Mission: Undercover
by an anonymous geek
Chapter Two
Kel looked at herself in the mirror one last time. The dress that she was wearing to the party at the Dancing Dove was made out of a deep red material. It was tight fitting, to Kel's discomfort, and it flared out a the bottom. The neckline was lower than Kel would have liked, and a small silver necklace hung around her neck. Her hair was done up in a loose bun at the top of her head, and little curls framed her face.
A knock at the door brought her out of her thoughts of disgust about her clothing. She opened the door and there stood a dashing Neal. He looked at Kel.
"Kel, you look magnificent," he declared.
Kel punched him in the shoulder. He moved back and rubbed his shoulder in mock hurt. "Come on," she said. "Let's get this over with."
~ * ~
When they entered the Dancing Dove, Kel immediately regretted agreeing to go to this. The room was filled with smoke, and all over were intoxicated men who stumbled around the room. The center of the room was cleared out for some rowdy dancing, unlike the slow, peaceful music that Kel was used to at the court balls. Kel looked over at Neal and was not at all surprised to see a mischievous gleam in his eyes and a smile on his face. She sighed; what made her evening worse was that he was enjoying it. She walked over to the counter of the bar and sat down on a tall chair. A big hairy man walked over to her and handed her a large wooden cup of strong ale.
"Here, drink this. It's on me. Ye look as if ye could use a bit 'a this to lighten up yer day."
Normally, Kel would have turned away such an offer, but she did not want to be rude, so she nodded toward the rosy-cheeked man and took a sip. She shivered at the sensation of such a strong drink going down her throat. She forced herself to drink more. Taking a big gulp of the liquor, she shuddered.
When she came to the end of the ale, she realized that she liked it and actually wanted more. She signaled the bartender over and asked him for more ale. After this she started to lose sense of it. She was slightly aware that at one point she stopped drinking and started dancing, but it was all happening in a blur.
~ * ~
Sometime during the night, Neal stopped to look for Kel. To his surprise, and amusement, she was downing a huge mug of ale. He walked over to talk to her, but she didn't even acknowledge him. He shrugged and walked away. Later, he saw her dancing with a very drunk man. She looked as if she was about to collapse.
He walked over to her, and pulled her out of the room.
"Wha-what?" she asked.
"I think you had a little too much to drink."
"I don't think so, but it's really hot in here." They walked outside. "Do I know you?"
Neal smiled. "I don't think so."
"I coulda sworn. . ."
He chuckled and pulled her up in front of him on his horse, while he took Peachblossom's reins. Kel leaned back against him and sighed. Neal was surprised by her behavior. This was a Kel he had never seen before. Of course, he had never seen her drunk before, either.
By the time they had reached the palace, Kel had fallen asleep. After he had given the reins of both the horses to a boy who worked at the stables, Neal picked up Kel and walked toward her room. He was surprised at how light she was. Even with all that muscle, she was still much smaller than him. When he reached her room, he opened her door and laid her down on her bed. He was conscious of how strange he must have looked, walking through the halls of the palace, carrying Kel. Once he had laid her down, he looked at her. She looked so peaceful and innocent. He could have stayed there, looking down at her for awhile, but he knew that he needed to get his sleep. He leaned down, kissed her on the forehead, and walked out of the room.
~ * ~
A/N: okay, I know the whole Kel-gets-drunk thing has been used way too many times, but at least I didn't do the Kel-gets-drunk-and-kisses-Neal thing, though that wouldn't have been that bad! hehe.
Okay, this is going to be a LONG story, longer than my other ones, and the romance is not really going to come for awhile. I'm just going to have a little tease every chapter. Like, in this one where she's resting her head on his chest, and then where he kisses her on the forehead. There'll be those kinds of things in every chapter. And then they'll finally get bigger and better, but notice that this is rated PG, and that means I'm not going to have any *nasty* things in here; you know what I mean. I think its utterly disgusting when people write stuff like that. Okay? Good.
Please review! Flames are accepted, but I don't take them very well, so if I tell you to die, know that it's your own fault.
~Alianne (I BOUGHT TRICKSTER'S CHOICE!!! yay!!! now I'm obsessed with it and I'm calling myself Alianne)