"Shut Up! For Mithros' sake Neal if you recite just one more line of your bloody awful poetry Yuki will have to find another man to marry." Kel glared at Neal who, in his anticipation of seeing Yuki, was composing poems as he rode. Out loud.
"I have rights Kel."
"Yeah like what?"
"Like the Right to free speech, and the Right to exercise my artistic creativity."
"And I have a right not to have to listen to you whine and moan and make up terrible rhymes 'Oh Yuki my Yamani Rose, I love even the tip of your nose' Seriously Neal I don't know how she thinks she can put up with you."
"Well that's her problem isn't it?" said Neal with a snobby air. He stuck up his nose and nudged Moonlight ahead, away, he told himself, from people who just didn't understand the magnificence of his poetry.
"Thanks for getting rid of him." Tobe who had been riding just behind Kel now pulled up to her side. He had been close enough to be affected by Neal's poetry too, and every time Kel had turned around Tobe had pulled a face to show just what he thought of Neal's self-called brilliance.
"Yeah, I couldn't stand much more either." Kel hoped that at Fort Steadfast with Yuki there she wouldn't be seeing or hearing Neal for a while. He'd been insufferable during the trip, constantly calling on them to hurry up, not wanting to stop to eat or let the horses rest. Luckily they would be there any minute now and Neal would find Yuki and leave everyone else alone.
Kel was looking forward to the fort too. She felt it would be nice to have a long bath, a hot meal and a nap on a soft bed, especially after riding in saddle all day long. And there were other benefits at the fort. There would be no refugees running after her and wanting her opinion of everything, wanting her to fix their problems. There would be Yuki and Buri and eventually Raoul to talk to. There would also be Owen who would face the chamber in a few months.
Not to mention another person. Dom would be there too. Along with the rest of the third company she added hastily in her mind. She hadn't seen him since Scanra. She was looking forward to a little time with him without war and stricken villages and other distractions to interrupt them. She'd had crushes on Dom in the past, particularly as Raoul's squire but now she considered her and Dom as just friends. Well that's what she told herself.
Kel's musings were interrupted by the sighting of the fort by Neal. As soon as he'd seen it he'd let out a cry and urged Moonlight into a gallop. Kel set a more stately pace for herself, Tobe and the escort but let Neal go on ahead.
As she entered the courtyard she was greeted by the sight of Neal and Yuki who were both oblivious to her arrival, caught up in each other's arms.
"Sickening isn't it?" A sly voice spoke from the shadows of a building. It was a voice Kel would have known anywhere.
"Dom! Wow I haven't seen you for a long time." Dom pushed off the wall he'd been leaning on and reached up to help her from the saddle.
"Thanks I needed that. It amazes me how stiff a full day's riding can make you."
"Ah yes, how was the journey?" Dom asked with a grin.
"Torture. I don't know whether Neal means to be so annoying or whether it's just natural for him."
"I'd say a mixture of both. But come on I'll show you where to put your bags. Owen should be doing this but he injured his arm and is still in the infirmary."
"Is it serious?" Kel asked, worry and concern evident in her voice.
Dom looked at her strangely. "No, not really, he'll be out in a few days. It wasn't really that bad a wound."
Kel let out a breath of air in relief. Owen was a good friend and she would hate for him to be hurt badly. "That's good. There was a man at New Hope who injured his arm a few weeks ago. Neal says he may never be able to use it again!" They had started walking towards the main keep of the fort where the rooms were.
"That reminds me of a funny story about Neal. You see he'd hurt his arm when he was little, nothing serious really. I heard Uncle Baird discussing it one day, saying he hadn't told Neal how long it would take to heal yet in case he started complaining and whining and milking it for as long as he could. Anyway soon after I heard this I crept into Neal's room where he was to stay in bed for a few days. I told him that he would never use his arm again and that I'd overheard Uncle saying he might have to cut it off. You should have seen the look on his face! It was priceless. And then when Neal started asking Uncle about when he would heal, Uncle just kept putting it off saying 'We'll see Neal'. Neal was so worried!"
Kel was in hysterics. That's what she liked about being with Dom; he always made her laugh, and had plenty of embarrassing stories about Neal to entertain her with. He'd just started on another tale about Neal as a child when Dom stopped. They had reached a nondescript door with a small name-plate on the front sporting Kel's name.
"Well, here you are. I trust you'll remember where the dining hall and other facilities are?"
"Yep. Thanks Dom, it was nice of you to come and meet me…us."
"Anything for a friend." Kel watched as he turned to leave trying not to read too much into the word 'friends'. She was just about to enter her room when she heard Dom's voice again.
"Hey Kel, do you um…need any um…help unpacking or anything?" He'd returned to his former position beside her. "It's just I haven't seen you for so long and maybe we could chat or something. You don't have to but it might be nice…"
"Yeah of course Dom. There's lot's I want to know as well."
She entered the room, dumping her bag in the middle of the floor and beginning to open it. Dom followed, just in time to get a good view of her backside as she bent to untie the clasps of her bag.
"Hmm. Nice view." Kel jumped up blushing. She handed him a smaller bag.
"Here you can get started on this." She told him trying to brush off her embarrassment. He took the bag, holding back his laughter and ignoring an odd feeling he had in his stomach. Kel began busying herself with unpacking and tidying. Although she would only be there a week she wanted it to feel and look homey. She had brought a waving Yamani cat along and sat it on the desk. There was also a painting of Mindelan her mother had made before she had left for page training to remind her of home. She had brought her glaive with her too so that she could still practice. She was setting it against the wall when she was interrupted by a strange noise.
Turning she saw Dom who had turned a faint red colour and was peering into the bag she had given him slightly apprehensively.
"Dom? What is it?"
"Kel, are you sure you meant to give me this bag?" Kel stared at him, uncomprehending. He passed the bag to her. Looking inside Kel saw that it was filled with her breast-bands and loincloths. For the second time she turned an odd shade of red.
"Ummm no. I think I was going to give you this one instead. She hurriedly put the bag down near the bed and found another one for Dom. This time she opened it her self, inspecting the contents before handing it on.
"Don't worry, it's safe." She said as Dom hesitated. He gave the bag's interior a quick glance before sighing and looking relieved. Kel could have laughed at the look on his face. In fact she did. Dom returned his gaze to her face and when he realized she was laughing at him he sniffed and began unpacking the new bag.
"It's not funny Kel. That was a serious shock. Here I was thinking I was going to help you with a little innocent settling in and you go and give me a bag filled with, with, well with that kind of stuff! I tell you it was nearly enough to give me a heart attack!" By the end of his speech he was grinning and so was Kel. He'd spoken so dramatically that Kel couldn't help comparing him to Neal. She told him so.
"What? Me like the Meathead! Never! And anyway it would be him like me not the other way around."
"It's not like you haven't seen things like that before Dom." She said slyly. He blushed. "Anyway you will keep helping won't you? I still don't know what you've been doing since I last saw you and that was months ago!"
Dom, still slightly red faced, filled her in on all the details of his actions since they had last spoken. Mostly he had been fighting with the Own with a few breaks at the palace in between. He also told Kel about some of the pranks they had pulled on Raoul. They ranged from cheeky to downright mischievous and Kel couldn't see how the Third Company was still in office, if it were her she'd have dismissed them years ago!
By the time the room was finished Kel had heard all about Dom and he about her, the incident with the underwear forgotten. They were talking easily as they had done in the past when Kel was still a squire, their friendship not having suffered from the separation.
"How does the Protector of the Small feel about getting some food? I'm famished, I never would have offered to help if I knew it would take this much effort to unpack!"
"Yes you would have, I would have forced you to anyway. And yes I haven't eaten much today. The Meathead was so desperate to get to Yuki that we barely stopped at all."
In the mess hall they grabbed plates of food and sat at a table filled with men of the Third Company. Kel sat between Dom and Wolset who smiled at her as she sat down.
"Ah Lady Kel! Good, now that you've arrived we might be able to get Dom to do some work. He hasn't done a bit since we heard you were coming here. Have you Dom? Up every morning early, always volunteering for sentry duty. And he was the one who spotted your company this morning. After that he loitered in the courtyard all day wondering what was taking you so long! He kept wanting to ride out just to make sure you, and your party were alright."
Kel turned to Dom who was a bright shade of red. "Oh really? And why did he do all that?"
"We're not sure Lady Kel but we have a hunch that-"
"Ignore them Kel, they don't know what they are talking about." If possible Dom had turned an even deeper shade of red as Wolset spoke. "I was watching out for your group because Yuki wanted to know when Neal was coming. That's all." This last part was directed fiercely towards Wolset and the other men who were all trying to hide grins behind hands or cups or bowls.
Kel smiled too, though she didn't know quite what they found so funny. "So when's Raoul getting here?" she asked to cover her ignorance.
"Oh he'll be back soon." One of the men replied. Raoul had gone to Goldenlake to manage some business before joining Buri and the Own at Fort Steadfast.
"I think you might need to give him a few breaks. From what I've heard from Dom you guys aren't exactly in his best books at the moment!"
Just then a page shuffled over to Kel and told her in a nervous stuttering that Lord Wyldon would see her after dinner in his office. After the messenger had run off the table once again erupted into laughter. "That boy," laughed Fulcher, "was really scared of you Kel! He was stuttering so hard I could barely understand him!"
Wolset wiped tears of mirth from his eyes, "I think he was more in awe of our Kel here. Did you see his eyes? Wide as my dinner plate!"
"Well," Kel announced loudly to the table as she stood up, "I'm done so I'd better get those reports and see Wyldon. I'll leave you children to your dinner" She returned her tray and walked back past the table to the door. The men were still laughing but now it was directed back at Dom. Kel decided she would find out another time just what Dom had done to become the butt of every joke.
