Written by Lady Lucy
"Do I have to?" asked Alanna with an annoyed expression, "You know how I hate court balls!"
"Yes I know very well that you hate court balls, I've been putting up with it for lets say, the last three years" exclaimed Jon
"Well, if you insist on me going, then at least let me wear breeches for crying out loud"
"No I am sorry my dear lioness but you will have to wear a dress like every other court lady"
"That's just the point, I am NOT, repeat NOT a court lady, I am Alanna the lioness, the king's champion who DOES NOT wear a dress, they are so uncomfortable, I can't believe how people can wear them"
"Well I didn't see you complaining when you were wearing a dress when we were squires"
"Don't remind me"
"Anyway back to the ball, you are to wear a dress and no more arguing on king's orders"
"Fine, but I am not dancing"
"Oh. yes you are, and if you make one more complaint, I'll make you wear a dress with a very low neckline as punishment, don't give me that look!"
Alanna gave Jon an annoyed-ferocious look as she walked out the door
1 Alanna, beloved you still make my heart wrench with love~
*~*~*~*
Alanna wore a light emerald, green dress with no sleeves. Her flowing skirt was at ground level, swaying if she so much as twitched, it was the same colour as the bodice, though it was slightly see-through so she wore a pearl-white shift underneath. Unfortunately for her even without Jonathon's punishment, she still had to wear a very low neckline because Jonathon wanted her to look pretty and that was the best dress there was. Alanna curled her silky, copper hair at the front, which framed her face, she wore the rest of her hair in a bun surrounded by flowing curls and emeralds.
Alanna was nervous, angry and annoyed, nervous because, she didn't know what all the others would think, never actually seeing her in a dress before, angry because Jonathon made her go and annoyed because of the low neckline.
Alanna stepped out of her room and walked down the hall towards the ballroom, she looked far, far younger than her age. As she stepped into the ballroom, many faces were turned. There were whispers in the room, "it's the lioness", "who's that", "she's actually wearing a dress", "she's beautiful", "I wonder what the king thinks", "you think his going to propose again?" or "her beauty can beat all the women in this room". Alanna looked around, looking for Jonathon to scold at. She spotted him with Gary and Raoul so she walked up to them. When she came to their small group where they were chitchatting, Jon, Gary and Raoul all turned to face her.
"Pardon me fair and beautiful lady but I believe I have never seen you at court before" exclaimed Gary as Raoul was trying to make out who this mysterious and beautiful lady was and Jon trying to hide his laughter and blush
"Stuff it Gary!" yelled Alanna as the other two spilled out laughing
"Alanna?!" asked Gary
"Yes, it's me!"
"But it can't be Alanna, she'll never wear a dress, if you paid her 100 gold nobles!" exclaimed Gary
"Are you accusing me of not being a lady?" accused Alanna, seeing Gary and Raoul's curious look, Alanna explained, "Jon made me!" she said as she gave Jon a nasty look while he pretended to be coughing
"Yes, I made you and you are to dance with every person that asks you to, starting with me, may I have this dance, Alanna?" asked Jon
"No!" cried Alanna
"Alanna, it's on king's orders!" commanded Jon slightly impatient
"You know I hate dancing, why don't you dance with someone else?" asked Alanna stubbornly
"I don't want to dance with a stranger, now I insist in you dancing and you shall dance very well"
"Fine!" Alanna mumbled as she was led to the dance floor with Jon
The first song was fast so it didn't give them any time to talk, the second song was slower, and it was one of them songs when you had to hold your partner closely. After a while, they started a conversation.
"Alanna, you know the offer is still there if you'll take it? I still love you with all my heart and soul, say you'll marry me and be my wife and queen forever, until the day we pass on into the hands of the dark god?" pleaded Jon. He saw Alanna uncomfortable on this subject but went on, "Alanna, I know you still love me and I too, is it because of the queen business that you refused me? Alanna say you'll marry me!"
"I'll think about it Jon" she mumbled as the song stopped and she walked away, she walked over to a table to get some punch, almost immediately, some nights and nobles gathered around her and asked her to dance. Myles saw his foster-daughter very uncomfortable so he went over to the group.
"You know the king still loves her greatly and there's no telling what he might do if you tried to take his lady away from him when his trying to win her back" he said it load enough for all the men to hear but quite enough so passer byers couldn't. Almost as fast as they had gathered round her they disappeared. Every moment since she had walked away from Jon, he had watched her every move, it made her feel uncomfortable.
"Thanks Myles" she thanked
"What's the matter you want to talk about it?" asked Myles
"Yeah!"
*~*~*~*
Jon was back with Gary and Raoul; he was lost in his daydreams about Alanna.
"Jon, are you all right?" asked Raoul worriedly
"Yeah! I'm fine"
"You're still in love with her aren't you?" asked Gary
"Yeah!"
"Is this how she got you in the first place?" asked Raoul suspiciously
"What do you mean?" Jon asked a little lost in watching Alanna's every move
"Well, with the way she looks tonight, all the men in Tortall would want a piece of her, it'll be news for a long time. Didn't you see how nearly all the men in the ball room crowded around her as soon as she walked away from you?" acknowledged Raoul
"Yes, I'll be surprised if all the men in Tortall aren't attracted to her by the time the news gets round" commented Jon
"Jon, aren't you even a bit jealous of the way she attracted nearly all the men?" asked Gary
"Are you kidding? Course I am! But you have to admit she is the most beautifulest lady in the whole of Tortall, if not the world. And not to mention, she's actually got a personality, unlike the court ladies but it's not her fault that she attracted nearly all the men, she didn't want to, they just came" said Jon, "Alanna wouldn't do such a dishonorable thing as to play with men, I know her better than Coram and Myles, she still loves me and I still love her"
"Jon, what were you talking about when you were dancing anyway? She looked uncomfortable when she walked away' said Raoul
"Well, I proposed again and she said, she'll think about it," answered Jon
*~*~*~*
Myles and Alanna were sitting at a table.
"What happened Alanna?" asked Myles
"Jon proposed again, I don't know if I should say yes or no, I mean, since that fight in the desert, I don't really know him the way I use to anymore"
"Then you need to know him again"
"How?"
"That's for you to decide, I can't just come along and tell you what to do with your life, this is going is probably going to be one of the biggest decisions you make. It's going to have a huge effect on your life, think about it well. It's like when you decided to switch places with your brother when you were young, that was a huge decision you made, and it had a huge effect on your life, that's sort of like the decision you're going to make, think about it well, no matter what you decide in the end, I'll always be proud of you, remember that" explained Myles
"Thanks, I needed that little talk" thanked Alanna as she gave him a half smile
She walked out of the ballroom and into the garden to get some fresh air, she strolled around the palace, when she came to the seat where she had left her jacket on her 17th birthday, she sat down. Alanna looked up into the sky and saw the moon that had brought Jon and her together; suddenly memories came pouring back, her 17th birthday, her ordeal, the fight in the desert and what she'd lost, the day Jon became king. Alanna started crying, tears poured out of her eyes as she thought of her dead friends, Faithful, Liam and her brother, Thom. There came a voice from behind her.
"Are you ok, Alanna?" asked Jon as he came up and sat down next to her, he held her and tried to comfort her but Alanna continued sobbing. Jon lifted her chin up as their eyes locked and they kissed.
It had been over a year since their last kiss, they had been scared because of the fight in the desert that they would never love each other like they once did again.
Alanna longed for the lips of her first love more than anything, she felt his familiar touch on her lips, and it was passionate as well as soft.
Jonathon had tried to kiss her in the past but every time he tried she always broke it before their eyes locked. He felt the lips of his true love on his once more, it brang back the life out of them as the fire ran through them.
As the kiss went on, Jon started moving his hands around her slim body, then started to kiss her neck as her hands ran through his soft hair, Alanna pulled away.
"Jon, I can't do this"
"Why Alanna?"
"Because I'm just not ready to face what we once had again when we just started our relationship again"
"What do you mean Alanna?"
"When we had that big fight in the desert we broke up right? And we just got our relationship under wraps again, I'm sorry Jonathon, I just can't do this, maybe we could try it another time when we're a bit more into the relationship" said Alanna as she walked back into the ballroom.
Jonathon followed her back to the ballroom, where he found Alanna surrounded by men once more but this time there was no escape since Myles was back in his room because he was drunk. Alanna was asked to dance by several men but faked a headache and walked to the balcony for some fresh air. Raoul seeing Alanna unhappy walked over to talk to her.
"Alanna, are you ok?"
"Yeah just thinking"
"About what?"
"Jon, I mean I don't get why he loves me so much, I mean after the fight and all I thought he might've given up on me. I thought he might want an actual lady, not some half lady, and half knight"
"Alanna he loves you for who you are, he has since we were squires, he knows you better than anyone else. Jon is one of the nicest people I know and he doesn't judge by the way you look or who you are, he judges from the inside and he knows you're a nice person even though you have all those qualities"
"What qualities?"
"Well, you have all the qualities of a queen, you're beautiful, you're a legend and a hero and you're a good person. Alanna he loves you for who you are, if it's about the queen business that you don't want to marry him then we have to get it straight once and for all"
"There's several problems, the first is Jon needs to marry someone who has qualities, he needs to marry someone who is one of Tortall's enemies so they can make peace, he needs to marry for the good of his country, what good will it do if he married me?"
"Every good!" came a voice from behind her; Raoul took the sign and slipped away leaving them two to talk
"Jon I didn't asked for your opinion" commented Alanna "now if you'll excuse me I'm going to my room"
"Alanna, we need to talk, our relationship's never going to work out if we don't sort out the wrong things," said Jon as he held her arm not letting go "Alanna, marrying you will be for the good of the country"
"How?"
"Lioness, you're a legend, a hero and that's just as good as marrying someone from another country to make peace, it'll make Tortall special, as well as a lady knight, the lady knight will also be queen and the king's champion"
"Ok fine, second problem, I don't want to become a queen, if I become queen, I'll have to wear dresses, it's bad enough having to wear a dress once in a while for balls. And what about ruling the country, I'll probably turn the whole of Tortall up-side down, besides I'll just be an embarrassment to you in front of other country monarchs" complained Alanna
"I won't make you wear dresses if you don't want to, I'll keep Tortall down- side up and you won't be am embarrassment to me in front of other country monarchs"
"Third problem, I'll lose my shield if I become queen and what about all the adventures I want to go on?"
"Alanna my love I won't make you give up your shield, I know how important it is to you. And if you still want to go on adventures, you could always travel with me to the desert to visit my clans, after all they still praise you as the 'burning brightly one', you could go with the squires on their camps, you could come with me hunting and you're still the king's champion so you can lead the king's own to battle as long as you come back safe, see Alanna you can do anything you want because if you marry me you'll be the queen and the king's champion. So what do you say Alanna, will you marry me?"
"I'll think about Jon, I'll give you my answer at the midwinter ball in a few weeks" said Alanna as she walked back to her room because the ball ended
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
2. CYNTHIA
The next day, Alanna went for a little walk in the market place to try to clear her mind of what happened last night and the decision. She walked through the market trying to find a dress shop where she was going to buying a dress without a low neckline so when the next ball came, she wouldn’t have to wear the dresses Jon picked out for her with the low necklines.
Alanna finally found a shop that sold dresses and went inside, there she found a 17-year-old girl with long blonde-brown hair just below the shoulders, she wore a ripped dress and a bandana and bare feet.
“Hello my lady what can I do for you?” asked the girl
“Please Alanna would be fine, after all I’m not exactly a lady” cried Alanna feeling sorry for the girl
“Yes Alanna, my name is Cynthia; may I help you with anything?”
“Oh… I was just looking around; do you run this place on your own?”
“No, my master, Peigron owns it, he’s asleep at the moment so I look after the shop, he’s mean and brutal, oh I shouldn’t be saying these things”
“No, no then why don’t you work in the palace or find some other job?”
“Because my father sold me to him so I’m his”
“CYNTHIA WHO ARE YOU CHATTING TO?” came a voice from inside as a big, fat man came out
“YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING!” roared Peigron
“Hello sir, Cynthia is helping me choose a dress”
“Sorry my lady” apologized Peigron
“No need to be sorry, just tell me how much you want for her, I want to buy her”
“That little brat?”
“If you mean Cynthia then yes”
“I’ll be glad to get rid of her but of coarse it’s going to be of a reasonably high price”
“Of course, how about 200 gold nobles”
“Come on, she’s in perfect health, 300 gold nobles”
“220”
“270”
“250 gold nobles, it seems fair”
“Ok fine”
Alanna handed him the 250 gold nobles and left with Cynthia.
“I am very, very grateful my lady, thank you, thank you, how can I ever repay you?”
“It’s alright; I’m going to take you to the palace, would you be my personal maid?”
“It would be my honor”
For the rest of the trip, they joked and talked
*~*~*~*
When Alanna and Cynthia arrived at the palace, the first thing they did was go to the tailor to get fitted clothes for Cynthia, when Alanna had bought Cynthia 3 dresses, 2 shirts and 2 pairs of breeches, Alanna led Cynthia to the room next to hers that was a spare, on the way Alanna told her some of the rules of being her maid
“You can do whatever you like and go wherever you want as long as you tell me first so I don’t get worried and think that you’re kidnapped or something”
“Yes my lady”
“Would you please quit it with the ‘my lady’ thing?”
“Sorry Alanna”
Alanna opened the door with a key and showed Cynthia her room and gave her the key, “Now here’s your room, my room is the one on the left hand side of yours and here’s your key”
“Thank you Alanna”
“No more thank yous”
“Yes ok”
“Pack all your things in the cupboards, make yourself at home and tell me if you need anything”
“Ok”
“I have to attend a meeting with Jon and the council, I’ll be back after lunch, have a look around the palace and if you get lost, ask for directions” said Alanna as she walked out the door
Alanna walked to the meeting room and took a seat next to Jon and Myles. When everyone arrived the meeting began.
“Raoul would you please explain to everyone what’s happening in the Royal forest?”
Raoul stood up and announced, “The villages in the forest have reported spidrens rampaging towards the palace, they have gone through some villages and wreaked everything, the last report of the spidrens was about 50 miles away from here”
“We need to get ready to defend ourselves when they come, the reports say that there were thousands of them, luckily my good childhood friend, Prince Theo of Kamah has offered to help…”
“Who’s Prince Theo of Kamah and where is Kamah”
“Ah… I forgot you never met him have you?”
“No”
“Theo was my best friend before I trained to become a knight, we practically grew up together, and he’s the same age as me. When I went to train to be a knight in Tortall, he went back to Kamah to train so I never saw him again so I’m quite excited, and to your other question, Kamah is on the other side of Galla”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me about this?”
“Well you never asked”
“Great now I have to ask”
“Anyway he’ll be arriving in a few hours or so, so get dressed formally for the ball tonight and yes Alanna you have to wear a dress” he added annoyingly when he saw Alanna open her mouth to speak, “Now I am calling this meeting to an end”
Everyone left to their rooms to get dressed, on the way back to her room she bumped into Cynthia.
“Oh… Cynthia hi, so how do you like it around the palace”
“Oh it’s wonderful everyone is just so nice”
“Would you help me choose a dress from the streamstress for tonight’s ball that I have to attend?” asked Alanna suddenly realizing that she never purchased a dress in the market place
“Yes I would love to Alanna; no one’s ever been so nice to me before”
“Thank you for your complement now let’s not waste any more time”
Alanna and Cynthia walked to the streamstress, after several minutes of discussing what dress she wanted with Cynthia, she finally went with one.
Alanna carried it to her room and put it on, then Cynthia helped do her hair and persuaded her to wear a little face paint. When Cynthia finally decided she was perfect, she let her go to the ball.
*~*~*~*
3. PRINCE THEO OF KAMAH
Alanna entered the ballroom a little shy at first then spotted Jon near a doorway looking all prim and proper so she walked up to him.
“What are you doing looking so nervous?”
Jon looked at her, Alanna wore a mauve coloured dress with no sleeves but had silk ribbons hanging from where the sleeves were supposed to be, the skirt wasn’t as over-flowing as the last dress she wore but she still looked amazing. It had a low neckline that Alanna thought was extremely revealing and annoying. Alanna wore her long hair plaited and in a bun with pearls and ribbons knotted into it, she wore a pair of dangling gold star earrings and a matching necklace and bracelet. You could only slightly see a touch of face paint because her face was perfect as it was. Jon looked astonished as he took in her feature, then said, “I’m glad you’re here, I’m waiting for Theo to arrive, and he’s coming down these steps”
Just as if that last line was a magic word, the herald announced “Prince Theo of Kamah” as he walked down the steps.
Prince Theo was handsome, so handsome that he could rival Jon; he had brown, curly hair compared to Jon’s jet black. Both men were quite handsome in different ways.
Theo walked up to Jon, “Jonny boy, it’s certainly been a long time since I’ve last seen you” he said as the two men shook hands and hugged each other
“Yes it has oh unfearless Theo” Jon teased back
Theo then went on to greet Alanna, “am I looking at the queen of Tortall?”
“No, but I hope she will be very soon” answered Jon as Theo kissed Alanna’s hand while she blushed furiously and gave Jon a nasty look, “this Theo is Tortall’s famous legend if the news carried out to Kamah too, but incase it hasn’t let me introduce you to Alanna of Trebond and Olau or more well known as Alanna the lioness, the first lady-knight in more than a hundred years and also the king’s champion”
“Yes Jonathon I’ve heard the news about beautiful Alanna here, and I also heard about the affair you two were having in squire years,” teased Theo as both Alanna and Jon blushed furiously
“How did that get out?!” asked Alanna angrily
“Let’s just say we have huge gossipers in Kamah” said Theo as he gave her a huge smile too big for his face
Alanna bowed and walked away to join Gary and Raoul in a conversation
“Well, one thing I must comment about is that you have better taste in women than in the old days,” said Theo
“Yes, we had a history together”
“Do tell”
Jon and Theo walked into the gardens to catch on what had been happening since they went their different ways.
Jon told Theo about what happened since he went and then it was Theo’s turn
“So now that I’ve told you about my love life what about yours eh?”
“I haven’t had such good luck as you in love, sure I’ve had a couple of affairs with some ladies but they never worked out in the end, the closest relationship I’ve had a lady was probably with Lady Alexandra of Kadi’s Peek, sure she was pretty and all but she was boring so in the end it never worked out. Another reason I came here was to see if the ladies in Tortall were interesting but from my experience with two ladies just before the ball I’m guessing they’re all boring, any interesting ladies you can introduce me to that’s actually got a personality?”
“Yes but she’s already taken”
“Who may that be?”
“Alanna”
“Hmm…”
“Now I remember why you weren’t really my best friend, it was because you kept charming the ladies that I fancied away from me, but let tell you now Theo, don’t try bewitching Alanna with you Kamahian charm because it’s not going to work. She’s not that kind of girl that just throws herself at you because you’re the prince or because you’re handsome. Anyway she’s not that sort of person that falls for men easily, it took me a long time to try to win her love and believe me it wasn’t easy. I’m warning you Theo stay away from her”
“Well, if she really loves you then why isn’t she your queen yet?”
“Because we just got our relationship started again and she’s afraid that she might loose her shield if she settles down and becomes queen. I’m warning you to stay away from her for your own good Theo, she doesn’t like people that try to charm her into liking them and there’s no telling what she might do, she’s very strong”
“We’ll see Jonny boy, we’ll see, how strong is she? I would like to see if she’s stronger than me, ask her, Gary and Raoul to meet me at the practice courts tomorrow morning after lunch, you come too I wanna see if I can still beat you up”
“Sure, I’ll just go over and ask Alanna, Raoul and Gary”
“If you need me, you’ll see me flirting with the ladies”
Jon walked over to Alanna, Raoul and Gary, “guys, Theo asked you to meet him at the practice courts tomorrow after lunch, he wants to challenge all of you to a duel”
“Tell him sure, just get ready to get beaten by a lady, if he’s not used to it then I’ll advise him not to challenge me” answered Alanna
There was a laugh from behind her, “are you that confidant already?”
Alanna turned around to find Theo laughing with a twinkle in his eye, “well, if you put it that way then yes”
“Very well, we shall see tomorrow, meanwhile, would you please dance with me lady Alanna?”
“No, she wouldn’t like to dance with you because she’s going to dance with me” interrupted Jon
“No me”
“No me!”
“That’s it I’m not dancing with anyone, you two sort this out, I’m going to bed” Alanna yelled as she walked out of the ballroom and headed for her room.
*~*~*~*
Alanna walked down the hallway heading for her room when she heard a familiar call from behind her.
“ALANNA!”
Alanna turned around to find Jon running up to her “what do you want now Jon?”
“I wanted to apologize about before,” said Jon “I’m sorry Alanna, I didn’t mean to embarrass you or get you angry”
“That’s alright Jon,” she said as she gave him a kiss and a hug
“Alanna, I need to talk to you about Theo, would you mind talking about it somewhere else?”
“Let’s go into my room”
Jon held Alanna as they walked into her room and sat on the window seat.
“Now, what did you want to tell me about Theo?” asked Alanna
“First of all Alanna, do you love me?” asked Jon
“If this has to do with my answer to your proposal then I’m not going to answer that”
“No, it has nothing to do with that, now answer me, do you?”
“Yes Jon I do”
“Alanna can you promise me something?” asked Jon
“It depends what it is”
“Can you promise me that you won’t dump me for Theo?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Well, when we were kids, Theo always managed to charm the ladies that I fancied away from me”
“Ok what’s this got to do with me?”
“He’s got his eye on you Alanna; he’s going to try to charm you into liking him”
“Well, you should have told him that it was never going to work”
“I did but he said that he was still going to try”
“Come on Jon, do you honestly think that I would fall for him that easily?”
“No but just promise me anyway”
“I promise to the gods that Theo is a creep and a idiot and I will never fall for him,” said Alanna
“Good” said Jon as he kissed her passionately and was surprised to find her kissing back just as passionately
“Now about tomorrow, don’t be over confident he’s very good at sword’s play, I want Theo to be jealous that I’ve got such a beautiful lady and he doesn’t so don’t be afraid to show off a little bit”
“Yes, yes ok, now if you’ll excuse me Jon I need my beauty sleep” Alanna joked as he gave her a goodnight kiss and left
*~*~*~*