Suggestions about the next character welcomed.

20 Truths About Alanna

1. She doesn't have the near-perfect memory for spells that her twin has, but she remembers her mother's face in perfect detail. She knows that it's impossible for her to have caught more than a glimpse of the woman who died bearing them, but she likes to think that perhaps the Great Mother is allowing her earthly mother to get through to her from—wherever.

2. She loves her father until he hits Thom for refusing to train with Coram. When she sees the bruise on her brother's cheek something in her snaps and she hisses, "I hate you."

3. Yes, she knows she looks like her mother. Yes, she knows it hurt him more than any other thing could when she spat out those words. No, she doesn't care.

4. She and Thom aren't so close because they're twins—she's known plenty of twins who hate each other—but because there was no one else to fill the gap their parents left them with.

5. She'll never admit it, but Coram was her first crush.

6. Gary was her second.

7. She stops being afraid of spiders after she meets Duke Roger. Somehow, she knows that the handsome man with the smiling eyes is far more dangerous than an ugly bug. (This, however, does not mean she wants to see, touch, or experience the insect in any way.)

8. It made her feel warm inside when she realized her friends beat up Ralon for her. (Despite hating the thought that they might think her too weak to defend herself, she'd never really had that many people who cared enough to defend her before.)

9. When she thinks of the day she killed Duke Roger, (the first time), all she can remember is the fact that, for one agonizing second, everyone at court had been gawking at her chest. She still blushes when she thinks about it.

10. She doesn't realize Jon loves her—really loves her—until he offers to marry her after meeting Thayet. She realizes George loves her the moment he tells her so. Perhaps that should have told her something when she was struggling between the two.

11. She's been asked whether Coram or Myles is her real father. She hasn't figured out the answer yet.

12. It was never a question what her firstborn would be named.

13. After she became Lady of Pirates Swoop, she started going out into her fief in a peasant dress and a shawl to cover up her hair. She starts carrying a knife after some drunk tries to smash her head in for her purse. George almost dies laughing when she grumbles about the fact that she's faced monsters, (human and immortal), and yet she was almost killed by a mortal lout who was at least three feet lying down. Then, he starts sending his people to shadow his wife when she goes out to meet her people.

14. Raoul and Gary turn beat red after she loses her temper at their hesitance and yells at them to "take of their bloody shirts already, she's already seen them naked before, and she'll be damned if she lets her friends die because they're too embarrassed to let her see them naked." They strip anyway.

15. She still cries when she thinks about Faithful—but maybe she'll get another cat. Someday.

16. Once, during their lovemaking, George calls her "Kitten." When Alan and Alianne are born nine months later, Alanna can't quite explain why she expected them to have Liam Ironarm's eyes and features.

17. She loves George with all her heart, but sometimes she catches Jonathan watching her and can't help wondering if the wistful look in his eyes is mirrored in hers.

18. Every year, on that one special day, Alanna visits the palace healers and assists their always overworked staff in remembrance of the quiet boy she didn't save when she was a page.

19. She still hates Duke Roger with all her heart—but whenever she remembers Alex, all she feels is sadness. He'd basically gotten her through Mathematics, and once, she caught him quietly telling a rude Squire, (this was when they were all pages), that he really didn't like people making crass insinuations about his friends.

20. People ask her what she would change if she had a chance to relive the past, and Alanna can never quite answer. She wishes she'd saved Francis, but then she might not have had the energy to save Jonathan. She'd save Liam—but then Roger would have won. Once, she almost says that she wishes she'd built a better relationship with Aly, but that would be selfish, for her daughter would never have found her mate, her home, and her calling if she'd been happy at home. She settles for saying that she'd have gone to a private saloon to get her ear-bobs. Thayet hasn't stopped teasing her about them yet.