Runaway, by Lady Reena

Chapter 2

Options and a Decision

"A plan?" the young Alanna asked suspiciously.

George stared into her purple eyes. "Well let me ask you first, lass," he said. "What is it that you think you should do?"

Alanna's face was blank. "I'm not sure," she admitted. She looked over at Coram for support.

Coram gripped her arm. "Ye can't just go waltzing back up the hill to the Palace. Th' Duke of Conte (Alanna scowled at the name) will have informed their Majesties by now. . ."

"The way I see it," said the ever-wise George, "you have four choices. One: you can march back up to the Palace and admit defeat. You'll probably not get sent to Traitor's Hill, but you might get exiled. At the very least, you'll do some time in the country's accommodating prison."

Alanna swallowed.

The King of Thieves continued. "You could go to the City of the Gods. They might let you go to the convent and be a proper lady if you publicly apologize and let it be known that you've erred. Obviously you're a good liar ("Not good enough since they found out," Alanna scowled), so you could get away with that."

Alanna opened her mouth, probably to say exactly what she thought of the convent, but George stopped her. "I know, lass," he smiled. "The third option I have would be exiling yourself. You could run for Scanra, Tyra, Galla, or even the Yamani Islands. There's a lot of risk in that, but of course I would ensure that you get there safe. I have agents everywhere; you know that."

Alanna sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. "Right now I just feel really, really … unsure. I can't stomach what just happened." Her eyebrows came together in sudden anger. "I hate him!" she yelled. "Girls were knights a hundred years ago, why can't I? I'm as good as- no, I'm better!- than the other pages! I practice with Coram's sword! I handed Ralon of Malven his big fat behind! I was born to learn to fight, not be a lady or a, a, runaway!"

George reached over and took her hand, and nodded to Coram. "You're not gonna like this one, old man," he said. "But I think option number four is going to be the best for her."

"Well, what is it then?" Coram was suspicious.

George addressed them both. "Coram returns to Trebond. He won't be in trouble. He can claim that she forced him with magic to do it. That she threatened him. He can resume his tasks there, and if questioned, can say that she disappeared and hasn't been seen or heard from."

Coram looked as if he didn't like the idea at all, but kept silent.

"Then where will I go?" Alanna asked.

"Here," George stated. "You stay here, with me, and train as one of my agents."

There was silence.

Then, "Are ye CRAZY?" Coram exclaimed. "Have you totally lost your gods-cursed marbles? She'll get caught, raped, thrown out in the gutter, and killed!"

George's hazel eyes connected with Coram's. "Look, lad, I guarantee that she will learn to fight. I'll teach her more with the sword, as well has hand-to-hand combat, wrestling and horsemanship. She'll experience combat first hand and a lot sooner than she would upstairs at the Palace. I promise you, she'll get a real education."

"Uh, George," Alanna butted in, "I don't know if you've noticed, but I happen to have red hair and purple eyes; don't you think that's obvious?!"

"Don't tell me ye're actually thinking about it!!" Coram said.

"We can deal with the appearance problems," George was calm through and through. "And none of my agents have gotten killed, except the stupid ones. Alanna isn't stupid, I know it."

Coram's head was in his hands. "There are so, so, so many things wrong with this 'plan,'" he muttered. "I don't believe this. I do not believe this. Brandy."

George had a cup in front of Coram in the blink of an eye.

Alanna was silent, mulling things over. "I'm going to have to think about it," she finally admitted. " I really don't know… I don't want to just…" she trailed off.

"Just think about it," advised George. "For now, why don't we just relax. I'll get you some food, you must be starving."

"All right," agreed Alanna sullenly. "Let me just go stable the horses."

The Rogue's mouth twitched and his eyes crinkled at the corners. "Lass, what kind of Rogue would I be if my people haven't taken care of that already?"

Later that evening, Alanna lay on a cot upstairs at the Dancing Dove near George's chambers. Coram was next to her, knocked out from drinking too much in all of his nervousness.

Her purple eyes were sad. I can't believe this, she thought. After all my hard work. After the early practice and the classroom learning. After masquerading so well. I thought I could do it. I knew I could do it. I CAN do it. I can be Tortall's first female knight in a hundred years. And now? Because of that maggot-infested piece of horse manure I can't?

She rolled over and punched her pillow. I hate that man, and I don't know why, and it's driving me insane.

She had no reason to hate the Duke of Conte. He'd only been there for a few short weeks, but he left a troubled mark on her soul. The way he had dug into her brain that morning and swept right past her Gift really troubled her. She knew something was up with the Duke. His smile never made it to his eyes.

Shifting onto her stomach, Alanna let out a deep sigh. She had to decide what to do. Flee the country? That is way too risky, she analyzed. Who would I stay with; where would I go?

Should she go to the convent? Well that one is DEFINITELY out, Alanna thought. No WAY am I going to suffer years of being taught useless tasks like writing script, or playing the flute, or how to ruffle my skirts correctly!

That left two options. Become a spy with George by her side, or go to prison.

Hadn't she already lied and cheated enough? Where would it end? She could stop, right now, march up the hill, admit defeat, and serve some time. Surely, once she got out (if she ever got out) she could start over and maybe travel on her own. She could pick up fighting techniques from everywhere she went and earn her living…somehow. At least, her home would still be Trebond; Coram and Maude would certainly never turn her away.

Alanna wanted to do the right thing. She really did. She was raised with good manners and with morale. She felt bad enough that she had to tell the lie of her life; posing as a boy. She felt awful for lying to good people like Prince Jonathan, Gary and Raoul.

This is too much for a twelve-year-old to think about!

But the confinement! The confinement of a cell would drive her crazy! I could be out on the move, fighting real fights, and learning useful information for George, she thought. But no! I really am insane! Which side of the law AM I on? Is it possible to be on both? How could I work for George, knowing that the King and Lord Provost want his head? I'm already bad enough for being friends with George…still. George has done nothing but good things for me. Surely, I would be okay…right?

Alanna continued to roll over and try to fall asleep. It had been one awful, unreal day.

Early the next morning Alanna awoke. Coram, surprisingly, was not there. She heard deep voices in the room next door, so she got up and entered.

George and Coram stopped talking when she entered.

"Well," Alanna said quietly, the bags under her eyes quite visible, "I've made my decision."

SOOO! What's she gonna pick? Well I know the answer, but you'll have to wait and see!! Things may just not play out how you think they might….and I know this was a lot of talking but the action picks up next chapter. I hope I thought of all her possible choices. If I didn't, just pretend that I did D

Send me a review! Pointers are appreciated, cause I dunno if I mentioned it before but I haven't written a fic in about 8 thousand years (woah, a long time)!!

Oh and just a note about chapter posting: I tend to take awhile sometimes because I go over and edit my work MANY times before posting. Nothing drives me crazier than fics that aren't edited!

-Lady Reena

10/08