10) The Capital

Alanna had understandably thought that she wouldn't have to tackle going to the palace for another six years and therefore was not exactly happy with the royal summons that duty bound her to go. The only more agreeable point of the journey was the fact that she would finally have a significant break from the Daughters' twittering and girls giggling round every corner and the confinement of life in the convent in general. But, for the first time in her life, she would be separated from her twin for an indefinite period of time and as much as she hated to admit it, she would miss Thom's opposite point of view, his incessant mumbled complaints and his company as a whole.

The first few days of the ride to Corus went as scheduled with nights spent at reputable inns as recommended by the First Daughter but by the fifth evening, Alanna began to long fro sleeping under starry skies and the silent nights of camping outside – of course, she conveniently forgot that the solid ground was usually uncomfortably hard, he bedrolls were very restricting and she did not like the cool temperatures of crisp Spring air.

"Coram?"

"Lass?"

"Could we perhaps camp out tonight? I don't really want to see any more drunken men and don't you think that I've learnt enough bawdy songs already?" she teased.

He grinned and replied, "Aye – that you have. All right lass – I don't see why not – as long as you keep only to skinnin' th' game and leavin' th' actual cookin' to me. 'Sides, I've been drunk four nights in a row now and I'druther not have any more hangovers if I can help it… Let's find a campin' site lass."

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On the final leg of their journey, Coram was lost in is thoughts. He was remembering the days when he had once been one of the hardiest soldiers in the King's Army – thank Mithros he hadn't had to escort the finicky Thom to be a knight. He would have lost all of his self-respect and any respect from other people that he had gained in the past.

Since he was so absorbed in his musings, he never saw the wood snake that glided across the road. Alanna – and Coram's horse – spotted the slithery creature in the same second. The big gelding reared, almost throwing his master. Chubby stopped dead in the road, surprised by these antics. Coram yelled and fought to hold on as his mount bucked frantically, terrified by the snake.

Alanna never stopped to think – she threw herself from Chubby's saddle and grabbed for Coram's reins with both hands. Dodging the gelding's flying hooves recklessly, she used all her strength and weight to pull the horse down before Coram broke his neck.

After the gelding dropped to all fours, Alanna stroked his nose to calm the trembling animal down and dug in her pocket and produced an apple for the horse while she silently thanked the Great Mother Goddess that Coram allowed her to wear her breeches.

Coram knew the courage it took to calm a large, bucking horse – it was the kind of courage a knight possessed. It was a pity that Alanna had not been the boy: she was the one with a feel for the fighting arts – something that couldn't be learnt. Although Alanna was a girl, she may have made a fine knight had she been given half a chance.

When she looked up, Coram was watching her oddly but seemed to catch himself in the act and directed his attention to his gelding. She had no way of knowing that he was thinking and so remounted Chubby after shaking the thought from her head.

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They entered Corus before dawn as part of a stream of people entering the capital for the market day. Alanna had never seen so many people in her life and tried to keep Chubb as close to Coram's horse as possible for fear of getting herded away. She saw merchants, slaves, priests and nobles. She could tell the Bazhir by their heavy white burnooses just as she spotted seamen by their braided pigtails.

As Alanna tried to take in everything and gazed into the crowd, she noticed a pair of laughing hazel eyes welcoming her. She smiled back as she remembered just in time to stop herself from waving – Coram would not have approved of her friend considering his profession. George grinned at her before turning and disappearing into the crowd.

She looked around and noticed that although the city was still bustling and working as usual, there were still obvious signs of the Sweating Sickness that chilled her to the bone – the sign for protection painted in black on doors of houses where the inhabitants had dies of the disease and even this early in the day, she was aware of people already loading bodies into carts to be taken from the city.

They left the marketplace taking a path up a sloping hill, which led them past merchant's houses, noble's mansions and into the Temple district. Here, she noticed Coram visibly relaxing – after years of soldiering, this was like coming home to him.

After the Temple district, the ground rose steeply. Above them, over the crowning hill, was the royal palace. Alanna to gasped in awe at the site of the carved golden City Gates, the high wall that was lined with ready soldiers dressed in royal red and gold and the level after level of buildings inside the gates.

Coram led the way to the courtyard where a servant approached them. Coram dismounted. "I'm Coram Smythesson, of fief Trebond. I've come with Lady Alanna as requested by royal summons," he declared proudly as Alanna scowled.

"I'll be takin' th' horses, sir," he said with his voice thick with an accent of the city. "Timon, run an' tell Duke Baird that the healer lass has come." He turned back the Coram "Follow me, sir, miss. You will meet his Grace in his drawin' room."

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Duke Baird, the Chief Healer welcomed Alanna and Coram with a wide smile. In fact, he looked relieved and pleased. He inclined his head at Alanna who curtsied, without wobbling too much. For once, she was glad that she was forced to wear a dress, the palace and it's inhabitants made her feel out of place and wearing breeches could have only have made it worse.

"Welcome to Corus Lady Alanna. I have heard much of your talent – you must have a great Gift to cure one so ill."

"Not really your Grace. I'm simply extremely stubborn and I would never let my twin die if I could do anything about it."

"Of course. I am sorry to burden you so soon after your long trip but I'm sure you may have noticed that the state of infection in the capital is severe. I would appreciate as much help as I can get – unfortunately, I have had two healers die just this week – any help you can offer would be greatly beneficial."

"Yes of course your Grace. I will do as much as I can."

Coram was led out of the room and helped take their belongings to the rooms allocated to them as Alanna was show the way in the opposite direction to the palace infirmary.

A/N: Sorry this took so long - I really haven't had the time to write and this chapter was surprisingly hard to write. Jon might be appearingin the next chapter and Myles so Ithink you can guess what may happen... Don't worry - it will not be exactly the same as in the book and I'll add some other stuff as well. Before I forget - thankyou for all the reviews -30! Wahooo! Ahem... Yes... Well... Review some more and it may make me update more -hint hint...