Alternate Ending
(starting at the end of Chapter Six, when Dom makes his reply)
1715 words!!!!!
He smiled at her and brushed a loose lock of hair from her face as he replied, "I really care about her." He seemed to be speaking more to Kel than to the baron.
Ilane and Piers traded a look before silently taking their leave-none of which the other two noticed, for their daughter was too busy trying to hide a blush as she stared at her feet, and her sergeant was too busy watching her and trying not to laugh.
After several minutes of silence between the two (believe it or not, life around them continued the same as it had been, even if they didn't continue with it), Dom put a rough finger under her chin and pulled her face up, so her eyes were staring into his own. He smiled down at her, and she timidly smiled back.
"Would you care to dance, milady?"
She nodded her head, a small, rushed breath escaping her lips. "Sure," she said, voice low.
He pulled her onto the dance floor.
After a time-Kel wasn't sure how long it was, as she was too busy staring up at the sergeant-, the ball ended, a thing she normally would have been very thankful for. Today, however, it was not so-in fact, she wished more than anything that it didn't have to end. She wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. 'However, all good things have to come to an end at some point,' she thought to herself, disappointed nonetheless.
They gathered up their coats and made their way to the carriage that was awaiting them.
The pair sank back into the plush seats of the carriage, grateful to be sitting at last. Kel was doubly glad to be sitting next to the sergeant-a thought that he shared, to be sure.
Soon the vehicle was rolling back towards the palace, bouncing over the cobblestones of the street. It was quiet in the small compartment except for a few yawns emitted from the occupants.
After a few moments, at which time Kel seemed to be asleep, the sergeant whispered her name, wanting to talk to her, but not wanting to wake her up if she was, in fact, asleep.
She stirred. "Yes," came the quiet reply.
"I was wondering…could we talk about something, well, something quite serious?" he asked nervously.
She sat up. "Yes, of course. What did you want to talk about?"
He seemed, she noted with amusement, to be blushing. "You know how your father asked me that question in the ball room?"
The lady knight nodded her head slowly. "Yes, of course." She didn't know what else to say, so left it at that. Had he been offended by the question? Dear god, she hoped not!
"Umm…you see, I wanted to talk to you privately about that one. I had a very selfish reason for coming with you today, I admit. I had wanted to be alone with you away from-well, everyone at the palace-so we could talk about something that has been on my mind for quite some time."
Kel, who absolutely abhorred people beating around the bush, said, voice rather soft, "Dom. The point?"
He looked startled. "Oh, yes, of course." Then, pushing a hand through his hair, he said, "I'm rather nervous about this, you see, because I'm unsure of what you'll say. I think that I have a rather small idea of how you feel now, but I don't know…and I don't want to screw everything up because I'm an idiot."
"Dom?" She wanted to laugh and strangle him at the same time. She really wished he would just spit it out!
He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. Would you just promise me that no matter what happens, we'll still be friends?"
She looked thoroughly confused. "What could you say that could have such an affect that we would stop being friends?"
"Just promise me, please. I want to make sure, before I say anything else."
She was about to nod her head when the carriage pulled to a stop. The driver came around and opened the door.
Dom, looking quite annoyed at the interruption, said, "Could you give us a few moments, please?"
The man, rather old and stubborn, shook his head. "Nope. Sorry, sir." He really didn't look sorry in the least. "I'm under direct orders from the lady to take you back to the palace then return directly."
The sergeant looked very flustered. "Very well." Then, turning to Kel, he said, "Maybe we could continue this conversation in the morning? Maybe then I can think out what I'm going to say and we won't have any unplanned interruptions." He glared at the man, though he knew it wasn't really his fault; he had, after all, just been following orders.
Kel nodded her head, growing more confused by the second, and followed him out of the carriage.
They walked off to the palace. He offered to walk her back, but she shook her head, saying he needed to get to bed himself. They separated ways, Dom saying as he did, "'Til morning!" Before she could walk off, he brushed his lips against hers, then practically sprinted away.
The sun rose, and Kel rose with it, doing her morning exercises as she thought anxiously over what Dom had to say to her. She really had no clue what it was. She had hopes that it would be something, but she doubted it was that.
Finally, after dressing herself in her normal breeches and pulling her hair back into a horse-tail, she walked down to the mess, only to find the group-Neal, Seaver, Owen and Merric-were sitting at their usual table.
Suddenly, she wasn't so hungry anymore.
She tried to turn around and leave, hopefully unnoticed, but they caught her. Neal grinned-a large, silly grin that spoke in volumes-he was going to torture her. Last night was something that was never going to be forgotten.
"Kel, my dear!" came the teasing voice of her best friend. She flinched, then began to slowly walk towards him, fear plain in her face.
"Yes, Neal?" she asked, almost timidly.
"Why don't you sit down and join us for breakfast?" he asked politely, though there was that undertone of unholy amusement-for it could only be unholy, if it was coming from Neal-in it.
"I'm not hungry?" It came out more of a question than a statement.
He ignored her.
With a sigh, she got in line and got her food, then came and sat down, knowing she'd be subject to much bantering.
Neal opened her mouth, and she thought to herself, 'and so it begins.'
"Did you and my cousin have fun last night?" he asked, voice smooth.
She shot him a dirty look and didn't answer.
He just laughed. 'Damn him,' she thought.
"I admit, I felt quite bad about interrupting that touching scene in the ballroom."
'My arse, you feel bad,' she thought to herself, but felt it might be better to keep her comments to herself. She slipped on her Yamani mask and went back to picking at her scrambled eggs with her fork.
A voice sounded from somewhere behind her, "If you are quite done harassing her, Meathead, could I have a word with the lady knight in private?"
She quickly stood up and gathered her tray, ignoring Neal's reply, and turned towards Dom, grinning thankfully up at him.
They escaped to the hall, at which point he started laughing. "You wouldn't believe the look on your face. You'd think you'd been given a reprieve from being hanged or something!"
She just smiled. "Where do you want to go to talk?" she asked him, voice quiet.
He thought for a moment. "Well, staying at the palace might not be the best idea, for Neal might try to seek us out." He shuddered at the thought. "I noticed you hadn't eaten any of your breakfast. Why don't we go down to a pub in the city? We can talk there."
She nodded her head in acceptance and followed him out of the palace and into the city.
When they sat down in the wooden benches of the restaurant, a waitress came over and took their order. When she disappeared back into the kitchens, Dom took her hands, which her sitting on the table in front of him, into his own.
She looked up at him, rather surprised, but didn't say anything.
After a few moments, he began talking. "The reason why I wanted to talk to you was because I had a confession to make," he paused for a moment, and she tried to say something, but he held up a hand. "Wait, let me finish. If I don't say it now, I might never get it out."
She nodded her head, and he continued, "I've been thinking a lot about you lately, and have come to a realization. I think I've felt this way since, well, probably since I saw you again at Haven. I had realized how much I had missed you, all that time you had been away, when you had gone back to the palace. I just didn't realize what it was. It took me until you had to fight Stenmun and Blayce to realize it."
She raised a brow at him, telling him silently to get to the point.
He stopped for a moment, then stated, "Kel, I, I love you."
She stared at him dumbly.
"I think I need to clean my ears, for I swear I just heard you say that you love me."
"Umm…no, you don't. I really did." He shifted nervously. 'What is she going to say?' he wondered. 'What if I had guessed wrong and she really doesn't feel the same way?' Doubts kept arising in his mind.
Luckily, he didn't have long to wait for her reaction. She grinned, a small smile at first, widening until it lit up her whole face.
"I love you too, Dom."
He was about to reply, but was interrupted when a voice behind them said, "Aww, how cute!"
They both turned to glare at Neal, who was lounging against another table.
"Sod off, Meathead," Dom replied cheerfully before reaching over and kissing the lady knight.
Neal, Owen, Seaver, and Merric all clapped.
So, what do you think? I quite like this one, I think…but I like the last one too, personally. It's quite long; five pages!
Now, onto my wonderful reviewers…
Thank you all for your kindness and encouragement throughout the story! I really love you guys!!!!!!
Umm, I'll add responses to reviews tomorrow and post them...seperately, yes, i know. I love you guys, and thank you for all your reviews!!!!!