Wow. Thanks so much for the interest in this story! I'm so pleased people liked it! For the record:

Yes, I know it doesn't have any KD in it yet, but right now I'm setting the stage. I'm a firm believer in love being the most rewarding when it's tortured a bit first.

Also, thanks for reminding me about Kel's eye color. I just got home from college and the muse hit me, so I didn't have time to reread the books (I read them most recently last break) and write the story. Problem solved (I hope), and thanks for telling me!

Oh, and the setting for the first part is before Lady Knight, while she waits for orders.

"Cousin! Neal! Meathead! Tsk, tsk. I had no idea you were such a coward. You know that the real test of a man's courage is to face him with a female!" The larger man chased the knight down.

"Well, I'd be willing to wager quite a lot that once you fall in love, you'll be just as... well... disinclined to be rejected!" The insult had stopped Neal in his tracks and provoked him to respond.

"Oh, my little cousin, much will I have to teach you in our short time together. I have, in fact, fallen victim to that same hapless state. I, however, have the ahem! nerves... to act upon it."

"Oh, really? Sergeant Dom in love? It's almost too ridiculous too countenance!"

"That was cruel for a wannabe Healer. I can see you're just jealous."

"Exactly. I am jealous of this fantasy romance you're apparently having. If you really were courting someone the entire palace would know, not to mention all the Own!"

"It is possible to romance someone because you love them, not for the notoriety. Besides, my lady is of the discreet mold. Perhaps 'mold' is the wrong word to use. She transcends 'molds' like the Lady Alanna's bouts transcend the term 'spat'. She has no need for the power plays of the court, and the court functions, while flattering, show only the palest reflection of the beauty of her spirit."

"I confess I am intrigued. Can you prove this boast?"

Dom expressed shock at his cousin's request. "Why, I have never heard of anything more unchivalrous!" Neal just looked at him. Dom squirmed a bit. "Perhaps I have seen-"

"Seen?"

"-and perhaps committed many things more unchivalrous, but in my line of work-"

"Chivalry, you mean?" Neal interjected.

Dom was disconcerted the conversation had turned against him so suddenly. "Ah, yes. Well, it would seem to be a rather rude thing to do, spying upon the girl I adore."

"Well, if she transcends "girl", then surely she would be sympathetic to my educational needs."

There was a long pause.

"That came out wrong, didn't it?"

"Yes, indeed, Meathead. Yes, indeed."

Neal thought Dom would at least tease him a bit more, if only to punish him for implying his cousin's inamorata was a whore. "Aren't you angry at me?"

Dom smiled fondly down at his cousin then feigned great sorrow, flinging the back of his hand up to his forehead in a clichéd motion used by traveling players. "Alas, Sir Meathead," he sighed in a ridiculously high voice, "today will not be your day to be thrashed by yours truly. I fear I am to overcome with passion for the queen of my heart." He threw himself backwards into Neal's arms. At first Neal instinctively caught his larger cousin, but, once thought caught up with him, he removed his arms from Dom's person, resulting in a huge dust cloud as the body impacted the stable floor.

Both cousins started laughing, which caused them to inhale the floating earth. The ruckus they created was only broken by the steely voice demanding "SILENCE! Have I taught you young pups nothing? While you sit here prone, an enemy could sneak up behind you and kill you both!" Knives appeared at both of their throats and they winced as they recognized the voice of Lord Wyldon, also known by Neal as "the Stump".

Eyes watering, coughs stifling, Dom complained, "..You.. made your point, my Lord... now.. let us... cough! go!"

"'My Lord', he says... I would think you boys would know me well enough to know that title could never apply." Neal could almost feel their assailant's head being shaken as he suddenly realized there might be a threat from the way the voice had subtly changed from the growl of his instructor in knighthood to the dangerous purr of a deep woman's voice.

Wait, Neal thought, a woman? "K-"

"Not another vowel, Queenscove. You're already on my last nerve." Neal subsided.

"If you're not going to kill us, then have the honor to name yourself and face me on a field of battle. I'll not put up with this cough! indignity a moment longer!"

"Well, well, Domitan of Masbolle, you have yourself a deal. Though if you expect to face me on a field of battle, I suggest you give your dignity a holiday. I don't think your ego'll enjoy it much, looking up at me from your back with my sword at your throat... for the third time this week."

A huge grin spread across Dom's face and he felt the pressure at his throat ease. Turning around he physically picked up the not-so-diminutive Keladry of Mindelan and spun her around. "KEL! You brigand! I thought you'd left on duty!"

Kel wriggled out of his arms smiling and gave Neal a hug. "Courier came in today. Seems the bandits caught the plague and the King's not willing to attack a wounded foe, especially when they have a history of positive dealings with us. So we have three more weeks in which to create havoc together."

Neal started to agree, but then a panicked look came over his face. "Oh, ah I forgot! Damn you Dom!... I must go!" He ran toward the practice courts.

"What are you doing?" Kel called after him.

"Espionage practice!" Neal called back as he disappeared around the corner.

Dom took Kel's elbow and led her on the path back to the castle. "What he means is that he is spying on your friend, Yuki, while she practices weapons."

A guarded look came over her face, "And why would he do that?"

A sound of great disgust issued from Dom, "Well, only because he's devoted to her for all eternity, and he wants to make all her dreams come true, she's the pillar of womanly loveliness, she makes him feel fully alive for the first time in his life, she's the only instance of truly celestial beauty residing in an earthly body, he loves her, and he just likes to watch that deadly fan game you fine Yamani ladies play." He said all of this with a sarcastic edge to his voice.

"That's the player in your family coming out. Why did I never notice it?" Kel couldn't help wishing that someone would think that about her. But that was about as unlikely as beating her former knight master on the lists.

"My incredible acting skills? Why you never have appreciated the wide range of my talents!" he wiggled his eyebrow at her suggestively.

"Ew. And I meant about Yuki and Neal. Now that I think about it, she's been mooning over him lately too. What a coward our Meathead is. She'll probably end up just hitting him over the head or kissing him... possibly both, before he makes a move that isn't 'espionage'."

Dom stopped and looked at her with unvarnished affection. "See, that's exactly what I was telling him before you showed up. Of course it involved me telling him about... well, about chivalry... and then I fell into his arms, and I-"

"You know, if I had been there, this would probably be incredibly amusing for me, but, as it is, you're only succeeding in confusing me. The dizzy meanderings of your mind remain a mystery to me."

"Darling! That's the only joy in my dreary existence!" Giggling, they made their way up to the castle to prepare for dinner.

After dinner, from which Neal had been conspicuously absent, Dom pulled Kel into a niche outside the dining hall and hid her from the passing crowd with his body.

"What are you doing? I'll have you know I was not kidding about the thrashing I'd give you this time-" Her mouth found itself restricted from further reaming by his hand. Kel's normally calm hazel eyes blazed.

"Look, I need your help. Neal and I have a bet on, and unless I do this, he'll never tell Yuki how he feels, so just follow my lead! He's watching for us outside the grape arbor." He looked over his shoulder at her as he ran, taking in her flushed cheeks, her dress in Mindelan colors and her confused expression, "You look beautiful tonight! Let's go!"

As he pulled her down the hallways to the vineyards, she tried to make sense of what he had said. What did he mean? What bet? She'd love to help him work up Neal's courage, but she had no idea what was going on. Maybe he was going to meet his love tonight, and he needed Kel to watch and make sure Neal did the same.

Kel had only just deduced this scheme when suddenly Dom stopped and took her hand tenderly. She stared at him as he tried to guide her down one of the moonlit pathways. "What-"

"My lady, I promise that despite the passionate nature of this particular haunt, I will remain true to my vows as a knight and treat you with the greatest of virtue. You are, after all, the epitome of all virtues, especially beauty. My lady, trust me." His coaxing voice loosened her muscles and she followed willingly.

Kel had never had the full power of Domitan's charm directed at her, and she found herself unsure how to respond. She blushed and looked away, wondering what was going on. He'd never spoken to her like this before. She felt that rarely vocal frisky pixy of flirting emerge, and gave it her voice. "Why, Sergeant Dom! I do believe you just called me beautiful!" she said to her shoes in the greatest of bewilderment.

"Any knight when beholding the visage of his beloved might say she is beautiful, despite the reality of her charms and accomplishment. I, on the other hand, could be deemed the only true knight, since no damsel could possibly ever compare with you. Your abilities and pursuits make all others seem paltry and insignificant. You have my respect for those. You have my devotion for your protection of those less able than you. You also possess one thing that you must decide if you wish to return. My heart has been yours, these past several months, and yours is the only face I think of when I awaken, and the thought that sends me into blissful dreams at twilight. What say you? Shall my heart and I be regretfully reunited, or will you lend me yours to keep the pain of separation at bay? My lady? My... love?"

Kel's heart was beating so fast she didn't know what to do. If this turned out to be another stunt on his part to get her back for surprising him that afternoon, she didn't know what she'd do. What could she do? There he stood, in his princely suit and silky blue doublet. His hair had curled into a few ringlets on his forehead, and she reached forward to brush one out of his eyes. A flash of red in the corner of her view revealed Neal's location behind her, and Kel froze. Wait. She was Dom's love? The one with whom he was convincing Neal to declare himself to Yuki? The thought was completely flooring, and she felt her knees becoming weak. Luckily Dom's arms were already coming around her, as he had caught her hand and used it to pull her into his embrace. Kel sighed and inhaled his scent, one of familiarity and mystery, comfort and excitement.

Dom waved to Neal while he held Kel. Get out of here you numbskull! Now it's really gotten to the point where you're eavesdropping! He didn't get the hint, apparently too mesmerized with discovering who Dom's companion was. Dom gently pulled Kel's arms away from himself, surprised to find how reluctant he was to end this moment. It wouldn't do for Neal to see who Kel was, though, so Dom stepped back, took her hand, and kissed it while looking deeply into Kel's swirling hazel eyes.

Kel was shocked. She- he! She didn't know what to do. The man whom she had secretly adored for over a year was reciprocating, and it would seem he'd waited as long as she!

"Milady, shall we stroll the vineyard together?" Dom's eyes danced as if he held the best joke in the world.

She couldn't wait to find out what it was. Too overwrought for words, she nodded.

Once they were a couple of minutes away, he looked behind them and broke out in laughter as if he had been holding it in for ages. Kel joined in, just so she wouldn't seem odd.

"Ha-ha-ha! Ummm... why are we laughing?" Kel smiled up at him.

He raised his eyebrow at her as he got his laughter under control. "Why? Because we triumphed! You can bet that Yuki and Neal will be a pair before the sun rises! I should go purchase wedding gifts! How about matching kimonos? And I'll have 'Lord and Lady Meathead' monogrammed on them! Brilliant, don't you think, 'my love'?"

Kel's world ended with those last two sarcastic words. The hope she had raised now was entirely dashed, and all she could do was go back to the old friendship she'd come to treasure. "Oh, yes, 'my dear'," she added in an arch tone, "It can go along with ours that say 'Lady and Lord Yamani Lump'!" Of course Dom would never love someone like her when he could have anybody in the court. Anybody at court was more beautiful than she, including her own ragged dog Jump whose lack of appeal had frequently been the focus of scorn.

"What makes you think you get to be first? It's always been Lord then Lady!"

"And whatever happened to "Ladies first"? If you insist then we can make you Lord Dirtface for your appalling failure to keep your seat in the joust!"

"Ah, ah! A touch, I fear, a touch! Why so acerbic, partner?" He'd thought she would be delighted with his prank, but she was obviously upset about something. He hated to see her frown, so he tried to cheer her up. "Say, would you like to meet to work on weapons tomorrow at six?"

"Why, Dom! I wasn't aware you arose that early! Is your drunken revelry curtailed tonight because of our little assignation?" If she could jest, then maybe she would get over him.

Dom's jaw dropped. "My, my. Innocent little squire Kel sure has turned into a knight who pulls no punches. No, my dove. I shall not imbibe of the liquors of the land, since I am overcome by your eyes which allow me not to stand, but to be flung up into the skies! Ha! See, my lovely! You made me a poet, and I didn't even know it!"

As he laughed at his own brilliance, Kel was overcome by the knowledge of the inherent stupidity of men. Not only did he call her little and innocent, but he kept rubbing her face in the fact that he considered her a joke. Suddenly she couldn't stand to be around him anymore. Had she been anyone else, she would have run away, but instead she thought, "I am stone. I am stone. I am stone," over and over again.

Dom had been going over several different rhymes in his head for the next poem about Kel, "his beloved", but realized that Kel hadn't spoken in response to some of his most disturbing rhymes, and had not yet mentioned his resemblance to Neal in the throes of his squirely unrequited love phase. Looking at her, she seemed to be miles away, her face in the habitual deadpan he associated with Kel's unique problem-solving abilities. Typical Kel to be working even when she's supposed to be having fun. Placing his lips right next to her ear, he whispered, "You are now imagining Dom in fuchsia brocade undergarments, dancing the mazurka for the court..." in a mystical voice. Kel gave a violent start, took a deep breath, and Dom prepared himself for an "Ew" of draconic proportions.

Stolen out of her safe place by an image that the descriptor 'disturbing' barely covered, she did what her Yamani instructor would have done. She yelled, "YOU INTRUDED ON MY MANTRA!"

"Your mantra! What is your mantra, oh fellow knight?"

"I- Uh-... Never mind! Just something I do. And it's Lady Knight, not fellow. Anyway, I'm not feeling too well. I need to head to bed. Early start tomorrow, you know."

Dom decided to ignore this uncharacteristic nervousness in his friend. "So you'll come to practice at six, Lady Knight?"

Kel paused. She had never actually said yes. She would much rather avoid him, but as a knight she had learned that it's better to face your fears if you wish to overcome them. "Of course," she sighed, defeated.

"Then allow me the honor of escorting you to your quarters. You never know what kinds of wastrels will attempt their evil ways with passing knights."

"Dom?"

"Yes'm?"

"What were you just inferring?"

"Merely that I am entirely dependent upon your presence to protect my innocence and virtue in this cold, cruel world."

"Good. And don't fool yourself."

"Huh?"

"Innocence and virtue?"

"Hey! I resent... well... I concur with you on that one. But will you still protect me?"

Neal and Dom met at five-thirty the next morning. Dom walked with the swagger of a winner, and Neal looked ready to lose control of his bodily functions.

"Ah, little cousin! Is today the blessed day on which you shall declare your undying affections for the maiden, the flower, the ebullient crystalline jewel of your eternal but entirely proper desire?"

"SHHHH! She might hear you!" Neal's left eye began to twitch.

Dom seemed annoyingly unconcerned by his cousin's discomfiture. "Oh! Is Yuki here? Is this the appointed time and place? Am I intruding on a lovers' rendez-vous? Oh, damn my eyes, how could I interfere with the blossoming of young love?"

The twitch intensified to the point where it could no longer be described as merely being located around his eye. Neal's entire head jerked slightly with his breaths as he tried to shrug off the urge to throttle his tyrannical relation. "What do you want from me, you imbecile!" His voice raised quite loud, but he didn't notice others in the practice courts searching for the source of the disturbance.

Dom winked at him. "Your firstborn child, of course!"

Neal's eyes narrowed.

After smiling his superior grin for a few moments without relief from the high voltage fury flowing through the air, his expression shriveled into a conciliatory simper, "I mean, I want to be his namesake! Dom Junior! We could call him D.J. for short, and I could teach him all about being a proper knight-"

"And what would you know about that?" Neal's comment cut across Dom's soliloquy.

A shocked look crossed Dom's face, "Why, I wrote the book! I am the epitome of chivalry, the pinnacle of valor, and the definition of charming. True, great charm is only a prerequisite for princes historically, but I happen to possess the charm to end all charm-"

"That's exactly what I heard about you."

"-and I have the magnanimity to pass all of that on to your son, so that he may surpass his parents-"

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" A highborn lady stuck her head out of her window and screeched when Neal yelled. He plowed on. "Be assured that if you continue to parade your various "talents" in front of me, I will not hesitate to take you down, and furthermore, I will have Kel help me do it! Not only that, but if I ever grow to deserve Yuki, and she does grace me with issue, something that in NO way concerns you, thank goodness, we would never possess the despicably horrible judgment to name the child after you to follow in your footsteps. You have knocked at the cave door and discovered a dragon in residence, Domitan, and you shall cease all aspersions on Yuki's courage! All those ridiculous things you've said about what I think: it's true. I adore her to absurdity, to incredulity, but at least my inaction is based upon the firm belief that she feels otherwise. And if you have any doubts about her courage, I want you to recall our fireside chats. If you have any concerns about the way I choose to conduct myself with her I want to to remember-"

"I want you to recall this moment," a heavily-accented feminine voice proclaimed.

All eyes turned to the brightly-kimonoed lady, armed with a Yamani glaive, striding from her place at the side of the Prince's bride-to-be, Shinkokami, to the struck dumb Neal.

Neal gazed at his beloved, and winced as he realized the proverbial cat had hit the road, leaving the bag feeling tremendously exposed. 'Mithros and Goddess, don't let her have heard,' he thought, watching her approach, her tight grip on her weapon ample evidence that his prayer would go unanswered.

Dom watched with great satisfaction as Yukimi stopped in front of Neal, stared at him intently, all the while cheeks blazing at her lack of proper Yamani propriety, and stood on her tiptoes, reaching behind his neck to bring his face level with hers. He stifled an urge to applaud as she proceeded to kiss him tentatively. Gradually Dom came to realize that the only reason he was not applauding was the tight grip somebody had on his wrists. Looking only slightly down, he grinned conspiratorially at Kel. "You win, she did have to beat him over the head. You women are so unsubtle."

She raised an eyebrow but turned back to the lovers, now both blushing and making their excuses to find Duke Baird. The permission of His Grace would not be difficult to obtain, especially as Yuki had endeared herself to the Duke by showing an aptitude for herb craft that greatly assisted in healings. As Kel began to practice with Dom, she began the process of internalizing her love for Dom, beginning with his unhelpful subtlety comment. 'If you men weren't so Gods-blest unaccountably dense, perhaps we wouldn't have to hit you over the head with a war hammer bring you to sense,' she thought with satisfaction as she whammed him with the butt of her glaive.

"Owwie!" His look was one of greatest suffering. "Why must you abuse your poor Dom so?"

Instead of a response, she attacked his big toe.

"GYAAAAH!"

This would be a very satisfying afternoon for her after all.