"Kel, can I talk to you later, in private?" Dom asked nervously as he played with his food. They where sitting in the mess hall at Steadfast surrounded by all of her friends.
"Sure, Dom. We'll go to my room when we're done. But," her tone changed to a more motherly, strict voice, "for now, you need to quit playing with your food. And eat your vegetables." She snapped, noticing that the greens had been pushed into a corner, ignored. Dom shot it a nasty glare, then returned to the rest of his food. "I'm serious, Dom!" She told him.
He jutted out his lower lip, managing to look just like his meatheaded cousin. Everyone laughed, with the exception of Cleon, who was glaring at Dom as if he really would have enjoyed killing him at the moment. Cleon, though married, had never really gotten over Kel, and still hated Dom, who always flirted with her.
After lunch, Dom followed Kel to her rooms. "What was it you wanted to talk about?" She asked as she sank down onto a chair by the fire. He followed her suit and sat down. "Kel-" He was cut off by a pounding on the door. The door flew open and an excited looking Neal came through.
"Kel, Guess what?" Before he gave her a chance to answer, he shouted, "My beloved, my angel, has just written me!" His wife, Yuki, was in Corus, and Neal was always excited to get a letter from her.
He continued to jump around, then hugged them both before leaving to tell some of his other friends.
After Neal left, Kel went over and locked the door before turning back to Dom. "Now, what did you want to talk about?" She asked.
"Oh, that." He said, regaining his composure. "I just wanted to tell you that Raoul wanted you and Meathead to ride with us when we go to Scanra." He smiled easily.
She looked at him for a moment, surprised. Finally, she nodded her head and asked slowly, "Why couldn't you have told me this in front of everyone else?" She arched a brow.
"Oh, you know, figured it would be better not to have jealous knights. Or knight, I should say." Obviously she wasn't the only one who had noticed Cleon.
"Good point. He needs to learn that I am no longer his, and he has no right to act like that." Kel said.
"Yeah. I don't appreciate getting glares for speaking, thank you. I get enough of that from Meathead."
They continued to talk for a little while, until Kel finally said that she had to go practice for a little while. They both got up and left, Dom going to his room, Kel to the practice yards.
Dom sat on his bed, resting his head on his hands, and cursed himself for his weakness. Why hadn't he told her how he felt? Instead he'd told her that. While it was true, that wasn't what he'd wanted to talk to her about.
He continued to sit like that for a few hours, thinking, until a gong rang outside. The signal that they needed to leave, right away. He jumped up and rushed to Lord Raoul's rooms. The other Sergeants and commanding knights where already there, along with Kel and Meathead, waiting for him.
"They are at the border already, destroying the towns and villages. We need to leave. As soon as possible." Raoul began. After a small while, he dismissed them to go get their stuff and saddle up; they rode out in an hour.
They had been riding for days to get to the border. There was a party of over a thousand, mostly the King's Own. There where a few Rider groups, along with many knights and other soldiers. Kel felt blessed that she was not in command of anyone. She thought Lord Raoul had something to do with that. He had been telling her lately that she was much too stressed, and he knew commanding was very stressful.
It felt nice to travel with Third Company, to joke with them and work with them. Especially a certain sergeant of the group. She knew she shouldn't think about stuff like that, for they where at war, but he got her mind off the troubles around her, for a small while, at least.
Neal was also a tension-easer of the group. He and Dom where always bickering back and forth, making all of the men laugh.
It was several days before they reached the border. There had been no fights, but they all knew what would soon be coming.
AN: I know, sucky ending. Hope everyone liked this! Well, you didn't have to like it, but you can suggest what I can do to make it better. I can take constructive criticism, but please, no flames!
