Kel hurried through the crowded campground as quickly as her sore legs could carry her. It had been a long day riding back to join the Progress, but she still had one last task before she could go to bed. Granted , it was a very desirable task. Raoul, her knight-master, had sent her to inform Domitan of Masbolle (one of the squad leaders), of their arrival and to arrange a meeting for tomorrow morning.

It was late, but not so late that the message must wait until morning. Kel was delighted to deliver the message. She had long harbored a secret crush on Dom, and had missed his smiles and playful flirting.

"I hope he is happy to see me..." she thought to herself as she approached the tent.

Kel was surprised to see a light burning inside. Good, she wouldn't have to wake him. She pulled open the flap, expecting to find him reading or caring for his weapons. She called his name and looked around.

Dom was sitting up on his cot, candlelight illuminating his muscular chest and shimmering in his dark hair. Kel glanced away self-consciously, but not before noticing his rather red face.

"Kel!" He was definitely surprised to see her, but there was an odd note in his voice that made her feel like she shouldn't be there. Kel figured he was just embarrassed to be seen in this state of undress, and she continued with her message,

"We just got back from Corus. My lord wishes to speak with you in the morning, and would like me to collect any written reports."

When she glanced back at him, Dom was reaching for a pair of breeches laying discarded on the ground. Next to what was unmistakably a woman's corset.

Trying to grasp the horrible meaning of this, she looked up at Dom as he slowly disentangled himself from the blankets. That was a bad idea. Dom tried to block her view, but he wasn't careful enough to keep her from glimpsing the tousled blonde curls, elegant shoulders and enviably curving side of the girl sleeping on the far side of the cot. Kel felt her jaw drop. Shock and embarrassment welled up inside her.

"Mithros, Dom, I'm sorry, I didn't notice... I'll just go..."

But she didn't want to go. She wanted to scream, hit something, cry, tackle Dom and push the sleeping girl out into the night all at the same time. She wanted Dom to be alone and flirting with her, not anyone else.

Instead, he was stumbling to his desk. He shuffled through some papers and handed them to Kel.

"S'aright, Kel," he whispered. Then he winked and said, "See if you can get Raoul to save his meeting for the afternoon... as you can see, I'm..." he looked back towards his cot, "er, entertaining."

He grinned. She tried to smile but ended up with a lopsided grimace. Luckily it was dark.

"Right, um, well,g'night then."

"'Night, Kel."

And she found herself outside the tent. Her Yamani mask was in shreds; hurt filled every inch of her. How could he... after al those smiles, all that suggestive flirting... how! And why? He had never spoken of lovers before; he was a soldier, and that meant that he had to be single. Didn't it?

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind, and wandered off towards her and Raoul's tents.