Chapter 6
"I'm not gonna change who I am/But I am gonna give up the fight/I don't care who's wrong or right/When it's all said and done/And you tell me you've had enough/You're thinking of giving up on love/I'm still willing to try." –Willing to Try, Bo Bice
"This is absurd, you two!" Gary cried. "You are best friends. Call a truce and stop this nonsense."
"We don't know what happened in the desert, but you need to make up," Raoul said. "If only for our sakes." Alanna and Jonathan looked at each other.
"Can you excuse us, please?" Jonathan asked. Raoul and Gary left the room.
"If we're going to talk about the desert, I'm going to spell the room," Alanna informed the Prince. Jonathan nodded. He shot sapphire fire into two corners, while purple fire filled the other two. The fire circled the room, making it impossible for anyone to listen in on their conversation.
"I'm sorry, Alanna," Jonathan said. Alanna's violet gaze bore into him. Jonathan felt as if he were going through the Rite of the Voice all over again.
"What are you sorry for?" she asked.
"Calling you unfeminine."
"Why?"
"You looked beautiful the other night." Alanna seemed to accept this.
"Is that all?"
"Did I offend you in any other way?" There was a sarcastic tone in his rich, clear voice.
"You pressured me, Jonathan. And you spoke rudely of George."
"I will apologize to George for that. But I stand by my 'pressuring.' You didn't give me any hints that you might say no."
"But I didn't give you hints about yes, either!"
"You did!"
"How?"
"You continued to share my bedroll. You cared." Alanna blushed at the first part.
"I'll always care! I care about George, too!"
"But George didn't ask you to marry him!"
"How would you know?"
"Did he?"
"That is none of your concern." Jonathan decided to switch the topic.
"Why haven't you participated in the Moment of the Voice since I became the Voice of the Tribes? Coram does."
"I didn't participate when Ali Mukhtab was the Voice."
"Why?"
"That's a part of me I'm not willing to give."
"But I am- was- your friend. Why wouldn't you share you thoughts?"
"Maybe because I was having second thoughts!" Both Alanna and Jonathan were silent. Alanna silently cursed herself. She didn't want to put ideas in Jonathan's head, and she just had. She sighed. "You wouldn't have apologized unless Raoul and Gary asked you to."
"I have to keep my friends happy," Jonathan shrugged.
Alanna jumped to her feet. "When you first asked me for my hand, you said you wanted to show Court you didn't care. Now you want to keep your friends happy! Make up your mind. Are you going to be Jonathan or are you going to Prince Jonathan?"
Author's Note- I don't want to stop the story when I run out of lyrics for "Willing To Try," so I think that a sequel is becoming unlikely. The lyrics will just change to another song. (From the Bo Bice album. There are some good songs on there for this kind of thing!) R-E-V-I-E-W.