Kel didn't know what to do with herself. She was alone now, with no one to watch over her, at least for a while. She could count on her friends to keep her company some of the time, but she couldn't expect them to stay there with her. She left her room often now, not only to eat and see her friends, but also to practice.

She realized after Dom left that she was defenceless. She had not been practicing for quite a while now, and knew that if she did not, she would have nothing against Rhian.

With practice, she at least had her strength.

Kel was assigned two new guards. She did not know him well, though they were members of the Own whom she had seen before. One stood guard outside her room during the night, while the other stood at her room in the daytime and accompanied her everywhere.

She did not mind, really. They did not expect her to socialize with her, though they were polite. They knew that they were working, and did not expect to be treated as guests. They expected to be treated as though they were not there. That worked out nicely for Kel, finding it easy to leave her room comfortably and practice, or go to meals.

Kel never really expected it to happen. She had spent so much time preparing, and so much time waiting, that she did not think it would ever really happen.

So when she walked into her room after supper and there was a beautiful young woman sitting in a chair before her, Kel was surprised.

-----

Icy blue eyes stared up at Kel. "Welcome home, Lady Knight." She said.

Kel nodded politely to the woman. "Good evening, Rhian. I was wondering what was taking you so long. Took you a little while to recuperate after your little tussle with Numair?"

Rhian laughed coldly, crossing one long leg over the other. "Come now, Lady. Do not think so highly of your mage. It took me less then an hour to get over that. No, I was in Scanra, celebrating."

Kel raised an eyebrow, surprised at how calm she was staying. "Celebrating? You lost last time."

Rhian smiled and shrugged softly. "I won't have time to celebrate after this time. I thought I might as well do it before hand. And don't bother," she said, noticing Kel backing slowly towards the door, "your guard cannot hear you, nor can her get the door open. He distinctly heard you call goodnight to him, and you locked the door. To him, you are asleep right now." She stood up and walked towards Kel.

They stood across from each other, staring into each others eyes. Kel stood at least six inches above Rhian, but she knew that there was more to it than that – this woman was strong, and she would not back down to Kel.

"What is it you want with me?" Kel asked.

Rhian smiled at her again, brushing her long hair away from her face. Kel could have sworn she saw a flash of red in her eyes. "It is not what I want, Lady. It is what I will take. I will take you," she pointed at Kel, "and I will make you ours." She closed her hand into a tight fist. "You will be our greatest force."

Kel shook her head. "I will never come," she said. "It will not work."

Rhian stepped away from Kel, casually looking around the room. "I can control you, Keladry." Kel felt a wave of anger and fear run through her as the mage spoke her name. "I can control anything."

"So what is the point?"

Rhian shook her head slowly, smiling at Kel. "I'm not falling for all of this. I will tell you when we get there."

Before Kel could say anything, Rhian snapped her fingers, and all Kel could see was red smoke.

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Okay, I know this chapter was hella short, but it will continue very soon, I should hope. It was just so perfect!

Lady of Masbolle: thank you! I know, it is sad...

Macko: Does that answer your question?

DestinyHunter: so.. many... capital....letters... anywhoo, she is possibly older than that, because she spent about two years as a knight, I think, then she went to Tagnot for six years, and now I think it has been about another year. So she is closer to 26/27. I always get bored of her hiding her feelings and such...I also forget a lot.

Hydra-Star: I know exactly what you mean about calling Kel 'she.' My mother always told me, 'she is the cats mother.' On the other hand, I read somewhere or other that you should not repeat a word within fifteen words, because it sounds strange. Sometimes it makes sense to say 'she.' That is true, but I never consider looks to be an important factor in a character. I prefer to leave it up to the reader, unless their looks plays some part. Besides, all of my original characters are gone after the first chapter. So it doesn't really matter. Hmm... interesting. That does seem like a lot of effort, but I shall do my best. I must say, I have a tiny vocabulary...I can never think of ANYTHING to say. Thank you for all the ides and criticism!

ShadowPirate: thank you, I am doing great! I keep truckin'! Shudder at saying that...

SO/JV: OMG! I don't really understand what you are talking about. I never realized how difficult it was to read with all those ...s! Anyway, if you email me with your query (ooh, big word!) then I shall be happy to help you!

PsychoLioness13: fhew, I thought you were going to complain about something! Gah! Thank you!

Laelai: I am just so glad I thought of it.

Alannalovingwriter: he's not that stupid...he just should have told her, is all!

Wake-Robin: well, we can't always get what we want, eh?

Dreamerdoll: thank you, thank you, thank you!

Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed it, I should like to have the next chapter up in a few days.

Enjoy!

"To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other."

-unolimbo