ambush?"
"The world of difference between a good king and a bad one." I crouched down beside her. "In five years Adigun jin Wilima has destroyed the work of generations. They deserved better." I returned to my horse, but Alanna didn't follow. She was arranging twigs into a pyramid. Then she knotted a piece of cord and wrapped it around the pyramid. She stood up, and instantly I knew what she was doing.
Why couldn't she just have left them there? Yes, they deserved better burials than to lie there, skeletons rotting away, but now flames soared up from the pile. It was a good idea, but it wasn't easy to watch her cause that fire. I could feel the magic in the air, and it made me sweat with fear.
When Alanna returned, I couldn't say anything to her, and she said nothing to me. I was ashamed of my weakness, but it was part of me, just like her magic was, and there was nothing we could do about it. It was awful, loving her so much, but fearing her as much. I left to hunt for food after that, to get my mind off Alanna and the magic. When I returned I couldn't feel the magic anymore, though it didn't stop my mind from remembering.
"Where are the armies?" Alanna sighed as I approached.
"Bedded down for the night, I hope." I replied, handing the fish to Alanna. Surely she couldn't ruin a perfectly good fish if she cooked it? "All the same, let's stand watches."
We were eating when Faithful become to hiss.
'People. Woman and infants. On the other side of the ridge!'
it shocked me still to hear him speak, but I couldn't think of that now. Coram and Alanna were picking up their swords cautiously. Part of me wanted to say "It's just women and children," but I knew Alanna wouldn't appreciate that remark. Another part of me was every worried by this news.
Coram watched the horses while Alanna and I crept through the trees as quietly as we could. I motioned to Alanna to hide. She didn't look happy about the idea, but she obeyed grudgingly. I moved off, looking around for our visitors. They were below us, following the stream. I was watching them when I heard a voice in the distance growl.
"Tell the big one to drop his blade, or I put a bolt through you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Aw, wasn't that sweet? And a cliffhanger ending, though you all know what happens next. Review if you liked it.or even if you didn't. Especially then.
snowylove-angel: I'm so glad you feel as if I did a good job of capturing Liam's point of view. I tried to do that, of course, but I didn't know if I'd managed.
Queen's Own: I'll answer the questions eventually, don't worry!
sw33t t3mptations, Queerquail, PsychoLioness13: Thank you!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I cooked the meal that evening. Alanna sat next to me, watching me, which made me somewhat uncomfortable, though I tried to hide it.
"Do you plan to marry?" I asked suddenly.
"What?" she cried, startled.
"You heard me. Your plans for the future - do they include a husband? Children?"
I thought this was an innocent enough question, though a bit nosy. Alanna obviously disagreed.
"Give up my shield after working so hard? Spend my time at court or on my husband's lands? I have no patience for that kind of life."
She assumed that the man she would marry would be a noble. I wondered if she was thinking of Prince Jonathan, who had been rumored to be her loved; a rumor that Coram had practically admitted to. But the position of princess, and then queen, would be far different to jus living on her husband's lands, or spending time at court.
"I just wondered why you feel you have to be all warrior or all woman." I said calmly.
Alanna turned away, towards Coram as he approached us. I brushed her hand lightly, to see if she was truly angry, and she turned back, her eyes gazing into mine.
"Kindly wait t'romance her 'til I'm not here." Coram said sternly. "I've a father's interest in my lady still. And go easy on her. She's not used to the game you're playin'."
I grinned as Alanna turned bright red, and turned on Coram, furious. " I can speak for myself."
'If you wanted to.' A little voice said. Coram laughed, and I realized it was Faithful who had spoken.
Alanna stormed off, but returned a little later to show Coram a lady in the fire. I had learned that her name was Rispah, and she was Coram's lover, and soon-to-be wife. Purple fire flickered around the flames until the lady appeared and Coram gazed at her. I stood up, hurrying towards the stream where I could be away from the magic. I was lying under one of the willows there when Alanna found me.
"You use your magic a lot." I said flatly as she came up behind me.
"I've had it all my life. I'm used to it now." She sat down beside me. "you must have seen plenty of sorcery, roaming the way you do."
"No one is Gifted in Shang." I replied softly.
"You keep us out on purpose? Why?" she demanded.
I couldn't look at her. "The Gifted use their magic for a crutch. They won't surrender to Shang study, because they know the Gift can always win them an escape."
"We cheat, you mean." She sound annoyed; no, she sounded furious.
"You'd be helpless, if your Gift was taken." I replied.
"Of course not!" she cried.
"How do you know?"
She didn't say anything. She didn't know.
"I can't help being Gifted." She said finally. "I tried to fight it, when I was a page. Then the Sweating Sickness came ands a lot of people died. Prince Jonathan would have died, too, if I hadn't used my Gift."
"I just told you what we're taught." I replied coldly, not meeting her eyes.
"Tell me, where would your great Shang masters be without healers and their magic? Where would you be? My tribe would've fallen to the hillmen, without my Gift and the Gifts of my students. I use my magic to heal, to pay back for some of the lives I take. What do you do to repay?"
"Whatever it is I do, Lady Pry, I do it with my own two hands!" I snapped. Instantly I regretted saying it. It wasn't her fault she had magic. Like she had said, it was part of her, something she was born with. It was something that she couldn't - and shouldn't - ignore. She had every right to use it. I shouldn't take my fear out on her. "Alanna, wait! I didn't mean - I have a temper."
"So do I," she snapped, allowing me to pull her back down.
"Shang allows healers to work on us, it's true. The students are Giftless. Not so much because the masters think people use it for a crutch as because the know training the Gift takes the student's attention away from other things. When you follow Shang, you only follow Shang - if you're to succeed." I stroked her hair. "Don't scowl so, kitten. You've got me shaking in my boots."
"I can't change what I am." She said quietly. "I never asked to be half witch and half warrior."
"I know." I took a deep breath and continued. "Listen. I got heated up because I'm - because I'm afraid of magic."
She glared at me. "You aren't afraid of anything."
"Everyone's afraid of something." I replied. "I fear dying for nothing. I hate being helpless. Then what's the good of being a Dragon?"
"Or a Lioness." She whispered.
"But I'm also afraid of the Gift - I don't even let healers use magic on me. Some folk are afraid of spiders-with me, it's that."
She shuddered when I said spiders, betraying her fear. "I never heard of someone fearing magic, not like that. Disliking it, yes."
"Well, I'm afraid of it." I couldn't tell what she thought of me. Disgust? Hate? She was fingering that stone at her throat.
"Liam?" she said finally.
"What?" I asked.
"How." she paused and I looked at her. She was blushing, I could tell, even in the dark. "How can we be - well, anything - if you fear my Gift?"
Was that all that was worrying her? I put my arms around her and pulled her close, even though I was wondering the same thing. "I want to try anyway. What about you?"
"I don't know you very well at all." She whispered. "You don't know me."
"That's the fun of it, kitten." I smiled and kissed her gently, then passionately. I forgot about her magic, and her higher status, and all the problems we had for the time being.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I continued to work on Shang fighting with Alanna every morning as we traveled through Maren. When we finally reached Fortress Jirokan, on the border of Maren and Sarain, we could see all of the people feeling from Sarain trying to make their way through the city. It was painful to watch all of the starving, penniless people struggling to survive each day.
We stopped at the Mongrel Cur for the night. I didn't want to cause anyone to notice a Shang warrior and Knight of Tortall in the inn, because with the city the way it was, there might be problems. So we dressed as ordinary travelers when we sat in the Common Room that evening.
My mistake.
Coram and I played chess after dinner, and Alanna watched us, occasionally glancing over at the group of Marenite Guardsmen drinking and messing around. I didn't pay any attention to them until one of the ladies with them wandered over to our table.
"So quiet ye lads are." She purred, a hand on my shoulder. I glanced up at her, surprised. "Don't ye care for female.companions?"
"Where I come from, it's considered polite to keep to the man you're with." Alanna hissed.
The woman looked surprised. She could tell that Alanna was female in the dark room, and without anything proclaiming that Alanna was a knight and I was the Shang Dragon, she didn't know who we were.
"What - the boy's in love wiv' ye, then?" the woman asked. I couldn't help chuckling as I glanced up at the woman.
Coram put a hand over Alanna's mouth and hissed something in her ear. But as soon as he took his hand away, Alanna snapped, "What're you looking for, Liam, fleas?"
She was jealous, that mush was obvious, and acting it too. It was rather amusing to watch Alanna glare at the woman as she ran a hand through my hair.
"Lads're no fun, and this one don't look like he knows much. Now me, I appreciate a man."
Alanna cried out, but Coram hand over her mouth stopped her from saying anything. She sat back, still glaring at the lady who was paying no attention to Alanna.
Just then a roar interrupted the quiet of the common room. One of the guardsmen was making his way towards me, and the lady backed away. It didn't take much to figure out what he was angry about.
"This is wasn't you think." I said quietly, knowing it would do no good. Now, if I had worn Shang insignia, he would have known not to mess with me. As it was, he grabbed my tunic and snarled,
"On your feet!"
"Forget this. I'm Liam Ironarm, the Shang Dragon." I grabbed his wrist.
"Expect me t'think a Shang warrior'd sit with us ordinary folk?" he laughed. He tried to pull me up. I tightened my hand around his wrist and his yelped in pain. I stood up, and the guard backed away.
"Next time you're told someone is Shang, pay attention." I turned to Alanna and Coram, wondering if Alanna was still angry with me. "This place is too lively for me."
The guard flew at my back. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alanna reach for her knife - trust her to bring a weapon when I told her not to - but Coram held her back.
I twisted around, swinging the man over my shoulder. He crashed into a table, but he was up in a moment, charging at me again. I turned and kicked my left foot into his stomach, and then his chin as he dropped. Two more men rushed forward, but I calmly kicked a sword out of one's hand, and threw the other one onto the table. No one else moved.
"Anything broken?" I asked the first guardsman, pulling his to his feet. He just stared at me, so I checked him all over, and then dropped him again. "You'll live."
Turing back to Alanna and Coram, I headed for the door. "Let's find some place quieter."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that night Alanna and I were seated on a wall overlooking the Shappa River. Coram had left to find a card or dice game, and Faithful was off somewhere.
"I like how you fought back there." Alanna said sleepily. "No mess, no broken bones, no dead. Nice."
I had thought she'd be angry with me, but obviously she didn't care much anymore. She had to have realized that when I realized how jealous she was, I was just teasing her. "I'm glad they too the hint."
"Traveling with you is fun." She paused, and then continued. "Did Coram tell you why were bound for the Roof of the World?"
"He said you had a map for some treasure. It makes no sense, risking your lives for gold that might or mightn't be there." I added, "But if you have no better plans -"
"It isn't gold." She interrupted. "It's the Dominion Jewel. I want to find it and bring it home, for the glory of Tortall."
I considered that. The Dominion Jewel had been the stuff of fairytales, but it was very possible that it was real and that Alanna knew where it was. Story said that it could be used by anyone who had the ability to rule, and it could make anything happen. King Norrin and Queen Anj'la of Maren had used it to create peace and prosperity years ago, and ever since there had been no wars or plagues. Of course, it could be used for evil too, like Giamo had used it to conquer land from other countries for his Gallan Empire. A king with sorcery, like King Roald of Tortall, the man who Alanna would give it to, could do even more with it. The thought was slightly scary, as wonderful as the idea seemed.
"Not to mention that the deed would prove you're worthy of your shield." I jumped down from the wall and held up my hands to her. She slid down and I kissed her. "Gifted one, when it comes to a hero's deed, you don't think small."
"Liam?" she pleaded. "What're you doing next?"
I had said I'd only ride to the border, but with nothing better to do, and a dangerous quest ahead, I wasn't going to leave them now. "Riding with you and Coram, I expect."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As we traveled, I continued to drag Alanna out of our now-shared bedroll in the morning and put her through a strenuous workout. Whether or not she wanted to, she was going to become almost as good as a Shang warrior if I had my way. And I knew she did want it. Just maybe not so early in the morning.
Sarain was a wasteland. We saw no one, but four days into the country we came across a huge pile of skeletons with armor and weapons thrown about randomly lay in front of us, evidence of the war.
"Heavy fighting." Alanna murmured, kneeling to inspect it. "Some archery at first, but close quarters after. An ambush?"
"The world of difference between a good king and a bad one." I crouched down beside her. "In five years Adigun jin Wilima has destroyed the work of generations. They deserved better." I returned to my horse, but Alanna didn't follow. She was arranging twigs into a pyramid. Then she knotted a piece of cord and wrapped it around the pyramid. She stood up, and instantly I knew what she was doing.
Why couldn't she just have left them there? Yes, they deserved better burials than to lie there, skeletons rotting away, but now flames soared up from the pile. It was a good idea, but it wasn't easy to watch her cause that fire. I could feel the magic in the air, and it made me sweat with fear.
When Alanna returned, I couldn't say anything to her, and she said nothing to me. I was ashamed of my weakness, but it was part of me, just like her magic was, and there was nothing we could do about it. It was awful, loving her so much, but fearing her as much. I left to hunt for food after that, to get my mind off Alanna and the magic. When I returned I couldn't feel the magic anymore, though it didn't stop my mind from remembering.
"Where are the armies?" Alanna sighed as I approached.
"Bedded down for the night, I hope." I replied, handing the fish to Alanna. Surely she couldn't ruin a perfectly good fish if she cooked it? "All the same, let's stand watches."
We were eating when Faithful become to hiss.
'People. Woman and infants. On the other side of the ridge!'
it shocked me still to hear him speak, but I couldn't think of that now. Coram and Alanna were picking up their swords cautiously. Part of me wanted to say "It's just women and children," but I knew Alanna wouldn't appreciate that remark. Another part of me was every worried by this news.
Coram watched the horses while Alanna and I crept through the trees as quietly as we could. I motioned to Alanna to hide. She didn't look happy about the idea, but she obeyed grudgingly. I moved off, looking around for our visitors. They were below us, following the stream. I was watching them when I heard a voice in the distance growl.
"Tell the big one to drop his blade, or I put a bolt through you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Aw, wasn't that sweet? And a cliffhanger ending, though you all know what happens next. Review if you liked it.or even if you didn't. Especially then.
snowylove-angel: I'm so glad you feel as if I did a good job of capturing Liam's point of view. I tried to do that, of course, but I didn't know if I'd managed.
Queen's Own: I'll answer the questions eventually, don't worry!
sw33t t3mptations, Queerquail, PsychoLioness13: Thank you!