Opening A/N: Okay Y'all, here it is. The final installment of CLV!

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Through the following weeks, Kel and Raoul stayed at the palace for the most part. Training both
physically, and mentally. In the afternoons, Raoul attended counsel meetings with the king, about
what, he couldn't say. But all the same, giving Kel free time for thought. She had discarded her
unfinished note, thinking that hopefully, she wouldn't need it anymore.

Three months before mid-winter, a summons was sent out to all the knights. They were needed in
Corus. Kel was moved back to the squire's wing to give a knight the room adjoining Raoul's. She
was given the room right next to Neal's. She still wasn't talking to them, so this was somewhat of
an affliction. He arrived with the Lioness within a week of Kel's move.

One evening, Kel was practicing her pattern dances when she heard someone approaching. The
footfalls halted in front of her door. She stopped so as to make them think she wasn't there.

" Kel?" Neal called, knocking on her door. " Come on. It's been months, you can't still be not
talking to me!" When she didn't answer, he went away. Kel breathed a sigh of relief. Anything to
avoid contact.

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" So she didn't answer?" Cleon asked, lounging on Neal's windowsill. Neal shook his head sadly.

" Man, this girl knows how to hold a grudge." Cleon muttered grimly.

" That isn't amusing." Roald snapped from the chair at Neal's desk. " She's been avoiding us like
the plague. It's been months. She'll have to talk to us eventually."

" It's the eventually that I'm worried about." Cleon spat back.

" Now you two, calm down." Neal said in a choked voice. " I know Kel. She'll come around."

Roald shook his head. " I hope you're right."

Cleon agreed. " For our sake and yours, Neal. I hope you're right."

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" We've been attacked." Jon gravely told the assembly of knights and mages before him. In
response, receiving a collective gasp.

Murmuring ran through the crowd. " By whom?" Raoul asked in a clear voice, though he already
knew the answer; overshadowing the whispers.

" Scanra." Jon shook his head. " They've got a Carthaki armada, if you could believe it. There are
two yellow-robed mages from what we can tell."

" This has to be without Kaddar's knowledge." Daine contradicted.

He nodded thoughtfully. " I agree. But I must say that I can't afford to wage a full out war right
now. Any chance of peace is disappearing. Which is why I'm turning to you. I'm forming an elite
army to fight this. " He stopped pacing and turned to face the assembly. " If you are interested,
please sign up on your way out. It's up to you, my faithful knights." He looked nearly crestfallen.
" If you cannot do this, I don't know who in Tortall can. Gods all bless." On that note, he
marched out through the side door, leaving a very unsettled crowd; Raoul, Inness, Lord Imrah,
and the Lioness among them.

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Insistent thunder woke Kel form a much needed, and much deserved nap. She stumbled groggily
to the door, and pulled it open.

"Kel." It was Raoul. " Gather your things. Pack winter gear, we're going north. War's brewing,
and Jon's sending us. Be ready in two hours." With that, he turned on his heel and left.

" Oh. Okay." Kel murmured, standing there with the door open, still half-asleep. When that
actually sank in, she snapped awake, and began to pack.

Half an hour later, she was strategically placing shirts, tunics, and breeches in her saddlebags
when a barely audible rapping met her ears.

" It's open." She called, not wanting to wade through the ocean of open drawers, clothes, etc. "
Oh. Roald." Her mask took place of her former grin. She went back to putting things in her bags.
" Hello."

He stepped all the way in her room. " Kel, please. You can't possibly plan on avoiding us
forever…hey. Wait a sec. You're packing. Why? You're not leaving are you? You have only a
two years before your ordeal.."

She met his blue eyes with her steely hazel ones. " No, I'm not leaving. Not in that sense anyway.
We're going up north. There's a war or something, and Raoul and I are supposed to go."

" What? You- you're going up to fight the Scanrans?" He sounded appalled.

She shrugged and carelessly tossed another pair of breeches in her bag. "If that's who's up there
to fight, then yes."

" Kel." She heard him wading over to her. She shook her head, and put several pairs of heavy
woolen socks into the bag. He grabbed her wrist, and put his other hand under her chin, forcing
her to look up at him. " Why are you so anxious to get yourself killed?"

For a moment, her eyes softened, then gained her Yamani composure. She pulled out of his
grasp, and shut the packed bag. " I'm not anxious to die, Roald."

" Then why are you going up there to fight, without even asking why?"

" I'm going because I need to find out where I belong. And I can't do that here. There are too
many things that confuse me. Three, in particular."

" You aren't answering my question."

" Yes, I am." She glared up at him. " I'm not anxious to die. Just anxious to matter."

" What is that supposed to mean?" Roald cried defiantly, hands on hips.

She shook her head and walked nonchalantly to the doorjamb, picking up her saddlebags and
throwing them over her shoulder. " It means that both of us need to leave, and I need to go do
something useful."

She left him there, sitting on her bed, staring at her in a mix of awe and horror. She strode
towards Raoul's chambers nearly 45 minutes earlier than he'd asked. To her surprise, he was
ready as well, and talking with Lord Imrah, Roald's knightmaster.

She knocked on the jamb, as the door was already open. " Sir?" She asked quietly.

Raoul looked up, a little startled. " Oh, Kel. Good. Ready to go?" she nodded grimly.

" Why don't you go say your good-byes, then meet me at the stables in…10 minutes?"

" All right." She walked back towards the Squires' corridor. * Why am I going here? I have
nothing to say goodbye too. * She turned on her heel, and walked briskly toward the stables,
ignoring the people darting in and out of the shadows.

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"When are you leaving?" Raoul asked Imrah in an undertone as Kel's footsteps died away.

" In a fortnight or so. Long enough that we can prepare the lass able knights, but soon enough that
we'll have something left to do." HE and Raoul smiled at the joke.

" Alanna?"

" She's leaving with me. No doubt that she'll whip the troops into order.

" Literally." Raoul supplied, shaking from withheld laughter. The both stood, and embraced.

Separating, they shook hands. " Goodbye, my old friend." Imrah said quietly.

" See you in two weeks." Raoul called, walking out the door with his pack slung over his
shoulder.

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Three days of hard riding later, Kel and Raoul reached the camp at the northern border. The
commander at the gate directed them to set up their tents in the row furthest from the battle. Once
they arrived at their site, Kel quickly dismounted, and snatched Raoul's reigns, receiving a weird
look from Raoul, to which she stuck out her tongue, making them laugh incessantly. Once they
had come to their senses, Raoul went to go find the group of Commanders in charge of tactics and
strategy.

Kel set up the tents, tended to Peachblossom, Amberfire, and Drum, and started a fire. Bored, she
began to explore. There were trees on all sides, good cover from an attack, but it would also make
it easier to be taken by surprise. She climbed one of the trees, looking out over the entire camp.
Not even a mile away she could see blackened ground littered with bodies, weapons, and
countless other things. Scavengers circled overhead and wandered the battle site. In the distance,
nearly to the horizon, she could see smoke rising from what had to be the Scanran camp. Shaking
her head, she climbed back down, dropping the last five feet to land on two feet.

She brushed herself off, wondering why pine tree needles had to stick to everything. As she was
working on picking the bothersome spines out of her breeches, a large pair of boots walked up.
She glanced up, then jumped to her feet.

" Sir." She said. " I was just exploring-"

" Kel." Raoul interrupted. " You don't have to explain. I just wanted to know if you wanted to eat
or not." She smiled, relieved, and the two chattered on their way back to camp.

Over the next week and a half, they talked and strategized with the other commanders. Two
weeks after they had arrived, Alanna joined their counsel meetings. Kel's heart fell through the
floor. That meant Neal was here. She excused herself, and rushed back to her tent. She was nearly
there when someone grabbed her wrist. Letting her training take over, she threw them with ease,
and kept running. Once inside her tent, she clutched her chest, breathing hard. Why did he have
to come? Why couldn't she just have time to think?

Why couldn't she make up her mind?

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Hours later, Kel aimed, perched in a tree above the fray. She let the arrow loose and a Scanran
below her dropped. She had beaten many this way. Wars. Bloody, useless, terrible things that
they were. Once she had used her quiver, she dropped, placing her bow on her back, and drawing
her glaive.

Within moments of her landing, a large Scanran wielding a broadsword came menacingly close.
She performed the brooms sweeps clean maneuver, and tripped him, and then she knocked him
out. She didn't like killing, so she tried to just injure the victims, not murder them.

She advanced up to where Raoul, Alanna, and (to her surprise) Lord Imrah were fighting. She
joined their line of attack, and was soon locked in a swordfight with a dirty blonde Scanran that
looked like an overgrown rat. They were forced hilt to hilt. She drew her dagger, and slashed at
him, making him jump back. A new, larger Scanran barreled in. He forced her back, striking
feverishly fast with his blade. Like an angered Cobra. Her foot caught in a hole, she fell and
looked up fearfully into the man's bloodthirsty blue eyes. He drew his blade back, and was about
to bring it down on her neck when he shuddered, He stumbled backwards as an arrow lodged
itself in his chest.

She looked behind her trying to glimpse the archer as she stood, but she saw no one but fighting
knights. She spun around, and looked for an opponent. Anyone who could fight seemed to be
doing so, so she walked around, sword raised, waiting for something to do. She walked
dangerously close to the Scanran Camp. Out of the corner of her right eyes, she something move,
but dismissed it.

She walked a little further, still searching but was snapped into reality by a panicked sounding
"KEL!" Someone jumped in front of her, and fell with a thud, an arrow lodged in his or her chest
on the right-hand side. She grabbed an arrow out of the person's quiver, and using their bow,
shot it back where the arrow had come from. Something or someone hit the ground with a thud.
She gently turned the person over, and stifled a gasp. It was Neal.

" Kel…" He said hoarsely. She knelt down beside him and took his hand, her eyes beginning to
brim over with tears.

" Neal you idiot. Why did you do that? Why did you go and get yourself shot for me?"

He smiled weakly. "Because I had to."

" Why?"

" Because I love you, Kel. And because you deserve him. Because he deserves you." Neal smiled
again. " Go on Kel. Go show them what they're up against."

She shook her head vehemently. " No. I won't leave you here to die."

" Its too late Kel."

" No! No it isn't." She looked up. Through her tears, she saw the hospital tents no more than ten
yards away. " I'll save you if it kills me." She got up, and dragged Neal a few feet, minding his
wound, and stopped. Then another few feet. Then another. Finally, she made it to the tents.

" Help!" she called. " Somebody! Please!" A person in white bounded up to her, and took Neal to
a sick bed. After Kel had shaken herself out of her intense worry for her friend, she headed back
outside to show those Scanrans why she was a knight in training.

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After that day's battles, Kel went back to the hospital tent to check on Neal, but he wasn't there.
No one would tell her where he was. After a quarter hour of no answers, Kel trudged back to her
tent.

" Kel?" Raoul stepped through the flap of her tent. " Are you all right?" She nodded silently, face
a s blank as stone. Raoul didn't believe her for a second, but knew he wouldn't get anything by
prying. He patted her on the shoulder, and went back to his own tent.

Kel felt herself tearing up again. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the tears clouding her
vision. Standing, she blew out the candle, and crawled into her bedroll, crying herself to sleep.

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After a month of Battles, Kel was longing for the warm comfort of the palace walls. Away from
the smell of charred flesh and burning vegetation. Away from the carnage of war. She was so sick
of it she could shout.

One afternoon she was cleaning her tack when Raoul came in and perched on a stool.

" Yes?" she asked after moments of sitting and staring.

" They've surrendered." He said, staring into the distance.

" They have?" she asked indifferently, going back to her work.

" They have." He smiled.
" Oh." Kel mumbled. " When do we head for home?"

" Not for a while." His face was grim again. " There's a lot of cleanup, and Jon's asked me to do
it."

" This is what we get for missing that one ball last mid-winter." Kel murmured, earning a hearty
guffaw from Raoul.

She didn't respond. All the acknowledgment he got was Kel switching to cleaning her sword. It
was incredibly quiet for a change. The stillness bothered her. She put down her sword, and
wandered out of the tent and towards the battlefield. She walked blindly for the majority of the
time, but soon found herself once again outside the hospital tent.

She walked in, the stark cleanliness of the place startling her.

" Keladry, ho nice to see you." A soft voice said form behind her.

" Hello Duke Baird." She answered blandly.

" Why are you here, dear? Not looking for Neal I hope." A spark in his eyes made Kel's heart
leap.

" Neal? How is he? Where can I find him? Is he all right?" She showered the duke with questions.

He held up his hands. " Calm down dear, calm down. Did no one tell you?"

" Tell me? Tell me what?"

" That I was fine you idiot. You honestly have changed a bit." A laughing voice chuckled. Kel
spun around.

" Neal!" She ran to him, and hugged him as tightly as she could, as though someone would rip
him away from her.

Gently he peeled her arms out form around his neck. " It's ok Kel. I'm not going anywhere."

She smiled up at him. " I owe you a beating for what you did."

" Oh really?" He laughed. " I do believe I owe you a thorough thank-you."

Kel walked over and sat on a cot, finding that Duke Baird had left. How do you propose going
about that?" She asked grinning, expecting to hear something silly.

" This." He walked up to her, and gently kissed her. " And what I'm going to do once we get back
to the palace."

" Which is?" She managed to say, trembling slightly from his kiss.

" Something I should have done long ago instead of putting you through all this trouble."

" Huh?" Kel asked, still not understanding. Neal just shook his head secretively and grabbed her
wrist, dragging her back towards her tent.

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Kel laughed as Raoul groggily mounted Amberfire.

" Oh, shut it." He grumbled.

" Oh esteemed Knightmaster, can we PLEASE go home?" She asked grinning.

Raoul didn't answer, just spurred Amberfire into a canter.

"HEY!" Kel called. Peachblossom didn't have to be told, he thundered to catch up with Raoul
and Amberfire. By the time they caught up to him, he was walking Amber next to Darkmoon, and
Neal's mare. The three were laughing about something.

" What did I miss?" She asked, letting Peachblossom walk within a safe distance of Darkmoon.

" Oh, nothing." Alanna grinned. Kel let it drop, and the four talked and chuckled gleefully the rest
of the ride to Corus.

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When they came within view of the palace gates, Raoul and Alanna rode ahead. Neal looked at
Kel inquiringly.

" Go on Neal. I need some time to think." He smiled at her, and rode ahead.

Kel took her time riding towards the gates. As she got closer, a figure that was wearing a blue
shirt and tan breeches ran towards her. It wasn't until she could see their face that she realized it
was…

" Roald!" She called, waving.

" Kel!" He cried when he reached her, pulling her off her horse and swinging her around. He
gently put her down, and kissed her.

She grinned at him, and laughed at the same time. He looked like Anders had when her first
nephew was born. Proud, and choked up at the same time.

" What are you so choked u about?" She asked him as they walked toward the gates, him holding
Peachblossom's reins in one hand, and her hand in his other.

" You. Going off to get yourself killed, then coming back to us…" He frowned slightly. " Who
did you come back to anyway?"

Her Yamani mask fought to overcome the smile on her face. " I'll tell you later. When the time is
right."

" The time is right?" He questioned. She nodded the affirmative. " Ok then." He proceeded to ask
her what it had been like, he had been there, but had been back in the palace for a month before
the war actually ended.

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At dinner that evening, Kel sat with Neal, Cleon, and Roald. They talked and laughed as if
nothing had changed since they were pages. After dessert, a rare treat, they retreated to the main
palace gardens. They had stopped at the fountain that had begun it all in midwinter, and were
lounging around on the benches, when Kel stood to make an announcement.

" In these," she held up three massive parchment envelopes. " Are letters. One for each of you. I
have been working on each one of them since midwinter. These are for you and you alone. If you
wish to share them, I can't stop you, but I think you may want to keep them private." She handed
each of them their parcel of paper. " Open them once you're alone." She stretched and yawned. "
G'night."

Once she was gone the three of them just stared at their individual letters. Optimism, and fear in
each of their minds. Who had won the heart of their Lady Squire? Who was the lucky one of them
who was the object of her affection?

Neal put his down on the bench beside him. Although he was interested in what she had to say, he
already knew whom she deserved, and in turn, who deserved her. Cleon held his with trembling
fingers. Almost afraid to open it, like it would fly away before he knew what was in her heart.
Roald was much the same as the others, but he was determined to be optimistic in front of his
comrades.

" Well? What are we waiting for?" He asked breathlessly. The three of them tore into their
envelopes, pulling out stacks of parchment. Most of which was in Kel's Handwriting.

By the time they had all read their letters, they were all smiling. Roald could barely contain his
glee. Him. She had chosen him. Neal gave him a goodhearted slap on the back, and Cleon
expressed what they both felt.

" You deserve her. You really do. And she deserves you." He smiled, a little watery at first, but
then he burst out laughing.

" What?" Neal and Roald asked in unison.

" You'll have a helluva time courting her Roald!" Cleon and Neal doubled over laughing, but
Roald just grinned.

The conspirators were in Jail. They were home. They had their tight circle of friends back. He
sighed. Life was good.

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When Neal and Cleon were later trying to find a phrase that best suited their ordeal, an idea
popped into Roald's head.

" Year from hell?"

"No."

" Hey." He said, " I've got one."

" Which is?" Kel inquired from the doorway, coming over to stand in his embrace.

" The only phrase worth knowing that that scumbag Jareck taught me." He smiled down at Kel.
His Kel. " C'est La Vie!"

They all laughed. That was indeed something new.

" So…" Kel trialed off. " Is this a happy ending?"

" No." Roald replied.

" No?" Kel was shocked. As were neal and Cleon.

" No. There are no 'happy endings'. Because nothing ever ends.

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Acknowledgments/ Author's Note

I want to thank all of you that have reviewed CLV for doing so, and especially thank Saph and
Jae. Without your help guys, CLV wouldn't have ever gotten finished.

Yes, this is the end. No more CLV. I may write a sequel. Maybe not. I'll only write if there's
enough demand.

Always,
Cass