Betray and Betrayed
Chapter Two-Dealing and Memories
Charles slammed his fist down in anger. The battle was one day ago and after they gathered the wounded everyone saw that their Second-in-Command was not there. The men looked around frantically only to have nothing.
Sir Alanna wasn't found among the dead and that only meant one thing-she was captured.
The men currently gathered around Charles of Finwood looked a bit nervous and unnerved. They all knew that Char and Alanna were close, though none of them dared to say that out loud. The last man who did that found himself falling over and over again in front of the whole camp by the Lioness' sword.
He was not only sore and greatly hurt physically, but mentally as well. The men wouldn't ever let him forget that day and since then no one ever said a word about the Lioness' relationship with Char.
"What do we do?" Char asked his advisors.
"There's nothing that we can do until we get the ransom," said the man that got over his fear first.
"Leave." Char had said that word so quietly and a dangerous tone was in it that the men fought to get out of the tent as quickly as possible.
Once they were gone they heard the smashing of glass, like a lamp flung at something. Following the breaking of the glass did they hear a scream of fury. The men were even more nervous now if that was possible.
It took a lot to make Char loose his temper and it was then that the soldiers became truly frightened. What they didn't know was that Char's face was stained with silent tears.
The man stepped into the cell and lit a small ball of silver light in his hand and Alanna could see that his fair hair was a darker blond and almost brown. He couldn't have been more than four years older than her.
"My superiors would like to speak with you," he said uncomfortably Common.
Alanna's eyes narrowed but she said nothing. Might as well deal with these Tortallians sooner or later, she thought.
Alanna got to her feet slowly to avoid further injury to her head. To her vast surprise, her head was perfectly fine except for a faint headache.
"Lead the way," she said, her throat was slightly hoarse from the lack of water.
The man hesitated and then nodded. He led her away and a bit behind her she could hear about two guards following as well. It's not like I could do anything. Even if I could it's not like I could go anywhere in the middle of enemy lands.
They went through twists and turns and finally opened a door that led to a room with a large desk in the middle. All around the desk were men of high and important status. Alanna could see King Roald sitting at the head of the table. On his left was Jonathan of Conte and to the left the king was his champion Duke Gareth of Naxen the Elder.
Gathered around the table were around thirty men including Alanna's old friends, Alex of Tirragen, Raoul of Goldenlake, Gary of Naxen, and of course Jonathan.
"Who are you?" the king asked seriously once she sat at a chair facing the whole table.
"I am Sir Alanna of Fire Mountain," Alanna said with pride and in a commanding tone, her eyes shone. The men around the table could tell that she was a female so there was no point in pretending.
The men around the table stirred at her statement and looked at one another nervously. Alanna could see her old friends pale greatly and looked even grimmer at her announcement.
"Were you not born Lady Alanna of Trebond?" the King asked.
"I was," she replied calmly.
"Then you dare commit treason against your country!" roared blond knight that she didn't know.
"Since you were not there, sir knight, you will not have seen the fact that I was disowned by Tortall…for good. So after that I consider my ties to Tortall to be cut and my allegiance now stands with Tusaine," Alanna said with controlled rage in her voice. The knight that she had spoken to sat in silence after he caught the look that she gave him. It was one of pure rage.
"So you are the Second-in-Command for the Tusainian army," the King said grimly, "my spies had said that it was someone from the fief that you mentioned and now I know."
The men's eyes all widened at this piece of information and some gasped.
Commotion started to follow about how a "girl" shouldn't be a knight, let alone the second important person in the army.
"Silence!" roared Duke Gareth and all fell silent.
"What do we do with her?" asked a black haired man in his mid-thirties.
King Roald rubbed his eyes, "We ransom her back like all nobles, what else?" he said wearily.
"Might I suggest something your Majesty?" asked a fair blown haired man in his late twenties.
"Of course Sir Paul, what do you recommend we do?"
"She is obviously a person of great importance in Tusaine so how about we ransom her for a peace delegation to come here instead of the usual ransom for money?"
A few of the men gasped at his sudden and shocking statement. At the same time Alanna was filled with rage and anger at these men, but mostly for herself for getting in Tusaine in this predicament. She knew that Tusaine would greatly reconsider that ransom since she was possibly one of the greatest knights ever.
Alanna thought fast, and she knew that she would have to bluff her way out of this mess.
"Tusaine will never agree to that," her heart lifted with she saw that a couple of the men nodded slightly in agreement, "they would never surrender just for the Second-in-Command!"
"Nonetheless, we shall do just that," said the King, "if it does not work then you shall be ransomed like other nobles."
King Roald summoned a pair of burly looking men and told them to escort her to a guest room in the palace, and not the dungeon. Alanna was slightly surprised at this but chose not to say anything, not trusting her voice to remain calm.
They brought her to a room and once she was inside it they closed it and stood at the entryway.
Alanna looked at the room before her. It was similar to the room she stayed at when she was a squire here and there were even men's clothing in the wardrobe. Alanna soon gave up thinking why they gave her this instead of the dungeon but that gave her a headache so she quickly took a bath and changed into a fresh pair of breeches and tunic.
Alanna sat down on the edge of her bed to resume thinking of why they would do this but the only thing that she got was to keep her happy about the whole thing and so that the embassy would come.
Regardless of what she told the king, Alanna knew that there was a good chance that the Tusainian king would send over a peace meeting since she was so valuable.
An hour later a mage came and sealed the room so that she couldn't escape even if she wanted to and then placed a spell on her so that they would know where she was until it was lifted. The spell also kept her within ten leagues of City limits.
He hadn't even said anything when he was casting the magic and soon left with Alanna none the wiser. She soon gave up on her musings and went to sleep.
The men were once again gathered in the tent with the Commander in the Tusainian camp. The ransom note had just arrived earlier that day and since then their Commander was so silent that he scared the living daylights out of them.
"Do we have word from the King?" Char asked quietly.
"Yes we do my Lord; we are to send a peace delegation to Tortall but to not sign anything without his permission."
Char sighed; At least Alanna's going to get rescued now. His mood continued to get better that day and soon the embassy was put together. The group was mainly composed of knights to defend the main lords and ambassadors. Char was also to come along and nothing that the other men say would make him change his mind.
Just wait Alanna, we're coming, just wait…just wait.
Author's Notes- Alrighty then, this is the next chapter! Many Thanks to all those who reviewed! I was greatly surprised at how many said that they loved it! Personally this story ROCKS in my opinion and so far it's my favorite! Also, the pairings in this are yet unknown so I don't know…however, chances are that it'll be Alanna and Jon (A/G fans don't hate!) REVIEW and I'll update soon!
Disclaimer- I own nothing at all except the plot! All belongs to Tamora Pierce!