Disclaimer. I own nothing that you recognize. If you recognize Lady Maurine, you need to reread the books, she's mine, ALL mine!
Uh yeah, this chapter is rated PG-13 for language and sexual referencing. Nothing graphic, I just want to be on the safe side.

~*~

Agitatedly, Kel pulled on her riding clothes, a pair of loose breeches and a maroon tunic. Grumbling under her breath about boys who couldn't keep their mouths shut, she yanked a comb through her hair. Cursing as she stubbed her toe on the dresser, she pulled on a pair of well-worn leather boots. Straightening for a quick glance in the mirror she saw someone who looked tired, grouchy, and puzzled....and then she realized that she was looking at herself. With a sigh she finished packing and with Jump trailing along, she took her packs out to the stables to keep until after the small company to start north finished eating.

Feeding Peachblossom an apple, Kel dropped her bags in Peachblossom's stall. After giving him a hug, she started towards the mess hall. As she walked in, every mouth shut and all eyes turned towards her. 'Shit,' Kel thought, 'what have I done to deserve this THIS time?'

Slowly picking up a bit to eat, she made her way over towards Neal and Yuki, where she also found Domitan, and Owen. As she sat down, Yuki whispered. "Kel, what's going on? I heard some of the ladies whispering....something about you and Cleon were together last night, what are they talking about?" Kel quickly shot a look at Neal to see if he had said anything. Neal, she knew, couldn't keep a secret if he wanted to, his face always gave him away. Realizing that he hadn't said anything, she felt her stomach twist itself even farther into a complex system of knots.

"I, um, I have to go. Neal, can you explain things? I really have to go right now. I'll talk to you in a bit, I need to, pack." Kel lied, and raced for the door, Yuki, Owen and Dom shooting puzzled looks after her.

~*~

"..and that's all that happened. I had walked in on them kissing and Kel explained everything to me. Someone else must have seen them...or else Cleon told someone else.." Neal trailed off, and his face went tight. He saw that Dom looked as if his horse had died. Neal was too uptight to notice that Owen's expression was mirroring Dom's. "You know what? I have some business to attend to too. I'll be in our rooms later, my sweet." He said to Yuki. "It looks as if we may not be leaving today. Kel isn't one to run from a battle."

~*~

Twenty minutes later, Nealan found Cleon in the stables. 'How ironic,' Neal thought, 'coming back to the scene of the crime.'

"Cleon," Neal called cuttingly. "Have you seen Kel lately?"

Cleon's face almost instantaneously turned a deep shade of magenta. "I don't think I've seen her, not since you last have.....unless there was more going on last night that I had imagined."

Shocked at what Cleon was implying, Neal pulled his arm back and walloped Cleon in the stomach. "I would never, you lying little son of a bitch, Kel is my closest friend. I would never do anything that could hurt her the way that you have, why don't you try feeling some of the pain that she does, creep?" And Neal continued his tirade with another punch aimed for Cleon's nose, but it was blocked, and countered with a kick in the stomach.

Neal was shocked. Looking at Cleon, he didn't see the boy he knew while training to be a knight. Instead, he saw someone who was wild with grief and anger. Deciding wisely, Neal punched Cleon one last time, and while Cleon was on the floor, Neal hurried back to the house. He wasn't running from a fight, just waiting for the next confrontation.

~*~

While Neal was in the stables, Yuki was doing some investigating of her own. Thanking the Yamani gods of luck that she wasn't well known, she excused herself from Dom and Owen and made her way over to where a gaggle of ladies were eating. Politely introducing herself as Lady Yukimi she answered a few questions. "Are you a friend of the bride or groom?" "Are you from the Yamani Islands?" "Have you ever seen the emperor?" Yuki was used to nosyu questions such as these. She encountered them at every court party that she had attended. Sometimes she would make up stories that were just inside of believable, to see how much the ladies would believe. Most of the time, they bought into all of it. Deciding to put her acting skills to work, she said that she was a friend of Lady Kennan, Cleon's mother, and that she was one of the ladies in waiting for the Emperor's wife, until she came to Tortall where was to be married to a man she had never met before.

Within a matter of minutes after her introduction, Yuki knew most all of the gossip around the fief. Luckily, or not so luckily for her, Kel and Cleon were the main topic of gossip. According to Lady Maurine, one of the servants had walked in on them sleeping together in the stables. Gasping at the appropriate points in the story, Yuki was inwardly seething. 'How dare they say or even think this about Keladry. She, as far as I know, has never bedded with a man, and if she did, it most certainly be with one who was married!'

Politely, Yuki excused herself, and made her way back to their room, wondering if Neal was back yet.

~*~

Walking into her quarters, Yuki gasped. Neal was sitting, barechested on the bed. Mementarily Yuki was taken aback, she had forgotten how perfect her husband was. Then she realized why he was only partly dressed. A large blue bruise was spreading from his lower right ribs to his navel. With a surprised gasp, Yuki hurried over. "Neal, what happened? Are you okay? Can I do anything to help?"

With what seemed like a forced grin, Neal said, "You should see the other guy."

Groaning with a smile, Yuki ran tender fingers over the bruised area. "Anything broken?" She asked needlessly. Neal knew how to take care of himself, he was, after all, a healer.

"All the better for seeing your smiling face, my love." Neal responded, and then getting up, he shut the door and quickly locked it.

Then he pulled Yuki down onto the bed, and whispered. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and I love you so much." He began toying with the sash at her waist, until it came undone. Soon, Yuki's dress was on the floor, and they were only in their undergarments, Neal noticed that Yuki had replaced her pregnancy charm. "Not ready for another one yet, my love?" Neal asked with a mischievious smile. "Good thing you're wearing it then," and then pulled the blankets over him and his wife.

As she succumbed to her feelings, Yuki thought, 'When I was younger and still gossiped with my friends, they always said that a man truly loved you if you could kiss and love eachother even in the morning. I now know what they meant, and if you ask me, this love definitely goes both ways.'


~*~

A/N Okay, I don't think that this is one of my better chapters. Neal did finally try to beat the crap out of Cleon. And we know that it's not because he wants Kel, he's still in love with Yuki. I know I left Kel after the beginning of the chapter, because I want to build suspense....okay, just because I haven't decided what to do yet! he he!
Please R/R!