A/n: Here is the next chapter sorry if it's late I've been doing some other things and my editor wasn't helping.

Chapter 10: Wanted Signs

Tia paced around the Tyran palace gardens half-hoping, half-fearing he would show up after about an hour of this Tia gave up and was about to leave when the now very familiar voice said, "I thought you wanted to see me."

Tia turned around and almost flinched at the sight of Lokii before her, "I wanted to ask you if I could go for a while, you know like a holiday trip." Tia asked cautiously.

"Where?" came the reply.

"You know like some place excluded from the rest of the world, where no one can force you to do things." Tia mumbled.

"You're going back to Tortall aren't you?" Lokii said looking at Tia with newfound distrust.

"Yes and...no." Tia continued to mumble, she refused to meet his eyes.

Lokii sighed, "I knew this would happen, look Tia I was going to show you this later but now is probly this perfect time." He took out a long piece of grubby paper, from where Tia was standing she could make out the word 'WANTED' as soon a she saw this Tia grabbed it and read:

WANTED

Tia Ironarm for high treason against Tortall.

REWARD for any information leading to her capture.

Underneath the words was a highly descriptive picture of Tia in her Shang regalia.

Tia swore and looked at Lokii, "I guess I can't go back now." She mumbled all hope of seeing Thom again lost.

"So this means you're not a Tortallan spy and unless it's fake-" Tia interrupted Lokii's speech, "It's not, Jonathan- the king of Tortall told me himself that if I 'switch sides' or whatever it was, I would be hanged." Tia bowed her head in silent despair over never seeing Thom again.

Justin was in over his head with joy: he had got his wish if Tia was seen in Tortall again she would be hanged, a part of him felt sorrow over this but Justin pushed it away enjoying the fact that he got his revenge and that Thom would never know that Tia was pregnant with his child, Justin couldn't help but to dance around the fort merrily putting up 'WANTED' signs in the barracks.

Alanna watched him and felt sickened in knowing that she had a hand in forcing Tia to go to Tyra therefore making this sick twisted creature that was dancing about the fort happy, Alanna couldn't take it anymore and walked up to Justin and hit him in the face so hard that he was knocked out, looking around to see if anyone noticed him slump to the floor Alanna walked off noting that a few guards noticed but didn't care.

Thom spent most of his free days sleeping in the bed that he and Tia had once shared and dreamed of all the good times they shared and vaguely Thom realized that he couldn't remember her face or voice correctly anymore.

Thom was in Corus looking at some ridiculous new fashions from the Copper Isles when he saw a picture of Tia on the wall, he went to investigate further and found that it was a wanted sign with a almost perfect picture of Tia's face on it above the picture is proclaimed that Tia was guilty of high treason and there was a reward for any information leading to her capture.

As soon as he read the 'High Treason' part of the wanted sign Thom felt sick: he had told Jonathan that Tia was likely to go to the country of her birth, Tyra according to his mother's information whatever source that was.

Surely he wasn't responsible for this? Or was he responsible fro everything- Tia's sudden departure and her return to Tyra?

Tia sat at her desk looking blankly at a detailed map of the border between Tortall and Tyra trying to bully her brain to develop battle plans but she couldn't as soon as she saw the word 'Tortall' she remembered Thom and her fate if she returned.

Thinking of her fate made Tia think: if the wanted signs were all over Tortall she couldn't possibly make it as far as the fort because the knew what she looked like. A sudden thought entered he mind: They know what YOU look like and only you so change.

The idea was a brilliant shining beacon of hope in her mind; she would alter her appearance, a Carthaki perhaps and then, Tia's heart fluttered, Thom.

But a question still remained how? How could she leave Tyra without attracting any attention, without Lokii sending spies, how?

A week later Tia was on her way to Carthak dressed up as Carthaki thinking of her plan: as soon as she landed she would be on another towards Tortall, land at port Legann and try to find out where Thom is, he said himself he wouldn't be in the fort for much longer, well, not so much said it but hinted at.

Alanna paced even though she knew she did the right thing in chasing Tia away she couldn't help but think if she was doing o.k it was stupid wondering about a daughter she barely knew but she couldn't shake the feeling.

This week alone, Alanna had knocked Justin out at least thirteenth time because he was far too happy at putting the wanted signs up, so she decided to take a break and go home to the Pirate's Swoop for some rest then return the next week, her presence at the fort wasn't critical and the Tyrans hadn't mounted any serious offensives yet so Tortall could hold if they did.

Tia shuddered as she walked through port Legann's crowded streets: she hated the cold seaside weather she moved through the crowd and approached then entered the Inn, relishing the warmth.

"We don't treat kindly to foreigners." A man sitting at the bar said.

Tia was about to say I'm not foreign but stopped herself: she hadn't changed her disguise yet, so she walked out of the Inn and an hour later returned wearing a mercenary's clothes including leather armour, she even managed to get a street mage to put a spell on her changing her eye colour to green and made her skin appeared scarred.

The reaction of the man at the bar completely changed: he was wary of trouble now as well as the Innkeeper.

Tia sat at the bar and said in a gruff of voice as possible, "An ale and a room for the night." Hesitantly Tia the mercenary added, "Please."

Alanna's trip home was uneventful and she looked forward to a restful week, she enjoyed about three days of resting when a guard told her there was trouble, walking downstairs she soon found the 'trouble' was a simple green-eyed female mercenary.

"What's the problem?" Alanna asked the guard.

"She-" the guard gestured toward the disguised Tia, "-was asking about Thom."

"And that's a problem?" Alanna asked starting to get annoyed about this, "Miss, she wanted to know where he was!" the guard yelled pushing Tia to the floor.

Alanna looked at the mercenary something was familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it, "Why do you want to know where my son is?" Alanna looked straight into the eyes of the mercenary and finally she saw it: despite the eyes colour and the scars the mercenary looked exactly like Tia.

Quietly Alanna said, "Let her go I shall deal with this."

The guards left talking about their find.

Taking Tia to a secluded room, "What do you think your doing here?" Alanna asked sharply.

Shocked that her mother recognized her, "I-I came to-to see T-Thom." Tia stuttered after a brief silence.

"I think that is clear but you could of sent a message!" Alanna was on the verge of yelling.

"I did I sent serval messages but I don't think Thom got any of them!" Tia was also on the verge of yelling.

After a brief moment of thinking, "Of course he wouldn't have received them, he left for Corus after you so abruptly...left." Alanna turned her face so Tia couldn't see it in the dark room.

Tia and Alanna stood their not looking at each other, each thinking of the other person's reaction: for Tia, she was thinking that at any moment that she would be drawing her sword and trying to kill her with it, Alanna's was the reverse: Tia killing her with her bare hands.

A/n: if you want to know what happens next, REVIEW!!