Dom looked down from the walkway, 'Yes, everything in order…Two riders, three horses. Wait a minute, what?" He check again, "Where's Kel?' He ran down to his cousin as they opened the gates. "Meathead, what happened? Where's Kel?"


Neal shook his head in frustration and replied sadly, "I don't know." He clearly didn't want to talk about it, but Dom wouldn't leave this alone.

"What do you mean, 'you don't know!?'" Dom raised his voice. "If you haven't noticed, dear Meathead, the girl is over six feet tall! She's not that hard to misplace!" He tried to swallow the growing lump in his stomach, but it was useless.

"Yes, Dom, I've noticed," Neal hissed, "if you come inside Tobe and I will explain it to you as it happened." He clearly didn't want the whole camp to know about this.

"Alright" Dom said, he was a little stunned, Neal had never talked to him in that tone before. He continued to wonder as he let Tobe usher him into an unused office.


Neal and Tobe described what had happened, and once they were done Dom was far from happy. 'What could've happened to her?' Dom thought furiously. He had been meaning to tell Kel about his growing feelings for her when she returned, but now Dom couldn't fight off terrible waves of worry for his friend. His heart was wrenching, he knew he couldn't leave to search for Kel alone.

He commented aloud, trying to keep his voice calm without betraying his true feelings, "Did you even bother to contact Lord Raoul? You know he'll want to be here, Kel is like a daughter to him."

"If you hand over some paper, I'll write to him now," Neal said, "Just find Yuki and tell her that something came up." He sighed as he sat down.


Kel spat on the stone floor to get the fresh blood out of her mouth, they had beaten her, trying to get any information to pass her lips, 'How long has it been, days, or weeks, or months?' she thought to herself miserably, 'I can't remember the last time I saw Raoul, or joked with Dom, or even talked with Neal.' She sighed, the whole situation seemed hopeless.

She knew Neal and Tobe wouldn't have been worried when she was first missing, 'because that dratted note.' Kel cursed herself again for being so responsible.

They had been torturing her for weeks now, but she had been careful, all she had let slip was that she was from New Hope and she had friends who would miss her if they decided to kill her.

Hilam grew furious with her silence, but he had the girl where he wanted her. Friends in high places meant high ransoms. He finally set his mind to follow the conventions of war, 'though I certainly didn't with that squire long ago, and look where it has gotten me,' and ransom her.


~~~~~~~~~~~

The midmorning watch called out, "Messenger bird flying in from the north!"

Dom hurled himself up the stairs as fast as he was able; he got there in time to pull the note off the bird's leg before anyone else touched it.

He was about to tear the note open and read it when a voice behind him said, "Dom, hold on, every time we've received any letter for two months now, you've been on the messenger as soon as you could. I believe I will open this letter." Raoul firmly tugged the folded parchment from Dom's closed fist.

He opened it calmly saying, "Not that I minded," he chortled, "you destroyed three perfectly good invitations to my aunt's house." But as he read the letter his eyes got bigger and bigger, his mouth opened in disbelief.

"Raoul?" Dom asked curiously, trying fruitlessly to peer over the giant's shoulder, "What is it?" 

"It's Kel," Raoul answered slowly, "They're ransoming Kel."

From there, everything went quickly. Dom realized as he looked over a room of people pulling things together, 'I'm not the only one who cares for Kel.' The only sounds in the room were rustling papers and people whispering, 'Raoul loves her like a daughter, Neal like a sister, Tobe like a mother, and Yuki like a best friend.' Without warning a tear leaked out of his eye. He brushed it away roughly with the back of his hand, not wanting anyone to see. He remembered her every detail of her face, every color in her hair, every fiber of her being. Dom wanted to be able to hold all of it in his arms as his own.