If I named the chapters I'd name this one, Neal meets somebody smarter.

Protecting the Head – Chapter 4

Kel swung the door open just enough so that Neal could go inside the room without being squeezed between the door and frame, got herself in her room, and closed the door.

When she turned around to get a look at her friend and her new charges, their faces were… well, not near to what she had been expecting. Both sides' faces were covered in confusion, and to the Head's side there were sparks of hostility.

Neal was the one to break the jagged silence. "The head?"

"You TOLD him!" Eric shouted.

"See, I told you guys this was a bad idea," Tomas mumbled.

"It was not a bad idea!" Arthur shouted at his oldest brother. "You jerks just refused to tell her!"

"But she TOLD him!" Eric proclaimed.

"That's because you two thought she'd be stupid to tell anybody!" Arthur cried. "You should have figured that she was smarter than that when she fooled our magic the FIRST time!"

"You fooled their magic?" Neal asked his friend.

"Hush, you!" Tomas barked. "You'll be gone in moments anyway, once we erase this memory from your mind."

"Erase his memory!" Kel cried. "Why in the Goddess's name would you do that! He's here because I asked him to come!"

Eric snorted. "Like pretty little mage boy would ever want to help on a dangerous mission! You just brought him here with the thought that he could make us behave, and then send us with our tails between our legs back to idiot Ian!"

"How in the world do you know my magical abilities!" Neal bellowed at Eric.

"Half-wit," Tomas drawled. "You can't fool us. The Lady Knight told you all she could about us as soon as she got the chance and then told you that we just needed controlled."

"Yes," Neal replied sarcastically. "That's exactly why I'm standing here like, what did you say? Oh yes, a half-wit. Kel, who are these boys!"

"Arthur?" Tomas asked.

Arthur looked up at his older brother and happily replied, "He's telling the truth Tomas. The Lady Knight, too."

Tomas glared at his younger brother and said, "Something tells me you aren't the least bit sad."

"Really?" Arthur eagerly declared. "Something tells me I'm not the only empath, Tomas…"

"Boys," Kel spoke, beginning to get irritated by the arguing going on. "What is going on? Didn't you tell me I could bring somebody else to help you?"

"Yes," Eric replied. "We did say that, but HE was not what we had in mind. We thought that you surrounded yourself with female friends, trying not to be in a male's presence more than you had to be, when winning your shield. We had no idea that you had mage MAN friends."

"Why wouldn't I? Not everybody would be opposed to me, and I would need SOME friends who knew somewhat what I was going through."

"True," Eric said. "We never thought about it that way…"

"Excuse me for breaking up your informative little conversation," Neal broke in, "but I am some how standing here CLUELESS about what is going on!"

"Quiet, you!" Eric said.

"Make me, boy!" Neal growled.

"Hush!" Kel yelled, dropping her Yamani mask out of irritation. She tried to reclaim calmness before she spoke again. Smooth as an undisturbed lake…

"Did she fall asleep?" Eric asked.

"No, she does this from time to time now. When we first met she NEVER yelled."

"That just show's what being with you for 10 or so years can do to a person," Kel stated, coming out of her calm area.

Kel becoming calm somehow infused a calmness in the rest of the room.

"Can you three tell him why you called me here, since I somehow can't explain it myself?" Kel said.

Arthur sheepishly grinned.

"Now she'll KNOW that we were up to something," Tomas irritatedly said at his youngest brother.

"Well we were, weren't we?" Arthur said. "She already knew it before when she saw our sheaves on the floor because Loud cough somebody forgot to put them away… And no we aren't going to tell you what those rolls were of lady knight."

Kel was slightly annoyed. "I bet your brothers get really tired of you being an empath…"

"You have NO idea..." Eric mumbled.

"Wait, hold on a second…" Neal shouted. "HE'S an EMPATH!" he exclaimed as he gawked at Arthur.

"We've got a lot to explain…." Tomas mumbled.

After two hours and a lot of patience from all parties there was only a small notch of understanding from the two non-Head people.

Neal was told that the three boys were fugitives from an evil mage looking for help.

Kel was told the reason that she couldn't tell Neal about the Head was because they had placed a spell on her so that she wouldn't tell anybody about them.

Neal and Kel also conveniently left out that Neal's magical abilities extended only to healing. It's not like the Head would fear him any for it, they just would give him more respect (something they found useful on their side)

Tomas, Eric, and Arthur ended there thinking that all curiosity should be content. They must not have ever heard of Neal, the all knowing man with the sharpest tongue in all man-dom (from his eyes, people. From his eyes!).

So Neal persued the truth until justice was brought to his knowledgeable mind (a.k.a. he bugged the crap out of them until they told them everything that Kel already knew, with Kel's confirmation).

Kel asked why the spell was even placed on her in the first place. They started to refuse to tell, but then Kel glanced over at her prized glaive, which was within a hand's reach. Quickly, They told her that they liked their privacy that, apparently also earned respect... :). Hence the reason why they wanted to stay in Kel's rooms.

Kel asked why they wanted privacy in a court filled with knights who would find out and surely help them out.

Tomas told her to mind her own business.

Neal told him that his business (as in Tomas's) IS her business since she's going to help them out.

Eric told pretty-boy mage to shove it.

Neal told four eyes to not meddle in things he can't handle.

Arthur and Tomas started run after Neal,momentarily forgetting all really good curses.

Eric told his brothers to stop it and that he could fight his own fights.

Tomas said that he wasn't about to let some unhonorable knight to trash talk his family.

Kel asked why Neal was unhonorable when he had come here to help her help them.

Tomas asked wasn't it obvious? If she trusted this mage man so much then they were naturally lovers. And he hadn't seen a marriage band on either of their hands.

Kel and Neal blushed as Neal started after Tomas shouting that he was engaged to another woman you little CENSORED! And that wasn't honorability from not asking inappropriate questions!

While Neal was chasing Tomas, Tomas was trying to avoid the older mage man, and Kel was trying to wipe off her blush, Arthur started to laugh. And laugh hard. All three of them stopped what they were doing to see what was so funny. It was then that everybody had noticed that Eric wasn't in the room anymore.

A/N: Hey! Another day another chappie. I think that this Kel's room scene is going to last A WHILE…at least 1 more full chappie, and that will probably end up cutting it off.

Oh, and see that pretty button at the bottom left of here? Click it. It magicly makes my stories better. ;-)

Bamboulieblue, I thank you immensly for being so encouraging. I LOVE IT! Pourtoujourmort, I appreciate your thoughts upon my story and I'm seriously trying to make Kel more…noneasygoing? I think that's the opposite of dismissive. Isn't it?

So review. I appreciate EVEN flames. Thankies!

P.s. don't you love Neal the Mage-Man (just say it out loud and you'll see what I'm laughing about)?