Her face was blank and haunted as she drew a knife, about the length of her little finger, from its hilt. She crossed her feet over one another and moved into position, watching the man dressed in a shirt and breeches intently. He looked harmless enough, laughing, dancing, and drinking with his friends, but Alanna of Trebond knew better than to believe it. That man was a murderer!

Chapter Three

Three Years Ago:

"I can't believe it!" Alanna shrieked, pummeling her friends pillow with all her might. A few sad feathers flew out of it as she pounded it with angry fists. "How could he do something like this, Raoul?"

The big, burly knight could only stare and grope for words. How could she expect him to answer? She had come pounding into his room merely ten minutes ago, told him that she was a girl, and then gone on about how she and Jon had kissed, and then she'd discovered Jon had taken another girl to bed last night. It was more than one knight could bear!

"Alan, is this just a joke?" Raoul asked cautiously, eyeing the sobbing squire warily through his confused eyes.

Alanna turned, rounding on him. "Do you want me to take off my shirt?" she roared, throwing his own pillow at him. Raoul ducked the pillow, and took a seat in his favorite armchair.

"Alright, I believe you. What's your name in that case. If you are a. . ." he shuddered, "girl, then your name can't be Alan."

"Alanna. I'm Alanna of Trebond."

"Okay, then, Alanna. So, calmly tell me what's wrong, okay?"

The girl nodded, sending her fiery red locks around her head. But no matter how hard he looked, Raoul still saw Squire Alan of Trebond staring at him, his violet eyes wide, cursing, swearing and snapping about the kiss he and Jon had shared.

But the more he stared, the more that Raoul grew upset and unsettled. It was too weird. Alan could not be a girl, and even if he was, he most definitely could not have kissed Prince Jonathan. The Squire and the Prince were best friends, everybody knew that. That was one of the reasons that Jon had chosen the little, feisty, fiery-brained Page as his Squire, and friends didn't kiss. Did they?

Raoul had to pause and reflect on that. After all, he had never had a female friend. So he wouldn't know, would he? Of course, he could know, but he didn't fancy other men, he fancied woman, of that he knew, even if he never could manage to pull together the courage to talk to them.

"RAOUL!"

The knight was pulled from his strange thoughts when the Squire bellowed in his face. "Yes?" he grumbled, standing up and going to pour himself a cup of water from the pitcher atop the dresser.

"I asked what I should do!"

Raoul shook his head. His brain was tired, stressed, and downright confused. How could he -- she, he corrected himself -- expect him to come up with an answer. Wasn't this something for her to work out, not him?

"How in Mithros's name should I know?" Raoul demanded, drinking the full glass of water in a couple swigs. He slapped the cup back on top of the wooden dresser, and then went back to his armchair, his ears ringing.

"I came to you for help!" Alanna spat. "Now I expect you to help me!"

"This is going to be a long day," Raoul muttered.

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When Alanna left Raoul's room later, she didn't feel any better. She knew that her big friend had tried to be supportive, but he couldn't be too helpful, now could he? After all, she had told him she was a girl, and expected him to help her solve her relationship problems with Jonathan.

Uttering a sigh, Alanna made her way towards the practice courts, hoping that the answer to her troubles would lie in a good swordfight.

Entering the practice courts a few minutes later, she realized how stupid an idea this had been. Standing in the middle of the arena was Alex and Jon, squaring off for a fight, which, presumably, everyone in the palace knew who would win.

Sure enough, Alex beat Jon to a pulp in what felt like a matter of seconds, then, knowing what she needed, Alanna strode out onto the practice court. "Alex, got any left in you?" she called, pulling Lightning tantalizingly from its sheathe.

Alex flipped the sword in his hand, and caught the hilt again. "Sure thing, Trebond." Alex grinned cockily, and moved over to face off.

The two ex-friends dodged in and out, attacking, parrying, and using extensive footwork to keep balance. Within minutes Alanna felt better, because her mind was firmly fixed on making her way around the practice court and fighting Alex, rather than worrying about what was happening with her and Jon.

She ducked a swing, and took a step backwards, leaning backwards, then striking in. She caught him under his guard, and the point of her sword nicked Alex's leg, a little blood seeped out from under his pants, but he shook his head. "One of two."

Alanna nodded, and started circling again, shaking her head to try and get the sweat out of her face.

Alex came fast with a flurry of attacks, and finally his sword broke her guard. He sliced downwards along her right arm. Alanna winced. The wound stung as the air poked it cruelly. She flipped her sword into her other arm, and moved on. Whoever struck the next blow would win this one.

Alanna watched warily, trying to catch him off guard. But no matter what his body wouldn't give it away. He drove in, and Alanna, watching his muscles, pulled Lightning up to block it. But Alex kept driving down, and Lighting went sprawling aside. He drove down with his sword, cutting another scratch alongside the first on her arm.

She swallowed hard. She got the feeling that if Jon hadn't been watching intently, Alex would have done more than put another slice in her arm. She staggered to her feet, clutching her wounded arm.

"Good job, Alex."

He nodded smugly, tossed Lightning to her, scooped up his own sword, and left the courts.

Alanna stumbled her way over the packed dirt floor to one of the benches along the walls. She cradled her arm, examining the damage that had been done as she went.

Shaking her head, she let her arm fall. It was nothing horrible. It would seal up in a few minutes, and recover within two weeks. But nothing could heal her wounded pride, and the sweat on her face wasn't entirely because of the exercise.

"Hey, better luck next time." Jon sat down next to her, eyeing the cuts on her arm skeptically. He shot her a glare that clearly asked why she didn't just heal them.

"Some of us don't use our magic to heal little tiny wounds," Alanna snapped, getting to her feet. "I will see you later."

She stalked away from him, thinking that she'd lost him. But he caught up with her and grabbed her good arm.

"What is going on?" he demanded, dragging her over to the bench in the center of the courtyard.

Alanna looked around the courtyard, pointedly ignoring him. There were four benches, one on each side of the cluster of trees that were planted in the dirt in the center. Around the benches was some kind of brick, and the two paths leading away from the courtyard led to the practice courts and the Pages' wing.

"It's about that kiss, isn't it?" Jonathan demanded, turning Alanna's head to face him.

She met his eyes, glaring. Anger burned in her whole face as she stared coldly. "Does it matter? You kiss one girl and then you go to bed with another? What is wrong with you?" she demanded right back at him.

Jon sighed, rubbing his temples. "I could've guessed it was about this," he muttered. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't think you wanted anything. You pushed me."

"I told you what happened!" Alanna snapped, blushing in embarrassment of what had happened while she'd been kissing him. "You know that I didn't mean to."

"No I didn't!" Jon snapped. "Listen, Alanna, I'm sorry that I took someone else to bed. But you wouldn't have come with me anyway, would you?"

"No!"

"Exactly."

Alanna rolled her violet eyes. "Excuse me, but, that's not an excuse! You kissed a girl, and took another to bed. Do you always act like this? Because, believe me, Jonathan, I know that you take different girls to bed practically every night."

"I do not!" Jon roared, jumping to his feet.

"Oh?" Alanna snarled, leaping to her feet too. "What about those three Princess sisters? I happen to know that you took all three of them to bed in three nights!" She glared daggers into him, and if looks could kill, Jonathan of Conté would be no more.

"That was one time!" Jonathan protested. "I wanted you last night! Alanna, I love you! But you know what, maybe I shouldn't! I just took Princess Rosemarie to bed last night because you rejected me!"

Alanna was taken aback for a second that Jonathan really liked her. But she recovered quickly. "That's no excuse! If you like one girl you go after them! Well, here's a bit of news for you: Not everyone gets what they WANT! Not even spoiled Princes!"

She turned on her heel and stormed off in a huff, not knowing that her first big argument with her best friend could be the beginning of the end, in more than one way.

That's this chapter. Please review!