George sat right outside the castle walls of Naxen that night. The night
watch had given the midnight call about three hours ago. Soon it would be
morning. Hm, he thought, how to get past the guards. Picking up a small
pebble, George got as close as he could to the front gate. His feet made no
sound when they touched the floor. He pressed his body to the wall and
inched close to the guard on the right.
The guard gave a big yawn and his partner shook him. "Can't fall asleep tonight, Boris," he said, "His Grace is in a really bad mood and anyone he catches shirking their duty is to be severely punished." The guard named Boris grunted and stood up straighter.
Hehe, thought George. As if keepin' guards like this would help that old duke. He tossed his pebble far to the left, making sure it bounced off the stone walls so the guards noticed.
"What was that?" asked Boris.
"I don't know," said his partner. "We'd better go have a look." They went to find the source of the sound. George slipped in, unnoticed, but at the last second, his shirtsleeve snagged on a nail, sticking out of the wall and gave a loud rip. George cursed silently as the guards turned around and saw him. George gave them his trademark grin and disappeared inside the castle. George smirked as he heard the shocked guards sounding the alarm. He knew that he'd be in and out long before anyone found him, not to mention caught him.
George lazily scanned the gateway and the front steps, not finding the lost handkerchief. He didn't expect to. If what Tavia had told him about the young duke falling for her was true (George had laughed at that comment, earning him an elbow in his chest), then it would probably be with him.
It wasn't had to find the room. One could say that George grew up inside castles like this one. At least, he spent many of his nights in them. The masters of the house always kept their quarters on the top floor. Since there were only two doors on the top floor, George assumed it would be the smaller one. The larger must have gone to the senior duke.
George opened the door silently and slipped in, closing it behind him. He searched the drawers of the desk and all the tables but did not find it anywhere. Finally, he wandered over to the bed, where Gary, as Tavia had called him, slept soundly. He had a goofy smile on his face and was holding the handkerchief to his chest. George smiled in amusement. So he really has taken a liking to her.
Reaching out, George tugged on the kerchief, but to his surprise, it was held tightly in the young masters hand. George tugged again. Seeing that Gary would not let go, George poked him in the chest. This made Gary turn over and loosen his grip. George took the chance and snatched it out of the sleeping man's form before he could settle down again. Mission completed, George was about to leave, when he thought, Hey, I got a plan to get the Storm Bringer. He walked back to the bedside.
"You're goin' to help me get that sword." He said to Gary. Gary just mumbled in his sleep. George poked him again and ran the handkerchief over his face. Gary's eyes slowly opened. George held up the kerchief and waved it like a girl would.
~***~
Gary woke to find something on his face. It was suddenly removed. Looking around, he noticed it was still dark. What am I doing up? He thought. Then he saw the man. He was standing beside his bed...holding Tavia's handkerchief!
"Hey! That's mine!" shouted Gary.
The man laughed and said, "You want it, lad? Come and get it." With that, he disappeared out the door. Gary furiously grabbed his shirt and ran out after him, still trying to put it on. Just as he exited, he ran into Faron.
"Master!" said Faron urgently. "There's someone in the castle. It could be an assassin. You'd best be careful!"
"I know that!" said Gary impatiently and ran off in the direction that he saw the crook go. He ran down the stairs to find the stranger waiting for him. That's odd, he thought, Why is he waiting for me? Does he want me to follow him? No matter, he has to know that he can't just steal from me like that.
Gary chased the thief all the way to the city. Every time he thought that the man had gotten away, he'd turn the corner to find him standing there, waiting for him.
~***~
The men of Naxen ran to the gates, but by the time they had gotten there, no trace of either thief or lordling could be seen.
"Stop!" shouted Duke Gareth to his men. "Stay here. Double the guards tonight,"
"But, Your Grace," said Goban. "What about Sir Gareth?" he asked.
"If that man wanted to hurt my son, he probably would have done it long ago. I think he's trying to lead us away and come back for Blizzard. Now everyone return to your posts."
"Yes, sir!"
~***~
George had reached the city around midmorning. Turning around, he looked for the young noble who had chased him here. Ah, there he is. He said, finding his target. Gary hadn't spotted him yet. I'm surprised he hasn't stopped to rest yet. He's pretty good, but he still can't keep up with me, thought George with a smirk.
"Hey, lackwit! I'm over hear!" George shouted to Gary.
"Stop that thief!" shouted Gary.
George leapt onto a nearby fence and looked around, pretending to be worried. So he's trying to get help now is he? Too bad he doesn't know the laws of the city, thought George. Nobody had even spared him a glance. George looked over at him and shrugged, still smiling.
Seeing that his plan had failed, Gary had another idea. Angrily fishing in his belt purse, he pulled out a silver noble. Holding it up, he said, "I will award this to whoever catches that thief for me." The sudden shift in the crowd was incredible.
Oops, thought George as the crowd swarmed toward him, spoke too soon. Oh well, here I go. He took a running jump and landed right next to Gary. Reaching up, "Got it!" shouted George as he snatched the noble out of the young man's hand and hopped over to a chicken stall on the other side of the busy, cobbled street.
As Gary furiously ran towards him, George opened up on of the many cages of chickens and threw it at Gary. Then, opening another one, he grabbed a random chicken by the wings and threw it at him. He tossed more and more until the air was filled with panicked chicken squawks and dozens of soft feathers.
"Having fun?" asked George as he threw the empty cage at Gary and as Gary was cursing at him, he ran over to the next stand. This one was piled to the top full of melons. Big ones, small ones, round ones, square ones, and some very smelly ones.
Picking up a small, round looking one, George threw it at Gary. Gary hadn't had time to recover and was still spitting out feathers as a melon hit him square in the chest, covering him with sticky orange goop. He dodged another aimed for his face and tried to catch the next one, only to have it explode in his hands. George appeared next to him, grinning widely. "How do they taste?" he asked teasingly.
"You—" said Gary angrily as he tried to brush the melon chunks off of his clothes. George grabbed one end of a roll of cloth from another nearby stall and pulled it over to Gary, wrapping it around him, as Gary struggled inside. George waited until Gary finally managed to get his sticky, feather- covered self out of the mess and glared daggers at George.
"What are you so angry about?" asked George innocently. "I was only trying to help clean you up. Buck up, lad. Don't you want your money anymore?" With that, George tossed the noble at Gary, who caught it. While the money distracted him, George got behind him and told the city-folk, "Now, he's got the money. If you want to charge someone for damages, find him," Having said that, George took off quickly as the residents rushed at Gary.
At the street corner, George chuckled as he surveyed the scene. Fish wives, blacksmiths, farmers, and every other kind of person you could find were all in the giant pile, trying to get some money. It's not even as if you guys are starving, thought George.
Just then, George noticed who he thought was a small boy run up to him. upon closer examination, he noticed that he was in his late teens. This must be Faron, he thought. I was getting bored anyway, time to get moving. Faron had joined the crowd, curiously trying to see what was going on. George walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey there, sprout," called George.
"What do you want?" asked Faron, looking at him suspiciously.
"Don't you want to know where your young master is?"
"Yeah...?" said Faron.
"Well, can't you see him? I mean he is surrounded by all those people..." George watched in amusement as Faron's eyes widened and he quickly pushed and shoved his way into the crowd.
When Faron realized that he could never get to his master in time, he had an idea. Taking hold of his purse, he raised it into the air and shouted, "Here! I've got the money!" Everyone paused for a moment. Then, turning, they all charged at Faron. "AHH!!"
~***~
Gary got up, panting and brushing himself off. Then he caught sight of the thief again, sitting at the corner, laughing. Then, he turned and saw Gary staring at him. "Hurry up, lad! I'm waiting!" he shouted and was off. Gary let out a growl of irritation. What does he want? He thought. He was about to run off after the man when he heard Faron's cry. Sighing, he turned and saw the crowd. Some people were walking out with small coppers clinking in their hand and others were still heading in. Gary ran through and grabbed all the money out of the people's hands. Dashing to the center of the crowd, he leapt up and took the purse out of Faron's hands, and turned around and dashed off towards the direction he saw the thief go, ignoring the angry shouts of the city folk.
Gary followed the stranger through many alleys and streets. He soon lost track of where he was, but he didn't really care. He could just hire a coach and tell it to take him home if he couldn't find his way back.
Gary saw the man vault over a low hanging wall and followed. He chased the thief across the rooftops. He struggled to catch up, but the man seemed to float through the air. His steps were silent yet fast. Even with his eight years of knight training, Gary wasn't able to keep up with this strange man, but that didn't stop him from trying. Once, he almost tripped but a hand reached out to grab him just in time.
"You alright?" the thief asked.
"Yes, thank you," said Gary gratefully before he did a comic double take and looked back up to find the man already three roofs away.
~***~
"Aileen!" Maude called impatiently. "Aileen! Where are you!?"
~***~
George carefully led the young noble around all the loose spots on the roof, making sure neither of them made a sound. It wouldn't have been hard for him, but he knew that Gary would not have been able to keep quiet and would have alerted the entire fief by now. Once, he turned around to find the noble about to fall over the edge. Only his almost super human speed saved them both from being discovered.
Currently, he was running across one of the ledges of a side wing on the side of the wall. He looked back to see that Gary was only a speck in the distance. Suddenly, he heard a call from very close by.
"Aileen!"
Quickly, he pressed his body against the wall. He soon realized that the sound came from an open window. Driven by an odd sense of curiosity that he recognized as the Sight, he peered cautiously into the room. Inside, he saw three figures. One, a middle-aged woman with frizzy brown hair looked out the open door impatiently. George guessed that this was the one who shouted. His suspicions were confirmed a moment later when the woman hollered again. Another was a young girl of about fifteen with dirty blonde hair. She stood next to the last one, whom George assumed was a lady. The lady had long copper hair and was sitting with her back to George so he couldn't see her face. The girl was helping her to put her hair up into a half bun at the back of her head. She must be the maid, thought George. She went to put another pin in the lady's hair.
"No, no, no," said the lady, taking it carefully out of her hair so as not to disturb the other ornaments already in place. "That's too much!"
"But, milady," said the maid. "You must wear this one. His majesty, Prince Jonathan gave it to you."
"He did?" asked the lady. "Oh, alright then." She said resignedly. The maid replaced the pin and stepped back to admire her work.
"Aileen!" the woman by the door called again.
"Coming!" came a call. George turned his attention to the door as another maid rushed in carrying a lavender bundle. She looked the same as the other maid. Twins.
"What took you so long?" asked the woman in exasperation.
At that point, George had to look back for Gary was almost upon him. He swung back onto the roof and waited for the other man to catch up.
~***~
"I'm sorry," said Aileen. "But I was passing by the kitchens and a boy ran out and I tripped and—"
"Forget it! Just bring it here!" Maude interrupted.
"Yes, ma'am," said the girl meekly. She walked over and presented the bundle to the older woman who shook it out, revealing a purple overdress. She placed it on the lady's shoulders.
"Milady! You're so beautiful!" exclaimed the Duraleen, the maid who was doing her hair.
"Of course," said Aileen. "Our mistress is the most beautiful woman in Tortall. That's why the Prince has chosen to marry her."
"Yes, and with the Storm Bringer as a gift—"
"Duraleen!" exclaimed Maude. "Don't go saying that. You don't want others to hear! Do you want to cause another massacre?" The lady in the seat stiffened, but Maude didn't notice and continued. "Last time people found out about the sword, everyone was killing each other to get to it."
"Maude," said Alanna firmly, turning around. "Please stop."
"Right, I'm sorry, Alanna. I forgot that your parents and your brother were killed in that mess, too."
"Maude!"
"Oh yes. I'm sorry. Let's not talk about that anymore. Stand up and let me see how you look."
Alanna obeyed. She was dressed in a white, strapless gown with amethysts sewn to the bodice. The purple overdress covered her shoulders. She wore tiny amethysts in her ears and almost no make-up except for a little bit of red on her lips. Her natural beauty outshone anything that make-up could do. She had a short, slender body and a thin, pointed face with a stubborn chin. The most shocking thing about her, however, was her eyes. They were bright purple. However, while it may have looked odd on someone else, it only made her more beautiful.
"You're so lucky!" said Aileen.
"I don't feel lucky," said Alanna a bit sadly.
"Why?" asked Duraleen. "Just about every girl in Tortall wishes they were you right now."
"Yes, but I've never wanted to marry the prince," she said. "Being the prince must be hard. Being his wife is even harder." The other three in the room had no reply to this. They didn't really even understand. Everyone had always thought that as long as you get married to royalty, the rest of your life would be a breeze. What she had just said was so different from what was normally believed, that they weren't even able to comprehend her meaning.
"It must be just the pre-marriage jitters," said Maude, breaking the uneasy silence and 'understanding'.
"Yes, of course," agreed Aileen and Duraleen with relief evident in their voices. They were glad that they had gotten an explanation that made sense to them.
Alanna sighed. She vaguely wished that someone understood her.
What has happened to me? She asked herself. I never would have just sat here and waited for my marriage to someone I don't know before. I would have done something. Before... She seemed to ask herself these questions a lot lately, but they were just half-hearted questions. She knew the real answer. She just would not admit it to herself.
Flashback
She was seven years old. Her parents were dead, her twin was dead. She had felt it all. She had felt her brother calling out to her, but she couldn't do anything to help them. She had been locked in a secret room with the sword for her own safety while her parents and twin tried to fend off the mob of bandits that had come to her house. She was unable to get out, unable to help, unable to do anything but listen and wait. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying out as she felt her brother being cut down, heard her mother's scream as mage fire surrounded her and blew her to pieces, heard her father's furious roar which turned to one of pain as her was filled with arrows.
She had sat in a corner, biting her lip until it bled and rocking back and forth, not daring to make a sound lest she be discovered and the sword fall into the wrong hands.
She wanted to scream, to cry out, to run out of the room and kill all of the murderous pigs that had taken her family. But she could not make a sound. Even hours after they had gone and left her with nothing but an eerie silence and a giant void in her heart, she could not. She knew that if she cried, she would never stop. She would go mad with anger.
So she sat there, rocking, for what seemed like an eternity, fighting the madness that she felt burning inside, craving to come to the surface and sweep her away. She fought it with everything she had. She had not listened to her family die only to go mad. No, she would live on for her family. With a final act of will, she pushed it away, shoved it out of her awareness, buried it deep within a hidden chamber of her heart and locked the door. But with that madness, she had also locked away her rage, her spirit. She had lost her family that day and with it, a part of herself...
End Flashback
She was later found by Coram, her grandmother's chief man-at-arms. He took her back to her grandmother's fief and she had lived there from then on.
"Alanna?" asked Maude, shaking her from her thoughts. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," said Alanna, putting on a bright smile. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
"Well, you don't look so good," said Maude.
"I'm fine, really. Why don't you go get Grandmother? Didn't she say she wished to see me in my dress?" asked Alanna, changing the subject.
"That's right!" said Maude. "You stay here and I'll be right back."
"You go too," she said to Aileen and Duraleen.
"Yes, mistress," they replied.
~***~
Gary panted as he struggled to catch up to the other man. When he got close, he saw the man just standing there waiting for him, but not really watching him. Arrogant pig, thought Gary angrily. He's just playing with me. Fine. If you want to play, I'll just have to find some more people to play with you. He took a tiny black item out of his belt pouch. It was a tiny amount of boom powder about one fourth the size of his nail. It wasn't meant to kill people, only help to blow boulders out of the way when soldiers are marching or to help tear down a building to put a new one up. It was a new invention of the mages at the Tortallan University. A simple spell was used to keep the powder in a tiny shape. All one had to do was mumble the words Flammo Deflagratio. He did so now as he aimed the tiny 'pebble' at the thief's feet.
~***~
George had been looking out into the distance, thinking about the noble lady. He had seen many noble ladies before and this one didn't seem particularly special, but something about her seemed to strike him. At first, he'd assumed that it was the red hair, but, although it was a stunning copper color, it didn't seem to be it. He just couldn't seem to put his finger on it. She had awakened an odd sense of curiosity and it would not stop pestering him. He longed to have seen her face. Suddenly, he realized the buzzing at the back of his mind that he had been too distracted to pay attention to. The next thing he knew, the ceiling give way beneath him.
Looking down into the room he was falling into, he saw the lady sitting in a chair next to where he was about to land. As if in slow motion, he watched her fall out of her chair in surprise. Reaching out, he caught her, his arm encircling her waste and spun her around.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's all folks! Yes, I've finally updated. By the way, Alanna is gonna be a little ooc in this so if u don't like it, don't read it. If u likes it, REVIEW!!!!
Verasilyn: still wish u were here. 19 hehe. Anyway, I've updated. ur turn now. Sorry it was so slow. But I had so much school work! Ahhh! I am so jealous of u. ur so good at drawing! That picture was amazing! (I've probably said this already, but still!) same stuff as usual going on. School sux, wish u were my sis 20 (wow. 2 in one message) anyway, I'm getting off track. UPDATE WARRIOR!!!!! NOW!!!
Devil of battle: hehehe. Um.... Yea. just look up. Lol. ;-)
StrawberrySwirl: Thank you sooooo much for reviewing. I love George too. That's y I wrote this fic. Lol. I've finally updated and I'm soooooooo sorry for taking so long. Forgive me? (
OutlawEris: OMG! I LOVE TurnJerkin. It is so great. U have to update it! Ur such a good writer. Hehe. I'm glad u liked the action. I wasn't really sure if I'd done it well. I love thieves too. I don't really know y. I guess it's the dangerous side yet they always seem to have their own honor. The dialogue should have skipped a line. I'm sure I put it in there. The format probably got mess up when I uploaded it. O well. Sorry if that caused some problems.
THANK YOU GUYS SOOOOOOO MUCH FOR REVIEWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The guard gave a big yawn and his partner shook him. "Can't fall asleep tonight, Boris," he said, "His Grace is in a really bad mood and anyone he catches shirking their duty is to be severely punished." The guard named Boris grunted and stood up straighter.
Hehe, thought George. As if keepin' guards like this would help that old duke. He tossed his pebble far to the left, making sure it bounced off the stone walls so the guards noticed.
"What was that?" asked Boris.
"I don't know," said his partner. "We'd better go have a look." They went to find the source of the sound. George slipped in, unnoticed, but at the last second, his shirtsleeve snagged on a nail, sticking out of the wall and gave a loud rip. George cursed silently as the guards turned around and saw him. George gave them his trademark grin and disappeared inside the castle. George smirked as he heard the shocked guards sounding the alarm. He knew that he'd be in and out long before anyone found him, not to mention caught him.
George lazily scanned the gateway and the front steps, not finding the lost handkerchief. He didn't expect to. If what Tavia had told him about the young duke falling for her was true (George had laughed at that comment, earning him an elbow in his chest), then it would probably be with him.
It wasn't had to find the room. One could say that George grew up inside castles like this one. At least, he spent many of his nights in them. The masters of the house always kept their quarters on the top floor. Since there were only two doors on the top floor, George assumed it would be the smaller one. The larger must have gone to the senior duke.
George opened the door silently and slipped in, closing it behind him. He searched the drawers of the desk and all the tables but did not find it anywhere. Finally, he wandered over to the bed, where Gary, as Tavia had called him, slept soundly. He had a goofy smile on his face and was holding the handkerchief to his chest. George smiled in amusement. So he really has taken a liking to her.
Reaching out, George tugged on the kerchief, but to his surprise, it was held tightly in the young masters hand. George tugged again. Seeing that Gary would not let go, George poked him in the chest. This made Gary turn over and loosen his grip. George took the chance and snatched it out of the sleeping man's form before he could settle down again. Mission completed, George was about to leave, when he thought, Hey, I got a plan to get the Storm Bringer. He walked back to the bedside.
"You're goin' to help me get that sword." He said to Gary. Gary just mumbled in his sleep. George poked him again and ran the handkerchief over his face. Gary's eyes slowly opened. George held up the kerchief and waved it like a girl would.
~***~
Gary woke to find something on his face. It was suddenly removed. Looking around, he noticed it was still dark. What am I doing up? He thought. Then he saw the man. He was standing beside his bed...holding Tavia's handkerchief!
"Hey! That's mine!" shouted Gary.
The man laughed and said, "You want it, lad? Come and get it." With that, he disappeared out the door. Gary furiously grabbed his shirt and ran out after him, still trying to put it on. Just as he exited, he ran into Faron.
"Master!" said Faron urgently. "There's someone in the castle. It could be an assassin. You'd best be careful!"
"I know that!" said Gary impatiently and ran off in the direction that he saw the crook go. He ran down the stairs to find the stranger waiting for him. That's odd, he thought, Why is he waiting for me? Does he want me to follow him? No matter, he has to know that he can't just steal from me like that.
Gary chased the thief all the way to the city. Every time he thought that the man had gotten away, he'd turn the corner to find him standing there, waiting for him.
~***~
The men of Naxen ran to the gates, but by the time they had gotten there, no trace of either thief or lordling could be seen.
"Stop!" shouted Duke Gareth to his men. "Stay here. Double the guards tonight,"
"But, Your Grace," said Goban. "What about Sir Gareth?" he asked.
"If that man wanted to hurt my son, he probably would have done it long ago. I think he's trying to lead us away and come back for Blizzard. Now everyone return to your posts."
"Yes, sir!"
~***~
George had reached the city around midmorning. Turning around, he looked for the young noble who had chased him here. Ah, there he is. He said, finding his target. Gary hadn't spotted him yet. I'm surprised he hasn't stopped to rest yet. He's pretty good, but he still can't keep up with me, thought George with a smirk.
"Hey, lackwit! I'm over hear!" George shouted to Gary.
"Stop that thief!" shouted Gary.
George leapt onto a nearby fence and looked around, pretending to be worried. So he's trying to get help now is he? Too bad he doesn't know the laws of the city, thought George. Nobody had even spared him a glance. George looked over at him and shrugged, still smiling.
Seeing that his plan had failed, Gary had another idea. Angrily fishing in his belt purse, he pulled out a silver noble. Holding it up, he said, "I will award this to whoever catches that thief for me." The sudden shift in the crowd was incredible.
Oops, thought George as the crowd swarmed toward him, spoke too soon. Oh well, here I go. He took a running jump and landed right next to Gary. Reaching up, "Got it!" shouted George as he snatched the noble out of the young man's hand and hopped over to a chicken stall on the other side of the busy, cobbled street.
As Gary furiously ran towards him, George opened up on of the many cages of chickens and threw it at Gary. Then, opening another one, he grabbed a random chicken by the wings and threw it at him. He tossed more and more until the air was filled with panicked chicken squawks and dozens of soft feathers.
"Having fun?" asked George as he threw the empty cage at Gary and as Gary was cursing at him, he ran over to the next stand. This one was piled to the top full of melons. Big ones, small ones, round ones, square ones, and some very smelly ones.
Picking up a small, round looking one, George threw it at Gary. Gary hadn't had time to recover and was still spitting out feathers as a melon hit him square in the chest, covering him with sticky orange goop. He dodged another aimed for his face and tried to catch the next one, only to have it explode in his hands. George appeared next to him, grinning widely. "How do they taste?" he asked teasingly.
"You—" said Gary angrily as he tried to brush the melon chunks off of his clothes. George grabbed one end of a roll of cloth from another nearby stall and pulled it over to Gary, wrapping it around him, as Gary struggled inside. George waited until Gary finally managed to get his sticky, feather- covered self out of the mess and glared daggers at George.
"What are you so angry about?" asked George innocently. "I was only trying to help clean you up. Buck up, lad. Don't you want your money anymore?" With that, George tossed the noble at Gary, who caught it. While the money distracted him, George got behind him and told the city-folk, "Now, he's got the money. If you want to charge someone for damages, find him," Having said that, George took off quickly as the residents rushed at Gary.
At the street corner, George chuckled as he surveyed the scene. Fish wives, blacksmiths, farmers, and every other kind of person you could find were all in the giant pile, trying to get some money. It's not even as if you guys are starving, thought George.
Just then, George noticed who he thought was a small boy run up to him. upon closer examination, he noticed that he was in his late teens. This must be Faron, he thought. I was getting bored anyway, time to get moving. Faron had joined the crowd, curiously trying to see what was going on. George walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey there, sprout," called George.
"What do you want?" asked Faron, looking at him suspiciously.
"Don't you want to know where your young master is?"
"Yeah...?" said Faron.
"Well, can't you see him? I mean he is surrounded by all those people..." George watched in amusement as Faron's eyes widened and he quickly pushed and shoved his way into the crowd.
When Faron realized that he could never get to his master in time, he had an idea. Taking hold of his purse, he raised it into the air and shouted, "Here! I've got the money!" Everyone paused for a moment. Then, turning, they all charged at Faron. "AHH!!"
~***~
Gary got up, panting and brushing himself off. Then he caught sight of the thief again, sitting at the corner, laughing. Then, he turned and saw Gary staring at him. "Hurry up, lad! I'm waiting!" he shouted and was off. Gary let out a growl of irritation. What does he want? He thought. He was about to run off after the man when he heard Faron's cry. Sighing, he turned and saw the crowd. Some people were walking out with small coppers clinking in their hand and others were still heading in. Gary ran through and grabbed all the money out of the people's hands. Dashing to the center of the crowd, he leapt up and took the purse out of Faron's hands, and turned around and dashed off towards the direction he saw the thief go, ignoring the angry shouts of the city folk.
Gary followed the stranger through many alleys and streets. He soon lost track of where he was, but he didn't really care. He could just hire a coach and tell it to take him home if he couldn't find his way back.
Gary saw the man vault over a low hanging wall and followed. He chased the thief across the rooftops. He struggled to catch up, but the man seemed to float through the air. His steps were silent yet fast. Even with his eight years of knight training, Gary wasn't able to keep up with this strange man, but that didn't stop him from trying. Once, he almost tripped but a hand reached out to grab him just in time.
"You alright?" the thief asked.
"Yes, thank you," said Gary gratefully before he did a comic double take and looked back up to find the man already three roofs away.
~***~
"Aileen!" Maude called impatiently. "Aileen! Where are you!?"
~***~
George carefully led the young noble around all the loose spots on the roof, making sure neither of them made a sound. It wouldn't have been hard for him, but he knew that Gary would not have been able to keep quiet and would have alerted the entire fief by now. Once, he turned around to find the noble about to fall over the edge. Only his almost super human speed saved them both from being discovered.
Currently, he was running across one of the ledges of a side wing on the side of the wall. He looked back to see that Gary was only a speck in the distance. Suddenly, he heard a call from very close by.
"Aileen!"
Quickly, he pressed his body against the wall. He soon realized that the sound came from an open window. Driven by an odd sense of curiosity that he recognized as the Sight, he peered cautiously into the room. Inside, he saw three figures. One, a middle-aged woman with frizzy brown hair looked out the open door impatiently. George guessed that this was the one who shouted. His suspicions were confirmed a moment later when the woman hollered again. Another was a young girl of about fifteen with dirty blonde hair. She stood next to the last one, whom George assumed was a lady. The lady had long copper hair and was sitting with her back to George so he couldn't see her face. The girl was helping her to put her hair up into a half bun at the back of her head. She must be the maid, thought George. She went to put another pin in the lady's hair.
"No, no, no," said the lady, taking it carefully out of her hair so as not to disturb the other ornaments already in place. "That's too much!"
"But, milady," said the maid. "You must wear this one. His majesty, Prince Jonathan gave it to you."
"He did?" asked the lady. "Oh, alright then." She said resignedly. The maid replaced the pin and stepped back to admire her work.
"Aileen!" the woman by the door called again.
"Coming!" came a call. George turned his attention to the door as another maid rushed in carrying a lavender bundle. She looked the same as the other maid. Twins.
"What took you so long?" asked the woman in exasperation.
At that point, George had to look back for Gary was almost upon him. He swung back onto the roof and waited for the other man to catch up.
~***~
"I'm sorry," said Aileen. "But I was passing by the kitchens and a boy ran out and I tripped and—"
"Forget it! Just bring it here!" Maude interrupted.
"Yes, ma'am," said the girl meekly. She walked over and presented the bundle to the older woman who shook it out, revealing a purple overdress. She placed it on the lady's shoulders.
"Milady! You're so beautiful!" exclaimed the Duraleen, the maid who was doing her hair.
"Of course," said Aileen. "Our mistress is the most beautiful woman in Tortall. That's why the Prince has chosen to marry her."
"Yes, and with the Storm Bringer as a gift—"
"Duraleen!" exclaimed Maude. "Don't go saying that. You don't want others to hear! Do you want to cause another massacre?" The lady in the seat stiffened, but Maude didn't notice and continued. "Last time people found out about the sword, everyone was killing each other to get to it."
"Maude," said Alanna firmly, turning around. "Please stop."
"Right, I'm sorry, Alanna. I forgot that your parents and your brother were killed in that mess, too."
"Maude!"
"Oh yes. I'm sorry. Let's not talk about that anymore. Stand up and let me see how you look."
Alanna obeyed. She was dressed in a white, strapless gown with amethysts sewn to the bodice. The purple overdress covered her shoulders. She wore tiny amethysts in her ears and almost no make-up except for a little bit of red on her lips. Her natural beauty outshone anything that make-up could do. She had a short, slender body and a thin, pointed face with a stubborn chin. The most shocking thing about her, however, was her eyes. They were bright purple. However, while it may have looked odd on someone else, it only made her more beautiful.
"You're so lucky!" said Aileen.
"I don't feel lucky," said Alanna a bit sadly.
"Why?" asked Duraleen. "Just about every girl in Tortall wishes they were you right now."
"Yes, but I've never wanted to marry the prince," she said. "Being the prince must be hard. Being his wife is even harder." The other three in the room had no reply to this. They didn't really even understand. Everyone had always thought that as long as you get married to royalty, the rest of your life would be a breeze. What she had just said was so different from what was normally believed, that they weren't even able to comprehend her meaning.
"It must be just the pre-marriage jitters," said Maude, breaking the uneasy silence and 'understanding'.
"Yes, of course," agreed Aileen and Duraleen with relief evident in their voices. They were glad that they had gotten an explanation that made sense to them.
Alanna sighed. She vaguely wished that someone understood her.
What has happened to me? She asked herself. I never would have just sat here and waited for my marriage to someone I don't know before. I would have done something. Before... She seemed to ask herself these questions a lot lately, but they were just half-hearted questions. She knew the real answer. She just would not admit it to herself.
Flashback
She was seven years old. Her parents were dead, her twin was dead. She had felt it all. She had felt her brother calling out to her, but she couldn't do anything to help them. She had been locked in a secret room with the sword for her own safety while her parents and twin tried to fend off the mob of bandits that had come to her house. She was unable to get out, unable to help, unable to do anything but listen and wait. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying out as she felt her brother being cut down, heard her mother's scream as mage fire surrounded her and blew her to pieces, heard her father's furious roar which turned to one of pain as her was filled with arrows.
She had sat in a corner, biting her lip until it bled and rocking back and forth, not daring to make a sound lest she be discovered and the sword fall into the wrong hands.
She wanted to scream, to cry out, to run out of the room and kill all of the murderous pigs that had taken her family. But she could not make a sound. Even hours after they had gone and left her with nothing but an eerie silence and a giant void in her heart, she could not. She knew that if she cried, she would never stop. She would go mad with anger.
So she sat there, rocking, for what seemed like an eternity, fighting the madness that she felt burning inside, craving to come to the surface and sweep her away. She fought it with everything she had. She had not listened to her family die only to go mad. No, she would live on for her family. With a final act of will, she pushed it away, shoved it out of her awareness, buried it deep within a hidden chamber of her heart and locked the door. But with that madness, she had also locked away her rage, her spirit. She had lost her family that day and with it, a part of herself...
End Flashback
She was later found by Coram, her grandmother's chief man-at-arms. He took her back to her grandmother's fief and she had lived there from then on.
"Alanna?" asked Maude, shaking her from her thoughts. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," said Alanna, putting on a bright smile. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
"Well, you don't look so good," said Maude.
"I'm fine, really. Why don't you go get Grandmother? Didn't she say she wished to see me in my dress?" asked Alanna, changing the subject.
"That's right!" said Maude. "You stay here and I'll be right back."
"You go too," she said to Aileen and Duraleen.
"Yes, mistress," they replied.
~***~
Gary panted as he struggled to catch up to the other man. When he got close, he saw the man just standing there waiting for him, but not really watching him. Arrogant pig, thought Gary angrily. He's just playing with me. Fine. If you want to play, I'll just have to find some more people to play with you. He took a tiny black item out of his belt pouch. It was a tiny amount of boom powder about one fourth the size of his nail. It wasn't meant to kill people, only help to blow boulders out of the way when soldiers are marching or to help tear down a building to put a new one up. It was a new invention of the mages at the Tortallan University. A simple spell was used to keep the powder in a tiny shape. All one had to do was mumble the words Flammo Deflagratio. He did so now as he aimed the tiny 'pebble' at the thief's feet.
~***~
George had been looking out into the distance, thinking about the noble lady. He had seen many noble ladies before and this one didn't seem particularly special, but something about her seemed to strike him. At first, he'd assumed that it was the red hair, but, although it was a stunning copper color, it didn't seem to be it. He just couldn't seem to put his finger on it. She had awakened an odd sense of curiosity and it would not stop pestering him. He longed to have seen her face. Suddenly, he realized the buzzing at the back of his mind that he had been too distracted to pay attention to. The next thing he knew, the ceiling give way beneath him.
Looking down into the room he was falling into, he saw the lady sitting in a chair next to where he was about to land. As if in slow motion, he watched her fall out of her chair in surprise. Reaching out, he caught her, his arm encircling her waste and spun her around.
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That's all folks! Yes, I've finally updated. By the way, Alanna is gonna be a little ooc in this so if u don't like it, don't read it. If u likes it, REVIEW!!!!
Verasilyn: still wish u were here. 19 hehe. Anyway, I've updated. ur turn now. Sorry it was so slow. But I had so much school work! Ahhh! I am so jealous of u. ur so good at drawing! That picture was amazing! (I've probably said this already, but still!) same stuff as usual going on. School sux, wish u were my sis 20 (wow. 2 in one message) anyway, I'm getting off track. UPDATE WARRIOR!!!!! NOW!!!
Devil of battle: hehehe. Um.... Yea. just look up. Lol. ;-)
StrawberrySwirl: Thank you sooooo much for reviewing. I love George too. That's y I wrote this fic. Lol. I've finally updated and I'm soooooooo sorry for taking so long. Forgive me? (
OutlawEris: OMG! I LOVE TurnJerkin. It is so great. U have to update it! Ur such a good writer. Hehe. I'm glad u liked the action. I wasn't really sure if I'd done it well. I love thieves too. I don't really know y. I guess it's the dangerous side yet they always seem to have their own honor. The dialogue should have skipped a line. I'm sure I put it in there. The format probably got mess up when I uploaded it. O well. Sorry if that caused some problems.
THANK YOU GUYS SOOOOOOO MUCH FOR REVIEWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!