Kel still wasn't sure what she was going to say to Dom. Did she want to
agree and wait for him, possibly forfeiting her future for him, or did she
want to refuse him and continue without him?
Kel knew her answer, but she also knew that Dom would not like it. She wanted both. She wanted to stay with him for now, she knew that, but she did not want to tie herself to him.
She went down to the practice courts to let out some of her energy. She spent almost two hours there, just training. She did everything she could think of; tilting with the willow ring, practicing her glaive dance, her sword dance, her archery skills, and then she went for a run with the weights around the palace, up on the ledge that always terrified her, down back to the courts.
She threw her weights back into the weight cupboard and sighed. She was completely exhausted, sweaty, dirty, and she didn't feel any better.
She pushed herself back up the hill and through the castle to her rooms. She needed a bath more than anything; she got a maid to fill her tub on the way back.
After soaking for what seemed like hours, Kel knew she could put it off no longer. It was five o'clock, according to the bell that rang as Kel got out of the tub. She had to go to dinner soon. And she had to speak to Dom.
She went to her wardrobe and pulled out a simple yellow dress. She wanted to be a girl tonight. She didn't quite know why, maybe she wanted to make Dom jealous, maybe she wanted to make him understand that this meant nothing was different, she still loved him. she didn't know. She just knew she wanted to wear a dress.
When she thought she looked sufficiently pretty, she stepped out of her room. As she did, she noticed that everyone walking by was incredibly dressed up. She stopped and raised an eyebrow.
"Bloody hell." She said finally. She had completely forgotten, there was another ball tonight. She had no escort, no proper dress, and no time.
She turned back around and threw her door open. She would have to go without dinner tonight, at least until the ball was over, maybe she could get something from the kitchens.
She decided after half an hour of trying to read over the sound of her stomach grumbling that she needed something to eat. She went down to the stables and got out Hoshi. She went down to the village to get some fruit. An hour later, she had eaten her fill of apples and got back on Hoshi to ride back to the palace.
It was dark by the time she got back to the stables, and she quickly un- tacked Hoshi and walked back to her rooms. As she was walking across the square, she heard someone call her name.
She squinted across the square, trying to see who it was by the light from the windows. It was Dom.
She tried to ignore him and keep going, but she could not. She was walking straight towards him, for one thing, and he was calling her name so loudly that there was no way she could pretend she had not heard.
"Kel!" He said as Kel walked up to him.
Kel smiled weakly. "Good evening, Dom." She said, bowing her head slightly in greeting.
Dom grinned at her. "I didn't see you at lunch, and then you didn't show up for the ball. I didn't know what to do, I had no one to keep me company!"
Kel shrugged. "I was practicing." She said.
Dom raised an eyebrow. "All day?"
Kel shrugged again. "I had a bath afterwards, and then I went to town to get some fruit. I didn't want to go to the ball."
Dom crossed his arms and looked her over. "Come on, Mindelan, sit down with me." He said, leading her over to a nearby bench. It was almost pitch black, and Kel could only see Dom's silhouette. He looked worried. "What's wrong?"
Kel shrugged. "Nothing."
Dom frowned. "Kel, you are never this nonchalant. What is wrong?"
She sighed. "I don't want to wait for you." She said quietly, choking on her words. Her eyes welled up with tears as she said it, and she felt her chest clench.
"Oh." Dom said after a moment. He too was looking at the ground when Kel looked up at him.
"Dom, I don't want this to be goodbye." Kel whispered. "I don't want to have to give you up just because I don't want to wait forever."
Dom nodded slowly. "Sure you do."
Kel stood up in anger. "Dom, you can't just give me this ultimatum and expect me to make a life decision in a day! You have no right to tell me something like this! How would you like it if I told you that you had to decide if you wanted me or the rest of your life? I don't expect you to make that decision, and maybe you should have some time to yourself to think about that!"
She turned on her heel and strode away, tears stinging her eyes. She would not turn back, she would not turn back... she stopped. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, still telling herself that she would not turn back. It didn't work. As she stood there, telling herself that, she heard Dom stand up. He did not know that she was still there.
As he slowly stood and walked towards her just as slowly, and Kel could not stop her self. She spun around and walked briskly up to Dom.
Before he had any time say anything to her, Kel put her hand around his neck and kissed him passionately. They stood there, Dom too shocked to do anything. Kel stepped back and turned back again to the palace, and walked up to her room.
She collapsed on her bed as soon as she got to it, wishing that she could just go back in time and have the entire day never happen. But she couldn't; she was smart enough to realize that if she wanted things to get better, she would have to work them out herself. But for now, she could dream. She would work on everything in the morning.
Just after she had fallen asleep, there was a knock on her door. Kel jerked her head up. She looked at the closed door, as if she would be able to gaze through it at who was standing there.
"Who is it?" She said, standing up and taking a brush to her rumpled hair.
"It's me." Dom's voice came through the door.
Kel put her arms down and sighed. "Goodnight, Dom." She said, blowing out her candle and going back to sleep.
Kel woke the next morning very sore. She had worked herself too hard the day before. If she went to practice today, Peachblossom would probably not let her on him. She got dressed quickly, brushed her teeth and hair, and opened the door to go to breakfast.
She stopped in her tracks as soon as she did. "Oh, for heavens sake!" She said. Dom was sitting in a chair on the other side of the hall.
He didn't move when Kel said it. he just stared at her and gave a weak smile, after a moment. "Well," he said, slapping his hands on his thighs and standing up with a groan and a stretch, "I was wondering when you would turn up. It is getting very late, you know."
Kel crossed her arms. "Dom, I told you I didn't want to talk to you."
Dom nodded glumly. "I know. But you really just said to take some time to think about what I said, and I did. You were right. I was an idiot."
"Glad you figured it out." Kel said coolly.
"Oh, come on, Kel. I said I was sorry, can't that be good enough for you?" Dom demanded.
Kel stared at him, her face hard. Slowly, she nodded. "Alright." She finally said. "I understand that you realize that you were completely wrong."
"Completely!" Dom repeated, nodding.
"And you are a stupid git." She said.
Dom nodded slowly. "I'm a stupid git." He muttered, and Kel laughed.
"You said it." she grinned. "Now come on, I'm starving!" She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him down the hall towards the dining hall. "So how was the ball last night?" She joked.
Dom frowned. "It's not fair, why did you get to miss it?"
Kel smiled as he complained about what a horrible time he had had. She tried to listen, she really did, but she could not stop thinking how lucky she was that Dom was a man who could accept his mistakes.
Just after Neal sat down and started arguing with Dom, Kel heard a voice. She closed her eyes. This had happened before. She stood up quickly and excused herself from her friends walking briskly down busy halls, still hearing whispers all around her. She marched up to the Chapel of the Ordeal and threw the doors open. The dusty room was silent, but Kel did not stop. She gripped the cold iron handles of the Chamber and pulled them open. She took a step in, and, like the time before, the doors slammed closed behind her.
But before the Chamber could begin again, Kel shouted, "That is enough! We agreed the last time you gave me a mission that we were done. Don't think I don't remember it. We agreed you would get someone else!"
Her voice echoed through the Chamber around her. After it came silence. No voice came, but Kel could feel it speaking. She could not explain it, it was like her own thoughts, silent, in her head. It said, "there is no one else."
Kel took a deep breath and sighed. "If this mission gets me killed, or as close to being killed as last time, I will not be happy."
The Chamber did not argue. It did not laugh at Kel thinking she had power over it. it was scared. It said three words to her now, only three words before the doors flew open again and Kel walked slowly back to her room to collapse on her bed in thought.
It said:
"It is here."
Ooh, creepy, eh? I enjoyed writing this chapter. Don't really know why, because I thought it was pretty boring up until the end... oh well.
Kelly Masbolle: yep. I am completely unoriginal. I have new ideas for this story though, don't worry. I just haven't gotten to them yet.
Wake-Robin: sure, I'll get better... glad you liked it!
Anonymous: Gah! Damn you! Stupid people and their stupid being right.... Grr... just kidding. And when I say rare, I mean I only have a few per chapter. I have read stories where there are a few per paragraph, honest.
Erkith: ha, don't worry. It will all get better.
Pinky: well, she doesn't really have to get married if she doesn't want to. And its not that she doesn't love him, its that she doesn't want to make a decision like that right away.
Aussie correspondent: it sucks to have to use school computers for stuff like that. at my school, they block just about every site that has anything of any 'improper'...what's the word I'm looking for? Stuff? Information? Well, anyway, they block silly things, so I'm lucky to have my own computer at home...
Rubber Duck: well, maybe it thought he could do more good than bad. Like, while he still might be kinda evil and annoying, he would be able to help lots of people by being a knight.
Sal: thanks...I actually think that I don't do her very realistically, just because all Dom and she ever talk about is their relationship... I've been trying to get away from that...
PsychoLioness13: thanks
Tanydwr: thank you!
CrystalLili: Well, what I just realized by rereading Lady Knight, is that New Hope is a town, not a refugee camp. Maybe something happened, they didn't need her, or maybe it is a camp, but they didn't need a knight any more... you never know. Actually, I don't either, and I wrote the story!
ShadowPirate: thank you!
Lady of Masbolle: ha, thank you! That's a good line, I'll have to remember that.
Kore Yan: that's okay. All done now, right? Yay!
Lady Wolfspeaker: don't worry, don't worry.
CrystalLili: I don't know. I don't think there is anything out of character about feeling she needs a bath. If she's not at war, why should she be dirty? And I think that Neal's remark was quite in character! But I'm glad that you enjoyed it. I'm not trying to prove you wrong, that's just how I see it.
R: remind me, please, what does OC mean? I always ask this, but I can never remember...
AJ 4EVA: thank you, I will!
"I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they chose a king, they don't just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas."
-unolimbo
Kel knew her answer, but she also knew that Dom would not like it. She wanted both. She wanted to stay with him for now, she knew that, but she did not want to tie herself to him.
She went down to the practice courts to let out some of her energy. She spent almost two hours there, just training. She did everything she could think of; tilting with the willow ring, practicing her glaive dance, her sword dance, her archery skills, and then she went for a run with the weights around the palace, up on the ledge that always terrified her, down back to the courts.
She threw her weights back into the weight cupboard and sighed. She was completely exhausted, sweaty, dirty, and she didn't feel any better.
She pushed herself back up the hill and through the castle to her rooms. She needed a bath more than anything; she got a maid to fill her tub on the way back.
After soaking for what seemed like hours, Kel knew she could put it off no longer. It was five o'clock, according to the bell that rang as Kel got out of the tub. She had to go to dinner soon. And she had to speak to Dom.
She went to her wardrobe and pulled out a simple yellow dress. She wanted to be a girl tonight. She didn't quite know why, maybe she wanted to make Dom jealous, maybe she wanted to make him understand that this meant nothing was different, she still loved him. she didn't know. She just knew she wanted to wear a dress.
When she thought she looked sufficiently pretty, she stepped out of her room. As she did, she noticed that everyone walking by was incredibly dressed up. She stopped and raised an eyebrow.
"Bloody hell." She said finally. She had completely forgotten, there was another ball tonight. She had no escort, no proper dress, and no time.
She turned back around and threw her door open. She would have to go without dinner tonight, at least until the ball was over, maybe she could get something from the kitchens.
She decided after half an hour of trying to read over the sound of her stomach grumbling that she needed something to eat. She went down to the stables and got out Hoshi. She went down to the village to get some fruit. An hour later, she had eaten her fill of apples and got back on Hoshi to ride back to the palace.
It was dark by the time she got back to the stables, and she quickly un- tacked Hoshi and walked back to her rooms. As she was walking across the square, she heard someone call her name.
She squinted across the square, trying to see who it was by the light from the windows. It was Dom.
She tried to ignore him and keep going, but she could not. She was walking straight towards him, for one thing, and he was calling her name so loudly that there was no way she could pretend she had not heard.
"Kel!" He said as Kel walked up to him.
Kel smiled weakly. "Good evening, Dom." She said, bowing her head slightly in greeting.
Dom grinned at her. "I didn't see you at lunch, and then you didn't show up for the ball. I didn't know what to do, I had no one to keep me company!"
Kel shrugged. "I was practicing." She said.
Dom raised an eyebrow. "All day?"
Kel shrugged again. "I had a bath afterwards, and then I went to town to get some fruit. I didn't want to go to the ball."
Dom crossed his arms and looked her over. "Come on, Mindelan, sit down with me." He said, leading her over to a nearby bench. It was almost pitch black, and Kel could only see Dom's silhouette. He looked worried. "What's wrong?"
Kel shrugged. "Nothing."
Dom frowned. "Kel, you are never this nonchalant. What is wrong?"
She sighed. "I don't want to wait for you." She said quietly, choking on her words. Her eyes welled up with tears as she said it, and she felt her chest clench.
"Oh." Dom said after a moment. He too was looking at the ground when Kel looked up at him.
"Dom, I don't want this to be goodbye." Kel whispered. "I don't want to have to give you up just because I don't want to wait forever."
Dom nodded slowly. "Sure you do."
Kel stood up in anger. "Dom, you can't just give me this ultimatum and expect me to make a life decision in a day! You have no right to tell me something like this! How would you like it if I told you that you had to decide if you wanted me or the rest of your life? I don't expect you to make that decision, and maybe you should have some time to yourself to think about that!"
She turned on her heel and strode away, tears stinging her eyes. She would not turn back, she would not turn back... she stopped. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, still telling herself that she would not turn back. It didn't work. As she stood there, telling herself that, she heard Dom stand up. He did not know that she was still there.
As he slowly stood and walked towards her just as slowly, and Kel could not stop her self. She spun around and walked briskly up to Dom.
Before he had any time say anything to her, Kel put her hand around his neck and kissed him passionately. They stood there, Dom too shocked to do anything. Kel stepped back and turned back again to the palace, and walked up to her room.
She collapsed on her bed as soon as she got to it, wishing that she could just go back in time and have the entire day never happen. But she couldn't; she was smart enough to realize that if she wanted things to get better, she would have to work them out herself. But for now, she could dream. She would work on everything in the morning.
Just after she had fallen asleep, there was a knock on her door. Kel jerked her head up. She looked at the closed door, as if she would be able to gaze through it at who was standing there.
"Who is it?" She said, standing up and taking a brush to her rumpled hair.
"It's me." Dom's voice came through the door.
Kel put her arms down and sighed. "Goodnight, Dom." She said, blowing out her candle and going back to sleep.
Kel woke the next morning very sore. She had worked herself too hard the day before. If she went to practice today, Peachblossom would probably not let her on him. She got dressed quickly, brushed her teeth and hair, and opened the door to go to breakfast.
She stopped in her tracks as soon as she did. "Oh, for heavens sake!" She said. Dom was sitting in a chair on the other side of the hall.
He didn't move when Kel said it. he just stared at her and gave a weak smile, after a moment. "Well," he said, slapping his hands on his thighs and standing up with a groan and a stretch, "I was wondering when you would turn up. It is getting very late, you know."
Kel crossed her arms. "Dom, I told you I didn't want to talk to you."
Dom nodded glumly. "I know. But you really just said to take some time to think about what I said, and I did. You were right. I was an idiot."
"Glad you figured it out." Kel said coolly.
"Oh, come on, Kel. I said I was sorry, can't that be good enough for you?" Dom demanded.
Kel stared at him, her face hard. Slowly, she nodded. "Alright." She finally said. "I understand that you realize that you were completely wrong."
"Completely!" Dom repeated, nodding.
"And you are a stupid git." She said.
Dom nodded slowly. "I'm a stupid git." He muttered, and Kel laughed.
"You said it." she grinned. "Now come on, I'm starving!" She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him down the hall towards the dining hall. "So how was the ball last night?" She joked.
Dom frowned. "It's not fair, why did you get to miss it?"
Kel smiled as he complained about what a horrible time he had had. She tried to listen, she really did, but she could not stop thinking how lucky she was that Dom was a man who could accept his mistakes.
Just after Neal sat down and started arguing with Dom, Kel heard a voice. She closed her eyes. This had happened before. She stood up quickly and excused herself from her friends walking briskly down busy halls, still hearing whispers all around her. She marched up to the Chapel of the Ordeal and threw the doors open. The dusty room was silent, but Kel did not stop. She gripped the cold iron handles of the Chamber and pulled them open. She took a step in, and, like the time before, the doors slammed closed behind her.
But before the Chamber could begin again, Kel shouted, "That is enough! We agreed the last time you gave me a mission that we were done. Don't think I don't remember it. We agreed you would get someone else!"
Her voice echoed through the Chamber around her. After it came silence. No voice came, but Kel could feel it speaking. She could not explain it, it was like her own thoughts, silent, in her head. It said, "there is no one else."
Kel took a deep breath and sighed. "If this mission gets me killed, or as close to being killed as last time, I will not be happy."
The Chamber did not argue. It did not laugh at Kel thinking she had power over it. it was scared. It said three words to her now, only three words before the doors flew open again and Kel walked slowly back to her room to collapse on her bed in thought.
It said:
"It is here."
Ooh, creepy, eh? I enjoyed writing this chapter. Don't really know why, because I thought it was pretty boring up until the end... oh well.
Kelly Masbolle: yep. I am completely unoriginal. I have new ideas for this story though, don't worry. I just haven't gotten to them yet.
Wake-Robin: sure, I'll get better... glad you liked it!
Anonymous: Gah! Damn you! Stupid people and their stupid being right.... Grr... just kidding. And when I say rare, I mean I only have a few per chapter. I have read stories where there are a few per paragraph, honest.
Erkith: ha, don't worry. It will all get better.
Pinky: well, she doesn't really have to get married if she doesn't want to. And its not that she doesn't love him, its that she doesn't want to make a decision like that right away.
Aussie correspondent: it sucks to have to use school computers for stuff like that. at my school, they block just about every site that has anything of any 'improper'...what's the word I'm looking for? Stuff? Information? Well, anyway, they block silly things, so I'm lucky to have my own computer at home...
Rubber Duck: well, maybe it thought he could do more good than bad. Like, while he still might be kinda evil and annoying, he would be able to help lots of people by being a knight.
Sal: thanks...I actually think that I don't do her very realistically, just because all Dom and she ever talk about is their relationship... I've been trying to get away from that...
PsychoLioness13: thanks
Tanydwr: thank you!
CrystalLili: Well, what I just realized by rereading Lady Knight, is that New Hope is a town, not a refugee camp. Maybe something happened, they didn't need her, or maybe it is a camp, but they didn't need a knight any more... you never know. Actually, I don't either, and I wrote the story!
ShadowPirate: thank you!
Lady of Masbolle: ha, thank you! That's a good line, I'll have to remember that.
Kore Yan: that's okay. All done now, right? Yay!
Lady Wolfspeaker: don't worry, don't worry.
CrystalLili: I don't know. I don't think there is anything out of character about feeling she needs a bath. If she's not at war, why should she be dirty? And I think that Neal's remark was quite in character! But I'm glad that you enjoyed it. I'm not trying to prove you wrong, that's just how I see it.
R: remind me, please, what does OC mean? I always ask this, but I can never remember...
AJ 4EVA: thank you, I will!
"I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they chose a king, they don't just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas."
-unolimbo