Kel took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she prepared to enter the
banquet hall. As bridesmaids, both she and Yuki had to enter before the
Royalty as the wedding party was introduced. She glanced back at Princess
Shinko and Prince Roald. The couple was in their own little world. Next to
them stood the King and Queen. Kel liked Queen Thayet. Numerous training
sessions with her majesty and the Yamani ladies over the years had shown
her that Thayet was pretty easy going. Or maybe it was getting dumped on
her butt several times with a glaive that had made her think that. King
Jonathan was another story. She knew he cared about his people. She'd seen
that when he and the Queen agreed to change a law that was cruel and unfair
to the commoners. And they had done it because she asked them to. But she
couldn't help being angry at him for making her go through a year of
probation as a page when no one else had to. It didn't help that King
Jonathan had used The Own and her former knight master Raoul as decoration
for the Grand Progress.
Kel focused her attention back to the doors of the banquet hall. The Chief Herald was announcing their entrance. Both she and Yuki walked through the doors as their names were called and began to descend the stairs. When they reached the bottom they turned to watch the King and Queen followed by the newlyweds. Yukimi curtsied and Kel caught herself as she began to bow, then quickly changed it into a slightly wobbly curtsy. Silently she cursed herself for forgetting that tonight she had to act like a lady. She hoped that no one had seen her mistake. It was likely that no one had witnessed it because at that moment all eyes were on Shinko and Roald. The room had gone completely silent. After Roald and Shinko had crossed the room and were seated with the King and Queen, music began to play and people began to talk again. Kel felt some of the evenings pressure float away as she told herself "Just a few more hours and then I can sneak away." A squire came to take Kel's arm and guide her to her table. She knew she would be sitting with Neal and Yuki but their other companion was unknown to her. If she was going to be stuck sitting next to another conservative she would have to put on her Yamani-blank face. As she sat down she took a deep breath and thought about a calm lake. She could feel some of the tension in her body release as she repeated the lake idea to herself several times. She opened her eyes and was about to interrupt Yuki and Neal when Dom walked up to the table and sat down beside her. All of the Yamani-calm Kel had just summoned disappeared. "You're my table partner tonight?" she gasped. "Well don't sound so happy" replied Dom. "I thought we'd catch up on things but if you'd rather me move..." "No, no no!" replied Kel, almost a little too anxiously. "This is much better than sitting next to some stuff shirt." Secretly, Kel thought that sitting next to Dom would be much better than sitting next to anyone. "I heard that you did such a good job at New Hope the refugees were almost sorry to see the war end." Kel blushed at Dom's comment. Then she made the mistake of looking into his very intense blue eyes. It was a good thing she was sitting down or her knees would have gone all wobbly on her. She was used to seeing him in the standard uniform of The Own, but tonight's dress uniform was a deep blue that seemed to make the color of his eyes even more intense. Kel looked down to avoid his glare. A curl brushed down against her face. She started to reach for it but Dom beat her to it. "Pretty" he said as he fingered the curl. "I don't think I've ever seen you so dressed up." "And you won't again. At least not until Neal and Yuki's wedding. I don't understand how girls walk with so much fabric at their feet. Not to mention I feel like if I make one wrong move I'm going to fall out of this thing. " "You sure complain a lot for someone who used to wear dresses to dinner every day as a page" Neal chimed in. "Those dresses," began Kel, "had a bit more fabric to them in the areas that counted." "I like it," cut in Dom. Kel caught herself blushing again. Tonight was going to be interesting.
Kel watched as Neal led Yuki out on the dance floor. She didn't realize that her eyes gave away her desire to dance herself until she heard a familiar voice say "Would you do me the honor?" Kel looked up at Sergeant Domitanon who was now standing beside her chair.
"I haven't danced since Master Oakbridge's etiquette classes," she replied as she stood and took his hand. Dom led her out to the dance floor and wrapped one hand snuggly around her waist. Soon they were turning and swaying with the music.
"That was an interesting curtsy you did earlier" joked the sergeant. "I was hoping no one had seen that" said Kel as she blushed. "Oh I don't think anyone did. They were too busy watching the new bride and groom." Kel started to argue that HE had seen it but stopped. He was looking at her in a funny way. The way Cleon had looked when he kissed her for the first time on Progress.
A yell behind them snapped Kel out of his trance. They turned to see Groten, a nasty knight who had given Kel trouble in the past yelling at a page. "You made me spill my drink you little maggot." The page tried to apologize but before he could Groten had grabbed him by the collar. "That's enough," shouted Kel. She had on her Yamani face and was trying very carefully to control her anger. No page deserved to be treated like that, partially because most had never served at such a formal banquet, but also because it was just plain wrong. "Mind your own business you little slut," slurred Groten, who had clearly had a little too much to drink. He could be slime, but if not for the alcohol, Kel doubted he would have gotten so carried away at a royal function. She took a step between the young page and Groten. "Leave him alone, he's just a page." Her voice was calm as she said it, but Kel could feel her teeth grinding. She hated bullies. "And what are you going to do, challenge me to a duel in your skirt?" replied Groten. Dom came up behind him and put a firm hand on his shoulder. Raoul had stood up from his table on the other side of the floor and was walking towards them. Neal had also stopped dancing with Yuki in order to glare at the drunken knight. "Sir Groten, you have had too much to drink and need to go back to your rooms. NOW," said Dom in a voice that Kel had only heard him use on the battle field. "Why should I go back to my room? That little wench should go back to the whore hous--- before Groten could finish his sentence Dom had laid a right hook on the knight, knocking him to the floor. Kel didn't know what to do. She looked at Groten, who currently, was feeling for a loose tooth with his tongue. Then she looked up at Dom. Slowly, almost timidly she reached out and grabbed his hand and held it. Raoul had come over to have some of the hall guards remove the drunken knight.
"What do we do now?" said Kel. Things hadn't quite sunk in yet. She was still trying to get over the smacking sound of Dom's fist hitting Groten's jaw.
"Probably leave before one of his friends realizes what just happened" said Dom.
"I agree," joined in Raoul. "We don't need a brawl at a royal wedding reception.
And I can only get you off the hook one punch at a time Dom." Kel asked a squire to bring her her wrap, which she had left at the table, and she and Dom walked out of the banquet hall, still holding hands.
Kel took a deep breath and she and Dom walked down the empty hallway. Their feet echoed against the stone floors. Her palm was sweaty from nervousness but so was Dom's. They continued to hold hands anyways. Suddenly Dom stopped and turned Kel to face him.
"Kel, I...," Dom paused as he said this and looked into her eyes. Before he said anything else he leaned in for a long passionate kiss. His mouth was warm against hers. The first time she had kissed Cleon she had felt that she should pull away. She didn't feel this way with Dom. Instead she found her body responding to his kiss, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he hugged her waist. They pulled away, breathless. Kel had to assume from the burning in her face that she was just as red as he was.
"I've wanted to do that for a long time" he said.
"So have I," she replied. "We, we should talk. About this. Us. Is there an us?"
"I hope so," said Dom. Otherwise that kiss was very misleading."
"Tobe will be in my room. But if we are quiet, we can talk there. Besides, he won't go to bed till I am back anyways," she said.
As they made their way down the hall Kel felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle up. Dom must have had the same feeling too because he stopped in his steps at the same time she did. Dom unsheathed his sword, which luckily was part of The Own's dress uniform. Kel lifted her skirt to reveal several daggers strapped around the inside of her thighs. Had she not been sensing danger, she would have felt a little embarrassed at showing so much of her bare leg to Dom. They pressed their backs against the wall as they prepared to round the corner. Someone was in the hallway outside of Kel's room. Someone who was trying to be very quiet. Someone who was not supposed to be there. Dom motioned to Kel that he would turn the corner first with her to come from behind as backup. His sword would provide better protection from a surprise attacker than her short daggers. Besides, whoever was outside of Kel's rooms would be expecting Kel, not Dom.
Dom turned the corner to face the intruder. Kel followed just two steps behind him. Ansil of Groten leaned against the door with both Burchard of Stone Mountain and a man that Kel didn't recognize. The way he stood and held his sword told Kel enough to know that he was dangerous. She shifted her feet into a fighting stance as she moved next to Dom.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" she asked.
"We came to talk to you about some...philosophical differences," giggled Groten, who had obviously not had his last drink in the banquet hall. "I brought my friend here to help me persuade you." Drunk as he was, he obviously intended to fight. He unsheathed his sword in a careless manner and nearly fell on his face in the process.
"Great," thought Kel. She not only had to deal with a drunken knight but another full blooded knight and a warrior she knew nothing about.
"We can settle this on the courts if you wish," she said.
"I'm not here to settle this on the courts. We're going to settle this now where no ones here to magic you. You're a whore and you've corrupted half the nobles out here. Just like you did my boy!" said Burchard .
He advanced on Kel, sword raised. Silently she cursed the fact that not only was she in a dress and heels but that all she had to defend herself were two short daggers. Dom moved in on the stranger. As Burchard swung and cut, Kel dipped and swerved. It wouldn't do for her to get chopped in half because she was too eager to strike. She would have to watch for him to get careless. Something she didn't think was too likely to happen. She could hear Dom and the man behind her exchanging blows. Toby must have heard the noise too because Kel saw her door open and a tiny face peak out. She shouldn't have let that distract her, but it did and her attacker brought his blade down across her shoulder and side. Kel deflected most of the blow with one of her daggers but she was bleeding somewhere near the hip. Every step hurt more and more but if she backed off now he'd have her. There was a loud "thunk" to her left as Dom was knocked on the head by the other man. He sat stunned where he had fallen. The stranger brought up his sword to finish the Sergeant when Jump attacked out of nowhere. Two sparrows went after the man's face. Tobe may have only been a boy but he'd ridden with Kel long enough to know when a battle wasn't going their way. He must have let Jump and the sparrows out to help. Burchard turned towards the stranger giving Kel the opening she needed. With one dagger she cut up and across from his right to his left and with the other she attacked the shoulder that was his sword arm. Burchard of Stone Mountain went down. She hadn't killed him, only put him out of working order. When she'd cut his sword arm he had dropped his blade, which Kel now picked up. Kel hit him over the head with the blunt end of the blade, knocking him out. She now turned her attention on the Stranger. Jumps attack had given Dom just enough time to recover from his hit and get back on his feet. The two were now matching each other blow for blow. Kel had not forgotten about Groten. He may have been drunk but all that meant was that he was unpredictable. He was nowhere to be seen. He must have run when he saw the other knight go down. She turned her attention once again to Dom and the man. Dom blocked a blow from the stranger and made a swift cut across his stomach. The man went down in a pool of blood.
"Tobe," yelled Kel. "Go get a healer."
Tobe didn't even stop to answer as he ran past her and down the hallway.
Dom came over to where she stood and immediately began looking her over wound. There was a tear in the waist of her dress, revealing a deep gash that stretched from her rib cage to her hip. He removed the sash from his waist and tied it tightly around the wound to slow the blood flow.
"You need to lay down Kel. Until Tobe gets back with a healer."
Dom helped Kel to the ground and they sat there with her head in his lap. Kel was starting to feel dizzy and sleepy.
"I knew a dress wasn't a good idea," she tried to joke.
"Shhhh," said Dom. "I liked it. Try to be still."
Despite the fact that almost everyone was across the palace in the banquet hall, Tobe came running back with Neal in less than 10 minutes. Lord Raoul and several others followed behind.
"Mithros Kel. What were you doing? Fighting with a meat cleaver?" Neal asked. Even in her sleepy state she could feel the cool magic radiating from his hand over her wound. Once he had stopped the bleeding and fixed the worst of the damage Neal ordered Kel lifted to her bed.
A healer and several soldiers came to look after Burchard. He was hurt badly, but would live to face the courts. The stranger was dead.
While Neal continued to work on Kel, another healer examined the bump on Dom's head. The last thing that Kel saw before she fell into a deep sleep was Dom smiling down at her from one side as Neal worked on her from the other. It was a dreamless sleep.
Kel focused her attention back to the doors of the banquet hall. The Chief Herald was announcing their entrance. Both she and Yuki walked through the doors as their names were called and began to descend the stairs. When they reached the bottom they turned to watch the King and Queen followed by the newlyweds. Yukimi curtsied and Kel caught herself as she began to bow, then quickly changed it into a slightly wobbly curtsy. Silently she cursed herself for forgetting that tonight she had to act like a lady. She hoped that no one had seen her mistake. It was likely that no one had witnessed it because at that moment all eyes were on Shinko and Roald. The room had gone completely silent. After Roald and Shinko had crossed the room and were seated with the King and Queen, music began to play and people began to talk again. Kel felt some of the evenings pressure float away as she told herself "Just a few more hours and then I can sneak away." A squire came to take Kel's arm and guide her to her table. She knew she would be sitting with Neal and Yuki but their other companion was unknown to her. If she was going to be stuck sitting next to another conservative she would have to put on her Yamani-blank face. As she sat down she took a deep breath and thought about a calm lake. She could feel some of the tension in her body release as she repeated the lake idea to herself several times. She opened her eyes and was about to interrupt Yuki and Neal when Dom walked up to the table and sat down beside her. All of the Yamani-calm Kel had just summoned disappeared. "You're my table partner tonight?" she gasped. "Well don't sound so happy" replied Dom. "I thought we'd catch up on things but if you'd rather me move..." "No, no no!" replied Kel, almost a little too anxiously. "This is much better than sitting next to some stuff shirt." Secretly, Kel thought that sitting next to Dom would be much better than sitting next to anyone. "I heard that you did such a good job at New Hope the refugees were almost sorry to see the war end." Kel blushed at Dom's comment. Then she made the mistake of looking into his very intense blue eyes. It was a good thing she was sitting down or her knees would have gone all wobbly on her. She was used to seeing him in the standard uniform of The Own, but tonight's dress uniform was a deep blue that seemed to make the color of his eyes even more intense. Kel looked down to avoid his glare. A curl brushed down against her face. She started to reach for it but Dom beat her to it. "Pretty" he said as he fingered the curl. "I don't think I've ever seen you so dressed up." "And you won't again. At least not until Neal and Yuki's wedding. I don't understand how girls walk with so much fabric at their feet. Not to mention I feel like if I make one wrong move I'm going to fall out of this thing. " "You sure complain a lot for someone who used to wear dresses to dinner every day as a page" Neal chimed in. "Those dresses," began Kel, "had a bit more fabric to them in the areas that counted." "I like it," cut in Dom. Kel caught herself blushing again. Tonight was going to be interesting.
Kel watched as Neal led Yuki out on the dance floor. She didn't realize that her eyes gave away her desire to dance herself until she heard a familiar voice say "Would you do me the honor?" Kel looked up at Sergeant Domitanon who was now standing beside her chair.
"I haven't danced since Master Oakbridge's etiquette classes," she replied as she stood and took his hand. Dom led her out to the dance floor and wrapped one hand snuggly around her waist. Soon they were turning and swaying with the music.
"That was an interesting curtsy you did earlier" joked the sergeant. "I was hoping no one had seen that" said Kel as she blushed. "Oh I don't think anyone did. They were too busy watching the new bride and groom." Kel started to argue that HE had seen it but stopped. He was looking at her in a funny way. The way Cleon had looked when he kissed her for the first time on Progress.
A yell behind them snapped Kel out of his trance. They turned to see Groten, a nasty knight who had given Kel trouble in the past yelling at a page. "You made me spill my drink you little maggot." The page tried to apologize but before he could Groten had grabbed him by the collar. "That's enough," shouted Kel. She had on her Yamani face and was trying very carefully to control her anger. No page deserved to be treated like that, partially because most had never served at such a formal banquet, but also because it was just plain wrong. "Mind your own business you little slut," slurred Groten, who had clearly had a little too much to drink. He could be slime, but if not for the alcohol, Kel doubted he would have gotten so carried away at a royal function. She took a step between the young page and Groten. "Leave him alone, he's just a page." Her voice was calm as she said it, but Kel could feel her teeth grinding. She hated bullies. "And what are you going to do, challenge me to a duel in your skirt?" replied Groten. Dom came up behind him and put a firm hand on his shoulder. Raoul had stood up from his table on the other side of the floor and was walking towards them. Neal had also stopped dancing with Yuki in order to glare at the drunken knight. "Sir Groten, you have had too much to drink and need to go back to your rooms. NOW," said Dom in a voice that Kel had only heard him use on the battle field. "Why should I go back to my room? That little wench should go back to the whore hous--- before Groten could finish his sentence Dom had laid a right hook on the knight, knocking him to the floor. Kel didn't know what to do. She looked at Groten, who currently, was feeling for a loose tooth with his tongue. Then she looked up at Dom. Slowly, almost timidly she reached out and grabbed his hand and held it. Raoul had come over to have some of the hall guards remove the drunken knight.
"What do we do now?" said Kel. Things hadn't quite sunk in yet. She was still trying to get over the smacking sound of Dom's fist hitting Groten's jaw.
"Probably leave before one of his friends realizes what just happened" said Dom.
"I agree," joined in Raoul. "We don't need a brawl at a royal wedding reception.
And I can only get you off the hook one punch at a time Dom." Kel asked a squire to bring her her wrap, which she had left at the table, and she and Dom walked out of the banquet hall, still holding hands.
Kel took a deep breath and she and Dom walked down the empty hallway. Their feet echoed against the stone floors. Her palm was sweaty from nervousness but so was Dom's. They continued to hold hands anyways. Suddenly Dom stopped and turned Kel to face him.
"Kel, I...," Dom paused as he said this and looked into her eyes. Before he said anything else he leaned in for a long passionate kiss. His mouth was warm against hers. The first time she had kissed Cleon she had felt that she should pull away. She didn't feel this way with Dom. Instead she found her body responding to his kiss, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he hugged her waist. They pulled away, breathless. Kel had to assume from the burning in her face that she was just as red as he was.
"I've wanted to do that for a long time" he said.
"So have I," she replied. "We, we should talk. About this. Us. Is there an us?"
"I hope so," said Dom. Otherwise that kiss was very misleading."
"Tobe will be in my room. But if we are quiet, we can talk there. Besides, he won't go to bed till I am back anyways," she said.
As they made their way down the hall Kel felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle up. Dom must have had the same feeling too because he stopped in his steps at the same time she did. Dom unsheathed his sword, which luckily was part of The Own's dress uniform. Kel lifted her skirt to reveal several daggers strapped around the inside of her thighs. Had she not been sensing danger, she would have felt a little embarrassed at showing so much of her bare leg to Dom. They pressed their backs against the wall as they prepared to round the corner. Someone was in the hallway outside of Kel's room. Someone who was trying to be very quiet. Someone who was not supposed to be there. Dom motioned to Kel that he would turn the corner first with her to come from behind as backup. His sword would provide better protection from a surprise attacker than her short daggers. Besides, whoever was outside of Kel's rooms would be expecting Kel, not Dom.
Dom turned the corner to face the intruder. Kel followed just two steps behind him. Ansil of Groten leaned against the door with both Burchard of Stone Mountain and a man that Kel didn't recognize. The way he stood and held his sword told Kel enough to know that he was dangerous. She shifted her feet into a fighting stance as she moved next to Dom.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" she asked.
"We came to talk to you about some...philosophical differences," giggled Groten, who had obviously not had his last drink in the banquet hall. "I brought my friend here to help me persuade you." Drunk as he was, he obviously intended to fight. He unsheathed his sword in a careless manner and nearly fell on his face in the process.
"Great," thought Kel. She not only had to deal with a drunken knight but another full blooded knight and a warrior she knew nothing about.
"We can settle this on the courts if you wish," she said.
"I'm not here to settle this on the courts. We're going to settle this now where no ones here to magic you. You're a whore and you've corrupted half the nobles out here. Just like you did my boy!" said Burchard .
He advanced on Kel, sword raised. Silently she cursed the fact that not only was she in a dress and heels but that all she had to defend herself were two short daggers. Dom moved in on the stranger. As Burchard swung and cut, Kel dipped and swerved. It wouldn't do for her to get chopped in half because she was too eager to strike. She would have to watch for him to get careless. Something she didn't think was too likely to happen. She could hear Dom and the man behind her exchanging blows. Toby must have heard the noise too because Kel saw her door open and a tiny face peak out. She shouldn't have let that distract her, but it did and her attacker brought his blade down across her shoulder and side. Kel deflected most of the blow with one of her daggers but she was bleeding somewhere near the hip. Every step hurt more and more but if she backed off now he'd have her. There was a loud "thunk" to her left as Dom was knocked on the head by the other man. He sat stunned where he had fallen. The stranger brought up his sword to finish the Sergeant when Jump attacked out of nowhere. Two sparrows went after the man's face. Tobe may have only been a boy but he'd ridden with Kel long enough to know when a battle wasn't going their way. He must have let Jump and the sparrows out to help. Burchard turned towards the stranger giving Kel the opening she needed. With one dagger she cut up and across from his right to his left and with the other she attacked the shoulder that was his sword arm. Burchard of Stone Mountain went down. She hadn't killed him, only put him out of working order. When she'd cut his sword arm he had dropped his blade, which Kel now picked up. Kel hit him over the head with the blunt end of the blade, knocking him out. She now turned her attention on the Stranger. Jumps attack had given Dom just enough time to recover from his hit and get back on his feet. The two were now matching each other blow for blow. Kel had not forgotten about Groten. He may have been drunk but all that meant was that he was unpredictable. He was nowhere to be seen. He must have run when he saw the other knight go down. She turned her attention once again to Dom and the man. Dom blocked a blow from the stranger and made a swift cut across his stomach. The man went down in a pool of blood.
"Tobe," yelled Kel. "Go get a healer."
Tobe didn't even stop to answer as he ran past her and down the hallway.
Dom came over to where she stood and immediately began looking her over wound. There was a tear in the waist of her dress, revealing a deep gash that stretched from her rib cage to her hip. He removed the sash from his waist and tied it tightly around the wound to slow the blood flow.
"You need to lay down Kel. Until Tobe gets back with a healer."
Dom helped Kel to the ground and they sat there with her head in his lap. Kel was starting to feel dizzy and sleepy.
"I knew a dress wasn't a good idea," she tried to joke.
"Shhhh," said Dom. "I liked it. Try to be still."
Despite the fact that almost everyone was across the palace in the banquet hall, Tobe came running back with Neal in less than 10 minutes. Lord Raoul and several others followed behind.
"Mithros Kel. What were you doing? Fighting with a meat cleaver?" Neal asked. Even in her sleepy state she could feel the cool magic radiating from his hand over her wound. Once he had stopped the bleeding and fixed the worst of the damage Neal ordered Kel lifted to her bed.
A healer and several soldiers came to look after Burchard. He was hurt badly, but would live to face the courts. The stranger was dead.
While Neal continued to work on Kel, another healer examined the bump on Dom's head. The last thing that Kel saw before she fell into a deep sleep was Dom smiling down at her from one side as Neal worked on her from the other. It was a dreamless sleep.