AN: Thank you all so much for your reviews.

Kelly Masbolle: Kel is next. I hope you like it, but it's pretty sad. Thank you for your complements. Please keep reading. nativewildmage: I guess Owen is a little OOC, but apparently the brain-pick worked. I hope Neal doesn't mind… Thanks for your review. tortall princess: Marshmallows are yummy. Thanks for r and r ing. Thingy of um thingyness: I'm glad you like it! Thanks for reading. seyyada: Thanks for reading! neurotically yours: thanks for reading and reviewing. sunkissed guacamole: I watched LOST too! I can't wait for next week. I'm glad you like the new chapter. Thanks for R and Ring.

To All: It's scary how easy this chapter was for me to write. I apologize in advance. Flame if you must. Just please review!

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Redeeming Raoul
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Chapter Four: The Distance of Hope
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Tournament
August 19, 467
Feif Hollyrose
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"I like it," Cali said, finishing the paragraph with a flourish. "And now to finish it." All eyes turned to Kel. She had been silent and unmoving, listening to each story as it was told. Now her eyes were saying all too much.

"With hope," she whispered, fingering a ring that hung on a chain around her neck. "Love should end with hope. My husband, rest him, he told me something I'll never forget. 'Hope guides me. It is what gets me through the day and especially the night….'"

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March 27
462
Fort Steadfast
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------After she returned to the destroyed Haven, with her mission to stop the Nothing Man complete, Kel realized her feelings for Domitan of Masbolle. They were married at Fort Steadfast, where Dom was stationed. It was a small ceremony. They didn't want to call attention to themselves, in light of Neal and Yuki's breakup.

Nearly two years after they were wed, Kel found herself back at Steadfast with a few days' leave. She had visited Lord Raoul, and the next evening, Dom received a notice that gave him leave. The couple spent every moment together.

They often dreamed of the end of the war. Dom had named their first three children. He wanted two boys, Domitan II, and Raoul, and a daughter, Willa.

'After my ma," he said with a shrug. Kel smiled and blushed. When Dom talked of children, Kel was happy that the war kept her at her post. She just wasn't ready yet.

Suddenly, bugles sounded from the watch on top of the wall. Fort Steadfast was under attack.

Kel cursed, angry at herself for leaving her glaive. She had brought along a lighter, practice glaive, but it was no good in battle. She ran back to her rooms, threw on a heavy padded shirt and strapped Lightning, the beautiful, deadly sword that the Lioness had given her, at her side.

Scanrans flooded the fort, but in the end, the victory was Tortall's. Kel smiled at Owen. He brought her a cup, and she downed it without looking in it. Nearly choking, she looked at her friends questioningly.

"Brandy," Merric said, handing her another. "Drink up. It's good for you."

"It'll put hair on your knuckles," Owen added with a grin. Kel smiled. She plugged her nose and chugged the liquor, then walked around the fort, searching for Dom. She handed Neal a cup of spirits. He was exhausting himself healing the wounded.

Neal told Kel that he had last seen Dom during the battle. He was among a group of the Own that rode into the surrounding trees in counterattack. Her heart skipped a beat as she thanked Neal. Her gait picked up speed until she was nearly running, out the gate, heading into the brush.

She searched for nearly twenty minutes before she found the sight. Bodies littered the clearing, more Scanrans than Own. Kel recognized a few who had been Dom's close friends, and through her marriage, became her friends as well.

Drawing the sign of evil across her heart, Kel turned from them. Then she saw him.

Dom had a gaping wound on his chest and his leg was twisted painfully under him. Blood poured from the gash, staining the dirt beneath him.

"Dom1" she yelled, dropping to her knees beside him. Dom cringed in pain as he wrapped an arm around her.

"I'm glad you're here, my Kel. I thought I was going to die alone."

"You're not going to die, Dom. I'll get you to Neal. He'll help you," Kel babbled as she pulled off her padded tunic and pressed it to his wound.

"Listen to me, Kel. Hope guides me now. It is what gets me through the day, and especially the night. Hope that after you are gone from my sight, it will not be the last time I look upon you. I love you," Dom said, coughing. Rain began to fall, slowly at first, but it grew steadily harder.

"Don't talk like that. You'll be alright," Kel insisted. Dom pulled her close and gave her a passionate kiss. Kel placed her head on a dry part of his chest.

"I love you," she whispered. There was no answer. "Dom?" Kel pulled her head away to look at his face. "Dom?" she asked again, lightly shaking his shoulder. But it was no use. Dom had breathed his last.

Kel started to cry, and not just any cry; it was a child's endless wail. She sobbed for hours, afraid and shaking with grief, until Peachblossom came. He had a blanket in his mouth, and he draped it around Kel's shoulders.

Slowly, she rose. Peachblossom kneeled, and Kel draped Dom's body over the gelding's back. As the horse stood, he nuzzled Kel's shoulder. She turned and took his head in both arms, hugging him fiercely. He didn't protest; only let Kel be clingy as they trudged back to camp.

…

When Owen and Merric saw Kel, they thought she was a ghost. Her legs were unsteady beneath her, her clothes were soaked with both the rain and blood, and her face was pale and blank. She stared ahead as if she was lost.

Then they saw Dom.

Merric ran into the rain to catch Kel as her legs gave out, and he carried her back to her tent.

Other members of the Own somberly lead Peachblossom away, still bearing his burden.