Thanks: Fanty, Lady Mage Dragoness, Stacey, Lady Wild Rose, Lady Sandrilene,
IHL, Drakon

Mommy! I'm scared! This is the last chapter before the Beginning of the End
(to be terribly cliche)! Man, my comma key is sticking. Oh, and, do forgive
the typos. I finished typing most of this at midnight last night...

And, yes, it's named after the song in Grease. And now, a French proverb:

L'amour faite passer les temps. Les temps faite passer l'amour. (Love makes
time pass. Time makes love pass.)

~Update: I'm SORRY. I told you all that I finished writing most of this at
midnight. Forgive me if my sleep-addled brain forgot that New Hope used to
be Haven. You all don't have to jump all over me for it. *grumble mutter*
That came off meaner than I meant it, but it irritated me to go into my inbox,
say, "Oh! A review!", click on it, and all it is is Neal's speech copy-pasted and
"It's Haven (or Haevan as one of you so geniusly called it), not Hope." It
pissed me off. I've had four reviews and three out of the four pointed it out.
So I changed it. I shouldn't have just because it pissed me off so much to see
just that and "write more!", but I did anyway. I hope you're all happy. I've had
a stressful day full of cleaning and shit and now this really cheesed me off. So
stop complaining. I changed it. I was nice enough to update. You don't have to
pick at it.~

~Update 2: Um. Sorry. I didn't mean to be so mean. But I was mad. So...
sorry. I did change it though.~

**Chapter 25: Summer Lovin'**

The snow had melted and temperatures had risen to a comfortable range. The
Queenscove Manor garden flourished with vegetables, fruits, and flowers of every
shape and size imaginable. Neal's great-grandmother had loved flowers.

Every morning at dawn the village below the castle stirred to life, but
Neal found they didn't make nearly as much noise as the palace in Corus did.
Truth be told, Neal actually missed the noise Corus created in the mornings.
Sometimes he rose at dawn just to hear the noises of everyday people
working, and to hear some of the castle servants bustling about. Queenscove
did not employ nearly as many servants as the palace had...

One morning, Neal wandered through the gardens as the sun climbed higher
in the sky, climbed up onto the inner curtain wall, and looked out over the
fief that belonged to him. Somebody rode across the hill towards the town,
and Neal swore that its rider had one arm. He cursed and looked around for
the looking-glass Merric had sent him for his birthday, suddenly remembering
he had left it with some of the castle's guards.

"Neal!"

He peeked through one of the crenels and down into the garden. Kel. "Yes,
love?"

"Breakfast is ready," she called up to him, smiling.

Neal grinned back, studying her. She had let her hair grow out to a little past
shoulder-length and had taken to wearing simply shirts and breeches without
the tunics. She stood in between a yellow rose bush and a patch of yellow
daffodils and Neal found himself falling in love with her all over again.

"Neal!" she sounded impatient.

"Coming," he said hastily and descended the stairs. She started to turn back
towards the keep, but he caught her arm. "I have a question for you first,
though, before we go inside to eat."

"We're having ham, eggs, fruit, and fruit juice," she replied automatically,
guessing that his question would be what they were going to have for breakfast.

"That's not what I was going to ask," he chuckled. For a moment, he took his
eyes off of her and dug around in belt purse. He looked back up at her as his
fist closed around the object he sought and said, "Keladry of Mindelan, will--"

"Nealan! Keladry! Come inside and eat breakfast!" Amaris shouted from the
keep.

*Dammit,* he swore mentally. *This happened when I tried to tell her that I
loved her, too...*

It was April, almost May, and Neal had been trying since the second week of
March to ask Kel to marry him. His mother, Vesiter, the steward from Midnight
Run, this problem or that problem always interrupted him. He was beginning to
take it as a sign from the gods that he and Kel shouldn't marry.

"Come on," he said tiredly, dropping the object in his hand back into the belt
purse. He reached for her hand and started to head towards the keep only to
nearly fall over backwards.

"Wait," she said quietly, tugging on his hand. "You've been trying to say something
to me ever since we got here, or close to it. Please...just come out and say it.
The suspense is killing me."

"Mother..." he started.

"Please?"

Kel pouted.

Kel *pouted* at him.

Needless to say, Neal couldn't resist the power of a pout rarely used.

He quickly found the object again and looked at her seriously. "Keladry of
Mindelan, will y--"

"*NEALAN*! *BREAKFAST*!" shouted his mother again.

He closed his eyes and kicked at the ground, reigning in his temper. "Keladry of
Mindelan, will you..." he paused, waiting for the shout. When he didn't hear it, he
continued. "Will you m--"

"*NEALAN*! Don't make me go out there and drag you by your ear inside!"
Amaris threatened.

He turned, waved his arms and shouted back. "Mother! Do you *mind*?! I'm
trying to propose to Kel!"

"Oh, you still haven't done that? Hurry up then!" Amaris huffed.

Neal turned back around to face Kel. "I guess...I guess I kind of ruined it, didn't
I?"

She shook her head. "Ruined what?" she whispered, smiling.

That smile gave him the confidence he needed. "Kel, will you marry me?"

Her smile grew wider and she nodded, throwing her arms around his neck. "Of
course I'll marry you," she murmured. "I love you, why would I say anything else?"

"Let's go inside before Mother actually comes out here and drags me by my ear,"
Neal suggested after hugging her back.

"Somehow I don't put it past your mother to do that," Kel said thoughtfully, taking
Neal's hand in hers as they walked back to the keep.

"Good, you don't underestimate her," Neal sighed. "She *has* done it before."

"Poor baby."

"Yes. Coddle me."

***

After they had finished their breakfast, they had planned to do their separate things.
Neal had a meeting with Vesiter and Kel had made some friends among the commoners.
A good thing, since she would become the duchess as soon as she and Neal married.

A herald rode up to the castle, waving a parchment. "Message for Duke Neal and
Lady Kel!"

The gates opened and the herald was shown to Neal's conference room.

"Your Grace? You have a messenger from..." the servant paused and looked at the
herald.

"Fiefs Hollyrose and Magistra," panted the herald.

"A messenger from Fiefs Hollyrose and Magistra," the servant continued.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," Neal said to Vesiter and the people he was meeting with.
He slipped out of the conference room and looked at the herald. "From Hollyrose,
you say?"

The herald nodded and wordlessly held out the parchment. Neal took it and the
servant nudged the herald. "Your Grace."

Neal waved it off.

'Nealan of Queenscove and Keladry of Mindelan:

You are cordially invited to the nuptial ceremony celebrating the bond between
Sir Merric of Hollyrose and Duchess Jeraldine of Magistra. Please reply as
soon as possible. The ceremony will be held at Fief Hollyrose in the third week
of July.

Awaiting your reply,
Lord and Lady Hollyrose
Duke Magistra'

Grinning, Neal looked up at the herald. "Stay here a minute. Tell Vesiter and
the others in there that I had to go talk to Kel real quick."

The servant nodded and obeyed as Neal took off to the town. *Where will she
be...?*

Luckily for him, he almost bowled her over as she was leaving a fabric shop.
"Aha! Hello, my fair lady."

"...Hello," Kel replied, her voice sounding slightly puzzled. "What happened?"

"Check this out." Neal thrust the invitation at her.

She read it quickly and said, "Wow. I knew it would only be a matter of time
before those two decided to marry, from what you've told me and what I heard
from Jeraldine."

"So, we'll go?" Neal sounded hopeful.

"Of course. We have to support Merric, after all. The three of us have gotten
to be so close lately," Kel told him.

He kissed her. "Love you, darling."

"Love you too." Kel shook her head as he ran back to the castle. "What will I
do with him?"

***

The first week of July came and passed. Neal and Kel were preparing for their
own wedding and trying to think about Merric and Jeraldine's at the same time,
but it seemed to take a lot out of them to do both. The first day of the second
week, Neal woke up and realized what day it was.

"Kel, Kel!" he shook her, trying to wake her.

Kel rolled over. "For Mithros' sake, stop shaking me, Neal!"

"Love, we have to get on the road today."

"Huh?"

"Merric and Jeraldine's wedding is next week!"

Kel bolted up. "Shit. You're right."

"And we told them we would be there..."

"And Merric sent that notice the week before last asking you to be the best
man..."

Neal dressed himself as they talked. "I'll have the servants pack our things
and prepare us for traveling."

Kel got out of bed and looked out the window. "Living with you has made me
lazy, Queenscove. I used to get up with the dawn."

"Well now you have some sense in you. There's no need to wake up with the
sun every morning."

Kel shot him a dirty looked and dressed herself as well.

"Reowr," Neal commented, making a noise like a disgruntled cat. "Hiss."

"Shut up." She hit him on the shoulder.

"Ow." He rubbed his shoulder and pouted at her, leaving the room and making
sure to leave the door wide open.

"Neal!" Kel shouted, running after him and slamming the door shut so she could
finish getting dressed.

***

Their things were packed and loaded onto their horses and a pack mule when
they went out to the stableyard. "Well, love, ready to go?" Neal asked.

"Ready as ever," Kel told him confidently, mounting her horse. "Which of us
will lead the mule?"

"I will. It's already attached to my horse anyway," Neal said, mounting. "Let's
head out, darling of mine."

"You can call me 'Kel,' you know. I won't decide that I don't love you anymore
because you don't call me pet names," Kel said as they left Queenscove, waving
behind them. "However, if you *do* keep calling me those pet names I may
have to strangle you."

"Okay, love," he replied, purposely using the word "love."

"Do you think I won't make good on my threat? We share the same bed. It'd be
easy for me to strangle you."

"I love you too, darling."

"Stop it!"

"Oh, but it's so fun."

***

It took them a little over five days to reach Hollyrose. They rode onto the castle
grounds to find the place literally swarming with people and noise.

"Feels like home, doesn't it?" Neal shouted over the noise of the people.

"Very much so!" Kel shouted back.

"Neal! Kel!"

"Merric!" they cried.

The knight from Hollyrose ran up to them through the sea of people. "I didn't think
you two were going to make it!"

"We're two days early," Neal said.

"I know. Come on. I'll have the hostlers stable your horses and the servants take
your things up to your rooms," Merric told them, taking their horses by the reins and
finding someone to take care of them.

"Well, actually...Neal and I would like to share a room," Kel told Merric. "All right?"

"Not a problem." Merric grabbed a servant by the elbow and told them to take Kel
and Neal's things up to the room reserved for the duke of Queenscove. "It's so
hectic around here," he said to Neal and Kel. "It feels almost like we're back at the
palace."

Neal laughed. "That was what I said when we first came in the gates."

Merric led them into the keep and up to the room they would share. "This is your
room. Here's your key. If you need anything, ring the bell."

He left them quickly, having something else he needed to do. Kel and Neal unpacked
their things and carefully unpacked the wedding gift. "I wonder what we're going to do
now?" Neal said, sitting on the bed.

Kel sat on the bed next to him. "I don't know. We could rest after a completely mad
race to get to here."

"We could," Neal allowed, lying back on the bed. "Oooh, comfy!"

Rolling her eyes, Kel moved so she could rest her head on Neal's chest. "Even more
comfortable."

He began to stroke her hair. "This is the first time since my birthday that we've had
chance to just sit here."

"It's nice," she murmured. She was tired. Living with Neal at Queenscove had made
her lazy, and going on a five-day trip where they rarely paused to rest had taken a
lot out of her.

Neal gave her a one-armed hug and said, "You can rest, Kel. I'll wake you."

"I don't trust you to wake me up. You'll fall asleep yourself," she muttered, her eyes
drifting shut anyway.

"Kel?" he said.

"What?" she asked irritably.

"Where's your pregnancy charm?"

"It should be on my neck."

He picked up one of her hands and brought it to her throat. "Where is it?"

Kel bolted upright. "I don't know." She searched through the bags. "I never take
it off..."

"I'll get you a new one," he told her. "I don't have any with me right now, but..."

"I'll just go to the infirmary here and get one," Kel said.

Although he knew he shouldn't be, he felt a little offended and hurt that Kel was so
panicked about her pregnancy charm. "Would it be that bad to bear my children?"

"Neal, I'm twenty-one. I was just knighted three years ago. I don't want to be tied
down with children. It's not that I wouldn't want to bear your children someday,"
she assured him. "I just don't want any right now."

"Understood, General Kel."

"Oh shut up."

***

The call for supper came early that evening, or early to Neal and Kel, who had
grown accustomed to eating an hour or so after sundown. Hollyrose, however,
chose to eat while the sun was still in the sky and had hardly begun setting.
Kel had been so tired that she had flopped back onto the bed and onto Neal after
making a fuss over her pregnancy charm, then the call for supper came, and Kel
found herself swept up with a bunch of the ladies invited to the wedding, and
Jeraldine, who had decided that all of her female guests and Merric's females
guests needed matching dresses.

By the time Kel managed to escape that hell, the sky had long since turned dark
and her brain knew two things: pink dresses did not look very good on her, and
her brain couldn't process anything other than pink dresses equalled bad.

She flopped into bed and curled up next to Neal that night. The morning greeted
them by the sun glaring through the open window.

"Who forgot to shut the curtains last night?" Neal mumbled, holding one of the
pillows over his head as he turned over and buried his face in the other.

"That would be you, genius," Kel retorted, snatching the other pillow from under-
neath Neal and putting it over her head.

When they finally got out of bed, they went down to the dining hall and ate
breakfast. By then, all of the guests who were going to show up for the wedding
had, and so the rehearsal would be held that afternoon. The morning seemed to
fly by too quickly, and the rehearsal dragged on. Most everyone skipped their
midday meal, relaxed for the afternoon, and convened again for supper. Supper
dragged late into the evening, the last night everyone could relax before the big
day the following morning.

Kel still hadn't found time to visit one of the Hollyrose healers and ask for a new
pregnancy charm.

The morning of the wedding, July 14, was hectic. Neal and the ushers were herded
into a large tent on one side of the area set off for the wedding in the field. Jeraldine
was ushered into a tent opposite of Merric's, with all her bridesmaids and maid of
honor in there.

Kel had a front row seat, not having any actual part in the wedding itself. Jeraldine
had had all of her bridesmaids and her maid of honor, and Merric hadn't asked her
to be an usher--not that she would have agreed. It would have been more than
slightly weird to be an usher when your husband-to-be was the best man!

The wedding proceeded smoothly, ending with most of the female guests becoming
misty-eyed or weepy, and Kel felt calloused for no being moved by the ceremony.
She didn't disagree that it was a lovely, warm experience...but it didn't move her
to *tears*. It was nothing to cry over...

The reception was held in the banquet hall. Neal realized, once they had all filed into
the room, that he would have to make a speech honoring Merric. Well, that wasn't a
problem. They had been through a lot lately. He could muster up something warm
and heartfelt and probably enough to make the ladies "aww" over him.

Towards the end of the main course, Neal tapped his knife against his chalice to get
everyone's attention. The guests all turned their eyes towards him obediently, and
Neal rose to his feet.

"Hello, everyone. For those of you who don't recognize me, my name's Neal of
Queenscove, a knight and subsequently duke of the fief. Merric chose me to be his
best man today, and...I don't know if I can tell you exactly why he did that. I don't
know myself. But I *do* know that over the course of these past years, from our
servitude as pages to working at Haven and New Hope, to serving border duty, to
coming back to Corus and finding Kel had gone missing, to going on that mad
journey to rescue her...we have gotten infinitely close, my friend. Sir Merric of
Hollyrose has not only served the realm well, but he has served his friends well
too. Merric, here's to you." He raised his chalice and everyone followed in a
mock clinking of glasses. "I wish you well." Everyone took a sip of their beverage
and went back to eating.

"That was a wonderful speech," Kel told him, squeezing his hand. He grinned at
her. "It was short and to the point. I even heard some of the ladies 'aww' at
you."

*Well my man,* Neal told himself, *you achieved your goal. You ARE the king.*

"When should we tell of our engagement, dearest?" Neal wanted to know, batting
his eyes at her.

"Not now," she said, releasing his hand. "Get some vegetables. I haven't seen
you eat any at all."

"I did!" he tried to tell her.

"Don't lie to me. Pass the vegetables down here, please!" Kel requested
politely.

"You are *such* a mothering hen," Neal grumbled as the vegetables came down
the table.

"An ill-fed knight makes an ill-fought battle," she told him. "An ill-fought battle
makes an ill-won death."

Neal rolled his eyes. "Okay. I'll eat."

"Good boy."

***

Neal and Kel were welcomed to stay in Hollyrose for as long as they wanted.
They decided to stay another three days before heading back to Queenscove,
mainly because Neal wouldn't quit worrying about his fief. "You left it under
Vesiter's care," Kel tried to remind him. "You've left it under him before."

"Yeah, but that was before I was there for five months and used to running
my fief," Neal muttered bitterly.

"Fine, fine. We'll leave tomorrow," she conceded.

Neal had agreed to that. Merric came to see them that afternoon and found
out that they had decided to marry the very morning the invitation for his
wedding to Jeraldine had arrived.

"Well, when is it?" Merric wanted to know.

"We're not sure, but we were thinking of just having a small ceremony, if
inviting anyone at all." Kel shot Merric an apologetic look. "We just...don't
want it openly known, you know? Because of You-Know-Who mainly."

Merric nodded wisely. "Of course. I understand. Well, congratulations to
you two. You're welcome to stay as long as you want."

"We were actually considering leaving tomorrow," Neal told his friend.

"Neal's become a little over-protective of his fief," Kel whispered to Merric.

The male knight shot a look at the emerald-eyed man. "*Neal*? Serious
about a *fief*? I never thought I would see the day."

"Pretty scary, actually." Kel yawned. "And to think, I'll be his duchess."

"Maybe instead of 'congratulations,' I should say 'good luck,'" Merric
joked.

"What are you two whispering about over there? Is it something about
Neal? I heard something about Neal being a duchess," he broke in.

"Yes, dear. You're a duchess," Kel reminded him.

"...And no one seems disturbed by this fact besides me."

"Wouldn't be the first time you were called a duchess."

"You would know, Merric."

"I have nothing to do with this, Duchess."

"Oh, go through yourself off a cliff."

"I'd love to, but there's none around here."

"I'm *not* a duchess."

"If you're a duchess, what does that make Kel?"

"A duke?"

"Hey! I resent that! I may be a knight, but I'm a *lady* knight!"