Disclaimer: I do not own any of the character or place, also part of the plot belongs to writeaway03 who inspired this story.
The next day, Kel was looking out her window, toward the practice court. She saw that Raoul, Alanna and Wyldon were making some people pay for their words. She also saw Daine's hand in this when Wolset was un-ceremonysly dumped from the saddle by his horse. She laughed as Seaver received some goopy bird drooping on his head.
It was actually quite entertaining to see the men practice. Raoul made them joust against him. She cringed every time one of the men was hit, knowing fully well how it felt. Alanna was currently sparring with Esmond, and obviously the little woman was beating him thoroughly. She looked further to see lord Wyldon ordering the men to staff practice. Buri was trying to contain her laughter. She was TRYING to train the men into horseback fights, however, the horse were not very willing. She kept yelling at them that the horse was just an extension of them, not separate part.
The Queen came down with Daine and Shinko. While Daine went to train people with Archery, Thayet and Shinko went to see Lord Wyldon. After a small discussion Lord Wyldon yelled, loud enough for Kel to hear "Her Majesty and Her highness would like to show me the advantage of a glaive. This weapon seems extremely good, why don't you men help their Highnesses and practice with those"
Kel, from her second story window, clearly saw the men's shoulder drop in dread. Apparently they remembered how well SHE wielded the glaive.
"Entertaining to watch?" asked Neal, coming up behind her.
"Yes" she replied.
They laughed as Fulcher was pounded on by the small Yamani princess. Most men didn't stand a chance against Shinko or the Queen. The Queen paired off the men and, with the help of Wyldon, made them do drills. The men were clearly more careful with the glaive then with a normal staff. Then Shinko took out a few shukusens and all the men tried to get away from it. Some of them had had enough experience with it. She gave one to the Queen and Alanna. Whenever the men made a mistake they would wake the man with a fan.
Neal laughed behind her "What?" she asked.
"You know how I can read lips?" he asked.
"Yes" she replied.
"Well Merric's esteem of you just went heaps up."
"What do you mean?"
"I quote: 'This thing is HEAVY! And Kel makes it look so effortless! She's amazing'"
Kel smiled at that. "I trained to be good" she replied.
"And you are good" he told her.
She smiled at that.
She kept watching until the middle of the afternoon, when a pair of blue eyes looked up from the practice to stare straight into her hazel ones. She turned away quickly and convinced Neal to go practice in a indoor court.
After another long day of practice, the men went to the mess hall to eat. They had all sat down and started to devour their food. The place between Dom and Wolset was empty. As it had been for the past few days. It was where Kel usually sat. Dom was looking at the bench where she usually would have been, probably laughing about his cousin or just being Kel. He turned back to his food and started to eat like every other men.
However, they all stopped and looked up as Neal walked in, followed by none other than Kel. They hadn't seen her since that night, where they had said those things. Their eyes followed the Lady Knight as she went to get food.
Instead of sitting beside Dom she went to an unoccupied table where she ate in silence with Neal. Dom could see she was working hard to keep her Yamani mask up. His heart cried for her. She was so hurt and it was, partly, his fault. He swore he'd make it right for her.
Neal had asked her if she was fine with going to eat in the mess hall. She had said yes. However as soon as she felt everyone's eyes on her she wasn't so sure it was a good idea. She had seen the empty seat next to Dom but she couldn't bring herself to sit there, knowing he didn't return her affection. As soon as she had finished her meal she had rushed back to her room and had flopped on her bed.
Seeing the men had somewhat reopened the wound. The way they had all looked at her, as if she was somehow different now, only reminded her of the fateful words that had been spoken.
She hid her face in her pillow and tried to be as silent as possible as she sobbed quietly. She did not want to keep Neal away from Yuki again. She knew however that if he proposed to stay the night again she'd agree, because when he was there she didn't' cry herself to sleep.
She heard her door open. "Neal it's ok, I'll be find, you don't need to stay"
Obviously Neal didn't think so and he thought he needed to stay because she heard his footsteps coming closer. He rested his hand on her shoulder. She frowned into her pillow, was it her imagination or was his hand bigger?
"Don't cry"
She let out a strangled yell has she realized just who was in her room. She looked up to see blue eyes instead of green. "Dom"
"Kel, I want to apologize"
"I figured that when I got the roses" she said, a little bitterly.
He lifted his hand up and softly brushed her tears aside. This simple action, just made Kel cry harder. The movement had seemed so loving and romantic. He gathered her in his arms as she cried on his shoulder. She sobbed for a long time, all the while enjoying the feeling of Dom's arms around her, thinking it would be the only time he would ever hold her. As she drifted off to sleep she thought she felt warm lips on the top of her head but she couldn't be sure.
Dom looked up from Kel's sleeping head to see his cousin at the door. Neal just nodded his head once and whispered quietly so only Dom heard him "Don't you hurt her" and left.
Dom gently laid the Lady Knight on her bed and looked at her sleeping. She was, in his mind, very pretty. The men clearly had to see this side of Kel. When Kel was sleeping peacefully, it was clear she was a woman and that she was soft and pretty. As he left her room her vowed once again, that she would never be hurt the way she had just been.
Thank you for all the reviews! I hope you like this! Sorry i didn't update sooner! I had a tiny writer's block! :(