Plot: "I almost had to fight Gary for you." --Jonathan, A:TFA. What if Gary had picked 'Alan' to be his squire?

Author's Note: Okay. So when I originally started this story there's something you must know: I SUCKED AT WRITING. Yes, I admit to it freely. I was a crappy writer. So when I finally realized it I gave it up. Now looking back I see that I really would like to try again. So please, read on, I promise it will be better this time.

Disclaimer: Not mine.


Thorns

By: Hannirose

"Alan? May I speak with you for a moment?" Gareth of Naxen was nervous. He was hardly ever nervous, and especially not around his good friend Alan of Trebond. But today Gary needed to ask his friend an important question.
Alan, a small red -headed boy with bright purple eyes, nodded amiably, then frowned slightly seeing the worried looked on Gary's normally smiling face. They stopped and the group walked on without them, as they did Prince Jonathan, another good friend of his, sent Gary an encoraging smile.
Gary turned to look at Alan who looked confused. "What's the matter?" Alan asked hesitantly. Gary shifted his weight nervously and took a deep breath. Letting it out he looked his friend full in the eyes.
"Well...I've been doing a lot of thinking lately." "Bad for your health," Alan teased with a grin. Gary chuckled and grinned weakly, then he continued,
"And I came to the conclusion that I think it would be...beneficial to have a squire." Gary saw Alan blink in surprise and hone his attention in completely on Gary. "Anyway...I thought that, if you wanted to...would you be my squire?" He winced at the way the words came out.
Alan's violet eyes grew large. You would think that he would jump at the chance to be the squire of his good friend. But Alan of Trebond had a secret. For 'Alan' was a girl. In truth 'Alan's name was Alanna of Trebond. She had been masquerading as a boy since she was ten years old when she had decided to walk the path of knighthood rather than become a simpering court decoration. But Gary didn't know this. Only a few people knew her secret, for she had gaurded it well.
Alanna looked after her friend's retreating figures. In her heart of hearts she knew that she had been secretly dreaming that the Prince would choose her to be his squire. She looked back at Gary, who was looking as though he was ready to bolt. While Gary did not know her secret he was a good man, and her first friend in the palace. She considered everything she knew of him and realized that her friend would not betray her.
Alanna let a grin break out on her small face. Gary got a hopeful look in his eyes and Alanna said happily,
"I'm honored to accept." She laughed. "I didn't think anyone would choose a little runt like me to be their squire. I expected to be stuck with a desk knight for a few months at least!" Gary let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, in a rush of air. He smiled widely and held out his hand to his new squire.
"I wouldn't have asked anyone else.


Inside Alanna's mind her thoughts were whirling. On one hand she was overjoyed at the thought of having Gary as her knight master. It would mean that she got to spend time with her friend, and also have a knight master she could be proud of. But on the other hand...how could she keep her secret from being found out?
Only a small amount of people knew her secret. One of which was Jon, he had found out only a short while ago when they had snuck out of their rooms and rode to the Black City. There they had fought the Ysandir, and beathen them with the help of the great Mother Goddess. But in the process one of the Immortals had managed to make Alanna's clothes disapere, leaving her only in her belt and scabbard. Only a blind man wouldn't have been able to tell that her gender was not what she had always told them. And Prince Jonathan was not blind. But he had kept quiet, as Alanna was his friend and had saved his life.
If Gary found out about her true identity Alanna felt sure that he would keep quiet. But...if he didn't, or if someone else found out, she would be sent home in shame. Alanna couldn't bear the thought of lying to Gary any longer. She already felt guilty for having to lie to the whole palace. But to her knight-master...she could not lie to him. She wondered to herself whether or not Gary could possibly already know. She knew He was always respectful of her, and for that she respected him.
"Gary..." Alanna reached out and touched his arm. Biting her lip nervously she stammered, "I-I need to tell you-" But was cut off as Jonathan and the rest of her friend's bounded down the hallway.
"Did she?" Raoul panted, then seeing the grin on Gary's face, crowed, "She did!" He slapped Alanna on the back who bent forward under the weight, sometimes Raoul seemed to forget his own strength. "This is wonderful!" He exclaimed, happily slinging his arm around Gary and Alanna.
Gary laughed at his friend's antics. He pushed Raoul's arm off of him,
"Be still you over-active buffoon." He commanded in a mock serious voice, but his sparkling eyes gave him away. "Alan, what were you saying?" He asked, looking down at his new squire fondly.
"Nothing..." Alanna said quietly.
Gary talked the whole way through supper, eagerly telling Alanna how him and Raoul and Jon had fought hard over who would ask her to be their squire.
"Jon thought he should have you, but Raoul and I both agreed that it wasn't fair for him to get everything just because he's the prince." Alanna felt a slight swoop in her stomach at these words. Jon had wanted her as his squire. Looking up at Gary's eager face she felt her lips turn upwards. Being Jon's squire was a lot of responsibility, she told herself. Think of all the boring meetings you would have had to go to. Besides, Gary would treat her well, and he always managed to make her laugh.
"I'm glad that you did." Alanna said lightly, "just imagine if I'd been picked by some desk-knight." "Or worse," Raoul voiced, with a wicked grin, "a librarian." Seeing his friend's puzzled looks he added, "Alan would be hard pressed to reach the shelves!" The other boy's laughed as Alanna jumped on Raoul's back, attempting, and failing, to tackle the boy to the ground.


The evening Alanna was busy unpacking her things into her new room right next to Gary's. She whistled softly as she folded to clothes. Her cat, Faithful ((Yes, she still went and got the manuscripts for Sir Myles even though she wasn't Jon's page)) watched her, idly licking his paws and occasionally throwing out snarky comments.
The room was bigger than her old room, and had big south facing windows. In accompinament to her weapons she also had a spare wrack for Gary to keep any other's of his. There was an ajoining door on the left wall that connected to Gary's room. She heard a knock on the door to the hallway outside and heard it swing open. She turned to see Jon standing in the doorway, his arms crossed casually across his chest. He regarded Alanna thoughtfully for a minute, then breaking the silence said,
"So...how're you going to tell him?" Alanna bit her lip. She ushered the prince inside and closed the door with a snap. She sighed, rubbing her aching head.
"I'm not sure." She said quietly, "I'm going to have to, though." She felt the guilt that she always felt due to her lying to all her friend here whell up inside of her. She shook her head, as if trying to banish the thoughts from her mind.
Jon nodded shortly. He inspected his fingernails and said in a would-be casual voice,
"You know, I was going to ask you to be my squire. But I've always been a bit of a push-over," He smiled to himself, still looking intently at his hands, "bad habit for a King to be." He sighed and sat on Alanna's bed with a soft thump. "I guess I didn't really think that anyone else would want you." He winced and said hurridley, "not that you aren't a great squire, I just mean that...well, I kind of always expected that you would be my squire." Alanna sat down on the bed next to him, training her gaze on his twiddling thumbs. She tried to figure out just how she felt about this news. She had wanted to be Jon's squire so badly, and now she found out that if she had waited just a little longer she could have been. Alanna looked up at Jon. He sat with stiff good posture, having it been schooled into him since his early years. He would have made an amazing knight-master, but as much as she admired Jon she always had more fun with Gary. Felt more like herself.
"I don't know what to say, Jon." Alanna said uncertainly, "I'm sorry, I guess." She looked up into Jon's blue eyes and saw him smile ruefully,
"I suppose that teaches me a lesson on procrastinating." Alanna laughed at this. "So who should I choose then? To be my squire, since you're much too popular to be the likes of my squire." Alanna snorted at this and thought for a moment,
"Geoffrey of Merron is a good man," she grinned, "and a marvelous cook, something you never would have gotten from me.
Jon nodded, "I think you're right." He stood and walked to the door. Before he slipped out the room he said quietly, "Gary won't betray you, Alanna. Trust him."


After nearly two hours of battling back and forth withself and an hour more of trying to figure out the right way to tell him, Alanna knocked lightly on the door joining her room to Gary's.
"Come in." Gary called through. Alanna braced herself and entered the room. Gary sat at his desk, writing what appered to be a letter. He set down his quill and smiled at Alanna.
"Alan! What a pleasent surprise." He noticed Alanna biting her lip to the point of bleeding. He said mildly, "did you know that in some countries it's illegal for knights to inflict self-injury? I believe knights in Tusaine are hung by their hands in the hog barn for a day if caught doing so." Alanna snorted at this and stopped biting her lips. She smiled sheepishly. Then taking a deep breath she fixed her gaze resolutely on the floor,
"Gary...I haven't been completely honest with you." She said bluntly, to the floor, of course. She studied the stone beneath her, "I feel that I need to tell you the truth now, before it's too late for you to backout, if you want to." Gary leaned forward and started to say something before Alanna held up a hand.
"Please." She said, "if you stop me, I might not be able to start again. So please just listen. Gary leaned back slowly in his chair, but didn't say anymore.
"I've been keeping a secret for a long time. See...you think that I'm Alan of Trebond, one in a pair of twin boys. But in truth I a--" Just then came a knock on the door, and the voice of Timon, a manservent at the palace, called through.
"'scuse me, my lords, but I'm 't bring Master Gary 't his Grace." Gary's father, Duke Gareth of Naxen, the elder, was the head teacher of the boy's training to be knights.
Gary called,
"Thank you Timon, I'll be there in a moment." When Timon's footsteps retreated Gary looked back at Alan, who was looking even more uncomfortable than before.
"Alan, are you all right? You look-" "I'm fine." Alanna interrupted him. "I'll be here when you get back." Seeing him hesitate she tried to smile brightly, "Go on then." Gary looked resistant to leave, but stood slowly after a moment.
"This shouldn't take long." He said, looking confused and worried. "When I come back, we can talk, okay?
Alanna nodded, and Gary slipped from the room. Alanna waited until he was out of ear shot and burying her head in his pillow growled in rage. Faithful waltzed through the ajoining door and disdainfully started washing his paws.
That didn't seem to go so well. He commented, sarcasm heavy in his voice. Alanna glared at the little creature,
"This is hard enough without your sass." She snarled at the cat who glared at her, flicking his tail in an irritated manner. Alanna sighed and said, "I'm sorry. I just...don't know any easy way to do this." Just tell him the truth as fast as you can. The cat suggested. Get it over with. What's the worst that could happen?
The little feline trotted daintily out of Gary's room and back into Alanna's. Alanna frowned after the beast,
"The truth isn't always as easy as it sounds." She said with a moan and flopped her head back into the pillow.


Author's Note: Yes, the first chapter is short. But I am going to try to post the next chapter tomorrow, or sometime this week. I hope you enjoy the new and improved version of Thorns!