Kel didn't see Raoul in the dining hall. She sat between Neal and Merric, hands twisted in her lap. Neal noticed her silence and pulled her aside.

"Kel, I know you well enough to recognize when you're having a moral crisis. What's--"

She shushed him and looked to where the King was now standing. Neal saw the pain in her eyes as she looked towards the monarch. He assumed that whatever was bothering her was about to be told to everyone in the room.

The King cleared his throat and called for attention. "I have grave news for all of you. King Maggur has gathered another very large army. They are camped in between two of our northern forts. I have a feeling we have a long procession of battles up ahead. I would like all of the knights to ready their gear and gather their assignments from either Lord Raoul or Lord Wyldon. Any noble who lives near Mindalen, Trebond, Northwatch, and Whitehorn should immediately send word and prepare your people." He frowned regretfully and departed.

Immediately after, the room started buzzing with voices. Kel didn't stick around. She had to find Raoul, and tell him her decision. She found him talking with Sir Gareth outside of his rooms. As soon as Raoul saw her, he excused himself.

"Have you decided, Kel?" he asked quietly.

She nodded, an act that required extreme effort at that moment. "It will be Dom."

Raoul drew a breath and smiled crookedly. "Don't do anything you'll regret," he advised. Kel shoved him lightly.

"And my assignment…"

"Back to New Hope. Sorry, Kel. I know you'd like to get in the serious fighting, still."

Kel shook her head. "New Hope is just fine, Raoul. I'll be heading out, then. Should I bring Dom and his squad?"

"That's fine. Be careful, Kel."

She nodded grimly. "As careful as the refugees will make me be."

Without a backwards glance, Kel walked away, and packed her things. By the time she was ready, Dom came knocking on her door.

"Sir Raoul says you need me for something, Kel."

"You're coming with me to New Hope."

His face lit up. "And Lachlan…?"

"Will be at Mastiff," she said firmly. Although she somewhat regretted not being with Lac, she knew Dom better, and he had been there through it all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kel, Neal, Merric, Dom, and his squad rode to New Hope the next day. All along the way they saw signs of Maggur's army.

The refugees welcomed their leader back heartily. Kel and Dom quickly settled back into camp life. Training, building, working. Her third day back, Dom kissed her again. This time, she didn't pull away. Instead, she savored it. The two jumped apart when Neal came crashing in, insisting that Kel help him settle an argument.

The first fighting came three days later. The refugees handled them easily. Another attack came the next day, and Merric and his squads finished off all of the Scanrans.

Kel settled into camp life easily. She heard daily reports of Mastiff and Steadfast fighting off Scanrans, but the big attack was yet to come.

One day Kel was on a patrol when her sparrows found twenty Scanrans. Kel and her squad pursued them. When they got in sight if the camp, Kel stopped Hoshi immediately. At least three hundred Scanran soldiers were marching up New Hope's road, about six miles off. Horrified, Kel galloped back into the camp to send a message to the other commanders.

(A/n: I KNOW! This chapter was rushed and it sucked, but I just had such a hard time making time pass…ITS TIME FOR THE CLIMAX! Sorry, but WHAT is this story w/o Lachlan He's what the story is about! So theres a hint! I'm not saying I don't like Dom. Dom is great. But Lachlan plays an important part of THIS story)