A/N: This chapter is dedicated to verasilyn. The rest of the fic is dedicated to treanz-alyce until further notice. Disclaimer: Nothing you will recognize belongs to me, except the plot. Thanks to RS for editing, and to Fugitive for plugging my fic in hers! Review! I love my reviewers!

Chapter 3 :: Quarry

There was silence after Thom's grave statement.

"How?" Alanna asked curiously.

"Well, for one thing . . ." He hesitated, looking around. "Can we talk privately about this?"

"Sure, let's go." she said as she got up and walked towards the mess hall doors without a backward glance.

"Wait!" he called after her. When Alanna didn't turn, he looked apologetically at Jon and his friends before running to catch up with her.

He caught her at his door. Trying not to look at her, he unlocked the door with a tiny golden key he had hidden in his leather jerkin. After hustling her inside, he carefully bolted the door and turned to face her.

"What?" she asked, unnerved slightly by Thom's stare.

"You've changed," he said hesitantly.

"How?" Alanna was starting to get irritated now.

"Look at yourself. Don't you remember—"

"Thom! Stop it!"

"—Remember how you used to be?"

"What do you mean?"

Her brother sighed. He ran his fingers through his wavy orange hair, walking over to the window that overlooked the sunny palace gardens, watching a ladybird winging its way towards the window.

You never used to be like this." he said quietly, his voice strange, almost as if he were guilty about something.

"Like what?" Alanna asked, still confused.

Her brother was solemn now, more dignified than she remembered and he seemed to see something about her that she couldn't. She watched him as he reached out a finger to the window, as though trying to touch the creature that was on the other side of the glass. He avoided her eyes as he watched the insect crawling around the finger pressed against the glass, as though it could see it, yet not feel it.

He struggled to find the right words.

"So…temperamental. So proud, and isolated. The others were just being friendly, and you…"

"Thom, I don't know what's wrong with you or what you're talking about! I tried, and they just don't understand! And neither do you!"

"Alanna..." he tried again, but she had already barged out of the room and slammed the door.

Thom sighed, putting his head in his hands. He shook his head miserably, not noticing a large black cloud appear over the sun, casting his room and the entire palace into gloomy darkness, the ladybird's figure lost in the dark.

----

Alanna stormed outside, away from Thom's room. What he said just wasn't true. She was the same as she'd always been. She'd been sure that the convent would not change her so much that no one would be able to talk to her and realize the way she really was. She was sure that they were all ignorant to the person she was inside.

'But then why were you so upset by Thom's words?' asked a treacherous voice in her head.

Although she was unwilling to admit it to herself, he had struck a sore spot. She had been feeling increasingly isolated over the years. She had just told herself that it was because there had been no decent company at the convent, but now it was making her wonder.

Could it have been her fault that none of the girls at the convent would approach her?

Suddenly, she couldn't stand being inside the castle anymore. She had to be out. She wanted to run away; away from the people, her problems, the questions, and the rules. She just wanted to get away from it all. She began to go as fast as her legs could carry her. It was all she could do to keep her head down and run, ignoring the horrified gasps of women nearby at her clothing.

Once she was out of the halls, she sprinted away. She lost track of the number of trees that she dodged, the bushes she jumped, or the flowerbeds she trampled. She just kept her head down and ran, not even bothering to look where she was going. She had the urge to cry, a feeling she had not had in a long time, but she wouldn't let herself. The tears would not fall; they would never fall, never again…

----

She did not know how long she'd been running for, but it came as a bit of a surprise to her when her legs gave out and fell to her knees. She put her hands on the ground to catch herself but sat up instantly, biting her lip as she felt sharp stones cut into her skin, causing it to bleed. Her eyes widened as they took in her surroundings. She was in a small quarry, full of already cut stone. The land was bare. There was no sign of life in the circular pool of abandoned rock.

Beyond the ring, trees and bushes could be seen. Nothing came within arms' reach of the strange outcrop, though.

Alanna looked up to see that the sun was still reasonably high in the sky. After all, it was spring and the days were growing longer. She'd still have some time to explore for a bit. Forgetting her earlier problems as her curiosity got the better of her, she got up to explore. At first, her legs seemed like jelly and would not obey her command to stand. Once again, she was surprised that she'd run so hard. After a while of sitting, she was able to stand and walk around.

Ignoring the blood trickling down her palms, she stumbled through the basin-like area. It was full of massive boulders, resembling blocks that would be put in a wall. Evidently, long ago, someone had been constructing. It had long since been abandoned. Dust had gathered all over the place and it had a forgotten feel to it. However, the moss and the other types of ivy that would be expected to grow around the rocks was absent, as were the small creatures and insects that should have been there. The entire place was eerily empty.

She calculated that she'd have about another hour or so to look around before heading back. Her inquisitive nature was aroused. She carefully peered behind every boulder, searching for some clue as to why the place had been deserted.

Some minutes after her search had begun, she scraped her hand along a flat, sharp rock. She winced as she inspected it, gingerly lifting a thick flap of skin the size of her palm on the back of her hand. She had forgotten about them until then, now she realized just how badly she had scraped then up. She would have to do something about them soon. Using a bit of her Gift, she stemmed the blood flow, the only thing she knew how to do from reading the forbidden books of the Daughters' Library. Then, sitting on a chair-like piece of rock, she tore a few strips of cloth off the bottom of her tunic and tied the makeshift bandages around her hands.

After bandaging her hand, she felt much better. The healing had helped the stinging pain a bit and the bandages made sure that the wounds would not be infected or dirtied. She got up to do some more exploring.

Suddenly, Alanna tripped and fell heavily. Wiping her face with her bandaged hand, she looked back at the solid thing her foot had connected with. It was a long, cylindrical object. She hadn't remembered seeing it before. Taking a closer look, she noticed it gleamed in the afternoon sun. Things that were as old as this rock bed were not shiny at all, probably rusted to nothing. She reached out with her hand to touch it and pulled away sharply, her fingers frozen. Small flakes of frost covered her palms. She shook them in panic. Slowly, painstakingly, they fell off, one by one. Her face was pale. This place was evidently guarded by something she did not understand, something magical. She felt a wave of foreboding wash over her. She looked up, suddenly wary.

Alanna leapt up in a panic. The sun was sinking into the horizon, and was minutes away from disappearing altogether. She had lost track of time. She wouldn't be able to return to the castle before dark. A howl echoed across the land. She shuddered as more howls joined the first, the eerie voices vibrating through the air as the last ray of light disappeared, revealing the pinpoints of stars above.

Wolves.