Sorry about the long wait. First it was that I was re-writing this chapter, and then my friends told me I just had to read Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, so they could talk to me about it. I got so caught up in it, that I couldn't put it down until I had finished all four books in the saga. If you haven't read the saga yet, I highly recomend it. Again, sorry!
Special Thanks: I would like to send a personal shout out to my amazing Beta, SOPROL, who has been helping make this story so much better than it would have been on my own. I would also like to thank Lady KNight 1994, who submitted my 300th review!
Chapter Twenty-Three: Alan (Part II)
Within a week of arriving at Trebond, Aly and Maude had established a system of sorts for caring for Alan; Aly would spend three hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon, and three hours in the evening. This gave Maude nine hours a day to eat, rest, and get other jobs she needed to get done as the village healer. Maude spent the other fifteen hours of the day with Alan while Aly ate, slept, or worked on cleaning up the mess that had come of Trebond's management with her in the capital and Alan studying constantly.
Even with the treasury and stock rooms being the mess they were, the work was not enough to distract Aly from the fact that she was suspected in the attempted murder of Lianne and Jonathan. The guard who had followed her from the capital wouldn't allow it. She would see him constantly writing, no doubt working on the weekly reports he was ordered to send by messenger to the Provost. Even that, though was not as bad as thinking about the fact that Thom and Alanna were in the same position as her.
Within three weeks, Alan was able to hold conversations with Aly for about ten minutes every few hours. This was a big improvement from when Aly first came to Trebond and he was so sick he could barely keep his eyes open for more than five minutes. By a month, Alan was able to sit up in bed, rather than lie down on the pillows.
Aly took the time she was with Alan to get to know what had happened since she left nearly four years ago. At first it was difficult to get a conversation going for too long without having an awkward silence occur. By the end of the first month at Trebond, however, they had gotten comfortable with each other. A week after that, Aly requested her meals with Alan, so that they could eat and talk together. The more they talked, the more Aly saw of the Alan she had fallen in love with after a few years of marriage. She started to feel romantic feelings towards Alan for the second time in her life. She started to enjoy her time with Alan, and it felt less like an obligation. She even took an extra hour with each of her shifts, bumping her up to twelve hours a day with Alan.
Then, five weeks after her arrival, Alan took a turn for the worse. Over night, he became worse than when Aly had arrived, and nothing Maude was doing had a long term effect.
It was about six weeks after her arrival. She and Alan were eating lunch together and talking about when Jane had come and yelled at Aly for allowing "Thom" to beat up Ralon.
"I know it is wrong, but I was a proud mother that day." Aly said, "The look on Jane's face was one I can never forget as long as I live."
"You shouldn't encourage Thom to pick fights." Alan said, though he smiled a little too, no doubt thinking about how his sister must have looked.
"I don't," Aly said. "And anyway, Ralon started it. He had had that coming for a long time."
"I am sure there were other ways to handle it." Alan said.
"Yeah, let the prince and his friends continue to beat up Ralon for Thom, and then have Ralon turn around and beat up Thom in revenge. Then, the prince and his friends find out about it, and go beat up Ralon again. It would have been an endless cycle. Thom fighting and beating Ralon broke the cycle. So, if you think about it, Thom ended what could have become a very long and drawn-out cycle of violence. You should be proud of him too."
"For beating up his cousin?" Alan asked.
"I prefer to think of it as Thom 'putting a stop to violence and hatred in the palace by handling the offspring of Jane'." Aly said.
"Stretching the point out to make it sound long and impressive does not change the fact that Thom beat up his cousin."
Aly rolled her eyes, just as the door to the room opened. Aly turned around to see who was there. It was a servant, holding several envelopes.
"Letters for you, my lady." the servant said with a bow. Aly got off the bed and walked over to the servant.
"Thank you," she replied as she took them. There were four letters: all addressed to her, all post marked from the capital.
"Who are they from, Aly?" Alan asked.
"Well, one is from Lianne, another from the Lord Provost, there is a letter from Duke Gareth here, and..." Aly stopped, not believing the words in front of her.
"And?" Alan asked "And who is the last one from?"
"Duke Roger of Conté." Aly whispered.
"The king's nephew?" Alan asked, "The one who accused you of sending the Sweating Sickness?"
Aly nodded, "The very same."
"Well, open them."
"It would be rude to open my mail in front of you." Aly said.
"I don't mind," Alan said, "Go ahead, it's probably an update on the investigation. I want to hear what they have to say."
Aly, curious at what would prompt the duke of Conté to write her, opened his letter first.
Dear Lady Alianne,
I would like to take this time to apologize for my horrible mistake of accusing you of sending the Sweating Sickness. I read the evidence gathered by myself wrong. I suppose that it is a good thing I never pursued a career with the Provost Guards. I sat down to write this letter as soon as the Provost told me they were closing your investigation after deciding that you had not sent the Sweating Sickness. You may expect a personal, verbal apology from me upon your return to the palace.
Once again, I apologize for my mistake,
Lord Roger of Conté
Aly froze and re-read a sentence from the duke's letter. I sat down to write this letter as soon as the Provost told me they were closing your investigation after deciding that you had not sent the Sweating Sickness.
The case is over? Aly thought, The Provost is done with the investigation? Aly grabbed the Provost's letter next, and tore it open. His message was a very short one that was to the point.
Dear Lady Alianne,
After a through search done by myself and my men of all belongings of yours and Page Alan of Trebond, and reviewing the results of my men watching you and Thom of Trebond, it had been decided that you three did not have any participation of the Sweating Sickness. I apologize for any inconvenience that occurred as a result of this investigation. The guard with you is to return to the palace immediately to be put to work on catching those who do commit crimes, and you may return to the palace at any time.
Lord Provost
Aly grinned. She could go back to Alanna, and Lianne and Gareth! Aly froze. What had made her think about Gareth? Alanna was her daughter, and Lianne was like a sister, but Gareth? He was just a friend. She quickly tore open the letters from Lianne and Gareth. Lianne's was full of apologies for her having to go through all the trouble the investigation cause, and pleas for her to return to the palace. Gareth wrote to her about Alanna, saying that she was going to Persopolis with Jonathan, Raoul, Gary, and the other squires. In exchange, she would miss the summer training camp with the other pages. He also wrote about how much he missed her, and told her he hoped she would return soon.
She pulled out two pieces of paper, and wrote the same very brief message on both.
I am glad to hear that my innocence was proven. As much as I have missed you, Alan is very sick, and I am staying in Trebond to do what I can until he shows signs of improvement, which, Gods willing, will be soon. I cannot wait to be reunited with you.
She addressed one to Lianne, and the other to Gareth. On Lianne, she also added that she forgave her, and knew that is was all a precaution to protect her. She then summoned a servant to give them to a messenger. She turned and showed the Provost's letter to the guard, who left to pack so that he could leave the following morning.
It was about a week later when a banging on Aly's door woke her up. She quickly grabbed her robe, and answered it. There was a servant at the door.
"Maude says Lord Alan is dying, my lady. She says he won't make it to the next hour. He's calling for you."
Aly raced to the master bedroom, and flew in, "Alan? I'm here."
Alan turned to look at Aly. He was shaking and sweating, and very pale.
"Aly." Alan's voice was barely a whisper.
"I'm losing him, my lady." Maude said.
"No," Aly said, grabbing Alan's hand, attempting to do magic only to remember that the dampening spell would be in place until she returned to the palace and had Roger remove it.
"Alan, please don't die." Aly begged, tears rolling down her cheeks, "Please."
"I don't think I have much of a choice." Alan said. "The Black God is keen on having me. I can feel it."
"Then I will give the Black God a lesson in patience!" Aly snapped. "I am not ready to give you up, Alan! I...I just started loving you again, like I did before the twins."
Alan smiled, "You can have your first love, Gareth of Naxen."
"Gareth and I are happy as friends...maybe I should stay here for a while. The children are doing perfectly fine on their own. We can work on rebuilding our marriage some more. I...I need you, Alan."
"Aly, I believe you when you say you love me again. But don't lie to me and say that you need me."
"I do need you, Alan! I can't run Trebond by myself."
"You did it for ten years, while raising twins. All I did was study my ancient texts. You've done it while caring for me these past months. I'm sorry I never was much of a lord or husband or father. Aly, I can tell you that every time you talk about Gareth of Naxen, your whole face glows. You learned to love me, but you loved Gareth without trying, and you never stopped loving him. Go be with him. Start a relationship with him. Marry him. You two want and need each other, and you have my deepest blessing to marry him, don't let fear of insulting my memory keep you from him. Now just let the Black God take me to the peaceful realm."
Aly choked on a sob, but nodded, all the same. She knew Alan was right. If the Black God wanted Alan, he'd have them. And especially with her Gift dampened, she stood no chance in helping him like he helped her all those years ago. She took his hand in hers and held on tightly.
"Aly," Alan whispered. "I love you."
"I love you too, Alan." she whispered. He didn't hear her. He was already gone.
Aly cried until the sun rose, and then straitened up. Maude had already informed all the servants that Alan was dead and had some strong male servant carry Alan's body out of the room, and take it to her workshop, where she could make his body ready for burial. Aly turned to a servant. "Tell Maude to do whatever she must to make sure any traces of the illness that took Lord Alan are cleared out so I may sleep in my actual bedroom as soon as possible. I will be in the room I am staying in currently, and I want to be left alone. No one is to disturb me, for any reason. Understood?"
"Yes, my lady. Should we write to Lady Alanna and Lord Thomas, let them know about Lord Alan?"
"No. I will write to them. They should hear this from me."
The servant curtsied, and hurried off to do what she was instructed.
Author's Note: Gareth/Aly lovers, don't kil me! I promise, there is some romance for Aly and Gareth on the way, even though she loves Alan again. It is coming, I promise.
Reveiw Reply
Sazerac: Thank you for you imput, and don't be afraid to yell at me. Sometimes that is the only way to get through my thick skull. Thanks for the links, they helped, and I hope this was a better job than the last chapter than the one before it on "showing".
Anjalit: Thanks!
brezzybrez: Sorry about the long wait. I explain why before I started the chapter. Hope you enjoyed it.
Dom-Loves-Kel: Thank you!
Elfsquire90: I did say I was going to kill Alan...and I did, in this chapter. I had never told you when I was going to kill him!
Lady Leopard: As you can see, I did kill Alan off, yeah I know I humanized him, but I planned to kill him off long before I decided to humanize him. I was crying as I wrote this.
LittleMissGiggles'94': Here is the next update. Yeah, she had been gone four years already.
zropin: I am glad you liked it.
Haely Potter: I got a lot of people feeling for Alan in the last chapter...and then I killed him in this one...kinda cruel...but hey, I was crying while I did it.
dares to dream: I am glad you liked it. You'll learn more about how the secret was kept once Alanna and Aly get together again.
too-much-of-a-book-lover: Sorry about the long wait on this chapter!
sazzysassyangel: I am glad.
DomLuver: Thanks!
Miakoda of Pirate's Swoop: Thanks!
Trisana Sarrasri: I am glad you like it. And as to what Trouble in Trebond it...well, it is kinda hard to explain. I am not that great at summerizing, without spoiling the ending for you. So, really, the best advice I can give you is to just read it. I got a lot of positive feedback for it. Not as much as this one, but I had a beta for this one. I was on my own for that trilogy. Please read it, it is really good! And, of course, review!
littledrummergirl257: I am glad that you like it, and about Myles adopting Alanna...you'll just have to wait and see!
Lady Zarobiti: I am glad you liked it.
a happy camper: Wow, that was a long review. I felt that Alan deserved to have is story heard, even though I ruined a few people's image of him as this cold, uncaring man. I hadn't actually thought about if Aly actually wrote to her dad or not...hmmm...maybe I'll have to think about that and add it in a later chapter. You'll learn more about how the secret was kept later when Alanna and Aly are together again. Don't worry, I promise more aly/gareth is on it's way.
Lady Knight 1994: WOO! My 300th reveiwer! All your answers either were answered in this chapter, or will be answered, I promise.
countess saphira: This is going all the way through Lioness rampant, maybe just slightly past. I am glad you like it, and please encourage your friends to read and review! There will be more aly/gareth, I promise.
waking dawn: I live to please my reviewers...sometimes. There is more gareth/aly going on, I promise.