Kel woke up just as the sun was rising

This chapter is dedicated to my betas: iPodHeadPhones, wAstxd1sYmPhOny and Lady Grace of Masbolle. It is also dedicated to rowanHOODofTheROWANwood whose love and enthusiasm for stories is greatly missed.

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Kel woke up just as the sun was rising. Her sparrows were lined up on the windowsill while Nari stood on the edge of the bed. She didn't intend on practising with her glaive this morning; she had practice with Dom later so she didn't really see the point. Rolling over and attempting to get another hour or so of sleep, Kel was nearly deafened when her whole flock of sparrows flew, chirping at full volume, to land around her head Those who were close enough pecked her harder than they normally would have done.

Cursing Raoul, she said, "Okay, okay. I'm up! Honestly, I can't even have one day where I sleep in just because of you pesky birds." It was alright for Raoul to say sleep in whenever you can but he didn't live with a flock of hungry birds. She didn't move in case she hurt any of them. When Nari, standing on the pillow, cocked her head to look Kel in the eyes, questioning why she was still in bed Kel replied with "Well I can't get up with you all in the way, can I?" Seeming to believe that her mistress was telling the truth, Nari returned to her previous position at the bottom of the bed and the others returned to the windowsill.

After feeding the birds, Kel checked her armour and weapons. They were all in good condition but Kel would feel better when they were in perfect condition. She gave her glaive and sword a quick clean, all the while looking forward to her morning with Dom. She was much happier now, knowing that he was not mad or upset with her. She still wanted to make it up to him though; maybe she could buy him a meal at one of the separate food halls that had appeared temporarily that were run by the refugees who were waiting to travel to New Hope when the knights returned.

Once Kel had cleaned her weapons and unpacked what hadn't been sorted when they first arrived, she went down to the practice courts half an hour early to warm up and have quick look at the new refugees. She was greeted by various members of Third Company who enquired as to how she was, none of them commented on her absence for most of the previous night though; it was none of their business and they weren't sure that the Own's lady knight would react kindly to their questioning, even if it was only due to their concern.

When she arrived, she saw that Dom was already there, stretching. She stood for a moment, watching as his muscles flexed, appreciating the view. He glanced up and saw her looking, "Morning Kel, I hope you're ready for an Own-style workout. They're very tough you know." A wicked grin appeared on his face as he finished stretching.

"I am Dom, but the question is, are you?" she grinned as the look on his face changed to one of slight horror and began stretching, trying to rid the thought of other possible workouts with Dom from her head.

They spent an hour practising with swords before moving on to other weapons; they only stopped when they began to feel their concentration slipping and realised that neither had eaten yet. They arranged to get cleaned up and meet for a late breakfast in half an hour.

Breakfast was a quiet affair, both warriors being far too hungry to talk. When they had finished they returned their dishes to the kitchen and wandered out of the now empty mess. "Hey, Kel. I don't have any work to do today and I know you don't so what do you say to practising some archery? No griffin arrows of course."

She laughed, "Okay, Dom. You must be a glutton for punishment though; you want me to beat you in archery as well as with sword and glaive?"

"You only just beat me, Kel. I see in our time apart your ego has grown." She punched him in response. They continued to their rooms in silence and then returned outside to the practice courts.

They practised with weapons for the rest of the morning, before having some lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon riding. By the time they had returned, several people had arrived for Raoul and Buri's wedding, among them Raoul's favourite foreign dignitaries and other knights. Prince Roald would be representing his father at the wedding and was arriving in secret later that night. King Jon and his commanders in the north were fairly sure that the weakened Scanrans would be unlikely to recognise and attack the Crown Prince, but there was no sense in taking unnecessary risks.

After the evening meal, Kel and Dom joined their friends again and spent the rest of the night talking. When Roald arrived from Corus, the soldiers revelled in the news from home, and Kel was particularly happy to see that her matchmaking between Cricket and Roald had been successful. As she was leaving to return to her rooms that night, he pulled her aside and quietly told her that Shinko was two months pregnant with their first child. She congratulated the prince and was then startled to hear that he and Cricket were quietly working on Thayet and Jon, trying to persuade them to let one of the godmothers be Kel herself, in return for all she had done for the couple. She protested, using the same arguments as Jon and Thayet had, but secretly she was pleased, it gave her something else to focus on, although such an event would mean that she had to leave her people for a couple of months.

Roald let her go to bed, realising as they talked that she was extremely tired. He teased her, saying that if she carried on at this rate she'd be in no fit state for the wedding and that Raoul would have her head. She smiled and replied that that would be impossible, Buri had forbidden him to take part in any kind of combat unless the weapons were dull and the warriors wore padding; while she knew that the war was important to the country, like any bride, Buri hadn't been happy that her wedding had been postponed, several times, so she just wanted to make sure that nothing else got in the way of their big day.

Kel returned to her rooms, happy but exhausted. She changed and washed before getting into bed, falling instantly into a deep sleep filled with dreams of her and Dom.

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I know this is another quite short chapter, there's a long story about why which I won't go into. The next chapters will be longer, I just want to finish re-reading Squire and Lady Knight for referencing and to make sure that the characters are only as OOC as necessary for this story.

Thanks for reading,

Lady Janna