Discussions At The Ball
The man spoke first, "Dom, how have you been? Caused any chaos lately?"
"Not recently," Dom replied, "but I'm getting awfully bored. Who knows what will happen?"
"Raoul, don't you teach your men anything?" the lady spoke, "Introduce us to your friend, Sergeant Domitan."
"Of course, my lady, how could I be so rude? Lady Keladry of Mindelan, may I introduce Lady Alanna of Pirates' Swoop and Olau, the King's Champion, known as the Lioness, and Lord Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, knight commander of the King's Own, as I'm sure you know."
Kel smiled and gave a graceful curtsy. "It's an honor to meet two such renowned people such as yourselves."
"Please stop that. I don't like all that formality and neither does Raoul. We wouldn't even be here if the king hadn't ordered it."
"Yes, Lady Keladry, Raoul, here, is known for evading social events. The Lioness is a close second." Dom commented in a loud whisper.
"Watch it, Sergeant. I'll have you demoted faster than you can say 'Carthak'." Raoul replied.
"How many times have you used that threat now? This makes fifteen in the past week, I think. So far I've been lucky, no demotion yet. You know you need me to keep those soldiers in line," Dom said in a joking tone.
Kel laughed at their banter and added, "Sir, I really think you *should* carry out your threat. It might teach him a lesson,"
"Yes, Raoul, maybe that is a good idea," Alanna added with a grin.
"That's it! I give up! The world doesn't want me to succeed!" Dom proclaimed, throwing out his arms in a defeated gesture.
Neal and Yuki, who had stepped away from the group to speak with another of Neal's friends, now returned to join the conversation.
"Ah, my dearest knight-mistress!!" Neal gushed, grabbing Alanna's hand, "how long I have suffered from the lack of frequent tongue-lashings and whacks on the head from your most noble hand..."
"Watch it, or that'll be the last thing you remember saying," Alanna replied, yanking her hand back.
"Lord Raoul, what is the news from the Scanran border?" Kel asked, trying to keep her friend from getting himself into more trouble.
"Not much, they're still convinced that they can beat us. Little do they know what a shock they're in for."
The group laughed and then broke up to go their separate ways as the bell signaling that the banquet had begun sounded.
Dom lead Kel to her place beside him and, to her delight, Yuki and Neal were on her other side.
The king rose and gave a brief prayer to Mithros before seating himself and signaling for the first course to be served. The meal went well, with Neal and Dom telling stories about their childhood and various mishaps and adventures that they had encountered in their youth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
The next morning Kel woke with the intention of going to the training yards. The palace was silent as she slowly made her way to the courtyards.
Much to her surprise, a horn sounded from the palace walls, signaling an approaching messenger. Since the war had begun, messengers were common findings at the palace, but Kel had a feeling that this particular messenger was different.
Trusting her instincts, she turned back into the palace and casually wandered to the King's council chambers, intending to see what she could find out. When she arrived, she found the entire war council waiting to be admitted inside.
Review!!! Sorry it's so short, my muse (and my beta's,too, I think, if she doesn't mind me speaking for her) temporarily went on vacation for this chapter. Hey, while you're at it, visit my website: www.geocities.com/betsybee19. It's pretty cool.
Betsy
The man spoke first, "Dom, how have you been? Caused any chaos lately?"
"Not recently," Dom replied, "but I'm getting awfully bored. Who knows what will happen?"
"Raoul, don't you teach your men anything?" the lady spoke, "Introduce us to your friend, Sergeant Domitan."
"Of course, my lady, how could I be so rude? Lady Keladry of Mindelan, may I introduce Lady Alanna of Pirates' Swoop and Olau, the King's Champion, known as the Lioness, and Lord Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, knight commander of the King's Own, as I'm sure you know."
Kel smiled and gave a graceful curtsy. "It's an honor to meet two such renowned people such as yourselves."
"Please stop that. I don't like all that formality and neither does Raoul. We wouldn't even be here if the king hadn't ordered it."
"Yes, Lady Keladry, Raoul, here, is known for evading social events. The Lioness is a close second." Dom commented in a loud whisper.
"Watch it, Sergeant. I'll have you demoted faster than you can say 'Carthak'." Raoul replied.
"How many times have you used that threat now? This makes fifteen in the past week, I think. So far I've been lucky, no demotion yet. You know you need me to keep those soldiers in line," Dom said in a joking tone.
Kel laughed at their banter and added, "Sir, I really think you *should* carry out your threat. It might teach him a lesson,"
"Yes, Raoul, maybe that is a good idea," Alanna added with a grin.
"That's it! I give up! The world doesn't want me to succeed!" Dom proclaimed, throwing out his arms in a defeated gesture.
Neal and Yuki, who had stepped away from the group to speak with another of Neal's friends, now returned to join the conversation.
"Ah, my dearest knight-mistress!!" Neal gushed, grabbing Alanna's hand, "how long I have suffered from the lack of frequent tongue-lashings and whacks on the head from your most noble hand..."
"Watch it, or that'll be the last thing you remember saying," Alanna replied, yanking her hand back.
"Lord Raoul, what is the news from the Scanran border?" Kel asked, trying to keep her friend from getting himself into more trouble.
"Not much, they're still convinced that they can beat us. Little do they know what a shock they're in for."
The group laughed and then broke up to go their separate ways as the bell signaling that the banquet had begun sounded.
Dom lead Kel to her place beside him and, to her delight, Yuki and Neal were on her other side.
The king rose and gave a brief prayer to Mithros before seating himself and signaling for the first course to be served. The meal went well, with Neal and Dom telling stories about their childhood and various mishaps and adventures that they had encountered in their youth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
The next morning Kel woke with the intention of going to the training yards. The palace was silent as she slowly made her way to the courtyards.
Much to her surprise, a horn sounded from the palace walls, signaling an approaching messenger. Since the war had begun, messengers were common findings at the palace, but Kel had a feeling that this particular messenger was different.
Trusting her instincts, she turned back into the palace and casually wandered to the King's council chambers, intending to see what she could find out. When she arrived, she found the entire war council waiting to be admitted inside.
Review!!! Sorry it's so short, my muse (and my beta's,too, I think, if she doesn't mind me speaking for her) temporarily went on vacation for this chapter. Hey, while you're at it, visit my website: www.geocities.com/betsybee19. It's pretty cool.
Betsy
