Once Upon A Midwinter:

Chapter 3

a/n: yay! Thanks much to Alianne Cooper, FanFictionFantom and jollyrancher-j2k for reviewing.

Jollyrancher-j2k: I think that Midwinter is around December 20-30…I'm not really sure how long it lasts, but my guess is that it ends around/before the new year, but I'm not sure. And thanks for telling me about the ages! I'd just recently read a lot of fics that had the aging like that, but I am most likely wrong. Thanx again!

FanFictionFantom: Thanks for reviewing! Yes Lianne is a Princess. However, in the story, she is too upset to give a reaction worthy of a Princess, and acts like any other heartbroken girl. Did that make any sense? I hope soo…

Lianne spent the next hour and a half catching up with Liam and Alan. She hadn't yet forgotten what had happened with Faleron, but they made her feel better. Especially Alan. He joked with her, teased her, and teased Liam, which Lianne thought was funniest. Soon enough, she was getting tired.

Lianne yawned. Liam immediately stopped yelling at Alan and turned to his younger sister. "You need sleep." he commented, gazing at her drooping eyelids.

"No, I'll b-b-be fin." she said with another shuddering yawn. "Okay, maybe I do. Will you guys still be here tomorrow?"

"Of course." Alan responded. "How could we leave? We haven't even been to a ball yet!"

Lianne grinned. "Will you save a dance for me?" she asked, eyes twinkling mischeviously.

"Fair Lady, I'd do anything for you!" Alan replied. Lianne laughed, and Liam grinned.

"G'night, Lia." Liam said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll take you riding tomorrow. We found a new trail on the way here." Lia smiled and agreed. Liam left, leaving her and Alan alone.

Alan gave her one of his famous women-winning smiles. Lianne smiled back, but she did not miss the butterfly feeling in her stomach. It was gone as soon as it had come. Then Alan spoke.

"I know that you are tired now, but would you like to go swimming tonight with some friends?" Alan asked. "Aly's coming back to visit, and she's bringing her 'guy' with her. Would you like to meet them?"

"Of course!" Lia squealed. Then she smiled. "Thanks for inviting me."

"No problem." he replied easily. Lia stepped forward and brushed his cheek in a kiss. Something about that made her body go very warm. A new feeling overtook her, and she wasn't sure she liked it. She stepped away from him.

"Sleep well, Lia." Alan said, and with a final smile, he left, leaving many of Lia's new questions unanswered.

Alan could not believe what that simple kiss on the cheek had done to him. Warmth had filled his body. He hadn't felt this way a year ago! Why now? Why now, when her heart had just been broken. He would have to be careful with his feelings. He didn't want to chase Lia away. Their friendship was too important to him.

He needed to talk to someone. Namely, Liam.

Liam sat and listened to his best friend talk for a few minutes. Then he was silent for a few minutes. He was thinking, something he didn't do very often. He normally just plunged in without planning ahead. Luckily, he had a lot of good luck and very rarely came out with the situation still bad.

Finally, he spoke. "I don't mind you having feelings for Lia. In fact, when we younger, I thought that you guys would end up getting married some day. Remember?"

Alana pulled a face which made Liam grin. "Of course. How could I forget?" Then he sighed. "I just don't want to hurt her. She's already gone and gotten her heart broken, and I'm sure she's heard from the court ladies about my many exploits with all of them. I hadn't really cared before, but now I'm very much aware of my bad reputation."

Liam now wore a crooked grin. "I know what you mean. My parents have been after me for a few months now to find someone to settle down with. Luckily, I get to choose who I want to marry. Unfortunately, all the women just want one night stands. Not exactly what I'm looking for anymore."

Alan grunted in response. "Same here. I want to fall in love, no doubt about that, but whenever the talk of marriage comes up, I just want to hide. I guess I'm afraid that I'm going to end up marrying someone I'm not really in love with. It's one of my biggest fears."

Liam couldn't help snorting. His previous grin was now reflected on Alan's face. "I'll help you with whatever I can. I never even really liked Faleron all that much. I wasn't about to say that to Lia, but I'm glad the twit is gone." The two of them shared a laugh.

"Thanks, Liam. I appreciate it." And with that final note, Alan left his friend's room.

Lia woke up with a slight headache. This was because she was so confused about her haywire feelings that she took out her hidden bottle of rum and proceeded to get slightly tipsy. Not enough to remember to take all of her clothes off before bed, but enough to forget to but the bottle away.

Suddenly her door slammed open. Lia groaned as the noise caused her headache to flare. She then rolled over so that she wouldn't have to deal with the light from the corridor flooding in.

"Lia!" A voice, Liam's groaned. "I knew I shouldn't have left you alone last night! You got drunk! I'm going to go get you a hangover remedy, but I want you dressed for riding by the time I come back. Is that clear?" When Lia did not answer, he bellowed "NOW, LIA!"

She tumbled out of bed as the door slammed a second time. Muttering nasty words under breath, she headed into the privy, and took a cold bath. Then she changed into light tan breeches, a forest green shirt that accented her eyes, and a leather belt and boots. They were actually fake leather, because Lia hated harming animals, but it looked enough like the real material to fool almost anyone. Lastly, she put her Raven's Armory dagger into a small sheath hanging from her belt. Then her door slammed for a third time.

Lia winced. Liam, not at all happy with his sister's antics, handed her a steaming mug filled with the hangover remedy. She winced as it burned down her throat, but grinned once she was done. "Come now, Liam, don't tell me you've never been drunk before. Don't try to deny it either, because I've seen you!"

Liam's lips twitched, and his face broke into a grin. "Okay, you got me. Let's say we forget this conversation and head out to the stables, hmm?" Lia answered with a grin.

Twenty minutes later found them saddling their horses. Liam had a sorrel gelding named Dragon, to once again commemorate the Shang Man he was named after. Lia rode a dapple-gray mare named Chavi, after the K'mir Horse God (a/n: was Chavi the West Wind God? I can't remember…). Lia had only owned Chavi for 2 months, after her horse Kahri died. She stilled missed Kahri, but she loved Chavi just as much.

The siblings rode quietly for a while. Suddenly Lia turned to Liam with a grin on her face. "Remember when we used to race?" she asked innocently. He responded with a laugh, and they immediately kicked their horses into a gallop. They raced for a good 100 meters, not noticing the eerie silence that enveloped the forest. Suddenly Liam's Dragon stopped. Lia halted Chavi, confused. Dragon had never done this. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a wizzing through the air. An arrow struck Liam high in his shoulder. Lianne screamed.

a/n: I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time! I've been too busy reading Harry Potter fics about Lily and James. My favorites are filled with L/J fics. I know this ending is pretty crappy, but I wanted to get it out faster, and my sister had deleted the other ending I had. So now I sit here, typing randomly, with one headphone of my IPod on. Until next tim!

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