Alanna ignored Faithful's warnings as she slipped on her violet dress and black wig for the night. It was a wonderful day for a wonderful walk through the palace and no one could stop her from being beautiful. She looked into the mirror and saw a petite woman with black hair and lavender eyes. She sighed. "I'll need to do something about that," Alanna muttered to herself.

She opened the door adjoining her room with her knight-master's and crept inside.

You'll get yourself into trouble, Faithful warned as he stalked in after her.

"No, I won't," Alanna denied.

Sneaking into Jon's rooms, she snooped for his old book on sorcery. It was a specific book she was looking for about illusions and such. Looking through the bookshelf, something caught her eye. It was a green handkerchief with the letter "D" on in it loopy writing. Alanna rolled her eyes. 'D' for Delia, I suppose, she thought, disgusted. What kind of woman would you have to be to throw yourself at men like that? Finally, she found what she was looking for and changed her eyes to blue.

Looking in the mirror, she was sure that no one would be able to think that Ariana and Alan were anything related.

Are you sure you want to do this? Faithful asked as Alanna studied herself in the mirror.

"Why not?" Alanna asked her cat, brushing the black wig.

Suit yourself, Faithful said, resigning to the bed where he curled up to sleep.

She walked out of her bedroom thinking, back straight, chin up, heel toe, heel toe. Eyes, blue? They're still blue right? She took a mirror out of her pocket to check and let out a sigh of relief. Her magic worked! Now, Alanna could relax for the night while Jon went off entertaining people at court.

Alanna was thankful that no one was out and about in the hallways. Everyone was in the ballroom and those who weren't were either in their rooms or outside the palace. As she neared the ballroom, she had thoughts about going in and actually socializing. The thoughts disintegrated and Alanna planned on walking right past those big doors. All of a sudden, they opened to a large man with black eyes and curly hair who seemed to be sneaking out of the room, crouched low. Alanna studied the face in horror as she realized who its owner was.

"Raoul!" Alanna gasped.

"Lady I'm not acquainted with," Raoul said in the same fashion, eyes wide with panic. "Don't tell me you want to marry as well?"

"Of course not, you oaf." Alanna swatted at him.

"Well then who are you?" Raoul asked, stretching himself out.

Great Goddess! Help me...

"I'm A..." Alanna struggled to find the name she invented earlier. "..riana of Irontown," she finished in a more confident tone.

"How do you know me?" Raoul asked, bewilderment evident on his handsome face.

"Everyone knows you," she said matter-of-factly.

"Since when?"

"Since they concluded that you were gay," she said, amusement in her voice.

"Maybe," Raoul said, weighing the possibily.

"Well, it was wonderful to meet you but I really must be going," Alanna excused herself.

Raoul blocked her way.

"Wait. Are your eyes purple?" he asked, squinting at her.

I'm in very deep trouble now, she thought as she tried to formulate a reason as to why he would think that her eyes are purple.

"No," she said abruptly. "My eyes are blue, see?" She concentrated on the spell that she used to make the illusion and hoped it worked.

"No, they're definitely purple," he said suspiciously.

"My eyes are blue," she insisted. "And I own them so you have no argument." She looked around, panicky. "You're probably just drunk... or dreaming. Or maybe you're dreaming about drunkedness."

"That's silly. I haven't had a drop of alcohol all night," Raoul laughed.

"Good for you!" she said, acting supportive. She pat his shoulder and nodded her head. "Keep up the great work on staying sober. I'm going to go back to my rooms." She continued to try and push through the big wall that was Raoul.

"So soon?" he asked. "Stay for one dance."

Oh, no... she thought. The last thing she needed was one of her best friends romancing her.

"I can't, so if you could please step out of the way..." Alanna tried in vain to get past the big knight.

"Just one." Raoul took her hand and on instinct, she flipped him. Alanna's jaw dropped as she registered what she had just done.

"Thank you," she muttered, scurrying away. "And sorry!" she added when she had put a few meters between her and her friend. Raoul smiled as he looked up to see the odd woman walk rather mannishly down the hall. He looked forward to seeing Lady Ariana at court more often.

Alanna ripped the wig off her hair and let go of the spell she had been trying to keep all night. "I will never do that again," she swore to herself.

I told you that you shouldn't have gone out, purred Faithful.

"Well you didn't do a good job to prevent me, now did you?" Alanna stuck out her tongue to her pet cat. She unlaced her dress and put it away into the safety of the small chest. "I'm going to read and then I plan on going to sleep," she declared.

Jonathan came by, Faithful informed her. He was looking for you. Said that he needed his squire tonight afterall.

Alanna sighed in exasperation and changed into her squire's uniform. "I shouldn't've accepted his offer the night we defeated the Ysandir," she said grudgingly. "Being Gary's squire would've been nicer than having to go to every social event at court."

When she was fully dressed, she walked out of the room and wondered what Jon needed her for. He said that she could have this night off because it was a fairly small party. She went through the doors that she passed by earlier and shook her head in amusement of her own folly. I am never doing that again, she thought once more. Ever.

She searched for Jon through the crowd and figured that he must be surrounded by dozens of ladies at court. But no, he was trailing behind Delia like many of the other brainwashed knights and squires. She also noted that Raoul was nowhere to be seen. Lucky, she thought.

When Jonathan spotted her, he greeted her gruffly. "Squire!" he called. 'Alan' rushed to Jonathan's side. "I'd like to introduce you to this beautiful lady," he said, smiling at the 'beautiful lady'. "Charmaine, this is Alan, my squire. Alan, this is Charmaine."

Despite the fact that she hated her situation, she plastered a smile to her face and bowed to the lady who stood beside Delia. "Lovely meeting you, Lady Charmaine." Alanna brushed her lips to the woman's knuckles thinking, Jon will find something thick and slimy in his bed when he wakes up.

"And you," she responded.

Alanna turned to Jonathan to whisper in his ear. "Is this all you wanted me for?"

"No," he whispered back. "I'd like to know how you spent the beginning of your free evening. But that can wait just like you can wait- on us for appetizers and drinks."

"Ha ha," she said sarcastically.

In a louder voice, Jonathan ordered Alanna to fetch them all drinks and food. She was going to wait on them for the rest of the evening. As she did so, she wondered if Jon knew about her bumping into Raoul.

After a while, Jonathan managed to force 'Alan' into dancing with Charmaine, Delia and a brunette named Thaliana. Alanna cursed Jon. He knows that she hates these kinds of things. But not all of it was bad. She managed to listen in on all the conversations and found out that Thalia and Charm were fresh out of the convent and they apparently loved the palace as if they had never seen it before. Actually, they were much like other convent ladies: giggling, flirting, and fanning themselves. It was hard to find a convent girl that would really talk without giggling. On the other hand, she heard that Irontown had just lost half the village.

Alanna endured the torture right up until everyone started to leave and Jon excused himself, bringing Squire 'Alan' with him. On the way to their adjoining rooms, Jonathan started teasing her.

"So did you enjoy wearing a dress?" he asked casually.

Alanna scoffed. "No, absolutely not. And it'll never happen again so you don't need to worry about that."

"Oh, but poor Raoul will miss Lady Ariana," he teased.

"How did you find that out? Raoul was leaving the room when I bumped into him."

"I was by the door when you flipped him," Jon said, amusement in his voice.

"Shit," she said. "Did anyone else see?"

"No," he said. "At least I don't think so. But you still can't leave Raoul hanging like that. The gentle giant has never been interested in women before."

"I can and I will. Just watch me," Alanna said with confidence.

"You won't hurt the gentle giant, will you? That's just cruel," Jon said in mock disbelief.

"I don't need any of this," Alanna said, tired. "I just want to earn my shield so I can set off and adventure. "

"But if I order you to dress up as a Lady to clear things up with Raoul, you'd need to obey. It's the code of Chivalry," Jon pointed out.

"You are just the best Knight Master I can have," Alanna said drily, fire blowing out of her mouth.

"I can see that you're tired," Jon said, trying to avoid getting on Alanna's bad side. "I'm tired too! So I'll just go to sleep." Jonathan smiled an annoying smile and picked up the pace hastily.

Alanna glared at Jon. He was her best friend but he could also be plain annoying.

By the time Alanna got to her rooms, she had really weighed the decision of presenting herself at court as a woman for some time. If she got into trouble, she'd say that she has to move far away to avoid family matters or an ex-lover. It's as simple as that. But on the other hand, if she dressed up as a girl again, she might find herself in the same awkward situation.

Slipping into bed, she emptied her mind but struggled to fall asleep.

"You should've met her," Raoul rambled on. "She had purple eyes! Just like Alan's! But she insisted that her eyes were blue. She's silly, isn't she. Lady Ariana. I hope she comes back tomorrow evening."

"Raoul, interested in a lady at court?" Gary said in disbelief. "The immortals are being released from the divine realm."

"She flipped me!" Raoul said before stuffing a spoonful of food into his mouth. "Do you know what kind of woman it takes to flip me?"

Jonathan came to sit beside his squire. "Who flipped you?" he asked. As if you don't know, Alanna thought.

"Lady Ariana," Raoul replied excitedly. "You absolutely must meet her. Do you think that she'll come for dinner tomorrow? I'll introduce you to her."

"What if she doesn't come?" Alanna asked.

"I'll just have faith that she will," Raoul answered simply.

A pit formed in Alanna's stomach. If she did attend the ball tomorrow, then she'd save herself from a night serving as Jon's squire and at the same time, she'll clear things up with Raoul. But doing so would mean meeting all her friends again but with a different identity, a different sex.

"I look forward to meeting her," Jonathan said, eyes on Alanna who was poking her food absentmindedly.

"Me too," Gary agreed. Alanna sighed inwardly.

"Me too," she said, glancing at the surprised look on Jon.

"Let's just hope that she comes," Raoul said, eyes dreamy. "You'll definitely get along, with her, Alan. You have the same eyes."

"Whoopie," Alanna said sarcastically.

"Unless you want to be the only one in the world with purple eyes," Raoul said. "She says that they're blue anyways so you've got the credit."

Alanna poked at her food again, disappointed with herself. Her illusion hadn't worked and now, she was going to try it out again in a short amount of time. Maybe she could ask Jonathan for some help.

She did her duty as a squire subconsciously as her mind was at work forming a plan for the following night. She engraved the name into her mind: Ariana of Irontown. She also drew the memory of the conversation the night before about Irontown's fire and how the fief was now weak and very poor. She would be Ariana of Irontown, sent to court to find a husband so she could save her fief from starvation and the power of the elements.

That works, she thought as she brushed Moonlight. Then I'll tell Raoul that I ran off because I was feeling nauseous and I threw him in self defense which I learned from the Shang Centaur as he was passing through Irontown. Alanna nodded at her own idea. Self defense. He'll buy that.

"Are you okay, Alan?" Jon said from the stall door. "Nodding to nothing can sometimes mean insanity."

"I'm already insane for doing this," she muttered miserably.

"You're insane because you're grooming Moonlight," he stated just so he could hear it in words.

"No, you dolt," Alanna snapped. "For going out in the palace at night in a dress."

"And you'll be doing it again tomorrow night," Jonathan said cheerily. "But you'll need to get a different one," he pointed out.

"What's wrong with the one I have?" Alanna asked. Jon looked around to check for listeners and put an anti-eavesdropping spell on the stall and shut the door behind it.

"Women don't wear the same dress over and over again," he said as if he knew it as much as any court lady. "Haven't you noticed Delia?"

Alanna sighed. He was right... But how much would the dress cost? "I can't afford a new dress," she told her knight master.

"I'll buy one for you," Jon said casually.

"Right," she drawled. "And what will you gain from this experience?"

"Who says I can't buy a dress for my squire just because I want to?"

"I do," Alanna said, putting the brush away and picking up some cotton swabs and oil. "Now tell me. What's in it for you?"

"I can't wait to watch you being a lady," he said, smiling. Alanna looked up at him and then at the bucket of water in the corner. I could just throw it in his face... she thought. No, Moonlight won't have water if I did that.

"Fine," she said finally. "Buy me a dress."

"I can't buy you a dress!" Jon said.

"Then why'd you offer?" Alanna asked. This was absurd.

"I'll give you the money but I can't pick out a dress for you. I don't know how," Jon explained.

"Okay then, I give you permission to pay for my dress," Alanna said, cleaning Moonlight's ears. "But can you still come? I'd like a second opinion."

"For you? Of course," Jon said.

"And do you mind if you help me with one spell?" she said, throwing the cotton away. "I need to master the illusion I put on my eyes last night."

"That's why you kept saying that your eyes are blue," Jon said, nodding his head. "Sure, I'll do it."

"Thanks, Jon," Alanna said, a true grin on her face.

"Kyprioth must be deceiving my eyes," Jon said, amusement in his voice. "All this fuss just for Raoul."

This time, she did dump some water on him but she was forced to fill the bucket back up for Moonlight afterward.

In the afternoon, Jonathan took Alanna to buy a dress.

"How about this one?" the saleswoman asked Alanna. "I'm positive that you'll look beautiful in it."

"Like I said, it's not for me," Alanna said smiling. "It's for my sister."

"Right." The saleswoman winked. "Don't worry. I know most lads get that odd feeling sometimes."

Alanna looked at Jonathan with a bit of a disgusted look. He shrugged.

"How about this one?" the saleswoman continued. "This one will look gorgeous on your sister."

"I'm pretty sure that according to the saleswoman, every dress in here will look good on you," Jonathan whispered into her ear.

"That's why I brought you along," Alanna whispered back.

After about five dresses, Alanna found one that was light blue with a very modest neck line. It fit snug around Alanna's small frame and the icy blue sleeves flowed over her muscly arms. The skirt had minimal puffiness and swirly designs cascaded down the garment. At the waist was plain blue lace that could be tightened to make her look thinner. Alanna thoroughly disliked the thought of a corset and firmly denied Jon's offer to buy her one. The lace could be a compromise. (I need to work on describing dresses so if you don't like mine, go ahead and put Alanna into one that you'd like.)

Jon gave the saleswoman her money and accepted the bag that held the new dress.

Later that night, Jonathan helped Alanna with her spell and by the ninth bell, she had already mastered it.

"Thank you so much, Jon," Alanna said, blue eyes shining. "I owe you."

"That you do," Jon said. "Now go to your room. I'd like to sleep."

"Yessir." And with that, Alanna went back into her room to sleep, letting go of the magic that kept her eyes blue.

I am Ariana of Irontown. I have come to court in search of a husband to save my fief from poverty. I was trained by my relatives and the Shang Centaur for self defense which is why I threw Raoul onto the ground. I was lightheaded last night which was why I ran off. My eyes were purple then because they change whenever I get sick or dizzy.

Alanna replayed it in her head. It was a fine plan. If anything else happened, she'd just make it up along the way

Although everything was good to go, Alanna had trouble falling asleep. Her mind just kept asking her one question:

What have I gotten myself into?

(A/N) This is supposed to be Raoul/ Alanna BUT my mind isn't made up yet and her path might fork if I feel like it. Please review! I love reviews. They make me feel fuzzy inside.