A/n: Never fear, the Jon thing is here! After which the Tris thing will appear! Ok, enough with the rhyming. This story is going to be longer then I anticipated. Oh, well.

hides from killer penguins

Their opportunity was to appear sooner then they expected…

Jon was talking avidly with Gary and Raoul. They stood close together, leaning over the table with their heads together, their voices low. At first, when Alanna, Cythera and Sandry approached them, they thought the boys must be discussing some kind of mad prank, and stepped up the pace. But they had no such luck.

"What're you talking about?" Asked Alanna cheerfully, striding up and sitting on the table. Jon shook his head.

"You wouldn't be interested." He said, confidently. Dismissing her presence with a glance, he turned back to the table. Aggravated, Alanna snatched up the detailed bit of paper that lay between them, ignoring their shouts of protest.

Her eyes widened as she looked at it. Jon rolled his eyes. "I told you you  wouldn't be interested." He said in an impatient voice. She looked up, an expression on her face reminiscent of… of something very happy.

"This," she said, waving the paper around in the air, "Is the best map of the Battle of Queenscove Ford I have ever seen! Look at the detail! You can see every single squad's movements, look, even this bit here where the water was dammed…

Pulling Sandry over, she started to explain the battle to her friend with vicious detail. Then, whirling around in mid-sentence, she waved it in front of Jon's face.

It was a rather dazed face.

"Why," She demanded angrily, "On earth did you think I wouldn't be interested? Do you still think of me as a bloody court flower?"

Jon's mouth gaped. Finally, he managed, "Girls can't manage battles."

There was a sudden silence in the room. The air seemed to turn cold. Outside, the sparrows continued cheeping unperturbed, but had they seen the look in Alanna's eyes they would have fled.

"And every morning?" came her voice, unnaturally quiet. "On the practice courts? The years spent sneaking out of convent to learn how to hit, and kick, and wield a dagger? Would you have done as much?" There were no changes of tone in Alanna's flat voice. "And you still think girls can't fight battles?"

"Alanna..." Gary murmured softly. Alanna ignored him.

"Tomorrow." She said firmly. Jon blinked.

"Tomorrow what?"

"Tomorrow I'll fight you. Out in the open, in front of everyone. If I lose, you've proved your point well enough."

Jon shook his head. "There would be no honour in beating a girl."

"Then take back your words. No? I didn't think so."

"And if you win?" Jon found himself asking, a sarcastic tone creeping into his voice.

What to ask for? She didn't have to think long. The answer was at the top of her mind. It always had been.

"If I win," And her voice, to her astonishment, was steady, "I want your solemn oath that when you ascend the throne, you will resurrect an old tradition." Seeing the puzzled expressions on the faces of her friends, she continued inexorably,

"You will allow girls to become knights."

But she left him no time to reply. Before he could draw breath, she and her friends were gone.