Disclaimer: All characters except Layissa belong to Tamora pierce and the Protector of the small series. I claim no possession over anything but the plot. Its base, world, etc. are all from the above and are not my own.

Author's note from Erkith: To those who thought that "The Perils of Wine" was the final chapter of DKOM I'm happy to tell you that I never intended it to be. I do regret to say that I won't be able to update again this month because I'm leaving. Hopefully I'll have stuff written when I come back (a week from tomorrow).

I'm staggered and encouraged by the number of hits and reviews I've received.

Please Enjoy! Please Review!

Erkith

PS. Check out the One-shot I posted a couple days ago... Shall I Drown

Elemental

Numair sat down hard, pale as ice. His hands gripped the arms of his chair as if he were afraid of simply being blown away. Eyes closed and his breathing sharply irregular, the large, powerful mage fought for control. He lost.

"Excuse me." He said and fled the chamber; Daine trailing behind him looked thoroughly confused.

Dom watched the reaction quietly – not peacefully or steadily, but quietly.

He'd known the great mage had been coming to some conclusion about his lady over dinner. He'd seen the light flickering in the solid, dark gaze as each symptom was listed; he'd seen the shuttering of the man's eyes. The way a man's eyes shutter when confronted with a nasty truth they want to hide, and know instinctively that they cannot.

But magic? Magic of all things! No one had given it a moments thought. Had she been five or maybe even thirteen, it might have been a remote possibility, but at twenty? How in Mithros' name had Kel gotten magic?

And what would it do to her?

Dom's stomach clenched as he thought of her calm facade. Cool as a lake on the outside, and burning anger and resentment on the inside. There was no telling. Kel at her best probably would have shrugged it off – maybe, she'd have hired or volunteered someone to teach her to control it, but that wasn't what they were dealing with. They were dealing with an ill, annoyed, and frightened knight who wanted nothing more than to return home to her people... Instead, they were heading off to Corus.

Dom got to his feet and went after her. This was a mess.

I don't understand. I don't understand! I DON'T UNDERSTAND! Kel thought, growing increasingly hysterical. Gods, but I hate it when I don't understand! This can't be happening. No, it simply cannot be happening. I refuse to believe it! I'd know. I'd know! DAMN IT!

The dizzy spell caught her, unaware. She stumbled into a wall and leaned against it for balance. She could feel the fever spiking in long high leaps and running through her veins as surely as blood. Hot. Cold. Hot. Cold.

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Kel cursed her weakness. She was unable to move, caught in the fever's web as surely as a fly in a spider's.

Hot. Cool. Hot. Cool.

"Protector."

She thought she heard a voice. She spun, or maybe the world did, but either way she saw no one.

Her vision was blacking out as the heat pulsed through her head. For a moment she thought she saw flames, silver and unnatural, dancing around her in a mocking pattern.

"Oh, Protector." The voice – or whatever it was – that spoke to her was exasperated. "LEARN."

Hot. Warm. Hot. Warm.

"Hello?" Kel asked. The world fell out of focus completely, lurching and blurring. "Dom? Is that you? Are you there?"

There was no answer. She was alone.

Hot. Hot. Hot. Hot.

"LEARN."

So tired, Kel thought vaguely. It echoed through her head with each pulse. Tired. Tired. Tired. Tired.

She no longer wondered at the disembodied voice. It didn't matter.

Hot. Hot. Hot. Hot.

Sweat beaded on her forehead and ran down her back, soaking her hair and clothing.

Her hearing was going now. It warped and muted. The rushing of her blood washed out all other sounds, leaving them superfluous.

HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT!

She didn't hear him call her name.

But she did dream.

"Neal!" Sergeant Domitian bellowed. "NEAL!" He called it again and again, running as he did it. "You unworthy ferret! You unkempt, fiendish creature! You drag your good name through the dirt like manure under your tail! You're a disgrace! A bloody disgrace! NEAL!"

The curses streamed out of the soldier in fountains. She watched through a silver mist as he climbed, something – no, somebody – clutched close to him in his arms. Kel was fascinated by the muscles that flexed as he shifted his burden to one side to open a door. He stepped inside and set down his burden on a bed with a deliberate gentleness that spoke of care.

Dispassionately, Kel realised it was her. Her skin was so deprived of blood it was whiter than parchment and sickly. Cold sweat had beaded on her upper lip. Fragile. It described the body perfectly. She didn't look like her.

Neal barged in, blocking Kel's view of her body.

"What in the gods' names happened?" he asked as his green magic filled the infirmary with its glow.

"I don't know! I went to go find her and wham I see her falling."

"I don't know if Numair's right, but I've no bloody idea what's going on." Neal's voice was grim and concerned.

"Neal. You have to heal her. You have to. We need her. There's nothing without her."

Neal gave his cousin an odd look but leaned over his patient.

As Neal's magic touched her skin, the silver mist faded to black and the dream was lost.

Kel felt heavy again, burdened by a body to exhausted to respond. "Dom." She murmured quietly at the sound of his voice. She felt his cool hand tighten around hers, but it was a distant, disconnected feeling – as though she were still dreaming and watching it happen.

Sun glinted of the palace turrets as it would from a gem – blinding but beautiful. Kel took one look at Corus below and wished desperately to be back at New Hope. There was nothing for her here. Nothing.

The last time she'd been here...

When was the last time?

Kel glanced over at Dom who seemed to have decreed himself her escort and was riding beside her. "Dom when was the last time we were here?"

"Roald's wedding probably." It was a harmless and distracted answer, but it brought back the memories.

"Oh..." Her face heated. How could she have forgotten? That had been so embarrassing!

Blue eyes locked on hers. Lips tantalisingly soft and firm. Elegant muscles taught beneath her hand. The subtle scent of pine and wind. The sway of the dance. Skin tingling where his brushed it...

Goddess! What was I thinking?

Kel sighed. She'd just as soon forget the ball that had followed that wedding again. It would torment her less that way.

As she entered the palace grounds, Kel frowned. There had been a subtle change in the air – a kind of beckoning or call. Silver flickered dimly around the edge of her vision. It stayed there even as she turned her head to get a better look. No one else reacted.

"Protector."

For a moment, Kel felt the world waver out of focus. Dom was there steadying her, but she barely heard the questions he whispered. Abruptly, she knew... she'd heard that voice before...

There was something she was forgetting.

Sitting on her bed, Kel struggled with the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure I'm fine." Kel answered wearily. Dom had been hovering over her like a mother hen since the dizzy spell this morning. It hadn't left her feverish like the other ones, just slightly disoriented for a bit, so she was fine.

Good luck convincing the paranoid sergeant of that.

It was kind of sweet in a way, but it was driving her mad. Kel raised a defensive hand as he moved to argue. "Dom, I'm fine. If you ask me again, I'll be forced to prove it to you. And I can't promise I won't resort to bodily harm."

Dom frowned, but when he spoke he didn't pursue the same topic. "Numair said the King wanted to see you after you'd settled in."

"Alright then, lets get this over with."

She started to her feet.

"Actually, Kel. I think they expected you to take more time to yourself. Especially because of this morning's... episode."

"I'm sorry?" Kel asked dangerously.

Dom looked unconcerned by the cool tone she'd used. "Jon and Numair are having their own meeting now, so it'll probably be some time before they're ready for you."

The lady knight watched him for a moment. Her hazel eyes were not at all dreamy as she examined her opponent, for Kel was sure that's what he was. She felt an overwhelming need to exact some form of justice. An idea flared in her mind. When she finally spoke, her voice was mild and undisturbed.

"And so what do you suggest I do to pass the time?"

"Well, we don't know long or hard their going to test you, so you should probably rest." He exhaled a breath when she nodded, apparently relieved. "We could play cards if you like."

Personally, Kel thought his relief was a little premature.

"Sure. Why don't you go sit down and I'll bring them to you," Kel said.

Dom closed his mouth on a protest, noticing how vulnerable she looked, and obeyed. They'd already taken away a lot of her freedom. The least he could do would be letting her do something as non-strenuous as fetching a deck of cards on her own. The desk where they sat was very close to the table. Worst come to worse he could always catch her before she fell.

Her hands shook tremulously as she set the cards down.

Dom jumped to his feet, afraid she was suffering another spell. He'd thought she was stable. He cursed himself and held her to him.

His heart sped up as he became aware of just how closely he held her. He breathed in her scent. This is getting out of control. Dom edged her back so he could look into his lady's beautiful hazel eyes and very nearly got distracted. Damn it.

"I'm really sorry, darling, but you need to go to bed. Take a short nap. It's for your own good."

"You'll take care of me, won't you?" Kel asked shakily.

Her small smile shook him. Gods, Kel.

She was still smiling when her fist clipped his jaw and landed him on his butt. She was not when he looked up at her, stunned.

"I did warn you." She said evenly, and left the shocked sergeant staring after her.

"Hello, Lady Keladry. Please have a seat."

King Jonathan indicated a chair at the round table that also seated the Lioness and Numair.

"Numair, here, tells me you had a relapse this morning."

Kel shrugged. Relapse was a bit strong a term, because she was fine now. But if it helped her convince him that the problem was small maybe he'd let her go home.

"We've been very worried about you."

"Have you?"

The doubt in her voice was clear as day. The King had never given a flying fig about her. Why would he suddenly start now? That'd be less likely than Daine offering her flying lessons, and probably equally useless.

The King winced at her tone. "Raoul warned me you held a grudge."

"He's never been one to underestimate women."

Alanna didn't bother to hide the snort of laughter. "Alright, Kel. Much as I love to watch people beat on Jon, we're here to talk about what's been hurting you. Why don't you tell us how this works. Numair was only able to give us an outline."

Numair sat at the far-end with his hands steepled in front of his mouth as Kel reported her symptoms of her illness and her fever-induced dream to the best of her knowledge. In silence, the mage considered the new developments. He didn't speak until Jon looked at him.

"It was a silver mist you saw in the dream?" He asked very, very casually.

"Yes. Both the mist and flames were silver."

"Flames?"

Kel startled at her oversight. "Sometimes I see silver flames at the edge of my vision during the dizzy spells."

Numair studied her for a moment, then leaned forward and drew a circle and a series of glowing runes. "Like this?" he asked and snapped his fingers.

An image of appeared in the middle of the table. It could have passed for Kel had it been more than a foot tall. The background looked was the private dining hall they'd used at Steadfast, and the image was dressed as she had that night. Kel's image's hazel eyes blazed with defiance. The moment Numair had ordered her to Corus was captured almost exactly as she remembered it – exactly, but for the vicious silver flames that whipped around her body.

"This is how I see you."

There was a silence as they all processed exactly what it was they were seeing.

Alanna let out a low whistle. "Okay."

Jon looked at his Champion. "Okay? How is that..." he indicated the image, "okay?"

They all looked at the image again, then Alanna said, "I think we better start at the beginning."

Half an hour later, they were no further. There seemed to be no trigger. The symptoms had increased so gradually that it was impossible to tell anything more about when it had started. After all, one of the symptoms was the aversion to wine, which Kel had noted sometime after becoming a knight... How did it relate to the rest?

"Assuming for a moment that the wine is unrelated," Numair hypothesised, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Which is unlikely." Kel felt obligated to point out.

The mage flicked her an annoyed glance. "Assuming that the wine is unrelated, then what is the last time where you didn't have any of the other symptoms?"

Kel blinked. Given her current reaction to spirits, it was doubtful that it was unrelated to her problem. Still, magic was Numair's area of expertise... She thought about it. Some of the colds she'd caught could be explained as normal or brought on by exhaustion, but it was just as likely they were the first signs of her depleted immune system.

"Last time I was in Corus. Roald and Shinko's wedding."

At the mention of the wedding, Kel flinched. She refused to look at Alanna who knew exactly what was on her mind. Why couldn't she suffer a convenient case of amnesia?

"Are you sure you're not forgetting something?" Jon asked Kel, his gaze concerned. "Anything strange? Dealt with any magic beings... something that gave you a jolt...?"

He'd didn't actually expect an answer.

Kel stayed silent as she watched the image still sitting in the middle of the table and its silver flames.

"I've never seen anything like it." Alanna murmured.

"Neither have I," Kel said, "but I think I've heard a disembodied voice that might belong to it. It was during a dizzy spell each time, and it was then that I noticed silver flames." She frowned. "The voice isn't male or female and it speaks the words straight into my head. It's really strange because I know I've heard the voice before... I just can't place it."

Alanna thought about that for a second. "I ran into something like that once."

Jon raised his eyebrows. "Where?"

"When I was up on the Roof of the World looking for the Dominion Jewel. The beast I fought spoke like that..."

"Of course," Numair said softly. "An elemental."

Oh, gods.

The magic entity. The jolt. The familiar voice.

Elemental.

Kel jumped up and ran out of the room. She barely heard them calling after her. Servants, pages, knights and courtiers parted like air as she raced down the halls towards it. Anger flowed through her veins. In the background, people were shouting and screaming.

Alanna was running after her, but there was no way that she was going to catch her. The Lioness gave up and joined Duke Baird and the King as they all launched sleeping spells at the errant lady knight.

Silver flames leapt off her to meet their spells.

Purple, green and blue clashed and faded.

Kel paid them no attention, completely focussed on one thing. She rushed through the chapel and stopped only at the iron doors guarding the thing she sought – Corus' resident elemental.

Kel took a deep breath and stepped into the blackness of the Chamber of the Ordeal.

"Chamber, you have a lot to answer for."

A/N: Thanks for reading: D I'm getting better at the whole semi-ASAP thing! Wonders upon wonders! Up next is Kel and the Chamber's argument and I can't wait to write it... could potentially put it out as soon as I get back if the words flow...

Any ideas for one-shots are appreciated because I love writing them. Even some preferred pairings would be useful. If you haven't read my one-shots... well they're out there!

THANKS TO MY REVIEWERS!

Margaret: lol way to review as I post the next chap! Your review popped up after I had submitted chap 7... Sorry I couldn't thank you for the review b4 lol

MysticMoonEmpress: Here's another chap for you :D Thanks for reviewing, it's nice to know someone cares enough to take a couple minutes to put a smile on someone's face.

Wake-Robin: lol edgy? My characters keep hitting each other...lol wonder what that says about me... This chap bounces around a bit, so I hope it's not confusing... and UPDATE!

Tattooed Goddess: Faith reviews as well as inspiration are my guide, so I thank you for contributing to the speed of this chappy. I guess this chap just raises more q's about her powers huh? Lol

Ivory Nightshade: Surprised? Elemental... lol the idea took me and ran away

X17Skmbdrchiczxx: tough name to type out! Hope elemental is foreign enough for you... had to sift through 3 or 4 books to make sure it'd work lol

Feifiefofum: lol I try to keep my fics jumping from emotion to emotion... more interesting that way, so we'll see. I'm a sucker for happy endings... lol unless you read my one-shots... I'm glad you didn't find too many mistakes because I BETA for ppl, but of course it's always harder to do your own work... Do you BETA? I could use one...

USNA: lol this is about as close to ASAP as I get. I have other fics to do as well which makes it harder... don't ask me why I started them all before finishing any... lol I no longer remember...

Kings Lioness: You like Alanna? You should read Shall I Drown I posted it a couple days ago... one-shot with George, Jon and Alanna. Could you review somewhere on one of my fics with a reminder to read yours? I want to read it when I get back in a week and my memory is reserved for plotlines... (sadly not much of an exageration)

Bambolieblue: Hope you enjoy this chap too! Thanks for reviewing!

The ORIGINAL Meathead: Sorry Sam! I didn't make the cliffy intentionally! Lol and this update was a bit faster... I'm surprised how fast because I posted that one-shot this week too! Marvels!

Maliafire: Thank you! It's so nice to know ppl take time to say something nice and brighten ppl's days!

Sariana of the Wind: Thanks so much! Reviews are such an inspiration to write... there's this huge guilt facter... lol

Soccerchick-08: I didn't mean to give you the impression that DKOM was finished! Looks alarmed Glad you caught the wine thing! I hope this chapter isn't confusing... bounces around a bit... oh well, I'm sure you'll tell me right? ;) I'll get working on the Spy... have to decide whether to kill him off or not lol

Atlanta Enchanted: lol how's updating the day after you review? Lol I'm too easily amused. Did you get to read the other updates yet? Or the one-shot? (Shall I Drown) That one has Jon, Alanna, George... Hope you liked the chappy and the updates:D

THANK YOU! MUAH! THANK YOU!