Wow

Wow! This is the longest thing I've ever done, surpassing TT3! This is a really fluffy chapter, but I thought it was OK.

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Chapter 12: Back Home…

Back in present-day Tortall…

Kel tossed and turned in her sweat-soaked sheets. When trying to sleep failed, she threw the blankets off her and walked to the window, opening it a crack to let in the cool night air. She smiled sardonically to herself. What did you do when your only child disappeared, your marriage was falling apart, and you had enough insomnia to keep a rock awake? She thought, and no magical ideas sprung to mind.

It had started maybe a few months ago, before Faeya had left…

Kel rolled over in bed, and stroked her husband's cheek. "I love you, Cleon," she murmured. Then she realized what she had said.

Neal turned away and got out of bed.

"I'm sorry, Neal-" Neal didn't listen to her, he just pulled on his breeches roughly. "Neal-" he was gone.

She knew that he was sensitive about that… for fifteen years, she had kept it away from him. But she opened her big fat mouth, and said his name. The very big, very sweet, very dead Cleon. Her dead lover. Her first love, the one she had sworn her heart to.

Kel's marriage with Neal was arranged. He knew it, she knew it. She'd come to love him, in time… but there was always that empty space, that space that could never be filled, that space that Cleon had loved and nurtured.

Kel walked out onto the balcony and let the wind blow through her damp hair. "Cleon…" she whispered into the soft breeze. She could almost hear his voice, saying, Will you marry me, Keladry of Mindelan? Keladry of Mindelan? Keladry of Kennan? Keladry of Kennan? "Keladry of Kennan?" she said out loud.

"Kel…" she whipped around to face a red-eyed Neal. Kel out her face in her hands, and cried. "Oh, gods, Neal, I love him, I love him…"

Neal's voice cracked as he spoke. "I know. Just- It's all falling apart, Kel. I can't stay here any more. I'd been meaning to tell you…"

"Tel me what?"

Neal bit his lip. "I've been having an affair." Kel let out a little yelp. "You know I loved her, Kel! And after Uline's husband died…"

Kel's jaw dropped open. "Uline? Your pagehood crush?"

"I'm sorry, Kel." He kissed her softly, and disappeared into their rooms.

Kel stayed on the balcony for a while, and then went back in. Neal was gone, that was easy to expect. She pulled on a pair of breeches and blouse, and hastily laced up her boots. She was going somewhere she never thought she'd go voluntarily…

~*~

The stairs up to Balor's Needle were now in good repair, not rusted, like back a few years ago. She ascended the inner staircase, looking at the wall as she went up. When she came to the top, Kel forced herself to walk to the edge of the railing and look out at the landscape.

"Oh, gods, why did he have to die?" Kel cried, and buried her face in her hands. A little voice in her mind niggled at her. Because he couldn't bear to see you with Neal, silly. Because he wanted to die, when he saw his best friend married to his beloved…

"Cleon…" she said. "Cleeeeeeeeoooooooooon!" her voice reverberated across the hills and through the Royal Forest. A wisp of fog touched the back of Kel's neck, making her shiver. It was cold out… but- warm. She felt warm like she hadn't felt in years. She had Cleon's face in her mind, she could almost reach out and touch him… Kel snapped her hand back. She could almost see it face in the mist- she shook her head. Hallucinations. But she reached forward, brushed her hands against his cheek…

"No!" she cried, and turned away, her back to the railing. But there he was again, standing in the mist, holding out his hands… "Kel…" he whispered. "Come back to me, my Keladry…The sunshine of my day…" Kel squeezed her eyes shut, and opened them again. He was still there.

"I love you, Keladry…" he moved forward on immaterial feet, to place a ghostly kiss on her eyelids. "Remember me, Kel? Remember our time together? Remember when you said you'd be Keladry of Kennan? Remember…"

Kel closed her eyes and remembered, the things he used to do, his throaty laugh, his twinkling eyes. She opened her eyes again and turned around, vaulting onto the railing. There she balanced perfectly, with her beloved beside her. Cleon reached forward, offered his hand, and Kel took it. She jumped.

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*sniff* that was so- *wipes a tear away* sad. But I like it... yes, I'm going to keep it.