Kel didn't know it, but no one expected her to come back. They tried not to
talk about her, but when they did, they spoke of her like they were
mourning. Dom asked why they had not followed her, demanding an answer from
his reluctant cousin.
"I don't know, Dom. Something in my heart told me not to."
Dom rolled his eyes. "Don't be absurd. Your heart told you nothing."
Neal frowned. "Dom, I know Keladry a hell of a lot better than you do. I know that she would not let us come this time. I know it would be useless."
Dom sighed. "Why not?"
Neal smiled weakly. "She was the one the Chamber spoke to. She feels that she is the only one who can do this. She feels she must stop it herself." He sighed. "I knew that there was nothing I could do."
Dom shook his head in dismay. "I can't believe this. You are supposed to be her best friend. How could you let this happen?"
Neal stood up. "Now just one minute," he said, waving his finger in Dom's face. "This is not my fault. How can you say I did not do my duty as a friend? You are in exactly the same position!"
Dom frowned. "Exactly what position am I in?"
Neal opened his moth to say something, but then closed it. He opened it again, then paused again. "I don't exactly know." He finally said. "What are you. Are you her friend? Are you her fiancé? Are you her lover?"
"I'm nothing anymore." Dom snapped. He sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands. "I don't know what to do."
Neal sat down beside his cousin. "Dom, it will turn out for the best. I know it well." He said.
Dom looked up. "Why are you waiting?" He said, as Yuki opened the door quietly. She smiled weakly at them and sat down beside Neal.
Neal sighed as he put his arm around his fiancée.
"Why are you waiting?" Dom asked again. "You said yourself that she would not come back."
Yuki leaned forward and looked at Dom across Neal. "I don't care if she comes back or not. We will wait for her."
She leaned back and sat up straight. Dom stayed slumped over, his head still in his hands, his elbows on his thighs. Neal just lifted his head enough to stare out the open door. Anyone who watched them would say they looked very comical, sitting in this row. But if an observer looked at their faces, he would see that they were not comical at all. They were sad. Grief stricken, as it were.
Dom looked up. "How can you wait if she will never come back?" He asked quietly.
Yuki did not move. She did not flinch, she did not even blink. "We will wait." She said.
Kel did not know the conversation her friends had weeks before. Yes, weeks had passed since Kel had departed from Corus, but she would not know. She traveled as quickly as she could. She did not know where she was going. She went due north from Corus, and took which ever road her heart led her on, continuing north, then west, then north, then east, then north even more, then west again, finally ending in the north west part of Tortall, very near indeed a place she knew very well.
She was practically at Mindelan. It took all of her Yamani training in self control to stop herself from galloping in. But, she held fast. Days later, she reached the western shore. She stayed at the waters edge for a day, still traveling north, as she was as far west as she could get, watching the horizon for ships or creatures or what not.
Nothing came from the water, so Kel continued north. Soon, she found that there was nowhere to go on the shore, so she turned east again. She did not quite know where she was anymore. But for some reason, even with her tiring horses and quickly dwindling food supply, Kel plowed forward.
She knew she had to find it.
She stopped one night, already deeper into Scanran territory than she had ever been. She sat, a small fire burning in front of her the next morning, shivering in all of her clothes and blankets. Peachblossom whinnied quietly and came and stood beside her so she leaned against his legs. She closed her eyes. "Thank you." She whispered. Jump was curled up in her lap underneath the blankets. He whimpered.
Kel sighed as she bit into a piece of dried jerky. "This is insane. When am I going to find anything?" She said to herself. She had gotten in the habit of talking to herself a week or so earlier to stop herself from going insane.
She took a sip from her mug of cider and closed her eyes. Just as she opened her eyes to take another sip, she noticed something. A thumping in the ground. Was it just her imagination? She looked across the fire at Hoshi as she felt the thumping even more. Hoshi was not moving, nor was Peachblossom. Surely she was imagining it.
Slowly, she placed her mug of cider snugly inn the snow. She stared intently at it as it settled. As she watched, small ripples appeared in the cider.
"Mithros protect." She whispered. She leapt up and quickly looked around. She was near a cliff. She had stayed there the night before specifically so she could not be surrounded and so she could see things below. She scrambled through the snow and stood at the edge of the cliff, breathing heavily from fear of what was coming, and fear of the cliff.
She stood at the edge, looking at what was coming. As far as her view stretched, she could only see two things. Trees, and men.
An army was coming. An army greater than any she had ever seen.
"Mithros protect me." She muttered. She turned around. "Hoshi! Peachblossom! Jump!" She yelled, running towards them. "Pack up camp!"
By the time she ran to her camp, Peachblossom had stamped out her fire, Hoshi had untied both her and Peachblossom, and Jump had thrown her pots and mug into her pack. She threw in her blankets and tied up the sack, tying it onto Peachblossom as fast as she could. She leapt on Hoshi and started at a gallop.
"We can't keep this up." She said both to herself and Jump sitting behind her. "We must stay ahead of them, though."
The army that Kel had seen was unlike any army she had ever seen. They did not walk or ride. They marched. Five thousand strong at least, marching towards Tortall.
And Kel had to get there first.
Going straight south at first, following the right road, she would come straight through to Mindelan.
She did, days later, and she rode straight up to the stables. "My Lady Keladry!" The stable boy said, surprised. "Have you spoken to your mother?"
Kel did not answer. "Give me the two fastest horses. I don't care who's in the family they are, just give them to me!"
The stable boy, looking very scared, quickly gave her two fresh horses. "Tend my horses. They are both exhausted. If I find one of them dead, it will me your head on the line." She said as she got up onto one of the horses. "Who's are they?" She asked.
"Your father's, and Sir Anders'." The boy said timidly.
Kel nodded briskly. "Give my parents my gratitude." She said, and galloped off. Jump barked at the boy from his platform behind her.
Kel's mother was walking down the road as she galloped by. "Keladry? What on earth?" She said.
Kel slowed to a trot. "Mother, I am truly sorry, I cannot stay. But have father send all of the towns able men to Corus immediately, and tell all of the nearby fiefs." She smiled. "Goodbye, mother." She said and galloped off again.
Kel barely slept. She rode her horses for as long as she possibly could, jogging with them when they needed breaks. She slept on the horse, praying that they could stay in a straight line at a trot. If they strayed, Jump was ready to nip at their heels and guide them in the right direction.
Weeks later, again, she reached Corus, still at a gallop. She calculated it in her head as she rode towards the city. She had been traveling for eleven weeks and six days. Three months she had been gone.
She kept galloping into the city, and did not slow, even on the roads that, as she moved closer and closer to the palace, became busier and busier.
She stayed at the same pace to the stables where she slipped off her horses, immediately gave them to Stephan, and ran up to the palace. She did not know where the king would be, but she knew where to start.
She ran, breathing hard against the warm clothes and lack of sleep and food. She pushed the doors of the king's study open. The room was not filled, by any stretch of the imagination, but there were a sufficient number of people. The king rose from his desk when Kel burst in, and Raoul, Buri, Sir Wyldon, Sir Myles, and other turned to look at her, aghast.
"It's here. An army. Very big." She said through cracked lips.
Then she fainted.
"Where is she? Let me see her!"
"Sir, she is unconscious. And you are supposed to be preparing for war!"
"Just let the bloody man in. and while you're at it, let me in too!"
"Sir, this is a place of healing. I cannot allow you to scream like this!"
Kel moved her head, groaning. She knew at least two of those voices. "Who.." she muttered.
"Kel!" Someone cried. She tried to open her eyes, but everything seemed blurry. The two people trying to get in pushed past the orderly and stood over her.
She blinked hard. Slowly, they came into focus. Kel smiled weakly. "Neal. Dom." She said. She lifted her hand and rubbed her eyes. "No, I have to get up, I have to-"
They stopped her as she tried to push herself up. "Kel, lie down." Neal said calmly. "You were half-dead when you got here, as were your horses. You are still in barely a better condition." He pressed his palm to her forehead, and she felt the warmth flow through her. "There." Neal said. "Go back to sleep."
Kel shook her head. "No, I have to speak to the king!"
Neal shushed her. "He knows. Heard it straight from you, you should know. But that doesn't matter! How do you feel?"
Kel frowned. "There is an army coming! It's important!"
Neal sighed. "We know, Kel."
Kel sat up, not letting them stop her. 'This is different, Neal. You don't understand. They were nothing like I have ever seen before. They were so organized. They were organized even when they were walking here, let alone when they were fighting! I never even saw them fight, and I was terrified. They will be here any day now! Almost five thousand of them!"
Neal looked worried, but tried to put it off. "We can handle them. This is not like at New Hope or anything. We have an army here, and many knights, and good defences. We will be fine!"
Kel sighed. "How long have I been here?" She asked.
"Only a few hours." Dom said. It was the first thing he had said.
Kel sighed again. "How long do I need to sleep before I can fight again?" She asked.
Neal frowned. "A day. At the very least. But I really don't think you should-"
Kel held up her hand. "Tell the orderly to wake me up first thing in the morning. I want to be ready for this army. And yes, you need me. The Chamber did not call on me just to be a messenger."
Neal sighed and put his hand on her shoulder. "If I don't see you, be careful."
Kel smiled. "You be careful too." She said weakly. She felt his healing tiring her.
"I'll be one minute, Neal." Dom said. Neal nodded to him and walked out of the room.
Dom sat down in the chair beside her bed and held her hand. "Hi." He smiled.
Kel smiled back. "Hi."
Dom rubbed her hand. He squeezed his lips, and his eyes started to water. He brushed his face with the back of his hand. "Dom..." She put her hand to his face.
He shook his head. "I thought you were dead. We all did. Yuki said she would not get married until you got back, but Neal said he didn't think you would, but they didn't change their minds. They said they would wait. Everyone just prayed that we would get you back."
Kel smiled. "I came back. Don't worry."
Dom took a deep breath. "Sorry." He said, chuckling. "Where did they come from?" He asked, completely serious now.
Kel sighed. "I don't quite know. They were not Scanran, or at least not only Scanran. There is no Scanran who could organize that well, and I don't think there are that many Scanrans there. I think they came from even further north. Or from across the sea. I don't know what is out there."
Dom nodded. "If it is five thousand men, why did the Chamber say it was so important? I mean, yes, that is a lot of men, but I think we can deal with it."
Kel frowned. "I don't quite know. But Dom, Neal is right, I need to rest." She smiled at him. "I'll find you first thing in the morning." She said.
He stood up, but Kel caught his hand. "Dom." She said. he leaned down and kissed her passionately.
"I missed you." Kel whispered.
Dom smiled. "I'm glad you're back."
.........................................................................
PsychoLioness13: thanks. I actually thought it was kind of bittersweet...
Dream Wall: sweet!
Wake-Robin: obviously she will. I saw Shrek 2 today...wasn't very good. It was cute, yes, but not as incredibly hilarious as everyone said. Puss in boots rocked though. He made the movie.
Lady Knight Wolfy: no, no he's not. I decided against it...it's just what everyone does, including me. He did it, like, three times in my other two stories combined.
Ossini: thanks!
Ally: ah, live with it. (sorry, it 3 in the morning...getting kinda grumpy...)
Fyliwion: I don't usually. I know nothing about them, as I have not read the Daine books...maybe I will someday.
Artemis Terankia Ryann: what? No...they were attacked by Scanra (I messed up numbers...must fix that...) and the fighting at the beginning was training. No one killed there own. No own killing involved.
Well, that's it for tonight. It is way past my bedtime, hope it was worth it. (the scene when Kel came back and the scene when Dom was crying made me cry...but that could also be that it is 3 o'clock in the morning...)
Enjoy!
"If I lived back in the wild west days, instead of carrying a six-gun in my holster, I'd carry a soldering iron. That way, if some smart-aleck cowboy said something like "Hey, look. He's carrying a soldering iron!" and started laughing, and everybody else started laughing, I could just say, "That's right, it's a soldering iron. The soldering iron of justice." Then everybody would get real quiet and ashamed, because they had made fun of the soldering iron of justice, and I could probably hit them up for a free drink."
-unolimbo
"I don't know, Dom. Something in my heart told me not to."
Dom rolled his eyes. "Don't be absurd. Your heart told you nothing."
Neal frowned. "Dom, I know Keladry a hell of a lot better than you do. I know that she would not let us come this time. I know it would be useless."
Dom sighed. "Why not?"
Neal smiled weakly. "She was the one the Chamber spoke to. She feels that she is the only one who can do this. She feels she must stop it herself." He sighed. "I knew that there was nothing I could do."
Dom shook his head in dismay. "I can't believe this. You are supposed to be her best friend. How could you let this happen?"
Neal stood up. "Now just one minute," he said, waving his finger in Dom's face. "This is not my fault. How can you say I did not do my duty as a friend? You are in exactly the same position!"
Dom frowned. "Exactly what position am I in?"
Neal opened his moth to say something, but then closed it. He opened it again, then paused again. "I don't exactly know." He finally said. "What are you. Are you her friend? Are you her fiancé? Are you her lover?"
"I'm nothing anymore." Dom snapped. He sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands. "I don't know what to do."
Neal sat down beside his cousin. "Dom, it will turn out for the best. I know it well." He said.
Dom looked up. "Why are you waiting?" He said, as Yuki opened the door quietly. She smiled weakly at them and sat down beside Neal.
Neal sighed as he put his arm around his fiancée.
"Why are you waiting?" Dom asked again. "You said yourself that she would not come back."
Yuki leaned forward and looked at Dom across Neal. "I don't care if she comes back or not. We will wait for her."
She leaned back and sat up straight. Dom stayed slumped over, his head still in his hands, his elbows on his thighs. Neal just lifted his head enough to stare out the open door. Anyone who watched them would say they looked very comical, sitting in this row. But if an observer looked at their faces, he would see that they were not comical at all. They were sad. Grief stricken, as it were.
Dom looked up. "How can you wait if she will never come back?" He asked quietly.
Yuki did not move. She did not flinch, she did not even blink. "We will wait." She said.
Kel did not know the conversation her friends had weeks before. Yes, weeks had passed since Kel had departed from Corus, but she would not know. She traveled as quickly as she could. She did not know where she was going. She went due north from Corus, and took which ever road her heart led her on, continuing north, then west, then north, then east, then north even more, then west again, finally ending in the north west part of Tortall, very near indeed a place she knew very well.
She was practically at Mindelan. It took all of her Yamani training in self control to stop herself from galloping in. But, she held fast. Days later, she reached the western shore. She stayed at the waters edge for a day, still traveling north, as she was as far west as she could get, watching the horizon for ships or creatures or what not.
Nothing came from the water, so Kel continued north. Soon, she found that there was nowhere to go on the shore, so she turned east again. She did not quite know where she was anymore. But for some reason, even with her tiring horses and quickly dwindling food supply, Kel plowed forward.
She knew she had to find it.
She stopped one night, already deeper into Scanran territory than she had ever been. She sat, a small fire burning in front of her the next morning, shivering in all of her clothes and blankets. Peachblossom whinnied quietly and came and stood beside her so she leaned against his legs. She closed her eyes. "Thank you." She whispered. Jump was curled up in her lap underneath the blankets. He whimpered.
Kel sighed as she bit into a piece of dried jerky. "This is insane. When am I going to find anything?" She said to herself. She had gotten in the habit of talking to herself a week or so earlier to stop herself from going insane.
She took a sip from her mug of cider and closed her eyes. Just as she opened her eyes to take another sip, she noticed something. A thumping in the ground. Was it just her imagination? She looked across the fire at Hoshi as she felt the thumping even more. Hoshi was not moving, nor was Peachblossom. Surely she was imagining it.
Slowly, she placed her mug of cider snugly inn the snow. She stared intently at it as it settled. As she watched, small ripples appeared in the cider.
"Mithros protect." She whispered. She leapt up and quickly looked around. She was near a cliff. She had stayed there the night before specifically so she could not be surrounded and so she could see things below. She scrambled through the snow and stood at the edge of the cliff, breathing heavily from fear of what was coming, and fear of the cliff.
She stood at the edge, looking at what was coming. As far as her view stretched, she could only see two things. Trees, and men.
An army was coming. An army greater than any she had ever seen.
"Mithros protect me." She muttered. She turned around. "Hoshi! Peachblossom! Jump!" She yelled, running towards them. "Pack up camp!"
By the time she ran to her camp, Peachblossom had stamped out her fire, Hoshi had untied both her and Peachblossom, and Jump had thrown her pots and mug into her pack. She threw in her blankets and tied up the sack, tying it onto Peachblossom as fast as she could. She leapt on Hoshi and started at a gallop.
"We can't keep this up." She said both to herself and Jump sitting behind her. "We must stay ahead of them, though."
The army that Kel had seen was unlike any army she had ever seen. They did not walk or ride. They marched. Five thousand strong at least, marching towards Tortall.
And Kel had to get there first.
Going straight south at first, following the right road, she would come straight through to Mindelan.
She did, days later, and she rode straight up to the stables. "My Lady Keladry!" The stable boy said, surprised. "Have you spoken to your mother?"
Kel did not answer. "Give me the two fastest horses. I don't care who's in the family they are, just give them to me!"
The stable boy, looking very scared, quickly gave her two fresh horses. "Tend my horses. They are both exhausted. If I find one of them dead, it will me your head on the line." She said as she got up onto one of the horses. "Who's are they?" She asked.
"Your father's, and Sir Anders'." The boy said timidly.
Kel nodded briskly. "Give my parents my gratitude." She said, and galloped off. Jump barked at the boy from his platform behind her.
Kel's mother was walking down the road as she galloped by. "Keladry? What on earth?" She said.
Kel slowed to a trot. "Mother, I am truly sorry, I cannot stay. But have father send all of the towns able men to Corus immediately, and tell all of the nearby fiefs." She smiled. "Goodbye, mother." She said and galloped off again.
Kel barely slept. She rode her horses for as long as she possibly could, jogging with them when they needed breaks. She slept on the horse, praying that they could stay in a straight line at a trot. If they strayed, Jump was ready to nip at their heels and guide them in the right direction.
Weeks later, again, she reached Corus, still at a gallop. She calculated it in her head as she rode towards the city. She had been traveling for eleven weeks and six days. Three months she had been gone.
She kept galloping into the city, and did not slow, even on the roads that, as she moved closer and closer to the palace, became busier and busier.
She stayed at the same pace to the stables where she slipped off her horses, immediately gave them to Stephan, and ran up to the palace. She did not know where the king would be, but she knew where to start.
She ran, breathing hard against the warm clothes and lack of sleep and food. She pushed the doors of the king's study open. The room was not filled, by any stretch of the imagination, but there were a sufficient number of people. The king rose from his desk when Kel burst in, and Raoul, Buri, Sir Wyldon, Sir Myles, and other turned to look at her, aghast.
"It's here. An army. Very big." She said through cracked lips.
Then she fainted.
"Where is she? Let me see her!"
"Sir, she is unconscious. And you are supposed to be preparing for war!"
"Just let the bloody man in. and while you're at it, let me in too!"
"Sir, this is a place of healing. I cannot allow you to scream like this!"
Kel moved her head, groaning. She knew at least two of those voices. "Who.." she muttered.
"Kel!" Someone cried. She tried to open her eyes, but everything seemed blurry. The two people trying to get in pushed past the orderly and stood over her.
She blinked hard. Slowly, they came into focus. Kel smiled weakly. "Neal. Dom." She said. She lifted her hand and rubbed her eyes. "No, I have to get up, I have to-"
They stopped her as she tried to push herself up. "Kel, lie down." Neal said calmly. "You were half-dead when you got here, as were your horses. You are still in barely a better condition." He pressed his palm to her forehead, and she felt the warmth flow through her. "There." Neal said. "Go back to sleep."
Kel shook her head. "No, I have to speak to the king!"
Neal shushed her. "He knows. Heard it straight from you, you should know. But that doesn't matter! How do you feel?"
Kel frowned. "There is an army coming! It's important!"
Neal sighed. "We know, Kel."
Kel sat up, not letting them stop her. 'This is different, Neal. You don't understand. They were nothing like I have ever seen before. They were so organized. They were organized even when they were walking here, let alone when they were fighting! I never even saw them fight, and I was terrified. They will be here any day now! Almost five thousand of them!"
Neal looked worried, but tried to put it off. "We can handle them. This is not like at New Hope or anything. We have an army here, and many knights, and good defences. We will be fine!"
Kel sighed. "How long have I been here?" She asked.
"Only a few hours." Dom said. It was the first thing he had said.
Kel sighed again. "How long do I need to sleep before I can fight again?" She asked.
Neal frowned. "A day. At the very least. But I really don't think you should-"
Kel held up her hand. "Tell the orderly to wake me up first thing in the morning. I want to be ready for this army. And yes, you need me. The Chamber did not call on me just to be a messenger."
Neal sighed and put his hand on her shoulder. "If I don't see you, be careful."
Kel smiled. "You be careful too." She said weakly. She felt his healing tiring her.
"I'll be one minute, Neal." Dom said. Neal nodded to him and walked out of the room.
Dom sat down in the chair beside her bed and held her hand. "Hi." He smiled.
Kel smiled back. "Hi."
Dom rubbed her hand. He squeezed his lips, and his eyes started to water. He brushed his face with the back of his hand. "Dom..." She put her hand to his face.
He shook his head. "I thought you were dead. We all did. Yuki said she would not get married until you got back, but Neal said he didn't think you would, but they didn't change their minds. They said they would wait. Everyone just prayed that we would get you back."
Kel smiled. "I came back. Don't worry."
Dom took a deep breath. "Sorry." He said, chuckling. "Where did they come from?" He asked, completely serious now.
Kel sighed. "I don't quite know. They were not Scanran, or at least not only Scanran. There is no Scanran who could organize that well, and I don't think there are that many Scanrans there. I think they came from even further north. Or from across the sea. I don't know what is out there."
Dom nodded. "If it is five thousand men, why did the Chamber say it was so important? I mean, yes, that is a lot of men, but I think we can deal with it."
Kel frowned. "I don't quite know. But Dom, Neal is right, I need to rest." She smiled at him. "I'll find you first thing in the morning." She said.
He stood up, but Kel caught his hand. "Dom." She said. he leaned down and kissed her passionately.
"I missed you." Kel whispered.
Dom smiled. "I'm glad you're back."
.........................................................................
PsychoLioness13: thanks. I actually thought it was kind of bittersweet...
Dream Wall: sweet!
Wake-Robin: obviously she will. I saw Shrek 2 today...wasn't very good. It was cute, yes, but not as incredibly hilarious as everyone said. Puss in boots rocked though. He made the movie.
Lady Knight Wolfy: no, no he's not. I decided against it...it's just what everyone does, including me. He did it, like, three times in my other two stories combined.
Ossini: thanks!
Ally: ah, live with it. (sorry, it 3 in the morning...getting kinda grumpy...)
Fyliwion: I don't usually. I know nothing about them, as I have not read the Daine books...maybe I will someday.
Artemis Terankia Ryann: what? No...they were attacked by Scanra (I messed up numbers...must fix that...) and the fighting at the beginning was training. No one killed there own. No own killing involved.
Well, that's it for tonight. It is way past my bedtime, hope it was worth it. (the scene when Kel came back and the scene when Dom was crying made me cry...but that could also be that it is 3 o'clock in the morning...)
Enjoy!
"If I lived back in the wild west days, instead of carrying a six-gun in my holster, I'd carry a soldering iron. That way, if some smart-aleck cowboy said something like "Hey, look. He's carrying a soldering iron!" and started laughing, and everybody else started laughing, I could just say, "That's right, it's a soldering iron. The soldering iron of justice." Then everybody would get real quiet and ashamed, because they had made fun of the soldering iron of justice, and I could probably hit them up for a free drink."
-unolimbo