AN: Hi! This is a sort of oneshot, but I may continue it if someone wants me to. It's a bit bittersweet.
Kel looked over her glass of wine, staring at a certain blue-eyed sergeant, flirting with Lady Silvia of Emerald Waters. She scowled darkly, looking down. Normally, she would be out on the dance floor, chatting and laughing with the other knights, but not tonight. Tonight, she was feeling particularly depressed at her inexistent love life. She kept those thoughts at bay for as long as she could, but they were resurfacing, especially as the Third Company had returned, and Dom was flirting shamelessly with Lady Silvia. She was almost painfully aware that no male asked her to dance, and that her knight friends didn't even seem to notice that she had matured, along with her figure. Her resemblance to a lump was long gone. Her golden brown hair reached to her shoulders, and her curves had filled out, giving her an hourglass shape, made by all her long hours of training, and she was dressed in a ruby colored gown. She wasn't the best, but she really was pretty. Still, the young men didn't even glance her way. The soft tapping of heels announced someone's arrival. Kel looked up into a pair of sympathetic blue-gray eyes. Daine looked stunning in a floor length strapless gown that flattered her figure. Her smoky curls were piled high and pulled back, letting a couple of strands escape to frame her face. She said, "I know what it feels like."
Startled, Kel asked, "What what feels like?"
"To feel like the person you love doesn't think of you that way." Daine said, voice soft.
"I have no clue what you're talking about." Was she really that obvious?
Daine said, "Yes, you do. You're just in denial about Dom."
Kel sighed in defeat, "Fine, so what if I am? Dom goes for those pretty court ladies, and he just thinks of me as a friend." She spat out the hated word.
"Well, I remember when I thought Numair never thought of me that way." Daine said, eyes far away. "I remember asking what was wrong with me, and sometimes even going so far as to wish that I was older, blond, and buxom, just for one night, so he would look at me that way."
She looked at Daine in shock. The wildmage smiled wryly, "Love does odd things to people. I take it that you've wished to be a court lady once or twice?"
Kel blushed, nodding slightly. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes, when you're different and powerful, people look at you differently, so some of us sometimes wish to be normal. But, I wouldn't trade my life for anything. I have no regrets about the lives I saved. Do you?"
She shook her head. "I just wish someone would realize how awfully lonely some of us get sometimes."
Daine nodded sadly. Suddenly, a dark shadow loomed above them. Looking up, they saw Numair there, graceful and slightly imposing in his black robe. Daine hopped up, taking his hand. She looked at Kel. "Find me at the next ball of you want a plan, and think about it." She advised before leaving with Numair.
Kel did. She reflected on all her friends. She loved Dom, but she wouldn't give up Neal, Merric, Owen, and the others along with the lives she had saved. She resolved to find Daine at the next ball. She saw Dom was being swarmed by court ladies that he did not like. Catching her eyes, he mouthed, Help me! She got up and calmly steered around the dance floor full of swirling people in rich finery, and reached the little crowd of ladies. She changed herself a bit, straightening her posture, and putting on a flirtatious smile, much like the ones the court ladies wore. "Dom," She whined slightly, "You promised me a dance tonight."
Dome extracted himself from a particularly clingy girl, bowing extravagantly. "I'm sorry, fair lady. Allow me to make it up to you."
He swept her onto the dance floor. Glad for the training that her sisters had given her, she fell into the dance steps easily. Once they were out of earshot, he grinned at her and said, "Thanks."
She smiled back and said, "It's no problem. What are friends for?"
The word friends tasted bitter on her tongue, but she still forced herself to smile. They leaned closer, and swung gently to the music. Kel let her head rest on his shoulder, and the looked like every other couple there. Deep inside, she sighed that they were just friends, but stifled it. What harm could a little pretending do?