Snowblind
By strawberry_miow
Chapter 4 - Under the Moonlight
The snow was soft yet crisp underneath their gentle footsteps, the sky a wonderful shade of midwinter white foretelling yet another shower of flakes before the night was done. The gardens were covered in a light sheet of frost, like frozen dew drops on every flower petal held in place. It truly was a magical sight.
"And then he made the very dignant reply of calling us `insubordinate curs` before falling off his horse" Kel laughed at that. Dom had been telling her the tale of the time her ex-squire crippled over in hunger, refusing to stop for food and all that. He had certainly learnt his lesson according to the sergeant, as had all of the men in the king's own who were too rambunctious with laughter at the time to realise it.
"I can picture it in my mind" Kel replied with a wry grin, "And I bet he still refused to stop, am I right?"
Then it was Dom`s turn to laugh, "Indeed. He made us trek on for another good few miles just to prove a point" they had been walking around the gardens for the past half an hour now, talking about anything and everything - from the latest war statistics to the previous humiliations of some of the top ranking fighters. It was all too amusing for them both.
"And then there was the time up by the border," Dom shook his head, "I never knew water could be such an obstruction to a knight" Kel laughed as she admired the view around, the gardens truly were beautiful even without the snow. They were always well kept and even this time of the year the sweet scent of roses still wafted around the pathway as they walked.
The conversation dried off a little and they strolled in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the simple pleasure of one another's company when suddenly Dom asked, "So, lady knight, do you have a special someone here at Corus?" he grinned and Kel blushed.
The question was already a sticky subject, the whole deal with Cleon still fresh in her mind and then there were her very confusing feelings about a certain someone standing not three feet away from her. "Well…erm…" she faltered, feeling her cheeks growing even warmer, "I used to…" she hoped that was a safe answer. She hoped for a lot of things these days…
"Oh" came the articulate response, blue eyes wavering slightly, "What happened?"
Yes, what happened indeed….Kel thought to herself, it was still a little complicated in her own mind, despite it being somewhat months ago. She looked up at the sergeant, hazel meeting blue as she smiled weakly, "It was complicated…" she stated, "We thought we were in love, well at least I did anyway. I was younger at the time, and a lot more naïve…but he had a lot of pressure on him from his family and country to marry this girl, Ermelian I think her name was. Apparently it would save his fief, they'd been having quite a considerable amount of trouble…" she admitted, feeling a little better just for telling someone the whole truth instead of just parts of it.
"After a while he did just that, he had his knighthood and a wife, what part was I to play?" her tone was somewhat hollow and detached, usually she would make sure her Yamani mask was perfect so as not to show him how she felt about it but it was Dom - Dom for Mithros sake, he'd figure it out anyway.
"The jealous ex-lover?" Dom offered with a crooked grin, his sense of humour making her both want to laugh and cry at the same time. Instead, she blushed.
"We were never…" she trailed off, figuring he would get the message. He did. He blushed. Yet he couldn't disguise his smile at the fact.
"At the time I wondered if there was something wrong with me, not wanting to…but now I know why. I never really loved him, well not in that way anyway. He offered several times though…apparently haystacks have their uses…" Dom grinned at that, he couldn't help himself. He found this fellow all too amusing in the sense Kel was telling the tale, she grinned too and he had a feeling it wasn't because of her words.
"A gentleman asking a lady for a quick roll in the hay?" he raised an eyebrow, "He could have at least had the decency to have offered the stables, or behind them"
Kel felt herself blushing once again, "Dom!" he simply smirked at her and she playfully punched him, or rather went to, before he caught her hand in his own.
The sergeant pulled her close, whispering in her ear, "How about that last dance now?" his azure shaded eyes were twinkling with mirth and something she couldn't quite recognise, but she shrugged it off as normal. It's just Dom being Dom…she told herself firmly, not liking the way tingles were spreading through her. Not one bit.
"Out here?" she asked, somewhat shocked, "Now? But--"
He cut her off, grinning as he pulled her close, his arms encircling her waist, "No buts lady knight, I only want one dance…" she sighed, defeated, as her own arms curled around his neck and her head rested on his shoulder almost instinctively. They swayed gently together despite the lack of music; they hadn't realised how far they had actually walked. The sweet tunes in the ballroom had been loud enough to have been heard outside, yet…nothing.
As they held each other close gentle snowflakes began to slowly fall from the sky, showering the couple in an almost perfect moment. One thing was for sure; they would both remember it for a long time. After all, it wasn't everyday you danced under the sky, in the middle of midwinter, while it was snowing. Yes, a timeless moment indeed.
Kel seemed to look up at Dom and their gazes locked, he opened his mouth as if to say something but instead found himself moving his head down closer to Kel`s. He knew fine well what he was planning on doing but he didn't want to think about why. All he wanted to think about was this moment, this one single moment that would create memories for a lifetime. Just as his lips were about to touch hers, a rustle in the nearby bushes snapped them apart immediately, both turning to look in the direction of the interruption.
"Kel! Dom! Whatever are you two doing out here?" - Neal.
"I told you not to go and spy on them!" - and Yuki.
"I wasn't spying! I was simply…observing the view"
"It's the same thing"
Dom and Kel looked at one another, trying not to laugh at the couple in front of them.
"No it isn't, spying implies I was watching them, observing is simply watching the scenery around them, which is what I was doing!"
"Which is why you were going around asking people `Have you seen Kel and Dom?` instead of `Have you seen any nice scenery around here lately?`"
Kel laughed, deciding she'd better make some attempt to break it up before they went too far, "Neal, Dom was just walking me to my rooms" she said innocently, thankful the blush had died down somewhat. If her cheeks were still flaming red she had no chance of the knight believing her.
"Kel, you're forgetting one little thing…Dom is related to me, I have a pretty good idea what you guys were doing - or planning on doing" he folded his arms over his chest, smug grin on his face as if he'd just caught someone with their hands in the cookie jar. Well, that wasn't exactly where their hands had been…
She sighed, opening her mouth to protest when the well-known Sir meathead added, "Mithros knows what you would have been doing if I hadn't interrupted when you did! If I hadn't been spying on you--"
"So you admit you were spying now hmm?" Dom murmured with a grin, his head tilted slightly giving him the look of a mischievous young boy. He looks cute…Kel thought with a smile, suddenly shaking the images off as she realised what she had been musing about.
Neal shifted uncomfortably, holding up an accusing finger, "I…I…aww forget it, the point is what exactly are you two doing out here?"
"I was walking Lady Keladry to her rooms, as she has already informed you of. That is, until you so kindly jumped out of those bushes and accused us of various indecent activities that I am sure you are guilty of yourself Sir meathead" Kel had to fight to hold back her laughter at that comment, between the grin on the sergeants face and the scowl on her best friend's it was almost too much to hold in.
"Speaking of which, I think I'm going to head up to my rooms now" Kel stifled a yawn, "Goodnight and midwinter luck" she smiled, turning as she began walking along the pathway that led back to the main body of the building.
"I`ll escort you milady" Dom said, turning with a smile and a warning look to Neal and Yuki before following her.
"But--" Neal protested after his cousin, sighing, he yelled, "And I wasn't spying!"
"Of course you weren't" his bride-to-be murmured, taking his hand she led him back to the ballroom.