Plot summary
Alanna of Trebond and her twin brother Thom may be twins, but are very different; Alanna is a tomboy who dreams of being a knight, and Thom wishes to become a sorcerer. Unfortunately, Alanna is shortly to be dispatched by their inattentive father to a temple in the City of the Gods, to learn to become a young lady—to her, a fate worse than death—whilst Thom is similarly destined for the royal palace, where he will train as a knight: his worst nightmare, as he believes that his destiny is to be a sorcerer.
To avoid their respective fates, Alanna and Thom hatch a plan; Alanna will disguise herself as a boy, call herself Alan, and take Thom's place as a knight. Thom will go to the City of the Gods, where he will be able to train as a sorcerer. After convincing their two caregivers, the healing woman Maude and the soldier Coram, that their plan will succeed, they set off.
At the palace, "Alan" trains as a page, meeting many friends, such as Raoul of Goldenlake, Gareth the Younger of Naxen, Francis of Nond, Alexander of Tirragen, and Prince Jonathan of Conté. She also makes an enemy during her first day in the palace: Ralon of Malven, who continuously bullies her. Rather than have her companions beat him, Alanna secretly trains with George Cooper, the King of the Court of the Rogue (i.e. King of the Thieves), a friendly thief and master of the capital city’s criminal underworld, until she can beat Ralon of Malven herself. When she does, he leaves Court, vowing revenge.
During Alanna's page years, a fever, the Sweating Sickness, spreads within the capital city, Corus, and nowhere else. This disease is different than all other known diseases in that it drains healers of their powers to heal, and even kills them. There is talk that it was sent by a great sorcerer. Alanna has a powerful healing Gift, but is frightened to use it, so she doesn't tell anyone that she can heal. Due to this refusal of her abilities, Francis of Nond, one of her friends, dies.
When Prince Jonathan falls ill, Alanna, recognizing herself as the only undrained healer in the city, tries to heal him. She succeeds, but only through evoking the Great Mother Goddess and fetching Jonathan from the place in between Life and Death. In doing so, she unknowingly reveals herself as a female to Sir Myles of Olau, one of her mentors. Shortly after, Jonathan's powerful sorcerer cousin, Duke Roger of Conté, comes to live at the palace and teach the Gifted pages and squires magic.
Alanna goes to George Cooper's mother, a healer, after she has her first monthly period. She tells George the truth about her gender. Jonathan also discovers the truth during Alanna's last year as a page, when she comes on a trip for the squires on the behest of Prince Jonathan to Persopolis, the only city of the Bazhir, a race of nomadic desert people.
All the squires were warned to stay away from the Black City, a city just within view of Persopolis, by Duke Roger. However, Jonathan decides to ride for the city to defeat whatever evil lies there, and Alanna goes with him to help him in his quest. The two arrive at the city to find it completely deserted; that is, until they enter the large, central temple. There they find the Ysandir, beings who will not age or starve as mortals will, but that can be killed. Jonathan and Alanna begin to fight, but things began to go awry when one of the Ysandir magically removes Alanna's clothes to reveal her true sex. Jonathan saves his shock for later, as Alanna and Jonathan must combine their powers to defeat the Ysandir. With the help of her magical sword, given to her earlier by Sir Myles, Alanna defeats the last of the Ysandir, and Jonathan and Alanna head back to Persopolis.
The book ends at an oasis near Persopolis, where Alanna suggested that perhaps Roger had wanted Jonathan to go to the city. Jonathan said that yes, he had, but only so that Jonathan could rid Tortall of a great evil. When Alanna pointed out that perhaps Roger had not expected him to come back alive, Jonathan refused to listen. After this, Jonathan chooses Alanna to be his squire when he is knighted that year. He says he does not care that she is a girl, because she is the best page regardless.
