A/N: Hey guys! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and read my story, it means a lot to me! Welcome to chapter 2 of The Protector of the Small! Last chapter the asterisks between the jumps between Kel and the pages didn't come out on for some reason. Hope the symbol works this time! Please keep reviewing; your opinions are important to me! Enjoy chapter 2!
Chapter 2
Kel snuggled deeper under her blankets, until a small hand hesitantly shook her shoulder.
"My lady, it's time to move on. Wake up please, Lady Kel," came a young boy's voice. Tobe, she thought. She groaned, and then said, "Alright Tobe, coming."She slid carefully from under her blankets so as not to squash or injure any creatures sleeping on her bed. Sleepily, she stood and looked around. Kel found her clothes, closed the tent flap and slipped off her nightgown. She fastened her breastband, changed her loincloth, pulled on her breeches, her shirt, boots and chain mail. Then she left her tent to find her companions sitting around the remains of last night's campfire. Blearily, she sat next to Neal, who handed her bread and leftover cold venison.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Neal laughed.
"Thanks Neal," she replied, taking a bite of bread.
Doran closed the library door, and then said, "Come with me, Sarara." He took her by the hand and led her down the corridor, her long blonde ponytail whisking out behind her. He took her to a curtained niche along the corridor, and pulled her inside, closing the gap in the curtains behind her. Sarara squeezed through a small passageway into a tiny room, not much bigger than a large cupboard. Most of the far wall was taken by a window. Sarara gazed out the window at the glorious sunset. Doran walked over to stand next to her. He was very close, and she could feel his body heat. His hand gently brushed hers, and she thought, His skin…it's so soft… She blushed at this thought, and cleared her throat, searching for something nice to say. Awkwardly, she said, "The…er…view is pretty." Inwardly, Sarara cringed. What a stupid thing to say, she thought, Now what will he think of me? Doran moved even closer. Her hip was now brushing his thigh.
"It is. Absolutely gorgeous," he replied. She turned her head to look at him. He wasn't looking out the window. His eyes, a beautiful sapphire blue, Sarara noticed, were fixed on her face. She blushed as she realized what he'd said.
"Heh, you're blushing," he laughed. Sarara covered her face with her hands, wishing that she weren't blushing.
"Hey, don't hide it, it's so cute!" he said, gently pulling her hands away from her face. He let go of her wrists, and slid his arms around her waist, and she slipped her arms around his neck in return. He brought his face towards hers, and their lips met in a tender, gentle kiss.
"Mount up!" called Kel, mounting Hoshi. Checking behind her to see that her companions were ready, she led the group onwards towards Mastiff. As they rode along, Dom rode up beside her.
"And how are we today, oh great and wonderful leader?" he asked teasingly.
Kel's heart leapt. "Well, thank you, Dom. Yourself?" she replied. Go on, tell him, a part of her nagged, Tell him how you feel. You know you want to. You just have to open your mouth and say, 'Dom, I love you.' It's not that hard, go on. The more sensible, rational part of her replied, I couldn't. If he said no, we could never be friends again.
Whilst she was having this internal battle, Dom replied, "Never better. How far, do you estimate, to Mastiff?"
"Oh, not too far," she replied, itching to reach out and take his hand.
A few hours later, Kel was riding alone at the head of the group again, Dom having had to fall back to sort out a quarrel between two of his men, when she heard Neal telling another of Dom's men about Yuki, his love.
"She's one of Princess Shinkokami's ladies, and she's very pretty. Her full name's Yukimi noh Daiomoru, and she has shiny black hair and pretty eyes…" Neal sighed.
"Neal, we're not obsessing over Yuki again, are we?"teased Kel, with a slight pang that she couldn't be so open about her obsession with Dom. She hadn't told anyone about it. Neal blushed, and Kel laughed at his reaction. Her laughter was cut short, however, when the sparrows flew over to her.
"What is it Nari?" she asked, suddenly serious, "Friend or foe?" The sparrows flew in the formation signaling 'friend'. As Kel topped a rise, she saw why Nari had flown to her.
"Here we are, men. Fort Mastiff," she announced. Mastiff lay below, spread across the land, the gleam of the guards' swords, shields and armour.
"Kel, can we go already? Yuki's waiting for me," said Neal impatiently.
Lovers, thought Kel, with another pang. "Tut tut, Neal, patience is a virtue," she quipped, grinning.
"One that I don't possess, obviously," he replied, straight-faced.
Kel laughed. "Alright men, let's go."
Sarara ran her hands from behind Doran's neck over his shoulders and down onto his chest. Wow, he's been working hard, his chest is solid muscle, she thought. She pressed herself closer into him, and he ran his hand slowly up her back and freed her hair from its tight ponytail. It cascaded down her back, like a golden waterfall, and he entwined his hand in it, marveling at how soft and smooth it was. They stood like this for a few minutes. Sarara could feel her heart racing. This was her dream come true. Doran could feel her heart beating strongly and quickly against his chest, thudding heavily. His knew his own must be doing the same. This was the girl he loved, and he had ever since he first set eyes on her, back on the first day of their page training. I never want to let her go, he thought blissfully.
The bell rang and they sprang apart. Sarara smiled shyly at him and he said, "You look really pretty with your hair down. You should wear it out more often." She smoothed it down shyly. "I'll see you at dinner, pearl of my heart."
"See you there," replied Sarara softly and shyly. She kissed him on the cheek and left their niche, her long hair brushing his cheek as she left. Doran sighed, then left too. He glimpsed her long blonde hair fanning behind her as she turned the corner at the end of the corridor. He shook himself out of his reverie and hurried towards the dining hall. If he was late for dinner, Padraig would assign him punishment work.
Doran entered the hall and noticed Sarara at a table with Tamsin.
"So, what happened?" asked Tamsin.
"What do you mean?" replied Sarara innocently.
"Well, you left the library with Doran, and your hair was tied up. Now you come to dinner, and it's out. What happened after you and-mmph!" Sarara clapped her hand over Tamsin's mouth as Chanlia haToraine joined them.
"Later!" she hissed at Tamsin. Doran pulled his gaze from Sarara and went to sit with Niralo and Larsen.
Kel knocked at the door of Lord Wyldon's room.
"Enter," his voice sounded from inside. Kel opened the door and entered.
"Ah, Lady Knight. Take a seat. Wine or apple juice?" he asked. Kel sat in the chair in front of Lord Wyldon's desk.
"Apple juice, thank you," she replied.
"How are things at New Hope?" asked Lord Wyldon., passing her a glass of apple juice.
"Well sir, it's all going well. Weapons training is continuing as it was at Haven, and my people have managed to hold off the Scanran raids well, and…"
Lord Wyldon cut in, "Excellent, excellent, I assumed as much. Keladry, the war is just about over. We have heard that Maggur Rathhaussak has been deposed. Apparently, his generals didn't agree with his decisions, and mutinied. So the Scanran people are back to being their old, warring tribes. Lady Keladry, I am going to send you, Sir Nealan, Sir Merric, Sir Seaver, Sergeant Domitian and his squad back to Corus. We have found a new caretaker for New Hope, and he will do a wonderful job."
"B-but Sir! I-"
"No, Keladry. You are all to leave for Corus, as soon as possible, before the bad weather sets in. tomorrow, you and your companions will go back to New Hope. You will have 3 days to pack. The new caretaker will be along during those three days."
"Sir, if I may, who is the new caretaker?"
"Sir Inness of Mindelan. Your brother, I believe?"
"Yes sir!" Kel was happy that New Hope would be left in the hands of someone as capable as Inness, and he would continue where Kel had left off. Lord Wyldon broke into her thoughts, "Lady Knight, you are dismissed."
"Thank you, my lord." She bowed and left the room. Back to Corus! she thought, I wonder why? I mean, I know the war is over, but I thought we would be left here to take care of New Hope…Ah well, guess he or some higher power has their reasons. Kel turned a corner in the corridor and gasped.
"…and then the bell went for dinner," finished Sarara. Tamsin giggled and clapped.
"Oh, congratulations Sari! See, we told you he liked you too!" she replied happily. Sarara blushed.
"Yes, but even if I'd known, I still wouldn't be able to tell him."
"You're too timid, Sari. I hope Doran can bring you out of your shell a bit, so to speak." There was a knock on the door. "It's open," called Tamsin from her bed, where she was lounging. The door opened, and Niralo entered, followed by Doran and Larsen, who entered saying, "I'm having trouble with question 5, how do I do it?" Tamsin sighed and leant over to look at Larsen's parchment.
"Ok, subtract the 5 from both sides. Doran, she's over there, not next to the door," said Tamsin without looking up, gesturing to where Sarara sat. Doran blushed and left the doorframe where he had been leaning to sit behind Sarara and wrap his arms around her waist. She rested her hands on his and leant back into his chest.
"Then divide both sides by 3 to get the x on it's own," continued Tamsin.
"Oh, I get it. If I get the pronumeral on its own, I can figure out what it equals!" he replied.
"That's right Lars, well done," she said wearily.
Kel could feel her heart cracking on two as she stared at the sight that met her as she had rounded the corner. Dom and one of Princess Shinkokami's ladies, Mio sa Norimoko, were kissing. They were so involved with each other that they didn't notice Kel standing there. She tore herself away and ran to her room, where she closed the door and collapsed on the bed, where she burst into tears. Nari looked at her, alarmed. Kel felt betrayed, as though Dom had cheated on her. Why? she thought brokenly, Why? What does Mio have that I don't? I thought I had a chance with him, I thought he was mine! She buried her face in her pillow and cried harder. She felt as though she had lost everything, everything that was important to her. She cried until she had no tears left, and even then she still hadn't cried out all her sorrow. Her heavy tears turned to dry, racking sobs, and she sobbed heavily into her pillow, until she heard a knock at the door. The door opened a crack, and a sweet voice hesitantly said, "Kel?" She sat up suddenly, looking at the girl in the doorway. "Yuki! He doesn't love me, and I don't know what to do!" she sobbed. Yuki ran across the room and enveloped Kel in a big hug.
"Kel, what is it? What's wrong? Who doesn't love you?" she asked, concern in her voice. Kel told Yuki her whole story, and Yuki replied, "There there, Kel, don't worry. There are plenty more men out the, plenty that will love you, if you look for them. Hush now, you'll make yourself sick with all that crying. Sergeant Domitian wasn't right for you, my dear."
Kel felt Yuki's words ease her pain a bit. This was what she had needed to hear, words of comfort. Yuki was right. Dom may be nice to look at, she thought, but he doesn't want a wife like me, who'll run off to save the day somewhere. He deserves a pretty lady, not a lady knight like me. Yet, despite this thought, Kel knew it would take a while for the pain to leave completely.
"I…you're right Yuki," Kel sniffed, "I should be concentrating on my responsibilities to the crown." Kel sat up, "Oh, where are my manners? Would you like some tea?"
Kel and Yuki faced each other and bowed, Yamani style, then sipped their green tea.
"Yuki, have you seen Neal yet? He was really looking forward to seeing you," asked Kel cheekily. Yuki blushed, and pulled out her shukusen, or a Yamani ladies' fan, to hide it.
"Neal is in the infirmary now, with his father, but I'll see him a little later," she replied, embarrassed, but pleased that Neal was looking forward to seeing her. Kel sipped her tea.
When Kel and Yuki had finished their tea, Yuki said, glancing at the dying rays of the sun, "Neal and I are going to meet soon. I'm sorry Kel, but I must be off. Thanks for the tea!" She stood and bowed.
"Alright then. Thank you for the comfort Yuki, I needed it badly," replied Kel.
"Not at all Kel, if you need any more, please feel free to come and find me."
"Thanks Yuki!" Yuki bowed again and left to meet Neal.