A/n: A bit longer this time. Huzzah, I'm so nice. Thanks to all you reviewers! *waves* Now, I'm going to give y'all a little spoiler. This fic is going to be an Alanna/Gary, but the main pairing is going to be a Jon/?. And no, the ? is not an OC. Nor is it Alanna. Don't bother guessing, you'll never get it. All will become clear. In about seven chapter's time. *cackles* Oh, and George and Thayet do not exist at all in this thick, or at least I don't think George will be. We'll have to see.

Alanna grabbed Cythera's wrist in a vicelike grip as she daintily stepped out of the carriage, just as she had been taught. She had to stifle a laugh at the memory of the endless afternoons the Sisters had spent trying to teach her to do it properly. Cythera, on the other hand, was trying to stifle a yelp of pain from her wrist, which had had its circulation cut completely destroyed. The two screwed-up expressions were too much for Gary, who promptly completed the trio by suppressing his own roar of amusement. Trying to keep a straight face and, like the other two, failing utterly, he stepped forward stiffly and bowed from the waist, taking Alanna's hand to his lips. He smiled mentally as he remembered the long hours the priests had spent trying to teach him to do that properly. However, all traces of amusement vanished from both Alanna and Gary's faces as his lips brushed her hand, callused from hours of what the Sisters called 'unladylike labours' but what Alanna called weapons practice, sadly all too rare from her point of view. It came back to them both that they were meeting their dreaded betrothed, and Alanna dropped Cythera's hand, much to her relief. Gary, resigned to his fate of death by courtship, spoke the first words.

"Lady Alanna, Lady Cythera, I hope you will enjoy your time here. If you would like to follow me, I will take you up to the palace proper. You have been given adjoining rooms, I believe. Lady Alanna, you're brother will be in the squires' wing, should you wish to visit him."

Bowing again, he turned around, biting his tongue. It was true, she did have his eyes. And his face. And his hair. In fact, she looked exactly like him. Gary suppressed a shudder, and realised he seemed to be suppressing a lot of things today. Suppressing a resigned sigh, and adding one more to the list, he was flooded with depression. He wasn't too optimistic about the rest of his life.

Behind him, Alanna exchanged glances with Cythera, wrinkling her nose. If this was the face of her future, she felt like giving it a slap. Shaking her head in a defeatist manner, she tapped Gary on the shoulder. The young man whirled round, startled.

"My Lady?"

"My Lord Gareth, I wonder if you could tell me: is my brother well? I have not heard from him in... a very long time." She bit her lip, berating herself for nearly letting slip that she had not heard from her brother at all since they had both left Trebond.

"Certainly, my lady. To the best of my knowledge your brother is well, and I know that he excels at the class for the Gifted. That is about all I have heard of him, we do not know each other well." A lie, but he wasn't going to tell his betrothed that he loathed her brother. "My lady, I beg you, call me Gary. I cannot stand my given name."

Giving the tiniest of curtsies, Alanna grinned.

"Only if you call me Alanna"

Cythera grinned to herself. This was going to be romantic.