Normally, Kel didn't like staying at the palace. She found that, even with
practice, her skills weakened. But now, that didn't matter. She was happy
to be at the palace, to be with her friends, to just relax. She had been
there such a long time, but she hadn't really relaxed since she and Dom had
fought, five months earlier.
"Dom, we need to talk." Kel said one day. Her heart rate was up again, and her palms were sweaty.
He looked up from his book. "Mm hmm?" He said.
Kel sat down beside him. "Well, I have had almost six months to think about every possible option, and-" she took a deep breath. "I decided I will marry you. If you still want to, of course." She added quickly.
Dom sat up. "Kel, you don't have to do this just for me, you know."
She smiled. "Does that mean you still want to?"
He held her hand. "Tell me honestly, Kel, is this because you want to?" he asked her.
She looked him in the eye. "I do want to, I promise. I wanted to before, but I thought that it wasn't the best route. I realized that if we just do nothing, we will end up being separated somehow, and when we were separated, nothing felt right."
He smiled at her. "Honestly, Kel, I never thought I would see the Lady Knight so sentimental."
Kel laughed. "If you're not careful, you won't again."
Dom kissed her. "All right, I'm sorry. Look, I'll meet you by the water tomorrow at noon, all right?"
Kel looked at him, confused. "The water at noon? Why?"
Dom grinned. "You will see, don't worry."
He kissed her again, and got up. "See you tomorrow." He said, and was gone before Kel could question him.
The next day, as Dom had told her to, Kel walked down to the river. She would have ridden, but she had broken Hoshi's tack the day before, and Peachblossom was sick. After a two hour walk, Kel finally arrived at the river, where Dom was already waiting.
She expected him to ask her why se had no horse, but he didn't. He brought her down to the water and they sat down. He pulled out the same box as the time before, and presented it to Kel. He got down on one knee.
"Keladry of Mindelan, will you marry me?"
Kel smiled as she opened the box. She saw something she did not expect. It was not the ring she had seen before. He had gotten her a different one. It was about a half of the size in width, barely three millimetres wide, with a tiny row of diamonds, again, alternating with garnets.
Kel looked up and smiled. "Of course." She said, and she kissed him. Dom pulled her up and grabbed her by the waist, spinning her around. Kel laughed as he did so.
"Why did you change the ring?" She asked.
Dom shrugged. "I knew that last time, you had realized all that about not wanting to distract yourself when you looked at the ring. I thought maybe the ring was too intimidating.
"Besides," he said, holding Kel's hand, "I want it to fit under your armoured gloves, just in case."
Kel smiled. "You just thought of everything, didn't you?"
Dom kissed her again. "That's my job."
A few minutes later, they got up and walked over to Dom's horse. "Hey, where is your horse?" Dom said, finally noticing.
Kel smiled. "I walked. Hoshi's bridle snapped, and Peachblossom is ill."
Dom raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm certainly not going to leave you out here alone, now, am I?" He gave her his hand and she jumped up on his horse behind him. It was only a half hour ride at a trot, but Kel's backside protested the entire way. As did Dom's horse, who constantly whinnied complaints for the entire ride back.
Kel went back to her room afterwards to tell Fhire, and to change for dinner. She intercepted Fhire on her way there.
"Fhire, look!" She held up her hand for Fhire to see.
The girl smiled. "Congratulations, Lady Kel."
Kel raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem very excited." She said.
Fhire shrugged. "I guess I expected it. Oh yes, and Dom told me."
Kel smiled. "Did he want to verify that I would say yes?"
Fhire nodded. Kel was exactly right.
As she was getting dressed for dinner, there was a knock on Kel's door. She called out for Fhire to answer it. Fhire quickly answered it. "It's a messenger." She said. "From the king."
Kel poked her head out of her dressing room. "What is it?"
He bowed, blushing slightly, as if he could imagine what was behind the screen. "the king requests that you dine with him, in the private dining room." Kel raised an eyebrow. "He wishes to hold a meeting during the meal for a number of the knights, as he said it cannot wait."
Kel sighed. "I will be there."
The messenger bowed and departed.
"Well, Fhire, it looks like we're eating with the king tonight."
A few minutes later, Kel and Fhire were at the door of the royal family's private dining room. Kel knocked, and was immediately admitted in. there was a large table, set up for at least twenty people. there were a few there already.
In a quarter of an hour, the table was filled with knights and members of the King's Own.
"Quiet down!" Jon said from the head of the table, after they had all received their food. "We have a serious problem." Jon was never one to mince words. "We thought that the threat of Scanra was over. We were wrong. There is a new warlord, not as powerful as Maggur, but he is gaining strength at every turn. My spies tell me that he will be ready to attack our borders in less than a week. We must act now!
"We will re-occupy the forts by the border and attack strong and fast. We will not let them get the upper hand! I want five squads in every camp, along with one squad of the King's Own. You will leave before dawn tomorrow, all of your men. You will have one week to get to your destination, and in ten days, you will attack from every point. I do not want this war to last for years. You will go into Scanra, and wipe out their armies. The forts will be filled with the squads. Along with those squads, there will be 50,000 men."
Someone laughed. "Sir, that is impossible! We cannot recruit an army of 50,000 and get them to the battle field in ten days! It is folly."
Jon frowned. "I will not be contradicted, and I will not be wrong. We were ready for this, you see. There is an army ready, waiting for action. They have been preparing for weeks, and they are ready. As I said, you will set off tomorrow.
"Now, to your assignments." He took out a sheet of papers and began listing off squads, and saying where they would go. Finally, he came to Kel and her friends. "Sir Keladry of Mindelan, you are to be commander of Steadfast. Sir Nealan of Queenscove, you will be ranking healer at Steadfast, and second in command..."
He continued, but Kel wasn't listening. She was to be commander of a fort? Sure, she had commanded a refugee camp, but that was nothing like this. She rarely saw war, and when she did, it was small, and she had few men to command.
Kel walked out of the meeting feeling slightly queasy. Dom caught up with her and wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing, making Kel feel like she was going to throw up. "This is wonderful, sweets, I'm going to be at Steadfast as well!"
Kel smiled weakly. "Wonderful." She said.
Dom frowned. "Ok, spit it out."
Kel sighed. "I'm nervous. A fort is too much for me. I cannot command this many men, and I don't think I'm ready for it."
Dom smiled. "Kel, you are one of the best knights in the realm. I think the only ones who better you in everything are Raoul, and possibly Alanna, if she tries really hard."
Kel smiled. "Thank you, but it's not true."
Dom shook his head. "Think about it, Kel: you were squire to the best knight in the realm, where you excelled; you ran two separate refugee camps beautifully; you killed Blayce; you were kidnapped and survived; you killed Maggur himself; and now you are commanding the fort that the only other person who has commanded it is the best knight in the realm- the same one that you were squire to."
Kel sighed. "I guess. I just hope this goes quickly. We must be home by Midwinter."
Dom kissed her forehead. "You will be fine."
They left before dawn the next morning. Sadly, Kel had to leave Peachblossom at home- he had gotten worse. Kel hoped he fared better while she was gone. Daine promised that she would tend to him as well as she could. Tobe had come back to Corus after everyone left the refugee camp, but as Kel had a squire, he was not needed, and he got a job in the stables. He too promised to keep an eye on Peachblossom. Kel had Hoshi's tack fixed, but she was still down a horse. Kindly, the king lent her one of the horses that were prepared for the new pages.
"It's been a long time since I was at war, really." Kel said one day. "Almost a year. We left the fort, when was it, last November? It's September now. Ten months away from war. A girl could get used to that."
Dom laughed. "It's true, we could get used to it. but we could get used to war, as well."
They arrived at Steadfast a few days later. By the time it was time to attack, Steadfast was beyond ready. There were ten thousand men camped outside of Steadfast, all of whom Kel was commanding. She was ready for them, too. On September 20th, they departed for Scanra.
The Scanrans were expecting to attack, themselves, a week later.
Tortall would succeed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erkith: Glad you like it!
AJ 4EVA: I need to stop responding. Do you just copy and paste every email? It's a good idea, it really is.
Wake-Robin: thanks! No, it's not the end. This is one of those stories where I just keep getting new ideas. In the world of Tortall, there is always something new to happen. I actually thought that the mouths thing was a little too much, and I thought people wouldn't like it!
Chizzychizchiz: of course!
Ellabelle1: longest review EVER! I actually thought she did get a little too mushy...oh well. Thanks! She is sometimes stone around her friends, but she mentions in the book that it has been such a long time since she was in the Yamani islands that she is no good at it any more, and I like to play up on that. Hee hee...I like that too. I thought that Fhire had no personality, no depth. I'm really planning to go into her a lot more, especially after she becomes a knight. She will no longer be a kid, she will be a friend, and a good one at that. Maybe...you will see. Kel agreed to marry him in this chapter, but they didn't talk about how he can't marry. They realized they were past that, it wasn't important enough to keep them apart, and they will deal with it later. Its going to play a part, don't worry. Thanks for writing such a good review!
Ellabelle1 (2, I guess...): I don't even remember that part...I've been writing too much! Oh well. Maybe I'll change it, unless I really like it. thanks again!
Anon: who said anything about wanting to end it?
"My god, you're like a trained ape! Without the training!"
-unolimbo
"Dom, we need to talk." Kel said one day. Her heart rate was up again, and her palms were sweaty.
He looked up from his book. "Mm hmm?" He said.
Kel sat down beside him. "Well, I have had almost six months to think about every possible option, and-" she took a deep breath. "I decided I will marry you. If you still want to, of course." She added quickly.
Dom sat up. "Kel, you don't have to do this just for me, you know."
She smiled. "Does that mean you still want to?"
He held her hand. "Tell me honestly, Kel, is this because you want to?" he asked her.
She looked him in the eye. "I do want to, I promise. I wanted to before, but I thought that it wasn't the best route. I realized that if we just do nothing, we will end up being separated somehow, and when we were separated, nothing felt right."
He smiled at her. "Honestly, Kel, I never thought I would see the Lady Knight so sentimental."
Kel laughed. "If you're not careful, you won't again."
Dom kissed her. "All right, I'm sorry. Look, I'll meet you by the water tomorrow at noon, all right?"
Kel looked at him, confused. "The water at noon? Why?"
Dom grinned. "You will see, don't worry."
He kissed her again, and got up. "See you tomorrow." He said, and was gone before Kel could question him.
The next day, as Dom had told her to, Kel walked down to the river. She would have ridden, but she had broken Hoshi's tack the day before, and Peachblossom was sick. After a two hour walk, Kel finally arrived at the river, where Dom was already waiting.
She expected him to ask her why se had no horse, but he didn't. He brought her down to the water and they sat down. He pulled out the same box as the time before, and presented it to Kel. He got down on one knee.
"Keladry of Mindelan, will you marry me?"
Kel smiled as she opened the box. She saw something she did not expect. It was not the ring she had seen before. He had gotten her a different one. It was about a half of the size in width, barely three millimetres wide, with a tiny row of diamonds, again, alternating with garnets.
Kel looked up and smiled. "Of course." She said, and she kissed him. Dom pulled her up and grabbed her by the waist, spinning her around. Kel laughed as he did so.
"Why did you change the ring?" She asked.
Dom shrugged. "I knew that last time, you had realized all that about not wanting to distract yourself when you looked at the ring. I thought maybe the ring was too intimidating.
"Besides," he said, holding Kel's hand, "I want it to fit under your armoured gloves, just in case."
Kel smiled. "You just thought of everything, didn't you?"
Dom kissed her again. "That's my job."
A few minutes later, they got up and walked over to Dom's horse. "Hey, where is your horse?" Dom said, finally noticing.
Kel smiled. "I walked. Hoshi's bridle snapped, and Peachblossom is ill."
Dom raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm certainly not going to leave you out here alone, now, am I?" He gave her his hand and she jumped up on his horse behind him. It was only a half hour ride at a trot, but Kel's backside protested the entire way. As did Dom's horse, who constantly whinnied complaints for the entire ride back.
Kel went back to her room afterwards to tell Fhire, and to change for dinner. She intercepted Fhire on her way there.
"Fhire, look!" She held up her hand for Fhire to see.
The girl smiled. "Congratulations, Lady Kel."
Kel raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem very excited." She said.
Fhire shrugged. "I guess I expected it. Oh yes, and Dom told me."
Kel smiled. "Did he want to verify that I would say yes?"
Fhire nodded. Kel was exactly right.
As she was getting dressed for dinner, there was a knock on Kel's door. She called out for Fhire to answer it. Fhire quickly answered it. "It's a messenger." She said. "From the king."
Kel poked her head out of her dressing room. "What is it?"
He bowed, blushing slightly, as if he could imagine what was behind the screen. "the king requests that you dine with him, in the private dining room." Kel raised an eyebrow. "He wishes to hold a meeting during the meal for a number of the knights, as he said it cannot wait."
Kel sighed. "I will be there."
The messenger bowed and departed.
"Well, Fhire, it looks like we're eating with the king tonight."
A few minutes later, Kel and Fhire were at the door of the royal family's private dining room. Kel knocked, and was immediately admitted in. there was a large table, set up for at least twenty people. there were a few there already.
In a quarter of an hour, the table was filled with knights and members of the King's Own.
"Quiet down!" Jon said from the head of the table, after they had all received their food. "We have a serious problem." Jon was never one to mince words. "We thought that the threat of Scanra was over. We were wrong. There is a new warlord, not as powerful as Maggur, but he is gaining strength at every turn. My spies tell me that he will be ready to attack our borders in less than a week. We must act now!
"We will re-occupy the forts by the border and attack strong and fast. We will not let them get the upper hand! I want five squads in every camp, along with one squad of the King's Own. You will leave before dawn tomorrow, all of your men. You will have one week to get to your destination, and in ten days, you will attack from every point. I do not want this war to last for years. You will go into Scanra, and wipe out their armies. The forts will be filled with the squads. Along with those squads, there will be 50,000 men."
Someone laughed. "Sir, that is impossible! We cannot recruit an army of 50,000 and get them to the battle field in ten days! It is folly."
Jon frowned. "I will not be contradicted, and I will not be wrong. We were ready for this, you see. There is an army ready, waiting for action. They have been preparing for weeks, and they are ready. As I said, you will set off tomorrow.
"Now, to your assignments." He took out a sheet of papers and began listing off squads, and saying where they would go. Finally, he came to Kel and her friends. "Sir Keladry of Mindelan, you are to be commander of Steadfast. Sir Nealan of Queenscove, you will be ranking healer at Steadfast, and second in command..."
He continued, but Kel wasn't listening. She was to be commander of a fort? Sure, she had commanded a refugee camp, but that was nothing like this. She rarely saw war, and when she did, it was small, and she had few men to command.
Kel walked out of the meeting feeling slightly queasy. Dom caught up with her and wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing, making Kel feel like she was going to throw up. "This is wonderful, sweets, I'm going to be at Steadfast as well!"
Kel smiled weakly. "Wonderful." She said.
Dom frowned. "Ok, spit it out."
Kel sighed. "I'm nervous. A fort is too much for me. I cannot command this many men, and I don't think I'm ready for it."
Dom smiled. "Kel, you are one of the best knights in the realm. I think the only ones who better you in everything are Raoul, and possibly Alanna, if she tries really hard."
Kel smiled. "Thank you, but it's not true."
Dom shook his head. "Think about it, Kel: you were squire to the best knight in the realm, where you excelled; you ran two separate refugee camps beautifully; you killed Blayce; you were kidnapped and survived; you killed Maggur himself; and now you are commanding the fort that the only other person who has commanded it is the best knight in the realm- the same one that you were squire to."
Kel sighed. "I guess. I just hope this goes quickly. We must be home by Midwinter."
Dom kissed her forehead. "You will be fine."
They left before dawn the next morning. Sadly, Kel had to leave Peachblossom at home- he had gotten worse. Kel hoped he fared better while she was gone. Daine promised that she would tend to him as well as she could. Tobe had come back to Corus after everyone left the refugee camp, but as Kel had a squire, he was not needed, and he got a job in the stables. He too promised to keep an eye on Peachblossom. Kel had Hoshi's tack fixed, but she was still down a horse. Kindly, the king lent her one of the horses that were prepared for the new pages.
"It's been a long time since I was at war, really." Kel said one day. "Almost a year. We left the fort, when was it, last November? It's September now. Ten months away from war. A girl could get used to that."
Dom laughed. "It's true, we could get used to it. but we could get used to war, as well."
They arrived at Steadfast a few days later. By the time it was time to attack, Steadfast was beyond ready. There were ten thousand men camped outside of Steadfast, all of whom Kel was commanding. She was ready for them, too. On September 20th, they departed for Scanra.
The Scanrans were expecting to attack, themselves, a week later.
Tortall would succeed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erkith: Glad you like it!
AJ 4EVA: I need to stop responding. Do you just copy and paste every email? It's a good idea, it really is.
Wake-Robin: thanks! No, it's not the end. This is one of those stories where I just keep getting new ideas. In the world of Tortall, there is always something new to happen. I actually thought that the mouths thing was a little too much, and I thought people wouldn't like it!
Chizzychizchiz: of course!
Ellabelle1: longest review EVER! I actually thought she did get a little too mushy...oh well. Thanks! She is sometimes stone around her friends, but she mentions in the book that it has been such a long time since she was in the Yamani islands that she is no good at it any more, and I like to play up on that. Hee hee...I like that too. I thought that Fhire had no personality, no depth. I'm really planning to go into her a lot more, especially after she becomes a knight. She will no longer be a kid, she will be a friend, and a good one at that. Maybe...you will see. Kel agreed to marry him in this chapter, but they didn't talk about how he can't marry. They realized they were past that, it wasn't important enough to keep them apart, and they will deal with it later. Its going to play a part, don't worry. Thanks for writing such a good review!
Ellabelle1 (2, I guess...): I don't even remember that part...I've been writing too much! Oh well. Maybe I'll change it, unless I really like it. thanks again!
Anon: who said anything about wanting to end it?
"My god, you're like a trained ape! Without the training!"
-unolimbo