A Meeting of Houses
Act V - Awaken Love
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: Poem is by Jewel.
Also, the phrase... "fuck me good, suck me good" is from the song
"Ride Wit Me" by Nelly.
~
Cleon sat alone in his room. A bottle of brandy was open on his desk. Neal had told them all what Kel had said. They had all been to see her - except Cleon - and each one had been cursed at and yelled at. It seemed Kel was teetering on some cliff that no one knew she stood on. Had he caused it all? Had he caused everything?
An opened letter from Kennan rested on his desk. The betrothal would be announced when the girl, Lady Aises of Heathercove, arrived at Court. The marriage would be around a year or so later. Cleon had found out when Kel's wedding was - before the end of this year.
It seemed that both Lerant and Kel had no say in this. They had hardly begun to accept the fact they were betrothed and the wedding was set by their parents for the week before Midwinter. Cleon felt like yelling out, "Has everyone but me forgotten about the Scanran war?!" But he knew he couldn't.
It was obvious that no one in the government had forgotten about it. Everyone knew that the King's High Council locked themselves in for hours while they tried to figure things out. And then once the Council was done, it was off to the War Chambers. Lord Raoul had pulled in everyone from the field and placed other troops that were less involved in politics. Everyone - no matter what they were doing. If they were mages, Master Numair or the King or the Lioness had contacted them. If warriors, there were messengers sent.
Cleon drank the rest of his fifth bottle of that night and threw it into the fire. The bottle shattered and the fire exploded in a shower of fiery sparks. Cleon really didn't care. He grabbed his cloak and went riding down to the city. He was depressed and needed to be cheered up. And he knew only one thing to cheer him up...
~
"I can't believe Cleon lied about that to us!" Neal fumed.
"Kel's not even talking to us. She thinks we still believe Cleon. We've got to do something about this!" Merric said angrily.
Yuki sighed. "Have you thought about talking to Lerant? He seems to be just as worried about Kel as we are."
"Lerant?" Owen muttered. "Excuse me, but wasn't he the one who..."
"Exactly," Yuki said. She flicked her fan in front of her face to hide her worry. "He seems to like her enough to worry about her. I'm not sure if they love each other or if it's just mutual liking."
"Most likely mutual liking," Neal muttered.
"I agree with Yuki," Seaver said softly. "Ask Lerant. I can ask my cousin if Kel's talked to her about Cleon."
Owen looked puzzled. "You're cousin? Who would that be?"
Seaver smiled shyly. "Lady Alanna. Her mother was my Great-Aunt."
Yuki smiled. "I'll go talk to Kel. You lads talk to Lerant. Seaver... Would you talk to your Cousin?" Seaver nodded. "All right. How about we all meet for dinner tonight and pool what we've found out?" Everyone agreed and they went to find their elusive quarries.
~
Kel studied the chess board as she talked. "The Islands were beautiful. Very exotic. Not many people can go there as a foreigner and be accepted automatically. I wasn't one of them. Eventually, though, they began to get used to me." She smiled up at Lerant. "Took them a few years, of course."
Lerant smiled back. "Rather like Tortall?"
"Much like." She moved her knight to protect her king, and in the same move capturing Lerant's rook. He hissed through his teeth like he was in pain. "Your turn," she said, sitting back in her chair. "On both things. Tell me about your family."
Lerant shrugged. "Who do you want to know about? Dione, Shea, Aero, or Janus?"
"Start from the eldest and go to the youngest."
"Then you tell me about you're family next," Lerant muttered. Kel laughed. "Anyway. You've met them all. Dione is... Dione. She's a fighter... She would have loved to be in any military position. Unfortunately, the same thing happened to her that happened to me. She applied, she was turned down. Only she didn't have a Lord Raoul to help her."
Kel nodded. "He's always helping, isn't he?"
Lerant nodded. "Oh... Did I tell you that he wants to put me in the field?"
"No!" Kel said, smiling. "That's great!"
Lerant nodded happily. For a moment, Kel was reminded of her nephew, Lachran. "He wants to put me in Dom's squad. That's not so bad. Dom's really nice, even if he gets a little too bossy and sarcastic." Kel smiled, then cursed as Lerant took her knight out with his bishop. "Check. Anyway," he said, sitting back as Kel looked at the board with distaste. "Dione has always been the one who is strange. She loves to do the weirdest things. An example, she loves to pound the crap out of Shea. Okay... never mind. We all want to do that."
Kel laughed. "For the short time I met Shea, even I wanted to do that. He was too... oily. Too sly." She moved a pawn to capture his bishop.
Lerant looked troubled. "I know. But... He was never like that before." He looked up at her quizzical expression. "I'm getting to him!" he said, smiling defensively. Kel nodded in a knowing fashion. Lerant just smiled and continued. "Dione, from what I could understand of her happy-talk, got into the Queen's Riders. Buri had seen her on the archery field after being turned down, and had asked if she wanted to join. They got into a long talk, and she got in. So, that's Dione."
Kel nodded. "I'm glad she got into something she likes."
Lerant rolled his eyes. "If it has to do with fighting, she loves it." Kel hid her smile. Lerant studied the chess board. The only move he saw that would get him out of a possible checkmate was G8 to F6. He moved there and sighed. "Shea... He's been really strange since my aunt was killed. He was two then, I was four, Dione was five. He was okay, back then. But... I don't know. Something about him just changed. About five years ago, he was fine. Back to being normal out-of-control Shea. But now... He changed somewhere along the line." Lerant shook his head.
Kel smirked at the chess board. "Check mate," she said as she moved her bishop from H5 to F7. Lerant cursed angrily while Kel smiled and sat back. "So, Aero and Janus."
"Those two are simple. Aerope is five years younger than me, Janus is four. They both went to the Convent. Aero is the little angel, Janus is the little demon. They balance each other out - in the end. So, I'm going to warn you now... Janus is prone to cause pranks. Aero is as well, but she blames them on Janus. Only two people in my entire family can control them... And that is Dione and me. Unfortunately, only Aero listens to me. They both listen to Dione."
"As well they should!" Dione said from the door way. "Hey, bro... You've got some visitors."
Lerant looked puzzled. "Who?"
"No clue. I'll keep Kel busy!" Dione said, plopping down in an extra seat and fixing up the chess board. Kel smiled.
Lerant shrugged. "Okay, I'll go see who it is."
~
Awaken love,
the sun beats itself
upon our windowsill
and dawn is well spent into day
Awaken, love
open your eyes
lighting all they touch upon
in wondrous blaze
~
When Cleon awoke the next morning, he had a hell of a headache. One he wouldn't wish even on Lerant. He rolled over, and felt someone in bed next to him. Then he remembered. He had stumbled down to a brothel last night, and had tumbled at least three girls into bed.
The one he was with at the moment looked like Kel. Long brown hair, beautiful hazel eyes, and freckles. He wished it was Kel. It would have made things so much better for him. He stroked the cheek of the girl next to him. She awoke, eyes looking drowsy.
"Hey, handsome," she said, rolling onto her side. She pressed her mouth to his, and he welcomed it. He needed to lose all feeling. He had to be what those Yamanis yearned to be - ice and stone. He had to get rid of all feeling, and most of all - he had to destroy the traitorous heart that beat within his chest.
"Fuck me good, suck me good," Cleon told the girl, pulling her against him roughly. The girl smiled and went down on him.
~
Upon the streets
a kitten's new
and a beggar's shoe
are calling
and the voiceless
ask to borrow yours
so sweet and
always falling
~
"What do you want?" Lerant asked harshly, looking at Kel's so-called "friends."
"We want to talk to Kel," Neal stated.
"Except, she's not talking to us," Owen put in quickly.
"I wonder why," Lerant muttered darkly.
"Please tell us," Merric said. He looked desperate - they all did.
Lerant sighed. "She's hurt. She thought you were her friends, and when you believed that asshole without even asking her about it, it hurt her!" Lerant tried to control his voice and temper. They could all see how angry he was becoming. "You betrayed her, that's how it feels for her. She thought she could trust you, and you let her down!"
Neal put a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "You really care for her, don't you."
Lerant glared for a solid few seconds, then sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Yea... I guess I do."
Dom turned the corner. "Ah! There you are, Lerant. Hey Meathead," he said, messing up Neal's hair.
"Yes?" Lerant asked. It wasn't waspish or anything. Just a formal, polite "yes."
Dom grinned. "Ah...! Where did our waspish standard-bearer go?! We shall forever miss his sardonic humor!" Dom said, theatrically leaning on his cousin and pretending to cry into Neal's shoulder.
Lerant choked back a sigh. "What do you want, Dom?"
Dom lost his grin and sighed. "Raoul's dragging us out in about a day. Looks like we get first dibs on them Scanrans."
Lerant nodded. "Sounds like lots of joyous fun," he grumbled.
Dom grinned wickedly. "Ah! There's our sardonic soldier!" He bowed regally, messed up Neal's hair once more, and left.
All of Kel's friends looked at Lerant. "What are you going to tell her?" Faleron asked.
Lerant shrugged. "The truth, what else?" he said, going back into his rooms.
~
Awaken love,
we are a pair
two knives, two flags
two slender stocks of wheat
And the song that sleeps
inside your mouth
is the song which bids
my heart to beat
~
Kel watched Lerant as he told her he would be leaving in a day. "I suppose Raoul will have his squad of knights as a back up," he finished. Kel nodded mutely. "Are you all right?" he asked, sitting up. Again, she nodded. He stood up, going over to her. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Keladry?"
She shrugged him off. "I'll be right back," she muttered, leaving the room hurriedly. Behind her, she left a confused Lerant... One who was wondering why his heart hurt so badly.
~
For without your hands
your battle cry
your timid fearless
roaming eye
I would be awkward hands
with no flag
with no pulse
no boast to brag
~
Kel knocked on Lady Alanna's door. She knew it would be very rare for the Lady to be home in the middle of the day while councils were going on all around them. Tortall was preparing for absolute war. If Scanra chose to mess with Tortall - they would get a rude awakening. No one could do that to the country where ladies knew how to fight - and sometimes better than the men themselves. It was obvious the scum wouldn't get away.
The door opened and a maid curtsied to Kel. "May I help you?" she asked softly.
"May I please speak with the Lioness?" Kel asked as politely as possible.
The maid shook her head. "I'm sorry, miss. The Lady is -"
"Jesa?" came the Lioness' beautiful voice. It was very musical, and quite lovely. But at the moment, that flowing voice was etched deeply with exhaustion and annoyance. "Jesa, who is it?"
Jesa looked at Kel. "Tis a girl, 'Anna."
Kel noted the nickname and said. "Keladry of Mindelan. My name's Keladry."
Jesa smiled softly at Kel. "It's Keladry, 'Anna."
Alanna came into the main room. She wore long black pants that clung to her legs, black boots, and a tunic-like white shirt that had no sleeves and showed just enough of her cleavage to show she was a woman. A snake armband was circling the muscle on her upper arm. "Keladry!" she said, smiling. "Good. We need your input on this." Alanna steered Kel into the large study.
King Jonathan looked up from the map he was studying - though many maps had been strewn about the large oak desk that Alanna used. He nodded to Kel, and went back to studying the map. Raoul was arguing with Gareth the Younger about supplies. Most of the others in the war council were yelling or studying maps or something-or-other. They all turned to her, nodded, and then went back to doing whatever.
Alanna put a hand on Kel's shoulder. "Welcome to War Council," she muttered. Kel smiled.
"So, you finally tracked her down and dragged her down here, hm?" Raoul asked Alanna. Gary looked fighting mad, but as soon as Alanna put a hand on his, he sighed and relaxed a bit.
"Actually, she came here," Alanna said. She looked at Raoul. "Go easy on Gary. He's a desk knight now. We can only easy his painful death by being nice."
"I'd like to see you sit at a desk longer than two seconds," Gary snapped with good humor.
"Tch," Alanna muttered.
~
but alone, simply
Alone
~
At the end of the three hour meeting, Kel pulled the Lioness aside. "I need a favor," she murmured.
Alanna looked at Kel. "Whatever it is, if I can help, I will."
"Is there anyway to have something that would protect the wearer from harm?"
Alanna nodded. "Aye. My brother made my shield with the most powerful he could find."
Kel looked away. This would be asking an awful lot of a woman who had already done so much for her. "Could... Could you make one for me?"
Alanna raised an eyebrow. "It's not for you, is it?" Kel shook her head. "And not for Cleon..." Alanna already knew who it was for; she shrugged, "Well, I won't ask questions." She began to walk into her room. "Come on. I have just the thing."
Keladry followed the Lioness over to a vanity table. Alanna opened an small ornate chest that sat on the table. It was well worked with silver and gold and many different types of glass and gems. "It was my mother's," Alanna explained as she pulled the top shelf out of the chest.
"It's beautiful," Kel breathed.
Alanna smiled and nodded. She placed the red velvet shelf-tray on the table. Kel was slightly surprised to smell peppermint and lavender emanating from the small chest. Alanna turned toward Kel, holding a necklace. Kel looked at it, eyes wide.
"The gem is called 'chalcedony'. The ones clustered inside are iced Tanzanite," Alanna said, handing it to Keladry. "It's heavily spelled for protection. Both stones are known for their protection properties."
Kel held the small pendant in her hand. The chain was a thin and delicate silver; the pendant itself was amazing. The main stone, chalcedony as the Lady called it, was a beautiful smoky blue color, and the iced Tanzanite added the look of ice to it.
"Keep it," Alanna said, smiling.
"Th-th-thank you, my Lady!" Kel stuttered.
~
Staring down
an endless sky
unable to face
injustice
or even I
A tiger's loveless soldier
~
Yuki looked around the palace for Neal. She had her answer for his question. She knew very well how unprepared they both were. They hadn't an idea of what they would get themselves into. She found him in the library, talking with Faleron, Merric, Seaver, and the rest of them. Yuki hit herself on the head mentally. Of course! They had talked to Lerant and the Lady; Yuki hadn't been able to find Kel.
She walked over to them. "So, what did Lerant say?" she asked softly, looking away from Neal.
"Basically he told us we shattered her trust. Also, Dom showed up and told Lerant that they were leaving tomorrow. I don't know what Kel's reaction was; Lerant planned on just telling her," Faleron said.
Yuki shrugged. "I couldn't find Kel. She seems to have vanished."
Seaver spoke up softly, "Alanna said that she had come during the war council. She didn't say what for though."
"Hunh."
Yuki smiled at the boys, "Mind if I borrow Neal for a few seconds?"
They all grinned as she and Neal walked away.
"What's all this about?" he asked, giving her a hug and a kiss on the lips.
"I... I have my answer," she told him haltingly. Neal looked at her expectantly. She couldn't help it. She looked away. "No..." she murmured and tried to pull away from Neal's grip on her wrist.
"Why?" he asked, confused and hurt.
"I... I just can't!" she said, pulling herself free. "I'm sorry." With that, she bolted from the library.
"Yuki!" Neal yelled after her. He stood there, and his heart was broken. Shattered on the cold word Yuki had spoken.
~
Lerant check the saddle bags on his horse, Warning, and checked the saddle. He had already saddled and readied Drum for Lord Raoul. His mind, it was obvious, was elsewhere. On a certain girl who he hadn't seen since he told her he was leaving. He sighed. Why did Kel bolt like that? Was it something he did?
"Hey," someone said softly.
Lerant turned and saw Kel. "I didn't think you were going to come," he muttered.
Kel looked away. "I'm sorry. I just needed to do something."
Lerant looked at her, puzzled. "Like what?"
She drew a deep breath as she walked over to him. She gave him a small leather envelope that contained something small. "It's spelled for protection," she whispered, not looking at him.
"Thank you," he said, trying to get her to look at him. She finally did. Their eyes met briefly before Kel dropped them again.
She moved closer to him. "I'll miss you," she murmured. She looked up at him again and saw his puzzlement. She leaned over and kissed him on the lips. She blushed furiously, and ran out of the stables.
Lerant put a hand to his lips in shock. He stood that way until Dom clapped him on the shoulder.
"Looks like she's worried for you," Dom said. "What's in the envelope?"
Lerant opened the envelope slowly, and took out the small pendant necklace.
