A/N: Hello to all who have been reading my story. I am so sorry I haven't been updating. I stopped reading Tamora Pierce fanfiction for a while. When I logged in I saw all of the nice reviews so I gave to story an update.

I would like to thank all those who reviewed the previous chapters. Without you I wouldn't have updated again.

Disclaimer: The Alanna universe belongs to Tamora Pierce and not me. Only the plot and the characters you don't recognize from the books are mine.

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It had been almost three weeks since Alanna had been sold to David and given to Gregory. She found that she had adjusted surprisingly easily to the daily routine. She got up in the morning and got herself ready for the day. Then she would go and tidy up Gregory's room while Thom would draw Gregory a bath and lay out clothes. Then she and Thom would run errands together and do other chores around the university to make themselves useful.

Right now she was eating her evening meal alone because Thom had been sent on an errand to the library to get a book. She hadn't met many kids her age around the university. The ones she had met were just visiting, and they didn't stop to talk to her.

As she finished up her meal she saw David gesturing to her from the door. She quickly walked over to him to see what he wanted.

"Alanna will you take this to Greg for me before you retire for the night?" he asked her.

"I'll do that right now my Lord," said Alanna.

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Alanna sighed as she looked out over the city. She had just finished her errand and the sun had just set and the sky had turned a pinkish color. This was her absolute favorite time of the day, it was so peaceful being able to watch the city come to life with the thieves looking for a place to find a good meal.

Suddenly, Thom came up beside her and quietly observed the surroundings.

"Alanna, what are you thinking about?" Thom questioned her.

"Just a few little things. Do you ever wish that we could go to live in the city, that we wouldn't have to work as slaves here in the palace? Maybe if Father never found out about our plan to switch places we would be back in Tortall," Alanna answered.

"Alanna, I always think about the what ifs. What if we never even thought of the plan, what if we were split up in the slave auction, what if we were sold to a mean slave master? We will never know what could have happened. I personally think we are pretty well off where we are. We only have to take care of Prince Gregory's things, and run errands for him," Thom said.

"I guess," Alanna answered glumly.

"Come on Alanna, let's go get some sleep"

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The next day Alanna was running the old bed sheets to the laundry room when someone ran into her and knocked all of the dirty clothing all over the hallway.

"Oh gods, I am so sorry for running into you miss," exclaimed the stranger.

"It's ok I just…. who are you I haven't seen you around here." Alanna stuttered as she observed the stranger. He was very tall and gangly looking to be in his late teens early twenties. He had shaggy black hair and a rather large nose.

"I guess that was rather rude of me not to introduce myself. I am Arram Draper. And your name is?" The young man asked her.

"I'm Alanna," she answered.

"That is a very pretty name. It was nice to meet you but I must get going to my classes, but first let me help you pick up your laundry," Arram said. After he helped her he said his farewell and hurried off down the hallway.

'Well that was a pretty weird meeting,' Alanna thought as she hurried off to finish all of her chores.

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I hope you liked the chapter. Please review and I will try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible.

ColossalSky