A/N thanks for reviewing! Enjoy the story, my loyal fans. And remember to review!
Chapter eight: Discovery
It hadn't stopped raining since the night she had killed the man. Four nights ago. Four days since her life had changed dramatically for the second time in her nineteen years of her life. She had informed Jaymie of everything he needed to know, and nothing else, and given him the money in a valiant attempt to ease her guilt.
It hadn't worked.
Four days she had lived with the guilt. She had finally given up the attempt at being civilized and had fled the inn. She was tired of the strange looks the others gave her when they saw her face. She knew she was pale. It was her monthly; she had every right to be pale.
But she knew that wasn't the reason she was pale. She was pale because she couldn't sleep. Every time she allowed her eyes to close, the thoughts came loose and badgered her until she was ready to scream. In the four days since she had found out, she had gotten little more then ten hours of sleep.
Polly had bombarded her with questions until Novellee had lost her temper and told her to mind her own business in a very rude manner. Bennie was mad at her because she had snapped at him when he had been too slow at saddling her horse yesterday.
To top it all off, Carmon had taken it upon himself to make sure that she took it easy and rested. He hadn't let her out of bed for five straight hours. Five hours of listening to him talk about himself and them and their future together. It had made her sick.
Sure, she could have kicked him out, but Polly felt better knowing that she was being looked after. And since she had been so rude to her earlier, Novellee had no choice but to tough it out for as long as possible.
She had slipped out when he had left to use the bathroom, taking the cowards way out and leaving through the window.
Now she was wet, cold, hungry, exhausted, but finally alone. All she had had to do was sneak into the castle, creep done the corridors into the library. But she was alone.
She walked languidly through the rows looking for a book that would catch her interest. A book on weapon forging did the trick. Taking it, she curled up into a chair and began reading.
But even reading couldn't save her. Her thoughts crept up on her and before she knew it, she was thinking all over again. With a whisper scream of frustration, she threw the book across the room where it slammed into another bookshelf with a crash.
She barely noticed.
As she paced endlessly, she ran her fingers through her wet hair, sending it into curly disarray.
"Why should I feel guilty?" she demanded in a whisper of no one in particular. "I didn't say I would do anything with the information that I found. And would they even listen to me if I brought it to there attention?"
She swore when she kicked the table. It sent pain ringing through her, so she grabbed her foot. Loosing her balance, she hopped on one foot before falling over with a plop on her butt in the middle of the room.
It was all too much for her. She curled into a ball on the floor, rolling into herself. She buried her face in her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs. She was only nineteen. There was nothing she could do. Why should she even try to help?
Voices coming down the hall brought her to herself. She stood and shook of the self-pity. She hated self-pity it made her stomach curl. So, instead, she picked up her book and replaced it on the shelf were it had come from.
"What are you doing in here?" came a voice from behind her. She turned with a gasp and saw it was a guard. He gasped to, for he recognized her. "You're the assassin the king's been looking for."
He let out a shout to notify other guards. Rather then fight, as she would any other time of the month, she ran.
She ran down twisting halls taking random corners. She could hear the guards following behind her, and she knew that the numbers of them were growing. She could hear them calling to each other.
A cramp in side brought her to a crippling pace. Not that it mattered; she had run out of corridor. At the end of the hall was a room. The door was slightly ajar, so she ran to it, pushed it open and slipped inside.
The door slammed behind her.
The room was arranged to look like an auditorium. There were benches lined along the walls to either side of the door, but they were dusty, like they hadn't been used in awhile. At the back of the hall was another door. It reached from floor to ceiling. She ran to this door also, hoping it led out.
Again the door slammed behind her, this time sealing her inside the Chamber of Ordeal.
$$
Guards pounded on the king's door. He grumbled and rolled closer to his wife, wrapping her into an embrace. The pounding continued until Jon got up.
He shrugged into a robe before opening the door. Alanna stood on the other side, flanked by two guards, looking decidedly rumpled. He gave her a look that said he wasn't amused.
"The assassin's been taken into the Chamber of Ordeal."
"What?" he bellowed. Alanna hastily explained what she had gotten from the guards. The king swore heavily before swirling around to face his wife. She was sitting calmly on the edge of the bed. "Get Numair and tell him to do whatever he can to get her out. We'll be there shortly."
Alanna nodded, closed the door and headed out to wake Numair.
"What am I to do Thayet? It's dangerous in there. Only the strongest of knights come through. She'll die in there, and I'll be held responsible," he turned away, then came back to the bed and laid his head on her shoulder.
"What if she makes it, Jon? What if she survives it? Will she be knighted as the rest are? Think about that. And I'm sure if she wasn't meant to go in there, she wouldn't have. You know the chamber has its own mind and if it didn't want the girl to enter, she wouldn't have," Thayet questioned in a cool, incontrol voice.
"What you should worry about is what you're going to do when she gets out."
A/N Sorry these last two have been short. But I'm building it up for a long one. But, do to circumstances, I won't be able to update until Monday. I expect lots of reviews by then.
Nubia
