This is a fan made story. I don't own the rights to the Protector of the Small series, any of its characters belong to Tamora Pierce… Much to my disappointment. This goes AU about midway from the book Page. Fair warning. Constructive criticism is welcome but if you don't like it simply because you don't like the line of thinking, please don't attack me for it. This is mostly centered on Joren. This is also a slow build Kel/Joren.
Summer-Winter 459/460
True to the King's word, Third Company left for the north just as the spring thaw started. Joren spent the night before their departure with Kel, if they kissed a little harder and held each other a little closer, neither mentioned it. In the morning, he was with the few who saw the company off and then his mother dragged him off to inform him of an offer of betrothal for his younger sister Margery that he needed to review. He sighed but agreed to meet with the knight. Cassie was already betrothed and due to marry in a few months so having Margery betrothed as well would be a weight off his mind. He had already informed his sisters that he wouldn't agree to any marriage for them unless they had already expressed an explicit desire for it beforehand.
Joren was thus, dually surprised when Sir Paxton entered and spoke a bit of his private courtship with Margery. Margery had slipped into Joren's study as well and was looking hopefully at her brother. Joren looked between the two and sighed, "Margery, you're sure the age difference won't bother you?" He asked this only because Sir Paxton was a full eight years older than he himself was and he wanted his sister to be truly happy.
"Of course, I'm sure. Sir Paxton is all that is genuine and noble," Margery paused before blushing a little and whispering. "I love him."
Joren eyed her and then glanced back at Sir Paxton before slowly nodding, "Very well, we can draw up a marriage contract tomorrow. I am expected at a meeting this afternoon. King Jonathan is trying to win over as many nobles to his side on that law about equalizing punishments for nobles and commoners alike."
"Of course. Thank you, Joren," Sir Paxton gave him a smile and a nod before he left with Margery and Lady Verene.
Joren slumped a little once they left. It was stressful enough living in what amounted to a gilded cage, being the king's advocate for conservative nobles. At least he knew that Margery would be married to a decent man. After four years with Sir Paxton as a knight-master, Joren knew the man well enough to know that he would care for his sister well. Cassie was betrothed to the heir to Seabeth and Seajen, Kel's cousin as it so happened, so she would be well off as well.
Weeks passed at what felt like both a crawl and a recklessly fast pace for Joren. His mother was apparently a master at wedding planning because both his sisters were married by the summer solstice. It was a bit of a relief to have the events over with and done. Margery was still close by because of her new husband needing to be in court for the next Congress. Cassie was brought away to Seabeth and Seajen by her new husband and Joren began getting letters from her as updates on the combat near her new fief.
Kel had also began writing to him. It was a small reprieve from the otherwise bleak empty space of missing her. The letters went into descriptions of building a fort from scratch. Cutting down trees and raising stockade walls with a ditch holding sharpened logs to keep intruders out. He wrote back to her often. He couldn't help but smile as he wrote to her that the change in the law that she had set into motion had passed.
The letters came and went, both of them describing their lives as much as possible. Kel wrote of patrols, lookout duty atop a tree on a bluff, and of how boring war really was. Joren wrote of his sisters' weddings, the discussions of Congress and the progress of the three new female pages, figuring that Kel would want to know how they were doing.
When Kel started describing the skirmishes with Scanran raiders, Joren felt concerned but as she had come through without any harm, as far as she claimed anyways, all he could do was write to her, urging her to be cautious, even though he already knew she would be. He was concerned but didn't doubt her ability to hold her own in a fight.
When, in the end of August he received a letter from her, he was prepared for some relayed information of a few skirmishes. What he got instead made his heart stop briefly and then jump to his throat. It started out simply describing what was thought to be another raiding party, only this time, they had one of those metal-machines that Sir Myles had described. What she described, and had sketched for him, was horrifying.
From the Scanran mage, to the arrows raining down from the trees, the entire thing sounded like a nightmare. Joren couldn't help but wonder if Kel had written it more to get the emotions it invoked off her chest than to tell him of what happened. She had been put in charge of a squad and only then did she encounter the strange machine. With giant bones coated in metal, metal chains and rods acting as muscles, three joints to a limb and knives for hands and feet, the creature she had drawn and described was something that he had no doubt would give him nightmares.
According to her story, they had restrained the thing with ropes before she had cracked open its dome with her Warhammer. The most horrible part of the description was that Kel had heard a child's voice from the thing and it had been clearly animated by a human child's soul. She described puncturing the dome of the creature and something like white steam flowing out of it and what she could only guess was a ghost calling 'mama'. Joren sighed and brought the letter to King Jonathan.
She had said they were sending the creature, whatever it was, to Northwatch and then it would be sent on down south to be further examined. Joren figured that the King had already heard of this by mage but would appreciate the sketch and description Kel had provided as the person who had done away with the thing. King Jonathan and Sir Myles read the letter, ignoring the last parts, which were romantic sentiments from Kel, and looked over the sketch. The sketch was sent to be copied so that it could be sent to all the command posts in the north along with a description of how it was defeated. Jonathan informed Joren that he had heard of what Kel had done but not the details.
Eventually, the letter was returned and Joren set it away carefully, trying not to focus on how close she had come to dying and went to the temple district to pray to every god he could think of that she wouldn't encounter any more of those things before returning the Corus that winter.
The next month and a half was spent in anxious waiting, Joren spent his free time debating with himself and eventually decided to propose to Kel when she returned. He had been courting her for nearly three years and as the nobles came to court for the winter, he was becoming increasingly annoyed with the matchmaking mothers. Without Kel around, they seemed to believe he was fair game. Joren had rebuffed every attempt to sway him and found a jeweler to create an engagement ring he felt was perfect for Kel.
He decided on a simple design a gold band with a small ruby adorning it. He would have gone with something fancier but that would have made it harder to care for while she was in combat. He also purchased a fine gold chain she could hang it on while she was in combat. He then visited with an attorney to draw up a marriage contract. It specified that Kel would have the rights and freedoms to act as an individual and that they would be equals, not him as lord and master over her. He even wrote in a specific allowance for her to use as she saw fit. He added that any money she earned in service to the crown or from any investments she made were to remain solely within her power.
He was working on the perfect proposal for her in mid-October when there was knocking on the door to his rooms in the palace. He had taken them out of necessity, his duties dragging him further and further into the King's circle of advisors, much to his surprise. He got up grumbling about having asked for an afternoon undisturbed. He figured it was some servant carrying a message from the king.
He was pleasantly surprised when he opened the door and found himself being pushed back into the room with the door slamming shut behind her by none other than Kel herself. She had him pinned to the door and was kissing him fiercely, much to Joren surprise. When she pulled away, he couldn't help but smile a little, "Well, I certainly can't complain about this kind of greeting, love."
It was his turn to kiss her. It was with a passion and intent that quickly took hold of him. He didn't even have time to really register that she was now slightly taller than him as she tugged off his tunic and he was doing the same with hers. He found himself pushed back into the door as she kissed him again once the tunics were off. His mind didn't fully catch up with the sound of his door being locked before she was pulling him backward, tugging at the ties of his shirt and breeches. He was eagerly doing the same to hers.
The long separation had him forgetting all the reasons he had held back before and by the time she had backed him into his own bed and was straddling him, he was devoid of his shirt and his breeches were half open. Kel nudged him to shift up onto the bed a little and he obeyed, enjoying this forceful side of her. Her shirt had also been discarded by this point and as they kissed further, Joren worked to undo her breast-band. It wasn't a skill that he had acquired previously but he managed well enough not to embarrass himself. Once he had, he finally decided to exert a little dominance and flipped them, so he was now hovering above Kel.
He left her lips to kiss along her jawline and down to where her shoulder met her neck. There, he nipped and sucked until he had left a suitable mark there. Then he moved back to her lips for a fierce and urgent kiss. When he pulled away, something snapped into place and he looked at her with longing and intent, "Marry me?" He whispered hoarsely.
Kel looked startled by his words and blushed but didn't respond. Joren decided that it needed saying again, this time a little clearer, "Marry me, please? I have been spending the past few weeks trying to come up with the perfect words to say, to tell you have perfect you are to me. Your eyes… your lips… your strength… everything." Joren began emphasizing his words with kisses.
Kel looked at him with wonder and surprise before nodding when he pulled away again. Joren kissed her deeply before pulling away again, "Say it aloud, please?" He begged.
Kel dragged him back down for another fierce his before moving her lips to his ear, "Yes, I will marry you." She croaked out, her voice cracking slightly before she kissed his neck.
Joren allowed himself to indulge in his feelings at this point. He briefly noted that she wore a chain with a pregnancy charm and wondered where and when she got it but brushed the thought aside as he began kissing down her neck and to her chest. He then took a nipple into his mouth while his hands slid further down her body to push down her already loosened breeches and loin cloth. She lifted her hips to allow them to be pushed off and then kicked her legs to remove them completely.
Her hand had performed a similar task, and Joren found it annoying to have to kick the articles of clothing off while he focused on her chest. He switched his mouth to the neglected nipple, one hand supporting his weight above Kel and the other pushing her legs wider, so he could settle between them. That hand then found her most private space and he pulled away from her suddenly, looking at her intently.
"Are you sure?" He asked, hesitantly. He didn't want her to regret this. Kel's nod with a gasped 'don't stop' were all he needed before sliding two of his fingers between her folds as he allowed his mouth to roam slowly lower.
He nipped at her hip and silently thanked his foresight into researching what exactly went into the act of love making. Kel was moaning her pleasure above him and gasped as he slipped his tongue between her folds, sucking on her clitoris while he plunged her fingers deeper until he heard a gasp of surprise with a little bit of pain in it. He had broken he maiden's head. Her distraction was short lived though, as he continued his ministrations and she began gasping for more. When he felt the first flutters of her wall around his fingers he pulled away and crawled back above her.
Joren kissed her deeply as he slid his manhood inside of her, her legs spread wide to accommodate him. He had to pause once he was inside of her, he had grown extremely hard while tending to her pleasure and he wanted to savor their first time together. He slowly began moving in and out gently, knowing it was her first time doing this as well. This lasted until she wrapped her legs around him and forced him to enter her with more force.
As Kel used her position to meet his thrusts, Joren finally let go of his remaining restraint and received encouragement from her through gasped 'yes's and his name uttered with desire in it. He felt her walls begin to flutter around his cock again and this time he thrust harder into her. When she began to clench around him tightly, he fell over the edge into his climax, only vaguely aware that Kel had yanked him down and was kissing him with an intensity that he had never known before. After he had ridden out his climax, he slowly pulled out of her and rolled over onto his side, next to his lover.
Kel was breathing hard, her eyes slightly glazed over. Joren couldn't help but chuckle at her blissed expression, realizing he felt the same way, "If I had known it would be this good, I might not have hesitated for so long." He gasped out.
Kel looked at him in surprise and confusion. Joren smiled and kissed her, "I was being silly and trying to hold off until our wedding night. On that note, how soon can we get married?"
Kel blushed a deep red, knowing full well that he was being completely serious, "After my Ordeal." Kel stipulated. It was something that didn't surprise Joren in the slightest.
He nodded, "We should probably get cleaned up and seek out your father. I don't want to give any of the men in your family any further reason to impale me. I'm too happy right now."
Kel blushed even deeper red and Joren, his eyes still roaming over her exposed form, realized that he wasn't quite satisfied with a single round. He moved slower this time as he kissed her, rolling back on top and gasped in surprise when she boldly took hold of his manhood. The second round was languid and slow, the two exploring each other intently. Joren made a point of locating and kissing each scar on her body, regardless of how old. This time he did manage to savor the experience, noticing that she was taking a great deal of pleasure from the activity as well. When they finished a second time, Joren forced himself to get up and go to his privy to get his wash basin and a cloth.
Kel covered her face in embarrassment as he used the water to clean her up. He pulled her hands away from her face and kissed her gently. When he was done with her, he rinsed himself off and then used another cloth to dry them both off. The couple couldn't help but steal kisses as they dressed.
Before they left his rooms, Joren pulled Kel into another searing kiss that made her lean a little more heavily on him. He allowed her to regain her composure before unlocking the door to his room and taking her hand firmly in his. He paused, remembering something. Joren dragged her over to his desk and pulled out the ring he had made for her and smirked in satisfaction when it fit her ring finger perfectly. Kel was blushing as they walked through the palace. Her parents had a town house in the city, Kel had told him and she was free for the rest of the afternoon as well.
They made their way into the city, Joren thankful that Kel's family's house was close to the palace. Their meeting with Piers and Ilane of Mindelan was brief, both having expected the conversation to take place soon. Baron Piers was happy with the marriage contract that Joren had written up, knowing exactly how against convention and the norm it went. Lady Ilane informed Joren that she would get into contact with Lady Verene the next day about planning the wedding. She also expressed some relief that they would have little trouble with getting Kel to fittings for her wedding gown with Lalasa being the obvious choice for the maker of the dress in question.
After her arrival, Joren found his time split between the King's Council and wedding planning. Kel had even less time, having to help Princess Shinkokami with her wedding planning as well. However, here Lady Verene proved once more that she excelled at the task. She explained that weddings weren't so complex that they needed constant input from Kel. Lady Verene and Lady Ilane also had teamed up with Princess Shinkokami and Lady Yuki in designing Kel's shield for when she was knighted. There was more effort put into this than into the wedding, Joren realized. Of course, that made sense in a way. Kel's Shield would be representative of not just her family fief, but Joren's and her position as a female knight as well.
Kel also had lessons with Lord Raoul as winter set in and Joren found quickly that the only time they were finding was at night. This made Joren even happier that he had taken rooms at the palace because it meant they could spend the nights together, even if it was only them sleeping together in the same bed.
Neal and Merric returned from the north in early November. Joren spent some time helping Kel keep the two imaginative young men calm. Kel seemed a little anxious about her Ordeal as well, mostly in whether or not there was a second Knight for her instructions. Joren would do it if there were no other offers, but it would be looked on with a frown if he did so, given that they were betrothed. In December, she informed him that Lord Raoul had found a second knight, Turomot of Wellam had offered to help with the instructions. Joren raised an eyebrow at this but shrugged it off.
It was, in truth, the best possible solution when Joren thought about it. No one could claim any interference if the Lord Magistrate sat with her through the vigil. The day before the start of Midwinter, the knight-masters preformed the ceremony to determine what order the squires went into the chamber. Kel was the last while Neal was first. To help distract the eldest squire, Kel and Yuki along with Joren took Neal into the city for entertainment at the winter fair and an early meal. By the time they left, they had to rush back to the palace as the sun set.
Once they had returned Neal to the squire's wing, Kel ended up keeping Lady Yuki company. Joren realized that Yuki was likely in love with Neal and he was then surprised to find that he wasn't surprised at all. He left them to their privacy, not wanting to make the Yamani woman uncomfortable as she didn't really know Joren very well. He met them in the morning at Kel's rooms and walked them to the Chapel of Ordeal. It was crowded. When the iron door creaked open, Yuki grabbed Kel's arm while Kel took Joren's hand.
Neal stumbled out, covered in sweat, face gray and eyes rimmed red from tears. Lady Alanna wrapped a blanket around him and led him towards the door. As they passed their small group, Neal stopped and looked to Yuki. The Yamani lady looked down, drew out her shukusen and offered it to him dull end first. Neal took the fan, his hands shaking and allowed Alanna to guide him out of the room.
Neal was knighted that night with Yuki's shukusen in his belt. Each morning, Joren joined Kel in watching her year-mates coming out of the chamber. They all looked worn but otherwise whole in body and mind. Merric was just before Kel and she, Neal and Seaver spent the afternoon attempting to distract him. Joren didn't intrude on the group as he had never really gotten close to Merric and Seaver and didn't want to seem like he was forcing himself on them.
In the morning, after Merric came out of the Chamber, shaken but fine, Kel had asked Joren to leave her to herself for the day. Joren reluctantly gave in to her wishes but not before informing her that he did want to see her before her vigil. Kel had agreed to his request reluctantly. Kel spent most of the day outside the palace, seeking quiet, Joren suspected. When she did return, he kissed her fiercely and told her to remember that no matter what, he loved her, he had no doubt that she would survive her Ordeal and in two weeks they would be married.
Kel smiled weakly and kissed him once more before making him leave her. He was surprised to find Paxton, Neal and Merric surround him at his door that night, offering to keep a vigil of his own with him. He accepted and Raoul joined them after he finished giving Kel her instructions. He brought Kel's sparrows and Jump with him. When Jump claimed Joren's lap, he was surprised but decided that he was better off accepting the dog's offering of mutual comforting. It was hardly the first time the Jump had taken that spot.
The others fell asleep in his comfortable armchairs eventually, Raoul taking Joren's bed. Joren couldn't sleep himself but found that his lap became a nest for Jump and the sparrows. When the sun rose, he woke the others. They all went to change while Joren did the same and then he headed for the Chapel. The door was closed, Kel already in the chamber. He took a seat and just a few minutes later was joined by Kel's parents and his own mother. Lord Raoul was next, sitting on his other side.
As they waited, the Chapel filled, the crowd far larger than it had been any of the other mornings. No doubt, Joren thought, because this was The Girl's Ordeal. People wanted to see if she would survive. He almost wanted to yell at those who were there out of curiosity to get out, declare they had no right to be there. That temptation was all but forgotten when the Chamber creaked open and Kel stumbled out. She was caught by Raoul who had stood as the door opened. Joren joined him in a flash and they wrapped a blanket around her before leading her away to clean up, eat and rest.
That evening, the king struck each of Kel's shoulders with the flat of his sword and then tapped her crown, "You are dubbed Lady Knight, Keladry of Mindelan. Remember your vows and service to this Crown. Remember your promise of chivalry."
Kel's expression was one of stubborn determination. Her mother cried tears of joy and Lady Verene looked proud of her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. Kel received hugs from her father, mother and Joren before Raoul directed her to look at the dais where the king had stepped aside to reveal the queen, Buri and Princess Shinkokami holding a cloth-covered shield. When they removed the cover, Joren smirked slightly.
It was a merger of the Mindelan and Stone Mountain devices. Both had light blue fields, so the Stone Mountain's dark gray mountain was set behind a light gray owl with wings outstretched. An added touch was that the owl hovered over crossed glaives of cream and gold. It also had a distaff border, an outer blue border with an inner gray one. Kel would be the first knight since before women were banned from combat to have a distaff border. It was neatly done, and he felt a great deal of approval over it.
The ladies helped her slide the shield onto her arm snuggly.
"Wear it in health and victory. Now, show the nice people," Queen Thayet instructed Kel who obeyed.
Joren waited with a large group of Kel's family and friends for Kel as she put her shield away. They were to have a celebration in the city's best eating-house. They were finishing with their horses when Kel came out with Lady Alanna and announced the lady would be joining them. Joren smiled and handed her the reigns to Hoshi. She whispered that Lady Alanna had been her mysterious benefactor and Joren smiled again before mounting his horse.