Chapter Text
The first thing Alanna did after her Ordeal was sleep. The second thing she did was eat, and making herself presentable was the third. The fourth thing she did, however, was to go find Sir Myles, with Prince Jonathan and Sir Gareth in tow.
“Congratulations,” Myles informed her.
“Thank you,” Alanna said, then got to the point. “I need advice.”
Myles waited.
“Myles, Jon and Gary know, and you should too. I’m a girl. My real name is Alanna.”
"But I do know," Myles said quietly. "Thank you for telling me at last, but I have known for years."
Alanna blanched.
“And you weren’t obligated to tell my parents?” Jon asked. “I know what other role you play.”
Myles laughed. “If Alanna had shown any sign of being a threat, I would have had to say something. But a girl whose secret is revealed while saving your life, at a significant risk to her own? I want her somewhere she can do the same again, if it’s needed. That means not having her sent home in disgrace.”
“I thought we kept anyone else from realizing Alanna was a girl in the desert!” Jon said.
“The desert? No, I heard two voices when Alanna brought you back from the Sweating Sickness – a man and a woman. I suspected then, and I’ve watched ever since”, Myles said. “But I think we need to help Alanna with her more pressing issue?”
Alanna didn’t say anything, so Gary elbowed her. “Come on, Alanna, I want to see their faces.”
Alanna glared at her large friend, then turned back to Sir Myles. “I get knighted tonight. I never liked lying, and the reason I needed to is about to go away. I’ll have my shield. How do I tell everyone and … minimize how much everyone hates me?”
“I highly doubt everyone will hate you,” Myles said. Alanna looked skeptical, and he continued, “Remember, I’ve known for years and I didn’t hate you or tell on you. No, as long as the King doesn’t take it too badly, I think you’ll be all right. And how many times have you saved His Highness’ life?”
“At least three,” Jon said. “And I’ll remind people of that, if necessary.”
Myles nodded. “Now, you have several options. You could request an audience with Their Majesties now, before you’re officially presented with your shield. The knighting at sunset is largely a formality, and the real ceremony is the Ordeal, but there is some risk to telling them beforehand if you want the formality to happen.”
Alanna shook her head. “No, I think I want the formalities to happen first.”
“Then you probably don’t want to correct them on your true name during the ceremony, either. It’d be rather more public an initial reveal than I recommend, in any case.”
“Good point. But I don’t want to wait too long.”
“I think you’ll want to request a semi-private audience. Bring Jon, he was your knight-master and he’s the heir. I’m willing to come, if you wish. Gary, how long have you known?”
“A few months. Alanna only told me because she needed a second knight to instruct her. But I want to see everyone’s faces when they find out, and Their Majesties absolutely count.”
So they hashed out their plans. At some point that night, after Alanna had been knighted, Jon would ask his parents, Their Majesties, if they might have a small meeting with themselves, Alanna, Thom if he had arrived yet, Sir Myles, and Sir Gareth. (Duke Gareth or Duke Roger might also be interested, but Jon wouldn’t be the one to request their presence. He didn’t need to.) Jon would, of course, support his former squire.
And Myles would check, but he was fairly certain girls had never been banned from training for knighthood. Fathers had just stopped sending their daughters, until no one even thought of it as an option.
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“After the banquet ends, we’re meeting them in their private solar,” Jonathan whispered.
Alanna nodded, a pit forming in her stomach. She was glad the lie would be over soon, but the telling of it … that was scary. She’d confirmed with Thom that he’d brought their birth papers, which he could (and probably would) show to Their Majesties, and that he would be joining their meeting, whenever it was.
As the night drew to a close, she found Thom, chatting with Duke Roger, and signaled him to follow.
“For the meeting with Their Majesties?” Roger asked.
“Yes, your Grace,” Alanna said.
“His Majesty asked me to attend, so I’m going the same way,” Roger said, following. Alanna cursed silently. Roger wasn't a threat to her (in this world), but he was definitely not a good person and he didn’t know, which meant they couldn’t discuss the issue.
When they reached the solar, Alanna, Thom, and Roger all bowed, then Alanna knelt. Jon, Gary, and Myles were already in attendance.
“Sir Alan, you had something you wished to speak to us about?” King Roald asked.
“Alanna,” she said, afraid to look up.
“A woman’s name is not an explanation,” King Roald said.
“Alanna,” she started again, then gulped. “My name is Alanna. I’m sorry.”
“What is going on here?” King Roald demanded.
Thom spoke up. “You’ll have to excuse my sister, Your Majesties. "You see, she wanted to be a knight. I wanted to be a sorcerer. We traded places. I think I may have had the better part of the bargain; I didn't have to lie to people I liked and respected all these years. Here. I brought our birth papers. As she said, her name is Alanna. We're twins."
“Who knew of this?” King Roald … did not sound pleased. Alanna glanced up enough to see he was looking around the room, not at her.
Jon spoke first. “I knew. I’ve known since the Black City.”
“You knew when you chose her for your squire?”
Jon answered readily. “She was the best fencer at Court, and she’d saved my life twice by then. How could I not?”
“I knew,” Gary added.
“As did I,” Myles said. "I guessed when Alan—Alanna—cured Jonathan of the Sweating Sickness. And she came to me for advice this morning, on how to tell Your Majesties.”
“You especially, I would have expected to tell me,” King Roald said to Myles. Then the King looked at Alanna. "What have you to say for yourself?"
Alanna met his eyes squarely. "I hated lying to you," she admitted. "I wanted to tell; but I couldn't. Would you have let me win my shield if I had told the truth?" The King's silence was answer enough. "I've tried to be honest about everything else. And I can't regret what I did."
Silence stretched. Several of the men seemed to be thinking, hard.
Duke Roger was the first to speak, and his question was directed at Jon. “I assume this is why you didn’t wait for a ransom letter, when Alan – Alanna was kidnapped?”
“She’d saved my life a third time by then, your Grace. It would have been a poor repayment to let her gender be revealed on the wrong side of the river. So I – I took a calculated risk.” For the first time, Jon looked uncomfortable. That was the one time he’d actively done something he wasn’t supposed to do to hide Alanna’s secret, as far as she knew (there was no rule against lending clothing).
After another stretch of silence, Duke Gareth spoke next. “What do we do, going forward? Women can’t train to be knights, but anyone who passes their Ordeal is a knight of Tortall.”
“If I may, your Majesties, your Graces?” Myles began. King Roald nodded for him to proceed. “I’ve only had a few hours to look, but my recollection – and I haven’t found any evidence to the contrary – is that women were never barred from becoming knights. Fathers simply stopped sending their daughters as the Cult of the Gentle Mother gained popularity and we had enough peace that we didn’t strictly need their swords. It’s tradition, not law, that her training violated.”
“And she lied,” Duke Roger pointed out.
“And she lied to train,” Sir Myles admitted. “Due to my, ah, other services to the Crown I am perhaps less concerned about lies in the service of a higher goal than most.”
Alanna wondered what those other services might be. Jon seemed to know, and since both Dukes nodded at this, she assumed they knew too.
“Might I make a suggestion?” Jon asked. His father nodded. “If women were never banned from seeking knighthood, we could perhaps announce that fact? I see no reason for Sir Alanna to remain the only lady knight, and then we would have one less problem to address.”
“You see no reason – what do you mean? Explain.”
“We used to have lady knights. I looked up that history after the Black City. Why shouldn’t we have them again? Alanna’s the best fencer at court, and I’d rather have her as a knight than not.”
“What father would let his daughter embrace such a lifestyle, and the risks to her honor?” Duke Gareth asked. “I assume your father was not aware of the switch, when he was alive,” he told the twins.
“He wasn’t,” Alanna and Thom said together. “We still looked alike when we were ten.”
King Roald sighed. “Sir Alanna. You – you’re still a knight. You won your shield. We will need to address the matter of your deception. For the time being, do not reveal it to anyone who is not already aware. You are dismissed.”
Alanna bowed her head, stood up from where she was still kneeling, and then bowed again, before leaving the room. She waited outside for a few moments, where she was quickly joined by Thom and Gary. “Jon will probably be a while,” Gary told her. “Being the Heir, and taking you as his squire anyways.”
Alanna snorted. “I bet. Maybe they’ll decide to punish me by sending me away from court for a while?”
Thom laughed. “Well, if you’re away from court anyways but still a knight, you’ll have plenty of time for adventures, won’t you?”
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Jon’s room was quiet when Alanna rose in the morning. She wasn’t sure if he was asleep, or if he hadn’t returned last night.
Alanna and Thom were eating lunch the next day when Jon found them. “So, Alanna, marry me?” he asked.
“Did your parents make you ask, or are you fool enough to actually want to marry me?” Alanna asked in return.
“Both.” Jon shrugged. “Mind if I join you?”
“Go ahead. And I’m not ready to make decisions about marriage.”
“No, you’ve got to go on all your adventures first,” Thom said. “Wouldn’t I have to get pushy about her honor as Lord of Trebond to make you marry her, anyways?”
“Normally, yes,” Jon admitted. “And technically they didn’t make me marry her. They just made me ask earlier than I would have.” He turned towards Alanna. “I would have waited until you’d had an adventure or three.”
“If you’re still fool enough to want to when I’ve had an adventure or three, ask me again then,” Alanna informed him. “Or you could marry for the good of Tortall, like you’re supposed to. Being Queen sounds terrible, thanks.”
“Ouch.”
“So, what happens next?” Thom asked.
“They’re going to ban Sir Alanna from the palace for six months over the lie. They’re not going to declare that women are welcome to train for knighthood, but the punishment is solely about the lie. Anyone who can read between the lines of an announcement should be able to figure out that if they send a daughter here honestly, she won’t be turned away.”
Alanna shrugged. “Fine by me. And the people who knew, but didn’t tell?”
“Officially, nothing. I’m apparently in regular parental trouble, but not royal trouble. Myles managed to justify his secret-keeping as part of keeping me safe since you keep saving my life, Gary can’t be in more trouble than me because I knew longer, and like Thom said, he didn’t have to lie. Oh, and I shouldn’t take the next girl as my squire, if one ever shows up. Not that I was going to.”
Alanna shoved him. “No, you should not. So, when does my ban start?”
“I think they’re announcing it tonight at dinner. You should be there for the announcement, and you’ll have a few days to pack before you need to be out. No banquets while you’re packing, though.”