A/N: What's with me? I can't seem to finish fanfics these days. I promise, I'll get to work on my other two over Winter Break.

Anyways, this scene is actually taken from Page in Protector of the Small, at the very beginning of chapter 10. I made my own changes, for the fanfic, and led back into the story. It's fairly short. Please take the two to five minutes out of your life to read it.

I'd like to say, I'm a HUGE KC fan. Even if Cleon can be a stupidhead and a mama's boy sometimes, I just love the pairing. I don't know why. I also have a fetish for MerricxKel, which is weird and has no basis, but whatever.

By the way, I've been thinking of re-writing Lady Knight as if Kel still loved Cleon and they never broke up, and if it was MerricxKel. Unfortunately, I don't think I have the time. I mean, if a bunch of people reviewed begging for it, then fine, I might consider it. The other option, if anyone is interested, is that someone else can volunteer to write them. All you have to do is ask me.

Anyways, please enjoy and review!

~Night

The next night Kel was in line for supper when she saw more faces at the squires' tables. The number of squires who lived on the floor above the pages' wing had been growing slowly as autumn went on. Kel barely new those who had come in before, but tonight she recognized two faces: Cleon and Garvey.

"One good, one bad," Merric remarked from behind Kel.

"Do I have to close my eyes to guess which?" Owen wanted to know.

When they went to their usual table, Cleon walked over. "It's about time," Neal said when the redheaded squire slid onto the bench next to him. "We though they would leave you in the north all winter. You would have come back as an icicle."

"A really big icicle," added Seaver.

After seeing Lord Raoul, Kel knew that Cleon wasn't that big, but he certainly seemed to be headed that way. She smiled at him. He seized one of her hands. "Kel, my rose, my pearl," he said, attempting a player's yearning stare, "my life has been a desert drear without the light of your eyes. I knew it not until just this moment, when my soul opened like a flower in the rain."

Kel yanked her hand free. "Stop that, you oaf," she told him, but she grinned despite her stern tone. She had missed Cleon's colorful way of speaking to her.

"It's not right," Seaver announced abruptly.

"What's not right?" Neal asked.

"When Cleon talks to us, he doesn't do that." Seaver frowned at Cleon. "You don't call us 'rose' or 'pearl'. If you don't talk to us like that, you shouldn't do it to her."

"She's as good as us," added Owen. "You don't have to treat her like a girl."

Kel hid her face in her hands. Because of this, she didn't see the slow smile coming over Cleon's face.

"Why, Seaver, I didn't relaize you were jealous," the squire got up and moved over toward the boy, glancing around quickly to make sure no one was watching before he dropped to one knee, placing both hands over his heart. "I deeply apologize for neglecting you. From now on, I shall treat you the same," he promised. "The light of your smile makes Mithros' light seem dim in comparison, candle of my heart," he proclaimed.

Kel sent a quick prayer that the god would know her red headed friend was joking and not send his wrath upon him as the squire turned to Owen next. "Owen, I could never forget you. Lily among weeds, treat my heart with kindness." Owen's jaw dropped open and he blushed. Everyone else at the table, except Seaver, who had gone pale from shock, was trying their hardest not to laugh and draw attention to themselves.

Cleon's next victim was Merric. "Merric, Merric, when I was injured and wounded in the tents on the border, all I had to do was to think of you, and I was relieved of pain. You graced my dreams every night." Merric's jaw also tightened, and he turned red from anger, but Neal grabbed him and held him down before he could lunge across the table at Cleon.

Finally, Cleon whirled to face Neal. "Neal, more than everything, I have missed your mind-numbingly intelligent philosophy, which was a sweet lullaby to my ears every night, even when I could only hear it in my soul. I pray that you might serenade me every night with such talk as my eyes grow weary." The squire then sprang to his feet and settled down in a normal sitting position once more. For a moment, the entire table was silent and somber. The only exception was Kel, and it took every bit of her Yamani training to start guffawing. As it was, she couldn't help the wide grin the spread across her face.

Neal was the one who recovered his voice first. "I hope Sir Inness manages you with a whip and a chair, like an animal in a show, especially after a performance like that."