Chapter Two: Pie
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Kel stood in front of the mirror; she
was wearing a new uniform that Lalasa had made. In her family's colors of blue and gray, it was more formal than
her other uniforms but definitely not too dressy or restricting. It had a slightly feminine touch in the way
it fit her, making Kel feel more confident in it than a shirt and breeches
would have.
Stepping into the hall Kel smiled for
the first time since she had begun to get ready. No matter what the King really wanted her for, seeing Dom and
Third Company deal with besmirched royalty was something she didn't want to
miss. She quickened her pace. A quiet padding noise slightly behind her
made her look back. There was Tobe,
slowly, but determinedly following her.
She stopped and put her hands on her hips.
"Where do you think you're
going?" She demanded of her young
henchman.
He gave her a stubborn look. "With
you. I want to go with you. I'm bored."
"
I'm sorry, Tobe. You can't come,
it's a private meeting." She gave him a
sympathetic glance. "I'll find
something for us to do later" she promised. "Until then, why don't you go down to the Own's stables, the
Wildmage is there and she said she wants to talk to you." He brightened at that.
" She can talk to horses too, can't
she?" He asked eagerly. She nodded, hiding a smile as he ran off for
the stables. Turning on her heel, she
started again for her destination. A
door opened in front of her. Neal and
Dom stepped into the hallway and fell in step with her when she had caught up.
" Where's your shadow?" Dom asked her kindly.
She looked at him, surprised.
"Tobe?"
He nodded his head patiently.
" He's in the stables with Daine." She told him.
" Ah, so they finally meet. Is this the first time? Or have they spoken before?"
" They were both at Haven for a time,
but I'm not sure if they ever spoke."
She said.
They spent the rest of the walk in
companionable silence. Or rather Kel
and Dom did. Neal was rambling on and
on about how he was busy, and how he needed and explanation before he just got
up and left his work; Kel and Dom tried to ignore him but it was hard
considering he asked Kel for her opinion every ten seconds. Finally, seeing Kel's growing irritation,
which he rarely saw aimed at his cousin, Dom told Neal to shut up.
Two reactions, one grateful, one annoyed.
Turning into the hallway leading to
the room Kel took a deep breath. She
watched as Dom opened the door and stepped in, smiling, he must have made some
funny joke because she heard laughter.
Neal and Kel followed, Neal whispering something about always making an
entrance. He was right; Dom always did
have to do that. That was another one
of the things she. . .
She paused mentally, and deciding she didn't want to know where it was
going- or really, she knew, but wasn't about to admit it to even herself while
standing next to him- she shook her head, as if she was trying to shake those
thoughts out.
The King was behind his desk, with the
Queen and Sir Gareth sitting on either side of him. Kel noticed the Lioness and Lord Raoul's absences with
heart. Perhaps Dom would be let off
easily if Raoul didn't think it important enough to attend. No such luck; the
next minute of tense silence was broken by the thud of a door in the back of
the room and Lord Raoul walking in and whispering something in the King's ear.
He nodded and cleared his throat, but instead of speaking, added to the anxiety
by staring down on them uncontrollably.
Kel moved over to make room for what seemed to be all of Third Company,
who were now entering the room, faces solemn.
She felt sincerely sorry for each of
them, but they had gone a little too far with the sign. But only just. It hadn't been a case of total insubordinance until Raoul had
unknowingly taken the pie to a certain king and his crowd of minions. She knew that the people most likely to get
Dom into the most trouble were the king's advisors. They were a stuck-up bunch of conservatives very fond of their
posh clothing. She was sure they didn't
find this little incident funny.
" Sir Queenscove. Please step forward." Neal did as told and met the King's gaze
readily. "You are not in trouble
Sir Nealan; Lord Raoul wants to ask a favor of you. Please see him in the back room." Neal nodded silently and disappeared into the room, pulling the
door after him.
The King stood, his face changing
rapidly. "Do you all understand
what you have done? The damage you have
caused is written all over this room and the people in it." His eyes traveled over each of them
individually. When his eyes rested on
Kel, his expression changed, and she couldn't help feeling that he was
surprised at part in this, even though she didn't have one.
True to his word, Dom stuck up for
her. Or he tried to. " Your Majesties," he started, his
easygoing voice slicing through the silence, "Lady K-" He was cut off
by one of the more stuffy vassals.
" We do not want to hear this." He said rudely, turning to gain support from
his friends and wife. "We want to
see the payment we deserve for the destruction of what is ours." He faced the King and Queen, "Who is
going to pay us? My wife was deeply
aggrieved, her favorite- and might I add expensive- gown was ruined by these
shenanigans. If this is the group of men
who are protecting my family, I want them put through more training, they
obviously have too much time on their hands."
He emphasized the word 'men', making his thoughts on Lady Knights free
to read. Sitting down in a chair
offered by one of the many whom were trying vainly to calm him, he set about
catching his breath.
The silence was broken all too soon
for Kel's taste.
" Believe me, they shall be
punished. You are dismissed. Except for
you men, we have something to discuss."
King Jonathan's tone left no options but to leave, unless you were one
of the misfortunates he had addressed as 'men'.
At that moment, the door in the back
opened and out came Raoul and Neal.
Neal gave them a brief nod and left immediately, whereas Raoul came and
stood before them. Then he broke out
into a grin. " Exploding pie! I didn't see that one coming. You really outdid yourselves this
time." He stopped to look at Kel. "
And getting Kel involved? Why
didn't I think of that?" He clapped Dom
on the arm and took a step back, surveying them all, and grinning like a fool.
" Keladry had nothing to do with this,
she just ordered our pie from the cooks and picked it up." Dom told him earnestly.
" Of course she had nothing to do with
it." He said, as if he himself had
never believed it could be possible.
Kel sighed in relief, the tension instantaneously rising from her
shoulders, event though she had no idea what they were talking about and was
about to conclude that maybe a professional healer should have stayed a little
longer. Then Raoul's voice
changed. "At first, I had no idea
how I was going to top this, I mean the explosion was truly inspired, and
inspiring. Then I realized
something," a slow, more cunning grin spread over his face, and he began
to walk up and down the row they had formed.
"I didn't need- or even want- a prank to make all others cry in
shame. I didn't need to spend hours
plotting every detail down to the last button.
I needed revenge. Let me
rephrase that, I need revenge."
He stopped pacing and narrowed his eyes ruthlessly, "And revenge is
what I shall have." He said, in a voice
that would make the hardiest man turn tail and run. Run they would have, if they hadn't been rooted to the spot by
the traitor fear.
The Queen stood gracefully, shushing
the extremely confused and protesting King, and opened the door that Neal had
been taken in. Out came Buriram Toukora
and the Lioness, with them, two bakery carts loaded with apple pies, cherry pies,
and blueberry pies.
The King, no longer suppressible,
demanded to know what was going on.
" Come on Jon, hush up and calm down,
you wouldn't want to ruin a tradition, would you?" The Lioness said boldly, wheeling her cart to a stop next to
Raoul, Buri doing the same.
Tradition? I wish I knew what was going on here,
Kel thought to herself as she watched the three women and one very large man
approach, whisper, and then pie each man, before moving to the next. At least they wouldn't be pie-ing her. She watched as Alanna moved to Dom, and
perfectly expressionless, asked him which flavor he would prefer, to which he
answered, equally collected, that he would like cherry. She pied him.
Then Raoul came up to her and smiled.
"Kel," he said warmly, "which is your favorite,
blueberry, apple or cherry?"
" Blueberry, my lord." He nodded and turned away. Her eyes slowly widened as she realized what
he had just asked her. Stuttering, she
began to back away, towards the door.
"But I - wasn't my idea- no, no clue!"
By this time, he had retrieved the pie
and was making his way to her retreating form.
She thought desperately, "You can't pie me, I didn't get a card, I need
a card. It wouldn't be fair if they got
card before they were pied and I didn't."
She knew she needed a different approach, but she was at a loss. She was almost to the door, but it didn't
matter, he would only order her to stay.
About to throw the pie he stopped, Dom was standing in front of her.
" You can't pie her, My Lord." He told the larger man, and then drew him
aside. A sigh of relief escaped her,
and they glanced at her before talking animatedly. Finally, Raoul relinquished the pie to his Sergeant, a small
smile on his lips, and Kel thanked him silently in the three languages she
knew. He came and stood in front of her
and she had just started to thank him verbally, when she registered the look in
his mischievous blue eyes. Oh no
was all she could manage to think. She
took a step back. "Dom, you can't
be serious."
" Why not?" He asked her patiently, resting the pie on his hand and taking an
involved stance. He's enjoying it,
she realized. He likes having this
power, and being in control.
" Lalasa will kill you." It sounded lame even to her ears and she
closed her eyes, waiting for impact. It
didn't come. She opened her eyes and
saw Dom staring at her outfit blatantly interested. She felt her cheeks burning; he actually seemed to be considering
it.
No such luck. Kel swore to herself. She didn't need him to tell her that he had
decided to risk the dressmaker's wrath.
She looked around one last time, for any hope of escape, but her
intentions must have been obvious because the next moment Raoul ordered her not
to take a step.
Back went Dom's arm- it all seemed to
be going so slowly- and then the pie was flying towards her. Training she didn't even know she had took
over, and she twisted her body towards the floor. The pie zoomed high overhead, and she heard it splat before she
straightened.
" Well, I didn't take a-" she
drifted off at the look of pure horror on Dom's face. Behind him, tears of mirth were flowing freely down Raoul's face,
and that was when time stopped completely for her. She made herself face whatever was behind her by turning
slowly. The world seemed to spin even after
she had stopped. She took in the
absence of a pie-covered door, then the absence of the door itself, and then
came the epiphany that the door was open.
And that in front of her a man was standing motionless from shock, face
covered with pie, slowly dripping blueberries onto the floor of the King's
meeting room. Kel felt her hands travel
to her mouth to stop it from dropping open at the sight of The bald Lord Wyldon
of Cavall; ex- training master; Kel's CO; with blueberry hair.
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A/N: Hee hee; Silly Dom.
Until next time!
Valencia