Chapter nine

"And then Buri saw the ants and I swear, you've never seen so many men run away so fast." Dom Chuckled.

Kel laughed. "How could so much have happened? I've only been gone for a few weeks."

"There's not a lot else to do. Without my lord around to pester us we get up to all kinds of mischief." He shrugged, glancing over at Raoul, who hadn't said anything for the last ten minutes.

Raoul, doing his best not to glower pretended to be busy while Kel and Dom talked. Kel had gone and invited Dom back to their rooms before Raoul could stop her and he had the feeling that Dom wouldn't leave for a long, long time.

It had only been a couple of weeks for Mithros' sake! How much catching up could they possibly need?

Raoul tried to clear his mind of jealous thoughts. Not only was it pointless, but completely useless. There was no reason to feel the way he did about Dom. None at all.

"How about you? Have you been keeping busy?"

"I try." Kel said. "But there's not a lot to do here either."

"Why don't you come back to the palace?"

"What? In this weather?"

"Of course not!" Dom said. "But it'll blow over soon and then the travelling wouldn't be that bad."

"I can't." Kel fidgeted, glancing over at Raoul.

"You can go if you want." He frowned. "You don't have to stay here."

"I know. But I don't want to go back. Not yet."

"Why not?" Dom pressed. "No one even really knows what's happened, including your friends, I might add."

Kel opened her mouth to interrupt but Dom silenced her.

"Yes, they got the letters, but that doesn't explain anything. You're going to have to face them sometime."

"Oh, so you think I'm afraid to go back then?" Kel demanded.

"Well you certainly seem to be acting like it."

Kel stared at Dom for a moment, mouth agape. "Well excuse me if I want to spend some time with my husband before leaping back into public scrutiny."

Silence rang loudly in the room for several moments.

"Kel, I..." Dom said quietly. "I'm sorry. Again. Gods, I'm making such and ass of myself." He shook his head, then looked at her intently. "I came to apologize and congratulate you. Of course you want to stay here and I have no right to question that."

Dom slowly got to his feet. "I guess I'm just used to having you around. I don't know what to do with myself these days."

"Dom..."

"It's all right," He said, exaggerating a yawn. "I'm tired anyway. I'll see you tomorrow morning- if you're not busy." Dom's hand brushed Kel's arm and then he was gone.

Kel stared at the closed door for a few moments before saying "What was that all about?"

"I have no idea." Raoul stood behind her, resting his hands on her waist. "But you can go back to the palace any time you like. I don't want you to feel trapped here."

"I already told you," She turned to look at him. "I don't want to go back. But you seem to."

"No, I don't." He said quickly. "I don't. But I want you to be happy."

"I know." She leaned against him, arms snaking around his neck. "You've given me everything. You've never asked for anything." She tipped her head back to look into his face. "What do you want, Raoul?"

"I..." What did he want? He wanted Dom to go away, or, if he had to stay, to talk to Kel when he wasn't around. "Peace, love, happiness." He nuzzled her hair. "I'm lucky. At the moment I have all three."

"That's all?" Kel's mouth quirked up.

"Well, I wouldn't mind being obscenely rich, but you can't have everything."

"No, you can't." Kel's arms tightened. "But there are a lot of things you can."

Raoul lowered his head, kissing her softly. She was right. He could spend his whole life wanting what he didn't have and ignoring what he did. Raoul firmly chased all thoughts out of his head except those of Kel. How he wanted- and had- her, how she felt in his arms, in his mouth.

Shifting her in his arms Raoul pressed Kel against the wall, sandwiching her. He could feel her every curve straining against him and he revelled in it. Taking her head in his hands he held her at just the right angle as he explored her mouth. She still tasted of the wine she had drunk with dinner. He hadn't tasted wine in so long but it paled in comparison to Kel. He gently stroked the top of her mouth with his tongue and she shuddered happily, untangling one hand from his hair to explore the rest of his body or- more specifically- the lacing of his shirt.

Her hand burned over his bare skin, leaving goose bumps in her wake.

Suddenly Kel broke away, took his arm and dragged him to bed.

Neither of them left until late the next morning.

"There you two are!" Dom bounded over as soon as he spotted Kel and Raoul entering the great hall. "Where've you two been? Actually, I probably really don't want to know."

"You're probably right." Raoul said, doing his best to sound cheerful.

Dom grinned. "Anyway, I was wondering if I could steal Kel away for a little while. If you want to, that is." He looked over at Kel.

"Of course. What did you have in mind?"

Dom shrugged. "I don't know." He took Kel's arm and they wandered off together. Just as they left the hall a peal of Kel's laughter rang through the air.

Why hadn't he been invited? Raoul took a seat at the high table and ate some cold food left over from breakfast. When he was done he tapped his fingers impatiently on the table top. The day stretched out in front of him and Raoul had no idea what to do with himself. In the end he decided to take a walk around the castle to see what, if anything, had changed while he was away. He took a meandering path, randomly choosing a direction.

First Raoul visited the kitchens, then the servant's quarters, then the library. He was just looking over some new books when he heard voices on the other side of the room. Though Raoul recognized the voices as belonging to Kel and Dom, he couldn't hear what they were saying.

Why did she always laugh so much with Dom? She rarely did around him.

Raoul quietly made his way to the door, catching a glimpse of Kel and Dom casually leaning against the shelves. Was it just him or was Dom's hand lingering a bit too long on Kel's arm?

No, he told himself. It was just him. Raoul wasn't sure when it had happened, but he had gone and become The Jealous Husband. How many times had he overheard women complaining about him? The Jealous Husband was what every man swore he would never become, though many fell into the trap.

Right then and there Raoul promised himself that he wouldn't slip any further into this trap. He loved and trusted Kel and that was the end of it. Dom would flirt with her- he did so with everyone. It didn't mean anything.

"Raoul!"

Raoul turned to find Dom trotting after him. "Yes?"

Dom caught up. "Kel's not the only one who deserves an apology."

Surprised, Raoul waited for Dom to go on.

"I'm sorry." Dom shifted his weight from foot to foot. "I said a lot of things that I shouldn't have. I have to admit that while we were pretending to court I even tried to win her over. Didn't work though."

Ha! Raoul knew he'd been right about that.

"Anyway, Kel forgave me for everything and I hoped you would too."

"Yes, I will. But don't even think about trying anything." Raoul menaced jokingly.

"Yessir." Dom saluted, grinning. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Go on now." Raoul clapped Dom on the shoulder, sending him on his way. With the air cleared Raoul felt surprisingly charitable towards Dom. Not everyone would own up to their mistakes like that. Raoul still wasn't too thrilled with the idea of Dom living under his roof, spending time with his wife, but at least now he knew he'd be able to let it go. When he saw the two of them hugging later that night he hardly felt jealous at all.

Well, to be absolutely honest he did, but he refused to acknowledge it. If he ignored it then eventually it would go away.

Maybe.

That night when Kel fell asleep in his arms Raoul held her tight, relishing the feeling. Dom never had this and never would.