A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews.

Nutz Nina: Thanks. Keep reading! Kings Lioness: Thanks for reviewing! x17SkmBrdchiczxx: Aw, shucks. Thanks for your time. Irish Violinist: Thanx for reviewing. nativemildmage: Thank you! Please keep readin'. queen-of-sapphires: thanks for reading! Fantasylvr: Thanks for your review! Annmarie Aspasia: Thanks for R &Ring. Silver Sky17: Cute, really… ari: I like to stick close ot the books. Thanks for reviewing. Hannah: Thanks. Keep reading! passivor: Thank you. dancer4eva: I think I fixed 'that little annoyance' in the new chapter! Yay! ratherbswimmin: thanks. Sweet is good. Firesangel121: Thanks for reading! sunkissed guacamole: Here's the new chapter.. Thanks for r and ring. Noc and NC: I never minded Cleon. I actually liked him in the books. (Ducks flying tomatoes) but I noticed that I was one of like, two, and most don't like him. As someone famous once said, 'Give the people what they want." Thanks for your review. White-wolf2: Thanks. Pinky: Yay for KN! (If I missed anyone, I apologize!)

To All: Thanks for waiting for the next chapter. I'm only planning three or four more chapters until the end, and those should (SHOULD) be along shortly. And now, please enjoy chapter four of "Terms of Devotion."

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Terms of Devotion
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Chapter Four
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Midwinter
459
Corus
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Kel was damp and chilled, but nothing could make her move. She sat vigil, and in the morning., she would enter the Chamber of Ordeal, just as Neal had done only days before.

Kel tried to think about the code of chivalry, as instructed, but her thoughts kept floating back to Neal and the pact that they had made two years ago. It was now void due to a new pack they had made the evening after Neal's Ordeal.

Neal stumbled out. His hair and the undyed cotton garments he wore were dark with sweat. His face was gray, his green eyes hectic and red-rimmed, as if he'd wept.

Kel smiled at him as the Lioness helped him through the room of people to a place where he could rest. That evening he was knighted. After the ceremony, Duke Baird had a rather large party arranged. It was held in one of the palace's smaller ballrooms, but it was still a magnificent feast. Although she was present, Kel stayed away from Lady Alanna. With just days left before her own Ordeal, she wouldn't have anyone saying she had been magic-ed to get her shield.

She wandered away from the crowd, midnight blue silk trailing behind her. A door with thick yellow curtains draped gracefully around it led to a balcony. Kel gazed below her at a garden maze, happy that heights did not bother her anymore, until she heard footsteps.

"Kel?" It was Neal. She turned to smile at him and was swept into a kiss. "I love you," he whispered, pulling her close.

"Neal?" Kel said questioningly. Neal stepped back and took both of her hands in his.

"I love you and I want to marry you, Keladry of Mindelan," he declared. Kel took a deep breath and looked out towards the moon. She realized that the feelings she had as a page had never really gone away. Over the past two years, Kel had gotten comfortable in their mock engagement. She didn't want it to end.

"Really, Neal?" she asked, to be sure that he was serious.

"Really, really," he said, pulling her to him again. Kel let the kiss vibrate down to her toes as she slid her arms around his neck.

"I love you too."

A hand touched Kel's shoulder, calling her into the present. The door to the Chamber of Ordeal was open. Calmly, she walked into the small room.

…..

After Kel was knighted, Lord Raoul treated them to supper at one of the city's finest eating houses. Though it was late when they returned to the palace, Neal and Kel opted to walk back. They wandered through the streets, hand in hand. Kel knew that she had to tell him about the mission the Chamber had given her, but she also knew that she was forbidden to speak of her Ordeal. Or, since the vision of the Nothing Man came after the tribulations, was it not considered a part of her actual Ordeal?

"You did it, Kel," Neal said. Kel smiled at him, but she looked distracted. "What is it?"

"Neal, what would you say if I told you that I have a mission," she asked, knowing that she had to tell Neal what had happened during her Ordeal without actually telling him.

"What kind of a mission… the Chamber?" Kel didn't answer Neal's question, but the look on her face was confirmation enough.

"I don't know when, or where," Kel explained in brief, "But it will find me." Neal sighed. They were coming close to one of the castle's side gates. He turned and took her hands in his.

"Then we'll wait," he said. Kel gave him a grateful hug, and Neal walked her to her room.

Kel sank into her bed. The powerful feeling of accomplishment chased away her exhaustion. Thoughts of her new knighthood and Chamber-assigned task trickled in and out of her head. When Kel finally drifted off, several hours had passed. A smile was on her face.

From across the palace, in his family's suite of rooms, Neal was awake and thinking as well. He wasn't exactly sure what Kel had seen in the Chamber of Ordeal, but he understood her reluctance to speak of it. Whatever it was, he had to wait for her to finish it. He let out a long sigh, and rolled over.

"Good night, my Lady Knight."