The camp was buzzing. It was harvest time, and, as they were on the Scanran
border, they needed to fill their stores before winter came.
"How are we doing?" Kel asked Owen, whom she had put in charge of the stores.
He looked over the charts. "Not bad. We have enough food to last us most of winter, with very, very careful rationing. We could always stand to have more."
Kel nodded. "I think we're doing pretty well, actually. As long as we don't get anything major that can wipe them out, these stores will last."
Owen grinned. "Fat chance getting attacked in the middle of winter. Even the Scanrans know they can't survive in this snow."
Kel smiled. "I just hope we can."
She waved goodbye to him and went to her study. She sighed as she looked at her desk. It was so covered in clutter that she could barely see it. Weapons lay out; letters and documents were spread around the room; tea cups and pots sat askew on end tables and shelves; books were on the floor, no longer in their rightful place and Kel was sure she had less furniture than usual.
She bent down and started to clean up. There was a sharp knocking on the door. "Come in." Said Kel, not looking up from her cleaning.
"Good morning, Lady Kel." Fhire said. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Kel bent over and looked at Fhire upside down. She smiled, feeling slightly dizzy from the blood rushing to her head. She stood up. "I realized that my study is a complete pigsty. I cannot imagine that I have been working in these conditions."
Fhire smiled weakly.
"Are you free? Do I need to assign you to something?" Kel asked, not excited at having to find a job for Fhire.
Fhire shook her head. "I could just help you." She said.
Kel stood up. "Would you?" She asked hopefully. "I do have a lot of work to do."
Fhire smiled. "That's my job, Lady Kel. You don't have to ask if I would or not, you know."
Kel shrugged. "I believe in treating everyone the same. I treat you no worse than I treat other knights. Who knows," she laughed, "You could be commanding me one day."
Fhire smiled, and Kel went outside to do her work. She stood outside her door and looked around. Sheep had been brought in from the fields, and there were women spinning and knitting warm clothes for the winter in one corner of the camp. Kel jogged over to them to check up.
One of the young girls playing by the women stood up and ran over to her. "Good morning, Lady Kel!" She did a clumsy curtsey. Kel smiled.
"Good morning. What's your name?" She asked. She felt extremely guilty that she didn't know the young girl's name, but she asked anyway.
"I'm Sari, My Lady. That's my mother," she said, pointing exuberantly at one of the ladies behind a spinning wheel, a young woman, no older than thirty, wearing a tattered rag of a shawl over her faded blue dress. She looked up and smiled at Kel.
Kel walked over to the women. She looked at Sari's mother. Up close she could see that the woman's shawl was completely threadbare.
"Excuse me," Kel said, and the woman looked up, "why have you not gone to the stores for a new shawl? You must be freezing."
The woman smiled weakly. "Thank you, My Lady, but I'm fine. There are children, and elderly, and sick who need the warmth much more than I do."
Kel shook her head. "Once it is colder, you are going to get deathly ill from the cold, and then we will have an even bigger problem with the sick. Please, go to the stores and ask Sir Owen for a new shawl, or even a warm cloak. Do you understand?"
The lady nodded. "Thank you, my lady."
Kel turned back to Sari. She leaned down to the young girl. "How old are you, Sari?" She asked.
Sari rocked back and forth on her heels, her eyes wide. "Almost seven my lady."
Kel smiled. "You're almost old enough to learn how to fight, Sari. Let me see your muscles. Here," she said, "let me feel your muscles."
Sari proudly held up her arm for Kel to squeeze. "Wow!" Kel said, as she felt the young girls arm. "You should join us in training tomorrow." She glanced up at her mother. "If that's alright with your mother, of course."
The woman smiled, and Sari ran up to her. "Please, mama, please?" She asked, shaking her mothers arm.
"Of course, Sari. I'm always glad to be able to help everyone," she added to Kel, "even if it's not me directly."
Kel stood up. "Keep up the good work, ladies. You are making very good time. At this rate, we should have about enough to scrape through winter."
Sari ran up to her and hugged her legs, surprising Kel greatly, and almost knocking her over. "Thank you, my lady."
Kel laughed. "You're welcome." Kel said, and Sari ran back to play with the babies by her mother.
Kel turned and walked away.
"She'll make a wonderful mother one day." One of the women said quietly. The other women all murmured in agreement.
Kel heard them, and walked away a bit faster, feeling the colour rise in her face.
Dom ran up behind her a moment later. "They're right, you know."
Kel's mouth fell open. "Excuse me? You were eavesdropping?"
Dom shook his head, frowning. "No, I just happened to over hear as I was going about my daily duties."
Kel hit him, grinning. "Well, I need to give you harder work."
He grunted. "What did I hear?" I didn't hear anything, I was working too hard."
Kel rolled her eyes. "I have work to do."
She kept walking, but stopped in her tracks. "What did you mean, they were right?" She said, her eyes closed. She turned around to face him. Dom smiled and turned, walking briskly in the other direction.
"Dom!" Kel cried.
He turned around, still walking, and gave her a cheery little wave, before continuing on his way.
* * * * *
Winter came. It was the coldest winter Kel had ever experienced. Whenever she stepped outside, her breath froze in her mouth, and her skin turned so numb that she could not work a bow and arrow. The children still continued their weapons training, but as there was too much snow outside to practice their steps, and it was too cold to hold a sword or a glaive properly, they practiced in the mess hall.
"Alright, everyone grab a wooden sword!" Kel said to the children.
They all scrambled to the table and picked up a sword. There were so many children learning now, that they constantly had to make new swords. Kel wasn't too worried about the wooden ones. She was more worried about the real swords. They had a small blacksmiths, for repairing armour, and making horseshoes, but making new armour and swords was complicated work. They would soon need more swords, and they wouldn't have any. She shook off the thought and got back to the matter at hand.
"Alright! Everyone here has been practicing since at least October, which means almost two months of work. We're going to do some testing now."
All of the children's eyes grew wide. Kel smiled. "You're not going to get into partners today." She threw her arm back, showing the group she brought in with her. Fhire, Neal, Dom, and Merric were standing there.
"I would liked to have gotten more people to help us out, but everyone was on duty." Kel said. "You are going to fight against them."
One of the girls gave a little shriek.
Kel laughed out loud, but then felt badly about it. "Don't worry, they're going to be using wooden swords, also."
She walked around, watching them. They were amazing. They had been training for two months, and some of the older children, the teenagers, were actually posing a threat to Kel's friends.
She laughed as Tobe cornered Neal, who was slightly tired at the time from helping so many people with influenza. Dom and Merric held their ground quite easily, but Fhire had a pretty good battle with a young boy, about fourteen, who was almost a foot taller than her.
Kel laughed, looking over them.
"What's your name, boy?" She asked, though she already knew.
"Jeremy." He grunted.
"Come on, Jeremy, what are you doing here with the children? I'm putting you to work with the men! You shouldn't be here with the girls!"
She got the reaction she wanted. Jeremy got cocky, and Fhire got the upper hand.
"Oh," Kel scolded, "maybe you do deserve to be here with the girls. I want to see something better than this."
She continued on. A few minutes later, she called everyone together again. The children sat down on the floor, exhausted. Dom was leaning against the table, Merric was standing up, but wheezing slightly, Fhire sat down on the floor with the children, looking like she was ready to fall asleep, and Neal collapsed on a chair, doubled over, breathing heavily.
Kel shook her head. "You all did a good job, but not good enough. If I said you were doing well, you got cocky. That's no good. If you fell behind even a little bit, you lost your confidence. Work on your speed and skills, like we do every time, and maybe next time we test, these four will be on the ground.
Dom stood up. "I think we should do it again right now. You, against all of them." He nodded towards the pile of children.
Kel raised an eyebrow. "How about not?"
Fhire laughed. "I could take you."
Kel chose to ignore that comment. "Go get yourselves washed up." She said, and all the children ran back to the barracks to get washed up.
Kel sat down beside Dom as Neal, Merric, and Fhire walked out. "You know, this is pretty exhausting." She said. "All this talking, and teaching."
Dom put his head back. "If I wasn't so tired, I would punch you." He said.
Kel laughed and kissed him. "Do you still want to punch you?"
Dom kept his eyes closed, like he was about to fall asleep. "Yes." He said.
Kel smiled. She put her head down on his chest and listened to his breathing. "What do you see in the future?" Kel asked quietly.
Dom groaned about having to talk. "I see a warm bed, and good midwinter gifts."
Kel hit him softly in the belly with the palm of her hand. It was light enough that he didn't flinch. "I'm serious. What do you see?"
Dom ran his hand through her hair. "I don't see anything in particular. I can't say, 'I see us having a fight around the seventh' or anything like that. I can't say I see us together forever, because I have no idea. That's the wonderful thing about the future. No one knows what it holds."
Kel sat up. "What if I want to know?" She asked.
Dom smiled and kissed her. "You'll just have to wait. Look, we're in the future now. I see are relationship moving towards my room, so I can go to sleep now." He kissed her again. "Good night, Kel."
She smiled and gave him a hug. "Good night, Dom."
The next day, post came. Kel watched as her friends read over their mail, their eyes shining. Neal had gotten a letter from Yuki, that was obvious. Owen had gotten a letter from his parents, he said, and Merric received a letter, though he wouldn't tell her whom it was from.
"There's one here for you too, Kel." Someone said.
Puzzled, Kel reached forward and took the letter from them. "Thanks." she muttered. It wasn't from her parents. It wasn't anyone in her family's handwriting.
"Who's it from?" Dom asked, seeing the perplexed look on her face.
"The crown." She said. "I've been granted leave."
Dom's eyes widened. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into his room.
"What is it?" Kel said. She was worried, until she saw his grin.
"I was granted leave as well!" He said.
Kel looked at him. "Why didn't you say anything?" She asked, trying not to feel hurt by it.
He shrugged. "It had just happened, and I was upset, because I don't want to leave."
Kel frowned. "They can't make me leave." She said, pouting.
Dom smiled. "Yes they can. Besides," he added, "It isn't a requested leave, is it? That means it's more of a sabbatical, then a vacation."
She sighed and nodded. "How long?" She asked.
Dom looked over his letter. "Until April the first." He looked up. "That's when I have to be back." He looked back down again. "And I have to leave directly after Midwinter."
Kel looked at her own letter. "Same here." She said. She looked up at him. "Who's going to replace us?"
Dom shrugged. "No one, I guess. Maybe Jon thinks that three knights is enough."
Kel sat down on the bed. "Something is going to happen." She said quietly. "I can feel it."
Dom sat down beside her. "Nothing is going to happen." He said, holding her hand. "They're not going to attack in the middle of winter." He looked confused for a moment. "I wonder why they want us to leave in this weather. It certainly won't be a very comfortable ride."
Kel smiled. "The letter said we could stay at Steadfast for a night on our way."
Dom kissed her forehead. "There you go." He smiled. "Perfect."
Kel snuggled up to him. "Do you think they're trying to tell us something?" She asked.
Dom looked down at her. "What do you mean?" He asked.
Kel shrugged. "It's just, why would they let us both leave at the same time, in the middle of winter?"
Dom laughed, stroking her shoulder. "I think they gave you leave because you haven't had it in over a year, and you still haven't had any time off since you were in Scanra. Besides, winter is the best time. They know that the Scanrans aren't going to attack."
Kel sat up. "You know, you're right!" She said. "I should be celebrating this time off, shouldn't I?"
Dom grinned.
Kel's face fell. "But what about Fhire? Does she stay here? I mean, she has only been my squire for fifteen months, barely over a year. Will she come with me?"
Dom nodded.
Kel smiled. "Alright then. So it is perfect."
* * * * *
Almost three weeks later, Kel, Dom, and Fhire set off.
It was still very cold, and they rode as fast as they could to Steadfast, where they savoured their warm beds. They set off early the next morning, hoping to go as far as they could, and to make it to an inn. They had spent the first night outside, and they didn't want to do it again. They did.
Kel sat on a log in front of the fire wrapped in a blanket with Fhire beside her on a tree stump while Dom tended to their dinner.
"Why do I have to do this?" He asked.
Kel smiled. "Because you offered."
He stood up. "No I didn't!"
Kel stood up. "Poor Dom. Here let me do that, the rest of your night will be cold enough."
He smiled proudly and sat in Kel's seat. "Wait a minute!" He said. "What did you mean by that?"
Kel smiled. "The boys tent isn't going to have very much body heat."
Dom frowned. He knew he was in for a rough night.
Kel woke early the next morning. She was freezing. She quickly pulled herself out of her bedroll and put on her boots. She went outside, and noticed how much colder it was, just outside of her tent. She looked around. She was all alone. She was just sitting up when she heard someone come up behind her. She stayed still. They were getting closer. They had something in their arms, probably a weapon. Kel could hear them walking with a load. She slowly set herself up to jump...
She leapt up. She was about to punch him when a flurry of sticks flew in her face. "Ahh!" She threw up her hands to stop them from scratching her.
"Mithros, Kel, you what was that jump for?"
Kel put her hands down. There was a pair of bright blue eyes looking back at her. "Dom, don't sneak up on me like that!" She said. "I had no idea that was you."
He laughed. "I'm sorry." He kissed her. "There," he said, "all better."
She smiled. "You are so evil." She rolled her eyes and got down on her knees to light the fire.
Fhire poked her head out of the tent. "What on earth was that noise about?" She asked groggily.
Kel smiled at her. "Dom snuck up on me." She said.
"Hey!" Dom said, pointing a finger at her angrily, "you jumped out at me!"
Kel laughed. "Because you were sneaking up on me." She said, smiling sweetly.
He opened his mouth, but closed it. He knew he couldn't win.
They left as early as they could that morning. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, but it made little difference. Jump didn't even try to run beside Hoshi, he just stayed in her basket. The sparrows buried themselves in Hoshi's mane, and Triaxx curled up on Fhire's pack. Dom mentioned at one point that he felt very lonely, not having a cute animal to cuddle with. They rode all day, finally stopping at a small inn, a four days ride from Corus.
Kel sighed as she stepped into the warm inn. It was so beautiful to her. The low ceiling was barely a foot above her head, and little light made it through the shutters. The candles in the room gave off a warm light, making the entire room glow.
She was immediately led to her room, where she collapsed on her bed. She got up a few minutes later to have a hot bath. After she got out, she dressed and knocked on the door that connected Fhire's room to hers.
Fhire opened the door, looking tired. "Good evening, Lady Kel." She said.
Kel smiled. "Good evening, Fhire. Come on, I have some work for you to do."
Fhire nodded and followed Kel into her room, where they both sat down at the small table in the corner. Kel sighed. "I have to go through all these papers. There's a lot about my leave, but I also have to file reports on the camp. Any problems or requests I have, that sort of thing."
Fhire nodded, and they got to work. They worked for a few hours, and neither of them noticed when Dom knocked on the door.
He opened it. "Hello..." he said.
Kel looked up. "Dom! You couldn't have knocked first?"
He frowned. "I did. You didn't answer." He said. Kel blushed, and Fhire giggled.
When Dom told them what time it was, Kel let Fhire go to bed, feeling rather guilty at keeping her up so late. Dom sat down in her seat.
"Well, I think we're making quite good time, don't you?" He asked.
Kel nodded. "We are." Neither of them said anything. Kel laughed. "Are we going to say anything, or are we both going to fall asleep?" She asked.
Dom shook his head quickly. "I'm sorry, what was that?" Dom asked. "I fell asleep." He smiled. "Did I miss something important?"
Kel smiled. "Neither of us have said anything in ten minutes. I think we were both asleep."
Dom stood up. "Well, seeing as we both fell asleep, I think we should probably go to sleep."
Kel, leaning on her hand, nodded, smiling.
Dom leaned over and kissed her before leaving. "Next time, you have to get up." He said.
Kel slowly stood up and walked over to her bed, which she collapsed on, falling asleep instantly.
* * * * * They reached Corus a few days later. It was still very cold, even so far south from the Scanran border, though not nearly as much so. They rode straight up to the palace stables.
"Hello, Lady Knight." the stable hand said.
Kel glanced over. "You are not Stephan." She said bluntly.
He nodded. "Yes, My Lady. They hired me a few months ago. Stephan was having trouble on his own."
Kel nodded slowly, looking him over. He held his head high, unmoving. "Very well." Kel said finally. "My horse will not be good for just anyone. Please bring me Stephan."
"I'm sorry, My Lady, Stephan is not here."
Kel frowned. As she did, she realized she was becoming the frightening knight who intimidated all of the servants. She didn't want to be that. "Very well, my squire will tend to my horse. Thank you for your assistance..."
"Jan, My Lady."
Kel smiled. "Thank you, Jan."
He smiled back. "My pleasure, My Lady."
Kel called out to Fhire, who came quickly from the other end of the stables. "Yes, Lady Kel?" She asked.
Kel smiled. "Could you tend to Peachblossom please, Fhire? I have some things to do."
Fhire nodded. "Yes Lady Kel." Kel gave her the reins and walked off to find Dom. They needed to find out once and for all why they had been given leave.
They found out rather quickly. A page came up them during supper. "Yes?" Dom asked.
"My name is Johannes, Sir. The king has requested your presence after supper." He said, looking fairly nervous. He tried to focus on Dom, but kept stealing glances at Kel.
"Thank you, Johannes." Kel said. He jumped slightly, and looked at her wide- eyed. He bowed.
"You're welcome, My Lady."
Dom grabbed his arm as he turned. He signalled for the boy to come closer. He did, and Dom whispered something in his ear.
Kel raised an eyebrow after the boy had left. "What did you tell him?" She asked suspiciously.
"To call you sir." He smiled.
Kel raised her eyebrow even higher. "And why did you whisper?"
Dom stopped smiling. He looked pensive. "Honestly, I don't know."
Kel laughed and went back to her supper.
After dinner, they were admitted into the king's study.
"Good evening, Sir Keladry, Captain Domitan." Jon nodded to both of them.
He smiled at Kel. "I thought you should know, there is another female page, by the name of Aleydis. Perhaps she will be your squire, as well."
Kel smiled. "Maybe, your majesty."
Jon sat up a bit straighter. "Now, to the business at hand. The kingdom is in grave danger." He said, looking very solemn. "Keladry, Maggur must be defeated. If he is not, I fear the land of Tortall will fall."
Kel nodded. "What has this got to do with me?" She asked. "Besides the fact that I live in Tortall, of course."
He frowned. "I thought that was terribly simple. Your job is to kill him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Woot woot. 3,891 words. I rule.
Treanz-alyce: I have no idea what this Fido thing you're talking about is. Your cell phone took your fanfiction off?
Ophelia-waterhouse: glad you like it!
Rubber duck: why don't you just shut up, know-it-all? No, I'm just kidding. I always mess up the ages, because I pass years or months at a time, so I lose track really easily...I thought I got it in order, but I guess not.
AJ 4EVA: so good!
Wake-robin: thanks
Supersk8ergirl: yep...they do get a little stuck up. But that's because they're nobles, not because they're asses. It's just because they don't live the normal lifestyle that it seems weird when they're stuck up, but they would definitely be like that sometimes.
Lady Wolfspeaker: Actually, I talked about that in my last chapter, or one of them...who knows which. She gets more formal in this chappie.
Aznchicki: it's true, fluff is always good, but I like to write a plot too (except that I don't have one right now *backing away slowly...break into a run!*)
Tris the weatherwitch: great name. mmm....tasty unolimbo crisp...
Fhire: of course you would like it.
God Rox: Thanks! I like to be on author alert lists, they make me feel all tingly inside! Hee hee...
PsychoLioness13: look! Lots more!
Kel goddess protector of: whoa....so...many...spelling...errors....must...not...correct...all...of....them... sorry. I have written more stories. There's this one, After The Deed, Harry Potter and The Second War, and Harry Potter and the Rebuilding of the Magical World. You can see them if you search under my name. I'm also writing another Harry Potter story, but it's not on the computer yet.
Kerowyn-Dawnfire: well, I'm glad you didn't think it was the worst. Just cuz I'm curious, what do you think was the best?
Lady of the rogues: no, I'm not going to write any Alanna stories, because I don't know the books very well, and I didn't particularly enjoy them...they're not as good, in my opinion.
Now, if you would all excuse me, I must go and cram cram cram!
-unolimbo
"How are we doing?" Kel asked Owen, whom she had put in charge of the stores.
He looked over the charts. "Not bad. We have enough food to last us most of winter, with very, very careful rationing. We could always stand to have more."
Kel nodded. "I think we're doing pretty well, actually. As long as we don't get anything major that can wipe them out, these stores will last."
Owen grinned. "Fat chance getting attacked in the middle of winter. Even the Scanrans know they can't survive in this snow."
Kel smiled. "I just hope we can."
She waved goodbye to him and went to her study. She sighed as she looked at her desk. It was so covered in clutter that she could barely see it. Weapons lay out; letters and documents were spread around the room; tea cups and pots sat askew on end tables and shelves; books were on the floor, no longer in their rightful place and Kel was sure she had less furniture than usual.
She bent down and started to clean up. There was a sharp knocking on the door. "Come in." Said Kel, not looking up from her cleaning.
"Good morning, Lady Kel." Fhire said. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Kel bent over and looked at Fhire upside down. She smiled, feeling slightly dizzy from the blood rushing to her head. She stood up. "I realized that my study is a complete pigsty. I cannot imagine that I have been working in these conditions."
Fhire smiled weakly.
"Are you free? Do I need to assign you to something?" Kel asked, not excited at having to find a job for Fhire.
Fhire shook her head. "I could just help you." She said.
Kel stood up. "Would you?" She asked hopefully. "I do have a lot of work to do."
Fhire smiled. "That's my job, Lady Kel. You don't have to ask if I would or not, you know."
Kel shrugged. "I believe in treating everyone the same. I treat you no worse than I treat other knights. Who knows," she laughed, "You could be commanding me one day."
Fhire smiled, and Kel went outside to do her work. She stood outside her door and looked around. Sheep had been brought in from the fields, and there were women spinning and knitting warm clothes for the winter in one corner of the camp. Kel jogged over to them to check up.
One of the young girls playing by the women stood up and ran over to her. "Good morning, Lady Kel!" She did a clumsy curtsey. Kel smiled.
"Good morning. What's your name?" She asked. She felt extremely guilty that she didn't know the young girl's name, but she asked anyway.
"I'm Sari, My Lady. That's my mother," she said, pointing exuberantly at one of the ladies behind a spinning wheel, a young woman, no older than thirty, wearing a tattered rag of a shawl over her faded blue dress. She looked up and smiled at Kel.
Kel walked over to the women. She looked at Sari's mother. Up close she could see that the woman's shawl was completely threadbare.
"Excuse me," Kel said, and the woman looked up, "why have you not gone to the stores for a new shawl? You must be freezing."
The woman smiled weakly. "Thank you, My Lady, but I'm fine. There are children, and elderly, and sick who need the warmth much more than I do."
Kel shook her head. "Once it is colder, you are going to get deathly ill from the cold, and then we will have an even bigger problem with the sick. Please, go to the stores and ask Sir Owen for a new shawl, or even a warm cloak. Do you understand?"
The lady nodded. "Thank you, my lady."
Kel turned back to Sari. She leaned down to the young girl. "How old are you, Sari?" She asked.
Sari rocked back and forth on her heels, her eyes wide. "Almost seven my lady."
Kel smiled. "You're almost old enough to learn how to fight, Sari. Let me see your muscles. Here," she said, "let me feel your muscles."
Sari proudly held up her arm for Kel to squeeze. "Wow!" Kel said, as she felt the young girls arm. "You should join us in training tomorrow." She glanced up at her mother. "If that's alright with your mother, of course."
The woman smiled, and Sari ran up to her. "Please, mama, please?" She asked, shaking her mothers arm.
"Of course, Sari. I'm always glad to be able to help everyone," she added to Kel, "even if it's not me directly."
Kel stood up. "Keep up the good work, ladies. You are making very good time. At this rate, we should have about enough to scrape through winter."
Sari ran up to her and hugged her legs, surprising Kel greatly, and almost knocking her over. "Thank you, my lady."
Kel laughed. "You're welcome." Kel said, and Sari ran back to play with the babies by her mother.
Kel turned and walked away.
"She'll make a wonderful mother one day." One of the women said quietly. The other women all murmured in agreement.
Kel heard them, and walked away a bit faster, feeling the colour rise in her face.
Dom ran up behind her a moment later. "They're right, you know."
Kel's mouth fell open. "Excuse me? You were eavesdropping?"
Dom shook his head, frowning. "No, I just happened to over hear as I was going about my daily duties."
Kel hit him, grinning. "Well, I need to give you harder work."
He grunted. "What did I hear?" I didn't hear anything, I was working too hard."
Kel rolled her eyes. "I have work to do."
She kept walking, but stopped in her tracks. "What did you mean, they were right?" She said, her eyes closed. She turned around to face him. Dom smiled and turned, walking briskly in the other direction.
"Dom!" Kel cried.
He turned around, still walking, and gave her a cheery little wave, before continuing on his way.
* * * * *
Winter came. It was the coldest winter Kel had ever experienced. Whenever she stepped outside, her breath froze in her mouth, and her skin turned so numb that she could not work a bow and arrow. The children still continued their weapons training, but as there was too much snow outside to practice their steps, and it was too cold to hold a sword or a glaive properly, they practiced in the mess hall.
"Alright, everyone grab a wooden sword!" Kel said to the children.
They all scrambled to the table and picked up a sword. There were so many children learning now, that they constantly had to make new swords. Kel wasn't too worried about the wooden ones. She was more worried about the real swords. They had a small blacksmiths, for repairing armour, and making horseshoes, but making new armour and swords was complicated work. They would soon need more swords, and they wouldn't have any. She shook off the thought and got back to the matter at hand.
"Alright! Everyone here has been practicing since at least October, which means almost two months of work. We're going to do some testing now."
All of the children's eyes grew wide. Kel smiled. "You're not going to get into partners today." She threw her arm back, showing the group she brought in with her. Fhire, Neal, Dom, and Merric were standing there.
"I would liked to have gotten more people to help us out, but everyone was on duty." Kel said. "You are going to fight against them."
One of the girls gave a little shriek.
Kel laughed out loud, but then felt badly about it. "Don't worry, they're going to be using wooden swords, also."
She walked around, watching them. They were amazing. They had been training for two months, and some of the older children, the teenagers, were actually posing a threat to Kel's friends.
She laughed as Tobe cornered Neal, who was slightly tired at the time from helping so many people with influenza. Dom and Merric held their ground quite easily, but Fhire had a pretty good battle with a young boy, about fourteen, who was almost a foot taller than her.
Kel laughed, looking over them.
"What's your name, boy?" She asked, though she already knew.
"Jeremy." He grunted.
"Come on, Jeremy, what are you doing here with the children? I'm putting you to work with the men! You shouldn't be here with the girls!"
She got the reaction she wanted. Jeremy got cocky, and Fhire got the upper hand.
"Oh," Kel scolded, "maybe you do deserve to be here with the girls. I want to see something better than this."
She continued on. A few minutes later, she called everyone together again. The children sat down on the floor, exhausted. Dom was leaning against the table, Merric was standing up, but wheezing slightly, Fhire sat down on the floor with the children, looking like she was ready to fall asleep, and Neal collapsed on a chair, doubled over, breathing heavily.
Kel shook her head. "You all did a good job, but not good enough. If I said you were doing well, you got cocky. That's no good. If you fell behind even a little bit, you lost your confidence. Work on your speed and skills, like we do every time, and maybe next time we test, these four will be on the ground.
Dom stood up. "I think we should do it again right now. You, against all of them." He nodded towards the pile of children.
Kel raised an eyebrow. "How about not?"
Fhire laughed. "I could take you."
Kel chose to ignore that comment. "Go get yourselves washed up." She said, and all the children ran back to the barracks to get washed up.
Kel sat down beside Dom as Neal, Merric, and Fhire walked out. "You know, this is pretty exhausting." She said. "All this talking, and teaching."
Dom put his head back. "If I wasn't so tired, I would punch you." He said.
Kel laughed and kissed him. "Do you still want to punch you?"
Dom kept his eyes closed, like he was about to fall asleep. "Yes." He said.
Kel smiled. She put her head down on his chest and listened to his breathing. "What do you see in the future?" Kel asked quietly.
Dom groaned about having to talk. "I see a warm bed, and good midwinter gifts."
Kel hit him softly in the belly with the palm of her hand. It was light enough that he didn't flinch. "I'm serious. What do you see?"
Dom ran his hand through her hair. "I don't see anything in particular. I can't say, 'I see us having a fight around the seventh' or anything like that. I can't say I see us together forever, because I have no idea. That's the wonderful thing about the future. No one knows what it holds."
Kel sat up. "What if I want to know?" She asked.
Dom smiled and kissed her. "You'll just have to wait. Look, we're in the future now. I see are relationship moving towards my room, so I can go to sleep now." He kissed her again. "Good night, Kel."
She smiled and gave him a hug. "Good night, Dom."
The next day, post came. Kel watched as her friends read over their mail, their eyes shining. Neal had gotten a letter from Yuki, that was obvious. Owen had gotten a letter from his parents, he said, and Merric received a letter, though he wouldn't tell her whom it was from.
"There's one here for you too, Kel." Someone said.
Puzzled, Kel reached forward and took the letter from them. "Thanks." she muttered. It wasn't from her parents. It wasn't anyone in her family's handwriting.
"Who's it from?" Dom asked, seeing the perplexed look on her face.
"The crown." She said. "I've been granted leave."
Dom's eyes widened. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into his room.
"What is it?" Kel said. She was worried, until she saw his grin.
"I was granted leave as well!" He said.
Kel looked at him. "Why didn't you say anything?" She asked, trying not to feel hurt by it.
He shrugged. "It had just happened, and I was upset, because I don't want to leave."
Kel frowned. "They can't make me leave." She said, pouting.
Dom smiled. "Yes they can. Besides," he added, "It isn't a requested leave, is it? That means it's more of a sabbatical, then a vacation."
She sighed and nodded. "How long?" She asked.
Dom looked over his letter. "Until April the first." He looked up. "That's when I have to be back." He looked back down again. "And I have to leave directly after Midwinter."
Kel looked at her own letter. "Same here." She said. She looked up at him. "Who's going to replace us?"
Dom shrugged. "No one, I guess. Maybe Jon thinks that three knights is enough."
Kel sat down on the bed. "Something is going to happen." She said quietly. "I can feel it."
Dom sat down beside her. "Nothing is going to happen." He said, holding her hand. "They're not going to attack in the middle of winter." He looked confused for a moment. "I wonder why they want us to leave in this weather. It certainly won't be a very comfortable ride."
Kel smiled. "The letter said we could stay at Steadfast for a night on our way."
Dom kissed her forehead. "There you go." He smiled. "Perfect."
Kel snuggled up to him. "Do you think they're trying to tell us something?" She asked.
Dom looked down at her. "What do you mean?" He asked.
Kel shrugged. "It's just, why would they let us both leave at the same time, in the middle of winter?"
Dom laughed, stroking her shoulder. "I think they gave you leave because you haven't had it in over a year, and you still haven't had any time off since you were in Scanra. Besides, winter is the best time. They know that the Scanrans aren't going to attack."
Kel sat up. "You know, you're right!" She said. "I should be celebrating this time off, shouldn't I?"
Dom grinned.
Kel's face fell. "But what about Fhire? Does she stay here? I mean, she has only been my squire for fifteen months, barely over a year. Will she come with me?"
Dom nodded.
Kel smiled. "Alright then. So it is perfect."
* * * * *
Almost three weeks later, Kel, Dom, and Fhire set off.
It was still very cold, and they rode as fast as they could to Steadfast, where they savoured their warm beds. They set off early the next morning, hoping to go as far as they could, and to make it to an inn. They had spent the first night outside, and they didn't want to do it again. They did.
Kel sat on a log in front of the fire wrapped in a blanket with Fhire beside her on a tree stump while Dom tended to their dinner.
"Why do I have to do this?" He asked.
Kel smiled. "Because you offered."
He stood up. "No I didn't!"
Kel stood up. "Poor Dom. Here let me do that, the rest of your night will be cold enough."
He smiled proudly and sat in Kel's seat. "Wait a minute!" He said. "What did you mean by that?"
Kel smiled. "The boys tent isn't going to have very much body heat."
Dom frowned. He knew he was in for a rough night.
Kel woke early the next morning. She was freezing. She quickly pulled herself out of her bedroll and put on her boots. She went outside, and noticed how much colder it was, just outside of her tent. She looked around. She was all alone. She was just sitting up when she heard someone come up behind her. She stayed still. They were getting closer. They had something in their arms, probably a weapon. Kel could hear them walking with a load. She slowly set herself up to jump...
She leapt up. She was about to punch him when a flurry of sticks flew in her face. "Ahh!" She threw up her hands to stop them from scratching her.
"Mithros, Kel, you what was that jump for?"
Kel put her hands down. There was a pair of bright blue eyes looking back at her. "Dom, don't sneak up on me like that!" She said. "I had no idea that was you."
He laughed. "I'm sorry." He kissed her. "There," he said, "all better."
She smiled. "You are so evil." She rolled her eyes and got down on her knees to light the fire.
Fhire poked her head out of the tent. "What on earth was that noise about?" She asked groggily.
Kel smiled at her. "Dom snuck up on me." She said.
"Hey!" Dom said, pointing a finger at her angrily, "you jumped out at me!"
Kel laughed. "Because you were sneaking up on me." She said, smiling sweetly.
He opened his mouth, but closed it. He knew he couldn't win.
They left as early as they could that morning. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, but it made little difference. Jump didn't even try to run beside Hoshi, he just stayed in her basket. The sparrows buried themselves in Hoshi's mane, and Triaxx curled up on Fhire's pack. Dom mentioned at one point that he felt very lonely, not having a cute animal to cuddle with. They rode all day, finally stopping at a small inn, a four days ride from Corus.
Kel sighed as she stepped into the warm inn. It was so beautiful to her. The low ceiling was barely a foot above her head, and little light made it through the shutters. The candles in the room gave off a warm light, making the entire room glow.
She was immediately led to her room, where she collapsed on her bed. She got up a few minutes later to have a hot bath. After she got out, she dressed and knocked on the door that connected Fhire's room to hers.
Fhire opened the door, looking tired. "Good evening, Lady Kel." She said.
Kel smiled. "Good evening, Fhire. Come on, I have some work for you to do."
Fhire nodded and followed Kel into her room, where they both sat down at the small table in the corner. Kel sighed. "I have to go through all these papers. There's a lot about my leave, but I also have to file reports on the camp. Any problems or requests I have, that sort of thing."
Fhire nodded, and they got to work. They worked for a few hours, and neither of them noticed when Dom knocked on the door.
He opened it. "Hello..." he said.
Kel looked up. "Dom! You couldn't have knocked first?"
He frowned. "I did. You didn't answer." He said. Kel blushed, and Fhire giggled.
When Dom told them what time it was, Kel let Fhire go to bed, feeling rather guilty at keeping her up so late. Dom sat down in her seat.
"Well, I think we're making quite good time, don't you?" He asked.
Kel nodded. "We are." Neither of them said anything. Kel laughed. "Are we going to say anything, or are we both going to fall asleep?" She asked.
Dom shook his head quickly. "I'm sorry, what was that?" Dom asked. "I fell asleep." He smiled. "Did I miss something important?"
Kel smiled. "Neither of us have said anything in ten minutes. I think we were both asleep."
Dom stood up. "Well, seeing as we both fell asleep, I think we should probably go to sleep."
Kel, leaning on her hand, nodded, smiling.
Dom leaned over and kissed her before leaving. "Next time, you have to get up." He said.
Kel slowly stood up and walked over to her bed, which she collapsed on, falling asleep instantly.
* * * * * They reached Corus a few days later. It was still very cold, even so far south from the Scanran border, though not nearly as much so. They rode straight up to the palace stables.
"Hello, Lady Knight." the stable hand said.
Kel glanced over. "You are not Stephan." She said bluntly.
He nodded. "Yes, My Lady. They hired me a few months ago. Stephan was having trouble on his own."
Kel nodded slowly, looking him over. He held his head high, unmoving. "Very well." Kel said finally. "My horse will not be good for just anyone. Please bring me Stephan."
"I'm sorry, My Lady, Stephan is not here."
Kel frowned. As she did, she realized she was becoming the frightening knight who intimidated all of the servants. She didn't want to be that. "Very well, my squire will tend to my horse. Thank you for your assistance..."
"Jan, My Lady."
Kel smiled. "Thank you, Jan."
He smiled back. "My pleasure, My Lady."
Kel called out to Fhire, who came quickly from the other end of the stables. "Yes, Lady Kel?" She asked.
Kel smiled. "Could you tend to Peachblossom please, Fhire? I have some things to do."
Fhire nodded. "Yes Lady Kel." Kel gave her the reins and walked off to find Dom. They needed to find out once and for all why they had been given leave.
They found out rather quickly. A page came up them during supper. "Yes?" Dom asked.
"My name is Johannes, Sir. The king has requested your presence after supper." He said, looking fairly nervous. He tried to focus on Dom, but kept stealing glances at Kel.
"Thank you, Johannes." Kel said. He jumped slightly, and looked at her wide- eyed. He bowed.
"You're welcome, My Lady."
Dom grabbed his arm as he turned. He signalled for the boy to come closer. He did, and Dom whispered something in his ear.
Kel raised an eyebrow after the boy had left. "What did you tell him?" She asked suspiciously.
"To call you sir." He smiled.
Kel raised her eyebrow even higher. "And why did you whisper?"
Dom stopped smiling. He looked pensive. "Honestly, I don't know."
Kel laughed and went back to her supper.
After dinner, they were admitted into the king's study.
"Good evening, Sir Keladry, Captain Domitan." Jon nodded to both of them.
He smiled at Kel. "I thought you should know, there is another female page, by the name of Aleydis. Perhaps she will be your squire, as well."
Kel smiled. "Maybe, your majesty."
Jon sat up a bit straighter. "Now, to the business at hand. The kingdom is in grave danger." He said, looking very solemn. "Keladry, Maggur must be defeated. If he is not, I fear the land of Tortall will fall."
Kel nodded. "What has this got to do with me?" She asked. "Besides the fact that I live in Tortall, of course."
He frowned. "I thought that was terribly simple. Your job is to kill him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Woot woot. 3,891 words. I rule.
Treanz-alyce: I have no idea what this Fido thing you're talking about is. Your cell phone took your fanfiction off?
Ophelia-waterhouse: glad you like it!
Rubber duck: why don't you just shut up, know-it-all? No, I'm just kidding. I always mess up the ages, because I pass years or months at a time, so I lose track really easily...I thought I got it in order, but I guess not.
AJ 4EVA: so good!
Wake-robin: thanks
Supersk8ergirl: yep...they do get a little stuck up. But that's because they're nobles, not because they're asses. It's just because they don't live the normal lifestyle that it seems weird when they're stuck up, but they would definitely be like that sometimes.
Lady Wolfspeaker: Actually, I talked about that in my last chapter, or one of them...who knows which. She gets more formal in this chappie.
Aznchicki: it's true, fluff is always good, but I like to write a plot too (except that I don't have one right now *backing away slowly...break into a run!*)
Tris the weatherwitch: great name. mmm....tasty unolimbo crisp...
Fhire: of course you would like it.
God Rox: Thanks! I like to be on author alert lists, they make me feel all tingly inside! Hee hee...
PsychoLioness13: look! Lots more!
Kel goddess protector of: whoa....so...many...spelling...errors....must...not...correct...all...of....them... sorry. I have written more stories. There's this one, After The Deed, Harry Potter and The Second War, and Harry Potter and the Rebuilding of the Magical World. You can see them if you search under my name. I'm also writing another Harry Potter story, but it's not on the computer yet.
Kerowyn-Dawnfire: well, I'm glad you didn't think it was the worst. Just cuz I'm curious, what do you think was the best?
Lady of the rogues: no, I'm not going to write any Alanna stories, because I don't know the books very well, and I didn't particularly enjoy them...they're not as good, in my opinion.
Now, if you would all excuse me, I must go and cram cram cram!
-unolimbo