A/N: Chapter 2. Disclaimer: All characters belong to Tamora Pierce, and the plot belongs to me. Dragon is mine, too. Review! I love my reviewers!
Chapter 2 :: Rain
The First Daughter of the Great Mother Goddess came to wake up Alanna. It was an hour after midnight, which was very early, even by convent standards, but she had a long way to go to get to the palace on time. She found Alanna sleeping peacefully, snoring slightly. Walking quickly over, she ripped off the clean white bedclothes and pulled the girl by her feet onto the floor. Alanna snuggled to the warm and thick maroon carpet by the hearth, turned over, and kept on sleeping, pulling her too-large nightgown around her slim body.
"Wake up!" A voice yelled furiously into Alanna's ear. She paid no attention. She knew exactly who it was.
"Wake UP!"
Lifting her head an inch from the floor, she mumbled groggily.
"It's one in the morning, and that's about the amount of sleep I got last night. An hour. What do you want?"
"You have to go to the palace today."
"Whoopee. What fun. I'd rather be stuck in this living nightmare with you than go there."
The older woman sighed in exasperation, and, lifting the girl's chin, she glared into the violet orbs.
"You will go. Even if I have to escort you, you will go." She said, emphasizing each word with a shake of the head she still held, her voice low and venomous, daring her to argue. She didn't take the bait. Alanna, and a sadly resigned Alanna at that, got up and shuffled over to her chest of drawers, taking out her usual dull gray tartan dress and tattered green slippers, along with loincloth, breast band, and thick woolen socks.
"No, no, no!" The Daughter ran over and snatched the clothes out of her hands. "You have to wear nicer clothes than those!"
Alanna smirked.
"Well, where will I get them? Surely the Convent doesn't want to spend its hard earned coins on a spoilt, worthless brat who will never find a husband within the next thousand years?"
"A spoiled, worthless brat who will never find a husband within the next thousand years, maybe, but we must set a good example in our convent. Come! Hurry, you'll be late!"
The First Daughter trotted out into the hall. Shrugging, Alanna followed her, shivering in her thin nightdress, rubbing her eyes with hands balled up into fists. The Daughter stopped at two iron double doors, pulling a large, rusty key out of a hidden inner pocket of her garments. She turned it in the lock and threw open the doors. It was her personal chamber. High ceilings and carved columns were cleverly painted in a swirl of shades of blue, like the cloudless sky that appeared on many a day at the mountainside convent. The First Daughter then walked up to a large wardrobe beside the large, paneled glass window. It was of finest mahogany, with sensual curves in the design that gave it a very odd look. Choosing a dress, she held it up to Alanna's thin frame.
"Well?"
It was a lurid and horrendous dress. Pink, with a low v-neck, plunging back, lacy, frilly, with a large and flowery hat in the same pink fabric of the dress. Alanna laughed heartily, falling on the floor in tears of mirth.
"You," she gasped, "You wear this?" She looked to be ten years old again, laughing ridiculously at one of her pranks on the Daughters. A strange change came over her in that moment, and a spark of life flitted through her eyes.
The older woman picked the younger from the floor, brushing off her dress.
"Don't you dare take that tone with me. Put it on."
Alanna blanched. Even she would not put that on. And she was used to crazy dresses. But this? Never. She drew the line.
"Put it on. Come here."
She backed into a column, wrapping her arms around it, her sensitive hands carefully feeling for footholds while keeping a wary eye on the Daughter.
"Come here!"
Alanna turned and began to climb, shimmying up the particularly tall column, using the decorative blue carvings and miniature sculptures as foot holds. Alanna had climbed trees completely bare of branches before, and columns were much simpler, especially with footholds. Resting her feet in the eyes of a carved marble squirrel, she taunted the Daughter who was fretting from below.
"Bargain."
"Come down here this instant, you wretch!"
"Bargain."
You're ruining my ornamental column! I'll give you-"
"Bargain."
"No!"
"Bargain!"
"No!"
"Let me wear something that I want to. Not that you'll have anything in that, evidently shown by your taste in that dress." She nodded towards the rows of hangers draped with all sorts of hand-me-downs and old dresses for girls to wear when they went to find husbands.
"Fine. You can wear a nicer gown. Now get down here, before you fall and break your neck!"
"I didn't know you cared. I'm not coming down until I see what I'm wearing. I can outwait you, and you know that for a fact."
The First Daughter was at a loss. She knew Alanna spoke the truth. Over a year ago, Alanna had put a centipede in another girl's bed. They had locked her with a loaf of bread and only dirty water in the cellars until she apologized. But she had never apologized. After five days, they had found her happy and comfortable in the dark, and were forced to take her out to continue her lessons. She hadn't been out waited once in her entire stay at the convent, no matter what the horrendous crime had been.
Holding up various horrifically lacy dresses, she ended up putting them all back, as Alanna had not even looked at them for shaking her head.
"What do you want? I can't keep this up forever, and there's nothing else."
"Boy's clothes."
"What? No, no, no, no, no!"
"Why not? That's what I want to wear. Promise?"
"No."
"Promise?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No!"
"Why not?"
"Fine. Promise. You can wear it for the first part of the journey, but you must swear to me that you will change into a dress."
"Good." She slid with great expertise down the pillar, landing with a flop on both feet. "Where are they?"
"Here." The Daughter presented her with a shirt and breeches she had had in case of emergency, as when a Cloisters boy was stuck out in the rain a year ago.
"Thanks." She walked out of the door, the Daughter at her heels with several dresses, babbling.
"I'm giving you three dresses, the standard amount. You'll also get money to buy your own clothing. I'm helping you with your final packing."
Alanna didn't care. She had gotten what she wanted.
----
Twenty minutes later, they were outside. They both stood in a wooden shelter, made to protect those in it from the elements while they waited for the ornate carriage that would take them to the palace. The First Daughter was smirking about something. Alanna couldn't have cared less. The shirt and breeches from the Convent's boys clothing supply fit wonderfully. There was so much freedom of movement with these on than a restricting corset and skirts. If Alanna had had any friends, they would have laughed at her. As she didn't, and didn't care what strangers thought, she was perfectly at ease.
A man walked up, a horse at his heels. It was a mare, with a deep brown coat and mysterious black eyes. She just thought he was a passer-by until he walked up to the First Daughter.
"This the girl, then?" He pointed to Alanna.
"Yes, her name is Alanna. Alanna, this is Coram. He'll be taking care of you at the palace."
"Pleased to meet you." She bowed, remembering that she had no skirt to curtsy with. The name seemed familiar…
"Pleasure." He handed her the reins of the mare. "You know how to ride?"
Pausing, she pushed them back and folded his hands over them.
"Hold these for a minute, if you will, Coram?"
"'Course."
Alanna pulled the First Daughter out of Coram's hearing.
"Where's the carriage?" she hissed, the prissy side of her bristling at the thought of riding in the wet.
"Oh, I see there no need for a carriage. You aren't wearing a dress. The carriage is solely for protecting clothes of the girls we send."
"But it's raining!"
"You will go."
"But…fine."
After all, she didn't want anyone to think that she had grown …soft…in her years at the convent. She was the same as she had always been. The Alanna who had come from Trebond would be the same Alanna she had been all those years ago, she determined.Stalking to Coram, she took the reains of the mare.
"Her name's Chestnut," Coram supplemented, "And she's yers to keep."
"That's what I would have called her." She stroked the mare's nose. Looking around, she added, "Don't you need a horse too?"
Coram laughed. He whistled loud and high, a wavering, capering tune caught Alanna's hearing. A large white stallion with black socks rounded the bend in the road, galloping at full speed. Muscles like tightly twisted steel, they knotted and working in perfect unison with the muscular body of an exercised animal. The majestic creature halted in front of Coram, showing no sign of exertion or of tack apart from bridle and reins. Apparently, Coram rode bareback.
"This here's Dragon. Say hello," he ordered the horse.
The horse appeared to understand. It came up to her and sniffed her pocket. She laughed and gave him one of the dried apricots she had saved for the journey. He munched thoughtfully, and then looked into her eyes. She drew back slightly. His were a light green, with strangely catlike slits.
"He and yer mount are friends," he said as Dragon nudged Chestnut with his nose. He swung his leg over Dragon's back and leaped up, nimbly for such a bulky man. "Ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," she muttered, being soaked by the rain that was steadily growing in strength with every passing minute.
Alanna gave a sarcastic wave to the First Daughter as they rode away. She didn't regret going away in the least.
"I used t'be a Royal Guardsman, until I served at Trebond. I stayed there-"
It hit Alanna like a flying cinderblock. "Coram! I remember you from when I was little! Don't you remember me? I'm the girl who was trying to shoot chickens with Thom's toy bow and arrow!"
"Of course! Y'were so small! Can't believe I didn't recognize you. But that's marvelous! Y've become a lady, Mistress Alanna," he teased.
They hugged around the shoulders, each nearly falling from their mounts.
"As I was sayin', after I met ye and served at Trebond for a few years, I left here to train boys at the convent. Then I was called to escort ye. And that's basically all that happened to me in me own life as of yet."
Alanna felt better then, speaking with Coram as with an old friend.
"Where'd you pick up Dragon from?"
"A friend."
"Coram! Where?"
"In Corus."
"Tell me!"
"No, you'll find out."
"You know I hate mysteries."
"No."
"Tell me! Please?"
"You'll find out!" he roared good-naturedly, and the two laughed heartily.
The ride took until late afternoon. It felt wonderfully fresh to get out of the stagnant stone buildings she would always remember had imprisoned her. She could finally breathe in the fresh air, watch the wind tossing the trees, and let worries slip from her mind like water off a duck's back.
I wish I were really a duck…she thought as she wrung out her soaked shirt.
They reached Corus, making good time, even in the thick, gooey mud and pouring rain. Alanna had never imagined the city to be so colossal. People were everywhere, yelling, running, chatting, walking, singing, bargaining with pushy shopkeepers, staggering drunkenly, and thieving. She was so dazed by it all, she wished she had ten pairs of eyes instead of one. She was lost to how the horses managed to keep from stepping on and crushing the children who wove through the melee. After watching a thin, bedraggled, and innocent-looking child walk away with a rich man's purse, however, she kept a wary eye to her saddlebags.
"Don't ye have to change into a dress?"
"I never promised. I just said 'good'."
"Very well, then, miss. Keep an eye to yer bags, now."
A man with hazel eyes walked up to her, very close to her horse.
"Hello Alanna," he said with a wink, "Pleased to meet you, lass. I'll see you 'round." With those words, he disappeared into the crowds. Suddenly, and rather late and after the fact, Alanna wondered how he knew her name.
"Wait! Who are you?" Her yell was lost in the noise of the crowd.
The palace was huge. Tall stone turrets with pennants that fluttered in the wind were heavily guarded by stern looking men who Coram labeled as the Royal Guard. She could picture Coram standing up there, wielding his sword with his born ability.
To think I could have been here all this time…
----
Thom rushed to get ready. Alanna would be here soon.
He stuffed his stacks of class work inside his desk, sweeping trash into a small bin that was by his door. He stacked his innumerable books neatly onto the shelf. Making his bed quickly, he was just in time to hear a knock on his door. He opened it, finding Prince Jonathan. The Prince beckoned, and Thom followed.
"So you're sister's coming soon?" The prince's eyes met his calculatingly.
"Yes, her carriage should be here any minute now."
They trotted to the main gates. There was a small reception party of Thom's few friends to receive his sister. He imagined her to be in a dress, stepping daintily out of her carriage, smiling and waving, like the "fine woman" she was said to be. He hadn't received a letter from her in over a year, so her appearance and attitude would be a complete mystery to him. He fidgeted and cast a glance at the sundial in the nearby fountain and gardens.
The gates opened.
In came Alanna, dripping wet, riding a brown mare, and in dirt-covered shirt and breeches. She jumped off her horse, patted it on the nose, and ran up to Thom, shoes slopping water everywhere. She met him in a tight hug with a loud squelch.
"Brother."
"Sister."
She broke away to wring out her clothes, then looked around at the speechless people gathered there to meet the newest court lady, who was exactly the opposite of what they had expected. Thom had never felt so wrong in his life, and gave an apologizing look to his friends, who he was sure would ask him if he had been quite sane when he had described her to them.
"Hello. I'm Alanna, Thom's sister." She looked around, and, since no one could say anything for shock, shrugged and turned to Thom, after asking Coram to take care of the horses.
"I need to change."
"Yeah, we can see that."
After a few minutes of stony silence, Alanna could take it no longer.
"Well?"
"Follow me."
Sopping and smiling, she followed her brother. Careful to wipe her feet on the carpet outside the door for the rain, she hoisted her luggage onto her back. Taking in everything in the halls, remembering where they were going for future reference, and pelting Thom with questions was hard work. She sighed with relief when they reached his rooms, pushing several wet locks away from her face.
"Where will we eat?"
"Oh, you can eat with the other court ladies."
"Do I have to? Why can't I eat with you?"
"Well . . . do you want the whole palace to think you're a disgrace and a letdown?"
"Yes," said Alanna, after pondering for a moment.
"Then you can eat with us."
"Give me your room for a bit so I can get ready. Got a spare change of clothes?"
"Yes, in the closet, but do you really think this is a good idea?"
"Thom, you don't think I came here just to find a husband, do you? I'm here to multitask! I'm here to do what I had to miss because of your idiocy and our father's untimely entrance. I'm going to learn what a page and squire learn."
"Oh, no you aren't! I won't have any sister of mine gallivanting about and making a fool of herse-"
"Yes I am, and you'd better not get in the way, brother dearest, or I will dunk you in the river and let you be carried away by the current. Ah, so where are you going to be when you finally let me change an where will I find you?"
"Well, you have rooms too . . ."
"Where?"
"I'll show you after, but the servants didn't know you were coming so early, and they won't be done."
"Done what?"
"Cleaning."
"Oh. From who?"
"The last lady who recently found a husband."
"Ah."
"You know how good it feels to talk to you?"
"Yes, because I'm talking to you."
"I missed you."
"It's so lonely at that bloody convent with no friends, siblings, anything."
"Hurry and get dressed."
"I'm not going to get dressed with you here!"
"Oops. Right!"
He left, closing and locking the door for her.
She found the clothes easily, shedding her dirty and rain soaked ones for his clean white linen. She dried her hair with a towel and shook it out. She walked out into the hall where he was waiting for her.
"C'mon." He led her through a complex winding of tunnels, ending at the mess hall. He led her to the food table. She eagerly piled her plate high, as she hadn't eaten much on their journey besides apricots and a salted meat sandwich. Here they had beef stew and potatoes with carrots and peas. Custard tarts were for dessert. "Some of us are away, because we're knights and squires. I'm Sir Myles' squire, so I'm nearly always here and usually have very little to do, apart from the seldom duties and projects that he comes up with. Jon, Alex, Raoul, Gary and me-"
"I."
"Right. Well, Jon, Alex, Raoul, Gary and I are the only ones who have masters who are staying here now. Everyone else will come at Midwinter. There will be balls, dinners, and plenty of suitors for you," he teased, nudging her. She playfully shoved him into a wall. He led her to a long table and a group of four friends who Alanna had seen when she had first come, soaking wet. They all stopped talking to stare at the white-garbed lady who stood beside her brother. The resemblance was very striking.
As Alanna learned, Thom had four friends.
She was surprised he had had any friends. After all, he was very unsociable. At least he had been.
Gary was a tall young man, with brown hair and chestnut eyes. He was the son of Duke Gareth of Naxen. Gary was a gambler and exceptionally intelligent. Raoul of Goldenlake was also tall, and Gary's best friend. He hated social occasions. He had black hair and black eyes. Jonathan of Conté had black hair and blue eyes, and was the heir to the Tortallan throne. Alex of Tirragen was the best swordsman at court. All four were to be knighted at Midwinter.
She sat down with them. At first, they were hesitant to talk to her.
"So," said Alex, "How was the weather on your trip to the palace, Lady Alanna?" Alanna herself raised her eyebrows.
"Raining heavily, Sir Alex."
"Do you travel much, Lady Alanna?"
"No, I have not left the convent since I was eleven."
Alex whistled.
"Cooped up in one place, Lady Alanna?" This time Gary asked the question.
Exasperated, Alanna burst.
"Can't we talk about something remotely interesting other than the weather and how long I was in the cursed convent? And stop calling me Lady Alanna!"
They all raised their eyebrows, even Thom. He whispered hurriedly.
"She has a horrible temper, so stay clear of her for a while, and she'll get used to you. She hated the convent, but if hadn't been for me . . ." He looked towards Alanna guiltily. "She would have come here and I would have gone there. She would have turned out very different."