Betray and Betrayed
Chapter Five-Unexpected Sickness
Char walked wearily back to his rooms. It was the night of the day after the "friendly" competition between Tusaine and Tortall. Since no one was seriously wounded, they began the negotiations regarding territory and peace between the two warring countries.
Charles was required to go, being the head military leader, while Alanna was given the day to do as he pleased. Blast it; I knew that there were more perks with being the second in power and not the head! Since it was late at night, he trudged to his rooms and after changing into nightwear, slipped off into a silent sleep.
There was a loud banging sound at his doors and suddenly the door swung open to admit a man in. Char silently cursed and gripped his sword, which was at the nightstand next to his bed. Char unsheathed his sword and pointed it to the man, his muscles roared in protest at the sudden movement from no warm-up and they were still asleep.
"My Lord! It is I, Sir Rye!" the man exclaimed. Sure enough, Char recognized him with the small streams of sunlight crossing the room. Sheathing his sword, Char turned to Rye, formally called Sir Ryemund of Silver Crest. Just as Char was about to reprimand him for barging into his rooms at the ungodly hour, Char saw a glimpse of his horrified and pale face and bit back the sentence he was about to say.
"Rye, what's wrong? You look like you just saw the Goddess herself!" he exclaimed and a twinge of fear stabbed at him, for it took a lot to get Rye all nervous as he was right now.
"I was sent to see how your health is," Rye started nervously.
"Why?" asked a very perplexed Char.
"You see, over the course of the night, this sickness came and many people were claimed in it," he stated.
"What! Is it a part of some foul play on the Tortallians part?" he demanded.
"Actually, no one seemed to be immune to this disease. Tortallians and Tusainians alike all seem to be falling ill. The healers labeled this the 'sweating sickness' but other than that, there's no cure."
Char sighed in aggravation. How can this happen over the course of one night! When he asked Rye, the answer was not a pleasant one.
"The Tortallians suspect that it was the work of a very strong mage, but there's been no proof as of yet."
"Very well," Char sighed, "who are our casualties so far?" he was bracing himself for the worst.
"There's about five from our party," he paused in hesitation.
"And who are they!" demanded Char at the pause.
"Sirs Robert, Jacob, Eric, Dain, and…," he hesitated. Char seemed to both be relieved and angry at once.
"Who? Who's the last one?"
"The Lady Alanna," he whispered with his head hung down. Since he was like that, he didn't see the horrified look as Char's face paled visibly. Char's heart started to beat faster and faster until he was afraid that it would burst through his ribcage. The prospect of Alanna in pain caused him to feel a strain in his breathing, as he struggled for a breath.
When he had calmed himself enough, Charles leaped out of bed and after putting on some clothes; he sprinted from the door in the direction of Alanna's room, which thankfully was not very far. All the while, all that Char could think of was about Alanna's condition. Sprinting off, Char didn't care about the fact that he left a very surprised Rye still in his room.
As he stood outside Alanna's door, Char took in a deep breath to gather his wits before opening the door. What he saw shocked him. Around Alanna were two mages doing their best to treat the fever. What scared Char the most was that Alanna was sickly pale and had he not know better, Char would have suspected that she was in the Realm of Death.
"Mithros, Alanna!" he whispered with a cracked voice as Char's breath caught in his throat. A lump had formed in his throat and he had a difficult time forcing it down.
Crossing the room in four easy strides, Char turned to the healer nearest to him and asked quietly, as if afraid to disturb her, "How is she?"
The healer flinched, "Not good, the chances of her pulling through are slim to none," he said as he turned away, not wanting to look at the pained look on Char's face. Charles collapsed on the floor next to Alanna's bed; he was kneeling on the floor. The healers walked out of the room to let him say what they knew would be his farewells.
Looking down at Alanna's face, tears stung at the corners of his eyes. Char blinked them away, but he still felt the painful tugs against his chest looking at the frail and pale Alanna. Her forehead was slick with sweat; despite the cloth that was there to wipe it off, more always seemed to come.
Char raised a hand to stroke a stray strand of hair away from Alanna's forehead. He flinched when he grazed her skin, which was freezing to the touch, despite the mountain of blankets on her. With the room still and quiet, Char can hear that Alanna's breath was ragged and she seemed to be struggling to draw another breath.
He pulled over a chair and grasped her hand, almost willing her to open her eyes and to get better. With her hand between his, Char can feel that her hands were callused from the endless practices with the sword. It pained him to even think that those beautiful hands might never again hold the sword which they held so dear. Char fell asleep with his hands clinging around Alanna's.
Alanna wandered through what seemed like an endless field of smoke and fog. Everywhere she looked, all that Alanna could see were fog and smoke, even her hands were hard to see despite them being only five inches in front of her face.
"Char, George, Jon! Are you there? Is anybody there!" yelled an afraid Alanna.
A sudden glare of light temporarily blinded Alanna, and when she opened her eyes again, who but the Goddess stood in front of her.
"My daughter," said the heavenly beautiful voice, "what are you doing here? People still need your help. Pull yourself together, all of your loved ones still need you," she said gently yet firmly.
"Goddess, I…d-don't know if I can," said a fearful Alanna as her voiced chocked.
"All that you need is the will my daughter, which you have plenty of to get as far as you are now."
"What is there for me to even return to?" whispered Alanna as she hung her head. The pain just got too much. Alanna could feel the constrictions on her chest as pain came stronger than ever.
"I find that hard to believe!" exclaimed the Goddess, "What of your friends and Tortall? They still need you my daughter."
Alanna just sat there contemplating the things that the Goddess had just said. It was true that George, Char, and Jon were still there, waiting for her. But what would they need help for from her?
As if reading her mind the Goddess said, "Future events will cause much destruction should you not be there to prevent it. If you do not return, those that you hold most dear shall all perish." Alanna asked her to explain but the Goddess refused to give anymore information to the future.
Suddenly another bright light blinded Alanna once again. When she opened her eyes, there right next to the Goddess was the Black God himself. Though he didn't speak and his face wasn't visible, Alanna had no doubt as to why he was here. It was her time to die.
The Black God offered his hand to her in the universal message to grasp it and follow him to the land of the dead. With shaking hands, Alanna slowly put forward her hand towards his until her hand was but a hair away from his. All the while, the Goddess looked at this with sadness in her eyes as she stood right next to the pair and looked at Alanna's decision.
Meanwhile, Char was jolted back to consciousness as if something had yanked him from his unsteady sleep. Looking down at Alanna, he could see that if anything, her condition had gotten worst. Now instead of the still body just minutes ago, her hand started shaking uncontrollably. With a gasp Char turned to her face.
It was, if possible, paler than before. Tears now streamed down his face in silence. His heart hurt seeing her struggle with her breath once again, and he gasped as she didn't seem to take another.
That could only mean one thing…Alanna was dead.
Author's Notes-Haha! Sorry for the late update, which seemed to take FOREVER! It's been ages since I last updated…hmm…well I hope that this chapter was satisfactory, though I hope that no one will yell at me for the suspenseful cliffy (well I seem to think that it was…).
If you want to know as to WHY it took two weeks for this update, just see my other Alanna story…now that the quarter's coming to an end, I might have more time to crank out other chapters. Well, wish me luck!
Tiraspy-Yup! Just you wait; Roger's coming in about two chapters!
Pink Squishy Llama-LOL! Glad to have an A/J fan reading this even after the change in alternate endings…Sorry that this chapter is mostly Alanna and Char…
Epobbp-Sorry for the wait!
Anonymouse8-Thanks for the complement! Hope you keep reading!
Gillian-Yeah, but then I don't like beating around the bush, since I needed to get the plot moving again and everything.
Kelsey-LOL! And thanks for the one about the "A Knight's Tale" since that was where I saw it but forgot the title! I KNEW I saw it somewhere!
Gatermage-Thanks for liking and giving this story a shot!
Sakamoto-san-LOL! Yah that WAS pretty funny! Hope you like this update!
Pianoscene-I'm glad!
Random Penguin-SHEESH! Obsessed George fan? Well that's OK since I am one too! He'll be showing up again in a couple of chapters, probably after Roger shows up…George is AWESOME! (But so is Char…heehee).
Elisha-Sure, here it is! I never stop a story! Just…on hold sometimes! (Nervous laughter).
xx.TOMWELLINGxx-Well here's the update! Hope you like it and I'm sorry that it took awhile…
Disclaimer-I own nothing, that belongs to Tamora Pierce. The "loose for me jousting tournament" belongs to A Knight's Tale which Kelsey was kind enough to let me know!