Title: Free Falling
Chapter: Three--For the Sake of Kel (3/30)
Author: Arsahi
Rated: T
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply.
Dedication: To every Kealer out there!
Thanks: Thanks Trisana McGraw, mandy, lulu, Larzdinn/Edi, Camisole, Keita, and Lady Katharine Heartspark.
Author's notes: I felt I should probably point out that this is a post-Scanran war story. Kel's not in command of New Hope any more because Wyldon relieved Neal, Kel, and Merric of their duties there, assigning three others their jobs.

Also, I would like to say a special thank you to Camisole and qt4eva435, my betas.

Hm. Another thing about this. I spent a while working on it. I really like the way it turned out. I find myself liking to write this thing more and more, and the more feedback I get on this the better I feel about it. I really don't care if it's constructive criticism or no, either way it makes me want to improve my writing.

Lady Katharine Heartspark--thank you for offering to be my beta. I don't know about three betas, but I'll email you as soon as I can about it.

Also, sorry it's taken so long for this part! The next part may be even longer to get out, as I'm working on a short story called The Gargoyle's Hour.

For the Sake of Kel

Merric thrust his sword through the last kidnapper surrounding Kel. Neal already raced towards Kel, who was bound to a pole on the other side of the room, but Merric beat him there. Merric sliced Kel's ropes and pulled them from her body as Kel collapsed into his arms. Her body shook as she cried from relief on his shoulder. "Merric, Merric..." she sobbed. "Merric, I'm so happy to see you."

Merric hugged Kel close. "You're a sight for sore eyes too, Kel." He stroked her back, awkwardly because she was so tall. He kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, you're in good hands now."

Neal felt so relieved to see Kel that he almost broke down and cried himself. At least she was safe now. He knew she at least had a cut or two, no one could go through something like a rough kidnapping without a cut or a bruise, but he would heal her. He would heal her, she would be happy, he could get married.

"Kel," Neal said softly, approaching her.

She ignored him. "Merric...I'm so glad you came for me...you're the only one who did."

Neal's jaw dropped. "Kel!" he exclaimed. "Kel...I...no!" he finally said. "I came after you! Not Merric!"

Kel finally noticed Neal and looked over Merric's shoulder at him. "Neal? What are you doing here?"

"I came to help you defeat whoever had kidnapped you," Neal told her, his eyes clouded with confusion. He reached out to hold one of her hands sitting on Merric's shoulder, but she flexed her fingers through each other behind Merric's neck. "Kel..."

"Neal...don't lie to me. I know Merric came. He saved me. I don't know why you're here." Kel shrugged, sniffing and reaching to wipe the remnants of her tears from her cheek, but Merric kissed them away.

"I think he's in love with you, darling," Merric said softly to Kel.

She giggled and looked at Neal, then laughed and buried her head on Merric's shoulder. "How cute. Neal's in love with me."

Neal's mouth worked to answer her but he couldn't force anything out. When he finally regained control of his mouth, he cried, "I'm not in love with you!"

"And he's in denial," Kel snickered.

"Kel!" Neal shouted. "Don't you...you know me! I'm not in love with you!" She turned her back on him. "Kel!" she wrapped her arms around Merric. "Kel!"

Neal fell to the floor with a muffled thud. He opened his eyes and looked at the wooden floor, feeling a splinter dig into his palm. Cane hopped up next to him, cheeping quietly and looking at him cockeyed. "...Hello, Cane. This is quite a lovely floor, don't you think?"

Cane chirped and hopped up to where Neal previously laid, settling in the warm place. Merric climbed over Neal's bed to stand at his friend's feet. "...Neal, what are you doing down there?"

"Examining the floor for scuff marks and asking it if it had seen Kel," he answered. "No stone unturned, no floor plank unasked."

Merric rolled his eyes. "Get up, you dolt."

"Didn't they stop using the word 'dolt' when you're father was a squire?" Neal replied.

Merric kicked him and dressed himself behind the dressing screen in the corner of the room.

"I love you too, Merric," Neal told him.

"Don't ever tell me that again," Merric asked of him, changing his shirt as he spoke. "Or I will be forced to hurt you."

"Haven't you already hurt me?" Neal asked as he sat on the edge of his bed, giving Cane a dirty look for abducting his spot. Later, Neal would swear up and down that she had smirked at him.

"Have I mentioned how incredibly funny you are, Neal?" Merric returned as he walked out from behind the dressing screen, plopping on top of his bed and tying his boots.

Neal ducked behind the dressing screen as Merric left for breakfast. Neal thought back to his nightmare and shook his head. Did he, somewhere unconsciously, think the only reason Merric came with him was because the other knight was in love with Kel? He knew where Merric's accusation that he was in love with Kel came from, the discussion from last night where he had implied Merric was sweet on the lady from the dining table. But did Merric's statement that Neal was sweet on Kel really affect him that much?

He wasn't in love with Kel. He was in love with Yuki.

Yuki. Neal frowned, stopping with his shirt halfway on his body. He hadn't given Yuki much thought since he left Corus. The wedding was scheduled for a couple of days ago. He wondered if Kel had found her way back to Corus and decided it would be in his best interest to write to Roald and ask if Kel had shown up.

Neal sat down and dug a piece of paper out of his supplies and a pen, then wrote:

Roald:

Has there been any news of Kel? Merric and I are hot on the trail, I think. We've had a few leads, and a few people have actually spotted them. We're on our way to Maren, and the Inland Sea. From there we'll probably go to Pirate's Swoop, or just take a ship across the Inland to Carthak if our lead is false.

--Neal

He was folding it when Merric came back to the room carrying Neal's breakfast.

"Where've you been, Meathead?" Merric asked, taking a large bite out of a buttered roll.

"Don't call me that," Neal sighed, stuffing the paper into an envelope and writing Roald's name on the front of it.

"What's that?" Merric wanted to know as he motioned to the paper, stuffing the rest of the roll into his mouth.

"I'm letting Roald know where we're going, in case he needs to send word. As far he knows, we're on our way to Pirate's Swoop," Neal explained.

"Lady Galderra asked for you," Merric continued, nodding to Neal to acknowledge what he had told him. "I told her you would go down and speak with her in a few minutes."

"Thank you ever so, Merric," he answered dryly.

"I thought you would jump at the chance to go funning with her some more." Merric shrugged. "While you're down there I'll pack our things. Do you want to eat on the road or eat when you come back up here?"

"I'll eat when I come back," Neal decided, taking the letter and descending the stairs. His mind on Kel, he didn't notice when a cat darted underneath his feet and stepped on its tail. It yowled and sank its claws into his leg. "Ow! Shoo, cat! Go! Ow!" Neal ripped its bloody claws out of him and quickly healed himself. It hissed at him and tried to grab his arm and scratch his face. "Stupid cat," he growled. He reached the first floor of the inn and looked around. "Does anyone own a black and white speckled cat with a tendency to hiss and scratch?"

No one answered.

"Do we keep strays here?" Neal asked of those sitting in the lobby area. Again, no one answered. Neal sighed and grabbed a sack sitting on the counter, stuffing the cat inside and loosely tying the string around the top. He set the cat by the counter and looked around. "Has anyone seen Lady Galderra?"

Lady Galderra rose from her chair and approached Neal. "Sir Neal," she said and curtsied.

"Lady Galderra," Neal replied, bowing. "Merric informed me you wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes. I've just heard from a friend that the woman you're looking for has been spotted in Clorr's Hill, on the border of Tusaine and Tortall," Lady Galderra told him. "If you hurry, you and Sir Merric may make it there by nightfall." Galderra smiled prettily at him.

"Thank you, Lady Galderra," Neal said swiftly and smiled. He grabbed the cat in the bag and hurried up the stairs to the room. "Merric! We have an actual location!"

"Where?" Merric asked, shoving the last bit of clothing into their bags.

"Clorr's Hill," Neal replied.

Merric noticed the sack. "What have you got there?"

"Oh." Neal seemed to remember he held the cat. "It's a cat. A stray."

Merric sighed exasperatedly. "A cat, Neal?"

Neal shrugged. "I couldn't just let it stay here."

"You're as bad as Kel with the strays." Merric shook his head sadly. "Come on. We'd better go."

"Right." Neal nodded and grabbed his saddlebags, somehow managing to walk down the stairs with the cat in the bag. Merric paid the innkeeper, and they hurried off to the stables, saddling and bridling their horses, and leaving the inn.

The two knights, Cane, and the cat reached Clorr's Hill at two hours before nightfall. Merric looked to Neal and said, "Are you ready?"

Neal took a deep breath and said, "Yes. I'm going to enjoy beating her kidnappers' faces in."

Merric laughed, "You and I both."

They trotted into the fief of Clorr's Hill and peered around, watching every shadow that moved in every alleyway. "Where would she be?" Neal murmured to Merric. "Where did they go?"

Merric glanced around. "I'm not sure. We should probably ask around, see if anyone saw her."

"Right. Cane?" Neal tapped the sleeping sparrow. She looked at him groggily and cheeped in indignation. "Sorry, love. But can you take a look around for Kel? It's not dark yet."

Cane fluffed her feathers and chirped at him.

"I'm sorry, Cane. Please?" Neal pouted at her.

Merric thought he might just lose control and laugh at Neal if Cane didn't take off soon.

Cane made a whistling noise that sounded too much like an exasperated sigh and glided into the village.

"She's getting some more dried cherries when we stop for the night," Neal said decisively.

"Why, Neal," Merric chuckled, "how do you think Yuki would react to you replacing her with a sparrow?"

"Shut your face, Merric," Neal grumbled. Merric just laughed. "How about you take that side and I'll take this side?"

Merric looked at the left side of the main road leading to the lord of Clorr's Hill's castle and nodded. "Sounds good to me. We'll meet at the gates of the castle when we're done?"

Neal nodded and hopped from his saddle. The black and white speckled cat sat in the bag still, hanging from the saddle horn. He couldn't get proper footing to jump, so Neal felt certain that having him tied to the saddle horn was safe. "We need to give you a name," Neal murmured as he led Seiryn to the smithy. "How about 'Mace'? Since your claws hurt like a mace."

The cat meowed from inside the bag.

"Mace it is," Neal decided. He waited for the blacksmith to see him before he spoke. "Pardon me, sir?" he called over the din of metal hitting metal and the roaring fire. "May I have a moment of your time?"

"Make it quick." The blacksmith paused in his work.

"I'm Sir Nealan of Queenscove, knight of Tortall. I'm searching for a friend of mine who may have been abducted--perhaps you've seen her? She's gods-cursed taller than most people with short, light brown hair and hazel eyes? She's the other female knight, aside from the Lioness. She may have been with two or three men, one of which may have been a mage?" Neal described.

The blacksmith's face scrunched up in thought. He scratched his head and wiped his hands on his apron, offering Neal one of them. "Sacord," he shook Neal's hand, not offering the respect most commoners gave those of noble birth. "This girl--she from Mindelan?"

Neal nodded eagerly. "Yes. Yes she is."

"I seen her. She was with a mage and a big muscled bloke. Mage was a scrawny little thing, said he was from Galla or somewheres. I sold 'im a sword with some runes carved in--" Sacord was interrupted by Neal.

"Do you have a copy of the runes he asked you to inscribe? I'm a healer," he requested.

"Sittin' yonder on that table. Should be the first one." Sacord had picked up a pair of tongs by then and pointed at the desk.

Neal retrieved the paper and folded it, pocketing it for now. "Did you happen to see where they were going?"

"They was goin' up yonder to milord's castle," Sacord yelled over his hammering.

"Are they still there?" Neal shouted. He heard Mace yowling in the bag, and Seiryn pranced nervously.

"Should be. Said they was gonna stay till 'morrow," Sacord answered.

Neal's eyes went wide. "Gods all bless you, Master Sacord!" He swung onto Seiryn's saddle and kicked her into a gallop down to the end of the road to the gates. Merric came galloping up beside him. "They're in there!"

Merric nodded. "They are!"

Neal pulled a cord rigged to the gate that rang a bell inside the abatis. Within moments, two servants dressed in Clorr's Hill colors opened the gate, granting Merric and Neal access to the castle.

The servants took their mounts to the nearby stable as another approached them. "Welcome to Castle Clorr," he said. He bowed. "May I help you, masters?"

"I'm Sir Merric of Hollyrose and this is my companion, Sir Nealan of Queenscove. Is your lord around?" Merric asked.

"If my lords would follow me, I'll take you to the lounge and fetch my lord the Earl Dorwin of Clorr's Hill," the servant led them into the lounge, seated them, bowed, and scurried off to fetch the Earl Dorwin.

A scullery maid scuttled in, carrying a tray of sweets, and set them down on the low table near Merric's and Neal's seats. On the floor lie an imported rug from Carthak, one of a tiger. Along the wall hung some ornately woven tapestries, some of which even had glazed wooden plaques underneath describing who was shown.

Neal had just reached for a tart on the tray when the Earl Dorwin entered the room. Neal and Merric rose and bowed.

"Earl Dorwin," Merric said, nodding.

"Earl." Neal nodded as well. "I'm Sir Nealan of Queenscove and this is my companion, Sir Merric of Hollyrose."

"Sir Nealan," Earl Dorwin nodded, "Sir Merric."

"Earl," Neal said, "I understand you have one Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan here with you?"

The Earl nodded. "However, she and her companions are packing to leave. Did you need to speak with her? I can have a servant fetch her."

"Please do!" Neal said, not bothering to mask his eagerness.

"Jemaes," the Earl called. A servant that looked identical to all the others dressed in Clorr's Hill attire ran in. "Jemaes, fetch the Lady Knight."

"Tell her that Neal's here," Neal added.

Jemaes nodded, "As m'lord wishes." He ran out of the lounge.

Neal could hardly contain his excitement. He fidgeted with everything he got his hands on, and suddenly remembered Cane. His eyes went wide and he smacked his forehead.

"Neal?" Merric gave him a strange look.

"Cane," Neal answered. "She's still out there, looking for Kel."

Merric laughed. "Your sweetheart will just have to wait. She's smart."

"Will she know where to look though? And Mace is still on my saddle. I hope the hostlers don't let him loose." Neal bounced his legs up and down until he could no longer sit in one spot. Then he began to pace.

Jemaes came running back in. "M'lord," he bowed. "Terribly sorry, but the Lady Knight has left. She can't have gone far, if my lords wish to hurry and catch up to them."

Merric and Neal looked to each other and nodded in unison. "Thank you for your hospitality, Earl Dorwin," Merric said as they hurried out of the castle. They ran down to the stables. "Wonder what they've done with Kel."

"I don't know. I really don't care. I just know that when I see them, they'll be walking about for days with flat faces. Healer or no, these men that have captured her deserve a thrashing like they never had before," Neal grunted. He mounted Seiryn, who hadn't been striped of her tack, and took off towards the gate, Merric close behind.

Mace yowled inside his bag, and suddenly Cane pulled up beside Neal, digging her sparrow claws into his shoulder. He ignored it, following a set of tracks made by three horses. Judging by the size of the hoofprints he saw, he guessed that Kel rode Hoshi, or one of the two people with her did.

Merric galloped ahead of Neal, not having to worry about Cane tumbling off of his shoulder or Mace suffering a concussion.

Merric heard the hooves of three horses in front of him. The kidnappers and Kel were running: they must have spotted Merric's mount and taken off. In a few moments, he could see the rears of the horses, and was amazed to find Cane had flown ahead and was trying to distract the one leading Kel and the other kidnapper.

Neal burst through Kel's kidnapper and her. For a brief moment their eyes met, and something sparked in Neal's chest.

"Neal!"

The one Neal had leaped between grabbed Hoshi's reins and galloped on ahead, disappearing into the trees with a camouflage spell Neal couldn't penetrate. The kidnapper Cane had distracted finally recovered after smacking her, and took off after the others.

Neal caught Cane as she fell out of the air, cradling the small bird in his hands. "Cane..."

Her little body expanded and retracted, still breathing. "She's only stunned," Merric told him.

"I know," Neal answered, holding Seiryn's reins in one hand. "Come on, we have to go after them!"

"Neal, I can't see them. I don't even hear them," Merric replied. "Maybe you can but you only have one hand."

"But..." Neal said helplessly. "Come on...at least...let's just..."

Merric rubbed his temples, sighing. "Okay. Okay. We're in Tusaine territory by now, for certain. Maybe the hooves left prints and we can follow those."

Neal clucked to Seiryn, who trotted over to where the kidnappers had turned into the trees. All Neal found was underbrush, and none of it snapped. It was as if the kidnappers had just vanished.

Merric frowned suddenly and looked at Neal. "Hey, Neal. Did you see the two who had kidnapped her?"

"Yes," Neal said irritably, following the hoof prints on the dirt all the way back to where they disappeared several times, as if following them would make them appear again.

"Did they look familiar to you?" Merric asked.

Cane woke then and glided to Neal's shoulder, where she promptly fell asleep. "I don't know. I didn't see them properly."

"All you focused on was Kel," Merric muttered. Neal didn't hear him. "They looked rather familiar to me. Almost like I had seen them before, somewhere else, a long time ago."

"Maybe they were from Hollyrose," Neal told him absently. "Damnation, Kel! Where have you gone?!"

"Maybe," Merric murmured. He frowned again. "I haven't seen them for a very long time, years. But not so far back that I was still living in Hollyrose."

"Yes, well, I don't know what to tell you," Neal growled and dismounted, uncovering the earth beneath the underbrush. It didn't have a hoof print here nor there, Neal discovered as he stepped farther and farther in between the trees.

"Neal, come back," Merric called. "If we go that way we won't know where they went."

"We don't know where they went as it is, Merric!" Neal yelled in frustration. He kept seeing Kel's haunted, broken eyes in his mind. A cut about two inches wide above her left eye still bled, a fresh wound. The mere thought of someone harming his Kel made his blood boil. "Kel," he whispered, clenching his fist as he once again brushed the twigs and leaves aside. "Kel...where did they take you?"

Neal, Merric, Cane, Mace, Seiryn, and Merric's mount all trotted into Tusaine carefully. At the first wayhouse they found, they stopped for the night, carefully guarding their things. They didn't trust the people of Tusaine, having heard stories, and always slept with their belongings in their room.

Mace, much to Neal's relief, preferred to stay with Merric, Cane, and Neal. He would jump out of the open window occasionally but would always return. He especially seemed to like Neal's bed, perhaps because he was so keen with animals from spending so much time with Kel.

Kel. Every time Neal thought about her, the look on her face came back to him, and his chest tightened. He hardly slept, tossing and turning, Mace just moving when Neal's legs moved.

At one point in the night, Merric stood up from his bed and shook Neal. "Stop moving, you dolt! I can't sleep with you moving like that!"

Neal just looked at Merric with an innocent expression. "I'm sorry, Merric. I didn't mean to."

"Of course you didn't," Merric grumbled, lying back down in his bed. "I don't know why I agreed to this cockeyed rescue mission anyway. I miss Corus. I miss my nice bed with my pillows and good food."

"You agreed because you care about Kel. You agreed because you never want to see the look in her eyes that I saw ever again," Neal answered.

"It was rhetorical, Queenscove," Merric said.

"Sounded like a question aimed at me," Neal replied and shrugged.

"Inner monologue, Neal. Something you don't have." Merric stuffed his pillow over his head. "I don't want to have to get up and smack you for moving around."

"Sorry, Mother," Neal replied sarcastically.

"Go to sleep, Neal," Merric growled.

Neal was quiet after that. He still tossed and turned, but he took care to do it quietly. Merric snored lightly. Neal couldn't sleep with the snoring either way, used to the peace and quiet he had in his quarters at Corus.

An hour before dawn, Neal quickly but quietly got dressed. Mace watched him tie his boots and purred. Cane perched on the shoulder opposite of Mace's post and watched him tie his boots as well. "You two want to come for a walk with me?" he whispered. Cane rubbed her head against his ear lobe and Mace just continued to purr. "All right." Neal grabbed his sword from the floor and buckled it around his waist. "Let's head out, troops."

He left the room, Mace trailing behind him with Cane still perched on his shoulder. Neal had taken the piece of paper with the runes on it out of his bag and tucked it into his pocket as he climbed down the dimly lit wooden staircase. The flames from the torches on the wall flickered elongated shadows on the wall, dancing to a soundless tune. A banked fire in a hearth centered on the far wall from the door snapped every now and then, making Neal jump. He loosened his sword in its hilt, just in case, and took the back way out of the wayhouse. He had to take care not to let door slam when the wind whipped up.

He looked up at the gray sky, beginning to turn pink at the edge of the horizon, and sat on the grass, not particularly caring that his breeches became wet in the process. He dug the paper out of his pocket and studied the runes.

Neal frowned. He had seen these runes somewhere else. Certainly not during class. Perhaps at the university? No, Neal wouldn't particularly remember them. Not something so obscure. Maybe he had seen it in his time as a squire with Lady Alanna.

--"...something called the 'Abscador Scroll'..."--

The Abscador Scroll. Whoever had it now, had deciphered it and knew what the runes in it meant. That's where he had seen it, he had seen a sample of some of the runes in a book when he studied with Alanna.

--"The Abscador Scroll, Neal? Goodness. That's a little high up for your ability. Healers don't need to dabble in that kind of power. The Abscador Scroll was meant for people like Numair Salmalin. Besides, no one's ever translated it. I doubt anyone ever will."--

The Lioness had been wrong. Someone had translated it...but who?

Kel's kidnappers. That's who.

"Well then," Neal said chipperly. "That's just another reason for me to beat their faces in with my fist."