All the characters still belong to Tamora Pierce (GENIUS), and I still
don't take credit for any characters.
BACK TO NEW HOPE
A week later, Kel and a fraction of the soldiers that she had brought as an escort rode out of Steadfast. They were headed back to New Hope to continue the work that had to be done before midwinter. Kel was beginning to feel a little anxious about being gone so long. She still felt responsible for the massacre at Haven the previous year.
She signaled her men to pick up the pace to cover more ground in what remained of the day. The men laughed and joked with one another to pass the time. Some were disappointed at leaving the nice cozy fort, but most were in high spirits.
Kel was a little irritated at having to leave over half of her squad with Lord Wyldon. She felt way too vulnerable. She rode with Dom's squad and Neal only. Twenty-six men plus their warhorses were not enough to prevent casualties in a skirmish with roaming Scanrans.
Thinking of Dom made her smile. They had not had anymore such encounters with Dom over the last week. They had behaved as they always had. That puzzled Kel.
Just then, two of her sentries came riding back a full gallop. One of them was sporting an arrow to the forearm.
"About thirty of them. A quarter of a mile ahead. Just over the ridge," the unscathed sentry reported to Kel, inhaling every few words.
"PREPARE FOR COMBAT!!" Kel roared over all of the sudden commotion. A skill she had learned from Lord Wyldon and Lord Raoul. She did not want to leave enemies at her back. There was a plethora of chaos in the next few moments. All the men were quickly readying their gear and mounts; the smiles vanishing from their faces.
Once everyone was prepared, Kel gave the signal to ride forward to the top of the rise. They were at the tip in moments looking down on their enemies. Before the raiders had a chance to gather weapons and assemble, Kel's group was upon them. The fight was short, due to the fact that the Scanrans were ill equipped and still half asleep and drunk.
After all the Scanrans lay dead at their feet, did Kel look around to survey the damage on her own troops. One man had a deep gash on his left arm and was being looked after by Neal, and another sported a shallow cut across his face, not unlike Lord Wyldon's. Many of the others had small cuts and incoming bruises, but none were dead much to Kel's relief.
They piled up the bodies of the dead raiders and torched them. Kel hated to leave behind corpses, no matter whose they were. Since the entire troop was bone-weary and needed to rest, Kel decided that they should move on down the road to a fresher spot and set up camp for the night. They could still travel a few more hours with the daylight remaining, but it wasn't worth the risk.
"Move out!" she called to her soldiers, "We will ride for another mile as to camp peacefully."
"When should we be reaching New Hope?" Dom asked, "I will feel much better with a few feet of stone wall around me."
"We should arrive near midday," she replied, "I don't like being out here and vulnerable like this either."
After the horses were cared for, they set up camp and turned in early for the night. They were up again bright and early the next morning to make their way back, to what they called, home.
They reached New Hope a little after noon, and were greeted with cheers from the inhabitants. All in the company were thoroughly shocked at the progress that had been made in the short two weeks that they were gone. After a few brief hellos, the returning defense force made their way to the barracks as Kel went to hear the report from Merric.
Merric had obviously not heard their welcoming, and was engrossed in the parchment he was reading.
"Everything held here as I can obviously see," Kel drawled from the doorway. Merric jumped; startled that anyone could sneak up on him.
"Kel! I'm sorry I didn't go out to greet you, but this is very pressing," he said in the most business-like manner he could muster after the shock. Kel walked over to his desk, and before he could react, she swiped the parchment from his hand. Written on it was a love letter from a certain female he was involved with back at Corus.
"Very pressing. I see," she told him mockingly, "On scented paper no less."
"Kel, you always know how to spoil my fun," he scolded her laughing. To Kel's surprise, Merric stood from his desk and embraced her warmly. "I am so glad you are back. I didn't know what a tough job you had until I had to do it. I envy you no longer."
"Glad to give me back all the responsibility already, are you?" she teased him, "Enough. Tell me how you got so much done in so little time. We must be weeks ahead of schedule!"
Merric proceeded to tell Kel about the last two weeks proceedings, including combat training and the plans for planting crops. Kel was amazed at how well he kept records of all that occurred. Down to the last complaint. 'Merric never ceases to amaze me,' she thought to herself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next few weeks passed uneventfully. Kel was relieved to have a little time to rest and sort out her thoughts and plans, including Dom. She had seen how Merric handled things while she was gone and decided to take a little of the load off of her shoulders. She offered building and planting chief officer to Merric. He gladly accepted, beaming with pride that Kel noticed his hard work.
Kel was sitting in her study when she heard a soft knock on new oak door.
"Come in, please," she responded to the tap. Dom peeked his head in.
"May I have a quick word with you Kel, if you are not too busy," he inquired.
"Of course," she replied, "What's on your mind?" she asked. She and Dom had been strictly on business terms since their meeting night. Kel was disappointed at first, but she was hesitant to say anything to him.
Cliffhanger, you gotta love 'em!
Please review for me to post more chapters. I ask for reviews before I continue to write and post because if no one is reading it, then I don't want to waste my time going though the steps. So if you would like me to continue to write this f/f, please review it.
BACK TO NEW HOPE
A week later, Kel and a fraction of the soldiers that she had brought as an escort rode out of Steadfast. They were headed back to New Hope to continue the work that had to be done before midwinter. Kel was beginning to feel a little anxious about being gone so long. She still felt responsible for the massacre at Haven the previous year.
She signaled her men to pick up the pace to cover more ground in what remained of the day. The men laughed and joked with one another to pass the time. Some were disappointed at leaving the nice cozy fort, but most were in high spirits.
Kel was a little irritated at having to leave over half of her squad with Lord Wyldon. She felt way too vulnerable. She rode with Dom's squad and Neal only. Twenty-six men plus their warhorses were not enough to prevent casualties in a skirmish with roaming Scanrans.
Thinking of Dom made her smile. They had not had anymore such encounters with Dom over the last week. They had behaved as they always had. That puzzled Kel.
Just then, two of her sentries came riding back a full gallop. One of them was sporting an arrow to the forearm.
"About thirty of them. A quarter of a mile ahead. Just over the ridge," the unscathed sentry reported to Kel, inhaling every few words.
"PREPARE FOR COMBAT!!" Kel roared over all of the sudden commotion. A skill she had learned from Lord Wyldon and Lord Raoul. She did not want to leave enemies at her back. There was a plethora of chaos in the next few moments. All the men were quickly readying their gear and mounts; the smiles vanishing from their faces.
Once everyone was prepared, Kel gave the signal to ride forward to the top of the rise. They were at the tip in moments looking down on their enemies. Before the raiders had a chance to gather weapons and assemble, Kel's group was upon them. The fight was short, due to the fact that the Scanrans were ill equipped and still half asleep and drunk.
After all the Scanrans lay dead at their feet, did Kel look around to survey the damage on her own troops. One man had a deep gash on his left arm and was being looked after by Neal, and another sported a shallow cut across his face, not unlike Lord Wyldon's. Many of the others had small cuts and incoming bruises, but none were dead much to Kel's relief.
They piled up the bodies of the dead raiders and torched them. Kel hated to leave behind corpses, no matter whose they were. Since the entire troop was bone-weary and needed to rest, Kel decided that they should move on down the road to a fresher spot and set up camp for the night. They could still travel a few more hours with the daylight remaining, but it wasn't worth the risk.
"Move out!" she called to her soldiers, "We will ride for another mile as to camp peacefully."
"When should we be reaching New Hope?" Dom asked, "I will feel much better with a few feet of stone wall around me."
"We should arrive near midday," she replied, "I don't like being out here and vulnerable like this either."
After the horses were cared for, they set up camp and turned in early for the night. They were up again bright and early the next morning to make their way back, to what they called, home.
They reached New Hope a little after noon, and were greeted with cheers from the inhabitants. All in the company were thoroughly shocked at the progress that had been made in the short two weeks that they were gone. After a few brief hellos, the returning defense force made their way to the barracks as Kel went to hear the report from Merric.
Merric had obviously not heard their welcoming, and was engrossed in the parchment he was reading.
"Everything held here as I can obviously see," Kel drawled from the doorway. Merric jumped; startled that anyone could sneak up on him.
"Kel! I'm sorry I didn't go out to greet you, but this is very pressing," he said in the most business-like manner he could muster after the shock. Kel walked over to his desk, and before he could react, she swiped the parchment from his hand. Written on it was a love letter from a certain female he was involved with back at Corus.
"Very pressing. I see," she told him mockingly, "On scented paper no less."
"Kel, you always know how to spoil my fun," he scolded her laughing. To Kel's surprise, Merric stood from his desk and embraced her warmly. "I am so glad you are back. I didn't know what a tough job you had until I had to do it. I envy you no longer."
"Glad to give me back all the responsibility already, are you?" she teased him, "Enough. Tell me how you got so much done in so little time. We must be weeks ahead of schedule!"
Merric proceeded to tell Kel about the last two weeks proceedings, including combat training and the plans for planting crops. Kel was amazed at how well he kept records of all that occurred. Down to the last complaint. 'Merric never ceases to amaze me,' she thought to herself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next few weeks passed uneventfully. Kel was relieved to have a little time to rest and sort out her thoughts and plans, including Dom. She had seen how Merric handled things while she was gone and decided to take a little of the load off of her shoulders. She offered building and planting chief officer to Merric. He gladly accepted, beaming with pride that Kel noticed his hard work.
Kel was sitting in her study when she heard a soft knock on new oak door.
"Come in, please," she responded to the tap. Dom peeked his head in.
"May I have a quick word with you Kel, if you are not too busy," he inquired.
"Of course," she replied, "What's on your mind?" she asked. She and Dom had been strictly on business terms since their meeting night. Kel was disappointed at first, but she was hesitant to say anything to him.
Cliffhanger, you gotta love 'em!
Please review for me to post more chapters. I ask for reviews before I continue to write and post because if no one is reading it, then I don't want to waste my time going though the steps. So if you would like me to continue to write this f/f, please review it.