This is a really long chapter so no complaints. I kept telling myself that I needed to just sit down and write this thing but I was so busy. I really am sorry for the confusion about Kel. I wasn't thinking when I wrote that. So once again KEL IS NOT DEAD. NOR IS SHE GOING TO DIE.
I had so many reviews and votes for both chapters so I am going to do my best to answer them. If I forget someone I am really sorry.
Lady Knight Susan: Yes that would be horrible is Kel died. Thanks for the vote. And please don't have a heart attack. Then I wouldn't have a reviewer.
SwiftShadow: You are like the only one who didn't yell at me.
Pie of Doomeh: Your review was plenty long. Kel didn't know about Raoul with her Griffin Powers Dom just wanted some action and wasn't paying attention. LOL stupid yet adorable Dom.
Theknightofkonaha: Thank you for the voting and sorry this took so long to update. Just a couple of angry ones. I'm not even going to reply to the PM's that I got. Some of them weren't that nice.
SarahE7191: I didn't think about that with the flying thing. I was thinking about the sparrows.
TheLadyKnightOfTortal: I loved your review. You didn't say please don't kill Kel or that it would make you sad. You demanded that I not kill her. But you didn't vote!
BlackWidow12: sorry about that but here is a new chappy so enjoy.
Eclipsa: thanks for the review but you need to vote!
Mysterious Miko of Moonlight: Hope you like this nice long chapter. But don't forget to vote.
Golden Pantha: What you wrote was really nice. I don't know if I will use it or not because I had in mind what the dialogue would be depending on what one was chosen. If I do use it you will get a lot of acknowledgement though.
Grace of Masbolle: Yes I thought the story needed some fluffyness. Thanks for the vote.
Lioness31: Sry about that I just know that I am going to get sued because someone read what I wrote and died of shock. I wonder if I can post stories while I am in jail?
Nativewildmage: LOL. I actually thought of that one but I didn't think that it sounded Tortallan enough. But I guess I could make it sound more Tortallan. I'll think on it.
Sydelle Rein: Sorry 'bout that. Thanks for the vote.
Mrs. Dom Masbolle: LONG LIVE KEL AND DOM FLUFF!!!! Your review was hilarious. Thanks for the vote.
Crystaltiger07: Thanks for the suggestion and vote and reviews. If I used it I will definitely tell you.
Luna A. Dust: I love Tobe to. Thanks for the vote and reviews.
Sarra's wildchild: thanks for the votes.
H2Oangel505: Thanks for the vote and reviews. Much appreciated.
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The rest of the trip back to the palace was two days of tests between Tobe and Kel. Tobe refused to let Kel leave his sight and seemed almost afraid to displease her. Kel in turn found out that he didn't know how to read or write and his speech was as horrible as his manors.
Kel didn't tell Neal but she had observed him putting a spell on the Innkeeper that would make him feel every blow that was dealt out by him. She knew it was useless to say anything to him. He would just get embarrassed that he'd been caught doing a good deed. He liked to play the cynical heartless noble, but it was all for show. Kel wouldn't ruin it for him.
Just before noon on the sixth day Corus was finally in site. Looking upon the high walls of the capitol city brought a flood of memories back to Kel not all of them good. Somehow compared to all of the places she had been and the things she had seen Corus didn't look as imposing as it had when she was a young girl. She knew that somewhere in the depths of the palace the chamber was waiting for her and along with it the answers she so desired. Kel heard an audible sigh rise from most of the company including the King and Queen. They spurred their horses and rode through the gates the younger Knights racing each other to the stables.
Tobe took care of Kel's horses and promised to meet her in her rooms after getting directions. As soon as Kel stepped into the palace she could feel the pull of the chamber but she wasn't ready for it tonight. She tried to ignore the constant tugging she felt at the corners of her mind. It would stay until she went to the chamber.
Kel was given a suit near the Knights quarters. When she entered the door there was a small sitting room that included an armchair and a small sofa both sturdy and light blue in color. The walls were decorated with Yamani paintings that she knew were her mothers. One wall was left empty and had a large weapons rack covering it's expanse. The back wall had a window in it that when Kel opened it had a nice view of a training yard and beyond that a barracks of some sort. There were two doors next to each other on the left wall one leading to a privy and the other leading into a bedroom. Inside the bedroom was a large bed with a small cot for Tobe folded on the floor beside it.
Kel could once again see her mothers touch in here. The comforter on the bed was a russet red with green flowers in intricate patterns running up its sides. There was a wardrobe opposite the bed and a clothespress next to that. There was another window in here that opened up to the same practice yard and a small set of shutters over the bed for ventilation. Sparrows were already fluttering in and out of the open shutters to the food dishes that were sitting on the mantle of a small fireplace. Kel set her bags at the bottom of her bed and went to put her weapons on the rack.
Kel took a moment to grieve for the things that were left in the Islands but didn't know if she wanted to send for them yet. That would mean that Tortal was her new home. That she was excepting the way that Tortal had treated her. But if she didn't stay it would look like she was turning her back on her family. And by staying she would send the message that she supported Tortall and some might think that she was turning her back on Yamani and maybe even the Shang. It disgusted her how the act of deciding where she would live could cause so much disturbance and political unrest. She hated politics but unfortunately had been involved with them more and more often then she wanted. She had learned that when people saw a Shang supporting someone or something they automatically thought that it was right. Because of that blind trust she was more careful about what she supported, not wanting to lead others astray. Kel resolved herself to talk to her father about it; he would know what to do.
Kel was moving to unpack her bags when she heard a knock on the door. "Tobe I told you to just come right in. This is your room too." she said as she opened the door not to Tobe but to Yuki, already changed from her traveling clothes, and several Yamani women. "Oh forgive me." Kel quickly said her face blank. "I thought you were someone else."
"We could leave if you like Keladry; if you are expecting someone else?" Yuki asked her eyes wrinkling in hidden laughter.
"No please come in. I just thought that you were my servant." Kel stepped aside and opened the door wider for the women to enter.
While they passed her Kel scrutinized each one of them. Kel noted that Yuki let the two other women enter before her showing that they were of a higher house. The first woman was in her mid-twenties, clad in a cinnamon-brown kimono over a pale blue one, with a rust colored obi. She wore a variation on the noble woman's style, her hair pulled back and tied with a bronze silk bow, the two short; framing locks accented her pointed chin and serene eyes. The second woman was about five feet and seven inches tall, her complexion peach-golden. Unlike Yuki and the other woman she wore no rice powder or lip paint.
Over a cream-colored inner kimono she wore a golden outer one embroidered with scarlet and gold cranes. Her obi was scarlet, with an ivory figurine of a kimono-clad cat hung below her fan. The short knife carried by all Yamani women was thrust into her obi as well. Her hair, worn in the same very simple style as the other woman was glossy black and scented lightly with jasmine. Each woman carried things for tea. Kel also noticed the five guards in Yamani armor station them selves outside of her door.
Kel turned back towards the room and shut the door nodding to the guards outside. Then she knelt, placed her palms on the floor, and bowed until her forehead touched the wooden boards; bowing to the Yamani Princess standing before her.
"Oh Keladry no don't do that! I am a Tortallan now greet me as you would them. Besides as a future Queen of Tortall I owe you many things." Princess Shinkokami said distressed.
Kel sat up and looked at the princess. Suddenly Kel knew exactly who she was. "Cricket?" she gasped.
"I was so afraid you wouldn't remember me but Yuki said you would." Shinkokami rushed forward to help Kel to her feet.
"I didn't know that you were a member of the imperial house. You were just a play mate. The only one who would talk to me and play with me when I came to visit my parents." Kel said.
"Well the same goes for me. My family was in disgrace with my Uncle the emperor and you treated me normally. I was so upset when you left to go back to Shang training." Shinkokami said. "And please call me Shinko." Shinko directed attention to the other woman. "I think you know of my other attendant Lady Haname noh Ajikuro?"
Kel recognized the name and rank of the women. She bowed to her deeply in Yamani style and the women responded with the same bow.
"If you would like Kel, we brought tea." Yuki said.
"Oh of course, please have a seat." Kel motioned Shinko to the armchair and Yuki and Haname to the couch and sat next to them. The ladies unpacked tea cups, napkins, pastries, small plates, and condiments for the tea. Yuki put a steaming porcelain kettle down in the middle of the table and poured out four cups of green tea. Kel noticed how uncomfortable the women were sitting on the couches and made a note too get a shorter table and some cushions if they visited again.
The women began a relaxed conversation enjoying each others company. During a break in the dialogue Yuki turned to Kel.
"Do you like the decorations in the room? Shinko has been working on it for weeks; as soon as you left Scanra. You should have seen it before. Your mother told her to use the paintings from their apartment do you remember them?" Yuki asked.
Kel looked at Shinko and let a smile show through in her eyes. "I thought my mother had done it, but it is lovely. I realize now that she couldn't have because she was in Mindelan then with me and had not been to the palace since. I appreciate it, you thought of everything."
"We have one more thing but thought we would let you decide where to put them." Shinko said in reply, her eyes reverted to the floor in embarrassment. Kel thought Yuki must have said something even though Shinko asked her not to.
Yuki pulled out a dented medal box from her sash and handed it to Kel. Kel opened the box and saw dozens of handkerchiefs inside. She picked up one handkerchief and felt a weight in it. She unrolled it and a small Yamani waving cat fell out into the palm of her hand. Kel sat it in her lap and unrolled the other handkerchiefs. When she was done she had a dozen waving cats, all different colors, none longer than her thumb, in her lap. Kel looked from the cats, to the box, then to Yuki.
"You left them for Neal when you went away. You told him you would be back for them but didn't want them to be broken on the journey to the islands. I thought you would want to put them somewhere in your room." Yuki explained.
Kel knew exactly what they were the second she opened the box. It was then that she realized how much Neal had suffered from her supposed death. She realized how much he had blamed himself and felt horrible about it and at the same time such anger at the gods for doing this to her friends and family. Not just her family in Tortal but Gaven and Kaven also. She couldn't think of how hard it was for them to not be able to tell her. The gods shouldn't have put them through all that pain. And for what? What good had it done?
Shinko put her clean white hand on Kel's for reassurance and Kel realized just how dirty she was from the traveling. She looked around and saw that all the tea was gone.
"Would you like to join me in the bathhouse?" Kel asked them. "I don't think I could get any dirtier than I am and I just want to soak two months of dirt out of my skin."
"We were going to ask you the same thing. We didn't get a proper bath after practice this morning and Yuki was traveling with you." Shinko said. "Why don't you go get some clothes and we can use the woman's bathes in the royal wing."
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Kel slowly let the hot water envelop her body in its warmth. The water smelled like a mixture of eucalyptus leaves and lavender like most bathhouses in the Yamani islands. All four women sat quietly letting the water and smells sooth them before picking up the conversation where it had stopped.
Kel's body was still not back to what it had been before she was kidnapped and this was the first real chance since then that she was able to look at it. From what Neal told her she was barely alive when they got into the dungeons. Her hand would still get stiff at times but she was told that would go away when everything was healed on its own. She had several new ugly scars to go with the many that she had collected over the years. They stood out from the others still. She had noticed that her clothes still hung loosely from her body but now that she looked at herself she couldn't see her rib bones anymore. Kel knew she needed to gain back some of the muscle she had lost from malnutrition.
A bath attendant handed Kel some soap for her hair. Kel lathered the soap into her hair massaging her scalp. She held her breath and immersed her head under the water shaking it to let it fan out around her. When Kel came back up she watched as the dirt ad sap was carried away down a small waterfall in the corner of the large bath.
They were getting dressed in the changing rooms attached to the baths when Alanna entered the room. Kel, Yuki, Shinko, and Lady Haname bowed to her and she returned with a rather sloppy Yamani bow. Kel had a feeling that Alanna had practiced the bow and this was as good as it got.
"I'm glad I caught you before you went somewhere else for dinner." She said. "Raoul was bullied into a dinner party in his suit and you are invited. It's nothing formal what you are putting on is fine." She looked at Kel. "It is really just to talk things over and find out what you will do. You don't have to tell them if you don't want to."
Kel nodded her head. How was I supposed to tell them what I doing when I don't even know she thought.
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Kel returned to her rooms feeling the cleanest that she had in months. Her plan was to drop off her things and go with the Ladies to Lord Raoul's suit. The women and their guards waited patiently for Kel to open her door; chatting idly in Yamani about the islands.
Kel pushed the door open and turned to answer a question Yuki had asked her. Before she could get anything out of her mouth something small and dark hit her in the stomach and wrapped its arms around her middle knocking her to the ground. The Yamani guards jumped into action one pulling the struggling scrap of humanity off of her, several more entering her rooms to check for anyone else, and the rest pulling the two women into a protective circle their backs to the wall weapons ready. Kel looked up and saw Tobe struggling against the unyielding guard. Tears streaked down his face and between his shouts of rage were sobs.
"Wait." Kel said in Yamani to the guards. "That is my servant. He is fine, let him go."
The guard looked at Shinko who shook her head then set Tobe back on the floor rather roughly. As soon as he hit the floor he charged back at Kel. "You werent' here when I come back an' I looked everywhere but I couldn' find you. I thought you had forgotten me and was gonna leave me an' never come back." He sobbed into her Kimono clutching at the silk sleeves. Kel looked at Yuki and Shinko bewildered; not knowing what to do. Yuki and Shinko hid smiles behind their fans and came to her aid ushering them into her room.
Kel knelt down and made Tobe look at her. "Tobe I would never leave someone behind who needs my help." She told him. Tobe jutted out his chin in defiance at his needing help. "Besides I haven't had this much free time since gods know when. You do things so well and are great with my horses, especially Peachblossom. You are worth your weight in gold just for that."
Tobe smiled his face and ears a deep red, he looked down in embarrassment once again.
"I have to go to a dinner party but I am only going if I know you will be fine." Kel said. Tobe nodded his head yes without looking up from the floor.
"I want to hear you say it." Kel told him firmly.
"I'm alright." Tobe mumbled still refusing to look at her face.
"Good." Kel got up and set her dirty clothes in her bedroom. "Do you know where the servants mess is?" she asked Tobe.
"Yes. I seen it when I was lookin' for you." he replied.
"Good when you are done there you may do whatever you want if all your chores are done. But don't get into trouble. I don't want to have to pick you up from the palace guards." She said as she exited her rooms with the Yamani Ladies and the guards following her.
"I don't know what I am going to do with him." Kel admitted. "I need to talk to Daine or Stephan Groomsmen about his abilities. And if he is going to ride with me he has to have some weapons training. I can teach children but raising them is well beyond my skills. They don't teach you that during Shang training."
"Think about it later Kel. He is safe at the palace for now and you won't be leaving for some time. Just let him enjoy his freedom as well as you should enjoy yours." Shinko said resting her hand on Kel's shoulder.
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When Kel finally let herself fall into bed that night her mind was racing. Now that she had settled down the chamber resumed its buzzing in her ears. Her bones ached from the pressure of holding it back all day.
Kel went over the supper in her head trying to figure out if she had done the right thing. When the King asked her if she would be staying or going back to the Yamani Islands Kel had hesitated. She and her father had not been able to talk yet and she wanted to talk with him before she made any decision. To buy herself more time Kel told the King that she had to go into their chamber before she could answer them. All of the knights present looked at her with haunted eyes and white faces. Kel was used to the look from people who knew what the chambers did but it didn't make her any less nervous. They aren't the ones who have to go into it she thought.
She also asked the King to have the whole corridor and the chapel closed off for her tomorrow. She would go in to meditate at sunrise and after three hours she would enter the chamber and finally get the answers she wanted.
Kel let the noises of the night fall around her like a blanket. Tobe was snoring quietly on his cot right outside of the bedroom door. She felt the small bodies of sparrows huddled together on one of her pillows. Dogs howled somewhere on the palace grounds. The breeze rustled the branches of trees outside blowing more of the coppery golden leaves to the ground. Somewhere she heard soft music playing. Kel gathered all of those sounds together and drifted into a calming sleep.
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Next chapter is the chamber!!!!!! What we have all been waiting for. I wonder how it will turn out. (I haven't written any of it yet.)
I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Which one of these do you think should be on Kel's grave stone? Put your answer in the reviews please.
1) Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same. Flavia Weedn,
2) The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth. Chinese Proverb
3) Even if we are occupied with important things and even if we attain honor or fall into misfortune, still let us remember how good it once was here, when we were all together, united by a good and a kind feeling which made us perhaps better than we are.
4) The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.