Here is the next chapter of Different Destiny.
--------------------
Alanna elbowed her way through the crowded marketplace, grumbling words she had heard the university stable men had said. She was so much shorter than the other people along the bazaar that they could not see her. Therefore she was run over and trampled on more times than she could count.
"Get out of my way!" she yelled at one rather heavy woman who was bartering over the price of some fabric. She had gotten in front of her and hadn't moved, and was squishing Alanna against the wall of the booth.
As the woman looked down at Alanna, she took in her bedraggled appearance. She was dressed in old breeches and an old shirt, had on no shoes, and her hair was really a sight to see. "Well I never," the woman started to say before Alanna pushed her a little to get just enough room to sneak out from the woman's clutches.
She set off going down the street at a slightly faster pace so she could clear the marketplace before she got wedged into a corner again. She emerged from the over-crowded marketplace streets, and started off at a run down the slightly less crowded streets branching out from the busy main road. She followed the directions Arram had given her and found the Great Dragon.
Looking at the building she couldn't believe that Arram would know anyone that would dare to stay here. The windows were either broken, or there was boards covering up the holes where the window should have been. The wooden front of the building had cracked and bloated. This made some of the boards uneven. You could tell that someone had fought a losing battle against the building about its repairs.
Sucking in a big breath she pushed through the door. As soon as she entered the room she had to cough because of all of the smoke. Her eyes watered as she tried to suck in deep breathes as the coughing fit subsided.
She looked through the veil of smoke that covered the room and saw that there were many people crowding up the room. She saw a man behind a desk and went up to him.
The man looked at her skeptically and raised his eyebrows at her. "What is a pretty little lass like you doing in a rough place like this?"
"I need to see a man named Leland. I ha-"
"What business do you have to see Leland for? He isn't the kind of man a girl such as you will want to associate with," the man said rubbing his forehead.
"What I meant to say is I have to see him to deliver this package to him," Alanna held the plainly wrapped bag up.
"I see," the man said understandably. "And who might this package to Leland be from?"
"The package is from Arram Draper. He said that it is very important that this package is delivered to Leland," Alanna explained, beginning to get impatient.
"Ah, Master Arram sent the package. In that case I will lead you right over to Leland."
The man quickly grabbed Alanna's hand and started to drag her over to the other side of the inn. She just followed obediently through the room to a table that was slightly larger than all of the others. There were many people seated at this table. At the center of the table sat a man that everyone seemed to be listening to. He had unruly black hair that was cropped unevenly close to his head. In fact it looked as if when a piece of it got too long for his liking he would just take a knife and lop it off. He looked to be fairly tall, for even sitting down he towered over the others that were sitting next to him.
"What does this lass need Peter? She doesn't look old enough to be one of the hired hands around here," the man she assumed to be Leland.
"The lass said she is delivering a package from Arram," Peter answered.
"Ah, I hope that is what I think it is," he held out his hand to Alanna. "When kid, give me that package. I don't want to wait all day."
Alanna hastily reached out and handed him the package. Leland thanked her quickly and ripped the wrapping off of the package. He took out a vile of clear liquid and smiled evilly. "Finally, I thought he would never get this to me. I have been waiting for weeks."
"Leland, what in the devils is that stuff. I don't like the look that you got on that face of yours," a shorter dark skinned man who was sitting on Leland's left asked him.
"None of you darn business Danny. If you must know this is my secret plan," Leland said as if that should mean everything.
Alanna started to back away from the table to get out of the room without being noticed when Leland turned to her quickly. "Girl, what is your name. I need to be able to repay you for getting this to me. You look like you could use some help."
"My name is Alanna. And what do you mean repay me?" Alanna questioned.
Not looking where she was going she saw she had almost backed into a man that was throwing knives a rather large target painted on one wall. As he loosed the knife it flew strait to the center of the target and embedded itself deeply into the dilapidated wood.
"I don't ever forget something that someone has ever done for me. I never get indebted to anyone. Anything you need within reason I will help you get." Leland clarified.
"Could you, maybe teach me to throw knives like that guy can?" Alanna's eyes lit up.
"What would a lass like you want with throwing knives?" Leland said suspiciously.
"I want to learn how to defend myself. And if you could teach me to do anything it would be a great help to achieve my goal," Alanna said politely. "Please, that would be it. I would never ask for anything again," she whined.
"Fine lass. If you come down here once in a while I will teach you some fighting tricks. But if you get in trouble with your parents I am not the one to blame," he said to her. "We will start some other time. It is too late now. You should be heading home."
Alanna thanked Leland profusely as she ran out of the inn. The crowds did not even bother her as she ran through the marketplace and back up to the university.
--------------------
A/N: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter. I feel that my story is coming along quite nicely so far. I would appreciate it if anyone had any constructive criticism for me. I want to know what mistakes I am making and how I can fix them. I have decided to start and answer reviewers as you can see.
On top of cloud 9: Thank you for being such a faithful reviewer to me. I went and took the poll for your story. I hope you get the update soon.
SpectralLady: You answered my questions for me. Yay. Thank you for doing that. It helped a little.
Elfsquire90: Thank you for clarifying the ages on Alanna for me. I'm thinking of adding some romance. Not quite sure yet. But Alanna is only 11 right now. Probably when she gets a little older.
Please Review. It helps to motivate me to write faster. I would like to get a few more reviews than I normally get before I update next time. I know you are reading this. Now please review!