Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce Page B

the end of the well, drawing nearer and nearer, was the room they had left so long before. Slowly the violet fire ebbed from Alanna’s body. By the time they were in Jon’s bedchamber, her skin was filled with nothing but Alanna—much to her relief.
    â€œThank you,” the man in him said. He released herhand. She was Alan the page, sitting on the bed beside Prince Jonathan. His eyes were clear. He sighed and closed them. “It’s good to be back,” he whispered, and slept.
    Swaying, Alanna stood. Myles finally dared to come close to her. He had watched the two boys burn with a steadily brighter purple light. He had heard a man’s voice and a woman’s voice coming from Jonathan and Alan. It was something he could never forget.
    â€œAlan?”
    She turned. “He’s all right,” she murmured, stumbling. “He’ll sleep—” Her bones ached. Her head throbbed, and she could barely stand. “Myles?” she gasped, and fell to the floor in a dead faint.

5
THE SECOND YEAR
    B ECAUSE SHE SLEPT FOR THREE DAYS, A LANNA avoided most of the questions about her part in Jonathan’s cure. When asked about it later, she gave all the credit to Sir Myles. Whenever the knight tried to discuss what had happened that night, Alanna always changed the subject. She knew Myles watched her, but she said nothing, knowing it would only bring the whole discussion up again.
    Prince Jonathan also watched her. Yet he never spoke of that night. The less said about the whole thing, the happier Alanna felt. She wondered sometimesif Jonathan even remembered the place between Life and Death. It was possible that he didn’t—and he never brought the subject up.
    The chilly winter turned at last into spring. Alanna unpacked her light clothing once again. She dressed one morning in a fever of excitement. It was the day the pages were to go on the long-promised trip to Port Caynn, and Alanna was barely able to hold still. Suddenly she froze before her long mirror. Watching the glass closely, she bounced up and down.
    Her chest moved. It wasn’t much, but she had definitely jiggled. Over the winter her breasts had gotten larger.
    â€œCoram!” she yelled, her eyes stinging with tears of fury.
    The man stumbled into her bedchamber, bleary-eyed. “What is it now?” he said with a yawn.
    Alanna stepped behind her dressing screen, tearing off her shirt. “Get to the healers, quick, and find some bandage for me—yards of it. Make any excuse you like, but get it!”
    The puzzled Coram returned within minutes and shoved a bundle of white linen over the top of the screen. Alanna grabbed it and wrapped it tight around her chest.
    â€œYe’re turnin’ into a woman, aren’t ye?” he asked from the other side of the screen.
    â€œNo!” she exclaimed.
    â€œLass, it’s hardly somethin’ ye c’n change. Ye’re born with it—”
    Alanna stepped from behind the screen. Her eyes were red and swollen. If she had been crying, Coram knew better than to mention it. “Maybe I was born that way, but I don’t have to put up with it!”
    He looked at her with alarm. “Lass, ye’ve got to accept who ye are,” he protested. “Ye can be a woman and still be a warrior.”
    â€œI hate it!” she yelled, losing her temper. “People will think I’m soft and silly!”
    â€œYe’re hardly soft,” he replied sharply. “And th’ only time ye’re silly is when we talk like this.”
    Alanna took deep breaths. “I’m going to finish what I set out to do,” she informed him quietly.
    He put a hand on her shoulder. “Alanna, child, ye’ll be happy only when ye learn t’ live with who ye are.” She had no answer for this, but he didn’t expect one. “I’ll pick up more bandagin’ when I go down t’ the city today,” he said. “Get