These are some little one shots I wrote to help me sort out characters for "In the heat of battle…" but they do stand alone.

Rider love, there's not enough of it about…

It was that time, not very long before Sir Raoul would take on "The Girl" as his squire, that Klair of Marsh's Hall was transferred to her probationary Rider Group. Some said she was very lucky, being assigned to such a prestigious group, and to go straight into action. Others said it was really the thin end of the stick, hurled into action in the Commander's own group. She herself was undecided. Today, as the mud stuck and the bugs bit, she was tempted to go with the latter view.

"Klair!" Buri's bark cut through the dank afternoon, "Left flank clear?"

"Yes, Commander!" Klair called back. There had not been so much of a sniff of the bandits on this extended sweep through a dense, unpopulated section of the Royal Forest.

"Right, back to the Palace, we'll need to report before we can plan further, and check what the Own have found on their sweeps. Group Askew, formation, follow me!" Buri and her stocky bay pony trotted down the faint game track, leading her Rider group.

"She'll be in better humour when we're back at the Palace." The rider behind Klair said softly. Klair looked behind her, and was almost decapitated as her pony blithely continued under a low branch his rider wasn't in the right direction to be aware of.

"Ooof," Klair coughed, damp pine needles filling her mouth. She shook her head, checked ahead for more devious branches, and turned again to face her comrade.

"You're not laughing." She stated. The young man behind her was a picture of innocence, his coffee coloured curls flopping over his open face and frank hazel eyes. He was as grubby as she, with smears of mud over exposed skin and clothes, although admittedly he had less greenery attached to his person.

"Of course not. You're doing well, for a newbie. Buri hasn't bawled you out yet, and she's been in a pretty foul mood this sweep."

"It's been pretty rough for us all. I know I'll be more than pleased to get a hot meal at the main camp, and some more insect-repelling potion." Klair said. She dropped her pony back to ride alongside the other Rider. "I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name, I'm sure I must have been told, but it's been hectic."

He chuckled. "That's ok. I'm Alec. Of Cavall. I try not to advertise that second part." He held out a hand, and they shook in mock formality, from their jogging ponies' backs.

"Klair of Marsh's Hall. Yeah, I know it's sometimes not so good to be too noble in the Riders…" A thought struck Klair. "Cavall?" She asked sharply. "Like my Lord Wyldon the training master?"

"Ah, Daddy dearest. So proud of me, associating with female warriors and progressives."

"You must be a pretty good warrior, placed in Group Askew," Klair offered. "He must be proud of you."

"Ah," Alec flapped a hand at her, "my fighting skills, my lovely lady, are not the issue. Any Neanderthal can bend a bow. More like my social skills; let's just say he thought an environment with some of the fairer sex present might do me more, ahem, good, than the exclusively masculine environment of the pages and squires, or the Own." He sighed theatrically, and a little wistfully.

Ahh, Klair thought. That's why cousin Franklin was so pleased about being set to the King's Own to "be amongst real men." You learn new things every day.

"So why will Buri be so pleased to be back with the main group?" She asked, trying to change the tract of the conversation.

"I know you're new, but as a member of a scout group, you are trained to be observant; surely you've noticed her and Raoul?" Alec's eyes gleamed at the prospect of a fresh audience for his gossip.

"Rough ground ahead!" The call came down the column, and the ponies slowed to a walk. Klair dropped her Bazil behind Alec's roan mare, and leaned forward to whisper to him.

"Her and Sir Raoul? I always thought, the rumour was, well, that he was…"

"Darling, I really don't think he is. Have a look when they're plotting together."

"Well." Klair said. "Label me updated and send me for filing." She slowed Bazil a touch; he was walking so close to Alec's mare that a kick might be forthcoming. "Any other gems of wisdom I might benefit from knowing?"

Alec carefully checked the path ahead for any low lying foliage before he swung round in his saddle to address her. "Well, I did hear you appreciate male company…"

"Does everybody know every detail of my past? I was young and wild, I'm not like that any more. I'm here to be the best soldier I can be, that's all I want now." She flushed; she was used to the jibes and mutters behind her back, but they still angered her.

"Of course. But, if you ever get… lonely…" Alec waggled his perfectly arched eyebrows at her.

Klair rolled her eyes at him.

"…well, go and visit the charming Corporal Domitan of Third Company. To my never-ending disappointment, he an unreformed ladies' man." Alec sighed. "We all have our burdens to bear."

"Domitan? The tall, blue-eyed one?" Klair asked before she could stop herself.

"Ah-ha! You have taste, my new best friend!" Alec crowed back at her.

"What's all that noise?" Buri's dulcet tones floated back. "It's just as well we know the enemy isn't here, or we could thank you two for a selection of arrows in our backs! Cavall, Marsh's Hall, guard duty the moment we get back!"

"Yes, Commander." Klair and Alec chorused together. They swapped a glance, and continued to ride in silence. Klair, though, was wondering if, maybe, it was time to start putting the past behind her, and if this Corporal Domitan might be the place to start…

There's a few more to follow, Dom's side of the story as well as Klair.