A Narrow Escape
By Lady Knight Jules
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except the few characters, such as Sir Matthew of Rose Park and other things and people you don't recognise and the plot. The rest of the characters and the setting and anything else you recognise belong to the wonderful Tamora Pierce.
Chapter 2: Surprises.
A/N: The story is set after Alanna has been Knighted so don't worry if you read about Jon kissing Alanna in parts of the story because everyone knows that she is a GIRL. Also Thom and Faithful are still alive and Roger is still dead, for now…… Anyways on with the story; hope you like it and please, please, please review my story if you read it!
P.S sorry about the lateness of the update, I've had heaps of stuff on, school has now gone back so that means more homework and less time to write FanFic and I also had a massive case of writers block. Also the character known as 'Kieran of Stony Mountain' will now be known as 'Aaron of Stony Mountain', because I got sick of the other name and needed to change it.
Alanna awoke bright and early the next morning as she always did to do her morning exercises, although this morning there was something big on her mind and she didn't know what to do about it.
The question on her mind was, who had instructed the bandits to capture Jon and why, when it was so close to Midwinter.
She finished her morning exercises and went down to the Mess Hall for breakfast, hoping she would run into Jon so she could discuss her queries with him. Unfortunately Alanna couldn't find him, so after she had finished her breakfast, she went in search of Raoul, Gary, Geoffrey, or Douglass to see if they had seen him.
She found Gary in the library looking over some old documents he needed for some research he was conducting.
"Hey Gary, have you seen Jon at all today?" Alanna asked.
"Sorry Alanna, I haven't seen him all day, he might be down at the Dancing Dove with George," Gary suggested.
"Thanks anyway, I'll go down to the Dove after I've finished some practice sparing on the practice courts," Alanna said and with that she went to her rooms to get changed into something more comfortable to practice in.
Alanna wondered down to the practice courts at a casual pace. When she arrived she noticed that Sir Kieran was warming up to do some sparing but he had no opponent.
"Do you mind if I spar against you?" Alanna questioned.
The knight shrugged and the said "Yeah okay, why not." Not knowing what he had just gotten himself into, sparing a lady that is, he warmed up faster so he could get it over with.
After the two bowed to each other and started circling as it was customary to do when sparing an opponent, Aaron didn't know what to expect, and let Alanna get the first blow, which he later regretted as he learned quite quickly that she was a very talented fighter and was also very fast.
Blow after blow and block after block, each fighter managed to block the others attack and counter with their own. The bout had brought some curious nobles and other knights out to watch and after a while nearly everyone at court was watching Alanna and Aaron in their sparing practice. The practice session went on for another 20 minutes and was then ended when Alanna did a sneaky, but legal move which ended with Aaron on the ground with his hands held behind his back by Alanna. Everyone in the crowd applauded as Alanna helped Aaron to his feet. They both bowed to each other and then started warming down.
"Wow, I have never met a girl who can fight like that," Aaron said with a sound of awe in his voice.
"Well after years of training to become a knight and some training from the Shang Dragon, which I was able to have a couple of months after I was knighted, I have become used to the art and am always improving my technique, so you could say I am a special type of girl," Alanna replied almost laughing at the thought that she was special.
"Yeah," Aaron said still awestruck.
Alanna walked back up to the Palace discussing fighting tactics withAaron before she went to the Dove in search of Jon.
When Alanna arrived back at her rooms, she found a great surprise waiting for her. She was so surprised that she almost fell over at the sight of it, considering it generally takes a lot to surprise her in any way. There sitting on her bed waiting for her, was her beloved twin brother Thom.
"Thom, when did you get here?" Alanna asked still shocked to see her brother, as she hadn't seen him in a few years since she was knighted.
"I arrived about an hour after the noon bell." Thom replied.
"Why didn't anyone come and tell me that you had arrived?" Alanna queried, sort of angry that no one had bothered to let her know that her twin was at the Palace.
"That's because I told them not to, because I wanted to surprise my sister in the biggest way possible." Thom answered with a cheeky look in his eyes and a grin.
"You rat bag, you ohh……., I can't stay angry at you." Alanna said looking at her brother who still had that cheeky look on his face.
"We have heaps to catch up on." Alanna told her twin.
"Yes we do indeed, is now a good time to talk?" Thom asked.
"Umm not really, as I was about to go down to the Dancing Dove to find Jon." Alanna said, and her twin looked at her pleadingly.
"Oh, ok." Thom replied.
"Umm, would you like to ride with me down to Corus and then we can talk along the way?" Alanna asked her twin.
"That would be great, although there is one small problem." Thom replied looking slightly embarrassed.
"And what problem would that be my dear brother?" Alanna asked although she could guess what his answer would be as he was one of the most powerful mages in all of Tortall and generally didn't use horses to get around.
"That I don't have a horse to ride." Thom answered still looking rather embarrassed.
"Well that's easy fixed; we'll just go down to the stables and ask Stephan if you can borrow one of the Palace horses." Alanna told her twin who was not looking so embarrassed anymore.
"That would be great. Are you sure its okay to borrow the Palace horses?" Thom asked.
"Yes I'm sure, and besides they need a bit of a work out anyway, most of them have been in the stables for a while due to the season." Alanna said, and with that the two copper-headed twins walked down to the stables together.
The two twins arrived at the Dancing Dove just before nightfall, and to their relief were welcomed by a stable boy who took their horses to the stables for them, so that they could go inside and see George straight away.
When inside Alanna introduced Thom to most of her friends at the Dove and to her great relief found George instantly.
"'Lanna, what can I do fer ye today?" George enquired in a slightly drunken manner.
"I was just wondering if you have seen Jon at all." Alanna asked, not knowing if she was going to get a straight answer out of him considering the drunken state he was in.
"Yer he's been here mos' o the day talkin' to Rispah and Matt for most o the time, and the rest of it jus' relaxin' after what he's been through," said George who was now even more intoxicated than when he first spoke to her.
"Oh okay then, do you know where he is now?" Alanna queried, still not sure if she was going to get the answer she wanted.
"Yer he's ova in the corner talkin' to Matt," George replied, and with that he turned and started talking to some other Rouges that were at the Dove.
Alanna shrugged and walked over to where George said Jon and Matt were sitting. Sure enough George was right, and sitting in the corner with Rispah and Matt was Jon, looking quite calm and deep in conversation.
"Jon, can I talk to you?", "I've been looking for you all day," Alanna said now a bit calmer that she had found Jon at last.
"Yes and what may I ask do you want to talk to me about that it couldn't wait until I returned to the Palace later this evening?" Jon queried, seeing that Alanna wasn't happy that no one had told her where Jon had been all day.
"It's about your capture," Alanna started slowly not sure if she should continue in the presence of Rispah.
"Go on Alanna, Rispah knows all about what happened and has even said that she and the some of the Rouge Court including George will help in the investigation of who and why they captured me," Jon said seeing the look on Alanna's face.
"It's just that it has been puzzling me all day as to who would instruct someone to kidnap you, although I have a pretty good idea of the reason why they would be bothered to capture you." Alanna said.
"Hmm, it has been something of a mystery so far as to whom, but as for why I have also had a few ideas on the matter," replied Jon in a tone that sounded like he had also been thinking about the matter for some time.
"Yes I thought you would have." Alanna replied.
"I think it would be best if we found somewhere more private to talk about the situation in more depth, because there is all possibility that there is a spy here that works for the people who captured you Jon, and I wouldn't like to see what happened if they found out you were looking for them," Matthew suggested.
"I agree," Jon said.
"Yes that would be better and anyway I have to introduce you all to my brother Thom and the only way I am going to be able to find him is if we are going to go back to the Palace." Alanna said as she quickly scanned the room for her twin.
The other two nodded their agreement and Alanna went in search of Thom.
Alanna found Thom half drunk in a corner talking to some Rogues and playing a game of cards of which he was losing badly.
"Thom, were going back to the Palace now, so we can discuss some matters and so I can introduce you to some friends of mine." Alanna told her twin who was still intent on the poker game he was playing.
"Yer ookayy, I'll be wif ya in a moment." Thom said, his speech slightly slurred.
"Well you'd better hurry up as we are leaving now." Alanna said in a tone that was slightly more commanding then she would have liked to use when talking to her brother.
"Ookay, ookayy I'm comin' now, I was losing anyway," Thom said his speech more slurred than five minutes ago, and with that Thom said farewell to the Rouges and promised them that next time he was in the city they would play again.
Thom found Alanna waiting by the door with two people he didn't know.
"Alanna, who are these people with you?" Thom enquired still groggy from the amounts of beer he had had while playing cards.
"These people my dear brother are some very good friends of mine." Alanna told her twin.
"The tall one on my left with the brown hair and eyes is Sir Matthew of Rose Park and the tall one on my right with the black hair and sapphire blue eyes is the Crown Prince of Tortall and my former Knight Master Jonathan of Contè" Alanna said with a huge smile on her face at seeing her brothers reaction when she mentioned Jon.
Thom stood is shock and awe for a few minutes before shacking each mans hand and introducing himself to them as Alanna's twin brother Thom.
A/N: Please read and review as it makes my day to read the reviews you guys leave.