Her mind raced and her heart beat ever faster. She cringed at the thought of what happened next.

Chapter Nine

Two Years Ago:

Gary, help me! Help me, Gary, help me! Silently Alanna pleaded, but it was useless. Gary could not hear her, only the pleas of her body, which something other than her was controlling. Gotta go, gotta help Jon! she thought desperately.

"Alanna, would you calm down?" Gary fingered her hair softly, whispering into it.

Alanna's heart leapt as an idea hit her. Rather than try to control her voice or her body, she tried to call for another help. Faithful! Faithful, hear me now! I need you. Please, Faithful, come here.

She waited, trying to ignore the stupidity of her brain. Please, Faithful, please.

"Mrow?" A black cat slipped through the door, staring from Alanna to Gary.

Let this work. Faithful, I'm in here, you've got to go-- but her thought was cut off as suddenly she had control of her body and was talking again. The transfer was swift and painless. She swayed for a moment, but Gary held her up.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"Not now. I think Jon's in trouble." Alanna pulled out of his grip and ran to the door separating their rooms. She hoped that it wasn't too late, because whatever Nicholas had meant she knew it involved Jonathan. "Argh." Alanna thrust violet colored magic forward, destroying the lock and ripping the door open.

Gary stepped up beside her, and stopped.

Alanna swallowed the sick feeling in her stomach as she rushed in, trying to ignore the blood. But it wasn't possible--it was everywhere and on everything. And lying in the middle of it was Jon, sprawled on his stomach, breathing slowly.

She knelt down next to him, pushing him over. Alanna gulped. His face was torn into almost as badly as his stomach, thighs, and chest had been ripped into, as if by an animal. Across his eyes there was blood, and those sparkling sapphire eyes were tight shut.

"Jon, can you hear me?" Alanna whispered quietly, gripping his hand, sending her magic deep into him. He moaned softly. "It's going to be alright, I'm here for you--so is Gary."

Jonathan swallowed. She's brave, but foolish, he thought sadly. "Alanna, it's too late. I don't know for sure--but Tortall doesn't want--doesn't need--a blind King. Just let me go, the Dark God's not far off now."

"Jon, you can't die!" Alanna yelped. "Blind or not, you're the only heir to the throne of Tortall."

"Roger's still around."

Jon heard his friend swallow. "I've been wanting to tell you, but I knew you wouldn't believe me. Jon, I've heard--Roger's plotting, I think he's behind this attack. Did--did you see who did this?"

"Roger? That's impossible--he wouldn't do something like that."

Alanna shook her head. "Jon, please, trust me--and I don't trust Roger. I know he's your cousin and all, but there's something about him I've never liked."

"Who attacked you?" The question came from Gary, who until that point had been silent.

"I don't know." Jonathan licked his lips. "They were well trained. They were fast and silent. Ten minutes ago I was fine, reading my book. Five minutes ago I was--was being attacked from behind. And now I'm like this. Ruined."

While he had been talking, Alanna had silently been using her Gift to probe the damage. It wasn't as bad as it looked. While he had lost a lot of blood, it wasn't so bad yet that he couldn't be saved. And his eyes might not be forever destroyed if the Duke Baird had a proper spell for them.

"Stop that."

Alanna looked back at Jonathan's face, meaning to meet his eyes--her stomach rolled. She swallowed hard. "G-Gary, let's get him to the infirmary, alright? I think he can be saved."

The big knight nodded, lifting his cousin off the ground and into his arms as if he were a doll.

As they walked down the corridors Alanna went first, picking out ways that weren't occupied. If anyone discovered this before something was done. . . There wouldn't be time to save Jon. It had to be done in secret--for if the people knew they would surround him with words to the dead.

Finally they made it into the infirmary, and Alanna went in, leaving Gary in the hall. "Duke Baird?" She pulled on his arm nervously as soon as he had finished wrapping a patient's arm. "I need to talk--it's urgent."

"Alan, nothing is more urgent than tending the wounded."

"It's about a very special wounded." Alanna caught his eyes, staring meaningfully.

The Duke met her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Him?"

Alanna nodded. "Ready the back room, Gary will be in once I give him the signal." The Duke hurried off and Alanna retraced her steps at a run. She burst into the hall and ran down a corridor for a moment, then threw the curtains of an alcove aside. Gary turned to face her, tears on his cheeks.

She hurried over, and put a finger to test Jonathan's pulse. It beat so sluggishly that it was near impossible to feel. "Let's go then," she urged, leading the way.

They brought Jon into the infirmary, and hurried through to the private room in the back. Duke Baird was already there, along with several of his most skilled healers. Gary laid Jon on the bed, and hurried to start a fire in the hearth.

Alanna stood back, waiting until they called on her power. She was sweating from the heat of the fire, and from her nerves, by the time they did. Slowly she walked up to him, and put her hand on Jonathan's forehead. It was cold, despite the fire. She gulped.

Duke Baird took Alanna's other hand, and put his remaining hand on Jonathan's head next to hers. Then he began to speak the spell. Alanna, meanwhile, did her part. She reached inside of her, calling on that flaming ball of violet fire, feeding it to the Duke as he worked.

He nodded to her when he finished the last verse, and Alanna picked up.

"Great Mother, hear my call,

I will serve forever with loyalty,

If only you grant me what I need."

Alanna swallowed, then carried on to the second-to-last verse--the one that would seal her fate, and Jon's.

"Blend my blood and tears,

My will and power of what I ask,

Great Mother, hear my call,

Spare the life that means so much,

No one wants him gone,

For he is Tortall's Heir."

By now Alanna was shaking nervously, one more verse to call on the powers that the Gods themselves rarely drew on. If the Mother didn't protect her, she would die, taking Jonathan along with her. I hope she still cares, Alanna thought miserably, forcing her voice to rise again.

"See me at last for what I am;

Your loyal servant forever,

But without truth I cannot help,

Truth is my weakness,

Truth may kill me,

But I shall serve forever to you,

I, Alanna of Trebond call you;

Help me, help the Prince,

Weave my blood and tears into his,

Call the powers more divine than thee,

Save the world that is your child,

I am your loyal slave,

Help me use the magic you gave!"

Alanna didn't have time for the stunned look on the Duke's face. If she had said she was 'Alan of Trebond' she might have been cast down for lying, at least now, no matter how she died, she was honest. If she died from the power the Goddess leant her, so be it, if she was skinned for being a girl, so be it. She was honest--no one could say she hadn't admitted it.

Inside her, fire was rolling all about. And then there was that voice, the one she had heard when she'd saved Jon from the Sweating Sickness. "At last you agree, my daughter." She felt something tearing through her, a pain she almost couldn't bear. But Alanna fought the pain, biting her lip till it bled. As she had done once before, she would ride the monster! She wouldn't give up--couldn't!

Slowly the pain went down, and she saw things no mortal was meant to ever see. Light flashed around her, stars vanished in the distance, the moon went out, the sun exploded, strange creatures filled the abyss that was left behind. Then a cloaked figure was before her in never-ending space.

The woman lowered her black cloak, and smiled a smile that a mortal should never bear witness to. The woman had pale white skin, but her eyes were red, and her teeth were as sharp and jagged as the horse's that Alanna had seen in the forest. Then another figure stepped up beside her, and the Great Mother lowered her hood, staring at the other Goddess that could have been her twin.

"Go, my Daughter, you have done well. Once more you save Tortall, and this was not a time I had seen coming. You are truly a hero--remember that. No matter what happens, Tortall is in your debt."

"AHHHH!" Alanna screamed, biting down so hard on her lip that blood spattered around her mouth. Then the relief came, and darkness took her just as she heard someone saying, "The truth at last, eh?"

Goodbye, she thought as the darkness became total. She said goodbye to the whole world that she loved, before passing from dark to light, then dark again.

It was over it seemed, for Alanna of Trebond.

Gary stared at his friend's face, an odd expression on his own. He didn't want to lose two of his dearest friends. While Jon's condition seemed not to be escalating, they weren't sure if what the Mother had done had worked yet.

So, the truth was your last wish? Gary sighed, turning away from Alanna's bed. Sometimes he wished that things weren't so damn difficult, but right now they were. It seemed as if he might be losing two of his best friends. Alanna had overreached, and the magic she had used was more dangerous than anything she could normally use. She hadn't breathed in days, but the Duke swore he felt a. . . an unexplainable presence from her.

"Oh, sorry." Gary backed up from the person he had run into. While he had been thinking he had also been walking. "Your Grace!" He met Duke Roger's eyes with his own, sighing. Now he was getting suspicious of the Duke of Conté too, because he wanted to believe what Alanna had said.

"No, I apologize, Sir Gareth. I wasn't watching either. Actually, I was reading this." He held up a black, leather-bound book with a strange symbol on the cover. "It's all about the theory of the divines powers. I was reading it, since Alan used them to fix Jon--though it doesn't seem to be working. Shame. . . He sacrificed himself for nothing."

Gary felt himself clenching his fists. His face was growing hot. "He's not gone," he gritted. "The Duke says that he's still with us, somehow." Roger didn't seem to know about the words that Alanna had spoken during the spell-casting, and he didn't feel like enlightening him. In fact, Gary was beginning to hope that Duke Baird didn't either. The Duke hadn't actually told anyone about it, and he had erased his healers memories of those words. "Can I borrow that?" Gary asked on a sudden urge.

Roger looked at it for a moment, his face unreadable. Then he said, "I suppose." He handed the book to Gary, and set off down the hall, calling, "Keep it in good condition--it's one of a kind!"

Gary smiled.