Notice how I don't bother with disclaimers anymore? I don't own anything.
A Come-over (change of summary now, 'cos of this wonderful chappie *hugs chapter*)
Kel heaved a sigh and dumped her possessions in her new rooms at the palace. She was just about ready to sleep. But she had too many thoughts to be able to drift off. Neal came gallivanting in, with a huge grin on his face.
"Well, Kel. We have arrived at last. Finally I can see a well-documented library."
"And I really need to know this because.?"
Neal faltered. "Uh..Well, you'll know where I am. Yes. Very important to be aware of -"
"Neal." Kel interrupted, giving him a half-menacing look.
"Alright. I'm going. Off to my precious books. Kel, you should have a rest. You look like you need it." And with that, Neal fluttered off to the books that were oh-so-awaiting him.
Kel sighed once again and bent down to search for her nightdress. Yes. She was tired.
.
The quiet journey had seemed peaceful enough for Kel, but not for Neal. The entire time, while Kel's eyes drooped, he spent stealing quick glances at her and thinking. He had just kissed her the other day. Wow. The thing was, she hadn't said much to him since, and he didn't know what she felt.
And he, being the valiant noble, had stepped back from it all. He could have had everything, Neal thought, with Kel by his side. But he knew it wasn't right. He would be taking advantage of her, something he could bear to see himself do. It would only hurt her in the end. And then, if something did start between them now, and ended once Kel realised the only reason she had turned to Neal was to find comfort after Cleon's death, where would that leave him? Hurt for life, at least.
And as they rode, it became increasingly difficult for Neal to keep control of himself. She was right beside him (Neal had 'tried' to keep far away from her) and all he had to do was reach over, pull on Peachblossom's reins, Kel would look deeply into his eyes, he'd bend just a little to - no. It didn't help to daydream like that. Next thing you'd know is you've lost focus and you're surrounded by Scanrans. Neal scowled at himself and forced more distance between them. Luckily, or rather unluckily, Neal had thought, they hadn't found themselves totally alone together since the kiss, before they had left the inn to head for he palace.
Well, after they had nearly arrived in Corus, they found themselves bombarded by a small group of Tortallan soldiers. It seemed they had set up a kind of barrier-gate to stop people passing through.
"Word of Scanran camps this close to th' capital. We're posted 'ere for Protection at the Palace, its People and the surrounding Provinces." The other soldiers laughed at this description of their duty, and Neal gave a nervous grin. They were all just a couple of years older than himself. Kel had a fleeting suspicion that a couple of them were drunk.
"Yeah. We know yer Sir Nealan of Queenscove and th' Lady Knight" the soldier paused briefly before continuing. "Yer shields tell us that much. But we need to see papers. Can't let yer through without a good reason. We stamp it for yer so other nobles don't go wonderin' why you've jest left the border. Got any notes of permission?"
Neal nudged Kel, who promptly brought out a short letter from Raoul after a murmur of 'all right, just give me a minute, would you?'
'To whomever it may concern,
Lady Keladry of Mindelan has suffered a severe emotional loss and is in no condition for battle. It is announced that Lady Keladry has the full permission of the commanding officers of the area to leave the border.
Lord Raoul of Golden Lake and Malories Peak, Knight commander of the King's Own Representative of Commanding Officers in the area'
One of the soldiers decifered Raoul's terrible rushed writing and gave it a stamp. "There yer are, Lady Keladry. But, Queenscove, it had no mention of your presence away from the border. Yer could put for treason. Did yer even -"
What continued was a rather heated discussion about Neal's reasons for 'straying from his duties to the Crown and the Realm' with Kel, and without a good/decent excuse. Kel, thoroughly tired of their yabbering and ready to hit the palace, finished it all and interrupted one of Neal's detailed speeches with:
"What do you think he's going to do, try and destroy Tortall? Kill the King? Come on. Just let us through." She completed rather irritably. Neal was about to stupidly protest, saying he could well pronounce his own case, but kept quiet after seeing the look on Kel's face. Plap. This time for Neal, another stamp went on Kel's paper. They never really needed to show it to anybody.
.
Neal wished he knew what was going on with Kel. He wish he knew what she thought, and what she felt (especially about him). 'Maybe sometime, when Kel's no longer deeply affected by Cleon's death, something might happen between us.' So far it just looked as though she accepted his reasons for not going forward with it, with a 'so be it' attitude and continued in her ways. But what was he supposed to do? Getting involved with each other would just hurt people. More than themselves.
Neal yawned; thinking perhaps he should have gone to bed as well, then turned the page of a book titled 'Scanra and its activities in years past'.
.
Kel awoke from her restless sleep. Full of thoughts about Neal and Cleon; mostly about Neal, and changed as quickly as possible into a shirt and breeches. She found that this type of wear was more comfortable for walking and lazy around at the palace.
Avoiding the areas Neal had said he'd be, she headed for the stables, money purse (it was new, with a fur lining) and sword at her belt.
But as she went down stairs, she found herself out near the gates. She looked out and saw the markets, many stalls with some of the best quality products in all of Tortall. For sale, at a not-always-so-reasonable price, of course. Some bargaining would be done. Kel fancied the idea of buying some new travelling bed cloths, or a new bedroll, so she ventured forth and looked around.
Just as she was making her purchase, a boy (dressed in a pages' uniform) ran right past her, heading straight for the palace. Kel wondered why he would be going through the stalls and the people. It would be slow going, pushing through all the people. There was a quicker way if you went-
"And here is your bedroll. Very warm and comfortable at night. Yes" (She began thinking that she wouldn't be using it at any time other than the night)
Kel browsed for a bit longer, allowing herself to gaze at the marvellous clothes and jewellery but forcing her mind not to buy anything else. She walked slowly back to her palace quarters, bedroll in hand. But as she strolled along, she noticed there were more people scurrying around than usual. Servants, soldiers, other nobles, pages on errands, it was only when she found Neal that she asked what was happening. His eyes rested worriedly on hers, but as thought trying to be comforting.
"Roald and Shinkokami, as well as their attendants have been captured in the Yamani Islands. He moved about, grabbing some blank paper for notetaking.
"They've just arranged an urgent meeting to discuss what action should be taken. I'm going to."
She let him continue to himself. Roald, Shinko and their attendants. Yamani hand ladies, Tortallan delegates - her parents. Her parents were being held captive in the place she had grown up. But by who?
"Neal." She pursed her lips. "Who has taken control of the Islands?"
"Scanra. But not just them. Copper Islanders are in it as well. We have a new enemy."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You know it. Tell me what you REALLY think. I want to make this better, remember. Even if I have to do re-writes.
Epitaph Munku-JGSPTV ^_^
A Come-over (change of summary now, 'cos of this wonderful chappie *hugs chapter*)
Kel heaved a sigh and dumped her possessions in her new rooms at the palace. She was just about ready to sleep. But she had too many thoughts to be able to drift off. Neal came gallivanting in, with a huge grin on his face.
"Well, Kel. We have arrived at last. Finally I can see a well-documented library."
"And I really need to know this because.?"
Neal faltered. "Uh..Well, you'll know where I am. Yes. Very important to be aware of -"
"Neal." Kel interrupted, giving him a half-menacing look.
"Alright. I'm going. Off to my precious books. Kel, you should have a rest. You look like you need it." And with that, Neal fluttered off to the books that were oh-so-awaiting him.
Kel sighed once again and bent down to search for her nightdress. Yes. She was tired.
.
The quiet journey had seemed peaceful enough for Kel, but not for Neal. The entire time, while Kel's eyes drooped, he spent stealing quick glances at her and thinking. He had just kissed her the other day. Wow. The thing was, she hadn't said much to him since, and he didn't know what she felt.
And he, being the valiant noble, had stepped back from it all. He could have had everything, Neal thought, with Kel by his side. But he knew it wasn't right. He would be taking advantage of her, something he could bear to see himself do. It would only hurt her in the end. And then, if something did start between them now, and ended once Kel realised the only reason she had turned to Neal was to find comfort after Cleon's death, where would that leave him? Hurt for life, at least.
And as they rode, it became increasingly difficult for Neal to keep control of himself. She was right beside him (Neal had 'tried' to keep far away from her) and all he had to do was reach over, pull on Peachblossom's reins, Kel would look deeply into his eyes, he'd bend just a little to - no. It didn't help to daydream like that. Next thing you'd know is you've lost focus and you're surrounded by Scanrans. Neal scowled at himself and forced more distance between them. Luckily, or rather unluckily, Neal had thought, they hadn't found themselves totally alone together since the kiss, before they had left the inn to head for he palace.
Well, after they had nearly arrived in Corus, they found themselves bombarded by a small group of Tortallan soldiers. It seemed they had set up a kind of barrier-gate to stop people passing through.
"Word of Scanran camps this close to th' capital. We're posted 'ere for Protection at the Palace, its People and the surrounding Provinces." The other soldiers laughed at this description of their duty, and Neal gave a nervous grin. They were all just a couple of years older than himself. Kel had a fleeting suspicion that a couple of them were drunk.
"Yeah. We know yer Sir Nealan of Queenscove and th' Lady Knight" the soldier paused briefly before continuing. "Yer shields tell us that much. But we need to see papers. Can't let yer through without a good reason. We stamp it for yer so other nobles don't go wonderin' why you've jest left the border. Got any notes of permission?"
Neal nudged Kel, who promptly brought out a short letter from Raoul after a murmur of 'all right, just give me a minute, would you?'
'To whomever it may concern,
Lady Keladry of Mindelan has suffered a severe emotional loss and is in no condition for battle. It is announced that Lady Keladry has the full permission of the commanding officers of the area to leave the border.
Lord Raoul of Golden Lake and Malories Peak, Knight commander of the King's Own Representative of Commanding Officers in the area'
One of the soldiers decifered Raoul's terrible rushed writing and gave it a stamp. "There yer are, Lady Keladry. But, Queenscove, it had no mention of your presence away from the border. Yer could put for treason. Did yer even -"
What continued was a rather heated discussion about Neal's reasons for 'straying from his duties to the Crown and the Realm' with Kel, and without a good/decent excuse. Kel, thoroughly tired of their yabbering and ready to hit the palace, finished it all and interrupted one of Neal's detailed speeches with:
"What do you think he's going to do, try and destroy Tortall? Kill the King? Come on. Just let us through." She completed rather irritably. Neal was about to stupidly protest, saying he could well pronounce his own case, but kept quiet after seeing the look on Kel's face. Plap. This time for Neal, another stamp went on Kel's paper. They never really needed to show it to anybody.
.
Neal wished he knew what was going on with Kel. He wish he knew what she thought, and what she felt (especially about him). 'Maybe sometime, when Kel's no longer deeply affected by Cleon's death, something might happen between us.' So far it just looked as though she accepted his reasons for not going forward with it, with a 'so be it' attitude and continued in her ways. But what was he supposed to do? Getting involved with each other would just hurt people. More than themselves.
Neal yawned; thinking perhaps he should have gone to bed as well, then turned the page of a book titled 'Scanra and its activities in years past'.
.
Kel awoke from her restless sleep. Full of thoughts about Neal and Cleon; mostly about Neal, and changed as quickly as possible into a shirt and breeches. She found that this type of wear was more comfortable for walking and lazy around at the palace.
Avoiding the areas Neal had said he'd be, she headed for the stables, money purse (it was new, with a fur lining) and sword at her belt.
But as she went down stairs, she found herself out near the gates. She looked out and saw the markets, many stalls with some of the best quality products in all of Tortall. For sale, at a not-always-so-reasonable price, of course. Some bargaining would be done. Kel fancied the idea of buying some new travelling bed cloths, or a new bedroll, so she ventured forth and looked around.
Just as she was making her purchase, a boy (dressed in a pages' uniform) ran right past her, heading straight for the palace. Kel wondered why he would be going through the stalls and the people. It would be slow going, pushing through all the people. There was a quicker way if you went-
"And here is your bedroll. Very warm and comfortable at night. Yes" (She began thinking that she wouldn't be using it at any time other than the night)
Kel browsed for a bit longer, allowing herself to gaze at the marvellous clothes and jewellery but forcing her mind not to buy anything else. She walked slowly back to her palace quarters, bedroll in hand. But as she strolled along, she noticed there were more people scurrying around than usual. Servants, soldiers, other nobles, pages on errands, it was only when she found Neal that she asked what was happening. His eyes rested worriedly on hers, but as thought trying to be comforting.
"Roald and Shinkokami, as well as their attendants have been captured in the Yamani Islands. He moved about, grabbing some blank paper for notetaking.
"They've just arranged an urgent meeting to discuss what action should be taken. I'm going to."
She let him continue to himself. Roald, Shinko and their attendants. Yamani hand ladies, Tortallan delegates - her parents. Her parents were being held captive in the place she had grown up. But by who?
"Neal." She pursed her lips. "Who has taken control of the Islands?"
"Scanra. But not just them. Copper Islanders are in it as well. We have a new enemy."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You know it. Tell me what you REALLY think. I want to make this better, remember. Even if I have to do re-writes.
Epitaph Munku-JGSPTV ^_^