Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce's.
A/N If you didn't already figure this out, Kel is a squire and at the palace.
Now, time to reply to my reviews...
jayley: Thanks for the review. I'm trying to work on the oc stuff, and I hope this new chapter will be more in character.
Evilstrawberry: Thank you for the review. I took your advice and I tried to put them more in character. I agree that a well written Joren is the best, and I hope that I am good enough to keep him in character.
Abyssgirl: Thanks for the review and the advice. I'm trying out the semi-colons just for you.
Aly-Of-Tortall13: Thanks. That's a pretty high compliment if you usually don't like them. I use to not like them, and now they're one of my fav pairings.
xxTunstall Chickxx: Thank you. I hope this update is soon enough, although my others won't be this soon. I'm not very good with my commas, but I'll try harder.
Laura: Your welcome. I'll try my best to continue it. I probably will, but in due time.
The main question her friends bombarded Kel with was, "Did he hurt you?" Kel told them the truth. No. Kel was pretending to think about the questions they asked her, but truthfully she was just waiting for them to leave her be so she could think alone.
Finally, after an half-an-hour of Kel trying to reassure everyone that nothing bad happened, Kel headed to the practice courts with her yamani bow. She mainly uses it when she needs to think about something without hurting herself with a glaive or sword.
Positioned and ready to shoot, the thoughts began. 'Why did he want to know if I've ever been in love? Did he have the dream too? Even if he did, why would he accept my friendship?'
Kel was distracted from her thoughts by a call behind her, "Mind if I try?" Kel swiveled around to see the object of her thoughts; Joren. 'What is he up to? This isn't the Joren who bullied me as a page, and kidnapped my maid. Maybe it's all a trick?'
Kel, again, was in deep thought so Joren repeated his question. This time, Kel answered. "I don't mind at all, but it's different than a Tortall bow."
"Then you can teach me." Joren said quite easily, as if they haven't only been friends for about one hour. 'All I have to do' he thought, 'is get her trust and love, and I could pass the Chamber of Ordeal.'
Kel was reluctant to teach him, but did it anyway. She found out he was a quick learner and he hit the target every time after he got use to it. Kel was starting to believe that Joren could actually change, when he dropped the bow and shoved her hard on the ground.
Too shocked to do anything, Kel just sat there; staring up at him. "Looks like the Lump can't handle a little push." Joren said in a voice she hadn't heard in awhile.
The next thing Kel knew was her face in the dirt from a hard kick on her back. She looked up from the ground to see Garvey of Runnerspring standing over her with a smirk on his face. "Yeah. She doesn't deserve to be a knight. Let alone a squire."
When Garvey was done talking, Kel had already gotten up and was walking away with her bow. She only turned back once to dodge and trip Garvey, who was trying to attack her from behind. She gave a disgusted look to both Joren, who was standing behind Garvey with a sneer on his face, and Garvey before heading back to her rooms.
Kel couldn't believe the change in Joren. Well, actually she could, but that doesn't mean she wanted to. She was just begging to accept him, but then his friend shows up and he starts acting like a pompous jerk.
Kel had entered her room, and had just finished putting her yamani bow away when the lunch bell rang. Having to go to lunch, due to nothing else to do because her knight master thought he was being generous by giving her the day off, Kel made her way down to the mess hall.
To her relief, Joren wasn't there. She sat next to Neal and Merric; across from Cleon. Reminding Neal to eat his vegetables, and filling up most of her afternoon with the three squires at the practice courts were pretty much the only thing Kel felt like talking about at lunch.
Neal and Merric had tried to talk to her about the Joren incident, but she pretended she couldn't hear them. It worked, but Neal started poking her to see if she was still awake. She threatened him with her glaive if he didn't stop, and she wasn't bothered about it for the rest of the meal.
Kel didn't see Joren until supper that night, and even then she ignored him like he wasn't there. She knew he wouldn't approach her when his friends were near. That would be embarrassing for him to be caught talking to her as if she wasn't his enemy who didn't belong here.
'He decides to treat me like he use to,' Kel thought, 'so I'll return the favor.' She chatted easily with her friends; though some could tell she was distracted.
After the meal, Kel was heading back to her room when she felt a hand on her room. Using her instincts, she pulled the hand off of her and flipped the person onto the ground. Seeing Joren on the ground, she smirked and walked away.
He decided to catch up with her to see what her problem was. 'She can't hate me already,' He thought, 'it's not like I kidnapped her stupid maid again.' Instead of touching her like he did last time, he walked in front of her; blocking her way.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to upset you." Joren said it like he didn't care. Probably because he didn't.
Kel actually glared at him before replying, "I don't accept your apology, so please move out of my way so I can continue to my room."
Joren didn't move out of her way, but took a step closer so their bodies were centimeters apart. "Do you want to talk about it?" He said in the huskiest voice he could manage.
Joren got everything he wanted. So when he leaned down to kiss Kel; he expected to get one. When their lips were close enough to feel each others breathes, Kel placed her hands on Joren's chest and said, "No." She pushed him away and ran to her room; locking the door behind her.
Kel lied down on her bed; thinking about Joren for what felt like the hundredth time that day. 'Should I trust? Does he deserve my trust? Or will he just abuse it again?'
She didn't know whether she should help with the 'love thing', or make him suffer it alone. She was starting to get head ache just thinking about it, so in the end she chose to sleep on it.
