Chapter Ten; Moonlit revelations.

This is going to be angsty; you have been warned!!!

"She's out there." The Rogue nodded his head at the window in Alanna's small room. Jon looked around the room; it was very sparsely decorated. Except for the clothes and hairbrush lying on the dresser it looked unlived in. A small chest sat next to the bed, half open, revealing weapons inside.

A figure sat on the next building's low roof, legs drawn up to her chest and head resting on her arms as she stared out across her city.

Jon clambered out the window and jumped across to the next roof.

"Thank you." He said to her back after he landed and straightened. A harsh laugh came from Alanna.

"For what? Running away?" Her voice was filled with self-loathing. "I never though I was a coward."

"You're not a coward." Jon laid a hand on her shoulder. "You're one of the bravest people I know. Not many people could take on four attackers at once, unarmed and win."

"That's not being brave. Being brave is conquering your fears, I'm not afraid of pain or death. And I ran away today, that's being a coward."

"You're not a coward." Jon said again, "and I meant thank you for saving me from the Sweating Sickness."

"So they told you about that then?"

"Yes, they told me. Why didn't you tell me that you healed me?" Alanna's shoulder moved under his palm as she sighed,

"What do you remember about it?"

"Not much. A lot of pain, purple fire, and something about your mother. It's all very vague."

"My mother gave me a choice. I could either take you from the Dark God, leaving her there or take her, leaving you. I chose to take you." Her shoulders shook a little as she bit back silent sobs. Jon gave her a few moments to compose herself.

"Then thank you again. That means you're a countess Alanna."

"What!"

"My father gave the fief of Silvereves to my healer. Duke Baird didn't tell us who it was so Myles has been looking after it for you." She stood abruptly.

"No!" she spun to face him, tears glistened on her cheeks. "I won't be a noble again." Jon too stood.

"Again? What do you mean you won't be a noble again?" Alanna paled and Jon trapped her, with a hand on each shoulder so she had to look at him.

"You better tell him lass. He'll find out eventually." Alanna nodded at George's comment and sank back down onto the tiles. Jon sat next to her, he watched her bite her lips until haltingly she began to speak, her voice hoarse with emotions.

"I was born Alanna of Trebond, a small fief to the North of here. My father hated me because I was a girl, even though I was better at riding and fencing than him. I tried to come to Corus, pretending to be boy, to become a knight, but I was caught and sent home. My father banished me, so I came here and George found me. You can guess the rest." By the end of her short speech Alanna's eyes were wet with unshed tears. "My mother died bearing us."

"Us?" Jon queried gently.

"My brother and me. He managed to do what he wanted to do. He's in the City of the Gods learning to be a sorcerer. He agreed with my father to save his own skin." Her breath hitched into a sob and she buried her face in her hands, all her long hidden anger, all the loss, the recent funeral and weariness catching up with her. Jon heard the door click shut as George left, giving them privacy.

Slowly he turned to face the crying girl and awkwardly swung an arm around her shoulders. They sat like that for a long time; Alanna crying her sorrows out onto Jon's shoulder.

Finally, after her shoulders had stopped shaking, she lifted her head slowly, not looking him in the eye.

"Sorry." She said softly, " I didn't mean to do that. I haven't cried like that for a long time."

Jon lifted her face with two fingers,

"Maybe you needed to. You need to cry to heal."

"I heal fine." She pulled her sleeve up to show a white scar on her upper arm. "I've broken three bones, been shot five times, stabbed twelve and attempted to be poisoned once."

"Wow." Jon whistled softly, "You have more assassination attempts than I do."

"I'm heir to the Court of the Rogue. Here in Corus and most other cities people pay more attention to George and me then your father. We are their rulers."

Jon nodded.

"So you're the bargaining piece then? That's why George is so protective of you?"

"Pretty much. He didn't want me to see you because I had nightmares for weeks after I healed you." Jon took her hand gently,

" I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. But talking of assassination attempts, you must be careful at the Palace Jon, and here in the city." She had turned to face him fully, legs curled under her body, hand holding his tightly. "Some one, perhaps the same person who is out to kill me and George, wants you dead.  Palace men and others have followed you into the city every time since Beltane. We've managed to distract them or pick them off, so they don't know where you come to."

"I've been followed?"

"Yes. Selket's men. He wants the Throne of the Rogue from George and he's doing everything he can to get it. Going against my Lord Provost's rules as well as ours. They were the men who attacked you in the alley."

"Why are they after me?"

Alanna sighed,

"I don't know. He's either got bigger plans than we know of, or he's someone's accomplice."

"Any ideas who he's helping?"

"Not that you'll want to hear." She said pulling him to his feet as she did so. It was only then that he noticed she was wearing breeches and a shirt again.

"Are you going to stay here tonight," Alanna wanted to know, "Or do you want to go back up to the Palace?"

"What time is it?" She glanced at the sky, estimating the time by the position of the moon.

"About two o'clock I think." She looked up at his face, "We a have a spare room if you want to stay." Jon grinned down at her; her head was only just in line with his shoulders,

"I'll stay then. It's too late to go back now."

"Plus I'd have to go with you." Jon nodded and climbed up the slanting roof and jumped the gap, giving Alanna his hand to help her climb through the window. She completely ignored it and clambered through on her own. He shrugged and withdrew his hand, and let her quietly show him to a small room down the hall from her own. Wordlessly she pushed the well-oiled door to behind herself and began to make up his bed.

"Thanks Jon, for letting me get all that off my chest." She spoke in an undertone, half to him and half to the mattress,

"No problem. I'm honoured you trusted me enough to tell me everything." She threw a pillow to the head of his bed, and then moved towards the door.

"I'll wake you early in morning we can train together, then get you back to the palace." Jon nodded in agreement then bent slightly and kissed her forehead.

"Good night Lady Alanna." She flushed and stepped back into the passage

"Good night Highness." He watched her as she slipped soundlessly down the corridor, flashing him a quick smile as she went into her own room.

While Jon rested a few rooms from hers, Alanna sat on her bed and stared out the window. She dropped her head into her hands as she thought. She wasn't sure about what was happening, a feeling she resented greatly. She had spent a long time building up her defensive walls, letting no one apart from George through. She had always been so sure of her place, of what she was going to do next, but now… Her walls were cracking and she did not like it at all. With a sigh she rolled over on her stomach and with difficulty, thought roiling through her mind, she slept, the moonlight making her look pale and ghostly.