Alanna wrote to her brother, and they solidified their plans to move into the palace just after her former cohort of squires became knights. They could have moved in before that, but Alanna didn't want to put herself through that particular form of torture.

True to his word, Jonathan did whatever he could to help her prepare for the transition. He started attending tea with Myles, and the two men and Eleni flipped through etiquette books and helped Alanna absorb what the books instructed.

Jonathan insisted that he help Alanna practice dancing as a girl. Myles and Eleni quickly joined the lessons by dancing alongside them. "For moral support," they said by way of excuse. They fooled no one.

She was still not a good dancer and retraining herself to learn all of the steps backward was awkward and frustrating. But her lessons with Jonathan also allowed her to realize that she didn't hate dancing itself; she had hated the lie inherent in it when she was disguised as a boy. Of course, part of her resented that the man always led, but another part of her enjoyed the push and pull and the feeling of twirling in a skirt. And Jonathan's strong arms were far preferable to those of a dainty, flirtatious noblewoman.

Rispah tried to help Alanna shop for a more noble wardrobe, but the two women kept getting sidetracked by potential new weapon-concealing accessories. After the third such trip, when Alanna came home with no dresses but a fluffy scarf that could hide a full dagger, Eleni intervened.

She called a tailor she knew personally and had her come to the house. Eleni also asked Myles to join "since he had seen the new trends most recently." Alanna tried hard to pretend that she didn't see right through the ruse - she thought Myles would barely notice if all the ladies started showing up to balls dressed in burlap sacks!

Before the tailor arrived, Eleni told Alanna to change her hair back to red. Eleni introduced Alanna as "Lady Alanna of Trebond" and explained that she was good friends with one of Alanna's maids at Trebond and had agreed to help the girl get a peek at the city and build her wardrobe before she was formally presented.

Being addressed as "Your Ladyship" and wearing silk dresses hit Alanna hard. It finally sunk in that this was real, and there was no turning back. She was voluntarily entering the life she had worked so hard to escape. No, that wasn't true, she realized. This would be on her terms, at least partially. She was making her own choices, not being dangled by her father in front of noblemen like a fresh-caught fish at the market.

Alanna was resistant at first, but soon the tailor and her companions convinced her to get a full wardrobe of lady's dresses and a few pairs of soft breeches. Pants of any kind would still be considered inappropriate, but they were better than the men's pants she might have worn otherwise. When Alanna tried to reject some of the costlier items, Myles insisted on buying them for her. She tried to fight on this point too, but again she was defeated.


George had changed after their conversation about Alanna leaving. He became even more ardent in his attentions and went far out of his way to make her happy. Alanna thought that perhaps this was his way of making up for their fight, but he also had an air of apprehension that he tried and failed to hide.

Alanna tried just to enjoy their time together, but she couldn't help but be concerned. He never brought up her leaving, so she didn't bring it up either. He didn't come to tea with Myles anymore, and he was careful to avoid Eleni's home except for their morning training sessions.


One morning, Alanna, Jonathan, and Myles were sipping tea after they had finished a particularly unproductive thirty minutes of practicing curtsies. Jonathan and Myles had tried the various curtsies along with her, and it was hard to say who had done worse. None of them would pass for a princess anytime soon, but they all got a good laugh out of the exercise.

"What should I do about Alan?" Alanna asked at a lull in the conversation.

"I suppose your options are to keep up the stories about his condition or to say that he died," Myles said.

"Dead would be more convenient. Then we wouldn't have to explain why we never visit our poor paralyzed brother," Alanna said.

"How about this?" Jonathan said, finally. "A few weeks before you're planning to come to Court, I'll get a letter saying that Alan is deathly ill. Then I'll take Gary and Raoul with me to see him. We'll pick you up along the way. Myles, you're invited too, of course, and George if he wants. We'll spend a few days in Trebond, and then we'll come back saying that Alan has tragically passed and that we convinced his lovely sister to come to Court. Then you'll spend a couple of weeks at Trebond and come back with Thom as planned."

Alanna nodded slowly. "I like it."

"I appreciate the invitation," Myles replied, "but I'll let you young people have your fun without an old man dragging you down. It's a good plan, though."


Midwinter came and went far too swiftly. Before long, Alanna was sitting in George's room for the last time before giving up her life as she knew it. George had told her that he couldn't join their trip to Trebond because of his responsibilities at home, so tonight was goodbye, at least for a few weeks.

George had gone all out with a romantic meal in his chambers with a very satisfying stretch in his bed to follow.

"I'll take you home tonight," George said after a long, comfortable stretch of resting in each other's arms. "I know you have an early morning tomorrow."

Alanna looked like she would protest, but George put a hand over her mouth. "No arguments."

When they reached Eleni's home, George followed her inside and sat down with her in the kitchen, where they shared some tea after their chilly walk home.

"I have business I need to take care of in Port Caynn," George said slowly. "I leave next week."

"Well, then we both picked an unpleasant time of year to travel. When will you be back?" Alanna asked.

"I'm not sure," George responded.

"I'll be gone three weeks. You'll be back before then, right?"

"No. I'll be gone much longer," he said matter-of-factly.

"George, what are you trying to tell me?" Alanna asked.

"I'm letting you go."

"What!?" Alanna practically shrieked.

"Shhhh, don't wake Mother." George put a finger over her lips and continued, "You need to go figure out whatever it is that needs figurin'. Go be Lady Alanna fully, without anything holding you back."

"George, no, that's not-"

"It's not up for discussion, Lass. Go with no attachments. Try bein' Jonathan's girl if you want."

"What-"

"He's clearly been waiting for his chance, and we both know you have a hard time refusin' him anything."

Alanna was visibly angry now, but George still wouldn't let her speak, now clamping both hands over her mouth.

"Go to that palace, Alanna. Learn that you don't belong there, that those people will never accept you and don't deserve you. And then when you finally figure all of that out, come back to me."

When he had finished, he uncovered her mouth, and she stared at him, frozen with so many warring emotions.

"Damn you. Damn you!" She finally managed.

He leaned down and kissed her deeply, willing her to understand how much he loved her despite what he was doing. Then he got up and walked out the door.