"Why must we buy gifts for each other on Midwinter!? Who's bright idea was it to start this exchange of gifts the morning after Longnight! I demand answers!" Sir Nealan of Queenscove paced the study at the Queenscove townhouse in Corus. The only audience to his ramblings were his cousin Sergeant Domitan of Masbolle and the house cat his sister Jessamine had named Roald in her crush over the Crowned Prince. Neal had never shared this detail with Roald though he threatened to quite often. But Jessamine had grown out of her crush as she had aged and the cat was getting quite old. "I won't do it! I am boycotting giving gifts this year!"
"You're married, Meathead, you are expected to at least give your wife a gift. If anything, just give her something for putting up with you." Dom stared down into his goblet of wine, special from the vineyards of Masbolle. He regretted coming now. Part of him agreed with Neal on the gift giving. It always seemed like so much hassle, so much anxiety over finding something perfect. But that part was quiet compared to the part of him that recognized he should buy gifts for his squad because they were like brothers. He should buy a gift for his uncle and cousin, because they were the family he was closest to. And the gift that had brought him down to the townhouse in the first place, he knew he wanted to buy a gift for Kel.
The other gifts had been easy. His men were around him all of the time. It wasn't hard to please them. He had a special case of wine shipped in from his brother, Nolan, who ran the fief. He would pair those wine skins with whatever he felt would amuse them.
Neal received books. Dom always bought him two each year. The first was always a joke, like a book on how to lure a woman. The second was always a book on philosophy or history. This year he had enlisted Kel to help him locate a book on how to survive marriage. They couldn't find what they wanted exactly so Kel had snuck around getting her friends and anyone else who knew the melodramatic Meathead to write down their own advice to him. It had been compiled into a book and bound. He wasn't sure how he would top it the next year but it would be done.
Baird had always been the most difficult on Dom's list. The man had always been a role model in his life, someone to look up to, a father figure in Corus when his father had been so distant in Masbolle or after he had passed. Deep down he knew that Baird appreciated anything he received from his son and nephew, but the need to find him something special each year had grown. Kel had been a help here as well this year. Together they had gone through the lists of what had been given in the past.
"You always give him something as a healer, why not give him something that doesn't revolve around his profession," Kel had suggested once they had gone through the whole list. It made sense but it made things difficult. His uncle always had been the Chief Royal Healer, always. He couldn't remember a time when he wasn't. After a week of agonizing he had found something he knew Baird would love: a keepsake box. The box was a small rectangular chest only six inches long and three inches deep. When the lid was lifted it played the same tune Baird always hummed whenever he thought he was alone in the infirmary. He filled it with sweets knowing his uncle had a sweet tooth despite all of his warnings to his son and nephew about sweets being bad in excess. It was the holidays, he could be good for the rest of the year.
Dom felt a small twinge of guilt that he never agonized over gifts for his brothers or his mother. He couldn't help that he and his brothers were never quite as close as he was with Neal. They never went out of their way to come and visit him in Corus and they always called him the errant child of Masbolle with his lifestyle in the Own. It was expected that since he had turned thirty, he would leave the Own and settle down with a wife. He had his pick of prospects, ladies that found him handsome and charming despite the fact he was a younger son. His mother only wrote him to ask when he was leaving the Own and who she should start betrothal contracts with. His brothers only wrote to tell him he was driving their mother insane. He always wrote back as if they had said nice things and had asked about his life. Baird and Neal had never asked him to change anything he was doing.
"Are you even listening to me?!" Neal smacked his shoulder. "Of course not! No one else listens anymore!" Neal went off again, complaining about those who did not deserve gifts. All things considering, Neal had a fairly good group of friends. They stuck around despite his melodramatics and were loyal. He worried that sometimes Kel's devotion to her and Neal's friendship might have been more. At first it was a worry that Neal would crush her with his constant pining after women that were unobtainable, either married ladies or those in relationships already. Then he was worried because he was afraid Kel would resent Neal and Yuki getting married. Now he was worried because he liked Kel and her having any sort of feelings for his cousin would probably not bode well for a relationship.
"Did Nolan send a letter with all of that wine?" Neal demanded, plopping down in front of Dom. "Did you tell him about the upcoming promotion when you wrote for all of this to be sent?"
Dom grimaced. He had not written to his mother or brothers that he was being promoted to Captain of Third Company of the King's Own after the first of the year. It meant another few years in the Own at least and they would certainly not approve despite the honor it would bring. Very few people were aware of the upcoming promotion. Only Baird, Neal, and Kel were aware he was spending extra hours locked away with Captain Flynn and Sir Raoul going over what would be required and training on it. Not even his own squad knew what was coming though Raoul had already confirmed Wolset would become the next sergeant.
"They would not be as happy for me as you are," Dom pointed out when Neal gave him an exasperated look. Instantly Neal's eye softened. Dom rarely spoke about the family pressuring him one way or another because he hated to complain and Neal often went off the deep end in long speeches about the honors he brought to the family and all of his deeds. Today Neal did not have much to say other than a brief apology on behalf of the family.
"Ask Kel what to get Yuki," Dom said setting his wine goblet down. "She's been extremely helpful to me this year in finding perfect gifts."
"Well Yuki is one problem but I don't know what to get Kel either," Neal sighed. "She's my best friend. I wouldn't have survived to be a knight without her and I certainly would not have survived that cursed war. I've been questioning the others as to what they are getting her and they are resorting to their childish tokens."
"I'm honestly at a bit of a loss as to what to get her as well," Dom admitted. "It's sort of the reason I came down here. I was hoping you could help." It was the truth too. At the risk of being on Neal's bad side for wanting to court his best friend, he couldn't see anyone else who might have an insight to the true Keladry of Mindelan. But Neal didn't seem too intent on finding out why exactly Dom was having difficulty with this gift. He seemed focused on his own train of thought. Dom didn't question it too much. Neal would remember this some night as he tried to sleep and would stalk down to the Own's Barracks and drag him out of bed to have the conversation of death threats.
"You know what I keep thinking when it comes to Kel?" Neal sat back. "Everyone is getting her weapons or things that remind them of her which comes down to her being a knight. No one is getting Kel anything remotely feminine. And when I mentioned this to Roald who is more of the sensible sort he said it was safe to get Kel things like that. Anything else could be considered a lover's gift even if Kel didn't think of it as such."
"Does Kel," Dom hesitated wondering why he wanted to torture himself. "Does she have someone who would get her such things or someone she would enjoy receiving such things from?" He watched as Neal's face closed off. It wasn't the dangerous sort of 'I'll kill you' sort of close off but rather a deep in thought sort of look.
"She's always been very private about her crushes and loves. If Cleon hadn't been such a persistent big buffoon I think their little love affair would have been very quiet. If Kel has someone she is with, they are just as quiet as her. If she has a crush, she hasn't given any obvious tells."
"If she is with someone and they are hiding it, I doubt they are good enough for her. Kel doesn't deserve to be someone's secret. She deserves to be flaunted about by someone who is proud of her," Dom found himself getting angry and didn't catch the look his cousin gave him.
"Kel doesn't like diamonds and gold so if you get her jewelry, don't give her those. She likes simple pretty. I'd suggest bracelets and necklaces since she doesn't have her ears pierced for earbobs and I've never seen her wear a ring." Neal announced. "I just realized that she's been coveting the jewelry case I gave Yuki for our wedding, so I think I'll just get her that in hopes someone will fill it for her someday."
Dom wasn't sure exactly what had happened after that. He found himself standing in the street outside of the townhouse with a promise from Neal to make sure the wine made it to the palace safely. Somewhere in his mind he realized he was getting Kel some sort of jewelry. It had been decided for him. Since that was the whole reason he had come to the townhouse in the first place, he figured he might as well take the idea and go shopping now, before he lost his nerve.
The morning after Longnight Dom woke to hear his men already breaking in to their own gifts, particularly the wine. His own stack of gifts had been left just inside of the door by one of the servants. He sorted through his gifts first, checking the names of the senders. The gifts from certain men in his squad could only be opened when he was fully awake and prepared. The first year he was a sergeant, he had opened a gift from Wolset to find an enchanted toy snake that leapt out at him. It had given him a mild heart attack until he realized what it was. Pranks as gifts were always the standard from his men to him. Those gifts he set far to the side. One was already making strange noises.
Next he piled the gifts from his family. Though they had never sent gifts to the palace in the past, he received several packages from his brothers and mother. They went in the pile separate from those gifts that were labeled from Neal and Baird. He wasn't quite sure what to make of receiving gifts from his family and he certainly had barely sent them anything this year along with the letters he always sent at midwinter.
The last gift he stared at, it bore Kel's signature and was fairly small. It reminded him that Kel had probably already opened his gift as she normally rose at dawn. And Kel had probably already read the note he had sent with his gift though he had forced himself not to chase the servant down and claim it back the night before. It caused him anxiety to wonder what she saw fit to give him. That gift he sat up on his desk and turned to the gifts he knew were safe.
After half an hour he looked at everything he had opened, making note about who to thank for what. A writing kit from Baird outfitted for a commander. A wall hanging from Neal for his new rooms he'd move into as a captain with a note telling him he had not forgotten about their conversation regarding Kel with the usual death threats applied and a blessing to pursue her if he truly wanted. Raoul had managed to tuck in a small gift amongst his men's with his new badge that he'd wear within the next week. And various pranks and sweets from his men.
From his brothers and mother he received a surprising letter. It seemed as though Raoul had seen fit to write them of his impending promotion. Though his mother still wrote about her dislike of him not quitting, she gave her congratulations. His brothers teased him about following Raoul's footsteps into bachelordom until a ripe old age. They had gone together to give him a new long sword and matching dagger to outfit him in his new rank.
Now he turned to the gift from Kel, still sitting wrapped on his desk. It wasn't that he was worried about what she had given him. He was worried she might regret giving him a gift now that he had so blatantly told her he desired her in the letter that accompanied his gift. He knew he was older than her, ten years older. While that age difference wasn't much considering most of the ladies that came to court at sixteen married men his age, perhaps Kel saw him as old. Perhaps she wanted one of her friends, far closer to her in age.
"Dom?" The door opening caught his attention and he turned to see the woman his mind had been revolving around. "Are you in here? I knocked and your men said you were up…" he stared at Kel as she walked in. She was tall, just under six feet in height with a more solid build. He had heard her once say she was a cow or a tree compared to the dainty court flowers. It wasn't true. She was solid and she certainly didn't look like he could break her with a simple touch. The dress she was wearing for the day showed she had more of a narrow waist than he expected for all of the muscle but he wasn't surprised. He knew she had a feminine form under all of her men's clothing. Her hair, now shoulder length, she had pinned up in a net to keep it from her face.
"Sorry, I was thinking," he stood knowing he'd have to face her. She would want to talk now even though he was still only wearing a night shirt and comfortable breeches. "Come in, have a seat. I think I have some tea somewhere in here," he went to rummage in a chest near the foot of his bed while Kel moved to take the seat in front of his desk.
"Are you saving your packing for the last minute?" She asked softly and he could only imagine her looking around.
"I thought my men might get suspicious if I started boxing things up. They might get the wrong idea too. They know my family has been after me to quit." Dom grumbled as he pulled out a small box that contained tea cups and tea leaves.
"You haven't opened all of your gifts yet," he turned to see Kel holding the gift she had sent in her hands. Her scarred fingers traced over the edges of the brown paper. At that point he noticed the glint of silver at her neck. She was wearing part of his gift to her, a silver chain with a sapphire pendant. It gave him a bit of hope yet she had not given any indication she was moved by the contents of his letter.
"I would be lying if I said I just hadn't gotten to it yet," he admitted. "I see you liked at least one of your gifts," he nodded to the necklace.
"I like all of them, Dom," she told him softly. "But it's impractical to wear three necklaces at once." She fiddled with the paper on the package a little more before she held it out to him. "You should open this."
He sat down on the bed opposite of her taking the package in his hands. As he started to tug the paper he stopped. "Kel, about the letter," he didn't want to dance around what had to be said.
"After you open your gift." Kel's face was blank of emotion, betraying nothing to him about what she was thinking. Even her tells were well hidden.
He had to get this over with so he could get his answer. The paper fell away and he found a small box. Inside he found a leather cord necklace attached to an oblong silver charm only two inches in length. Underneath of the charm was a small note.
I miss you when you go away and Raoul tells me I won't be allowed to distract you once you are Captain. Since my days roaming with the Own are over, I hope you use this charm to keep in contact with me while you are running around the kingdom.
Dom stared down at the note. Kel missed him enough when he was gone to pay for a very expensive communication spell. He would be able to speak with her from anywhere in the realm as if she was right there.
"I don't think Raoul will be able to keep me from inviting you along on calls," Dom said finally. "I mean, he brings Buri with all of the time." When he looked up at Kel he saw her smile and relief flood her face. He couldn't stop himself as he reached for her hands and dragged her over to the bed to sit beside him. Though he knew it was terribly in decent to be doing such things on the bed, he pressed his lips to hers.
"Neal will be so unhappy with us," she whispered when he pulled away.
"He's already given his blessing," Dom muttered as he pulled her back. He already was thinking about how to top this gift next year.