Fear of Discovery
Jump peered out from under the shirt that had landed on his head during Kel's mad search through her wardrobe, wondering what the hell his mistress was doing. Her brow had been furrowed all morning, worrying over something she had lost. Jump didn't know exactly what it was, but he knew it was the fact that she couldn't find the thing more than the loss of it that was bothering her.
Finally Kel straightened and surveyed the chaos that had once been her neat and orderly bedroom. She sighed and ran a hand through her short, mouse brown locks, closing her eyes to think. It wasn't every day that a breastband just disappeared. Where could the damn thing possibly be? It wasn't like she didn't have other breastbands, but it was so hard to find one in such a nice blue, and it certainly couldn't have just jumped up and walked out the window. She'd checked everywhere, now: under the bed, in the wardrobe, under the wardrobe, behind the wardrobe, in the privy, on the bookcase, behind the bookcase, inside the books (where she unfortunately had found only words, and no lingerie), under Jump, on the windowsill, on the ground outside the windowsill, under the sitting room chairs, in the fruit bowl, inside her Yamani teapot, in her traveling chest, behind paintings, and in her desk, but to no avail. The breastband was nowhere to be found.
Jump ambled over, a shirt sleeve flopping over his snout, and gave Kel's hand a reassuring lick. She looked down at him and sighed again with a smile. There was no point in rifling through everything again; she wasn't going to find it when she was this tired.
Kel decided she would clean up the mess in the morning, and simply shucked off her pants and shirt and climbed under the covers in her underclothes. No use getting myself all worked up about it, she thought as she snuggled down, the sparrows settling in beside her. It has to be here somewhere. It's not as if someone just waltzed in and left with it in their pocket.
Kel's sleep was calm and peaceful, but on the other side of the palace, deep within the barracks of the Own, one sergeant slept in fits and starts, his handsome face contorted with worry even in sleep, while a band of blue cloth lay silently in the bottom of the clothes chest at the end of his bed.
______________________________________________________________________________
When Kel awoke, she was glad she had left the cleaning until morning, as it gave her the chance to look through everything with a fresh mind. Not that it was a fruitful search, though. It left Kel feeling more than a little frustrated, and she decided to do her early morning practices in the practice courts today. When she was feeling so irritated, it was likely she might break something with an overenthusiastic swing.
She was more than a little surprised to spot Dom, whom she'd scarcely laid eyes on since the riding gloves incident. Every time she thought about his little flirtation, she blushed cherry red, though she'd tried desperately to squelch her inner longings. Dom was only fooling around, like he always was. Just like Neal. She repeated this once more to herself as she approached the unsuspecting sergeant as he stood by the weapons rack stretching for his warm up.
Getting closer, Kel found Dom in the most unkempt state she'd ever seen him in: his shirt had been tucked hastily into his breeches, large folds of it hanging out in places, and the laces were undone at his throat. His hair looked bedraggled, and tufts were standing up on end. It looked like he hadn't shaven in days either. Kel wasn't used to seeing him with that dark bristle, as he was very particular about keeping himself clean-shaven. Even on the outings with the Own, every morning he'd be scratching away at his face with a blade. Kel felt colour rise in her cheeks as the thought crossed her mind that the shadow made him look like a roguish pirate or a thief, the kind of clever, witty, and devastatingly handsome character she'd heard about so often in tales the maids told. Smiling mischievously at having caught him in such a state, Kel boldly closed the last few feet between them and tapped him on the shoulder.
Dom turned around quickly and flashed one of his trademark grins when he realized it was her, but not before Kel caught that look of dismay. "Kel! What a surprise! I haven't seen you in ages!"
Kel tried to smile, but failed miserably. "It's been three days, Dom."
"Oh, really?" Dom scratched the back of his tossle-haired head, avoiding her eyes. "Well, an even an hour separated from you seems like weeks, dearest Kel," he said after a moment, a familiar flirtatious twinkle in his eye.
Kel smiled genuinely. "Don't toy with me now, Domitan,"
"I would never do such a thing, Kel," Dom said seriously, his hand over his heart, "tis certain death to tease the Lady with the sword."
Kel looked down at the sharp blade in her hand and raised an eyebrow. "As long as we're here, care for a little practice session?"
Dom grinned.
______________________________________________________________________________
Leaning back against the fence, Kel and Dom both took a drink from the water dipper and wiped sweat from their brows. Kel looked over at Dom, whose hair had now flopped over his eyes, looking more like a bird's nest by the second. She sighed. All through their session, she'd wondered what had been bothering him that he'd so sorely neglected his appearance.
"So," he said, " I thought you always did your morning exercises inside. What brings you to the great outdoors today?
A crooked smile grew on Kel's face as she wiped at the beads of sweat on her lip with her sleeve. "Ah, I just got a little frustrated, that's all, and it's better to release those feelings outside, where less damage can be done."
Dom raised an eyebrow. "Meathead's not bothering you, is he?"
"No, it's just that, I've lost... something, and I just can't seem to find it, no matter how hard I look."
Dom shifted uneasily. "Oh, really? What did you, uh, lose?"
Kel blushed and took another drink of water, not really comfortable with sharing. "Oh, it's silly. It's nothing, really. I can live without it. Besides, I know it's when I'm least expecting it that it'll turn up."
Dom gave her a brief glance, but otherwise kept his gaze fixed on the rising sun. "Isn't that the way? What was it?"
Kel went an even deeper shade of red. "It's not anything you'd be interested in. Just a, uh," Kel coughed, "a feminine thing."
Dom swallowed audibly. "Oh. Sorry to press. I didn't mean to embarrass you or anything."
"It's okay. No harm done."
There was a long silence in which Dom looked at everything but her. It made Kel feel even more uncomfortable than before. "Well," he yawned, "I better get going. It's been nice seeing you again, Protector of the Small." He received a complimentary punch on the arm as a reward, and then they both went their separate ways, eager to leave the awkwardness and embarrassment behind them.
Though they had intended to let their emotions loose in the practice ring, neither got what they wanted.
______________________________________________________________________________
Kel was having supper with Neal when she first noticed Lord Raoul walking toward them with his long strides. He was walking swiftly, and several people jumped to the side to make way for him. When he reached them, he placed both hands on the table and let his shoulders slump a little. "Kel, could you do me a favour?"
Kel sighed and nodded. "Could you just take this letter down to Dom for me?"
She froze and winced, not too crazy about meeting Dom again after their awkward practice ring incident, even if he did have a cute ruffian look going on. "Um..."
"Great!" cried Raoul. "Kel, you have no idea how much of a weight that is off of my shoulders! It saves me so much time! Thank you! I will not forget this!" He disappeared from the hall just as quickly as he had come, the people parting for him once again.
Neal put down his spoon and looked at Kel, folding his hands on the table. "So, do tell."
"What?"
"It seems quite clear to me that you were none too eager to accept that request. Now, what's going on with Dom?"
Kel frowned and blew on her soup. "Nothing, Neal."
Neal leaned in close, whispering conspiratorially. "Did he put beetles in your stew? Because he used to do that to me all the time when we were boys, and then he did it to me again last Midwinter, for 'old times sake'," Neal snorted disgustedly, expressing clearly to Kel with a small raise of his chin that he thought Dom was being 'so immature' and below him.
"No, Neal, Dom did not put beetles in my stew."
"Well, what did he do, then?"
"Nothing!"
"Liar!"
"Neal!"
"Liar!"
"I hate it when you get like this. Nothing happened."
"PANTS ON FIRE!"
Several people looked up and glared at Neal. He smiled sheepishly and waved, "Carry on with your meals, everyone! I promise the Lady Knight won't bother you again! Eh heh heh!" They muttered and turned away.
Neal breathed a sigh of relief, then began again. "Now, Kel... Kel?"
He caught a glimpse of her boot rounding the corner. The letter was gone. Neal pursed his lips and managed to convince himself that he was not in the least affected by Kel's disappearance. He slurped noisily at his soup, muttering darkly, and then, on second thought, began to check for beetles.
______________________________________________________________________________
The Own were sitting with their suppers in the barracks mess hall, draping themselves over the chairs with their plates balanced precariously in their laps, while at the same time, drinking, carousing, playing cards, and telling dirty jokes. The dirty jokes died down once Keladry of Mindelan entered the room, however. As the men noticed her presence, they raised their tankards and saluted her, grinning fondly. Kel waved, and made her way over to Lerant, who was relating some tale of his exploits with a couple comrades. Kel tapped him on the shoulder and he smiled crookedly at her. "Well, if it isn't the Lady Knight,"
Kel smiled back. "Hello, Lerant. Have you seen Dom?"
"He's in his private quarters."
"Private quarters?" Dom usually liked to be in with his men.
"Yeah, he's not been quite himself the past few days, though he's putting on a good show for us. Think it's lady trouble,"
Kel made extra careful she didn't flinch at that. "Well, I'll just go find out what's wrong, huh?"
Lerant snorted into his ale tankard. "Good luck, for all that'll bring you."
Unsettled by her conversation with the standard bearer, Kel set off through the throngs of men until she reached the sergeants' quarters. She knocked on the wrong door once, and was directed to Dom's rooms by a friendly man with a close cropped yellow beard.
Knocking briskly, Kel prepared herself to get this over as quickly as possible. Lerant has effectively squelched her hopes that Dom's flirting had been some sign of favour, and what with the awkward conversation earlier, the only thing keeping her here was the letter and Dom's unfortunate appearance.
There was a sound of scuffling, and then the door opened to reveal Dom, much in the same state as he had been earlier, except now his hair looked a little worse, if that was possible. "Kel!" he exclaimed, obviously surprised.
"I just brought you a letter from Lord Raoul."
Dom looked at the parchment in her hand and took it gingerly. "Uh, thank you." He examined the parchment for a few seconds, then looked up to see her waiting expectantly. "Won't you come in?"
"I hope it's not something else I have to look into," sighed Dom as he closed the door behind her and made his way over to the desk to sit.
Kel gave him a sympathetic smile. "Isn't that always it? Just when you think you have it done, there's another pile of papers to sift through." Her eyes searched for a place to sit. The bed looked comfortable, but Kel blushed even at the thought of sitting on Dom's bed. She sat on the only other place available.
When Dom looked up again, planning to ask her why Raoul had sent her with the letter, he found it hard to conjure the words. Kel was sitting on the clothes chest at the end of the bed, one leg crossed over the other, twisting her foot in midair to a silent beat. Her head was tilted back so she could look at the view through the window, and the last light of the sunset shone through her hair, making her look hallowed in a soft orange glow. She was sitting on the clothes chest. Dom knew what was in the clothes chest. That same thing she was looking for this morning. "I know it's when I'm least expecting it that it'll turn up." she'd said. How horribly true. He gulped nervously and ran his hand through his hair, only to get them stuck in the tangles. He cursed struggled for a few moments, trying to get the stubborn strands to release their hold on his fingers, when he heard a small chuckle and a cool hand stilled his own. It started to pull gently to free his fingers, causing barely any pain at all. Dom stayed stock still, waiting as the lady knight returned his hand to him with a smile. "We have to do something about your hair, Dom. It looks as if you'll be expecting nestlings in the spring!" She giggled, a rare and pleasurable sound.
Dom stared at her with an odd expression for quite sometime, so much that Kel blushed and began to back out of the room. "Well, it's been nice seeing you, Dom. I really have to get going,"
Dom stood quickly. "Kel, I--"
"Bye!"
The door shut with a small click, and the sergeant slumped back into his chair. He felt worse than he had in days, but something persuaded him to reach for his comb.
Jump peered out from under the shirt that had landed on his head during Kel's mad search through her wardrobe, wondering what the hell his mistress was doing. Her brow had been furrowed all morning, worrying over something she had lost. Jump didn't know exactly what it was, but he knew it was the fact that she couldn't find the thing more than the loss of it that was bothering her.
Finally Kel straightened and surveyed the chaos that had once been her neat and orderly bedroom. She sighed and ran a hand through her short, mouse brown locks, closing her eyes to think. It wasn't every day that a breastband just disappeared. Where could the damn thing possibly be? It wasn't like she didn't have other breastbands, but it was so hard to find one in such a nice blue, and it certainly couldn't have just jumped up and walked out the window. She'd checked everywhere, now: under the bed, in the wardrobe, under the wardrobe, behind the wardrobe, in the privy, on the bookcase, behind the bookcase, inside the books (where she unfortunately had found only words, and no lingerie), under Jump, on the windowsill, on the ground outside the windowsill, under the sitting room chairs, in the fruit bowl, inside her Yamani teapot, in her traveling chest, behind paintings, and in her desk, but to no avail. The breastband was nowhere to be found.
Jump ambled over, a shirt sleeve flopping over his snout, and gave Kel's hand a reassuring lick. She looked down at him and sighed again with a smile. There was no point in rifling through everything again; she wasn't going to find it when she was this tired.
Kel decided she would clean up the mess in the morning, and simply shucked off her pants and shirt and climbed under the covers in her underclothes. No use getting myself all worked up about it, she thought as she snuggled down, the sparrows settling in beside her. It has to be here somewhere. It's not as if someone just waltzed in and left with it in their pocket.
Kel's sleep was calm and peaceful, but on the other side of the palace, deep within the barracks of the Own, one sergeant slept in fits and starts, his handsome face contorted with worry even in sleep, while a band of blue cloth lay silently in the bottom of the clothes chest at the end of his bed.
______________________________________________________________________________
When Kel awoke, she was glad she had left the cleaning until morning, as it gave her the chance to look through everything with a fresh mind. Not that it was a fruitful search, though. It left Kel feeling more than a little frustrated, and she decided to do her early morning practices in the practice courts today. When she was feeling so irritated, it was likely she might break something with an overenthusiastic swing.
She was more than a little surprised to spot Dom, whom she'd scarcely laid eyes on since the riding gloves incident. Every time she thought about his little flirtation, she blushed cherry red, though she'd tried desperately to squelch her inner longings. Dom was only fooling around, like he always was. Just like Neal. She repeated this once more to herself as she approached the unsuspecting sergeant as he stood by the weapons rack stretching for his warm up.
Getting closer, Kel found Dom in the most unkempt state she'd ever seen him in: his shirt had been tucked hastily into his breeches, large folds of it hanging out in places, and the laces were undone at his throat. His hair looked bedraggled, and tufts were standing up on end. It looked like he hadn't shaven in days either. Kel wasn't used to seeing him with that dark bristle, as he was very particular about keeping himself clean-shaven. Even on the outings with the Own, every morning he'd be scratching away at his face with a blade. Kel felt colour rise in her cheeks as the thought crossed her mind that the shadow made him look like a roguish pirate or a thief, the kind of clever, witty, and devastatingly handsome character she'd heard about so often in tales the maids told. Smiling mischievously at having caught him in such a state, Kel boldly closed the last few feet between them and tapped him on the shoulder.
Dom turned around quickly and flashed one of his trademark grins when he realized it was her, but not before Kel caught that look of dismay. "Kel! What a surprise! I haven't seen you in ages!"
Kel tried to smile, but failed miserably. "It's been three days, Dom."
"Oh, really?" Dom scratched the back of his tossle-haired head, avoiding her eyes. "Well, an even an hour separated from you seems like weeks, dearest Kel," he said after a moment, a familiar flirtatious twinkle in his eye.
Kel smiled genuinely. "Don't toy with me now, Domitan,"
"I would never do such a thing, Kel," Dom said seriously, his hand over his heart, "tis certain death to tease the Lady with the sword."
Kel looked down at the sharp blade in her hand and raised an eyebrow. "As long as we're here, care for a little practice session?"
Dom grinned.
______________________________________________________________________________
Leaning back against the fence, Kel and Dom both took a drink from the water dipper and wiped sweat from their brows. Kel looked over at Dom, whose hair had now flopped over his eyes, looking more like a bird's nest by the second. She sighed. All through their session, she'd wondered what had been bothering him that he'd so sorely neglected his appearance.
"So," he said, " I thought you always did your morning exercises inside. What brings you to the great outdoors today?
A crooked smile grew on Kel's face as she wiped at the beads of sweat on her lip with her sleeve. "Ah, I just got a little frustrated, that's all, and it's better to release those feelings outside, where less damage can be done."
Dom raised an eyebrow. "Meathead's not bothering you, is he?"
"No, it's just that, I've lost... something, and I just can't seem to find it, no matter how hard I look."
Dom shifted uneasily. "Oh, really? What did you, uh, lose?"
Kel blushed and took another drink of water, not really comfortable with sharing. "Oh, it's silly. It's nothing, really. I can live without it. Besides, I know it's when I'm least expecting it that it'll turn up."
Dom gave her a brief glance, but otherwise kept his gaze fixed on the rising sun. "Isn't that the way? What was it?"
Kel went an even deeper shade of red. "It's not anything you'd be interested in. Just a, uh," Kel coughed, "a feminine thing."
Dom swallowed audibly. "Oh. Sorry to press. I didn't mean to embarrass you or anything."
"It's okay. No harm done."
There was a long silence in which Dom looked at everything but her. It made Kel feel even more uncomfortable than before. "Well," he yawned, "I better get going. It's been nice seeing you again, Protector of the Small." He received a complimentary punch on the arm as a reward, and then they both went their separate ways, eager to leave the awkwardness and embarrassment behind them.
Though they had intended to let their emotions loose in the practice ring, neither got what they wanted.
______________________________________________________________________________
Kel was having supper with Neal when she first noticed Lord Raoul walking toward them with his long strides. He was walking swiftly, and several people jumped to the side to make way for him. When he reached them, he placed both hands on the table and let his shoulders slump a little. "Kel, could you do me a favour?"
Kel sighed and nodded. "Could you just take this letter down to Dom for me?"
She froze and winced, not too crazy about meeting Dom again after their awkward practice ring incident, even if he did have a cute ruffian look going on. "Um..."
"Great!" cried Raoul. "Kel, you have no idea how much of a weight that is off of my shoulders! It saves me so much time! Thank you! I will not forget this!" He disappeared from the hall just as quickly as he had come, the people parting for him once again.
Neal put down his spoon and looked at Kel, folding his hands on the table. "So, do tell."
"What?"
"It seems quite clear to me that you were none too eager to accept that request. Now, what's going on with Dom?"
Kel frowned and blew on her soup. "Nothing, Neal."
Neal leaned in close, whispering conspiratorially. "Did he put beetles in your stew? Because he used to do that to me all the time when we were boys, and then he did it to me again last Midwinter, for 'old times sake'," Neal snorted disgustedly, expressing clearly to Kel with a small raise of his chin that he thought Dom was being 'so immature' and below him.
"No, Neal, Dom did not put beetles in my stew."
"Well, what did he do, then?"
"Nothing!"
"Liar!"
"Neal!"
"Liar!"
"I hate it when you get like this. Nothing happened."
"PANTS ON FIRE!"
Several people looked up and glared at Neal. He smiled sheepishly and waved, "Carry on with your meals, everyone! I promise the Lady Knight won't bother you again! Eh heh heh!" They muttered and turned away.
Neal breathed a sigh of relief, then began again. "Now, Kel... Kel?"
He caught a glimpse of her boot rounding the corner. The letter was gone. Neal pursed his lips and managed to convince himself that he was not in the least affected by Kel's disappearance. He slurped noisily at his soup, muttering darkly, and then, on second thought, began to check for beetles.
______________________________________________________________________________
The Own were sitting with their suppers in the barracks mess hall, draping themselves over the chairs with their plates balanced precariously in their laps, while at the same time, drinking, carousing, playing cards, and telling dirty jokes. The dirty jokes died down once Keladry of Mindelan entered the room, however. As the men noticed her presence, they raised their tankards and saluted her, grinning fondly. Kel waved, and made her way over to Lerant, who was relating some tale of his exploits with a couple comrades. Kel tapped him on the shoulder and he smiled crookedly at her. "Well, if it isn't the Lady Knight,"
Kel smiled back. "Hello, Lerant. Have you seen Dom?"
"He's in his private quarters."
"Private quarters?" Dom usually liked to be in with his men.
"Yeah, he's not been quite himself the past few days, though he's putting on a good show for us. Think it's lady trouble,"
Kel made extra careful she didn't flinch at that. "Well, I'll just go find out what's wrong, huh?"
Lerant snorted into his ale tankard. "Good luck, for all that'll bring you."
Unsettled by her conversation with the standard bearer, Kel set off through the throngs of men until she reached the sergeants' quarters. She knocked on the wrong door once, and was directed to Dom's rooms by a friendly man with a close cropped yellow beard.
Knocking briskly, Kel prepared herself to get this over as quickly as possible. Lerant has effectively squelched her hopes that Dom's flirting had been some sign of favour, and what with the awkward conversation earlier, the only thing keeping her here was the letter and Dom's unfortunate appearance.
There was a sound of scuffling, and then the door opened to reveal Dom, much in the same state as he had been earlier, except now his hair looked a little worse, if that was possible. "Kel!" he exclaimed, obviously surprised.
"I just brought you a letter from Lord Raoul."
Dom looked at the parchment in her hand and took it gingerly. "Uh, thank you." He examined the parchment for a few seconds, then looked up to see her waiting expectantly. "Won't you come in?"
"I hope it's not something else I have to look into," sighed Dom as he closed the door behind her and made his way over to the desk to sit.
Kel gave him a sympathetic smile. "Isn't that always it? Just when you think you have it done, there's another pile of papers to sift through." Her eyes searched for a place to sit. The bed looked comfortable, but Kel blushed even at the thought of sitting on Dom's bed. She sat on the only other place available.
When Dom looked up again, planning to ask her why Raoul had sent her with the letter, he found it hard to conjure the words. Kel was sitting on the clothes chest at the end of the bed, one leg crossed over the other, twisting her foot in midair to a silent beat. Her head was tilted back so she could look at the view through the window, and the last light of the sunset shone through her hair, making her look hallowed in a soft orange glow. She was sitting on the clothes chest. Dom knew what was in the clothes chest. That same thing she was looking for this morning. "I know it's when I'm least expecting it that it'll turn up." she'd said. How horribly true. He gulped nervously and ran his hand through his hair, only to get them stuck in the tangles. He cursed struggled for a few moments, trying to get the stubborn strands to release their hold on his fingers, when he heard a small chuckle and a cool hand stilled his own. It started to pull gently to free his fingers, causing barely any pain at all. Dom stayed stock still, waiting as the lady knight returned his hand to him with a smile. "We have to do something about your hair, Dom. It looks as if you'll be expecting nestlings in the spring!" She giggled, a rare and pleasurable sound.
Dom stared at her with an odd expression for quite sometime, so much that Kel blushed and began to back out of the room. "Well, it's been nice seeing you, Dom. I really have to get going,"
Dom stood quickly. "Kel, I--"
"Bye!"
The door shut with a small click, and the sergeant slumped back into his chair. He felt worse than he had in days, but something persuaded him to reach for his comb.