Title: The Best Years of Our Lives [TBYOL]

Author: Seadragon

Genre: Humor/Action/Adventure

Rating: Pg-13

Summary: Alanna, Jon, Raoul, and Gary decide to play a little prank, you know for old time's sakes. Unfortunately, they played a prank on the wrong people… Soon, they find themselves reliving some of the most, let's say interesting, years of their lives. Oops! Next time guys, chose someone else to prank!

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Chapter 2: Punishment to Suit the Crime

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"Now, let me tell you a little story…"

Our heroes were standing in Lord Wyldon's office, in front of his desk. All the other victims of their prank were seated around the room. Lord Wyldon himself was sitting behind his desk, elbows on the wood, and fingers steepled. He leaned forward menacingly.

"Uh, you really don't have to, really!" Alanna tried one last time to get out of this, without seeming to, after all, they were in enough trouble as it was, undoubtedly they wouldn't enjoy the story telling one bit.

"Nonsense." Lord Wyldon smiled wryly and the four knights leaned back unconsciously. "Once upon a time there were four very bad knights... Now I don't mean bad in the sense that they were bad at what they do, more that THEY COULDN'T BEHAVE TO SAVE THEIR LIVES!"

He shouted the last bit so loudly, Alanna wouldn't have been surprised if they could hear him all the way to the Roof of the World. The guilty party flinched.

"Now, we just need to find a punishment to suit the crime, don't you agree my Lord magistrate?" Wyldon asked, looking at the Duke, who nodded. "Now, since you played an extremely inappropriate, and childish, prank, that I would have expected from first year pages, not four such influential adults," He said the last word so sarcastically,  and with such poison, there was venom practically dripping from the words. "I have an excellent idea for your punishment." Gary wondered if he knew how unsettling these words were.

All around the room, the somewhat slimy victims were nodding with huge, yet very false, smiles on their faces, and an evil glint in their eyes that Raoul didn't the like the look of one bit.

"Therefore, I have decided that I will make you…" He paused, making Alanna squirm in her seat. He was giving them time to imagine the worst, she just knew it. "Spend a month as pages." Whatever they had been expecting, this most certainly wasn't it.

"You're what?! We have to do what?! You're so de-"

"Calm Alanna, be calm, it is the key to everything." Gary told his friend, trying to keep her from strangling Lord Wyldon. Needless to say, he was failing miserably.

"Well you can shove your key up your a-"

"Language Page Trebond. Or it'll be punishment work for you." Wyldon said calmly, despite the fact that he was attempting to move slowly away from his desk to avoid the rabid Lady Knight trying to kill him, with out her noticing. It didn't work.

"Oh you are really asking for it now…" Alanna made threatening motions with her hands. Raoul and Gary both had a firm hand on her shoulders, keeping her pinned to the chair, oh the downfalls of being small. She glared at them. "Stop it, I'm not going to kill him! Yet…" She gave Wyldon a vampire smile and he unconsciously loosened his collar.

"You will be exactly the same as a first year page, and you will have a page sponsor. You will go to classes and do your homework. For every time you receive punishment work, I will add a day to the time you must remain pages. You will participate in training as well. You will sleep in the Page's Wing and obey your teachers, senior pages and squires, the training master, and any noble who asks for your service. And you will wear a pages uniform."

If looks could kill, Lord Wyldon of Cavall would be a pile of Stormwing droppings on the floor. Luckily for him, they couldn't unless you were Numair Salmalin, Duke Roger of Conte, or Lord Thom of Trebond, and two of the aforementioned are dead. Again, luckily for him.

Although looks couldn't kill, Alanna was seriously considering running the man through with her sword. And that would definitely kill him, luck or no. There is something about tempered steel that is very hazardous to the living. Luck had nothing to do with it anymore.

Even as her hand tightened on the hilt, and she began to draw the sword out of its sheath, Jon elbowed her in the side. Obviously, this meant they were in enough trouble as it was, and do not, under any circumstances, make it worse by killing a very influential noble. Luck brought back in to play, she didn't. And this was lucky for both them and Lord Wyldon, because, no doubt, getting stabbed to death was not very high on his "Things to Do" list. Ha, like it's on anyone's! Well, I guess Roger's an exception to that rule…

Again, luckily Lord Wyldon didn't notice Alanna trying in vain to kill him, otherwise he would have given her punishment work for disobedience, and that, was a severe understatement. Not to mention the fact that that would add an extra day to their torture, something they did not want at all. Obviously.

Oh no, Lord Wyldon was too busy reveling in all his glory. Considering, this was perfectly acceptable, no one else had been able to catch the pranksters in the act, and punish them. And he felt he had chosen a very suitable punishment. After all, what was it they said? Ah yes, let the punishment suit the crime. And this most certainly did just that.

Right about now, Jon was wondering how evil a man had once been his Training Master. He also wondered how many more there were like him that he had trained. Because it just wasn't safe for the country if there were too many. People this evil had to be dealt with, and quick. Otherwise… He shuddered. He didn't even want to think about what could happen to his beloved country if someone like that took control. Not only would it be the end of his country, but it would be the end of all civilized life. And that wasn't a comforting thought.

But Gary was even more worried, and rightly so. After all, if they were pages, they would have to eat with the pages. And that food wasn't exactly gourmet. Just thinking of it made his stomach roll, but, he supposed it could just be hunger. He hadn't eaten since breakfast, they had been too busy getting caught. He was going to have to have a word with Thayet once they were free from their punishment. If she hadn't forced Alanna to wear a dress and high heeled shoes, they could have been far, far away from the scene of the crime before the victims even knew what hit them.

But no, Thayet just had to chose today of all days to turn Alanna into a lady, albeit a frog toting, dress ruining, foul mouthed one. Oh yes, there would definitely be words. If they survived this that is.

Raoul was also thinking about his stomach, but not from hunger. He had gotten whacked in the middle with a water pitcher. Not a pleasant experience, let me tell you. He would be in no great hurry to repeat the incident. I don't think anyone in their right mind would be. But, then again, when has any one of these four ever been in their right mind. Come to think of it, do they even have one?

I certainly can't remember anytime in recent history when one of them demonstrated it.

But no matter, they were still going to have to suffer through one very long month. And it wasn't going to be pretty.