A Meeting of Houses
Act III - Trouble of the Heart

Jaelawyn Noble [ Jaelawyn@attbi.com ]

Disclaimer: Love 'em, dun own 'em.
Warnings:
Rating: R
Pairing: Lerant/Keladry, Roald/Shinkokami, Buri/Raoul
Summary: Kel is in an arranged marriage. Only, it's at the brink of the war with Scanra. Kel is a Knight - and has to follow the king's orders. Will she learn to love her future husband, as they fight together? Or is everything just doomed to forever be something you cannot fight?
Archive:
Feedback: 'm a whore for it.
Notation: The "Favored Four" is my nickname, and belongs to me. *grin*

~

Keladry ran. She stopped right outside Lerant's door. She almost knocked on his door.

"Keladry?" asked a soft voice. She looked up in shock to see Lady Alanna in a full black and dark purple gown. It was the same one she had worn to the ball held in honor of Roald's birthday. It wasn't as frilly and beautiful as the regular court gowns, but it fit the Lady. It was slim and hip hugging. It was no wonder why so many men lusted after her.

Kel quickly wiped her eyes and her nose on her sleeve. "Oh! Lady Alanna... I... I didn't expect anyone down here."

Alanna smiled, and handed Keladry her handkerchief. "A man can always break a fragile heart that has never learned to love."

"Excuse me?" Kel asked, shocked.

Alanna smiled at the girl. "Come with me. We'll talk about this man who hurt you."

"H-h-h-h-how did you know it was a problem with a boy?" Kel stammered.

Alanna smiled sadly. "Tis obvious. I went through the same thing myself when I was only a year older than you."

Kel was now fired with curiosity. "With whom?"

Alanna chuckled. "Come back to my rooms. We'll exchange tales." Kel nodded and followed when Alanna beckoned her.

~

Yuki and Neal pressed their mouths together as they clung to each others' bodies. The two kissed for what seemed like forever. They pressed against each other, each time their kisses getting more and more out of control and more filled with passion and rage. Rage at not being able to express themselves to their fullest extent.

Neal pulled away, and began to kiss her neck, her chest... Anywhere his mouth could touch. He began to caress her face and kissed her eyes, nose, and finally her mouth. "Make love to me..." he murmured.

Yuki kissed him fiery. "I'd thought you'd never ask," she told him, pressing her mouth against his again. Neal pressed his mouth to the base of her neck, kissing all the way up along the slender neck and up onto her jaw line. She slipped a hand to the back of her head and pulled out the ornamental dagger she always stuck in her hair. They both got up, not letting go of one another.

Yuki hair flew to her waist. Neal's long fingers twined within its midnight ink. Yuki smiled up at him and kissed him. He was slowly - but surely - ridding her of her obi and outer kimono. Yuki pulled away, gasping for air. She smiled up at Neal - who was also out of breath.

"There are better places to do this," she murmured into his mouth. Neal moaned in agreement as she began to strip him of his tunic and shirt. They both stumbled into Neal's bedroom, falling onto his bed. The two were not about to let go of each other. Yuki and Neal were both aching a few hours later - but both were content to just lie in each others arms.

"Yukimi noh Daiomoru," Neal began softly. "Will you marry me?"

~

Cleon grabbed the neck of the bottle once more and took a long swig. Things didn't seem to be going the way he wanted. It seemed that no matter what - Kel was going to marry that asshole. She had run to Lerant, not him. And that hurt more than any physical abuse she could have dolled out to him.

He realized through a hazy mist that the bottle was empty. He threw it against the wall and got another one. He couldn't help himself. He felt as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest and then trampled on. Was this the reward he got for caring? Caring and loving? If it was, he wasn't so sure he wanted to love. He sighed, taking a sip and not a swig from the new bottle. He sat down at his desk and wrote a letter to his mother.

It consisted of four words. "When Is My Wedding?"

~

Alanna watched the girl as she slept on the couch. Alanna knew very well what it was like to have a broken heart and all. She had suffered through one herself, only a year older than Keladry. But unlike Keladry, Alanna had slept with her love. And the affair had been broken off by both of them. Their tempers and attitudes would have affected them both in due time - and at that point, a crown was involved. Something Alanna knew she never wanted and would at all costs keep herself away from.

Alanna put a blanket over Keladry's sleeping form and picked up her book on the table. She blew out the candles and walked into her room. Flicking her fingers, violet fire shot to the candles in this room. Alanna sighed and changed from dress to the large shirt she usually wore when George wasn't with her. She took the book and a blanket and went over to the window seat. She leaned her head against the glass and sighed. She saw the bright light of the moon and doused the lights with a simple thought.

Jonathan had been her first lover. It seemed back then - her only lover. After all - who would want a girl-child who could kick their ass in almost any fighting arts? Most men liked to think that they had all the muscle and strength. It frightened them to admit that the didn't. But Jonathan wasn't like that - oh, he was now, she supposed. But he hadn't been back then.

Goddess, Alanna thought tiredly. If I need a sign to telling I'm getting old it's that. "Back Then." Gods...

He had been sweet, caring, and loving. It was most likely their argument - Argument? More like an all-out war... - that had turned him hard. Oh, he was still Jonathan, but not the one she had learned to love. He was slowly becoming alien to her. All of her friends were, except Raoul - of course. Buri might be very close to the line... But Alanna knew she had to hold onto the ones who took her for who she was.

She could count on one hand the number of people who took her for who she was, not what she was. George [family], Raoul, Buri, and the Bazhir [more family]. She missed Jon's belief in her... She even missed Gary's pranks - which had ended the moment he had been loaded with papers. She still found slight amusement in Gary's work - though he loved it. Douglass, Sacherell, and Geoffrey had become strangers to her. And once they had been the "Favored Four." The four squires everyone wanted to be. Now she was lucky to recognized them in a crowd.

She curled up tighter in her blanket. Suddenly she felt alone. That wasn't good for her. She hated feeling sad. It lead to too much thinking. Too much brooding on the past. It was never good to brood about the past. To think about choices she could have done differently. Maybe she could have stayed in Corus instead of going to the Bazhir. Her brother would be alive, Liam would be alive, Faithful would be here giving her sardonic comments about feeling sorry for herself.

Alanna was half ashamed to feel tears fall from her eyes. She wiped them away savagely, but they kept coming. It always happened like this when she thought about her twin. She missed him immensely. He was part of her soul. She had lost so much that day when Jon became king. So much, and she would never tell anyone. She couldn't. She hated pity and sympathy. She wouldn't be able to take it. She would scream and yell and then slide to the floor crying. She was mortal, despite popular belief.

Someone knocked on her bedroom door. Alanna looked up, frowning. Who could it possibly be? She unwound herself from her blanket and wiped her eyes quickly on her shirt. She opened the door and saw Jonathan leaning on the door rim.

He put a hand on her cheek and wiped away a tear. "Thinking about Thom?" he asked softly. Alanna closed her eyes and looked away. She hated to show how much she still mourned her twin. "He drew her into a hug. "Oh, my dear Lioness. You need to forget! Thom wouldn't want you to dwell on the past." he whispered to her.

Alanna looked away. "And you would know what my brother would and wouldn't want?" she asked in a snapping whisper. Jonathan chuckled. "What?" she muttered into his arm.

"You. I'd forgotten how much you hate pity."

Alanna broke away from his arms. "Why did you come here, Jon?"

He kissed her on the mouth. "The Scanrans are moving fast. I came to fetch you for a meeting." He eyes her sleeping ware. "I suggest you get changed, lovely. Unless you want more than your fair share of torment?"

Alanna squealed softly, "You!"

He chuckled and jerked a thumb at the couch. "Nice friend you have there."

"She had an issue that I know about and I offered to help."

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "'An Issue?'"

"Ask all you like, I refuse to tell. I'm getting dressed. You - good sir - will wait right there." With that, she went into her room, closed the door softly, and leaned against it. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Life just got a little more complicated." She pushed away from the door and began to get dressed.

~

Keladry awoke the next morning, feeling extremely tired. She looked around in confusion. This wasn't her room. She then looked down on the table next to the couch she had slept on and read the neat, swift writing.

Keladry ~
Do not worry about a thing. Ayana will take care of all the things that are needed to be worried about. As for breakfast ~ I don't know what you usually do, but ~ there's fruit on the table in the study. If you still need to talk, I think I'll be back around noon. Who knows how long this blasted war council will take. Jon's waiting, and getting annoying. I'll chat with you later, if I'm allowed to.

~ Alanna

Kel smiled. "Blasted war council." Sounded like the Lady. Last night she thought she had heard the door open and a short conversation about a dead brother or something and the king telling the Lady to change unless she wanted a fair share of torment.

Kel pulled her boots on and straightened her hair. She found a pen and quickly scratched the Lady back a quick note.

Lady Alanna -
I'll be fine. I'm not sure that I need to talk anymore, but I might. It'll be okay if I just stop in, I guess... If not, don't worry about it. I'm used to working things out. Why did you have to go to council in the middle of the night?

~
Keladry

She walked outside, closing the door. She then ran down to Yuki's room. She needed to talk a bit more, she guessed. She smiled ironically when she knocked and no answer came. Of course... Yuki would be with Neal this early. It was still too early for morning glaive practice, but she didn't mind being early.

As she was walking down to the practice courts, she saw Cleon. He looked like absolute hell. His curly red hair was all over the place, his gray eyes unusually bloodshot. She sucked in a big gulp of air, and gripped her glaive tightly. She walked past him, eyes closed tight.

He only looked at her helplessly and turned away. Kel looked at his retreating back, silent as her hands let go of the glaive. It fell to the ground with a crash. And she head the soft break of glass underneath the hard wood. She bent down and saw smooth, clear glass that had been shaped like an angel.

The one Cleon had given her one Midwinter.

It was over. They were over. Kel sighed, and picked up her glaive. She walked over to where Yuki and Shinko were practicing and greeted them cheerfully. Life was life after all. And if Cleon was going to act as if his world had ended, that was for him to worry about. Kel was going on with her life.