First of all, Happy belated Memorial Day. Please make sure you take some time to remember those who bravely fought and died for our country, and those who are fighting for our country right now. If you are not from the United States, remember that every country has to fight for their freedoms...take some time to remember those who fought and died for your own home country.

Secondly, I am done with college for the semester, so that means (hopefully) updates will be closer together, unless of course my beta or I are on vacation.

Chapter Forty-Six: Thom

Aly and Gareth were spending a quiet afternoon with Kahlan when there was a knock on the door of their suite. Gareth got up and answered the door.
"Hello, Thom." Gareth said. Aly let out a low growl. As much as she hated herself for it, she blamed Thom just a little for Lianne dying. She was sure that Roger coming back had done something to Lianne's health, or lack of it, and that was what finished her off. Roger had only come back because of Thom.
"Hello, your Grace," Thom said, "Is my mother here?"
"Yes, she is, come in." Gareth said.
"I never said I wanted to see him." Aly said as she heard Gareth close the door.

"Aly." Gareth chided.

Thom walked over and stood in front of Aly, "Mother, give me two minutes, and after that, if you want me to leave, I'll leave."
"Fine, you have two minutes." Aly said.
"Look, I know that you are mad at me, and I know you blame me for Queen Lianne dying."
"I blame Roger for Lianne dying." Aly said.
"And I brought him back, which means you blame me, at least a little," Thom said, "And I suppose I deserve that."
"Go on." Aly said through clenched teeth.
"Aly!" Gareth chided again, a little more forcefully. "Thom is trying to apologize."
"And how do you know that?" Aly asked.
"Because he asked me to make sure you'd be here at this time so he could."
"You two planned this visit?"
"Yes," Gareth said, "And I am not sorry I did, Aly. Thom is your son, and he made a mistake."
"A big one." Aly said.
"And now he is trying to apologize for it." Gareth said, a little louder and in a bit more formal of a voice. Aly winced as she recognized it. That was the voice of Training Master Gareth when a page was in trouble.
"I am entitled to be mad at him." Aly said.
"The Aly I know and love would hear him out and at least begin to forgive him." Gareth said.
Aly was quiet for a minute, feeling like a small child. "Alright," she said quietly, "I'll listen."
"I'll leave the two of you alone," Gareth said, "Aly, can I trust you not to murder Thom while I'm gone?"
"I promise, if he dies in here, it won't be because of me." Aly said, "Kahlan is here, I wouldn't want her to witness murder."
Gareth nodded, "I'll be back in about an hour." With that, he left, and Aly was left with Thom and Kahlan.
"Sit down, Thom, you'll give me a cramp in my neck if I have to look up at you."
Aly picked up Kahlan and placed her on her lap, and Thom took a seat where Kahlan had been a minute earlier. He wiggled his fingers, and a blood-red gift wiggled out of his fingers. Kahlan giggled, then tried to grab it in her hands. Thom pulled it back.
"Thom-your Gift, it's-"
"Corrupt," Thom said, "Poisoned by the magic I did."
"Are you alright?" Aly asked, resting her hand on top of Thom's hand, then pulling back. He was fire-hot.
"I'll be fine." Thom said.
"Do you have a fever? Are you sure you're alright?" Aly asked. The anger she had for Thom was slowly disappearing, at least for now. Her son was sick. She went to place a hand on his forehead.
"I'm fine, I promise," Thom said evading Aly's hand, "I am also sorry about everything with Roger and Queen Lianne."
"Is this a sincere apology?" Aly asked, "Or just one of you apologies to get you on my good side again?"
"It's sincere." Thom said.
"So you'll destroy Roger?" Aly asked.
Thom hesitated.
"Thom?"
"I can't do that." Thom said. "My apology is sincere, but I can't kill Roger, mother."
"Why not?"
"Because he is living off of my Gift." Thom said, "Until he's got more strength, all he has is my Gift, and I don't know what will happen to me if I kill him now."
"What if he drains you with his own Gift?"
"He doesn't have it anymore." Thom said, "That is why my Gift is what is keeping him alive."
"What if he gets it back?"
"I'm monitoring him." Thom said, "If he gets his Gift, I'll pull my Gift away from him."
"And destroy him?" Aly asked.
Thom hesitated, "I won't promise anything."
They both looked down as Kahlan whimpered and grabbed Thom's fingers.
"She wants you to use your Gift again. She thought it was fun to try and grab it." Aly said.
Thom slowly, hesitantly, stretched his Gift out again, and Kahlan laughed before starting to play with it. Every time she was about to grab it, Thom pulled away, just out of her reach. Soon, Aly and Thom were smiling along with her.
"Do you remember when I use to do that to you?" Aly asked. "Alanna never really liked it, but you loved it."
Thom smiled and nodded. "Whenever I was upset or scared, you'd do it. You'd also make designs with your Gift for me to look at. When I got older, you taught me how to make magical designs, and we'd have competitions to see who could make the best image."
"Would you be willing to have a small contest now? For old time's sake?"
Thom nodded, "A small, short one. I can't stay long. I am in charge of keeping Roger from…"
"Becoming Roger?" Aly asked.
"Basically."

The two of them started simple, with things like crowns, swords, and other inanimate objects. Then they moved up to magical shadows of people and animals. Finally, they made magical pictures that moved around. Kahlan seemed to like Aly's recreation of a woman riding a horse the best.
Thom had a moving picture of two people in the middle of a sword fight, and Aly had a couple dancing when Gareth returned. Kahlan was asleep on the sofa, using her mother's lap as a pillow.
"Am I safe in assuming the fight has been resolved?" Gareth asked.
Aly smiled, "Yes, I've forgiven him."
"I'm glad." Gareth said. He walked over and kissed Aly on the cheek. "It means you're smiling again. You never smile when you are mad at someone you love because you feel horrible about being mad at them…what are you two doing?"
"Well, it started out as a show for Kahlan," Aly said, "But then she fell asleep, and it became a trip down memory lane for Thom and I."
Thom kissed the forehead of his sleeping sister. "I should go," he said. "Like I said, I'm responsible for Roger."
Aly nodded, "I'm glad you came by, Thom."
"I am too," Thom said, "I hate having you mad at me."
"Just promise me you won't bring any more people back from the dead." Aly said.
"I promise," Thom said. "The dead will remain dead."

So what do you think? Yeah, I know it is super short...I didn't have much of an idea for this chapter, but I wanted to do something cute with Kahlan (the image show) and I wanted to have Aly and Thom make up a little.

Review Replies

SeekDreamsandFindHope: Your reviews lately have been making me laugh, so thank you.

Mistyrious One: I am glad you liked it...hope you liked this chapter

Colors405: Yeah, it was sad...but I am glad you liked it

LittleMissGiggles'94': I had a feeling people would be crying...I was crying when I wrote it...which is weird, because I didn't even bat an eye when they died in the books

Anjalit2426: Really? Well, I guess I have changed things around a little, so maybe you got your hopes up that I would save them...sadly, I didn't

Cry of the Wolf Child: OK, thank you for telling me that...it will come in handy with the sequel, if I ever get to writing it.

spazzysassyangel: Thanks!

sonotonalady: Well, hopefully Thom will stop seeming so annoying now...or soon...Alanna comes back in the next chapter. And thanks for the suggestion about Kahlan.

Soraya the All Speaker: Yeah, it didn't move my sister to tears either...and I laughed when I read about you throttling Thom...but don't do it, please. I have plans for him in the next few chapters, and I need him breathing.

Trisana Sarrasari: Thank you, I am glad you liked it, even though it was so sad.

iloveredshoes: I am glad you loved it.

xXthenextbookwormXx: If you steal Kahlan, I will tell all my reviewers it is your fault there is no sequel...because if you kidnap her, she is not around to have a sequel made up about her.

25kait25: I have about five chapter left in this story, so it's almost over, but not quite. You will get Jonathan's coronation and a little after that.

StarVamp: I am glad you liked it. I am considering doing a sequel, if I can just settle on a few different facts.

KF: Thank you about pointing out the bit about Alanna...I have been told that she hasn't been in character, and I had tried to fix that, but I guess I didn't do a very good job of it...so thanks for your honesty, I need it to improve. You said Aly wasn't always in character too...I think that is partially because I am still experimenting with her a little bit, so I haven't completely settled on her character...I was trying to show that like any mother, she would be concerned about her child doing something dangerous (like knight training) but I was also trying to make her be a strong, independent woman. I am glad you liked the story so far, regardless of me not always keeping in character. I will work harder on that.

sokkr-rox: I am glad you liked it...lol, don't you just hate it when authors don't post quickly enough for you to just keep reading? (Author grins)