A/N - So for all the people that DON'T hate me for killing Raoul in the last chapter (which i DID NOT want to do by the way, even though my friend thinks i did) here is chapter seven...ENJOY...XD...
Disclaimer - Do I have to keep doing this? I only own Breanna and the plot...nada mas...
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"Today we are here to say good-bye to our dearly departed friend and knight." Said the voice of the priest, although Brea hardly paid attention to anything he was saying. She was numb and sat on the bench with her mother and father, staring down at her hands. Raoul was really gone, he was dead; it was hard for her to believe as she had spent most of her life growing up around him.
A tear leaked out of her eye and landed, melding with the black material of her dress. She couldn't lose it, not now. Oh well...to late...Brea started full out sobbing, her shoulders shaking with the effort to keep as quiet as possible. An arm wrapped around Brea's shoulders and her father pulled her to her feet, starting from the chapel.
"It's okay, my dear Breanna, it's okay." Anthony murmured, rubbing her back soothingly.
"I just miss him." She said, wiping at her face as her tears stopped for the moment.
"I know." Anthony cupped Brea's chin, gazing down at her. "But Raoul wouldn't want you to grieve and tear yourself up over this. Cry, yes, but only as long as it's needed." Brea simply nodded and stood beside Buri as people started from the chapel, shaking hands with each of them in turn, offering sympathies and condolences. One of the last people to leave the chapel was Dom, his left arm held in a stationary right angle position, as it was the one that had been shot.
"Lord Anthony, I'm sorry about Raoul. He was a really good friend, I don't know what I would've done." He murmured, shaking Anthony's hand.
"Thank you, young Domitan, I know you and my brother were good friends. You have no idea how much it means to us that you brought him back to us." Anthony responded and Dom moved down the line, kissing Rhiannon's hand, hugging the crying Buri and he stopped at Brea.
"Brea, I..."
"I know Dom, you're sorry." Brea murmured, staring at the ground.
"Truly I am Brea. I wish there was something I could've done." Dom whispered, grasping her hand softly with his good one.
"If sorry and wishes could bring my uncle back, he would alive right now." Brea said coldly, tired of everybody just saying how 'sorry' they were. They had no idea what she was going through. "I just want someone to...forget it."
"Brea, what is it?" Dom took her hand and led her away.
"I want someone to be able to understand. He wasn't just my uncle, be was my best friend, he trained me to fight with a sword and hand-to-hand. He taught me how to ride and even bought me my first pony." Brea started crying again and Dom pulled her into a one armed hug. "I loved him and I miss him so much."
"I know you miss him." Dom murmured, feeling tears trickling down his shoulder.
"No, you don't." Brea pulled away from him and crying, she ran down the hall, intent on getting out of the castle.
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Dom, Buri, Kel, Neal and Brea's parents sat in the sitting room of Brea's rooms, all of them just kind of staring stupidly at each other. Neal coughed and shifted, breaking the silence.
"Anybody had any idea where she went?" Kel asked, running a hand through her hair.
"If we did, we would be out there, getting her back." Dom responded, somewhat irritably.
"No need to snap, it was just a question." Neal said, coming to Kel's defense, even though it wasn't needed; she could understand his annoyance.
"She's going to catch a terrible cold, it's raining and cold outside." Rhiannon said, her hand gripping her husband's painfully tight.
"My love, that is the least of our worries. At this point, I just want her to come back, who cares if she's sick or not." Anthony responded, easing the vice grip on his hand; he had started losing feeling in it.
"Dom, doesn't she have a place she goes?" Buri asked, slowly raising her head from her hands and staring at Dom with puffy red eyes.
"Yeah, thinking about it, she does." Dom mentally kicked himself for not remembering the spot in the woods Brea claimed as her own. He stood up and started towards the door, only to find it blocked by Anthony, who was built almost exactly like Raoul, except he was taller by two inches.
"Domitan, you're going to tell me where Breanna is and then were going to ride out together and bring her back." Anthony said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"With all due respect sir, that is not a good idea." Dom responded.
"What makes you say that?" The older man asked, glaring at Dom.
"I know Brea a lot better than most of the people in the room. If we ride up and haul her back here kicking and screaming, she will hate us. If I go alone, I can talk to her." The young sergeant explained calmly.
"Are you saying I don't know my own child?" Anthony demanded, his voice rising. "I cared for that girl, me and Rhiannon both did, we love her."
"I'm not saying that and I'm certainly not doubting the love you and Lady Rhiannon have for her either." Dom took a breath. "But I also love Brea, more than anyone can ever know, and I know I can get her to listen to me." Anthony stared down at Dom, shock written all over his face; Dom could only imagine what everyone else's face looked like.
As the people in the room registered what he said, Dom took the opportunity to slip out the door and start quickly down the hall. As he stood in the stables, attempting to saddle his horse, he realized it would harder than he thought.
"I can't waste time." Dom muttered, pulling on the ties of the brace and allowing it to drop to the floor. "The storm is getting worse." Stretching out his arm, he fought the urge to cry out in pain, but continued working. He would be in for it with the healers, as they had instructed the brace to be left on long enough for his shoulder to heal. Dom finished saddling his horse and mounted, riding out of the stables and into the woods.
Having followed Brea many times, he knew the way through the woods like the back of his hand and in no time at all, he spotted her horse Whisper, under a large tree and shielded from the rain.
"Hey girl, where is she?" Dom asked the horse, petting its head. As if the horse understood him, she tossed her head to left, where Dom could make out the faint outline of someone sitting in the wet grass beside the pond. "Alright, both of you stay here, I'll bring her back soon." He dismounted from Lark and started very carefully over to Brea; his black mourning clothes were drenched with water and clung to his skin.
"Knew you would get here eventually." Brea said quietly as Dom sat next to her; her knees were hugged to her chest and the black gown pooled around her, taking in rain, grass and mud in the area around her, her black curls hung defeated on her shoulders.
"I had to come get you, your parents were going crazy." Dom said, glancing at her, even now he couldn't help but notice how the rainwater made the gown cling to Brea in all of the right places.
Wow, Brea has grown a lot...how come I never noticed that before? His perverted mind was saying, then the sensible part joined in. Stop it Dom! Now is not the time for that! His brain scolded and he shook his head to rid it of any...thoughts.
"I just had to be alone." Brea muttered, staring into the pond.
"Understandable." Dom said, nodding his head.
"So, who sent you after me? Was it my father or Neal?" She glanced at Dom and he saw that her eyes were a very mellow grey color, something he rarely saw, as they were normally a bright blue.
"Uh, kind of a combination of both, along with your mother, Kel and Buri." Was his response, followed by a shrug. "Believe it or not I do know what you're going through."
"Really now? You do?" Brea demanded, raising her eyebrows. "So you know what it's like to lose someone you care for so deeply that it hurts to even think about them?"
"Yes I do." Dom said. "Brea, people know what you're going through, they know how you're feeling and they want to help you. You just have to bother to let them in." He scolded, his voice rising.
"I can't!" Brea jumped up and Dom followed suit. "Uncle Raoul was like my father! I didn't have a father growing up, because he was always gone and my uncle Raoul was there! I loved him more than my own parents! And no one can understand that!"
"I do, Brea! I do!" Dom shouted back. "I lost my father when I was ten and I grew up with no one around! I came here and Raoul treated me like a son! I loved him as much as you do, I understand how you feel."
"I just miss him so much." Brea muttered miserably. "It's like there is a big gaping hole in my chest."
"I know and so do I." Dom said and pulled Brea towards him, hugging her; Brea put her face in his shirt. "But we can get through this and we'll get through it together."
"Thank you Dom." She murmured into his shirt; the rain still fell steadily around them.
"Anything for you." Dom slipped a hand under her chin and made Brea look up at him; her eyes were still a stormy grey color. "Brea, I love you. I meant it when I said it two years ago and I mean it now." And with that said, he closed the distance between them and kissed Brea lovingly.
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Aaaannnnddd there is it...they finally kissed...
Reviews would be appreciated and if you can find the reference to the Circle of Magic books...you get...brownie points! Just want to see how many of you can catch it...
