Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Ordeal

The months after Alanna and Aly's visit to Thom flew by as Aly was busy with wedding details and spending every free moment she could get with Gareth or Alanna. She and Alanna went out to an eating house for dinner on Alanna's birthday, and Aly invited Eleni and George to join them, which they did.

It was shortly after her birthday when Alanna approached Aly.
"What's on your mind?" Aly asked.

"I've decided to have Gary be the second knight to instruct me in the Code of Chivalry while I take the purifying bath before the Ordeal. It was Jon's idea."

Aly nodded, "He's a good choice. He was your sponsor when you first came here."

"The thing is...I'll have to tell him that I'm...about my secret."

"Ah," Aly said, "You're afraid about how he'll react."

"A little," Alanna admitted, "But I wanted to know…have you told Duke Gareth yet?"

"No," Aly said with a sigh. "I keep wanting to, especially since we are engaged, but…"

"You're just as scared as I am."

"No, I am more afraid than you are. You lied to your friend, but I'll be admitting to lying to my future husband."

"Do you think he'll be angry?"

Aly nodded, "Of course he'll be angry, but that can't be avoided…I'll talk to him at some point, but I'll wait a little while longer. I'll let you be the first to spoil your secret."

Alanna nodded.

"Gary won't care," Aly assured her. "He likes you because of you, not because he thought you were a boy."

"Jon said he'll think it an amazing joke." Alanna said.

"He might," Aly said with a small grin, "And there is only one way you will know for sure."

"So you think I should tell him."

Aly nodded "Bring him by here after you do. I would love to hear from him how he feels about it."

"I will," Alanna said, "I plan on telling him tomorrow." She turned to leave, and then stopped. "Mother?"

"Yes?"
"Duke Gareth fell in love with you before you had children," Alanna said, "And it's sort of the same thing like with Gary and I. He became friends with me because of me…well, Duke Gareth didn't love you for your two sons. He loved you for you."

Aly smiled and nodded. "You're right, Alanna. I'll talk to him soon."

Aly opened the door to her room the following afternoon. She grinned when she saw Alanna and Gary. "Come in, both of you."

The knight and squire walked in. Aly shut the door and magically sealed the room before turning to Gary. "So, welcome to the club." Aly said.

"There is a club for this?" Gary nodded, "The 'Keeping Alanna's Secret A Secret' Club."

"Alanna didn't mention my father's name when she told me who knew."

"That is because he doesn't know." Aly said.

Gary's eyes went wide, "You and my father are engaged, and you haven't told him?"

"I plan to tell him soon," Aly said. "I just haven't yet."

"Can I be there when you tell him?" Gary asked. "I want to see his face."

"I think this is something I should do alone." Aly said.

Gareth pouted for a moment, but nodded. "You're right. He should hear it from you or Alanna, and he should be told alone."

"So mother, when do you plan to tell him?" Alanna asked.

"I don't know," Aly said. "I have decided to wait until the right moment appears."

"Tell him before I tell the court, mother." Alanna reminded Aly.

"And before you marry him." Gary said.

"I will," Aly said, "If a moment doesn't present itself before a week after your ordeal has passed, I will present a moment, I promise."

The day before Alanna's ordeal, Aly was over in the royal suite, and she and Lianne were busy with wedding details while Gareth and Roald played a few rounds of chess. Aly was positive that Lianne was trying to distract Aly from thinking about the possibility that Alanna might not come out of the Chamber as anything more than a dead corpse. It wasn't working.

"So I was thinking we would have ribbon of royal blue silk trying your bouquet together, what do you think, Aly? Aly? Aly!"

"What?" Aly asked looking up, "Sorry Lianne, did you ask me something?"

"I was talking about your bouquet...are you ok?"
Aly sighed, "No."

Gareth looked over at Aly from the chess game. "What's wrong?"

"I'm worried about Alan," Aly admitted. "I can't get the Ordeal out of my head."

Lianne rested a hand on Aly's arm, "Alan will do fine." she assured her. "He's already proven that he is a good warrior during the war with Tusaine and fighting with the knight from Tusaine before that. There is no way anyone or anything can deny that your Alan was meant to be a warrior...not even the Chamber of Ordeal."

"So I am being silly?" Aly asked.

"Not silly, no," Lianne said. "You are being a mother."

"My mother never fretted over me like this."

"Not in front of you, at least," Lianne said. "And even if she didn't, you never underwent the Ordeal of Knighthood."

"Aly, Alan will be fine," Gareth assured me, "I of all people should know. I trained him, after all. Plus I love you...if I thought there was any chance that Alan wouldn't make it out of the Chamber alive tomorrow, I would have convinced him to drop out of training. I would never let there be any chance of you being in that kind of pain if I could stop it."

Aly smiled at Gareth, "Thank you."

"And I'll stay up all night with you tonight." Gareth said.

"How do you know I'll be up all night?" Aly asked.

Gareth grinned, "I know I wasn't able to sleep when it was Gareth going through the Ordeal...Alan is going to be my son soon enough, so I know I won't be sleeping tonight anyway...we might as well stay up all night together and keep each other company."

Aly smiled, "I'd like that."

"And Lady Alianne," Roald said. Aly gave him his full attention, and she saw him smile. "I cannot wait until I knight Alan tomorrow evening. It will be an honor, and one of the best parts of my kingship, in my opinion."

Aly bowed her head, "Thank you, your majesty."

"So? Are you calm enough that we can get back to work on the wedding? It is only a month away, you know."

Aly grinned. "I am all yours."

"Good." Lianne said, "Because the dressmaker is coming here later today to do a final fitting on your wedding gown, and you need to be focused on the wedding then. So...royal blue silk ribbons for the bouquet, yes or no?"

It was the very early hours of the morning Alanna would be coming out of the chamber, and Gareth had stayed with Alanna the whole night, distracting her with every game he could think of. He was quickly running out of ideas, though, Aly could tell.

"Gareth?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"Will you tell me about your finger?" Aly asked, "I mean, how you lost it in the Chamber of Ordeal?"

Gareth glanced at his hand, "After your ordeal, you don't talk about what happened."

"I know, but please? Won't you tell me?"

Gareth shook his head, "I'm sorry Aly…I am sure you have your secrets…this is one of mine."

Aly looked down at the mention of secrets.

"Gareth, while we are on the subject of secrets, I have one to tell you."

Gareth smiled amused, "Telling me one of your secrets won't get me to tell you mine."

"I know, that isn't why I am telling you this….it shouldn't have been a secret from you, not for this long."

"Are you alright?" Gareth asked with concern.

Aly nodded, "I'm fine. This secret is about Alan."

Gareth leaned back in his chair and studied Aly, "About Alan, hmm?"

Aly nodded. "I don't know how to tell you, though….I think that is partially why I haven't told you, I have been hoping the words would magically come to me…but I can't put off telling you anymore."

Gareth leaned forward and took one of Aly's hands in his. "What is it, Aly?"

Aly took a deep breath to steady her nerves, "Alan is a girl."

Gareth stared at Aly for a minute as her words sunk in. Aly sat waiting for the explosion of anger, but it didn't come.

"Excuse me?" Gareth asked.

"Alan isn't my son….she is my daughter, and her real name is Alanna."

"Alanna?"

"Yes," Aly said, "When they were at the age to begin training, Alanna didn't want to go to the convent to become a lady, and Thom didn't want to be a knight. Alanna wanted to be a knight, and Thom a sorcerer…so they switched places. Thom went to the City of the Gods for instruction, and Alanna came here for training."

"You mean to tell me," Gareth said in a tone that said he was still trying to process the information she had given him. "That you had a son and a daughter, not two sons?"

Aly nodded.

"So you have lied to me all these years," Gareth started in a slightly harsh tone as he removed his hand from Aly's. "Everything you've told me about Alan, or Alanna, I suppose, has been a lie."

"You're mad at me," Aly said softly.

"I think I am entitled to that, Aly." Gareth said. "When we were friends, when I was courting you, even while we've been engaged, you've lied to me."

"I can only say I am sorry, Gareth." Aly said, "And that I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid to."

"Afraid of what?" Gareth asked.

"Of you going to Roald," Aly admitted softly, "I was afraid he'd order Alanna to leave training, and this has been her life-long dream, to serve as a knight of Tortall. Gareth, I-I didn't want to be the reason that dream didn't come true."
"You didn't honestly think I'd do that, did you?" Gareth asked, "Do you honestly think I would tell Alan-no, Alanna's-secret?"

"Wouldn't you have?" Aly asked, "Even if it was just in the heat of the moment while you were mad at us lying to you? Isn't there a part of you that wants to tell Roald now? So he won't knight her?"

Gareth sighed, "You're right, I probably would have, and there is that small part in me." Aly looked at the ground beneath her, and Gareth reached over to lift her chin, "But there is a bigger part of me that knows it would be a grave mistake to not allow Alanna to be knighted….I would be robbing Tortall of a very fine knight, and throwing away years of work on her training."

"Even with that knowledge you are still mad….justifiably so, but it is still there." Aly said. She didn't phrase it as a question.

Gareth sighed, "Yes, Aly. I am still mad."

Gareth and Aly just sat quietly for a second.

"So are we still getting married next month?" Aly asked. "Or am I returning this ring to you?"

"I am mad about being lied to Aly." Gareth said, and kissed her passionately, "But I am not so mad as to call off our wedding."

Aly smiled in relief. Her daughter would still be a knight if she survived the Ordeal, and she was still an engaged woman.

The rest of the night passed by peacefully, until Gareth got up to return to his rooms long enough to change into fresh clothes and to allow Aly a chance to do the same before the two of them headed down to wait for Alanna to come out of the Chamber.

Aly was surprised, and thrilled when she saw the king and queen sitting where the audience would be sitting. She walked over. Jon was talking to his parents.

"Did you sleep at all?" Jon asked.

"Not even for a second," Aly said. She then remembered that Alanna and Jon were lovers...Alanna had admitted it with a somewhat embarrassed expression on her eighteenth birthday. Last night must have been torture for him as well, "What about you?"

"None what-so-ever." Jon said with a grin.

"Will the two of you stop worrying?" Gareth asked, "Aly, you raised Alan well, and Jon, you trained him almost as well as I trained all of you when you were pages. He'll be fine. Now, shall we take our seats?"

Aly nodded, and took a seat next to Lianne. Gareth sat next to her.

It wasn't long until Sir Myles, Gary, and Raoul showed up to join the small audience, which quickly became more and more full with courtiers coming to see if the Prince's squire would make it to knighthood. Aly barely noticed who was present in the room. Her eyes were fixed on the door coming from the Chamber. Jonathan and Myles were standing with each other, ready to help Alanna out of the Chamber when she appeared.

The time seemed to barely move, and she felt like she spent days, maybe even weeks waiting for the Chamber door open. Part of Aly wanted this to be over, so she could hold Alanna close to her and never let go. Another part of her wanted the door to never open, for fear of her daughter's corpse falling out on the floor. She had to remind herself to breath.

Deep breath in. Hold. Breath out, she thought. Deep breath in. Hold. Breath out.

All thoughts left her mind as the door to the chamber opened. She instinctively grasped Gareth and Lianne's hands. Lianne gently placed her hand on top of Aly's, while Gareth rubbed his other hand over Aly's in a comforting manner.

Then, Alanna stumbled out, her hands were torn and bloody, and her hair was soaked in sweat. But she was alive. Aly remembered to breath. She collapsed against Gareth in relief. Her daughter had done it. She had survived eight years of rigorous training and had gone through the Chamber of Ordeal. She had lived through it all. She was alive.

Jon and Myles helped Alanna all the way back to her rooms, where Jon then had her go to sleep. She was not to be disturbed by anyone. Jon wouldn't even let Aly in to see her. So instead, she went to Gareth's chambers, where there was a small party going on. The official party would occur tomorrow evening, when Alanna could join them.

Gareth cleared his throat, and got the attention of the few people in the room; Aly, Jon, Raoul, Gary, and Myles.

"A toast to the newest knight in the realm." he said, "To Sir Alan of Trebond, the newest knight of Tortall."

"To Sir Alan" Myles, Jon, Raoul, and Gary said.

To Sir Alanna of Trebond, the first Lady Knight in over 200 years. Aly thought silently as she raised her glass to her lips and took a sip of the wine Gareth had provided. To my daughter.

Review Reply

Elfsquire: Here is the update

Soraya the All Speaker: I am glad you liked the last chapter

Anjalit2624: You have to wait and see

SeekDreamsAndFindHope: lol, I like how you reviewed to tell me you wouldn't review =)

SarcasticLoner: Thanks for the review. I hope you liked how I did Gareth's reaction.

Trisana Sarrasri: I am glad you liked the last chapter. I hope this chapter was done well too!

xXthenextbookwormXx: Yeah, the last chapter was a little close to the actual story line...sorry about that, I wanted to include it, but had writers block....there is some new stuff coming up in a few chapters, though

spazzysassyangel: :)

LittleMissGiggles'94': I think a lot of people wanted to punch Thom in the last chapter....and no, Aly didn't chicken out.

Mistyrious One: Cannon means the way the author wrote it....so "sticking to cannon" means sticking to the story the way Tamora Pierce wrote it. And yeah, I had Aly tell him....and yeah, Thom is a pig.

Tishica: Well, Thom was pretty dumb in the books, so I am playing off of that....isn't it amusing how intelligent people like Thom can be so dumb? And you'll have to wait to see what I have in store for Thom's fate....hehehe.....