Important A/N: I've gone and changed something because it sort of messed up the whole thing with the character I'm using, so the guy who saved Alanna was not an archer. Just so you know. And I've also redone the past chapters with some bold stuff/horizontal rules and cut out the review responses from before because those were just…distracting. Anyway, apart from that, enjoy the chapter and review because we all know that reviews are the ultimate motivation. And if you want a personal response tell me and leave something for me to contact you by, be it a screen name or an e-mail address. Oh yes, and as far as plot holes go, Jon and the Sweating Sickness will visit next chapter, as will (hopefully) some new people and maybe even an animal. Excited? I am. So review and you might get something special in the next installment, not to mention you'll get more sooner!

I love my reviewers!

--Peachy

Chapter 5 :: Stairs

Alanna didn't recognize the man she was looking at, even though she had the feeling she'd seen his face somewhere recently. Emotions flooded her and she looked away, feeling the man's gaze locked on the top of her head. She simply collapsed onto the ground, shaking with relief. The wolves were gone. They were gone. She wasn't dead, and she was very glad of that-why shouldn't she be? Few would have wished to die at the paws of wolves, her among them.

A moment later, the thought occurred that she might not have been out of danger quite yet. She turned her attention to the man who had driven the wolves off. He took a step towards her and she tensed, but relaxed when she saw that he was not looking at her, but rather, the fallen wolves. She watched as he prodded one of the creatures' corpses with his boot and then, stooping, pulled something from its chest. He did the same with the other before walking back to her. Alanna saw a glint of steel and realized that what she'd originally thought were arrows were in fact daggers. The man bent to wipe the blood off from the blades before stashing them away.

He was clad in a simple green cloak and black breeches beneath a plain white tunic. He had a lean, but muscular build. She couldn't make out his features too clearly in the dark, but she suspected that he was in his mid-twenties or so.

Then she noticed his eyes in the dim light. They stood out in his face, a deep, gorgeous hazel. His eyes met her own and his stare softened, his mouth relaxing somewhat. She looked away quickly, embarrassed at being caught staring. He bent down and offered her his hand. There was something friendly about that gesture. She reached for it and took it, feeling its warmth. She figured this stranger wouldn't harm her. She clambered onto her feet, only to collapse into him, her knees wobbly from the night's happenings.

"Easy, lass." His voice was soft. "Y've been through a lot."

She tried to mutter out a thank you, but couldn't. Her strength and courage had all evaporated. She wanted to curl up into a little ball and be safe from the world and its terrors. She gave an involuntary shudder and the man nodded sympathetically. He helped her hobble over to his horse, lifting her with ease into the saddle and swinging up behind her.

Under normal circumstances she would never have gone somewhere with an unknown man on his horse-she had learned enough about rape at the convent to know that not all men could be trusted and that it was an incredibly stupid thing to do. But something about him was different. If he had wanted to harm her, he would certainly have done so already, when she was weak and in shock. He had rescued her, hadn't he? Maybe she was just a fool to trust a complete stranger so easily, but she hardly had a choice, considering that she could hardly support her own weight and was shaken to the core.

A sudden wave of exhaustion made her tip drunkenly. He transferred the reins to one hand and slipped the other around her waist to steady her so she wouldn't fall. Clicking softly, he nudged the mare into a smooth walk. When sure of her balance in front of him, he kicked the horse into a gallop. Alanna's tired eyes, already somewhat adjusted to the light, saw the dark silhouettes of the trees and the waving grasses as they sped by. There was no moon in the sky tonight, but there was still a very faint light that caused the world to be shrouded in an eerie glow, casting everything in washes of gray and black. The wind whipped at her face, and she would have felt exhilarated…if she weren't…so…tired…

----

She woke to the most wonderful aroma, something that made her sit upright and look around for the source. Slowly, as her mind woke up, she realized that she was most certainly not in the palace. Suddenly much more conscious, she slowly examined her surroundings. It was a quaint, brightly lit little room, with the little cot and a small dresser occupying almost all of the space. Trying to get up, she realized she was in the same clothes as before, someone had bandaged her back where the wolves had gotten her and redressed the ones on her hands. There were several other injuries as well, it seemed; ones that she hadn't even realized she'd received during her wild dash from the wolves. Carefully peeling off a corner of one bandage, she realized that her cuts had been cleaned and covered with some sort of sticky ointment. Not wanting to smear it, she carefully patted the dressing back down.

At that moment, a dignified looking woman walked in, balancing a huge tray. She set it down on the dresser and turned to peer speculatively at Alanna. She was tall and thin, her chestnut hair streaked with gray. Her features seemed vaguely familiar from somewhere, but Alanna couldn't remember ever meeting this woman before.

"You're up. Good." Alanna was handed a steaming mug filled with some dark liquid that smelled strongly of cinnamon . "Drink," she ordered. "It'll help to get you back to normal."

Alanna blew on it and took a small sip. It tasted of fennel . Recognizing it as an potion that Maude had often made her drink when she was little, Alanna took a larger gulp, letting the hot liquid fill her with a sense of security and contentment. She had often been given this when she was sick or had broken an arm.

"Now, you had yourself some real nasty scrapes. Let's see how they're turnin' out…"

She walked over and, sitting down on the edge of the bed, began to briskly check the bandages. She said nothing for a while and Alanna fidgeted slightly.

"Um…" she said uncertainly. "Thank you for saving me, Miss…?" She recalled some of what had happened, though it felt more like a dream now.

"M' name's Eleni Cooper," she said. "And it wasn't me who rescued you."

"It wasn't?" she asked. Then she remembered the strange man that had helped her the night before. "That's right," she mumbled, half to herself, "It was that strange man…with the daggers. Who was he?"

"You mean y' don't know who he was?" she asked, seemingly surprised.

Alanna shook her head.

Mistress Cooper opened her mouth to say something and then closed it and smiled in amusement. "Who was it?" Alanna asked again. The information suddenly seemed very important to know, though she did not know why.

"He's…my son," said the older woman slowly. She seemed to be picking her words carefully, just like Thom had been choosing his carefully yesterday.

"Oh," Alanna managed. She suddenly realized why she thought she'd seen the woman before. She also had piercing eyes, close to the hazel of the man's but with a touch more brown. The lips and the face shape were also the same. "What's his name?" she asked cautiously, wondering what it was that Mistress Cooper was not telling her.

Eleni Cooper shook her head. "I don't think that's for me to tell," she said in the same tentative manner. "You should ask him yourself if you happen to see him again."

"But I need to thank him," protested Alanna. "He saved my life!"

"Don't worry. I have a feeling that you'll be seein' him again soon enough.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The woman only shook her head, smiling secretively. "You'll see," she said. "You'll see. Now where do you live, lass? I'll take you home. You're parents must be worried sick."

Alanna wanted to ask more, but decided against it. "The palace," Alanna said. "And I don't think they'll be over-worried." She smiled wryly. "My brother is a slightly different story, though."

"The palace? So you're rompin' 'round in britches and you're from the palace? Not surprised." Alanna stared and Eleni laughed. "You seem like the type of lass who'd do such. You've a powerful Gift, yourself, if I'm not mistaken." Alanna looked at her, surprised.

Mrs. Cooper let out a chuckle. "I've the Sight, lass," she said, answering Alanna's unspoken question. "I can see your magic, albeit only a little."

Alanna relaxed slightly. Then, she cracked a wide yawn and Eleni hid a smile. "You're tired. Get some rest and I'll take you up to the palace later, I'm sure your brother can wait another hour or two."

----

Eleni brought her back to the gates late that afternoon. After profuse thanks, Alanna turned to the gates and took a deep breath. She was ready to tackle the challenges of Court, even if she hated every moment of it. Something about that experience that night had given her a fierce determination to stare life in the eye and not look away from it. Her eyes flowed over the gates, taking in the twined leaf design, resting for a moment on an iron rose. She glanced at it for a moment, blinked, and walked forward, head held high.

She walked straight past the guards, pretending not to notice their stares at her clothing. She only got a few steps before being bowled over by a flying orange-headed someone. Laughing, she realized instantly who it was. He brought her down in an enthusiastic tackle, rolling over several times before stopping some feet away. Scrabbling to his feet, he pulled her up and wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug that strained her bandages and re-opened some of her slashes. She gave a pained grin and struggled somewhat for breath.

"You can let go now," she gasped out. He released her sheepishly, and it was only then she realized how tired he looked. "What were you doing last night, brother?" she inquired as she clapped his face in her hands and inspected the bags under his eyes. "You look like you came back from the dead."

"I spent all night looking for you. Where were you? I looked everywhere. The stable, the watchtower, the cellars, the classrooms-you weren't anywhere! I-"

"Ah, so our young man found you?" The prince walked forward, flanked by Gary and Raoul. Alanna was slightly annoyed by this sudden appearance, but didn't know what to say to the prince or his ever-present friends. She settled with staring at her feet. After all, that was perfectly open to interpretation. She didn't want him to think she was furious with him, for some reason…maybe because she didn't want to cause unnecessary argument. Why, she wasn't sure, but all she knew was that he had cut off her brother and that really did bother her. He got the message, however. She wondered at his perceptivity as he backed off to leave them in peace. She let out an unreasonably loud sigh of relief, causing her to go pale, the prince to turn around and smile, and her brother to snort with laughter. She prayed for the ground in front of her to open up and swallow her. She aimed a kick at him and tried to look dignified, failing rather miserably. Thom looked at her happily, receiving a glare.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just happy you're loosening up around here, that's all."

"I am not loosening up!"

"Whatever. Anyway, are you ready to go sigh over some discussion?"

"Shut up!"

"You're supposed to act ladylike."

"Please allow yourself to silence your pert attitude, you greatly offend my personage."

"Better."

----

When finally in Thom's room, Alanna pulled him onto the bed beside her.

"Tell me about the prince and his friends."

"Why all this sudden curiosity?" Thom raised his eyebrows.

"Shut up. I need to be somewhat educated about these people if I am to do my job, also known as find a rich suitor and get married off as soon as possible!"

"My my, someone's had a change of heart. What happened to learning to be a knight?" He looked at her quizzically.

"Please?" she asked, tactically ignoring his question.

"All right. What do you want to know?"

That night, she learned of all the most important people at court, by name if not by sight. They were lessons that she already would have known had she paid any attention during her time at the convent, but she was a fast learner and, by the end of the night, she could recite the order of succession backwards and knew the names and descriptions of all the most powerful figures of Tortallan politics.

It wasn't exactly that she had decided to marry one of them, but she realized that she had to adapt somewhat to court life if she were to survive life at the palace. The convent certainly would not take her back now, and she certainly wouldn't be able to start page training. Just the thought made her laugh. She shook her head sadly. Nowhere to go but forward.

----

Whenever anyone asked her what had happened, Alanna simply told him or her that she had gotten lost. She certainly didn't feel comfortable with mentioning that she'd got herself into a scrimmage with a pack of wolves on her very first day at the palace. Her thoughts often wandered to that night, particularly to that baton that had iced her hands over. Something had happened that she felt sure had to do with magic and her Gift, but she didn't want to think about those things now. She had never really gotten over her hate of magic and her own Gift.

As most things do over several months, the incident of the wolves became a memory at the back of her mind as more important things came into play. She was finally getting acquainted to court speech, etiquette, and the activities of a lady. She actually enjoyed them sometimes, as long as she wasn't necessarily forced to do them. It became like a challenge for her, to pick up each art and master it. She still met with the rest of the girls from the convent on certain days, and was too afraid to skip out as she would most certainly be the most noticeable when missing. But this was actually becoming entertaining…something she could never have contemplated before. She was losing her rough edges, she realized, and to her surprise, she actually liked it somewhat.

No one had ever said that she could only like doing one type of thing, had they?

Alanna still had a craving for the more knight-oriented arts; it had lessened only a little. She had a little bit of raw natural talent that had wilted when not cultivated, and she longed to learn to throw a knife and handle a bow when she watched others do these things. But whom to ask?

Thom was the most un-knightly page she'd ever seen with a sword (or anything, for that matter) and the other boys' reactions to her request would be unpredictable. She couldn't ask anyone she didn't know, and she couldn't trust anyone not to tell that she wanted to learn such things. In the end, she stared longingly out of her window at the boys in the practice courts, sparring with staffs and swords. How she desired to be one of them. She would give anything…

A cold, gray day in the fall, she had to go downstairs and see them up close. She couldn't stand it any longer. Some other maidens went to watch the pages and squires in the practice courts-why couldn't she? Trotting down the stairs and making her way through the passages, she eventually found the courts. There was one at the end of a long corridor that ended in a little arch. It seemed like a single, secluded court, walled and gated. Alanna walked to the gates and ran her hands over the grainy wood. There was an opening near the top big enough for her and her annoying butter yellow dress, and she wanted to see what was inside…the hinges were halfway up the door itself…

Meeting no difficulty, she reached the other side. The court was very large and looked empty, with just a little shed on the opposite wall. Scanning the area and not seeing anyone, she reached the shed and opened it. Expecting to see weapons, she instead found a winding staircase leading up into the wall.

Now this was genuinely odd. A staircase? The smell coming from the stairs was like that of a musty book-this place was obviously quite old. Something about the odor made her a little nervous. Nevertheless, she traveled ahead, curious as to what lay further. The doors of the little shed closed behind her with a loud thud, cutting off the light and the air.

She was trapped.

Curses, curses, curses. She couldn't see a thing. It was blacker than the night she had encountered the wolves…she shuddered. Bad time to bring back that memory…right when you don't need to be scared. What now?

She waited for several minutes but her eyes refused to adjust to the light. She even tried kicking the door, but it wouldn't budge an inch. Not being able to use any weapon very adeptly, even a knife, she hadn't brought one with her. It was so quiet all she could hear was her heartbeat, thumping rather too quickly for her liking.

Must I always get into such sticky situations? Alanna wondered as she slowly felt her way around the wall. Knocking off her shoes, she felt the delicate skin of her feet connect with the cold raised stone of the first stair. Only one way to go from here…up. Painstakingly, carefully, she clambered up, step by step, feeling her way through the passage that just kept getting higher. She had no idea where she was.

It was annoying to feel so blind and helpless in the dark. Her heart still beat very quickly, fluttering somewhere high up in her chest as she hummed snatches of a tune to break the ever-pressing silence. Her hand suddenly came into connection with a rusted handle. Giving it a tug, she pulled it open, a breeze whistling through the stairway and a blinding light filling her vision. Steadying herself on the doorframe, she waited until her eyes got used to the brightness.

Several moments later she squinted into the bright noonday sun. She was on top of some sort of tower. Clambering up and dusting off her dress, she walked into the sunshine, surfacing from the dank stairway onto a sunny balcony.

It leaned out over the moat and looked onto the countryside. She could even see the grand, picturesque horizon view of Corus a little into in the east, smoke rising from the chimneys and alleys, and a long train of wagons and carts leading up the hill along the road to the castle. Turning about she found a semicircle of wall with an open door in the center, the wall rising high above her to form the turret of the southern wing of the castle.

Something about this terrace was alluring, appealing to her senses. Alanna walked out onto the stones, oddly cooling to her bare feet, and leaned over the edge, looking down on a head-spinning drop into the moat. Everything was silent; nothing stirred…something she hadn't experienced in a long time.

Not realizing the passage of time in the tranquil place, she stayed up there for hours, looking out to the hills, letting her thoughts wander. Just sitting and thinking for an entire afternoon-this was something she never got to do. Before returning, she ripped off a corner of her dress and jammed it in the stair door to leave a little sliver of light. She then proceeded through the door in the wall, as though walking through a very colorful and vivid dream.

Ending up in a hallway she barely recognized, she decided to amble about, eventually finding her way out of the maze of passageways and to her rooms. She felt no care, as though all the weight on her shoulders had disappeared, and it left her in a strange state of bliss. Her mind was completely tranquil, and she wished it could feel that way all of the time.

She refused inwardly to go to the ball that night. She wasn't in the mood. Her bed creaked in protest as she seated herself on its edge.

A knock sounded on her door.