Ch. 1: The Lady in the Forest Summary

As the story opens, Alanna of Trebond and her mare, Moonlight, are in the darkening forest running an errand for her friend, Myles of Olau. It is raining as Alanna rides. She hates getting cold and wet, but wants to make sure the 300 year old scroll Myles asked her to get for him doesn't get wet. A spider lands on Alanna's hand and she jumps; she hates spiders. Alanna reflects on the fact that she has been disguised as a boy for three years, a fact that the other squires with whom she trains don't know. She reflects on her training, at the hands of Coram, when she was a child in Trebond. She had wanted to become a warrior maiden. Coram had told Alanna that highborn ladies, like herself, go to convent...