"Time to get to work," Raoul called, his voice shaking Kel out of a deep sleep she had been thoroughly enjoying. "We're going to start with jousting," he said with an evil grin before leaving the room. Kel grimaced and rolled out of bed. She was thoroughly exhausted after last night, and was in no mood to get struck with a lance.
The ride back to the palace with Raoul had been long, and while not as miserable as Neal's, it was still fairly painful. Raoul had pummeled her with questions for the entire ride, forcing Kel to recount almost every second of the long night.
When Raoul had returned to the restaurant to pick up Kel, he had been thoroughly shocked to see Dom where he had left Thom, which was what led to way too many questions. After an hour of torture, Raoul had finally let Kel go to sleep, mumbling something about Neal taking after "cursed interfering Alanna." Neither Kel nor Raoul brought the topic up in the days that ensued, although Kel continued to talk to Thom. In her mind, at least something beneficial had come out of the unfortunate date.
Kel had seen Dom briefly in the stables the day after, but he had simply nodded to her before tending to his horse. She was relieved that he had not attempted to court her after their silly date, relieved that she had avoided a potential disaster.
Kel was glad that the date seemed to be receding from everyone's memories. Just about everything was back to the way it was before Raoul's terrible plan, or at least it was before she saw Neal a few days later.
She had been leaving the mess hall when Neal, who was looking slightly nervous, came up behind her. "I need to talk to you," he told her, his voice low, "Can we meet in the courtyard later tonight?" Kel looked at Neal slightly oddly, but agreed nonetheless. She returned to Lord Raoul's office, where her knight-master was grinning with a large abacus in hand. "Time for algebra," he told Kel, who promptly groaned.
"Is this truly necessary?" she asked him.
He smiled again. "Yes. It's a vital part of our lessons together. But it'll only take a bit," he told her kindly.
A few hours later Kel was standing in the courtyard, waiting for Neal. Of course he would be late, Kel thought, but I thought Lady Alanna would have taught him better. A few seconds later, Neal ran into the courtyard, breathing heavily. "Sorry I'm late. My knight-mistress made sure that I completed some tasks that are vital to my lessons," he said with a hint of sarcasm.
"What are they?" Kel asked.
"Watching her children of course," Neal responded, "She claims that it gives me strength for dealing with the unendurable. But I see where she comes from. Her children are quite the handful. Try watching two twin lionesses, but with triple the energy apiece."
Kel winced sympathetically. "It certainly doesn't sound like a joy ride through the forest," she said before changing the topic. "So why did you want to meet me here?"
Neal's posture immediately stiffened. "I-I have to talk to you about something. I think I realized something last week, something that I should have known for a long time." Neal took in a deep breath, as if for support. "I think I love you," he told her quietly.
At first Kel was taken aback, stunned by Neal's announcement. She had been expecting anything but this. This was Neal, the squire who pined after unreachable ladies, the squire whose charming humor and looks could have snagged almost any court lady. Why would he love her?
But the more Kel thought about it, the more it fell into place. Did she not love him? Had she not thought about a moment like this for years? "I," she gasped, "I think I do too."
Neal slipped his hand into Kel's intertwining his fingers with hers. He pulled her against him gently, his free hand tousling her hair. "I'm glad," he whispered, "Shall we meet here again tomorrow?"
Kel nodded, trembling slightly at Neal's closeness. She was about to pull back when Neal leaned in and kissed her ever so slightly.
"Perhaps we should meet in there," Kel said, her voice cracking, as she pointed to a gray gardener's shed in the distance. Neal shook his head. "Let's go with the bush," he told her, signaling to the shrubbery behind them.
Kel nodded and stepped away from Neal. "I should go back to Lord Raoul's office before he wonder's where I've gone." She started backing up, stumbling slightly over the stones. Neal waved her goodbye before going to find his own knight-mistress. Well that didn't go too badly, he thought to himself.
(A/N): Getting closer to the end! Not that there's no time for anymore twists...or perhaps Kel and Neal can be happy together. We'll find out...
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