Chapter Thirty-One: The Call to Muster

"What!" Aly demanded sharply late one April night.

"Roald had sent out the Call to Muster. We are at war with Tusaine, Aly."

"What....when...why....how!" Aly stuttered, completely incapable of making a complete sentence.

"We got some information. According to the information, there are twenty legions of foot soldiers, and fifteen units with ten armed knights to a unit circling the Drell River Valley."

"What does that mean? Twenty legions and fifteen units?" Aly asked.

"Two thousand foot soldiers and one-hundred-fifty men in the units, plus the one-hundred-fifty knights, basically there are twenty-three-hundred men out there." Gary covered Aly's hands with his own. "The Pass just opened up. The initial force leaves in five days."

"Let me guess," Aly said, her eyes filled with worry. "You're in the initial force."

"I'm not just in the initial force Aly...I am commanding it." Gareth said. "There will be a lot of the younger knights coming with me...and their squires."

Aly glanced at Gareth. "Why did you mention their squires were..." she gasped, "No!"

"Yes." Gareth said.

"You don't mean Alan is going to war!"

Gareth nodded, "Jon is going, and Alan's place is beside Jon."

"But this isn't a little joyride into the Royal forest or a bandit chase or a hunt!" Aly said, "This is a war!"

"I am aware of that Aly." Gareth said, pulling Aly close to him.

"This isn't fair." Aly said.

"What isn't fair?" Gareth asked.

"Both my son and my suitor have to go off to war and leave me here. I will not sleep at all until you are both home safely."

"We hope that'll be soon." Gareth said, kissing Aly.

"Both of you better come back to me in one piece."

"Is that doubt in our skills on the battlefields, or my training methods?"

"Neither, it's me panicking; it's what I do best." Aly sighed, "I guess I'll just have to make the most of these next five days, and you better believe I'll be there when you leave."

"Good," Gareth said. "And don't worry, Alan is a good warrior. He will be a knight in a few years."

"I shouldn't have to worry about him being at war before he is knighted." Aly said. "And I'll be all alone here, with nothing to do but worry."

"Lianne and Roald will keep you company." Gareth said. He leaned down and kissed Aly. "And I promise to watch Alan."

Aly smiled, "With Jon watching him, I am pretty sure he will be okay, but with you, Gareth, I know he will be."

After several days of gathering arms and supplies and outfitting men from nearby towns and villages, the initial force was ready. Three days after the Call to Muster went out, the force was assembled in military formation on the wide grass-covered hill between the palace and the Temple District, awaiting review by Roald and Gareth. Aly stood a little ways away, but she could easily see Alanna's red hair. She was stationed just behind Jonathan. As much as Aly didn't like the idea of war, she had to take pride at the loyalty to the country that was demonstrated with the group gathered on the hill. Suddenly, a horse's whinny split the spring air.

Gareth's chestnut, a big, good-natured animal, was pawing the air and rolling his eyes as he screamed. Gareth was fighting to get the gelding under control when his saddle slipped to the side. He fell hard to the ground; dangerously close to his horse's thrashing hooves.

Gareth! Aly gasped, and ran forward as she saw a dozen men head in his direction.

Roald already had the chestnut's rein in his hand, and his servants were already at Gareth's side. Out of the corner of her eye, Aly caught Gary breaking formation to go to his father. Jon intercepted him, and they talked briefly, and Aly saw Gary glare at his cousin. When she looked back at Gareth, Duke Baird was already beside Gareth. His face was white, and he was biting his lip in obvious pain. Aly could see the strange angle of Gareth's leg, and wasn't surprised to learn that he had broken his leg in three places. Roald would be appointing a new commander-in chief.

"What?" Aly and Alanna asked after a meeting of the commanders before the troops headed out to battle. Duke Baird had done a lot to help with the healing of Gareth's leg, and Aly had insisted on being Gareth's personal nurse, so she was temporarily staying in the Naxen Suites, in Lianne's old room. She was able to be close to Gareth, and he didn't have a problem with the company.

"King Roald is saying that we are only to fight for the left bank. He doesn't want anyone crossing."

"But that doesn't make any sense. They are still on Tortallan land. We should be sending them back across the border, shouldn't we?" Aly asked, looking at Gareth.

"Actually, it makes perfect sense." Gareth said. Aly and Alanna both looked at Gareth, confused.

"Think about it," Gareth said. "Alan, what is King Roald's name?"

"The Peacemaker." Alanna said with a look of understanding on her face.

Gareth nodded, "Roald is determined to keep with the image of his name, even if it means losing a little land."

"But they won't just stop at the River Drell," Aly said. "If Roald keeps peace as the only thing on his mind, Tusaine will conquer."

Later that night, Aly and Jonathan were in Alanna's rooms. A shield was up to block people outside from overhearing the conversation.

"Mother, you'll be alright here, won't you?"

Aly took a slow, deep breath. "I'll be fine, Alanna. I'm not the one who is going to be in the middle of a war, now am I?"

"Don't think about that."

"How am I not supposed to think about it?" Aly said.

"Spend the time with Uncle Gareth," Jon suggested, "He'll need someone to help him recover from the break, and then to keep him from getting restless since he'll be here while many of the knights and squires he trained are out fighting."

"You can heal him and keep his mind off the war, and by doing that, you'll be busy enough to keep your mind off the war." Alanna said. She turned to Jon and added with a grin, "For once, you have a good idea, Jon."

"Watch it, squire." Jon said, but he was grinning as well.

It's getting late, and you leave in the morning. I should let you both get some sleep." She turned to Jonathan first. "Take care of yourself, Jonathan. You can't be a good king if you are dead."

"I will," Jonathan said, "And I'll keep an eye on Alanna. I'll make sure no one finds out about her secret."

"I know you will," Aly said. She turned to Alanna, and kissed her on the forehead. "Come home to me, Alanna. I do not want to outlive you by even a minute."

"I'll come back, mother, don't worry."

The following morning, Aly was out with over half the court, seeing Alanna and the rest of the troops off. Lianne was right next to her, not as a queen, but as a fellow mother of a son going to war, and as a friend. Aly bit her lip to keep from calling out her daughter's name. With as worried as she was, she would have yelled "Alanna", not "Alan".

She prayed to both Mithros and the Great Mother Goddess. Please protect her. Keep her safe from whatever dangers she faces out on the field. Keep Duke Roger at a distance from my precious Alanna. I do not trust him, and I cannot handle losing my only daughter. Not so soon after losing my husband.

"So mote it be." she whispered as her eyes filled with tears. She collapsed onto a nearby bench. She heard and felt more than saw Lianne sit down next to her.

"They will be fine." Lianne said. Aly could hear the tears in her friend's voice. She realized how hard this must be for her friend. Even if the worst did happen, she still had Thom. If something happened to Jon, Lianne had no more children, and couldn't have any more.

Aly fought to find her voice, and managed a small smile, "Of course they'll be fine. We will be praying to the gods for their safety so much, they'll put a force field around those two, just to make us shut up."

Lianne giggled, "You always know the right thing to say, Aly." she stood up. "Shall we begin pestering the gods with our prayers?"

I already have started. Aly thought, and nodded to Lianne. "Let's go."

Review Reply

Soraya the All Speaker: I am glad you liked the last chapter. The end bit with the frog was actually my beta, so I can't take credit there.

tomoyohimes8: Thank you for pointing that out for me.

LittleMissGiggles'94': I am glad you liked it!

DomLuver: I am glad you liked it...and hey, your eyesight was better than mine because you caught the mistakes I missed.

Anajalit2624: Yeah, I am more a george/alanna fan, but jon/alanna is fun to write and play around with.

Tishica: Glad you liked it!

Elfsquire90: Yeah Sue, I think you need to re-read Sue...not that you have time with college, but...(shrug)

DamageReport: Thanks for the review!

Trisana Sarrasri: Glad you liked it! You have my beta to thank for the bit about the frog, she wrote that.

xXthenextbookwormXx: The frog bit was my beta, but explaining the kiss was me...I am glad you liked both parts.

spazzysassyangel: Thanks!

EtherealDeath: Wow, I can't believe it's been over a year...I am glad you think it is going well.

SarcasticLoner: I am glad you liked the last chapter. My beta came up with the frog scene.

Dom-Loves-Kel: This is more Aly's story than Alanna's so, I am not really focusing on Alanna/Jon's relationship, but I will slip it in some places. Yeah, I noticed I did make Alanna OOC, and I thought that having her mom around would make her a little different. If you think it is just too much OCC for Alanna, let me know and I will try to cut it down.

a happy camper: I am glad that you are really enjoying it!