Crown
Neal had a good feeling about today. The rut the weather had been stuck in for days had finally broken, he'd had a letter from Yuki last night with the supply train, there'd been eggs and bacon for breakfast, and-
Was that Merric skulking toward the training yard?
"Merric!" Neal yelled across the yard rather forcefully. He saw the younger knight freeze and slump guiltily, turning around to wave weakly. Neal strode over the grass toward him.
"Morning, Neal," Merric said, blanching a little at the sight of Neal's expression.
"I hope you weren't planning on training this morning, Merric. Because I'm fairly certain I told you to rest that shoulder for at least another week."
"Er, no," replied Merric, shifting from one foot to the other. "'Course not. I'm just going to oversee training."
"Without your sling?" Neal demanded.
"Ah, well, you see-"
"Your shoulder will never heal properly if you keep punishing it the way you do. It's not possible to just magic every serious wound away! Your body needs time to do its own healing. When you exert unnecessary force on your muscles you're just undoing all progress that's been made. That means you stay injured for longer, Merric!"
"Neal," Merric said, looking with wide eyes at something over Neal's shoulder.
"And how do you think I feel when you completely disregard everything I tell you? I work hard to keep you and everyone else in reasonable shape, but does anyone heed my advice? Of course not. 'What would Neal know, he's just a healer.'"
"That's great, Neal. Look," he said, nodding toward the officers' quarters.
Neal rolled his eyes skyward in exasperation, but turned to see what Merric was referring to anyway. His eyebrows shot up, and he looked back quickly to grin at the red-haired knight, annoyed tirade forgotten.
Dom and Kel were standing close together outside the door, speaking softly. Dom had his head inclined toward her, and Kel was smiling as she spoke. She leaned a little closer as they both laughed, pressing her palm against Dom's chest. After a moment the tall sergeant ducked his head toward Kel's – begging a kiss, Neal suspected – but she shook her head with a shy sort of smile. She said something else and then pulled away, their clasped hands showing as they separated. Kel glanced back to make eyes at Dom and then turned and walked purposefully toward the stables. He stared at her the whole way.
Neal smirked.
"You know what this means, of course," he said to Merric.
"We don't know for certain," Merric replied.
"Hah! Fine. Let's just ask Dom. I want my crown."
The two knights strode across the yard, Neal barely containing his grin.
"Say, Domitan," said Neal when they reached his cousin. Dom regarded him questioningly. "You're looking rather dishevelled this morning," Neal continued, flicking his fingers through Dom's messy black hair. "This wouldn't be sex hair by any chance, would it?"
Dom's expression darkened. "None of your business, Meathead." He pushed between the other two men and walked off in the direction of the mess hall.
Neal grinned triumphantly at Merric. "That's about as much of an admission as we're going to get, and if I'm not mistaken, it's still a week 'til Midsummer. Pay up, Hollyrose."
Merric grumbled and flicked a gold coin in Neal's direction. The mage caught it deftly.
Yes, today was going to be a very good day.