Quick note: I've decided to have this take place soon after ROTG, so before Kel.  I'm only doing this because I'm not sure if I have read the POTS series enough to characterize Kel, Neal, and the others correctly…but please stay with me :)

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Skye and Jason quietly made their way through the brush until they came upon a small clearing, within which the members of a company of soldiers were busily going about various tasks, their horses picketed on the far side of the meadow.  It took an instant for the first soldiers to notice them, but after a few minutes the whole camp was staring at them, gawking.  Skye, unused to garnering so much attention, shifted her weight uneasily as she tried to resist the urge to flee.

A tall, burly man stepped forward from among the soldiers.  He looked to be in his forties and had an air of command about him that was hard to miss.  Skye eyed him in admiration – he was quite the picture of gallantry, dressed from head to toe in gleaming mail with an unsheathed sword in one hand.  Why are they dressed like this? she wondered, confused.  This doesn't seem to be any sort of festival.

Raoul of Goldenlake eyed the teenagers in a similar fashion.  Gods, they're dressed oddly, he thought, shaking his head in amusement.  Where did they get such unusual garments?

Finally he cleared his throat to speak.  "I am Lord Raoul of Goldenlake, Knight Commander of the King's Own. May I-" He paused as an obvious look of confusion came across their faces.  A stocky red-headed woman had come to stand beside him, and he nudged her. "You think they speak Common, Alanna?" he asked. 

She studied them a moment, fingering an ember that dangled around her neck.  "Doesn't look like it.  Mithros, I don't think I've seen anything like them before."

Jason and Skye remained where they were, confused.  "Are you understanding any of this?" Jason whispered out of the corner of his mouth. "I've never heard any language that sounded like that."

Skye wasn't paying attention, though.  Instead she was watching the lady knight, who was now approaching them.  There were many unusual things about the red head, from her sword and golden mail to the glowing ember at her throat.  What caught Skye's attention, however, were her piercing purple eyes.  Recognition, then disbelief, washed over her and she took a step backwards.  "Alanna?"

Alanna stopped, surprised at hearing her name.  Putting her hands on her hips, she looked at them suspiciously.  "You know my name?"  When all she got was blank stares, she sighed. "Well, wherever you're from, you must not be from here."

"So…you can't understand us?" Skye asked, her hope withering away. 

Alanna didn't say anything but suddenly looked thoughtful.  Finally she held up her hand in a signal to wait and went back up to Raoul. "I don't recognize the dialect, but I think I've heard Myles speak a language similar to that," she said, still watching them with a wary eye.

Raoul shrugged. "Well, our job here is done. We can help you escort them to Olau, if you like."

She looked up, startled, before remembering that Myles and Eleni were visiting Olau for a few months to get away from hectic life at court.  She looked at him doubtfully.  "Well they don't seem vary capable of doing any harm...I don't know if they're worth our time." At a reproving glance from Raoul, however, she gave in. "All right, fine, we'll take them."

He grinned. "Good, I'll go tell them."

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An hour and several frustrating attempts at charades later, Jason and Skye found themselves on separate packhorses with only a vague idea of where they were going.  "At least they seem nice enough," Jason pointed out.  "I don't think they're going to have us chopped into dog meat or anything."

Skye raised an eyebrow. "Dog meat?"

He laughed. "Well, you know what I mean. I think we're in good hands." 

They rode in silence awhile, watching the backs of the soldiers ahead of them.  The group had formed two columns, which allowed the two to ride side by side while guarded in both the front and the back.  The sun was beginning to sink low in the sky and Skye watched as the first few stars winked into view between the tree branches overhead, her thoughts bent on her family and home.  She still wasn't sure what to think of her adventure…it felt real enough, even though she was sure she had to be sleeping.  Especially after this, she realized, remembering Alanna.  She's a character in a book...there's no way she could be real.

Almost as if reading her thoughts, Jason turned to her and asked quietly, "How did you know her name was Alanna?"

"Oh, Mr. Trebond gave me a book about her," Skye said, covering a yawn.  "Except it's about when she was really young.  I knew it was her, though."

Jason nodded, looking sleepily off into the distance. "Yeah, I was pretty sure-" Suddenly he stopped, looking embarrassed.

Skye stared at him a moment, a look of disbelief on her face. "What did you just say?" 

He looked away and didn't answer.

"Do you mean to tell me that you know who Alanna is?"

"Mr. Trebond made me read one of the books," he growled defensively, glaring at her.

Barely able to contain her amusement, Skye surrendered to a fit of giggles.  Jason turned away angrily and laid his head on his pony's neck, muttering to himself.  By the time Skye was done Jason was sound asleep, still awkwardly lying on the pony.  Skye remained awake for many more minutes, watching as the sky faded from the brilliant colors of sunset to one of the deepest night skies she had ever seen.  Before long, though, she felt her eyelids begin to droop.  Dreams within a dream, she thought, amused.  When will this ever end?