Declaimer: I do not own the characters you recognize. They are Tamora Pierce's. This is for all future chapters too.

Authors note: to those who wondered why she stated training at twelve; the answer will be given later and sorta already been answered.

Chapter Two: What Became of a Shove

Late August, 5months, after arrival at Palace

As the months went on Alanna did better in the practice courts if not as good in her studies. She practiced hard and studied late. She could keep working when others were soaked with sweat, all thanks to George; his help worked miracles. And because of her hard work she fell asleep right when her head hit her pillow (or book) at night (after she did her homework of course, or not).

Summer had finally come and after classes pages and some squires with out other duties all went swimming in the rivers and lakes in the Royal Forest. The only people who never went swimming were Alanna and Arian. They both sat under the shadiest tree, talking and joking with one another. Everyone tried to get either Alanna or Arian to come and swim. The people bribed them, pleaded them, asked nicely, and finally tried to physically force them. The first and last physical attempt to get them in the water resulted in the person on the ground with many hurts, in odd places.

Finally one day in August on one of the rare free days Alanna and Arian climbed up a small rock cliff and onto a small plateau about five feet above the small lake, in which every one else was swimming. Once on top Alanna lightly pushed Arian in a joking matter in pay for the comment he had just made. He shoved back then she shoved harder, and soon they were in a friendly wrestling match rolling around on the petite plateau. A moment before it happened they both realized that they were at the edge of the highland, the next, they tumbled over they edge and into the water with a good-sized splash.

Both swam towards shore after they came up from under the water. Once in shallow water they faced each other laughing. Their laughing was short lived as they realized their friends were silent and staring the two wet and fully clothed pages. Just then Alanna realized what was wrong. The color drained from her tan face.

Through her wet, white shirt Alanna knew that all her friends could see the very distinct womanly figure of hers. She realized Arian was looking down at himself. Alanna followed his gazed and found two lumps exactly where a woman's breasts would have been. They were concealed as hers were - with bandaging cloth, which didn't work a whole lot. Their eyes snapped up and lock with the boys'.

'They're girls' was Luciano's thought. "Oh shit" was the unison cry that echoed through the clearing. They had been discovered and they both knew. A split second after their eyes had locked, the exposed girls ran out of the water, up the bank, and on to their horse.

All the other pages watched, thunderstruck, as their friends' galloped away. Caleb recovered first, stating into the silent clearing "Well, there's a site you don't see every day".

Luck was not with the two girls- right as they approached the Palace gate the rulers of Tortall came riding out into the city. Unfortunately there were no other persons to distract attention from the very wet Alanna and Arian (or whoever she was). It was no help that they wore the royal colors of red breeches and gold tunics (the tunics were tied to the horse's saddle) that marked them as pages. Arian looked at Alanna and motioned to move aside for the Royal couple. Just as Alanna thought the King and Queen were about to pass King Roald greeted them

"Hello dear pages. Back from your swim alre…" Then he noticed what was wrong and he closed his mouth in mid sentence, only opening it after he got it to work again. "Follow me," he said tight lipped.

The follow Roald quietly taking quick glances at each other to see if the other had anything to say. Even though they didn't talk, their faces revealed all thoughts. 'Shit we're in big trouble', 'this sucks', and 'oh well this just didn't work' were along the lines of both girls thoughts. When they reached the stables Roald told the holsters to take care of all four horses. When dismounted the girls looked at the King for orders. His face said it all- be quiet and follow me and so they did with their heads hanging and not looking into any body's eyes. After walking up steps, in corridors, and though some doors, the group arrived in a relatively small chamber. The Queen sat down in the chair behind the wooden desk which the King was pacing in front of. Roald stopped his only words were "Explain your selves."

Alanna went first, "My name is Alanna of Trebond born May 13, the younger twin born of Lord Alan and Lady Alexial". She went on to explain about her brother and how she came here. When she was done Roald looked at Arian.

"My name is Arianna of Cymry's Ridge, born June 4 and I came here same as Alanna. I hated to act and dress like a lady but loved to got out and fight with the guardsmen. My parent's never really cared for me because I wasn't the boy they wanted. So instead of making sure I got to the Convent they forgot about me the second I was out of site of the town. When I got to the first way house I ditched my guards by leaving at night, cut my hair, forged a letter, and rode to Corus. My parents think I'm only ten but really I'm twelve, same as Alan, Alanna, though I think Lord Alan knew her age but didn't care to send her anywhere 'til now. I came here even though I knew it was wrong."

Roald listened to them and thought about what to do with them. "I should put you in jail for forgery and not obeying the laws of knighthood and Chivalry, but I'm not that cruel to two 12 yr old… girls. You will go to the City of the Gods and learn to be Ladies. When your teachers deem you ready you will return to Court- as Ladies- and be on the marriage market. No one will know the truth (neither Arianna nor Alanna cared to say that there friends knew), when you return you are to act like ladies not warriors. And, Alanna, your brother will be coming here for his knighthood. You are dismissed; your carriage will leave at dawn." Then he turned to his wife.

Both girls were silent as they walked back to the page quarters. When they reached Arianna's room, Alanna came inside with her. They stood in silence before Arianna asked "So, what are we going to do at the convent?"

Every one was out of the water now, but all was silent. No on had spoken for a while and it was getting quite disturbing. There was not one single person who didn't have a look of contemplation or bewilderment openly seeable on their face.

Luciano thought he had it figure out, after sorting through many possibilities; the whole story of Alan and Arian, or what ever their names where. 'Both ran away from homes they didn't like and this was their good option. But why knight training; even the Convent would be better than here for a soft noble lady. I wouldn't doubt that they had never touched a weapon before coming here. I knew there was something peculiar about them'. Luciano growled under his breath. 'They most likely even made up their personality to fit in better. For all I know they could have known each other before they came here. They might even be peasants for all I know. They lied to us all. They should feel ashamed,' Luciano fumed. But them his voice of reason came out and bit him in the ass. 'They had to lie, even if you think it was un-chivalrous of them. What ever reason had brought them here, they had to lie to stay.' His voice of reason won in the end (sort of). 'I still don't like it, they should have gone somewhere else; knight training is not for soft handed noble ladies". (He's a bit too stuck up at the moment)

As he concluded his own thoughts he wondered what the others were thinking in this very uncomfortable silence.

Caleb watched as the newly found girls rode away. He was the first to get out of the water. Once out, he sat on the grass the bordered the swimming hole. Everybody else came after him. Nothing went through his mind because he was more shocked than he had ever been. That was his initial reaction, his second was amusement. He had no clue why it was amusement, but it was. 'Why amusement you idiot'? he asked himself. 'Because that's how you think; everything is funny to you some how. It shouldn't be funny but it is. Oh well. It isn't even all that funny, It's more ironic than any thing else.' He paused for a second thinking about what he just thought. 'Ah ha, that's why it's funny, because it's ironic. Gods I'm such a loser; I laugh at anything that's ironic.'

His next thoughts were along the lines of how amazing Alan and Arian were. 'They've been here for 5 months. Think how long they would have been here if they hadn't fallen in the water.' He smirked. 'Heh, it's a wonder why they didn't go swimming all those times', he though irreverently. 'This makes them even more intriguing than before. Before, I thought they were guys and that the just wanted to keep to them selves. Now that I know they are more than the appeared, I want to know about them. Though Arian (I wonder what her real name is) did tell about- herself. I got to remember that they are now girls not one of the guys. Gods now I want to know more; the how's, the whys, and whatever else.' Now he just sat there thinking of all the questions he could ask them. It was really quite enthralling.

Jonathan was lost in his own thoughts not even wondering about the others who were some where around the water. 'What am I going to do? I have an obligation to go to my father and tell him about Alan and Arian. But then again they are my friends, still, and I don't want that to go away, even though I was lied to about their identity. They must have a good reason for doing this. Still what should I do? I've been lied to, not trusted and I don't want to go forth to turn them in.' He sighed in confusion. 'What to do, what to do. I have no idea. What are my options?' He sat there mulling over what he should do. He had obligations, but didn't want to betray his friendship, even though that friendship will be different now that the people were different.

He had just come to a conclusion when he felt a tap on the shoulder. He looked up into Raoul's dark brown eyes.

"I though it would be about time to go," Raoul said to Jonathan's questioning eyes. "We've been gone awhile and we might want to check in with a couple someones". Raoul raised his eyebrows to imply his meaning. Jon knew what he meant; they were going to go back and talk to Alan and Arian. He looked around. Every one else was standing up looking at him, silently asking what they were going to do.

He sighed. "OK, we've had quite a shock," he said dryly, looking into all the eyes that were on him. "Now what I propose is to go and talk to Alan and Arian, or suchlike, to see what in the 7 hells is going on. Then I will decide what is going to happen. I will either turn them in to my father or keep it the same as it has been going. It all depends on what the two say. After that I'll decide what to do.

"So let's go and have a nice chat". They all got on their horses with no objections.

Alanna smiled wickedly. "I have an idea," she said sweetly as Arianna fixed her with an inquiring eye that made Alanna smile even broader. "We are going to become perfect ladies." Arianna started to protest but Alanna shushed her. "I never said what else we were going to do. We become perfect angels to the Daughters at the Convent, then we wreck havoc by pulling many pranks but they won't suspect us because why would we ever do that to them." She ended by smiling very sweetly and batting her eyelashes innocently.

Arianna just laughed sitting on the floor, Alanna following her example. "But what would pranks be with out a little magic." As she said that she held up her hand that now shown with silver light. "I learned my magic from my nurse who actually was very advanced. I have many various areas of expertise- moving things, doing already written spells, throwing fire, transforming stuff; I can see the future, hide my and others magic, minor healing, knot magic, use any thing associated with the elements for any magic- call up winds, throw water, bend plants wills to mine, build walls of fire, talk to animals, etc; combat magic, sometime see other peoples magic- the ones who don't bother to hide their Gift and I like to experiment with the laws of magic- try new things that haven't been done or are not widely know. Do you think any of that would be helpful?"

Alanna coughed dryly. "Yes I do think some of that would be helpful". She called up her own Gift and showed Arianna her hand, which was now glowing an amethyst purple. "Me I can mainly heal, but also have a Gift, same as you, but I haven't done most of the stuff you know. But do you think you could do most of the magic." Alanna looked down, "I'm afraid to use my Gift because it may be more power than I could handle and I think it is cheating if you use it against someone who can't defend them selves against magic."

Arianna smiled, "That makes sense and sure I can do the magic if you'd really like. But if I do the magic for our pranks, promise me we'll have regular sessions where we will practice magic to build our magical endurance and experiment/learn new stuff. You won't have to do magic anywhere else but at that time."

Alanna bit her lip, thinking about her options. "I promise" she finally replied to Arianna's proposal.

The odd quiet that came after made both of them giggle and laugh. When they both stopped laughing Arianna got up, went over to her dresser and took off her shirt, her bandaging cloth still on. Arianna looked over at Alanna asking, "You don't mind if I take this off, do you? It's extremely uncomfortable."

Alanna seemed surprised. "Oh, no, Please go ahead I know what you feel. I just wish I could do the same, but I can wait 'til I get back to my room." Arianna turned her back to Alanna and took of the wretched bandaging cloth. Then she stuck a breast band on in its place then stuck an exceptionally light weight un-dyed cotton shirt on. When she turned around Alanna was again surprised- she didn't expect Arianna to be that voluptuous. And she definitely wasn't used to the person she knew as Arian to look so womanly; so naturally she stared. Arianna notice and just replied with a sigh "As lovely as they are, they can get in the way quite often and it is exceedingly annoying." Both the girls had to laugh. Then came the knock on the door. Their laughter came to a sudden stop. Alanna got up and opened the door and there stood all who had been at the swimming hole that afternoon.

"Hey, can we come in"? Was it Jonathan who asked? Arianna wasn't paying attention, she just replied, "sure".

Jon, Raoul, Alex, Caleb, Luciano, and Gary all came in to the room and took seats at various places, all of them staring at the very womanly person they knew as Arian.

The room was deathly silent; no one wanted to speak it seemed. Jon, used to things like this was the first to speak. "So would any one care to explain? And if you will, please be honest, it's the least you can do."

Alanna had to smile at the sincerity of his mini-speech. "Ok, I'll go first and you will hear the complete truth." Alanna said that with equal sincerity of Jon and saw that everyone believed her, so she told her story; everything- hating her dad, about her brother, her nurse, Coram, the trip to the Palace, a little of her life before she came, her want to always become a knight, and why she didn't go to the Convent. She certainly didn't tell them everything, but enough to let them know her a bit more. Every one seemed to except this, all but Luciano; he seemed to be having trouble digesting it.

"Well you pretty much know my life story". She looked at Arianna. "So I guess it's now her turn."

"Hello everybody", Arianna said pertly giving a brilliant smile to those around her. "Well, all of you I know don't know my real name so any guesses?" Alanna saw right through that friendliness- Arianna was trying to cover her nervousness: it wasn't working to well; she was scaring them more than anything.

When no one said anything Arianna dropped the false smile and went back to the 'normal' part of her. "Ok, that was a little over zealous. Sorry if I scared any of you. Well since none of you guessed, my name is Arianna, pretty closes to Arian isn't it. Here it goes."

Arianna sighed, "I grew up in Cymry's Ridge, I didn't lie about that, with parents who would have had me drowned when I wasn't the boy they had always wanted. The only reason I think they didn't is because there was a big deal when my mother got pregnant and there were too many witnesses when I was born to get away with it with out suspicion. Any ways, I grew up with basically no parents, only nurses, tutors, and a few friends in town, but I'll get to the friends later," Arianna gave every one a sly smile. "My parents, since they didn't get the boy they wanted, were going to make me a Lady so they could have something to show off in Court. But, hello this is me we're talking about. Since I grew up in a life apathetic people all around, I naturally rebelled, just to give them a reason to despise me, instead of me having to deal with wondering why they hated me. I began rebelling at the lovely age of eight. Oh, such a young and innocent age, ruined. Shirking classes of court manners, proper Lady Etiquette, knitting, sewing, dancing, managing a house hold, endless book knowledge of un-useful stuff, etc. From the ripe age of six, I was started on about half those classes, by eight: all of them. They got really boring, really soon. It's a wonder I didn't skip off before, but them I didn't have a sense of controlling my self, I was always being told what to do and when. Finally I got fed up with it and didn't go to my classes one day. Oh, that day was complete bliss, the metaphorical chains were gone and no one ever put those particular ones back on, no matter how hard they tried." Arianna sighed, remembering that day of complete liberty.

"From that day on I never went to those lessons. Most of the time was in the last place they would have thought to look. I hid out in the library. They all thought I hated to read because of they way I acted toward the books given to me. The only reason I didn't like those books were because they were boring. If they would have given me books I liked they would have thought to look where I had been.

"Other than that I ran into town to play with all the kid there; all at least a year older, most were two or three. That's where I first learned to fight. They knew I was the Count's daughter, but they didn't care, to them I was just one of the kids. Those were good days. I got into so much trouble with them. It pissed the villagers off so much. Stealing fruit, strewing laundry about, letting loose chickens, all sorts of mayhem.

"As in a normal town the kid had there own separate groups, who hung out with who and what not. Well the adversaries of our group decided they wanted something to do.

I was almost nine, it was one of those days I decided to visit the village. I was on my way home one night and they caught me alone after I had said goodnight to my acquaintances and decided to teach me a lesson for 'coming into their territory'. A bunch of bullshit I might add. My friend had taught me how to defend myself, but not against nine other people. So naturally I got beaten to a bloody pulp. I lay where they left me for an hour maybe two before I could move and drag my self back to the castle. I had just gotten in to my room when my favorite nurse, Deirdre, came in. She was the only one in the entire castle who actually understood and loved me and I always felt guilty when skipping because of her, she was the only one who cared for me. Every night when I came back from hiding from my tutors she always worried about me. She knew there was nothing she could do but help me as she could. When she saw me laying on my bed my clothes ripped and blood-spattered she rushed over and was the one who took care of me that night. That was my first Healing and it was quite painful. I think she did that on purpose to teach me a lesson. When I woke up the next morning and was very sore. The first thing I saw when I woke up was Deirdre. Before I was even awake enough to think she started lecturing me on how I shouldn't be doing what I was and how I should be doing what my parents wanted me to. That was when I broke down and started crying. I had never cried before because I didn't know what I was missing. I was overwhelmed with that feeling of love that I had never felt before. I told her how I was feeling and why I did stuff. To me, I think she was firstly scared out of her wits because that was the only time she had ever seen me cry and for something like that. She comforted me while I let it all out. Then she said she would be there for anything that I needed. It was at that moment I realized I didn't have to be as apathetic to everyone in my life. I opened up to her and let her help me. Deirdre took over the role of Mother to me, or even an older sister who I shared everything with. She was also the one who taught me how to use my Gift before it went out of control, like it could have done when I was getting thrown around.

"I kept on going to the town after that though not as often, but enough to show I still cared for friends. I actually spent about two days a week in the village and surprisingly enough, 4 days with my tutors. After my breakdown, my nurse talked to my tutors about me having lessons I liked. I got math, geography, history, literature, logic, astronomy, art, music, philosophy, and a magick. The magick was taught by Deirdre, who told me I got my gift from my mother's side of the family. I enjoyed every single class I had. It worked out pretty well. I also joined the castle guard twice a week for exercise. They taught me what I wanted to know even though if my parents found out they would have been in a lot of trouble. I found out that most of the people in the castle and some in the village had some reason to dislike my parents. Once they got to know me they all had a strong liking for me, which I think saved my life more than once when I got in trouble. I consumed all the knowledge I could; spent the entire day from 9:00 A.M. to 8 P.M.; altogether about eleven hours with only a break for lunch. By the time of the summer after my eleventh birthday my instructors had taught me all they could. Deirdre said she had taught me all the magick she could (which was quite a lot). After that I had so much free time.

"My group I hung out with lost all its immaturity and found themselves bored as well. That was when they all started working, either taking up after their father's business or one of his father's friend's businesses. So instead of hanging out with them during the day, we decided to meet at the tavern and talk over what was going on. And of course we got drunk sometimes, but hey, who hasn't. That was where I learned to hold my alcohol well. Believe me; you wouldn't have wanted to go home to my nurse drunk. The first time I did my ears were burned off with the fire that came out of her mouth. After that I taught my self to hold my self very well. I could drink about 11 shots of strait hard liquor with out even feeling drunk. When I get up above that, then I start feeling it." Every one in the room was staring at her like it was unbelievable, even though they did. "From the looks of it you really want to know how I figured that out. Well, every now and then my friends and I had little drinking games and contests. Gambling on the out come of who could drink the most or who would win the card game. In the drinking games I usually won. Even the other men who occupied the tavern challenged me; I still won, most of the time. After every one of those nights I woke up in the morning with the worst hang over that any one could imagine. Luckily I never got in trouble for that." Arianna furrowed her brow contemplating. "Come to think of it, I never really got in trouble for anything. The only really bad thing that happened with alcohol was my group being asked politely to leave and we did so courteously." She smiled. "Those were good days."

Her face went somber once more. "Now for the real reason I had to leave my town with it nice life behind." Another sigh.

"During my last year there I had … ah… grown up let's say, and a whole lot." The blush that had spread across her face told everyone just what she meant. "I, of course, noticed, but I didn't expect others to. Alas, everyone who cared for me noticed, too. I don't know if I was lucky or not. Included in those people who cared for me were my friends in the village, who were mostly boys with about two or three respectable girls, mixed in the lot. In early January they all subtly dropped hints that they would like to see me in a dress.

"My nurse, Deirdre, who of course noticed my changes, wanted me to start wearing dresses. We argued about it like mother and daughter, but she eventually won by saying "would you like to be mistaken for a trollop and dragged away unwillingly by a man who thinks that this is all just a game you play?" I blanched at that thought and gave in to her expertise. She also said that she had let me do this through the winter only because the lacked the cloth to make dresses for the cold and now that the weather was getting better I had to act like a women not a wanna-be boy. So by January 10th an unbleached, soft, but thick wool shirt and a layered indigo skirt laid out where I normally would have seen a shirt and breeches. Deirdre, as usual, was waiting for me to wake up. The only change in this morning was me having to get in a skirt with Deirdre's help. When I looked in my mirror I noticed that the outfit accented my figure very nicely. She even put my hair up. It all felt quite weird.

"It was Sunday so every one in the village was taking a sabbatical. So after breakfast I went down to the town. As I walked down the main road to get to the tavern where all my friends were, no one recognized me. They all just stared at me, not waving hi as they would normally. When I walked in to the tavern the same thing happened; they didn't seem to know me. I was in a good mood that day feeling flirty and all. I had never flirted before because it didn't seem right when I was in breeches. But today I look like the woman I was supposed to be, so I decided I was going to give it a try. My friends were still staring at as I walked over to the table. When I got to the table I said "Hello, how might you all be doing today"? I usually didn't talk like that so they still didn't realize who I was. They all stumbled over and sputtered their speech. One of the lads, called Colby (who was normally soft spoken), squinted at me and asked "May I ask who you are, my lady?" I just laughed more. I mean, come on, I'm in a dress and my friends are asking who I am, somebody they thought always wore a shirt and breeches.

I got over my laughing enough to pout (fake of course and with a very girly, but real sounding, voice) "Why, Colby you saw me just last night, I can't believe you don't remember me." All his friend just snickered and nudged him asking him why he hadn't told them about spending the night with a lady, while he helplessly tried to defend himself. I of course just chuckled along with them. I went back to my normal voice and helped Colby denied his friends' charges. "Colby, I'm just teasing." Finally people recognized me and chuckled even more. I kept on saying "Well, obviously it's me. Who else would even come near any of you with a ten foot pole? And look, you even got your fantasy- me in a dress. Now don't you think you could make some room for a lady to join you, you ruffians?"

"That day was the best day I had in the village. I got to see my friends from a whole different perspective. It used to be that I was unavailable to them and them to me. Now, it was different. That day I showed them that I was a women not just a comrade, like the other boys. They saw me as the lady I was and treated me like it. From that point on, no matter what I wore, either breeches or skirts, I was regarded like before I wore a dress and like I was that day- the two types mixed and homogenized. I loved it.

"Most of the boys in my group had sweet hearts, but the rest of them flirted with me relentlessly. I flirted back, toying with each of them. All of them put up with all the others hitting on me and my toying with the others- none of them were at all serious about me. At least that was the way until about late February. Then it started to change for one person. One day Colby got all huffy and started trying to get them to stop their flirtations with me. Everyone else just laughed, asking what had gotten in to him and calling him jealous.

"Before I even wore a dress, I always wanted the kind of attention that I had got then. But me, the secret hopeless romantic, only wanted one person. Any guesses on whom"? Nobody ventured a guess, but Arianna saw in their minds who they all thought. "You were all thinking the right guess. Yes, it was shy Colby, with his gorgeous pale skin, dark hair and emerald eyes; the one who never had the glib tongue. I had always secretly liked him, but kept it to myself. I, mean, what girl in her right mind would tell a group of guys who she liked. When I saw him trying to defend my honor from the others I knew that he liked me too. It was so obvious even though he tried to deny it. I kept it to myself and went on pretending not to notice. After a little while Colby stopped saying any thing about it and kept to himself, not venturing a comment on anything. He was so depressed that it saddened me just to look at him. I somehow understood that he couldn't stand watching the one he liked be hit on by other guys. They were right, he was jealous, but didn't have the talent of sweet talking to me, so he kept quiet.

"One day, I think the first week of March, I couldn't stand seeing him like that any more so I wrote him a note saying 'I always have liked you, I hope you feel the same'. I kept in my pocket for the entire day. Finally it left my pocket and went to him. As I was saying good bye to every one that night I slipped it into his hand giving him a small kiss that I know no one else noticed but him. He started, as any one would that had just been taken by surprise, but all I did was leave the tavern only looking back over my shoulder to give, supposedly, a last flirtatious smile to everyone. To me I only focused on Colby. Walking home I felt like I was in a dream; I felt like a burden had been lifted from me and I felt like I could float.

"The next time I saw all of my acquaintances, at the end of that second week in March, all was normal except that my soon to be boy had brightened up and wasn't so dejected. When I walked in I was greeted with the normal cheer. Every thing was as it had been. We had a couple of drinks; nothing too bad, talked, and just hung out. When it was time to go home I said good bye just as the last time. I came to Colby last, I was mildly surprise when he slipped a note in to my hand and murmmered in my ear in an astonishingly silky and seductive voice that made me want to melt right there, "Meet me under the willow by the river."

I walked out being careful not to stumble; my knees were weak and I felt like I had been hit with Eros's Arrow, which in some ways I had. I lit a mage-light so I could read my note.

To my Paramour

I've watched from a-far

Afraid to intrude

Afraid to get hurt

You brightened the world for me

In my darkest hour

What you have shown me-

Is all I could ask for in life

I hope it lasts forever

"It wasn't the best piece of poetry I had ever read but it meant more to me than any thing in the world. I almost ran to the river with joy, not wanting to wait to see my beloved. Though I didn't run I got there in good time the only thing that went through my mind was 'wonder what's going to happen'. Once under the willow I hid not wanting any one to see me.

Finally I heard footsteps and the wispier of my name "Arianna?" come through the trees. Colby walked by my hiding spot and I slipped silently behind him whispering seductively "My lover, you took so long, I pined for you." He turned around to face me. I never realized how tall he was, a head above me. To me I always thought of him as an innocent boy, who knew of only puppy love. Now I saw him as a man, all knowing and masculine, just holding me tightly in his arms, nothing else. He initiated the conversation. "I have always found you beautiful, even before the dresses came, but I just kept to my self, knowing I had no chance. Yes, I did get jealous when you started you that insufferable flirting." He tweaked my nose smiling at his little joke. I just smiled back and pulled him down to the ground so I could lie in his arms. I replied to him in an innocent, but a devil of a smile on "Oh, but they were all so irresistible, I couldn't help it." Colby just let it go, knowing it I was being sarcastic. We lay there just being comforted by each others presence and I guess we just fell asleep.

A bell tolled. The loud noise woke us up with a start. It rang five times.

"SHIT" was my cry. "Deirdre is going to kill me for not coming home last night. Hopefully she doesn't notice that I was gone, and just went to bed knowing I'd be home later. Oh, I hope it happened that way or else I'm screwed." I had started to pace, but Colby stopped me by my shoulders saying sweetly "Don't worry. It will all work out in the end. It's not the end of the world." I had stopped my worrying as soon as he had started talking; his voice had that kind of effect on me. All I could do was smile and was rewarded with his own illuminating one as he turned me around and pulled me to his chest.

I was first to pull away. "Colby, I have to go, I'll be missed soon…" he put a finger over my mouth signaling that I didn't have to explain.

"I know. Come here again tomorrow so we can enjoy each other's company."

"Ok, I'll come," was what I said as I turned to run up to the castle before my maids came and woke me.

"And I came the next night and the next. We kept doing that until I had to leave. We sometimes just talked sometimes not. No cloths came off but only because it was the beginning. I really did love him, but that was all taken away." There was a sadness there that was getting healed and only time could complete it. Arianna laughed, but it was a rueful laugh not a happy one.

There was a pause as she reflected on all she had told. A small laugh broke the silence. Arianna was back to her normal self now and laughing at something.

"Listen to me telling a bunch of guys about my former love. Gods now I'm embarrassed. I hope none of you were really mortified by what I said." She gave a self-satisfied smile to the room. "Well you know my story, so now what."

"Um, Arianna you forgot something". Alanna was the one who pointed it out. Arianna just looked at her questioningly. Alanna sighed. "You forgot to tell us why you had to leave".

"Oh yah. I got caught in the orchard." Arianna said this so matter of factly that they all knew she was back to what they knew as normal. "It was by a maid of my parents. She was out there at early dawn to pick some flowers and she found us. Ran right up to my parents, she did and brought them down to see for themselves. Of course I got in trouble and was locked away. I wasn't allowed out of my room for the whole next week and when I was it was to be taken up to the Convent. I never found out what happened top Colby. I really miss him a lot. I snuck off the first night on the road forged a letter and came here".

The room was silent. No one seem to want to talk. The first person to dare was Luciano. He had sat through the whole story with a frown on his face. His disbelief was clearly stated on his face.

"How do we know you two are really telling the truth. I mean, you've lied to us pretty convincingly, so why would you tell the truth now?" That single question rang through the air into the silence.

When coming into the room to sit, Luciano had chosen to stay in the shadows. Now he had walked into the middle of the make-shift circle with his back to Arianna. Big mistake.

Before any one knew what was happening Luciano's legs were flying out from under him. He landed flat on his back with a small sharp knife at his throat and Arianna sitting on top of him. A very intimate position turned deadly. An acidic voice was in his ear was whispering maliciously "If I was lying through that whole thing I wouldn't have been able to do that just now, especially since that is not taught here". The move Arianna pulled looked easy enough but it took grace and smoothness to perfect it the way Arianna had. She let him up disgustedly. Once up he wiped off his clothes of imaginary dust, and went back to the shadows, not with a look of humility, but one of understanding and respect.

Luciano understood why Arianna had done that and had to admire her. She had proved to him what she was- a fighter. She never had been one to be a soft-handed noble lady, and he now saw that, as if the Gods had a veil taken off of his eyes and showed him Arianna's true nature (yay, he's not being a dumb-ass anymore). Now that he saw the fierceness and determination to do only what she want, he had to marvel at her. Also it seemed like the goddess of love had chosen to strike at him. In a flash second he wanted to get to know her a lot more- and in more than one way. (A/N: coughcough I hope all of you got that underlying meaning). Luciano went over all of this abrupt information. 'Nah,' he thought decidedly. 'it just that something new arrived and it was fascinating, but that was it nothing more that a curiosity.' (He's a bit weird)

When he came out of his thought every one was talking. He seemed to have missed a lot- every one was talking and asking questions like they were all friends as they had been. Looking around, he put away his reserve and joined the jovial conversation in front of him. The next question asked was from Alanna. She was looking at Jon.

"So what are you thinking of doing about us?" She hid the fact that she and Arianna had been caught by his father, the good King himself.

"Well, I was think about that my self," Jonathan replied in a relaxed voice. "What I'm going to do is nothing. I think you deserve to stay here and earn your shield. I see no reason, beside the fact that is against the law that you shouldn't be able to stay. You've proved you're able to keep up with us and if this hadn't happened you'd still be living in secret".

Alanna smiled, not at all surprised. "I'm glad you think we're worthy. But we're going to have to leave tomorrow. We were caught be your father on our way in". Stares of disbelief looked at her. "I know you all wish we could stay but by the King's personal orders we leave tomorrow at dawn for the Convent". No one in the room was happy about it, but knew there was no way to change it, so the questions continued.

Finally everyone ran out of questions. It was rather late so they all decided, unvoiced, that it was time to go. Every one filed out of Arianna's room, into the hallway.

"When does your carriage leave?" Jonathan asked.

Alanna answered, "At dawn tomorrow." She looked at all their sad faces and laughed weakly. "Don't worry. We'll both be back in time for all of your knighthoods."

With all said and done everyone said their good byes and went back to their rooms. The only sound besides footsteps was the sentence "And this is only the beginning." There was no clue to as who had said it, there never would be.

WOW. That is a long ass chapter. Fricken' 16 pages. Well that's what I get for revising it. But you have to admit- Arianna's story being added was a good thing even thought it took up ...?... 7+ pages. Whatever. shakes head in incredulity Hope you enjoy this long chapter. Please review. The following chapters have also been revised, even if it's not noticeable. Hope you enjoy.

P.S. (this isn't even the longest chapter)