Duke Roger of Conte the king's nephew and one of the greatest sorcerers alive was not happy. He was pacing in front of the fire. Others in the room were his mistress Delia of Eldorne and his former squire Alex of Tirragen. By now everyone in the palace had heard that Alan of Trebond the Prince's squire was in reality a girl.

It was Delia who had found this out. And she told Alex who told Duke Roger who told the King. Roger had known that Alan or Alanna would either be hanged for treason or she would escape. Either way it benefited him. He needed her out of the way so he could kill Jonathan his cousin and get the throne. But Jonathan had gone with her, which was not what he wanted.

Now how am I going to kill him? He couldn't go after him he needed to be at court. The king was trying to decide what they would do if Alanna came back to court and Roger wanted to be there to influence him.

Delia decided to make her move. "Master," she said in a seductive voice. "As a woman I know that all woman hate to sleep outdoors in the cold. So they will most likely be looking for an inn to stay in. I suggest you send someone loyal to you to look for them. They couldn't have gotten too far in the time they had."

Roger looked at the beautiful woman sitting by the fire in a very tight and revealing dress. She obviously still believes that she will be queen if we are successful. When in reality as soon as we succeed I'm going to kill her. A woman like her can't be trusted. But right now she is useful to me. "Why that is a fine idea. Alex you shall search for them. When you find them. Kill one of them I don't care which. If possible kill both. But don't come back if both are alive."

Alex bowed to his master. He was the only one who knew exactly what Roger had planned. His plan to kill Delia as soon as he took the throne. Delia wouldn't be useful when he was king and she wanted the crown. Alex wanted nothing but for Roger too be in power instead of Jonathan. "Of course my lord. I'll be off within the hour. I assure you they will die."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Raoul and Gary rode down the streets of Corus to the Dancing Dove. They both needed a strong drink after the very long day that they had. When they entered the inn they both ordered a large drink and sat down. Gary and Raoul both started looking around for George. When they couldn't find him they called to Rispah. "Hey Rispah. Were has George gone off to. Business?" Rispah nodded her head. Sadness was in her eyes. "George is no longer the King of Thieves. He resigned this morning to go after Alan and Johnny. Alan said something about them knowing who he was. Do you know what he was talking about?"

Gary sighed. This was a long day. "Ok first of all Johnny is actually Prince Jonathan." Rispah's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Raoul continued, "And we have recently learnt that 'Alan' is actually 'Alanna.' Jonathan knew about it even before he took him or her as his squire. I suppose George knew also judging that Alan I mean Alanna came here to tell him she was running."

Rispah sat down. "Well what will they do to her if they catch her?" Gary and Raoul looked dismal. Finally it was Gary who answered, "They'll probably hang her."

After they had both had 1 smaller drink Gary and Raoul left. They hadn't had enough to make them drunk so they had no trouble. They were riding in complete silence when Gary burst out, "I just can't believe it. Alan the boy who I sponsored, the boy who started out as a small page and became an amazing warrior, the boy who me and Jonathan fought over to be our squire, the boy who beat the knight from Tusaine was in reality a girl."

Raoul was silent. Finally he spoke. "Who do you think discovered that Alan was a girl?" Gar shook his head. "I think I heard father say that it was Duke Roger." They were both silent until they reached the palace. Then Raoul spoke again. "You know it makes sense know. Why he never went swimming why he was never interested in the court ladies. Why he always acted secretive. It was because he was a she." "I wonder how Jon and George found out." Gary and Raoul both entered the palace with a lot to think about.

"Let's go see Alex maybe he knows something being he does a lot of work for Roger." When they reached Alex's rooms however he was gone.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Alanna, George and Jonathan rode for about an hour before finding an inn. To save money they only got one room for the night. George went up first as not to draw attention. Then Alanna went up and then Jon.

When they entered the room they saw that they had only one very small bed. There was a dressing room and a privy. Alanna was the first one to speak, "As the girl I get the bed." Jonathan and George both disagreed. "As the crown prince of Tortall I get the bed." George of course wouldn't give up that easily. "As the one who paid for the room I get the bed." Alanna rolled her eyes when will they learn. "As the one who can beat both of you at fencing I get the bed." Both Jon and George started to argue but stopped. She had them.

Alanna hopped into the bed. "Goodnight boys." She fell asleep almost instantly. Jon and George looked at each other shrugged and lay down on the floor. As uncomfortable as it was they both fell asleep quickly.

The next day Alanna went into town with some money George had gave her the day before and bought a wig and a couple of dresses. When she got back both of them wanted to know what she had got. When she told them Jon was very confused and a bit upset that she had spent money on such silly things. "Why do you need those? Now that your secrets out are you going to start acting like a girl or something?" Alanna was a bit hurt. Jon should know her better then that. But anger took over and she said with anger and exasperation clearly showing, "O for the love of Mithros. How many redheaded violet-eyed people are there? This is my disguise so I don't stand out as much. As you said earlier I stand out like a sore thumb. Jon was dumbfounded. "O. Good thinking."

Alanna went into the dressing room to change into one of her dresses. George had just woken up and was yawning. "Hungry?" Jon nodded. "Starving." George threw Jon an apple. Jon opened his pack to find an angry Faithful trying to get out. "O sorry little guy. I forgot you were in there. Faithful walked off with his tail sticking up haughtily. George laughed. This was going to be an interesting journey.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Wow this is a long chapter. I personally like it but that's just me.

No one reviewed. But that's ok I didn't really expect a review about my life. LOL. So someone review this time. Tell me how I'm doing.