Alanna
Chapter 11
All characters except Leo and the plot belong to Tamora Pierce. Credit to her!
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The sun rose slowly over the horizon, splashing it with an array of orange, yellow and red. It was a bitter cold day and the incessant wind would not cease its endless barrage of howls. It was not just the simple 'blow past you' kind of wind; it was the chilling type which ate into your bones and succeeded in making you shiver.
It was just, to put it this way, the type of day Alanna hated.
Wrapping herself with a few extra layers, Alanna, sword in her hilt, decided to take a walk. Boredom was slowly eating into her and she did not have anything better to do. Thom had buried his head in one of the dusty books in the palace library, and Alanna, who knew her brother from cover to cover, had banished all thoughts of having a nice chat with him as she knew that he would be lost in his own world for the rest of the day.
Strolling languidly in the palace grounds, surveying the scenery, Alanna distantly heard the sound of metal hitting against each other. The sound of sword play. Alanna perked up immediately and rushed towards the source of the sound.
Swordplay attracted Alanna like a bee to honey. They were an inseparable pair. She turned the bend and an interesting sight greeted her. There new pages were in pairs, struggling to complete a set of designated moves. The training instructor, Sir Conner of Sweetwater was busy observing them, like a hawk. Looking at the current exasperated looks on Sir Conner's face and the worn-out look on the pages', success was still far, far away.
Alanna stifled a snort and walked forward interestedly. "Sir Conner," Alanna gave a bow, "may I assist you?"
Sir Conner swirled around, surprised. When he saw Alanna, he gave a barely concealed wince before a look of utter disgust crossed his face.
"Lady Alanna," he acknowledged coldly, "I do not require assistance from anyone, let alone a lady." He said snottily. With that, he gave a bow.
Alanna felt anger grow steadily in her stomach. Clenching her fist, she barely excused herself before stomping away angrily. However, it seemed as though during their brief interlude, a fight had broken out and all Alanna could see was two boys, swinging their swords wildly and yelling expletives at each other. Alanna gave another un-ladylike snort.
"Don't need my help? Yea right!" She thought, a little smug.
"By the way, boy, the one with the scar on your hand, your grip is wrong. Shift your knuckles up a bit. I'm surprised Sir Conner hadn't noticed that yet!" She threw in, satisfied.
Alanna walked away, leaving an extremely rowdy scene and an incensed instructor behind.
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Prince Jonathan knocked on the door. He waited for a moment, tense, before a voice called out, "My lord, please enter." Feeling a little awestruck, Jonathan twisted the door handle, which swung open instantly. He placed a look of calmness and seriousness on his face before walking in. Jonathan immediately looked around the room, at every corner in front of him, but there was no one there.
Fear began to pound in his pulse; what was going on?
"Prince Jonathan," A respectful voice called out from behind.
Jonathan whirled around frenziedly. It was Thom of Conte. The person he had come to see.
Thom of Conte gave a bow, matching that of proper Tortallan etiquette. As per normal, Prince Jonathan bowed back, though a little stiffly, still pondering over that short period of Thom's disappearance.
"Prince Jonathan, please take a seat," Thom gestured towards a chair somewhere near the window of the room, "and I hope I did not give you a shock just now."
Jonathan blushed a little. "Yes, you did give me a shock," he replied frankly, "how did you do that?"
Thom answered, "Do what? Disappear and then come from behind?" (1)
"It's almost impossible!" Jonathan exclaimed, knowing how hard it was to spiritualize a man away, let alone yourself, which was even harder.
"Almost, Prince Jonathan is the key word. What one man cannot do does not mean it being impossible. It just requires practice, that's all."
Jonathan stared back at Thom. Thom was pale, like one who hated the sun. He was skinny and gave the impression of sickly. Dark eye bags framed his purple eyes. However, if you looked past it, you would see how similar he was to Alanna.
Aware of the stare he was receiving, Thom felt a little uncomfortable and continued, "but this is not what you came here for, is it not? You did not come here to ask me how I disappear into thin air! There is something else, right?"
Jonathan, knowing he could not keep out the truth any longer, nodded.
"It's about Alanna."
Thom smiled easily. "I know," he replied.
"I love her," Jonathan blurted out suddenly, and then immediately regretted it.
Thom smiled easily again. "I know."
"I really do. You know, the moment I knew she was a girl, I fell in love with her. Even after she had been sent into exile, I never forgot her, not for one moment. I really love her. But Thom, does she return the favor?"
Thom sighed, a wrinkle forming on his forehead. "I can tell you anything about sorcery, about any sorcery book that can be found within the walls of Corus and many other walls at that. I can do some of the most complicating spells in this world but one thing I cannot do, is spot Alanna's feelings in love."
Jonathan said, "I'm afraid, Thom. When I danced with her that night, I could see hurt in her eyes. It was a little too obvious. She had been hurt that day when she was exiled, and I didn't do a thing to let her continue." Jonathan slumped in the chair. "I knew I should have done something!" he cried, angrily.
Thom sighed again, looking far older than his age.
"She has changed." Jonathan said, his voice barely a whisper. "A lot."
"I know, Prince Jonathan."
"Just Jonathan will do," Jonathan interrupted, smoothly.
"She has changed quite a fair bit. I saw it in her that day, the first day that I came here. She was different and I immediately knew it."
"Why?" Jonathan asked. "It had only been two years."
"You don't understand, Jonathan. Knighthood, to become a knight, to defend the small and protect everyone had always been Alanna's dream. And Alanna's not a fickle-minded person, you know that. She had aspired for knighthood since she was a young girl, at the age of five. Do you understand what I mean, Jonathan?" Thom paused, waiting for the words to sink in. "Knighthood was her dream. Her passion. Her life. That's why she changed, Jonathan. You would, if you were stripped of one of the few things that meant that much to you."
"Mithros, what has my dad done?" his whispered, looking guilty and worried at once.
"Alanna's bitter, Jonathan. Very bitter. She's angry at everyone for what they had done to her. She's very angry. Not only that, she seeks revenge. She wants to avenge her exile. That's why she came back."
Jonathan groaned.
"And that's why I came back. To protect her and prevent her from doing something to rash, which is part of Alanna's muddled up character." Thom stated.
Jonathan nodded and got up. "Thank you," he said, his face calm again.
Thom nodded, and as he watched Jonathan walk out of the room, he threw in a suggestion. "I suggest you talk to her," he said.
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Alanna walked out of the city gates. She needed some fresh air and a change of environment. Walking briskly towards the market place, Alanna soon reached there. She wondered among the many different stalls there were, looking through the wide array of goods that were laid out in front of her.
She walked towards a random stall, a stall which happened to be far away from the populace and was far less crowded than the others. She nodded towards the shopkeeper and looked about.
There were a wide variety of goods, none of them related to each other. Jewels, trinkets, baubles, fine cloths… Suddenly, something caught her eye. It was a sword blade. Pondering for a moment, she reached out for it.
The sheath was made a fine metal, strong, powerful but light. On it was carved runes of all sorts, something which Alanna could not decipher. The sword blade too was covered in similar runes, but was studded with jewels. She unsheathed it and gasped.
The sword was light, very light. Lighter than lightning, and that, for a sword, was rare. Alanna moved a few paces back and swung about before going into a few complicated moves. The sword swung at her every command, making a loud rushing sound as it moved. Alanna stopped and lightly tapped her knuckles on the metal. There was a loud ringing sound. Lastly, she ran her finger along the blade.
One drop of blood dripped on the floor.
"This is a good blade," Alanna said, as she walked towards the shopkeeper. "How much?"
The shopkeeper suddenly became crafty and asked for a high sum. After much bargaining, Alanna bought the sword and placed it next to Lightning.
"Two swords is always better than one," she said to herself.