CHAPTER 28: The Aftermath

Soft sunlight peered in through yellow curtains that fluttered in the slight bleeze. Kind warmth enveloped her like a mother. Silence hummed a solacing tune. Alanna sat up in bed and smiled at her surroundings: her room at the university of Carthak. However simple, it was home compared to Hanno's birdcage. She slipped out of bed and winced as her back protested like a long-unoiled door. Though a healer had skillfully seen to her wounds and therefore placated the worst pain, scars remained. With age, they would cease to harass her, but, until then, she would simply have to adapt to their presence.

Faithful jumped up onto the bed. Are you alright?

"Yes, I'm alright. Right now, we need to get back home to Jon and warn him about Roger."

"We're working on that," a man spoke up from the door.

Alanna turned and found Thom, dressed in an everyday Carthaki robe, standing just inside the room, with the door shut behind him. He had shaved his head and beard, clearly revealing skin stretched tautly over bony features. Crutches helped him support his left leg.

Alanna strode up and hugged him, trying not freak at the boniness of his body. "It's good to see you again."

"I've missed you," he whispered. "I have so much to tell you, though. Sit down. It will take awhile." They both sank into the blankets of her bed, and Faithful jumped up onto her lap. Thom took a deep breath, as if to arm himself, and then said, "I'll start from the way beginning, so everything makes since. Um… do you know about the powerful spells over the palace?"

"Yes—we had to redo them last year."

"Yes, that's because Duke Roger, while here in Carthak, sent a fatal illness that healers wouldn't be able to heal. He used the palace's strengthening spell to strengthen his spell and to keep it within Corus walls. I discovered it and traced it back to Carthak. He realized he'd been traced and broke contact with the spell so he no longer had any control over it. Since his spell had already eaten up the strengthening spell and he didn't have any say in what happened anymore, I was able to go in, merging my magic with his, and blow it all up.

"I heard I caused a ton of trouble, and I apologize, but I was only helping at the time. Anyway, months later, I made a simulacrum of myself that would be found dead and would disappear shortly thereafter. I made sure no one could scry for me and came to Carthak to study at the university and find the mage who sent the sickness. Well, I did find Roger without really knowing it was him. We became good friends. Then I found out that he was killing the queen—and everyone else, just not as drastically. You know what spell I'm talking about, I'm sure—the wax doll—"

"Yes, there was one of Jarinth for a time."

"Yes, I saw that one. Anyway, I—I—" he stopped, and his head fell into his hands. "Alanna, I'm so sorry."

Alanna leaned over and hugged him. "What happened?" she whispered.

"I—I helped. I know! I know; it's terrible. But I didn't like the royal family much either, Alanna. I certainly didn't mind if they all died. So, I helped.

"But then I found out that you were friends with Jon. I heard about the Ysandir, you know? So, I guess you kind of changed my mind. I tried to heal the queen. I almost managed it, before Roger found out. I had to pull back before he traced my magic back to me, but, before I did, I tried to bring attention to her problem. Again, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. The queen got really, really, really sick, and no one could heal her. I couldn't end the wax doll. By then, though, I'm sure everyone knew that her problem was caused by magic.

"So Roger knew someone was interfering, but not who exactly. Then, while he was trying to hunt the interferer down, I played stupid—like I had reached my top level of my magic and couldn't go further—so he wouldn't suspect me. But Roger isn't exactly the stupidest guy to walk the planet, and he kind of pieced everything together. So he had his suspicions, and then I sent the inheritance letter—you got that, right?"

"Yes, I did. Thank you."

"Well, that made up his mind. Chances are he figured that, even if I wasn't really the guy he wanted, I was too powerful to have around. So Hanno was at the dock waiting for me when I got back from Tortall. I've been in that cage for about a year. Then you came."

Alanna glanced down at Faithful in her lap. "I don't understand. How did Faithful get in last night?"

Two of Hanno's slaves came here the morning after you and Jarinth left. Hanno was here for a moment, but only to get them into the university and to unlock the door with magic. Then, he left, and the slaves came in and packed bags of clothes as if you guys had left to go on a short trip somewhere, Faithful explained.

Thom didn't seem surprised at the talking cat, though Alanna knew he understood because he added, "Hanno does that for all of his captives, and then does what he can to make it look like we're still alive, but just not present. For me, he continued to pay the rent for my room, so it looked like I would come back someday. Thank the gods, or I would have lost so much stuff."

I followed the slaves when they left again, Faithful continued as if uninterrupted. They burned your stuff—don't worry, there was nothing important. Then they led me to Hanno's house. I managed to slip in without being seen. I sneaked into the torture room after the slaves left, and jumped at Hanno. You know the rest.

Alanna kissed his head. "You say that as if it were nothing. Thanks, Faithful." He purred contentedly in response.

"Hanno is alive and well in my room, locked away where no one can find him. We found this on him." He pulled her ember-stone out of his pocket and handed it to her. She stared at it, amazed: she had forgotten all about it. "What is it? I tested it, and I couldn't get it to betray its secrets or anything."

Its comforting feeling had not left, so she squeezed it in her hands as she filled her brother in on her encounter with the Goddess.

"Fascinating," he whispered, staring at the ember-stone with wide, mesmerized eyes.

"But what are we going to do about Hanno?"

Thom blinked, as if having forgotten the duke, and then sighed. "We've contacted Duke Nathaniel of Saragin to—well, we said we wanted to know what we should do, but we were more or less looking for permission to drag Hanno north to Tortall. Instead, His Grace is sailing down here, and he'll be here in about ten days."

Alanna frowned. "How did you manage to get him on such short notice?"

"Well, apparently you've done something for him that made him like you, and his mother was most upset when she heard that Jarinth had been killed. And there are six nobles out of the sixteen prisoners, including you, me, and Razi. Four of us are Tortallan, which makes it all the worse. Everyone has been wondering where we disappeared to, so when it turns out that we've been held in birdcages for ages…. His Grace was not too happy at all. What's more, we mentioned that we suspect Roger as a friend of Hanno's, and I don't know if you know, but the Saragin family is intensely loyal to the royal family and will do anything to keep the king safe. That Roger is collaborating with Hanno can only mean trouble for King Roald."

Alanna nodded. "I know." She paused, swallowed, and then asked tentatively, "Do you know where Jarinth is? I mean, her—her body?"

"We found her downstairs. I think Hanno meant to do something to her in front of you, so he hadn't buried her yet. I magicked her so she wouldn't decompose, and we're having a coffin made."

Alanna nodded, blinking the tears from her eyes. "Thanks for that."

Thom hugged her again. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine what you two went through together."

Suddenly Alanna remembered nights in the convent library correcting papers, travelling to Corus for Thom's funeral, loitering in Persopolis, meeting with George and Eleni, standing on the brink between the Realms of the Dead and Living, saving Sir Aidan of Queenscove, and sailing to Carthak. She bit her lip, and then buried her face in Thom's shoulder to sob furiously.

---

"There's no proof that Roger had anything to do with it," Duke Nathaniel repeated firmly. "We've searched Hanno's entire house—letters, furnitures' artisan marks, everything—and nothing points to Roger of Conté as a collaborator of his. Hanno was indeed working against the Tortallan crown, and the emperor has given him to us to try for attempted regicide among other crimes in Tortallan courts."

"But, Your Grace—" Thom tried again.

"Enough. Roger of Conté is the nephew His Majesty the King, and I would thank you to stop accusing him of treason. Now, if that's all, I have work to do. Thank you very much."

Alanna curtsied. "Thank you, Your Grace." When she saw Thom about to protest, she kicked him. He threw her a glare, and she matched him stare for stare. Finally, with a roll of his eyes, he spun around, leading Alanna and Razi out of the office.

Once the door was closed, Thom sighed in frustration. "I never thought he would take that side of it. I was so sure we had Roger in the palm of our hands, but no. He's King Roald's nephew and can't be doing anything to try and become king. Dear gods this is annoying."

Alanna nodded. Somehow, though, she wasn't surprised that Roger had left no proof of his relationship with Hanno. He had never left evidence of his plans lying around before, so why should he start now? She shook her head. Nothing was left to do but wait and talk with George and Eleni when she got home. Gods, she missed them!

"Hey, guys, wait up!" Jenna called from behind them. They turned and saw her running to catch up. Out of all the prisoners, she was in the best shape. She had suffered only a couple of bruises because, apparently, she was Hanno's favorite sex toy, and he didn't want to play with a scarred woman. "Listen, I've just counted up everyone that we're shipping back to Tortall, and only two are staying. That leaves us with the four of us and ten others, plus Hanno. It'll amount to seventy gold nobles altogether for food and board. Duke Nathaniel offered to pay—"

"No," Thom spat. "He's not paying. I don't want any charity from him. I'll take care of the seventy gold nobles."

"Thom, you're being rude. He's only doing his job," Razi scolded.

"I just spent a damned year in a fucking cage. I have a right to be rude," he snapped, and stormed off down the hall.

The others stared after him. "It's so weird seeing him with so much energy," Jenna commented.

---

Alanna docked in Saragin, Tortall, to an awaiting welcome-home crowd including Jon, Raoul, Gary, Alex, Douglass, Geoffrey, Sacherell, Myles, and Rowanna. She dug out Thom from the crowd to introduce to her friends, but, too late, she remembered that they already knew him.

It was a cold moment when Raoul, Gary, and Alex—Jon was busy listening to Razi a few yards away—faced Thom. He had grown back only a centimeter of curly hair and looked worse for the wear, but his grim smile kept away any open sympathy.

"Long time, no see, Thom," Gary greeted through clenched teeth.

"And I've missed you so," Thom replied.

Just then, Jon slid back into their group and pulled Alanna into another hug. "I'm so glad you're okay," he whispered.

She knew he had spotted Thom over her shoulder when he tensed. Slowly—almost slower than necessary, just to spite Thom, Alanna thought—he released her, and she glanced at Thom for his reaction. His eyes flicked from her to Jon, and he did not look overly pleased.

Myles shuffled up, took in the situation in seconds, and patted Alanna on the back. "I'm sorry. This must be very awkward."

"Oh, it is," she replied.

"I'm sorry. We hadn't realized Thom was still alive," Jon said, his tone suggesting that he wasn't overjoyed by their discovery.

"Jon!" Myles scolded.

"You'll have to forgive His Highness's ignorance, Myles. He often slips up like so," Thom remarked mildly.

"Thom!" Alanna cried. "You guys are impossible! How is it that you manage to hold such a pathetic grudge for so long? Thom—Raoul, Gary, Alex, and Jon are all extremely good friends of mine; guys, Thom is my brother. Yes, you have different goals in life, but get over it. For my sanity's sake, just pretend to get along!"

The boys stood silently for a moment, and then Jon sighed. "For Alanna's sake, then." He held out his hand to Thom. Thom stared at it for a moment, earned a glower from Alanna, and finally shook it stiffly. "Your Highness." Rigidly, he did the same with Raoul, Gary, and Alex.

"Thank you," Alanna told them curtly.

---

Later that evening, after dinner in Duke Nathaniel's castle, Thom and Alanna set out on a stroll along the city's steets. At first, they walked in silence, both trying to simply enjoy the quiet night and both failing miserably as their thoughts continuously wandered back to their arrival in Tortall.

Finally, Thom broke the silence. "Do you love him?"

Alanna glanced at him in surprise. "Love who?"

"His Highness—Jon. The way he looked at you today, I was so sure he was going to kiss you."

Alanna paused, wondering about not only the answer to this question but also its origins. Hugging Jon in public today had not been a problem, because everyone else had been doing it too. But if Thom, who probably knew nothing of love, had picked up signals from Jon, then the Prince was getting lax with his guard on his feelings for her. She would have to talk to him about that.

"We've been together for about a year," she murmured, bracing herself for his reaction.

She glanced at him when he didn't reply immediately. The corner of his lip twitched—she couldn't tell if it went up or down. When he spoke, though, his voice betrayed his distaste. "Why him?"

She shrugged, and then frowned. That was a good question. "I don't know. I guess—I guess we just love each other."

"Hm."

They rounded a corner and found themselves on the corner of the Center Square. A man was leaning on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the square.

Alanna shrieked with joy. "George!"

"Alanna—" Thom called after her as she ran towards her old friend.

George laughed and caught her up in his arms. His lips pressed against her hair, and he murmured, "Gods I've missed you."

"I missed you too, George. I missed you a lot." She stepped back just enough to see his face, but not enough for him to release her. "I have so much to tell you."

"Well, let's head to my quarters, then, and you can tell me everything. Who's this?"

She turned to see Thom approaching them, smiling strangely. "George, this is Thom," she introduced. "Thom, this is George Cooper, a really good friend of mine."

Thom readily accepted George's offered hand, his smile growing. Alanna could not figure out what that smile meant: it wasn't pleased, but rather knowing and therefore amused.

"George just invited us back to his place for a little bit," she said.

"Hm. We should accept then, shouldn't we?"

"Come on. I'm rooming in the Trickster's Cove." With his arm around her shoulders, George led them off.