Forgetting the Past

Chapter 4

"Kela, Kela!" called one of the children that Kel now tended, running down the forest path with expert grace. A bit of grass had lodged itself in the girl's hair, and her face was pink with excitement.

It had quickly become clear that Kel could not do any of the things the village women were expected to do. In the end, she was put in charge of watching the younger children, a job that had formerly gone to an elderly woman too arthritic to work anymore. However, the woman could stills spin very fine thread, which was more than could be said for 'Kela'.

Kel smiled at the young girl, who reminded her of Tobe. It was a bittersweet feeling, knowing that she had been forced to break her promise to the young boy. She bent down so that she was eyelevel to the child.

"What is it, Laya?"

"Kyra's hur' an' no one knows wha' t' do wi' 'er!"

Kel stood up. "Where is Kyra, Laya? Take me to her."

She followed the girl at a brisk pace until Kyra came into sight, curled on the ground, clutching her stomach.

"Where does it hurt, Kyra?" Kel asked gently.

Kyra let out a gasping sob. "Everywhere!"

"I'm going to pick you up and carry you, okay? I'm taking you to Nealith. He'll make you feel better."

Kyra nodded slightly, closing her eyes and trying to stop sobbing. Kel gently lifted her up – the girl, fed barely enough to live, weighed next to nothing- and began questioning the other children that were gathered around.

"What happened?" she asked, directing her question at one of the older girls, who was usually calm and able to report accurately.

"We was jus' playin', an' Yidin poked Kyra in the side an' then she was like this," the girl gasped. Kel frowned, not having gathered anything from their story. Still, it might help Neal. She set off, followed by the scurrying, worried children.

Neal met them at the cottage, having been summoned by another boy, and he quickly shoed all of the children away. Kel settled Kyra on the extra cot they kept before being shooed away herself. She paced 

outside of the cottage, unable to answer the children's pestering questions. Finally they settled into a worried huddle, and Kel offered to tell them stories to pass the time.

Once, there was a beautiful princess named Thayet…

Slowly, as dusk fell, villagers began to gather with the children. Kyra's frantic parents arrived from the field, having just learned of their daughter's accident, and Kel was forced to tell her sobbing mother that she hadn't heard anything yet.

Finally, Neal emerged, looking weary.

"What?!" several villagers demanded, surging forward. The look on Neal's face had evidently sent Kyra's mother over the edge, and the woman wailed, certain that her child was dead.

"She's alright," Neal said, blinking at the mother with confusion. "She'll need to rest for a week or so, and she should probably stay here for the night so that I can watch her, but she'll be fine."

"What was wrong with her?" one of the boys – Yidin, Kel suspected- asked.

"A belly sickness. Nothing too terrible."

The boy nodded, satisfied, and the rest of the villagers left. Kyra's parents lingered over their daughter's bed for a time, until Neal gently told them that they needed their sleep, and that Kyra would be fine. Reluctantly, they left.

"So what was it really?" Dom asked from the chair in the corner, where he had been watching the ordeal.

"Burst appendix. I had to remove it, and then cleanse her body of its poison, before I could guarantee anything. She's lucky… without a decent healer anywhere around, she would have died."

"Mmm," was the only answer he received.

Something had changed after the ordeal with Kyra. The young women, reluctant to befriend Kel because of her stocky build and apparent inability to do anything, not to mention her formal, high-born speech, began to be kind to her. One offered to teach her to spin, a task at which Kel failed miserably. They finally discovered that, once taught, she was a decent weaver, and Kel started to watch the children from a small porch outside her cottage where she had set up her loom.

She had settled into a routine with Dom, too. Neal did not particularly care if he continued to practice the skills he had learned as a knight, but Kel and Dom both had started to go slightly crazy from lack of practice. They agreed to meet at a nice clearing about two miles into the woods every morning to do drills and spar.

And, for the first time, they really started to feel as if they were a part of the village. They were invited to the First Snow Festival, a small affair compared to the festivals and holidays of Corus, but fun nevertheless. Kel danced with two or three young men (and received endless teasing about it from Neal and Dom) while Dom seized the opportunity to flirt with every young eligible woman in his vicinity. The old ladies clucked from the sidelines that it was high time for a man of Dom's age to be married, and some of the spunkier ones took bets on which young lady would be the blushing bride. Neal was the only one who did not enjoy the event; he was too caught up with memories of Yuki and misery of never being able to see her again.

More time passed, and they even began to like living in the village. A young man had started courting Kel, much to her horror, and Dom had started to single out a young woman in the village. Neal was thinking about possible ways that Yuki might join then, and Kel agreed that some of them were quite reasonable. When the snow melted from the passes, a letter was dispatched disclosing their location and describing a plan for Yuki to slip away to join them.

And another chapter revised. So short (weep) but still longer than the last one, which is promising. I think I captured my picture of them settling into the town much better in this chapter than the original. Yay!

Original Author's Note:

This chapter is dedicated to Alianne Cooper, because I still feel really bad about missing her review, and because she gave me the longest review I've had in my entire life afterwards. And she's reviewed almost every fanfic I've ever written.

Someone else said they couldn't imagine Tobe being left behind by Kel, who'd promised not to do that. All I have to say is this- It's rather hard to keep one's promises when they are kidnapped.

And… um… Neal and Dom could only kidnap one person, and Seaver and Merric and them chose not to go with them. Actually, Neal and Dom never asked them… And Jon is being abnormally prick-ish, so he's punishing Dom even though Raoul ordered him to go. Dom is a bit bitter and is taking it out on Raoul, which is why he seems mad. I promise he'll get over it, someday. (Obviously, I have now addressed this part in the rewrite, and changed it from this. So ignore that paragraph :p)

And it's been several months since the last chapter, just so you know. Kel has learned the sign language of Galla, because she had to pretend they had different signs in Tyra, where they supposedly came from, so that the townspeople wouldn't suspect her.