Summary: My attempt at a GOOD AJ fic. Read and review, please. This is right after the WWRLAM fight. Thanks to Bo Bice's "Willing To Try" for inspiring me. The lyric where I drew my inspiration: "When its all said and done/And you tell me that you've had enough/And you're thinking of giving up on love/I'm still willing to try." What I will try to do is put a lyric from the song at the beginning of each chapter for you, to get a flavor of the song.
Chapter 1
"Here I go/Trying to write another chapter in my life/Driving down this lonely highway deep inside/And where I'm going I don't really know/But here I go/Tryin' hard not to leave too much life behind/Is there something out there that I'm trying to find" –Willing To Try, Bo Bice
Prince Jonathan of Conté lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had returned from the Great Southern Desert a few days before, but he still wasn't completely back. He had gone to the desert to ask his (former) lover, former squire, and (former) best friend Sir Alanna of Olau (née Trebond) to marry him.
Jonathan had known for a long time that Alanna didn't want to be tied down by children and marriage. She didn't want love. Alanna had made it very clear that she wanted to go on adventures. She had spent 8 long years masquerading as a boy to gain her status as a knight, and she was going to enjoy it.
Alanna had been Jonathan's squire. They had been through a lot together, and he was one of the first to know that "Alan of Trebond" was really Alanna. She had saved Jonathan from the Sweating Sickness, they had together rid the Bazhir's Black City of the Ysandir, and Alanna had saved Jonathan's mother's life.
Jonathan's own cousin, Duke Roger of Conté, had tried to kill Queen Lianne in his attempt to take the throne. Roger had failed in killing Jonathan with the Sweating Sickness. He then sent Jonathan to the Black City, trying to kill the only person who stood in his way to becoming the heir. Jonathan had loved Roger dearly… until Alanna exposed him for what he really was, and slain him.
The Prince sighed. How could he be so stupid? He knew Alanna was opposed to marriage. Still… he had hoped that she would admit to loving him and agree to marry him. Alanna had been his best friend… and now she was gone.
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Sir Alanna of Olau sat up with a start. Her tent was dark. She relaxed and lay back down. What had awoken her? She tried to remember…
Alanna suddenly longed to feel the warmth of another body in her bedroll. Her cat, Faithful, wasn't what she was looking for, either. She wanted a human body. And there had been one not long ago. Not long ago, Alanna had shared her bedroll with her lover and best friend, his royal highness Prince Jonathan of Conté, heir to the Tortallan throne. But she called him Jon, as all his friends did.
You miss him, Faithful remarked from beside her. Alanna glared at him with her famed violet eyes.
"I do not," she retorted stubbornly.
You are fooling nobody but yourself, Faithful told her.
"I do not miss that spoiled, arrogant man," Alanna informed the cat. "I'm glad he's gone!"
You love that "spoiled, arrogant man," Faithful replied. Stop pretending.
Faithful was starting to sound like Alanna's inner thoughts. Or maybe that was her inner thoughts. She was so tired she could barely tell.
"I can't go crawling back," she whispered to herself. "He would never take me."
Try him, Faithful suggested. Maybe he'll surprise you.
Author's Note- review, please! Looking back on this, I'm kind of in shock. It doesn't sound like my writing AT ALL. Chapter 2 soon!