Author's Note: Thank you all for the reviews! I must tell you, Jon and Alanna are not capable of a mature relationship (at least not at first).

Ms. Pierce has copyright of the red-haired knight I wish I was.

Chapter 3: Too Late

Knowing what she had to do, Alanna walked out of the council room. Her plan was set: she had to find Jon and talk to him. She had to tell him she had changed her mind, and that it wouldn't be fair to him to marry a woman who didn't love him like he deserved. She knew Jon would take it badly, but if she pointed out his bluff, he would calm down. Besides, no one knew of their engagement. She chuckled to herself, thinking of the joke she and Jon could have, later in life, of their almost-marriage.

Hurrying along, Alanna began to notice people acting strangely towards her. They were …bowing? To her? What was going on? She passed two chambermaids and looked them directly in the eye. The two became flustered and dropped into deep curtseys.

"What is going on?" she demanded of them, jerking one to her feet.

"Your Ladyship—"

"Princess—"

"Princess?" Alanna almost shrieked.

One maid elbowed the other. "Stupid, she's not a princess yet!"

Alanna's face grew hot. "I am not a princess," she growled as she turned away.

She swore colorfully as one who has lived among soldiers can. Had Jon run down the halls telling everyone? Well, they were in for a surprise, because Alanna was not going to marry Jon.

"Alanna!" she heard. Turning, ready to attack, she saw Thayet, who was beaming. "I just heard!" Thayet squealed. She ran at Alanna and hugged her, jumping and spinning around.

"Thayet!" hissed Alanna. "Not here!" She grabbed the woman's hand and yanked her into a room.

"Alanna! Oh, Alanna! I'm so happy for you! I can't believe you're getting married! Oh, the wedding—" Thayet cried as Alanna shut the door. She made as if to grab Alanna into another hug, but Alanna held her off.

"Thayet. Stop. I'm not getting married."

Thayet's pretty face was confused. "But that's what Jon—I mean, His Highness—said!"

Alanna turned crimson. "Well—"

"Well, what?"

"I'm not getting married, Thayet."

"Did he—he, he lied?"

"Well, no," Alanna mumbled.

Thayet was thoroughly lost at this point. "He didn't lie…but you're not getting married?"

Alanna took a deep breath, willing away the blush from her face. "No. Jon proposed…again…and I said yes. But—" she raised a hand to stop Thayet's excited squeal. "—I am going to tell him that I've changed my mind."

"Alanna! You can't do that!"

"Can't do what?"

"Tell him you've changed your mind! He's told at least half the court already!"

Alanna groaned and put her head in her hands. "I'll kill him. He's going to be deader than anyone has ever been dead."

"Alanna," Thayet gently sat next to her and began rubbing her back. "You're just experiencing wedding jitters. A tad early. Everything will be fine, you'll see. You'll have such a wonderful wedding, and what a beautiful queen you'll be!"

Alanna snapped away from Thayet. "I don't want that! I'm not beautiful, Thayet. You are. And I will be a wretched queen. Can you see me sitting on that throne? My feet won't even touch the floor! And I'll never be allowed to wear breeches or allowed near a sword again! Everything I've ever wanted and worked for will be gone in a single 'I do'! All for a man that doesn't actually love me!"

"Alanna! Of course he loves you!"

"He doesn't! He loves y—someone else!" Alanna burst, covering her mistake in time. Jon would not want this bandied around; the worse person she could reveal this to was the lady herself.

"Who?" Thayet had crossed her arms, and rolled her eyes, disbelieving.

Alanna could not make herself give up Jon's secret, especially since she had not confronted him about it. It was the greatest power she had over him; the proof that he did not love her.

"I can't tell you."

"Alanna, you sound like a little girl who does not want to eat her vegetables. This is time for the woman Alanna to confront reality. You can't roam the country forever as a single woman."

"Sure I can. It was my original plan before."

"Before what…or should I say, before who?"

Alanna cursed Thayet's intuition, but said nothing.

"Before Jonathan, yes? Alanna, you loved him. Do not deny it. I've heard all the stories from all these knight-friends of yours, Sir Gareth and Sir Raoul."

"Yes, Thayet, I loved him. But I'm not sure I love him now."

"Alanna, you cannot do that to him. You're the last person left that Jon has, that Jon loved from before his parents died. You remind him of the happiness and innocence before everything happened. He needs that from you. The time when he had all the potential in the world; now he has to forget potential, and must act. If you take that from him, it would kill him."

Alanna narrowed her eyes at Thayet. "Since when did you become an expert on Jonathan of Conté?"

Thayet blushed prettily, and shuffled her feet. "We've… been talking. He is trying to convince me to stay in the palace, and well, I thought that he was going to ask to court me…and I would change the subject to you, and ask him about you, and I asked him when the two of you were getting married. And he told me that he did still love you, but wasn't sure…I told him that he should try again, and recognize the mistakes from last time. He loves you, Alanna, and you—you can't hurt him like that. He needs someone who knows him to help him heal. And that person is you."

Alanna wanted to shake Thayet's shoulders and shout at her. That person isn't me! It's you! Thayet understood Jon better than she did, and she understood Jonathan very well. She would always be the knight, who swore fealty to her king, but Thayet could hold her own against Jonathan; Thayet owed him nothing.

Everything was made clear: Jon had proposed to her because Thayet had rejected him. And she had accepted because George had rejected her.

Alanna forced a smile at Thayet. "I need to go see Jon."

"You'll think about what I said?" Thayet's dark eyes pierced Alanna's violet ones.

"Yes, Thayet," Alanna hurriedly promised, as she ran away. She needed to set things right with Jonathan; then Jon could pursue Thayet, and convince her that Thayet was the one for Jonathan. And yourself? A little voice asked. Alanna shook the voice aside. I'll be a woman warrior, roaming the country and saving people. The prospect no longer thrilled her as much, but she wouldn't tell anyone that.

Alanna was concentrating on what she would say to Jon, and so, did not notice a tall young man until she ran into him and fell down. Looking up, she gasped as she saw the Rogue smiling down at her.

"Nice trip?" he teased, offering her a hand to help her up. She took it, and just the touch of his calluses on his palms made her heart beat faster. She released his hand as soon as she was standing, but unfortunately her balance had not been completely stabilized, and she wobbled a bit. George grabbed her waist to steady her, and once again under his touch, Alanna's heart began racing.

"Thanks," she muttered as she righted herself. He let go of her so she could adjust herself.

"Gods bless, you're usually not this clumsy," he grinned down at her.

Her face flushed. "Usually big oafs aren't running around, bumping into people."

George grinned at her flippant remark. "It's good you're home, lass."

"It's nice to be home," she agreed, not looking him in the face.

"An' here I thought you'd be liking the landscape in Sarain—not to mention the bitter cold near the Roof of the World. That must've been your cup of tea."

"And your cup of tea must be fighting off rogues who want to be King," Alanna snapped.

George chuckled, a wonderfully familiar sound that washed over Alanna like a warm bath. She felt herself relax and laugh along. Only George can do that, she thought absently, as the two friends talked. It was nice to talk to him again this way. I've missed this. With a jolt, Alanna realized what had been missing from her conversations with George, since she'd been home—there was a warmth radiating from him; he was no longer acting cold or distant. He's flirting with me again. Her heart rose at the thought, and for the first time, Alanna felt the absurd urge to sing. Instead, she threw back her head and laughed. She knew she looked crazy, but she didn't care. Maybe, just maybe, George still loved her.

This burst of euphoria disappeared as Jonathan rounded the corner. She felt as if she had been doused with ice water. "Alanna! There you are!" he cried when he saw her and hustled over. "Hello, George," he nodded as he took in the taller man. No one could have missed smugness that he seemed to exude.

"Hello, Jon," George said, friendly enough.

"So, have you heard the news?" Jonathan asked, putting his arm around Alanna. Alanna wiggled away from him.

"Uh, Jon—we need to talk about that—" she said, desperately trying to stop Jon from saying aloud what she did not want George to know. At least, not until the whole thing was put behind them, and they could joke about it.

"No, unless it's a rumor that Alanna here's now ten feet tall, and you've sprouted horns. Those I've heard," George teased, throwing a curious glance at Alanna.

"Jonathan—" Alanna began.

"Alanna, be quiet! Mithros, woman!" Jon ordered. Alanna stepped back, feeling as if she'd been slapped. Woman? Yes, she had gotten angry at Jonathan for calling her unfeminine, but to call her 'woman'? As if he owned her? As if she was not worth being called her name? She gritted her teeth, her eyes sharpening into daggers.

"What I was trying to say, George, before she interrupted me—"

"Jonathan, I need to talk to you," she growled.

"Alanna," Jonathan said, using the condescending tone he used to use when she was Squire Alan and he was forcing her to dance with some court beauty, "Interrupting is not polite. You will have to recall your manners when you are acting as my Champion. Rude Champions often have to fight more duels than polite ones."

"What's this? Alanna's Champion?" George asked.

"Yes," Alanna nodded, blushing red. Maybe we can just talk about this and not the other thing, she dared to hope.

"Ye got her to accept. Well done, Jon. You might be a good king yet," George teased, knowing Alanna would have objected strongly to the post.

"That's not the only thing she's accepted," Jon continued, officially crushing all Alanna's hopes.

"Jonathan—" she tried once again, in vain.

"Two things, Jon?" George teased. "You may be the greatest king Tortall's ever seen."

"Alanna's accepted me." Alanna felt her insides freeze up.

"What?" George asked. His brow furrowed as if he didn't quite understand.

"Jonathan—" Alanna began, quite ready to pull out Lightening and run him through.

"Alanna accepted my proposal of marriage," Jon said, smirking more and more with each word. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. She ducked her head.

George's jaw dropped and, with it, Alanna's heart. He stared at Jonathan for a minute, then turned his eyes to Alanna. Alanna could barely return his gaze.

"Well—well then," George croaked. Suddenly, he broke into a great huge smile. "Well, the two of you will shake things up around this fallin' apart kingdom. Congratulations, really, both of you." He reached out and shook Jon's hand heartily. "Good for you too, lass," he said, leaning forward and kissing her cheek. Alanna felt her heart sink down in her chest, heavy as stone. "I'm…proud of you, lass," he said quietly. "Them that love you will be proud to know you…and them that hate you will have to swallow their words. You'll make 'em dance to your tune."

Alanna gulped and looked at him, wanting to say something, anything, but nothing came out. George gave her a smile. Alanna scolded herself for thinking that it was wistful.

"I—I must be off," George fumbled only briefly with his words. "Dealings with Claw and the like." And he ran off.

"Well, that went well," Jon said, his smugness irking Alanna. She frowned at him. "What?" he asked. But Alanna's anger was so great and her heart was so torn, she could not get the words out. Instead, she slapped him across the face and marched away.

Stunned, Jon did nothing for a minute. But she heard him call as she headed back to her chambers to find Faithful. "We have to make the formal announcement soon!"

"You've already announced it to the world," she snarled. "I think it's too late for a formal announcement."

I do detest Jonathan, don't you? ;)