I am doing updates today!! Yeah!!
Disclaimer on the second pg
Chapter 3 Talking
Kel woke to a pounding on her door. She pulled on her breeches over her loincloth and whipped her night gown off and pulled a tunic over her head. She reached the door and flung it open to reveal a very mad Cleon and a confused Neal. "What?" Kel snarled.
Cleon and Neal were taken aback by Kel's greeting. Cleon recovered first. "What's this I hear about you being pregnant?" He asked angrily. Kel's mask slipped fully over her face not allowing any of her emotions to show through.
"Come in. Both of you. I don't want my business to be known throughout the whole castle," Kel said calmly.
Cleon and Neal walked in and Kel shut the door behind her. She turned back around to see Cleon pacing and Neal sitting at her desk.
Cleon looked at her angrily. "Well? Who's the father?"
Kel took a deep breath. "You might want to set down for this Cleon. You wont like it."
"I'm fine thank you," Cleon said curtly.
"Fine. Joren of Stone Mountain is the father," Kel said calmly. Kel watched as all the color drained from both Neal and Cleon's faces. Cleon sat down hard on Kel's bed.
"You had sex with Joren? Your worse enemy? Are you trying to live up to all of the names he called you? You just had to prove to him that you would sleep with any man. Who else have you slept with? How do you even know that Joren's the father?" Cleon asked snidely.
Kel showed no emotion at all even though she was shocked at Cleon's words. He actually thought she slept with Joren? "Get out of my sight Cleon of Kennan," Kel said coldly.
"My pleasure," Cleon muttered, stalking out of the room.
When Cleon was gone, Kel turned to Neal. "Aren't you going to say anything? Aren't you going to tell me that I'm a slut or a whore or something?" Kel demanded.
Neal looked at her with a burning hatred. She was about to let her mask slip off and beg him to listen to her, when he said, "Did Stone Mountain force himself on you?" She realized that the hatred was aimed at Joren, not her.
"No," she said sitting down on her bed, "I didn't sleep with him at all." She looked tired.
Neal frowned in confusion. "Kel, you do know how babies are made right?" he asked slowly as if talking to a small child.
Kel glared at him. "Of course! I am pregnant with Joren's baby, but I haven't had... you know, with him."
Neal was thoroughly confused. "Kel, you cant be pregnant with his baby if you haven't had sex with him," he said bluntly.
Kel gave him a half-hearted smile. "I guess I'm an exception. I have never even had sex," she said glumly.
Neal made a face. "Kel," he whined, "That's gross. I don't want to talk to you about sex. You're like a sister to me."
Kel smiled distractedly. She was thinking about Alanna's tests. Babies, she had said. Kel frowned. "Babies," she muttered. Her eyes widened. "Babies! Maybe the prophecy was wrong! I'm supposed to have more than one baby!"
She got up and headed towards the door. Neal stopped her. "What prophecy?"
Kel turned back around. "I'll explain it later. We need to go talk to the Lioness!" She threw open her door to come face to face with none other than the infamous Joren of Stone Mountain sporting a black eye and a bloody nose.
"Like the new look, Stone Mountain. Are you trying to make some kind of fashion statement," said Neal from behind Kel.
Kel turned around and gave Neal a look, silently asking him to be nice. Neal sighed and pasted a fake smile on his face. "Joren, would you like me to heal that for you? Cleon has a mean left hook, right?"
Joren stared at Neal dumbly. Neal had never been nice to him before so Joren was, of course, suspicious. He also didn't know how Neal knew that it was Cleon who hit him.
"How did you—"Joren started, but Neal interrupted him.
"He found out about Kel being pregnant. She told him that the babies were yours and he got mad," Neal said carelessly while stopping the flow of Joren's steadily bleeding nose. "I am stopping the bleeding, but you can keep the black eye and the bruised nose."
Joren nodded. "Fair enough I guess." He turned to Kel who was watching them silently. "Where were you going in such a hurry?"
"That's none of your business," Kel replied haughtily. She was short tempered because of Cleon. He didn't have his facts straight and he was going around punching innocent people. 'Woah! When did Joren become innocent people?' Kel asked herself. She shook off the odd feeling.
Neal gave Kel a look. "Don't you think you should tell Joren? I mean he is the father."
Kel pursed her lips. "When did you start taking Joren's side over mine, Neal?"
Neal sighed. "If I found out my child was part of a prophecy then the mother found out that either the prophecy was wrong or it was misinterpreted then I would want to know. Hey! Maybe it's part of a different prophecy!" Neal, being the scholar he was, started thinking about the many different prophecies that he had come across.
"Someone tell me what's going on!" Joren yelled.
"Okay," Kel said, "I'll tell you on the way to Alanna's room." She walked towards Alanna's room and Joren fell in step beside her. Kel told him that there was more than one baby and that the prophecy only told of one.
They arrived at Alanna's room just as Neal caught up with them. He was left behind because he was lost in thought about the prophecy. Kel knocked on Alanna's door and after the second knock, it swung open to reveal Alanna looking disheveled.
"Hello Keladry, Joren, Nealan," she acknowledged each person. "What can I do for you?"
"Can we talk inside?" Kel asked. Alanna held up her finger and disappeared for a few seconds. There was a lot of shuffling and hushed voices inside. Alanna reappeared and beckoned them inside.
George was sitting on the bed drinking tea when they came in. His hazel eyes twinkled when he saw Joren. "Did you upset her already? Tsk tsk. You should take our advise. We know what we are talking about."
Joren glared coldly at George. He was startled when he heard a young female voice. "Da? Why is he glaring at you like that?" Joren looked around and sitting on the bed were two children of about twelve. They were twins, and they looked exactly alike except for their hair length. Their eyes were hazel and they were shining with mischief.
George laughed at Joren's surprised look. "Where are my manners? Allow me to introduce our youngest of three. The boy is Alan and the girl is Alianne. Don't be fooled by their innocent looks."
The girl crawled off of the bed and went to stand in front of Joren. "Hello. I'm Aly." She looked at him with her big hazel eyes and his face instantly softened. Everyone watched on amusedly as Aly kept a conversation going with Joren while she picked his pockets. He didn't even notice!
Kel watched him as he talked with Aly. 'Is this what he's going to be like with our children?' By now, Alan had joined Aly and they were both keeping up the conversation while picking his pockets. They put back some of the stuff, but they also put some of it in their pockets. 'If we have a girl, she's going to have him wrapped around her little finger.' Kel was thinking about all of this until Alanna finally said something.
Kel looked at Alanna. "Pardon?"
Alanna smiled. "I'm sure you didn't come here for small talk. Did you need something?"
Kel nodded. "It's about the prophecy. There are two babies, are there not?" Alanna frowned and nodded. "Well, the prophecy was talking about one baby right?"
Alanna bit her lip. "I think so. Unless..." She frowned. "Unless, one will stop the enemy and one will help the enemy?"
Kel slipped her Yamani mask over her face. She didn't think that could possibly be it. "I think we should talk to Myles." Alanna looked at George who was listening with have an ear. He nodded his confirmation.
George stood up and clapped his hands. "Children, give Joren his things back." The children emptied their pockets. As they did, Joren's eyes grew wide.
"Hey! You stole from me? How did you do that? I was standing right here," Joren was trying to figure out how they managed to steal his things while he was standing there watching them.
"You are easily distracted," Aly said. "You have to pay attention to people you are talking to. We could have stole all of your things including your clothes and you wouldn't have noticed. You have to pay attention."
Joren took a step toward Aly and Alan. Alan scurried back behind his father, but Aly stood there stubbornly. Kel watched Joren, worried that he might hit Aly or something equally stupid. George and Alanna tensed up when Joren made a move toward Aly. Aly knew some tricks so they weren't that worried.
Joren swooped down and started tickling Aly, and everyone relaxed. Aly giggled and Alan helped Aly pin Joren down on the ground and tickle him. Joren giggled. He actually giggled! Kel was surprised that Joren was so good with children. When the children finally let Joren up, he looked into everyone's faces and saw mostly surprise and amusement. Neal was turning red from trying not to laugh.
"If any of you tell anyone what happened here, you will regret it," Joren said, back to his cold self now that he noticed that there were people in the room. "Swear by your Gods that you wont tell anyone or else," Joren said coldly.
Alanna raised her right hand. "I swear by the Goddess that I wont tell anyone."
"Us too if you will come back some time to play with us," Alan said, and Aly nodding beside him. Joren gave them a ghost of a smile and the took that as a yes and they raised their right hands.
Kel raised her right hand and said, "I swear by the Goddess too," in the calm voice that only she possessed.
George raised his right hand too. "I swear by Mithros that I wont say anything as long as you don't tell any one that my children can pick pockets. If you do, I will tell everyone about your little display."
Joren nodded snappily. He looked at Neal expectantly. Neal looked at him defiantly. "I can't promise anything. If you hurt Kel in any way, shape, or form, I will tell everyone. If you don't, then your secret's safe with me."
Joren looked around at everyone. "If you all don't tell anyone, I wont tell anything that you told me not to."
There was an awkward silence until Alanna said, "Let's go see Myles. Neal, you take Aly and Alan to the mess with you to get something to eat."
"Yes, milady," Neal said without protests.
"Wow, no sarcastic comments or anything. He must be turning into quite the gentleman," Joren said sarcastically.
Alanna sighed. Joren was back to being sarcastic and cold. Kel wasn't surprised and neither was George. A leopard doesn't change it's spots overnight.
Tbc....
Plz R&R
Chapter 3 Talking
Kel woke to a pounding on her door. She pulled on her breeches over her loincloth and whipped her night gown off and pulled a tunic over her head. She reached the door and flung it open to reveal a very mad Cleon and a confused Neal. "What?" Kel snarled.
Cleon and Neal were taken aback by Kel's greeting. Cleon recovered first. "What's this I hear about you being pregnant?" He asked angrily. Kel's mask slipped fully over her face not allowing any of her emotions to show through.
"Come in. Both of you. I don't want my business to be known throughout the whole castle," Kel said calmly.
Cleon and Neal walked in and Kel shut the door behind her. She turned back around to see Cleon pacing and Neal sitting at her desk.
Cleon looked at her angrily. "Well? Who's the father?"
Kel took a deep breath. "You might want to set down for this Cleon. You wont like it."
"I'm fine thank you," Cleon said curtly.
"Fine. Joren of Stone Mountain is the father," Kel said calmly. Kel watched as all the color drained from both Neal and Cleon's faces. Cleon sat down hard on Kel's bed.
"You had sex with Joren? Your worse enemy? Are you trying to live up to all of the names he called you? You just had to prove to him that you would sleep with any man. Who else have you slept with? How do you even know that Joren's the father?" Cleon asked snidely.
Kel showed no emotion at all even though she was shocked at Cleon's words. He actually thought she slept with Joren? "Get out of my sight Cleon of Kennan," Kel said coldly.
"My pleasure," Cleon muttered, stalking out of the room.
When Cleon was gone, Kel turned to Neal. "Aren't you going to say anything? Aren't you going to tell me that I'm a slut or a whore or something?" Kel demanded.
Neal looked at her with a burning hatred. She was about to let her mask slip off and beg him to listen to her, when he said, "Did Stone Mountain force himself on you?" She realized that the hatred was aimed at Joren, not her.
"No," she said sitting down on her bed, "I didn't sleep with him at all." She looked tired.
Neal frowned in confusion. "Kel, you do know how babies are made right?" he asked slowly as if talking to a small child.
Kel glared at him. "Of course! I am pregnant with Joren's baby, but I haven't had... you know, with him."
Neal was thoroughly confused. "Kel, you cant be pregnant with his baby if you haven't had sex with him," he said bluntly.
Kel gave him a half-hearted smile. "I guess I'm an exception. I have never even had sex," she said glumly.
Neal made a face. "Kel," he whined, "That's gross. I don't want to talk to you about sex. You're like a sister to me."
Kel smiled distractedly. She was thinking about Alanna's tests. Babies, she had said. Kel frowned. "Babies," she muttered. Her eyes widened. "Babies! Maybe the prophecy was wrong! I'm supposed to have more than one baby!"
She got up and headed towards the door. Neal stopped her. "What prophecy?"
Kel turned back around. "I'll explain it later. We need to go talk to the Lioness!" She threw open her door to come face to face with none other than the infamous Joren of Stone Mountain sporting a black eye and a bloody nose.
"Like the new look, Stone Mountain. Are you trying to make some kind of fashion statement," said Neal from behind Kel.
Kel turned around and gave Neal a look, silently asking him to be nice. Neal sighed and pasted a fake smile on his face. "Joren, would you like me to heal that for you? Cleon has a mean left hook, right?"
Joren stared at Neal dumbly. Neal had never been nice to him before so Joren was, of course, suspicious. He also didn't know how Neal knew that it was Cleon who hit him.
"How did you—"Joren started, but Neal interrupted him.
"He found out about Kel being pregnant. She told him that the babies were yours and he got mad," Neal said carelessly while stopping the flow of Joren's steadily bleeding nose. "I am stopping the bleeding, but you can keep the black eye and the bruised nose."
Joren nodded. "Fair enough I guess." He turned to Kel who was watching them silently. "Where were you going in such a hurry?"
"That's none of your business," Kel replied haughtily. She was short tempered because of Cleon. He didn't have his facts straight and he was going around punching innocent people. 'Woah! When did Joren become innocent people?' Kel asked herself. She shook off the odd feeling.
Neal gave Kel a look. "Don't you think you should tell Joren? I mean he is the father."
Kel pursed her lips. "When did you start taking Joren's side over mine, Neal?"
Neal sighed. "If I found out my child was part of a prophecy then the mother found out that either the prophecy was wrong or it was misinterpreted then I would want to know. Hey! Maybe it's part of a different prophecy!" Neal, being the scholar he was, started thinking about the many different prophecies that he had come across.
"Someone tell me what's going on!" Joren yelled.
"Okay," Kel said, "I'll tell you on the way to Alanna's room." She walked towards Alanna's room and Joren fell in step beside her. Kel told him that there was more than one baby and that the prophecy only told of one.
They arrived at Alanna's room just as Neal caught up with them. He was left behind because he was lost in thought about the prophecy. Kel knocked on Alanna's door and after the second knock, it swung open to reveal Alanna looking disheveled.
"Hello Keladry, Joren, Nealan," she acknowledged each person. "What can I do for you?"
"Can we talk inside?" Kel asked. Alanna held up her finger and disappeared for a few seconds. There was a lot of shuffling and hushed voices inside. Alanna reappeared and beckoned them inside.
George was sitting on the bed drinking tea when they came in. His hazel eyes twinkled when he saw Joren. "Did you upset her already? Tsk tsk. You should take our advise. We know what we are talking about."
Joren glared coldly at George. He was startled when he heard a young female voice. "Da? Why is he glaring at you like that?" Joren looked around and sitting on the bed were two children of about twelve. They were twins, and they looked exactly alike except for their hair length. Their eyes were hazel and they were shining with mischief.
George laughed at Joren's surprised look. "Where are my manners? Allow me to introduce our youngest of three. The boy is Alan and the girl is Alianne. Don't be fooled by their innocent looks."
The girl crawled off of the bed and went to stand in front of Joren. "Hello. I'm Aly." She looked at him with her big hazel eyes and his face instantly softened. Everyone watched on amusedly as Aly kept a conversation going with Joren while she picked his pockets. He didn't even notice!
Kel watched him as he talked with Aly. 'Is this what he's going to be like with our children?' By now, Alan had joined Aly and they were both keeping up the conversation while picking his pockets. They put back some of the stuff, but they also put some of it in their pockets. 'If we have a girl, she's going to have him wrapped around her little finger.' Kel was thinking about all of this until Alanna finally said something.
Kel looked at Alanna. "Pardon?"
Alanna smiled. "I'm sure you didn't come here for small talk. Did you need something?"
Kel nodded. "It's about the prophecy. There are two babies, are there not?" Alanna frowned and nodded. "Well, the prophecy was talking about one baby right?"
Alanna bit her lip. "I think so. Unless..." She frowned. "Unless, one will stop the enemy and one will help the enemy?"
Kel slipped her Yamani mask over her face. She didn't think that could possibly be it. "I think we should talk to Myles." Alanna looked at George who was listening with have an ear. He nodded his confirmation.
George stood up and clapped his hands. "Children, give Joren his things back." The children emptied their pockets. As they did, Joren's eyes grew wide.
"Hey! You stole from me? How did you do that? I was standing right here," Joren was trying to figure out how they managed to steal his things while he was standing there watching them.
"You are easily distracted," Aly said. "You have to pay attention to people you are talking to. We could have stole all of your things including your clothes and you wouldn't have noticed. You have to pay attention."
Joren took a step toward Aly and Alan. Alan scurried back behind his father, but Aly stood there stubbornly. Kel watched Joren, worried that he might hit Aly or something equally stupid. George and Alanna tensed up when Joren made a move toward Aly. Aly knew some tricks so they weren't that worried.
Joren swooped down and started tickling Aly, and everyone relaxed. Aly giggled and Alan helped Aly pin Joren down on the ground and tickle him. Joren giggled. He actually giggled! Kel was surprised that Joren was so good with children. When the children finally let Joren up, he looked into everyone's faces and saw mostly surprise and amusement. Neal was turning red from trying not to laugh.
"If any of you tell anyone what happened here, you will regret it," Joren said, back to his cold self now that he noticed that there were people in the room. "Swear by your Gods that you wont tell anyone or else," Joren said coldly.
Alanna raised her right hand. "I swear by the Goddess that I wont tell anyone."
"Us too if you will come back some time to play with us," Alan said, and Aly nodding beside him. Joren gave them a ghost of a smile and the took that as a yes and they raised their right hands.
Kel raised her right hand and said, "I swear by the Goddess too," in the calm voice that only she possessed.
George raised his right hand too. "I swear by Mithros that I wont say anything as long as you don't tell any one that my children can pick pockets. If you do, I will tell everyone about your little display."
Joren nodded snappily. He looked at Neal expectantly. Neal looked at him defiantly. "I can't promise anything. If you hurt Kel in any way, shape, or form, I will tell everyone. If you don't, then your secret's safe with me."
Joren looked around at everyone. "If you all don't tell anyone, I wont tell anything that you told me not to."
There was an awkward silence until Alanna said, "Let's go see Myles. Neal, you take Aly and Alan to the mess with you to get something to eat."
"Yes, milady," Neal said without protests.
"Wow, no sarcastic comments or anything. He must be turning into quite the gentleman," Joren said sarcastically.
Alanna sighed. Joren was back to being sarcastic and cold. Kel wasn't surprised and neither was George. A leopard doesn't change it's spots overnight.
Tbc....
Plz R&R