Hey guys! Thanks for all your comments and reviews and support! Here's my thank you list!
Thanks to: veralidaine, mandygirl, Valencia22, PotterMania22, Manders, Stacey, magelet, Keita, lady knight, Kate, Min, Kiyleine, and Jossie
Chapter Three: Dancing Teapots
The palace gardens bloomed perfectly in the spring afternoon, bright bursts of color among a dreary castle day. None of the current Royal Family were very plant-oriented, but the gardens were well taken care of, regardless. It had rained the afternoon beforehand, leaving the court ladies inside rather than letting a group of them take their afternoon stroll. The ground had dried enough for the five ladies to walk without getting too muddy.
"Gods, it's humid," Lady Kate said suddenly.
Lady Sarina nodded vigorously, her brown hair tumbling into her blue eyes. "I hate the humidity. It makes my hair all curly and it makes me sweat."
Rolling her eyes, Lady Stacia whacked her with a fan. "That was too much information, hun."
Lady Minerva laughed as Lady Keita joined the other four. Turning to Keita, Minerva asked, "So, how is the newest lady of choice for Master Numair?"
Keita grinned. "Wonderful."
"Glad to hear it," Minerva replied.
"Forget Numair," Stacia snorted. "Well, actually, you keep Numair. I would have gone after Sir Neal."
Ladies Kate, Sarina, and Stacia all sighed wistfully.
With sudden determination, Sarina said, "I will go after Sir Neal! After all, I'm much prettier than that wild mage. He likes court ladies, right?"
"No! Back off, Lady Sarina. You haven't got a chance against my superior beauty, wit, and intellect," Kate told her.
Sarina snorted. "Beauty? Wit? Intellect? What mirror have you been using and who have you been talking to?"
While Sarina had retorted to Kate's assertion, Stacia preened. "Both of you haven't got a chance."
Kate rolled her eyes. "If we don't, then you certainly don't."
Minerva cleared her throat. "Ahem, ladies?"
The three looked at Minerva and Keita, the latter of which was trying hard not to laugh at her three friends. Sarina looked at Stacia and Kate, then at Minerva and Keita, and began to laugh. "I'm such a dumbass."
"You are," Stacia agreed.
Sarina stuck her tongue out at Stacia. "I hear Sergeant Domitan fancies you."
A look of horror spread across Stacia's face. "No!"
Snickering, Kate turned to Keita. "Anyway, how's Numair?"
Keita, by this time, was laughing heartily. "He's fine. He always wants to know what Daine is doing though."
"She seems very happy with Neal," Stacia admitted begrudgingly. "They've only had their relationship publicly for a little more than two weeks, but they do seem pretty happy."
Reluctantly, Kate agreed. "I would be too. He seems pretty happy with her as well."
"I heard they went out riding a little earlier, on a picnic down at the lake," Sarina piped up.
"Lady Minerva!" called someone from the other side of the gardens. "Lady Minerva, your mother wishes to speak with you!"
"I'll be right there!" Minerva called back. "Fill me in later, okay?"
The other four nodded. "Of course," Stacia promised.
Minerva took off to the other side of the gardens. Keita yawned, looked up at the sky, and sighed. "Numair wanted to see me before supper, so I'll go see if he wants to talk to me yet. Bye, ladies."
Stacia, Sarina, and Kate watched her trot off. Eyes shifty, Stacia, in hushed tones, asked, "Do any of you have the same idea I do?"
"I think so," Sarina agreed.
A grin spread over Kate's face. "Let's go spy on Daine and Sir Neal!"
"Only, not so much Daine," Sarina amended.
"More Neal," Stacia nodded.
"Thank the gods that Keita and Min left," Kate breathed. "They would have never agreed to do this."
"That's because they don't love Neal like we do," Stacia explained flippantly.
"You mean, like I do."
"Oh, shove it, Sarina."
***
"Neal, you're such a flirt," Daine told him.
"Alas, I hear that often," Neal admitted dramatically. They had taken a break in a secluded spot by the lake, out of view unless one looked real hard for it.
"Gee, I wonder why," she retorted dryly, laughing.
"Ah, but I can't help it with beautiful ladies like you running around," he said.
She laughed again. "I feel sorry for whoever you truly do marry, Queenscove."
He flashed a grin at her. "Oh, you know you love it. What woman doesn't appreciate being called beautiful?"
Rolling her eyes, she shoved him and lied back on the grass with her hands behind her head. Neal followed suit and almost dozed off when Daine suddenly said, "They only appreciate it when it's sincere."
"Do what?" he asked ingeniously.
"Women only like having a man tell them that they look beautiful when that man means it." She looked over at him.
He met her eyes. "How do you know I didn't mean it?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "Because you're a flirt."
"A flirt with a fan club, no less." He yawned.
"A fan club?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Lady Stacia, Lady Sarina, and Lady Kate seem to be the ring leaders," he said indifferently. "I used to have a crush on you, you know."
Looking back up at the sky, Daine smiled. "You did?"
"Yep."
"That's cute."
"Ah, my aim in life. To be told that it was cute that I had a crush on the wild mage."
Daine laughed. "But it is cute."
"Thanks."
A comfortable silence settled over them, a smile lingering on both of their faces. Neal's eyes drifted shut, and soon he snored lightly. Horse Lords, he snores, Daine mused. He's a snoring knight.
"Dancing teapots..." Neal mumbled.
Daine raised an eyebrow. Dancing teapots?
"Won't you dance with me...fair Lady Fork..." he continued.
Lady Fork? Seems I have competition, Daine snickered silently.
"I'm better than Sir Spoons-a-lot..." he grumbled.
Sir Spoons-a-lot, eh? she thought, finding this very amusing.
"Hey...Sir Knife...y'wanna say that to my face?" Neal growled. "That's what I thought."
Daine couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that her stomach hurt, and when she rolled on her side to see if Neal had waken, she found his green eyes staring at her intently.
"...Why are you laughing?" he asked innocently.
"Should I worry about 'Lady Fork'?" she retorted, snickering.
Neal turned red. "Gah!"
Still chuckling, Daine got to her feet. "I think we should probably go back now. Don't want your Lady Fork to worry about you."
"There's no Lady Fork," Neal snorted.
"But you wanted to dance with her," the wild mage pointed out, mounting her horse.
"I want to dance with a lot of ladies," he told her.
"Including dress-wearing forks," she added.
"Urusai."
"Huh?"
"Yamani for 'shut up.'"
"Aw, but Neal! You wouldn't say that to Lady Fork!"
"Mithros, woman, you're worse than Kel."
***
"Okay! There he is!" Stacia hissed from her position by the stables.
"Is Daine with him?" Sarina wanted to know.
Kate and Stacia both gave her a Look. However, it was Stacia who answered. "No," she said sarcastically, "he has Kel with him on one arm and the Queen on the other."
Sarina's eyes went wide. "He does?!"
Kate whapped Sarina upside the head. "You're loyal, but gullible as a child."
Whimpering, Sarina rubbed the back of her head and ducked behind the stable door, waiting with Kate for the arrival of Neal and Daine. A moment later, Stacia joined them. She was barely hidden when Neal and Daine led their horses into the stables. Kate darted in after them, hiding behind the stable stalls, waving Stacia on. When it came time for Sarina to go, she tripped over the hem of her skirt and pitched forward onto the floor.
Stefan dropped down from the ceiling and looked down at Sarina, raising an eyebrow. "What's a lass like ye doin' here?" he asked as he helped her to her feet.
Sarina laughed embarrassedly. "Ahahahahaha! I was looking for...for my..." she scanned the stables as briefly and discreetly as she could. When she found something, she grinned at him and announced, "I was looking for my shoe!"
Kate and Stacia groaned silently, looking at each other like they each wanted to smack Sarina upside the head.
"Lass, ye have yer shoes on yer feet," Stefan informed her.
"Look at that! I do!" Sarina exclaimed, laughing.
Neal peeked over the edge of his horse's stall and tried to see around Stefan the Hostler but couldn't quite see who the speaker was.
"I'll see you around then, good sir! Good day!" and Sarina scuttled out of the stables.
Stefan scratched the back of his head and sighed. He wondered how court produced such strange ladies and climbed back up to his hiding place, leaving Neal, Daine, the horses, Kate, and Stacia to entertain themselves. Moments later, Sarina crept into the stables carefully, dropping in place behind Kate.
"Close one, eh, Kate?" Sarina whispered.
"Just...no. Don't speak," Stacia told her. "In fact...just stay here."
Sarina pouted. "But I want to spy on Neal!"
Kate clamped a hand over her companion's mouth. "You'll have to stay quiet then."
Nodding, Sarina tried to answer but remembered that Kate's hand was still over her mouth. When Kate removed it, she bit her lip to refrain from saying anything.
"I can't hear anything," Stacia sighed. The nineteen-year-old peered around the side of the stall and hurried across to the next empty stall, motioning for the two twenty-year-olds to follow her.
They heard the tail ends of the conversation. It was hard to hear over the horses and the others scrambling around at the other end of the stables.
"...Lady of the Forks," Daine said.
"....not Lady of the Forks," Neal snorted.
"....I be jealous?" she asked.
"...getting old," he informed her.
"...me," Daine replied.
They both ducked out of the stalls after seeing to their horses. Neal didn't bother to offer his arm this time although Daine did attach herself to him out of sheer habit. He didn't seem to mind or even notice, the trio spying on him noted. Waiting until the new couple had left the stables, Stacia, Kate, and Sarina darted forward, Sarina still careful not to trip over her dress. Stefan watched from his hiding place, observing and chuckling. He found the girls hilarious and wished he could watch them longer, but he had horses to tend to.
***
Keita paced her rooms. Numair had told her to wait in her rooms for him while he changed into something less disgusting and more along the lines of clean and mended. That had been a half-hour ago. She was starting to get worried.
"Numair?" she called finally, going to his rooms.
"Come in," he answered.
She opened the door and found him at his desk, reading. "Ahem."
Numair looked up at her and didn't recognize her for a moment. Then he came back to reality and realized what had happened. "Gah...I'm sorry, Keita," he apologized, rising from his desk and walking over to her. He was older than Keita by about nineteen years, but he didn't care. He took her in his arms, to which she reluctantly obeyed, and ran his hand through the bottoms of her hair. "I'm sorry. I saw something in the book and it caught my eye."
"Something always catches your eye," Keita told him.
"I know," Numair sighed. "I'm working on it, but I've always done things like that, even when I was with Daine."
"Well, if Daine can put up with it, I can put up with it," she conceded. "But please--just eat sometime, will you?"
"I promise. In fact, I'll eat right now with you. When is midday?" he asked, offering his arm to her as he shut the door behind them.
"Midday is about two and a half hours ago," she let him know.
Numair winced. "Well, let's go down to one of the restaurants in Corus then."
Smiling, Keita agreed. "Sure."
Let's just not go to one Daine and I ate at, Numair told his subconscious. You hear me down there? You better not go to Daine's and my restaurant.
Together, they went to Corus, sat down in a restaurant, and ate.
There really wasn't much depth to their relationship.
***
"Okay," Kate said. "It'll go like this." She paced back and forth in front of Sarina and Stacia. "Stacia, you'll go up to him and ask him if he's seen Sarina. I'll go after you, a little later, and ask if he's seen you. Sarina, you go after us and ask if you've seen us, and then Stacia, you come and tell Daine that she's needed in the stables. Then I'll go up and talk to Neal. Okay?"
"Okay," Sarina agreed.
"Wait," Stacia protested. "Why do you get to talk to him?"
"Because I'm oldest," Kate told them.
"...Are you older than me?" Sarina wondered.
Although not quite certain, Kate nodded. "Yes. So I get to talk to Neal."
Stacia grumbled, "Fine, fine." She looked wistfully over at Neal and Daine, who were talking secretively, and sighed. Slowly, she ambled over to them. "Er, Sir Neal?" she asked. "Have you see a lady with brown hair and blue eyes and kind of clumsy-like come around here? Lady Sarina, if you know her name?"
"Not lately," he replied, feeling somewhat suspicious of her. "Maybe she went that way?" he suggested, pointing.
"Thank you!" Stacia exclaimed and took off, mentally cursing herself for such tactics.
A few minutes later, Kate came barreling in, panting and asking if Stacia had come through that way. Neal pointed the direction in which he had sent Stacia, leaned back, and said to Daine, "Lady Sarina will be by in just a few moments, asking for them both. These three are the veritable ringleaders."
Daine laughed lightly and snuggled against Neal comfortably. She had already grown used to using the boy as a pillow.
Ten minutes passed before Sarina remembered she was supposed to go ask for Stacia and Kate. Dawdling, she strolled up to Neal and said, "Good afternoon, Sir Neal."
"Good afternoon, Lady Sarina," he replied.
"Isn't it a beautiful afternoon?" she asked dreamily.
"Certainly," he told her. "Almost as beautiful as you."
"Neal!" Daine hit him on the shoulder. "Don't flirt with other ladies in front of me, you oaf."
Lady Sarina blushed. "Er, well, I heard from the cooks that they saw Ladies Stacia and Kate run through here earlier and they seem to have abandoned me. Could you tell me which direction they headed off in?"
Daine and Neal both pointed. "That way," Neal instructed. "Good luck finding them..."
Sarina took off.
"One of the other two will be back," he guessed. "My fan club is amusing."
"Apparently," Daine agreed.
Kel trotted up to them then. "Hey Neal, hey Daine."
"Hello Kel," Daine replied, smiling.
"'Lo," Neal greeted her.
"Daine, I hate to bother you two, but can I borrow Neal for a moment? Owen wants to talk to him and have a little man talk I guess," Kel explained.
"Sure you can borrow him," Daine told her. "Go on, Neal."
"All the men want to be me and all the women want to be with me. Life's good," Neal commented as he got up with Kel.
She smacked his arm. "Get a life, Neal."
They were long gone by the time Stacia came back. "Oh...uh...where did Sir Neal go?"
"He left for a little while," Daine replied. "If you want to go and try to find him, I'd say he would probably be in the knights' quarters."
"Oh...okay. Thank you."
***
Yawning, Neal joined Owen in the library. "What seems to be the problem, young Owen?"
"Well, there's this lady that I fancy," Owen started. "And...you see...she kind of fancies this other man...he's a mage, no less. A powerful one too. That's jolly, but...how do I make her fancy me? Kel doesn't have any suggestions..."
Neal thought for a moment before answering: "We need to spy on her. See what type of man she likes, what types of things she eats, what type of woman she is, that kind of stuff."
"I already know all of that. She likes older men and likes court food. She's really a sweet lady..." Owen trailed off.
"Who is she?" Neal wanted to know.
"Lady Keita."
Whoa. Talk about perfect! If we can just get Owen to win Keita's heart, then that will leave Numair open for Daine. What about me though? I have no plan for me... Neal mused. "Well..."
Kel broke in. "We need to find out where Numair and Keita are then, right? I can go find out where Numair is. Usually, wherever Numair is, Keita isn't far off." Decisively, she nodded. "All right. I'll be back in a few minutes." Without waiting for her friends' answer, she took off.
"Uh..." Owen and Neal trailed off.
"Anyway," Owen continued. "What will we do? Spying on her doesn't sound very jolly."
"We'll...er, accidentally overhear--"
"Eavesdrop," Kel corrected from behind him.
Neal cringed. "Back so soon, love?"
She shrugged. "It wasn't hard to get information about him. The servants say that Lady Keita and Numair went down to some restaurant called the Griffin's Wing. How they know that, I don't want to know. Anyway, let's go, right?"
The boys nodded and watched Kel walk out.
"Is it me or is she getting a little too into the matchmaking thing?" Neal whispered to Owen.
"It's not just you."
***
Daine waited patiently for Neal's return, well aware of the fact that Kate, Stacia, and Sarina kept lurking around the corners. The cats in the palace trotted up to talk with her, which kept her mind off of the fact that she had been abandoned.
"Daine!" called Neal from across the way.
"Neal!" she called back, waving. Go now, she told the cats. I'll come talk to you some more later, I promise.
That man acts like a dog, one of the cats informed her.
Daine chuckled as another cat piped up with, And he smells like one too.
Now, now, that's enough of that, Daine reminded. I'm supposed to be "in love" with him to everyone in court. That means you animals too.
The third cat swished its tail in annoyance. Let's leave her with the Dog Man.
It leapt off of Daine's lap and led the other two away. Neal grinned at her and sat down. "Talking with animals again?"
She returned the grin. "Yep. They call you 'Dog Man.'"
"Flattered, really," he said dryly. "Owen and Kel have asked me to do a favor for them, so I'm going to go down into Corus with them. Wait for me?"
"Of course."
"Thanks."
He got to his feet, looked down at her uncertainly, and impulsively kissed her gently on the lips. He coughed, flushed a little, bade her a soft farewell, and darted off.
Puzzled, Daine touched her lips. That felt different this time. It was...kind of...nice...
She twitched, realizing what she just thought. No. No way. Get a grip, Daine! Kissing Neal is not nice!
A little corner of her mind laughed at her. It's nice, and you know it. Especially since Numair's off kissing that whore.
Daine buried her face in her hands. "Shut up in there!"
Nearby, Ladies Stacia, Sarina, and Kate exchanged glances. "...She's mad," Stacia whispered.
"Neal must pity her," Sarina deducted.
"...Neal's such a kind knight," Kate added.
"For sure."
Daine looked up at where they were and rolled her eyes. "Court ladies. Why couldn't he have flirted with one of them?"
Because he liiiiiiikes you!
"Shut up up there."
Thanks to: veralidaine, mandygirl, Valencia22, PotterMania22, Manders, Stacey, magelet, Keita, lady knight, Kate, Min, Kiyleine, and Jossie
The palace gardens bloomed perfectly in the spring afternoon, bright bursts of color among a dreary castle day. None of the current Royal Family were very plant-oriented, but the gardens were well taken care of, regardless. It had rained the afternoon beforehand, leaving the court ladies inside rather than letting a group of them take their afternoon stroll. The ground had dried enough for the five ladies to walk without getting too muddy.
"Gods, it's humid," Lady Kate said suddenly.
Lady Sarina nodded vigorously, her brown hair tumbling into her blue eyes. "I hate the humidity. It makes my hair all curly and it makes me sweat."
Rolling her eyes, Lady Stacia whacked her with a fan. "That was too much information, hun."
Lady Minerva laughed as Lady Keita joined the other four. Turning to Keita, Minerva asked, "So, how is the newest lady of choice for Master Numair?"
Keita grinned. "Wonderful."
"Glad to hear it," Minerva replied.
"Forget Numair," Stacia snorted. "Well, actually, you keep Numair. I would have gone after Sir Neal."
Ladies Kate, Sarina, and Stacia all sighed wistfully.
With sudden determination, Sarina said, "I will go after Sir Neal! After all, I'm much prettier than that wild mage. He likes court ladies, right?"
"No! Back off, Lady Sarina. You haven't got a chance against my superior beauty, wit, and intellect," Kate told her.
Sarina snorted. "Beauty? Wit? Intellect? What mirror have you been using and who have you been talking to?"
While Sarina had retorted to Kate's assertion, Stacia preened. "Both of you haven't got a chance."
Kate rolled her eyes. "If we don't, then you certainly don't."
Minerva cleared her throat. "Ahem, ladies?"
The three looked at Minerva and Keita, the latter of which was trying hard not to laugh at her three friends. Sarina looked at Stacia and Kate, then at Minerva and Keita, and began to laugh. "I'm such a dumbass."
"You are," Stacia agreed.
Sarina stuck her tongue out at Stacia. "I hear Sergeant Domitan fancies you."
A look of horror spread across Stacia's face. "No!"
Snickering, Kate turned to Keita. "Anyway, how's Numair?"
Keita, by this time, was laughing heartily. "He's fine. He always wants to know what Daine is doing though."
"She seems very happy with Neal," Stacia admitted begrudgingly. "They've only had their relationship publicly for a little more than two weeks, but they do seem pretty happy."
Reluctantly, Kate agreed. "I would be too. He seems pretty happy with her as well."
"I heard they went out riding a little earlier, on a picnic down at the lake," Sarina piped up.
"Lady Minerva!" called someone from the other side of the gardens. "Lady Minerva, your mother wishes to speak with you!"
"I'll be right there!" Minerva called back. "Fill me in later, okay?"
The other four nodded. "Of course," Stacia promised.
Minerva took off to the other side of the gardens. Keita yawned, looked up at the sky, and sighed. "Numair wanted to see me before supper, so I'll go see if he wants to talk to me yet. Bye, ladies."
Stacia, Sarina, and Kate watched her trot off. Eyes shifty, Stacia, in hushed tones, asked, "Do any of you have the same idea I do?"
"I think so," Sarina agreed.
A grin spread over Kate's face. "Let's go spy on Daine and Sir Neal!"
"Only, not so much Daine," Sarina amended.
"More Neal," Stacia nodded.
"Thank the gods that Keita and Min left," Kate breathed. "They would have never agreed to do this."
"That's because they don't love Neal like we do," Stacia explained flippantly.
"You mean, like I do."
"Oh, shove it, Sarina."
***
"Neal, you're such a flirt," Daine told him.
"Alas, I hear that often," Neal admitted dramatically. They had taken a break in a secluded spot by the lake, out of view unless one looked real hard for it.
"Gee, I wonder why," she retorted dryly, laughing.
"Ah, but I can't help it with beautiful ladies like you running around," he said.
She laughed again. "I feel sorry for whoever you truly do marry, Queenscove."
He flashed a grin at her. "Oh, you know you love it. What woman doesn't appreciate being called beautiful?"
Rolling her eyes, she shoved him and lied back on the grass with her hands behind her head. Neal followed suit and almost dozed off when Daine suddenly said, "They only appreciate it when it's sincere."
"Do what?" he asked ingeniously.
"Women only like having a man tell them that they look beautiful when that man means it." She looked over at him.
He met her eyes. "How do you know I didn't mean it?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "Because you're a flirt."
"A flirt with a fan club, no less." He yawned.
"A fan club?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Lady Stacia, Lady Sarina, and Lady Kate seem to be the ring leaders," he said indifferently. "I used to have a crush on you, you know."
Looking back up at the sky, Daine smiled. "You did?"
"Yep."
"That's cute."
"Ah, my aim in life. To be told that it was cute that I had a crush on the wild mage."
Daine laughed. "But it is cute."
"Thanks."
A comfortable silence settled over them, a smile lingering on both of their faces. Neal's eyes drifted shut, and soon he snored lightly. Horse Lords, he snores, Daine mused. He's a snoring knight.
"Dancing teapots..." Neal mumbled.
Daine raised an eyebrow. Dancing teapots?
"Won't you dance with me...fair Lady Fork..." he continued.
Lady Fork? Seems I have competition, Daine snickered silently.
"I'm better than Sir Spoons-a-lot..." he grumbled.
Sir Spoons-a-lot, eh? she thought, finding this very amusing.
"Hey...Sir Knife...y'wanna say that to my face?" Neal growled. "That's what I thought."
Daine couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that her stomach hurt, and when she rolled on her side to see if Neal had waken, she found his green eyes staring at her intently.
"...Why are you laughing?" he asked innocently.
"Should I worry about 'Lady Fork'?" she retorted, snickering.
Neal turned red. "Gah!"
Still chuckling, Daine got to her feet. "I think we should probably go back now. Don't want your Lady Fork to worry about you."
"There's no Lady Fork," Neal snorted.
"But you wanted to dance with her," the wild mage pointed out, mounting her horse.
"I want to dance with a lot of ladies," he told her.
"Including dress-wearing forks," she added.
"Urusai."
"Huh?"
"Yamani for 'shut up.'"
"Aw, but Neal! You wouldn't say that to Lady Fork!"
"Mithros, woman, you're worse than Kel."
***
"Okay! There he is!" Stacia hissed from her position by the stables.
"Is Daine with him?" Sarina wanted to know.
Kate and Stacia both gave her a Look. However, it was Stacia who answered. "No," she said sarcastically, "he has Kel with him on one arm and the Queen on the other."
Sarina's eyes went wide. "He does?!"
Kate whapped Sarina upside the head. "You're loyal, but gullible as a child."
Whimpering, Sarina rubbed the back of her head and ducked behind the stable door, waiting with Kate for the arrival of Neal and Daine. A moment later, Stacia joined them. She was barely hidden when Neal and Daine led their horses into the stables. Kate darted in after them, hiding behind the stable stalls, waving Stacia on. When it came time for Sarina to go, she tripped over the hem of her skirt and pitched forward onto the floor.
Stefan dropped down from the ceiling and looked down at Sarina, raising an eyebrow. "What's a lass like ye doin' here?" he asked as he helped her to her feet.
Sarina laughed embarrassedly. "Ahahahahaha! I was looking for...for my..." she scanned the stables as briefly and discreetly as she could. When she found something, she grinned at him and announced, "I was looking for my shoe!"
Kate and Stacia groaned silently, looking at each other like they each wanted to smack Sarina upside the head.
"Lass, ye have yer shoes on yer feet," Stefan informed her.
"Look at that! I do!" Sarina exclaimed, laughing.
Neal peeked over the edge of his horse's stall and tried to see around Stefan the Hostler but couldn't quite see who the speaker was.
"I'll see you around then, good sir! Good day!" and Sarina scuttled out of the stables.
Stefan scratched the back of his head and sighed. He wondered how court produced such strange ladies and climbed back up to his hiding place, leaving Neal, Daine, the horses, Kate, and Stacia to entertain themselves. Moments later, Sarina crept into the stables carefully, dropping in place behind Kate.
"Close one, eh, Kate?" Sarina whispered.
"Just...no. Don't speak," Stacia told her. "In fact...just stay here."
Sarina pouted. "But I want to spy on Neal!"
Kate clamped a hand over her companion's mouth. "You'll have to stay quiet then."
Nodding, Sarina tried to answer but remembered that Kate's hand was still over her mouth. When Kate removed it, she bit her lip to refrain from saying anything.
"I can't hear anything," Stacia sighed. The nineteen-year-old peered around the side of the stall and hurried across to the next empty stall, motioning for the two twenty-year-olds to follow her.
They heard the tail ends of the conversation. It was hard to hear over the horses and the others scrambling around at the other end of the stables.
"...Lady of the Forks," Daine said.
"....not Lady of the Forks," Neal snorted.
"....I be jealous?" she asked.
"...getting old," he informed her.
"...me," Daine replied.
They both ducked out of the stalls after seeing to their horses. Neal didn't bother to offer his arm this time although Daine did attach herself to him out of sheer habit. He didn't seem to mind or even notice, the trio spying on him noted. Waiting until the new couple had left the stables, Stacia, Kate, and Sarina darted forward, Sarina still careful not to trip over her dress. Stefan watched from his hiding place, observing and chuckling. He found the girls hilarious and wished he could watch them longer, but he had horses to tend to.
***
Keita paced her rooms. Numair had told her to wait in her rooms for him while he changed into something less disgusting and more along the lines of clean and mended. That had been a half-hour ago. She was starting to get worried.
"Numair?" she called finally, going to his rooms.
"Come in," he answered.
She opened the door and found him at his desk, reading. "Ahem."
Numair looked up at her and didn't recognize her for a moment. Then he came back to reality and realized what had happened. "Gah...I'm sorry, Keita," he apologized, rising from his desk and walking over to her. He was older than Keita by about nineteen years, but he didn't care. He took her in his arms, to which she reluctantly obeyed, and ran his hand through the bottoms of her hair. "I'm sorry. I saw something in the book and it caught my eye."
"Something always catches your eye," Keita told him.
"I know," Numair sighed. "I'm working on it, but I've always done things like that, even when I was with Daine."
"Well, if Daine can put up with it, I can put up with it," she conceded. "But please--just eat sometime, will you?"
"I promise. In fact, I'll eat right now with you. When is midday?" he asked, offering his arm to her as he shut the door behind them.
"Midday is about two and a half hours ago," she let him know.
Numair winced. "Well, let's go down to one of the restaurants in Corus then."
Smiling, Keita agreed. "Sure."
Let's just not go to one Daine and I ate at, Numair told his subconscious. You hear me down there? You better not go to Daine's and my restaurant.
Together, they went to Corus, sat down in a restaurant, and ate.
There really wasn't much depth to their relationship.
***
"Okay," Kate said. "It'll go like this." She paced back and forth in front of Sarina and Stacia. "Stacia, you'll go up to him and ask him if he's seen Sarina. I'll go after you, a little later, and ask if he's seen you. Sarina, you go after us and ask if you've seen us, and then Stacia, you come and tell Daine that she's needed in the stables. Then I'll go up and talk to Neal. Okay?"
"Okay," Sarina agreed.
"Wait," Stacia protested. "Why do you get to talk to him?"
"Because I'm oldest," Kate told them.
"...Are you older than me?" Sarina wondered.
Although not quite certain, Kate nodded. "Yes. So I get to talk to Neal."
Stacia grumbled, "Fine, fine." She looked wistfully over at Neal and Daine, who were talking secretively, and sighed. Slowly, she ambled over to them. "Er, Sir Neal?" she asked. "Have you see a lady with brown hair and blue eyes and kind of clumsy-like come around here? Lady Sarina, if you know her name?"
"Not lately," he replied, feeling somewhat suspicious of her. "Maybe she went that way?" he suggested, pointing.
"Thank you!" Stacia exclaimed and took off, mentally cursing herself for such tactics.
A few minutes later, Kate came barreling in, panting and asking if Stacia had come through that way. Neal pointed the direction in which he had sent Stacia, leaned back, and said to Daine, "Lady Sarina will be by in just a few moments, asking for them both. These three are the veritable ringleaders."
Daine laughed lightly and snuggled against Neal comfortably. She had already grown used to using the boy as a pillow.
Ten minutes passed before Sarina remembered she was supposed to go ask for Stacia and Kate. Dawdling, she strolled up to Neal and said, "Good afternoon, Sir Neal."
"Good afternoon, Lady Sarina," he replied.
"Isn't it a beautiful afternoon?" she asked dreamily.
"Certainly," he told her. "Almost as beautiful as you."
"Neal!" Daine hit him on the shoulder. "Don't flirt with other ladies in front of me, you oaf."
Lady Sarina blushed. "Er, well, I heard from the cooks that they saw Ladies Stacia and Kate run through here earlier and they seem to have abandoned me. Could you tell me which direction they headed off in?"
Daine and Neal both pointed. "That way," Neal instructed. "Good luck finding them..."
Sarina took off.
"One of the other two will be back," he guessed. "My fan club is amusing."
"Apparently," Daine agreed.
Kel trotted up to them then. "Hey Neal, hey Daine."
"Hello Kel," Daine replied, smiling.
"'Lo," Neal greeted her.
"Daine, I hate to bother you two, but can I borrow Neal for a moment? Owen wants to talk to him and have a little man talk I guess," Kel explained.
"Sure you can borrow him," Daine told her. "Go on, Neal."
"All the men want to be me and all the women want to be with me. Life's good," Neal commented as he got up with Kel.
She smacked his arm. "Get a life, Neal."
They were long gone by the time Stacia came back. "Oh...uh...where did Sir Neal go?"
"He left for a little while," Daine replied. "If you want to go and try to find him, I'd say he would probably be in the knights' quarters."
"Oh...okay. Thank you."
***
Yawning, Neal joined Owen in the library. "What seems to be the problem, young Owen?"
"Well, there's this lady that I fancy," Owen started. "And...you see...she kind of fancies this other man...he's a mage, no less. A powerful one too. That's jolly, but...how do I make her fancy me? Kel doesn't have any suggestions..."
Neal thought for a moment before answering: "We need to spy on her. See what type of man she likes, what types of things she eats, what type of woman she is, that kind of stuff."
"I already know all of that. She likes older men and likes court food. She's really a sweet lady..." Owen trailed off.
"Who is she?" Neal wanted to know.
"Lady Keita."
Whoa. Talk about perfect! If we can just get Owen to win Keita's heart, then that will leave Numair open for Daine. What about me though? I have no plan for me... Neal mused. "Well..."
Kel broke in. "We need to find out where Numair and Keita are then, right? I can go find out where Numair is. Usually, wherever Numair is, Keita isn't far off." Decisively, she nodded. "All right. I'll be back in a few minutes." Without waiting for her friends' answer, she took off.
"Uh..." Owen and Neal trailed off.
"Anyway," Owen continued. "What will we do? Spying on her doesn't sound very jolly."
"We'll...er, accidentally overhear--"
"Eavesdrop," Kel corrected from behind him.
Neal cringed. "Back so soon, love?"
She shrugged. "It wasn't hard to get information about him. The servants say that Lady Keita and Numair went down to some restaurant called the Griffin's Wing. How they know that, I don't want to know. Anyway, let's go, right?"
The boys nodded and watched Kel walk out.
"Is it me or is she getting a little too into the matchmaking thing?" Neal whispered to Owen.
"It's not just you."
***
Daine waited patiently for Neal's return, well aware of the fact that Kate, Stacia, and Sarina kept lurking around the corners. The cats in the palace trotted up to talk with her, which kept her mind off of the fact that she had been abandoned.
"Daine!" called Neal from across the way.
"Neal!" she called back, waving. Go now, she told the cats. I'll come talk to you some more later, I promise.
That man acts like a dog, one of the cats informed her.
Daine chuckled as another cat piped up with, And he smells like one too.
Now, now, that's enough of that, Daine reminded. I'm supposed to be "in love" with him to everyone in court. That means you animals too.
The third cat swished its tail in annoyance. Let's leave her with the Dog Man.
It leapt off of Daine's lap and led the other two away. Neal grinned at her and sat down. "Talking with animals again?"
She returned the grin. "Yep. They call you 'Dog Man.'"
"Flattered, really," he said dryly. "Owen and Kel have asked me to do a favor for them, so I'm going to go down into Corus with them. Wait for me?"
"Of course."
"Thanks."
He got to his feet, looked down at her uncertainly, and impulsively kissed her gently on the lips. He coughed, flushed a little, bade her a soft farewell, and darted off.
Puzzled, Daine touched her lips. That felt different this time. It was...kind of...nice...
She twitched, realizing what she just thought. No. No way. Get a grip, Daine! Kissing Neal is not nice!
A little corner of her mind laughed at her. It's nice, and you know it. Especially since Numair's off kissing that whore.
Daine buried her face in her hands. "Shut up in there!"
Nearby, Ladies Stacia, Sarina, and Kate exchanged glances. "...She's mad," Stacia whispered.
"Neal must pity her," Sarina deducted.
"...Neal's such a kind knight," Kate added.
"For sure."
Daine looked up at where they were and rolled her eyes. "Court ladies. Why couldn't he have flirted with one of them?"
Because he liiiiiiikes you!
"Shut up up there."