Alanna sat chained to the wall in a Tusaine hut as Jem Tanner - or Count Jemis as she had just learned was his true name - and Prime Minister Hilam jeered down at her. At the moment, her primary objective was to keep their attention long enough to give the two Tortallan foot soldiers a chance to escape.
Finally, the Tortallan soldiers, Micah and Keel, saw their chance and bolted through the door. Jem and Hilam turned at the sound of their fleeing footsteps. Hilam reached for his gift, but Alanna threw her arms - and thus her magic-suppressing chains - around him to prevent him from throwing a spell after them.
Hilam swore, slapped her, and threw her down, causing a piece of her shirt collar to catch on his armor. The shirt tore all the way down with the force of the throw, revealing the corset Alanna wore to bind her chest flat.
"Well now, that is curious," Jem said, forgetting immediately about the foot soldiers. "What are you hiding, squire?"
Alanna thought fast as his hands reached for her. The truth was going to come out. Better to confess than endure being groped by this disgusting man.
She kicked his hand away. "Fine, you caught me. I'm a woman. Your vaunted Dain of Melor was publicly beaten by a girl."
The insult went unacknowledged as Jem and Hilam shared a gleeful look. "Such arrogant words from someone who is about to learn just how far they have to fall," Jem taunted.
"This is going to be easier than I thought," Hilam sneered.
"I was just about to say the same," Jonathan said cooly from behind him. "Thank you, Faithful. You seem to have led us to the right place."
Micah, Keel, Gary, Sacherell, and Douglass were behind the Prince, and the cat led the way.
"Come to rescue the damsel in distress, have you?" Jem crooned even as Gary rounded on him.
Jonathan looked immediately to Alanna and noticed the torn shirt that she was trying to hold together.
"The keys to my friend's chains, now," he demanded. And don't try any sorcery, or I'll make you swallow it."
The guard captain tossed Alanna the keys, and she got to work on her chains. "Jonathan, the soldiers are alright, but these two are King Ain's brothers."
"While you're just a little girl playing dress-up," Jem said as Gary tied his hands.
"Gag them," Jonathan ordered immediately. "We don't need any more of this drivel. I think I know how we're going to leave this camp safely. We're taking two guests with us - two very important guests. And I'm sure we can think of a fair ransom, don't you, Duke Hilam? I know King Ain will not think peace too small a price to pay, not for his brothers' lives."
Jonathan and Alanna dropped behind as the group left the hut.
"Are you okay?" Jonathan whispered.
"I'm fine, but they know."
Jonathan took off his tunic and handed it to her, just as he had done in the Black City.
"The men think Jem was just shouting petty insults. Hopefully, our guests will be too worried about saving their own skins to press the issue later."
Alanna nodded bravely, but his words did nothing to stop a growing sense of dread.
Jonathan, Alanna, and the rest of the nobles from the rescue party waited nervously as Roald and Roger interrogated their captives.
Finally, the King and Duke emerged.
The King rubbed his temples and looked at Alanna. "Alan, are you alright?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. Nothing worse than a few bruises."
"Take off your shirt," he ordered flatly.
"I'm really fine-" Alanna began.
"I said, 'take off your shirt.'"
Jonathan jumped in before Alanna could respond again, "Father, I don't think that's necessary-"
Roald put up a hand to stop him. "Jonathan, Alan, come with me. The rest of you, don't go far."
The Prince and his squire followed the King and Duke into the fort.
"Alan, I'm only going to ask this once, and I expect the truth. Are you a female?" Roald asked when they were alone.
"Yes, Sire," Alanna said to the floor.
"And did you know of this?" he asked Jonathan.
"Yes," Jonathan said, looking his father directly in the eye.
"Who else knows?"
"Only my brother and a couple of Trebond servants," Alanna answered quietly.
"I see. And what else are you lying about?"
"Nothing." She finally got the courage to look up at him. "I am the child of Lord Alan of Trebond, and every vow of loyalty I have ever pledged to the crown or kingdom has been in good faith. I only lied about my name and my gender because I wanted to be a knight."
"You are a snake-" Roger began, but Roald put up a hand to silence him.
"Go wait for us outside," Roald said to Alanna.
She bowed low and left as quickly as she could.
"And what do you have to say for yourself?" Roald asked Jonathan when the door had closed.
"I found out that she was a girl at the Black City as we defeated the Ysandir together. That was, of course, after she had healed me from the sweating sickness. Then she went on to best Dain of Melor, and she has already done more than her share in this war. Yes, she's a girl, but if anyone deserves to be a knight, it's her."
"Dear Cousin," Roger began, "don't you see how she's manipulated you-"
"That 15-year-old girl has done more for this country-" Jonathan began.
"Peace, both of you!" Roald interrupted. I need a moment to think."
After a long stretch of silence, Roald met his son's eyes. "I have made my decision. You will leave immediately with the other nobles who executed this rescue and take her home. They will know the truth, as will Sir Myles and Gareth, but no one else. This 'Alan of Trebond' will disappear forever. Make up whatever excuse you want about what happened to him. I don't care. Just as long as the truth of it never gets out. Then you will return to the palace and wait there until my return."
"Very sensible," Roger agreed.
"Father, no!" Jonathan cried. "After all she has done for Tortall and for me, you can't-"
"Jonathan, enough!" Roald said. "Both of you have been blatantly disobedient. I decreed that any man who crossed the river would be beheaded, and you defied me, abusing your position as heir. She is a liar and a fraud. However, I can't deny that you have both done Tortall a great service. So I'm not going to punish either of you. Instead, all I am going to do is set things back to rights. She can go back to being who she really is. You can pick a new squire if you like. If that's unpleasant, then it is a consequence of your own making.
Tell the others my decision. They are all sworn to absolute secrecy on this matter, and I want you gone from this place tomorrow."
Jonathan wanted to argue, to plead, to do anything, but he knew that tone in his father's voice. He bowed and left the room.
The young men sat in shock as Alanna shared her secret and Jonathan relayed the King's orders.
Jonathan's constant grip on Alanna's shoulder and the tone of his explanation made it clear that he was on Alanna's side and expected them to be too.
"Pack your things and be ready to leave by noon tomorrow," Jonathan concluded. "The official story for anyone who asks is that we're being sent away for our disobedience. I'm sure you all have questions, but save them for the road."
They all went their separate ways, and Jonathan and Alanna went to find Myles.
Alone in their tent later that night, Jonathan punched the side of the tent in frustration as he paced. "There must be something else I can do. But Father won't speak to me. Myles hasn't been able to persuade him either. Roger was downright condescending when I talked to him, acting as if you were a defective toy that was being taken away from me for my own good."
"I don't see what else there could be," Alanna responded miserably.
"But what will you do?"
"I guess all that's left for me is to go back to Trebond and help manage it with Coram. Not many adventures in that, but maybe it won't be so bad. With Father dead, Thom is Lord, and he won't try to force me to do anything I don't want."
"No, no, that can't be it," Jonathan said. "You'd go crazy with boredom. And you're already a hero. You deserve to be out there doing what you're best at."
He sat down beside her. "I know you won't like this, but you could wait a bit, then have Thom present you at court as his eligible sister, and then I could marry you."
"Jon-"
"I know, but think about it. You'd be back at the palace with your friends, where you belong. We can keep going on adventures together, and you wouldn't even have to clean my armor or serve at parties. And, Alanna, I didn't just kiss you last week for sport."
Alanna shook her head. "You'll be king one day! You have to marry for the good of the realm. And your father would see right through it if we tried that. He'd be furious. I can't ask you to choose me over him, not again."
He opened his mouth to argue, but Alanna stopped him with a firm shake of her head. "Please don't. You know I want nothing more than to stay by your side, but not like that. We'll figure something out."
Hesitantly at first and then decisively, Jonathan pulled Alanna into his arms. "When I'm king, I'll change things. I'll let girls become knights, and if you're still interested, the door to the ordeal of knighthood will be open to you. But that may be a very long way away."
She relaxed into his grip, letting her head rest on his chest. "Thank you, Jon. This changes nothing about my commitment to you. My life and my sword are yours no matter what happens."
He tightened his arms around her and wiped away the tears she couldn't stop from falling.
Alanna said goodbye to Myles, and no one else. The knight hugged her tightly and assured her that she could come to him if she ever had any need. The magnitude of his offer and his show of affection astounded her. She knew he was fond of her, but she had expected some measure of shock and betrayal. It was a relief that he wasn't angry with her, but it also made leaving that much harder.
They set out the next day at noon as planned. They were relatively quiet on the road, but when they stopped to make camp, the young men were bursting with questions. After a while, Jonathan pleaded exhaustion and went to his tent as the others talked late into the night.
"So that's why you hate swimming! That always confused me so much."
"And that explains why Jon randomly gets so bossy about teams when we play a game shirts vs. skins."
"Think of all those poor ladies. Remember Lady Annabella? She was beautiful, significantly shorter than then all the others, and practically throwing herself at you. We couldn't understand how you could be so uninterested."
"Oh, and Delia, you could tell that she was so frustrated that she couldn't charm you."
The men roared with laughter as Alanna blushed deeper and deeper red. Again, she was surprised at the reaction. She had never learned to think of any of it as funny before.
Eventually, they sobered as they began talking about her future.
"But what happens now?" Gary asked. "We just drop you at home, and you go back to life as a noble lady?"
"I suppose so," Alanna said. "I'll just be the spinster of Trebond."
"You could still get married," Sacherell said.
Alanna snorted. "What nobleman in his right mind would want to marry me? I don't know the first thing about being a lady."
"Maybe your family will strike some deal with a border lord who's grateful to marry into a prominent house," Sacherell mused. "That's what happened to my aunt."
The other men glared at him, and Alanna shook her head. "My brother wouldn't do that to me, thank the gods."
"Well, one of us could marry you," Douglass said quietly.
"That's an idea," Gary said. "What do you think of it, Raoul? The two of you could be very happy not going to balls together."
"I-I supposeā¦" Raoul started.
"That's sweet but completely ridiculous," Alanna said. "You should marry pretty girls who know how to do...lady-ish things. You all just saved me from certain torture and likely death. Spinsterhood doesn't look so bad by comparison. You owe me nothing."
"I would marry you, though, you know, if you needed it," Raoul said haltingly.
Alanna smiled at him, "Thank you, but I don't need it. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. And truly, thank you for saving me. I am in your debt."
"No, you aren't, but if you were, I would insist that you repay us by teaching us another one of those bawdy songs you learned from the soldiers at the Drell. Or, wait, is that an inappropriate thing to ask since you're a girl?"
Alanna rolled her eyes, then leaned forward and began to sing, "There once was a maid from Maren, who was known for not much carin'..."
The next morning they rode off in somewhat better spirits.
"So what are we going to say happened to you?" Raoul asked.
"Dead is probably the simplest," Sacherell offered.
"No," Jonathan said firmly. "It needs to be something she can come back from if I can talk Father around."
"You could have amnesia."
"Blindness, maybe?"
"An especially debilitating case of erectile dysfunction?" Gary suggested, earning glares from Alanna and Jonathan and laughs from everyone else.
Eventually, they agreed on full paralysis after being thrown from her horse during a rockslide on an uphill trek. That way, no one would think it odd that they never saw her around, and she could believably recover from it, though healing magic was not always powerful enough to fix such an injury.
Far too quickly, they reached Trebond.
When darkness had fallen, Jonathan carried Alanna while she hung limply in his arms, fully concealed in a cloak.
Alanna's reunion with Coram was an emotional one as they told him everything.
Jonathan put his royal seal on a summons for Thom, and Coram sent it off with their swiftest messenger.
Finally, Alanna and Jonathan were alone together for the last time before Jonathan had to leave for Corus.
"You'll tell George?" Alanna asked.
"As soon as I can," Jonathan replied. "Maybe he can think of something."
"Gods, Alanna," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "I hate this so much."
"This isn't the end, Jon, just a different direction than we planned. I'll find a way back to you."
Jonathan held her for a long moment, then kissed her mouth quickly but firmly.
"I'm holding you to that," he said and left her alone with her thoughts.
