A/N: This is an Alanna/Liam little ficlet, which I don't believe is a very
common pairing. It's basically Lioness Rampant from Liam's POV. I'm
unsure how I'm going to do the ending yet (seeing as the main character
dies.), so any suggestions will be very welcome. Along with all other
comments you might have, of course. Enjoy!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I didn't see her walk into the common room. I hadn't even known that she was anywhere near here, until I saw her sitting alone in the corner, but I knew who she was. There aren't many women dressed like a man with that color hair roaming through Maren. Even the people who despised her for who she was and what she had done held her in awe. In time, I was sure everyone would look up to and admire her, because she had started the changed that was bound to come sooner or later.
And she was sitting in the Wandering Bard, across the room from me, all alone.
I watched her for a while, unsure if she would welcome an intrusion as she ate. But after Windfeld had finished talking to her, I called a maid over.
"Give the lady in the corner a glass of wine." I explained, "Tell her that us redheads should sit together for safety's sake, and that she should join me when she's done."
The maid nodded, a small smile on her face as she made her way across the room to where Lady Knight Alanna of Trebond and Olau sat. The maid whispered something to Lady Alanna, and they both looked at me. I picked up my glass and smiled, nodding my head towards her. She was as short as I'd heard she was, but muscled and strong. She wore a plain shirt and breeches with her sword at her side, prepared incase she needed it. Flame colored hair fell past her shoulders, around a face that had learned to be wary of strangers. Violet eyes, her most shocking and yet attractive feature, watched me as she drank. She didn't move, but her eyes were asking me to come over. I wondered if the famous, strong Lady Knight was unsure of how to approach a man she didn't know.
I grinned, and stood up. Her eyes were still watching me as I stopped in front of her table,
"Liam." I introduced myself, holding out a hand, "And you're Alanna the Lioness, from Tortall." She returned my firm grip; her palm was warm and callused like my own. "May I join you?" I asked, sitting down as she nodded, "In Berat long?"
The maid brought more fruit and wine over, and Alanna filled her glass before replying,
"Not for longer than I can help." She filled my glass too, "I'd forgotten how noisy cities are. I've been with the Bazhir."
"So I heard. It took some asking to find out what happened to you after you killed the Conte Duke."
She frowned, "You make it a habit to follow my doings?" she asked, obviously disconcerted by the idea.
"People like you change the world; "I nodded, "a smart man keeps track of such folk. It was a great thing, killing your King's nephew and proving him a traitor. Duke Roger was a powerful man."
Alanna looked away from me, a haunted look washing over her face. "He deserved to die. He tried to murder the Queen."
"It bothers you still?" I tried to meet her eyes, hoping she would see that I understood. True, I had never accomplished what she had, but I knew that she couldn't have enjoyed killing him, or the way people would now treat her because of it. I had felt the same way before.
"Sometimes." Alanna replied, "Everyone admired him. It all happened at once: me finding what he had planned; him revealing that I'm a girl in front of the whole court. I wanted to have time for people to get used to who I really am! Then I killed him. I don't even like killing. So I wonder, sometimes."
"Don't fret." I squeezed her hand, "He was rotten clean through - take my word for it."
"You knew him?" she looked up, surprised. Her violet eyes startled me, like they had every time I saw them. It was such a rare color for eyes. Not that my own eyes were too common either. Their shade of green would change to reflect my mood. The true eyes of a dragon, many said.
I nodded, remembering all of my past encounters with Roger of Conte. "We met - a long time ago."
"How? Why did you hate him? I mean, it seems as if you hated him. Everyone I knew liked him, nearly everyone." She sat up eagerly, "It isn't fair. You know everything about me."
I chuckled, "I'll tell you some day, kitten - if you're very good."
She blushed, and drew back and my smile widened. Obviously I was right. She was uncomfortable around men that she wasn't working with, men who thought of her as a woman. It surprised me, because in every other way she seemed confident and self-assured, but my harmless bit of flirting has thrown her off.
"You're flirting with me." She said sternly, echoing my thoughts.
"Fun, isn't it?" I grinned.
"Who are you? What do you do?" Alanna demanded, "Fair's fair!"
Just then, there was a commotion outside. She winced as someone sang, "Such sights the princes never did see/And they honor they beggar to this day."
"That's my friend Coram." She rose, "If I don't stop him, he'll sing the verse with the merchants and the fishwives, and we'll all be in for it."
Coram? So she wasn't traveling alone. I wondered who this man was, that she would travel with him - and if I should be jealous of him.
"I know the song." I grinned, and then kissed her hand, "You'll see me again - my word on it."
~*~*~*~*~*~
After Alanna left I only sat in the Common Room for a little while before heading back up to my room. I sat there, listening to the soft murmur of the guests partying below me, watching the fire crackle softly beside me, and thinking about the Lady Knight. She was different to what I had expected. True, she looked just like she had been described to me, but after hearing so many different versions of her, I hadn't known what to expect. Some said she was going against the Gods by doing a man's job, that she had no shame and was no better than a whore. Those were the type of people who thought she had no right to kill the Duke of Conte like that. Others found her amazing, and astonishing, and someone to fear. They said she was brave and powerful with any weapon, but reckless and wild, not afraid to kill. But she really wasn't any of that. She obviously hadn't wanted to kill Duke Roger, and didn't enjoy killing at all. Neither did she like the attention she was getting by being the first lady knight. She had just wanted to follow her dreams and do what everyone else said was the impossible. And she had succeeded.
I hadn't told her anything about me. For all I knew she thought I was just another traveler in the inn, a commoner who had taken an interest in her. Well, I was a traveler and a commoner, but I was along a Shang warrior, who knew women who could fight as well as any man, if not better. I didn't have much to do with knights, especially not Tortallian ones, and she intrigued me. I wondered what she'd think of me once she knew exactly who I was.
I hadn't just been flirting with her. I did want to see her again. Not just as another warrior to challenge. But not just as a woman that I was interested in either. It was rare that a woman possessing such little beauty - for she was no beauty for all that she was attractive - could fascinate me so.
It was late by then, and I was tired. The fire was dying down and the noise from downstairs had softened. I stood up and glanced out my window, prepared to go to bed. I could see the stables and the courtyard from my room, and I noticed a horse being led out of the stables. It was a beautiful white mare whose coat shone in the moonlight that bathed the courtyard. And the person leading her was none other than Alanna the Lioness.
I instantly wondered what she was doing, riding off so late. She didn't have any of her bags with her, and the man she was traveling with, whoever he was, wasn't there either, so I assumed she would be coming back. But what could she possibly be doing in the middle of the night?
I was wide-awake by then, and not at all averse to a midnight ride of my own. Once I'd made up my mind to follow her, I was gone; headed in the same direction she was through the fog, riding my gray, Drifter. I didn't hurry to catch up with her, not wanting her to know I was following her yet. In fact, I couldn't see the lady knight at all, so it was possible that she was nowhere near here. But I was quite positive that she was not too far in front of me, on this same path.
It was a long ride, but I've always enjoyed riding by myself. And I wasn't worried about the dangers if riding through a dark forest at night. I could take care of myself. So, I was certain, could Lady Alanna. I could hear her talking up ahead, and I slowed down. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but it sounded as if she was talking to herself, or perhaps the horse. Curious, I rode on and saw her horse standing there, Alanna's hand on the reins and her face turned away. She was covered in mud, obviously having fallen off her horse while she slept, and I couldn't help but grin.
"Nice morning for a ride." I called to her, "A little wet though."
Her face was bright red as she turned to face me.
"I don't normally do this, you know." She snapped.
"Not for a moment did I think it." I replied politely, still grinning.
"Why are you here, anyway?" she obviously wasn't going to bother to be polite. "It's a long way for a morning ride!"
"I saw you go out. When you didn't come back, I thought I'd check." I couldn't resist teasing her a little. "Oh, don't think I figured you'd run out on Windfeld's bill. You left you're man and your bags, so I knew it wouldn't be that."
"How dare -" she cried angrily.
"Don't like to be teased, is that it?" I took pity on the cold, muddy knight, and said, "Hitch the mare to a lead and ride double with me. I'll keep you a-horse."
"I'll be fine!" she snapped, still angry with me.
If she was going to be stubborn, I would have to take control. I dismounted sighing.
"Didn't your mamma teach you to speak polite to strangers on the road? I could be a sorcerer and turn into a mouse." I wondered what she'd think of that idea, as I put her horse onto a lead with mine.
"You're the Shang Dragon. You won't turn me into anything." She retorted. Obviously Windfeld had told her who I was. I wondered how many Shang warriors she knew, if any.
"Don't worry about it." I sad cheerfully, "I pull my breeches on one leg at a time, same as you." I wrapped blanket around her and tossed he up into the saddle. She was as light as a feather. "There now. You're tired, wet and grumpy - in no condition to ride. I fell asleep once, Alanna the Lioness. A tree knocked me from my saddle into the ditch, right in front of the men I was to command. Bless their hearts, they didn't tease me about it - not much." I mounted behind her and she settled in my arms, already half asleep.
"Go to sleep, kitten." I murmured, "You're alright now."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was morning by the time we arrived back at the inn. She was asleep, so I left the horsed to the stable boys and carried her up to her room. As I was leaving an older man, tired and angry, blocked my path.
"I suppose ye've excellent reasons for bein' in there, all of which ye'll tell me without delay."
I couldn't help but grin as I glanced at the newcomer. He was in his forties and by his accent I gathered that he was a commoner like me. By his clothing and protective stance, he was a man-at-arms. The man Alanna was traveling with.
"You must be Coram." I replied, remembering his name from last night.
"I am. That tells me nothin' about ye." He snarled.
"It seems to me the young lady can take of herself." I replied good- naturedly.
"I suppose ye had that from her." snapped Coram, "She's wrong. Is there someone in the city who'll speak for ye?"
I was tired of this game by now. "The Shang Dragon needs nobody to speak for him. I understand your wanting to protect her, but I don't like threats."
Coram frowned. "I'm t'belive ye're Liam Ironarm?"
"Come downstairs, before she hears you." I sighed, realizing just how protective her man-at-arms was "Windfeld knows me."
When the innkeeper did indeed vouch for me, Coram changed immediately and invited me to share his meal. I remembered last night if I had wondered if the man she was traveling with was her lover, and if I should be jealous. I could see now that he was more of a father figure, in this mind at least, concerned about her well being to a point of being overprotective.
"Does she know?" Coram asked abruptly. "Lady Alanna?"
"She knows." I smiled.
"No doubt she's in a dither tryin' to decide what she wants to ask ye first." Coram watched me closely. "What's the liked of ye want with Alanna of Trebond?"
I had been wondering when this question would come. Shrugging casually, I replied, "She's a pretty thing - different and full of fight. I never heard that she avoids men."
I wondered what Coram would make of that last comment. To my surprise he flushed. "She's still not a woman without all virtue." He replied quickly.
"She's too good a warrior to have a bad reputation as a woman. At least no one will call her bad when she might hear." I chuckled.
"I'd think the Shang Dragon had had pick of pretty ladies." growled Coram, still determined to keep me away from his master - or in this case, mistress.
I stood up, tired of the never-ending battle. I highly doubted I would win him over anytime soon. I also doubted that Alanna would care too much about her protective manservant's opinion of me. "Maybe. But she's not just that, is she? She's as known in her way as I am in mine." I rested a hand on his arm, attempting to reassure him. "I'm not just a village lad wanting to boast of having the Lioness's pelt in my hut, Master Smythesson (A/N: How did he know his last name?). I like her. I'd probably like you, if you stopped glumping about my being in her room."
I threw a coin onto the table for the food I had eaten and left the Common Room.
'Trying to warn me away, Coram Smythesson? I won't be distracted that easily.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I didn't return to Alanna's rooms later to see if she had awoken, like I had originally planned. In fact, I stayed away for the rest of the day. Coram might not want to kill me anymore, but he didn't want me around either, and I didn't want to push my luck. I could talk to Lady Alanna later.
Besides, I wasn't in Berat just to see her, was I?
It appeared the whole city had heard the news; Lady Alanna of Trebond and Olau, the first and only female knight, was at the Wandering Bard. In the market people gossiped, wondering if they would be able to catch a glimpse of her. Even those that criticized and looked down on the Lioness eagerly wanted to see her. I couldn't even get away from talk of her at an old friend's house where I spent the afternoon.
I headed back to the inn a little after sunset. A few streets away from the inn, I heard noise up ahead. Nine men, dressed all in black where attacking some innocent townspeople. There were obviously Berat rouges, out for money. They didn't seem to be succeeding, though, because the two they had attacked were fighting back.
It was Alanna and Coram.
I highly doubted they needed my help to get out of this mess, but they were outnumbered by far. Coram's thigh was bleeding, making it hard for him to defend himself and Alanna - the infamous Alanna - had been disarmed and was being held by one of the rouges while her arm bled, and another rouge advanced on her with his knife ready.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I didn't see her walk into the common room. I hadn't even known that she was anywhere near here, until I saw her sitting alone in the corner, but I knew who she was. There aren't many women dressed like a man with that color hair roaming through Maren. Even the people who despised her for who she was and what she had done held her in awe. In time, I was sure everyone would look up to and admire her, because she had started the changed that was bound to come sooner or later.
And she was sitting in the Wandering Bard, across the room from me, all alone.
I watched her for a while, unsure if she would welcome an intrusion as she ate. But after Windfeld had finished talking to her, I called a maid over.
"Give the lady in the corner a glass of wine." I explained, "Tell her that us redheads should sit together for safety's sake, and that she should join me when she's done."
The maid nodded, a small smile on her face as she made her way across the room to where Lady Knight Alanna of Trebond and Olau sat. The maid whispered something to Lady Alanna, and they both looked at me. I picked up my glass and smiled, nodding my head towards her. She was as short as I'd heard she was, but muscled and strong. She wore a plain shirt and breeches with her sword at her side, prepared incase she needed it. Flame colored hair fell past her shoulders, around a face that had learned to be wary of strangers. Violet eyes, her most shocking and yet attractive feature, watched me as she drank. She didn't move, but her eyes were asking me to come over. I wondered if the famous, strong Lady Knight was unsure of how to approach a man she didn't know.
I grinned, and stood up. Her eyes were still watching me as I stopped in front of her table,
"Liam." I introduced myself, holding out a hand, "And you're Alanna the Lioness, from Tortall." She returned my firm grip; her palm was warm and callused like my own. "May I join you?" I asked, sitting down as she nodded, "In Berat long?"
The maid brought more fruit and wine over, and Alanna filled her glass before replying,
"Not for longer than I can help." She filled my glass too, "I'd forgotten how noisy cities are. I've been with the Bazhir."
"So I heard. It took some asking to find out what happened to you after you killed the Conte Duke."
She frowned, "You make it a habit to follow my doings?" she asked, obviously disconcerted by the idea.
"People like you change the world; "I nodded, "a smart man keeps track of such folk. It was a great thing, killing your King's nephew and proving him a traitor. Duke Roger was a powerful man."
Alanna looked away from me, a haunted look washing over her face. "He deserved to die. He tried to murder the Queen."
"It bothers you still?" I tried to meet her eyes, hoping she would see that I understood. True, I had never accomplished what she had, but I knew that she couldn't have enjoyed killing him, or the way people would now treat her because of it. I had felt the same way before.
"Sometimes." Alanna replied, "Everyone admired him. It all happened at once: me finding what he had planned; him revealing that I'm a girl in front of the whole court. I wanted to have time for people to get used to who I really am! Then I killed him. I don't even like killing. So I wonder, sometimes."
"Don't fret." I squeezed her hand, "He was rotten clean through - take my word for it."
"You knew him?" she looked up, surprised. Her violet eyes startled me, like they had every time I saw them. It was such a rare color for eyes. Not that my own eyes were too common either. Their shade of green would change to reflect my mood. The true eyes of a dragon, many said.
I nodded, remembering all of my past encounters with Roger of Conte. "We met - a long time ago."
"How? Why did you hate him? I mean, it seems as if you hated him. Everyone I knew liked him, nearly everyone." She sat up eagerly, "It isn't fair. You know everything about me."
I chuckled, "I'll tell you some day, kitten - if you're very good."
She blushed, and drew back and my smile widened. Obviously I was right. She was uncomfortable around men that she wasn't working with, men who thought of her as a woman. It surprised me, because in every other way she seemed confident and self-assured, but my harmless bit of flirting has thrown her off.
"You're flirting with me." She said sternly, echoing my thoughts.
"Fun, isn't it?" I grinned.
"Who are you? What do you do?" Alanna demanded, "Fair's fair!"
Just then, there was a commotion outside. She winced as someone sang, "Such sights the princes never did see/And they honor they beggar to this day."
"That's my friend Coram." She rose, "If I don't stop him, he'll sing the verse with the merchants and the fishwives, and we'll all be in for it."
Coram? So she wasn't traveling alone. I wondered who this man was, that she would travel with him - and if I should be jealous of him.
"I know the song." I grinned, and then kissed her hand, "You'll see me again - my word on it."
~*~*~*~*~*~
After Alanna left I only sat in the Common Room for a little while before heading back up to my room. I sat there, listening to the soft murmur of the guests partying below me, watching the fire crackle softly beside me, and thinking about the Lady Knight. She was different to what I had expected. True, she looked just like she had been described to me, but after hearing so many different versions of her, I hadn't known what to expect. Some said she was going against the Gods by doing a man's job, that she had no shame and was no better than a whore. Those were the type of people who thought she had no right to kill the Duke of Conte like that. Others found her amazing, and astonishing, and someone to fear. They said she was brave and powerful with any weapon, but reckless and wild, not afraid to kill. But she really wasn't any of that. She obviously hadn't wanted to kill Duke Roger, and didn't enjoy killing at all. Neither did she like the attention she was getting by being the first lady knight. She had just wanted to follow her dreams and do what everyone else said was the impossible. And she had succeeded.
I hadn't told her anything about me. For all I knew she thought I was just another traveler in the inn, a commoner who had taken an interest in her. Well, I was a traveler and a commoner, but I was along a Shang warrior, who knew women who could fight as well as any man, if not better. I didn't have much to do with knights, especially not Tortallian ones, and she intrigued me. I wondered what she'd think of me once she knew exactly who I was.
I hadn't just been flirting with her. I did want to see her again. Not just as another warrior to challenge. But not just as a woman that I was interested in either. It was rare that a woman possessing such little beauty - for she was no beauty for all that she was attractive - could fascinate me so.
It was late by then, and I was tired. The fire was dying down and the noise from downstairs had softened. I stood up and glanced out my window, prepared to go to bed. I could see the stables and the courtyard from my room, and I noticed a horse being led out of the stables. It was a beautiful white mare whose coat shone in the moonlight that bathed the courtyard. And the person leading her was none other than Alanna the Lioness.
I instantly wondered what she was doing, riding off so late. She didn't have any of her bags with her, and the man she was traveling with, whoever he was, wasn't there either, so I assumed she would be coming back. But what could she possibly be doing in the middle of the night?
I was wide-awake by then, and not at all averse to a midnight ride of my own. Once I'd made up my mind to follow her, I was gone; headed in the same direction she was through the fog, riding my gray, Drifter. I didn't hurry to catch up with her, not wanting her to know I was following her yet. In fact, I couldn't see the lady knight at all, so it was possible that she was nowhere near here. But I was quite positive that she was not too far in front of me, on this same path.
It was a long ride, but I've always enjoyed riding by myself. And I wasn't worried about the dangers if riding through a dark forest at night. I could take care of myself. So, I was certain, could Lady Alanna. I could hear her talking up ahead, and I slowed down. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but it sounded as if she was talking to herself, or perhaps the horse. Curious, I rode on and saw her horse standing there, Alanna's hand on the reins and her face turned away. She was covered in mud, obviously having fallen off her horse while she slept, and I couldn't help but grin.
"Nice morning for a ride." I called to her, "A little wet though."
Her face was bright red as she turned to face me.
"I don't normally do this, you know." She snapped.
"Not for a moment did I think it." I replied politely, still grinning.
"Why are you here, anyway?" she obviously wasn't going to bother to be polite. "It's a long way for a morning ride!"
"I saw you go out. When you didn't come back, I thought I'd check." I couldn't resist teasing her a little. "Oh, don't think I figured you'd run out on Windfeld's bill. You left you're man and your bags, so I knew it wouldn't be that."
"How dare -" she cried angrily.
"Don't like to be teased, is that it?" I took pity on the cold, muddy knight, and said, "Hitch the mare to a lead and ride double with me. I'll keep you a-horse."
"I'll be fine!" she snapped, still angry with me.
If she was going to be stubborn, I would have to take control. I dismounted sighing.
"Didn't your mamma teach you to speak polite to strangers on the road? I could be a sorcerer and turn into a mouse." I wondered what she'd think of that idea, as I put her horse onto a lead with mine.
"You're the Shang Dragon. You won't turn me into anything." She retorted. Obviously Windfeld had told her who I was. I wondered how many Shang warriors she knew, if any.
"Don't worry about it." I sad cheerfully, "I pull my breeches on one leg at a time, same as you." I wrapped blanket around her and tossed he up into the saddle. She was as light as a feather. "There now. You're tired, wet and grumpy - in no condition to ride. I fell asleep once, Alanna the Lioness. A tree knocked me from my saddle into the ditch, right in front of the men I was to command. Bless their hearts, they didn't tease me about it - not much." I mounted behind her and she settled in my arms, already half asleep.
"Go to sleep, kitten." I murmured, "You're alright now."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was morning by the time we arrived back at the inn. She was asleep, so I left the horsed to the stable boys and carried her up to her room. As I was leaving an older man, tired and angry, blocked my path.
"I suppose ye've excellent reasons for bein' in there, all of which ye'll tell me without delay."
I couldn't help but grin as I glanced at the newcomer. He was in his forties and by his accent I gathered that he was a commoner like me. By his clothing and protective stance, he was a man-at-arms. The man Alanna was traveling with.
"You must be Coram." I replied, remembering his name from last night.
"I am. That tells me nothin' about ye." He snarled.
"It seems to me the young lady can take of herself." I replied good- naturedly.
"I suppose ye had that from her." snapped Coram, "She's wrong. Is there someone in the city who'll speak for ye?"
I was tired of this game by now. "The Shang Dragon needs nobody to speak for him. I understand your wanting to protect her, but I don't like threats."
Coram frowned. "I'm t'belive ye're Liam Ironarm?"
"Come downstairs, before she hears you." I sighed, realizing just how protective her man-at-arms was "Windfeld knows me."
When the innkeeper did indeed vouch for me, Coram changed immediately and invited me to share his meal. I remembered last night if I had wondered if the man she was traveling with was her lover, and if I should be jealous. I could see now that he was more of a father figure, in this mind at least, concerned about her well being to a point of being overprotective.
"Does she know?" Coram asked abruptly. "Lady Alanna?"
"She knows." I smiled.
"No doubt she's in a dither tryin' to decide what she wants to ask ye first." Coram watched me closely. "What's the liked of ye want with Alanna of Trebond?"
I had been wondering when this question would come. Shrugging casually, I replied, "She's a pretty thing - different and full of fight. I never heard that she avoids men."
I wondered what Coram would make of that last comment. To my surprise he flushed. "She's still not a woman without all virtue." He replied quickly.
"She's too good a warrior to have a bad reputation as a woman. At least no one will call her bad when she might hear." I chuckled.
"I'd think the Shang Dragon had had pick of pretty ladies." growled Coram, still determined to keep me away from his master - or in this case, mistress.
I stood up, tired of the never-ending battle. I highly doubted I would win him over anytime soon. I also doubted that Alanna would care too much about her protective manservant's opinion of me. "Maybe. But she's not just that, is she? She's as known in her way as I am in mine." I rested a hand on his arm, attempting to reassure him. "I'm not just a village lad wanting to boast of having the Lioness's pelt in my hut, Master Smythesson (A/N: How did he know his last name?). I like her. I'd probably like you, if you stopped glumping about my being in her room."
I threw a coin onto the table for the food I had eaten and left the Common Room.
'Trying to warn me away, Coram Smythesson? I won't be distracted that easily.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I didn't return to Alanna's rooms later to see if she had awoken, like I had originally planned. In fact, I stayed away for the rest of the day. Coram might not want to kill me anymore, but he didn't want me around either, and I didn't want to push my luck. I could talk to Lady Alanna later.
Besides, I wasn't in Berat just to see her, was I?
It appeared the whole city had heard the news; Lady Alanna of Trebond and Olau, the first and only female knight, was at the Wandering Bard. In the market people gossiped, wondering if they would be able to catch a glimpse of her. Even those that criticized and looked down on the Lioness eagerly wanted to see her. I couldn't even get away from talk of her at an old friend's house where I spent the afternoon.
I headed back to the inn a little after sunset. A few streets away from the inn, I heard noise up ahead. Nine men, dressed all in black where attacking some innocent townspeople. There were obviously Berat rouges, out for money. They didn't seem to be succeeding, though, because the two they had attacked were fighting back.
It was Alanna and Coram.
I highly doubted they needed my help to get out of this mess, but they were outnumbered by far. Coram's thigh was bleeding, making it hard for him to defend himself and Alanna - the infamous Alanna - had been disarmed and was being held by one of the rouges while her arm bled, and another rouge advanced on her with his knife ready.