Court Rivalries - Chapter 14

A Final Sighting of Thaddeus

Summary: A brother of a certian sergeant goes to court with fancies of catching a lady knight. Dom follows his brother to the escapades of court, hoping to win over his friend before his brother snatches her away, out of his grasp forever.

Disclaimer: You all know the drill, Thad's mine (unfortunately) and the rest of them are not (also unfortunately). And sorry for the update length - i had to finish my Robin Hobb book ( books first i'm afraid ;) )

Thad chucked clothes into his travel bags angrily, scowling the whole while. He could not believe it. He simply couldn't.

He had almost finished with his rushed packing when a knock sounded at the door. Thad growled and swung the door open forcefully, to meet the faces of 10 seemingly agitated members of the King's Own. If Thad had not been so angry, he probably would have noticed that to have a bunch of the King's Own turn up on your doorstep for no apparent reason was not usual. Maybe he should have seen the warning signs.

"Thaddeus of Masbolle?" asked one of men, who Thad thought he had heard been called Wolset.

Thad responded with an unwelcoming snarl, drawing himself up to his full height and looked up at Wolset. "That's Sir Thaddeus of Masbolle to you, commoner." drawing out his last words out with a malice that almost shocked Wolset. Almost.

Wolset looked down at the shorter man, with a similar look to the one he was receiving, one that gave you the impression that its owner would very much like to be rid of your aggravating presence. And then he punched Thaddeus square on his nose, which gave way to the pressure with a sickening crunch.

The noble recoiled in immense shock and clutched carefully at his nose as Wolset started to speak.

"We can do this the nice way, or the nasty way. The choice is yours, but in the end the result will be the same. We want you and your interfering court speech out of the palace. No one treats the Own or its members with disdain and gets away with it."

Thad peered around the tall man at the other stony faces and gulped visibly before masking his discomfort with anguish. A man at the back of the pack spoke up. "No one tries to trifle with the Own's squire."

A tear streaked down Thad's face as he clutched his broken nose in misery, much to the men's amusement, and Thad hastily turned and grabbed his half packed bag and clutched it to his chest, ignoring the rest of his possessions nodded his head rapidly at them, losing his noble's pride almost completely, willing to go without struggle if but they would only not harm him any more.

"Ah, so you chose the nice way, good choice." Wolset said before smiling wolfishly. "Too bad we're not feeling nice, are we boys?" Enthusiasm and agreement followed this statement and then suddenly, they had taken possession of his bag and had heaved him up high, squirming all the way as they led Thad to the palace gates.

…………

Kel sat back down on the stone bench heavily, sighing into her hands and told herself that she hadn't gained her family another enemy, as she had gained them many over the years already. Well, Kel thought, it couldn't be helped, there was no way that she was going to marry that prick.

Kel sat in the courtyard for a little while longer, watching the water flow over the rocks in ripples and wondered what to do now.

Finally she got up and found herself heading towards her sparrow's courtyard. As they flew around her she looked up at her old page quarters, remembering her time there.

She heard footfalls behind her and froze. She knew those footsteps way too well. They belonged to one of the exact people she did not want to see. A hand rested on her left shoulder gently, and spun her around to face him. Before she could say a word, he kissed her.