Okay, sorry, but there is no romance in this chapter, however there probably will be romance in the next chappie. now, onto the story!!!!

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Chapter 5

Alanna sighed, running a hand over her face. How had this girl ended up here? Had she really done the things that she said she had? She should really even be trusting her? She got off her bed and walked over to Mara's room. She knocked quietly.

"Who's there?"

"It's me, Alanna. Can I come in?" she said. Mara opened the door a crack.

"What do ya want?" she asked harshly.

"I just want to come in."

"No." Alanna looked at her suspiciously. Was she hiding something? When she asked her this, all she received was the door slammed in her face. This only confirmed what she was thinking. With magic, she undid the lock and rushed into the the room. She looked around and found Mara leaning over her desk, tracing her finger over a map. She walked up to her.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Without looking up the young woman responded.

"I thought that I had made it clear that I didn't want you to come in?" she looked up, her eyes hard "Leave." Alanna noticed that her speech was very clear and pure, not a hint of what the woman referred to 'Spanglish'.

She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could get the words out, Raoul burst into the room.

"Bandits," he panted "North Wall." Alanna and Mara exchanged glances before rushing off. By the time they got to wall, there was a full fledged battle. The knight drew her sword and the gang leader started firing her gun.

It was easy to tell the bandits from the Tortallan warriors. The bandits were dirty and rough looking, with crude weapons. Those from Tortall wore the uniform of the Kingdom.

Soon enough Mara ran out of ammunition. She cussed.

"Damn. Alanna! Watch my back while I reload!" The knight nodded and started fighting off those going for her. In a short amount of time Mara was back pulling the trigger. However, having not expected a battle, she had only been caring enough ammo for one reload. Luckily for her, she had started carrying some knives. So throughout the rest of the battle, she fought with those.

"I hate bandits." Alanna told her, as they sat waiting for Duke Baird.

"Those weren't bandits." Mara stated. Alanna, Raoul and all the other knights looked at her curiously.

"What?" Gary asked.

"They weren't bandits. They fought too well and not to mention, usually bandits don't attack the king's palace, where there are tons of knights, squires, the King's Own and other fighters."

"Well then, who are they?" Raoul asked.
"I'm guessing, our mystery guy." she told them.

"You mean, the man who sent those men to the ball?" this time it was Alanna.

"Yup. My guess; he's testin' the fightin' strength that the palace has and, lots of fighters either died or got severely hurt. So in other words, our protection had been damaged, given the small crack that will eventually cause the entire thing to fall." Mara said. Once again she spoke with a Spanish accent, however no Spanglish, as she had found that they didn't understand the language mix.

"She could be knight." Raoul told Alanna and Gary.

"Yes, I know." Alanna said.

"Too bad I'm not." Mara put in. An assistant to the Duke appeared in the door.
"Sir Alanna and Queen Ana-Mara, you may go in." he said. The two women stood and entered. Baird treated a large gash on Mara's arm and many smaller ones for her. Alanna had done most of her own healing, leaving only a small cut on her cheek. He asked her why, seeing as how she could have easily taken care of it. She smiled.

"Battle wound, proof that I fight." she told them. The Duke and Alanna laughed, but Mara just looked aside. Alanna glanced at her. "What's wrong."

"Nothing, it's just that you reminded me of something."

"What is it?"
"Nothing, just a little scar."

"A scar? From what? Let me see." Baird demanded. Mara shrugged and lifted up the edge of her shirt, showing her right side. A long scar made it's way down it.

oooh, a cliffie. so, where'd Mara get that scar from? who's behind the attack? now hit that review button and please tell me what you truly think of it. is it good, is it bad? tell why. thanks for reading. PureElement.