Title: The Traitors in Our Midst
Author: Pickzee
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action/Adventure/Romance/Angst
Pairing(s): Kel/Cleon, Kel/Dom
Spoilers: Up through Squire; written as though Lady Knight wasn't published.
Summary: In her first year as a knight Kel discovers a bit more about traitors than she ever wished to know. She finds that in the war against the Scanrans one of the most trusted of her friends is really the most traitorous of enemies. To make matters worse her relationship with Cleon deepens and in a moment of distraction the one she finds most traitorous is herself. Or the really short version: Kel's gonna have a baby... in a Scanran prison.
A/N: You like me, you really like me! Thank you in excess to the people who reviewed so far to make up for last chapters lack thereof. Ummm... Read The Duke Diaries written by me (who else, I'm a shameless self publicist). Oh yeah REVIEW both stories. Please review, I have the sinus infection/cold/flu/something from hell and it's no fun. Does ANYONE knew where I got the name Erik from? It's from a book/movie/musical/opera (not particularly opera like opera but it's still an opera) if that helps. Y100's cursing bleeper button is broken so there is loads cursing... Okay that was random... Short chapter, semi writer's block but I needed to write something.
Disclaimer: The courts are killing me... they keep saying Tammy owns Tortall... No!
~Chapter 8~ ~Fire and Ice~
Dom was freezing. And lost. So was everyone else in his squad. Only they did not know about the second part. Just that they were cold, very cold. Each man was scraping icicles from his burnoose with chapped hands that were bleeding from the brittle skin and harsh weather. They ate provisions with split lips that flaked even more with every bite taken until there was only one scant layer of skin left between the thin blood vessels and the frigid air. No matter how devoted to the cause they were, morale was dropping with the temperature. As the squad stopped to make camp for another night concerns were voiced more vehemently than ever before.
"It's insane to keep going, if we do we'll all end up in frozen graves. I know we need to save Kel but not at the sacrifice of all our lives. What is the point of a dead rescue party, I sure can't see one? Do we even know where we are?" Fulcher spoke out angrily.
Dom stared down the corporal before answering his insubordinate comments. "Listen to me, even if you don't care about Kel listen to this, the sooner we find Kel, the sooner you can get home to where it's warm. And as long as we're careful with our supplies and energy we can survive this mountain. Do any of you have enough Gift to bewitch this map so it shows in relation to the possible places where Kel is being kept?"
A blonde haired mage with mahogany eyes stepped forward hesitantly. "I could try my luck at spelling this map. To a basic scan this map seems to be devoid of spells which could counteract my work. Leave me be unless I call for you while I am working in this, a single error and this map could go up in smoke."
"Get working then, we will leave in peace while you work."
~
Kel thought bad things were happening when she heard the trumpets that usually signified that royalty was approaching. She knew it when Erik demanded she get up, and make herself presentable for royalty. Kel was positive when she had her arms shackled behind her back, standing in front of King Maggur, or as Owen had coined him, King Maggot.
"So this is the prisoner?" The King was staring at Kel intently, his face impossible to read.
"Yes, Yer Highness," Erik answered.
"When Faleron said a knight of Tortall, I expected, I don't know, someone more, masculine."
"She's one of those silly new Lady Knights like tha' Elaine the Lion or such like, Yer Majesty." Erik was quaking with fear as he spoke to Maggur.
"No matter what she is I want her taken to the questioning room."
"Do ye want the official te do the questioning?"
"No, I want to do it myself for a change."
"As ye wish, Yer Majesty," Erik replied. He grabbed the shackles around Kel's wrists and began to tow her into what was presumably the "questioning room."
Kel's eyes darted around the room seeing machines that looked objects of torture, which they probably were. Erik sat her in a chair, took off her chains and wrapped her arms to the chair with bloody leather strips, did the same thing to her feet, then stepped away into the shadows. A globe of mage-light glowed down directly into Kel's eyes making her blink and causing a thin film of sweat to form on her forehead.
"You are a knight of the realm of Tortall. You should know all I ask of you. Reveal it, or else." The Scanran King towered over Kel impressively. "How many troops does the King have that are ready for battle?"
"I will never tell you," Kel spat.
Maggur held a strip of burning metal above her hand. "You will whether you want to or not. Tell me." Kel's face was white with fear but she still refused to tell the warlord anything. "No? All right." He lowered the strip onto her skin. "Are you ready to tell me yet?" Kel was grimacing but she shook her head none the less. The metal was lowered again.
~
Kel was back in her cell, nursing the burnt hand. She wished Neal was here to heal her hand back to health but he was not and she sighed. The red skin bubbled sickly as she thrust her hand into a barrel of melted snow. The icy temperature numbed the pain, at least momentarily and Kel was able to think for bit without painful distractions. The child inside her was growing, she knew, and anyone who looked would be able to see the result of her tryst with Cleon. She hated its being, loathed its life and wished for a release from the carriage wreck that was her life. Her prickly bed of straw drew her attention away from her near suicidal thoughts and back to the world around her. Kel turned to look at her hand and saw the top of the water was slowly crystalizing around her wrist. She jerked the arm free from the water's grip and winced as a chip of ice scraped her burn.
"Did ye enjoy King Maggur's questioning, wench?" Erik had appeared in front the cell and was playing with a set of keys.
"What do you think?" Kel responded, her face deadly calm.
"I think it's time for ye te go fer yer checkup on the child." Erik was chuckling, he always did when the child was mentioned.
"Why should I care? It's not as though I'm going to survive my stay here now anyway."
"Yer right at that, Maggur has plan fer ye if ye don't start cooperating."
"Well I guess I'm just one lucky knight aren't I? Lead the way." She had dealt with physical torture already, she could handle lascivious healer.
~
"I'm done! I'm done!" The mage who had offered to make the animated map was dancing around in front of his tent. It was a strange sight really, the man was as pale as a ghost and he was dancing around jovially. "It's finally dddoooonnnnee!" The blonde hair man bounded over to Dom and presented him a scroll of elk hide.
Dom opened the map wide and looked it over. "Admirable work Fillip. I never imagined it would come out so well." He looked at the dot that signified the squad and cursed loudly. Dom's exclamation drew attention from everyone in camp. "Dammit! We're going the wrong way!"
~
A/N: The map is sort of like the Maurader's Map except it only shows Dom's squad. Kel going quasi-suicidal? What are Maggur's "plans" for Kel? And will Dom ever find Kel? Stay Tuned!
Author: Pickzee
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action/Adventure/Romance/Angst
Pairing(s): Kel/Cleon, Kel/Dom
Spoilers: Up through Squire; written as though Lady Knight wasn't published.
Summary: In her first year as a knight Kel discovers a bit more about traitors than she ever wished to know. She finds that in the war against the Scanrans one of the most trusted of her friends is really the most traitorous of enemies. To make matters worse her relationship with Cleon deepens and in a moment of distraction the one she finds most traitorous is herself. Or the really short version: Kel's gonna have a baby... in a Scanran prison.
A/N: You like me, you really like me! Thank you in excess to the people who reviewed so far to make up for last chapters lack thereof. Ummm... Read The Duke Diaries written by me (who else, I'm a shameless self publicist). Oh yeah REVIEW both stories. Please review, I have the sinus infection/cold/flu/something from hell and it's no fun. Does ANYONE knew where I got the name Erik from? It's from a book/movie/musical/opera (not particularly opera like opera but it's still an opera) if that helps. Y100's cursing bleeper button is broken so there is loads cursing... Okay that was random... Short chapter, semi writer's block but I needed to write something.
Disclaimer: The courts are killing me... they keep saying Tammy owns Tortall... No!
~Chapter 8~ ~Fire and Ice~
Dom was freezing. And lost. So was everyone else in his squad. Only they did not know about the second part. Just that they were cold, very cold. Each man was scraping icicles from his burnoose with chapped hands that were bleeding from the brittle skin and harsh weather. They ate provisions with split lips that flaked even more with every bite taken until there was only one scant layer of skin left between the thin blood vessels and the frigid air. No matter how devoted to the cause they were, morale was dropping with the temperature. As the squad stopped to make camp for another night concerns were voiced more vehemently than ever before.
"It's insane to keep going, if we do we'll all end up in frozen graves. I know we need to save Kel but not at the sacrifice of all our lives. What is the point of a dead rescue party, I sure can't see one? Do we even know where we are?" Fulcher spoke out angrily.
Dom stared down the corporal before answering his insubordinate comments. "Listen to me, even if you don't care about Kel listen to this, the sooner we find Kel, the sooner you can get home to where it's warm. And as long as we're careful with our supplies and energy we can survive this mountain. Do any of you have enough Gift to bewitch this map so it shows in relation to the possible places where Kel is being kept?"
A blonde haired mage with mahogany eyes stepped forward hesitantly. "I could try my luck at spelling this map. To a basic scan this map seems to be devoid of spells which could counteract my work. Leave me be unless I call for you while I am working in this, a single error and this map could go up in smoke."
"Get working then, we will leave in peace while you work."
~
Kel thought bad things were happening when she heard the trumpets that usually signified that royalty was approaching. She knew it when Erik demanded she get up, and make herself presentable for royalty. Kel was positive when she had her arms shackled behind her back, standing in front of King Maggur, or as Owen had coined him, King Maggot.
"So this is the prisoner?" The King was staring at Kel intently, his face impossible to read.
"Yes, Yer Highness," Erik answered.
"When Faleron said a knight of Tortall, I expected, I don't know, someone more, masculine."
"She's one of those silly new Lady Knights like tha' Elaine the Lion or such like, Yer Majesty." Erik was quaking with fear as he spoke to Maggur.
"No matter what she is I want her taken to the questioning room."
"Do ye want the official te do the questioning?"
"No, I want to do it myself for a change."
"As ye wish, Yer Majesty," Erik replied. He grabbed the shackles around Kel's wrists and began to tow her into what was presumably the "questioning room."
Kel's eyes darted around the room seeing machines that looked objects of torture, which they probably were. Erik sat her in a chair, took off her chains and wrapped her arms to the chair with bloody leather strips, did the same thing to her feet, then stepped away into the shadows. A globe of mage-light glowed down directly into Kel's eyes making her blink and causing a thin film of sweat to form on her forehead.
"You are a knight of the realm of Tortall. You should know all I ask of you. Reveal it, or else." The Scanran King towered over Kel impressively. "How many troops does the King have that are ready for battle?"
"I will never tell you," Kel spat.
Maggur held a strip of burning metal above her hand. "You will whether you want to or not. Tell me." Kel's face was white with fear but she still refused to tell the warlord anything. "No? All right." He lowered the strip onto her skin. "Are you ready to tell me yet?" Kel was grimacing but she shook her head none the less. The metal was lowered again.
~
Kel was back in her cell, nursing the burnt hand. She wished Neal was here to heal her hand back to health but he was not and she sighed. The red skin bubbled sickly as she thrust her hand into a barrel of melted snow. The icy temperature numbed the pain, at least momentarily and Kel was able to think for bit without painful distractions. The child inside her was growing, she knew, and anyone who looked would be able to see the result of her tryst with Cleon. She hated its being, loathed its life and wished for a release from the carriage wreck that was her life. Her prickly bed of straw drew her attention away from her near suicidal thoughts and back to the world around her. Kel turned to look at her hand and saw the top of the water was slowly crystalizing around her wrist. She jerked the arm free from the water's grip and winced as a chip of ice scraped her burn.
"Did ye enjoy King Maggur's questioning, wench?" Erik had appeared in front the cell and was playing with a set of keys.
"What do you think?" Kel responded, her face deadly calm.
"I think it's time for ye te go fer yer checkup on the child." Erik was chuckling, he always did when the child was mentioned.
"Why should I care? It's not as though I'm going to survive my stay here now anyway."
"Yer right at that, Maggur has plan fer ye if ye don't start cooperating."
"Well I guess I'm just one lucky knight aren't I? Lead the way." She had dealt with physical torture already, she could handle lascivious healer.
~
"I'm done! I'm done!" The mage who had offered to make the animated map was dancing around in front of his tent. It was a strange sight really, the man was as pale as a ghost and he was dancing around jovially. "It's finally dddoooonnnnee!" The blonde hair man bounded over to Dom and presented him a scroll of elk hide.
Dom opened the map wide and looked it over. "Admirable work Fillip. I never imagined it would come out so well." He looked at the dot that signified the squad and cursed loudly. Dom's exclamation drew attention from everyone in camp. "Dammit! We're going the wrong way!"
~
A/N: The map is sort of like the Maurader's Map except it only shows Dom's squad. Kel going quasi-suicidal? What are Maggur's "plans" for Kel? And will Dom ever find Kel? Stay Tuned!