Title: Trust Betrayed

Author: jessalae

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.

A/N: "-...-"is thoughts

-o-o-O-o-o-

"Help! Dom, someone, help me!" Kel yelled. Her hands were already beginning to ache from clutching the ledge. Her feet scrabbled frantically, trying to find a hold, but there was none.

"-I will not panic,-" she thought fiercely. "-Dom and the others aren't very far away. They'll hear me calling and be here in a few minutes.-" Adjusting her grip, she yelled again. She was beginning to worry when she heard an answering shout.

"Kel! Where are you?"

"I'm here! Here!" she called, relief flooding through her.

"Keep talking! I'll follow your voice."

"I'm here here here here! Hanging from the ledge! Gods, I hate rain. I wonder what made that noise? My hair is brown. My eyes are hazel. My hands hurt. I wonder what type of rock I'm hanging on to. I – Dom!" Kel broke off suddenly as he came into view, slightly out of breath from running. She saw him glance frantically around and pick up a thick branch. He placed the branch on top of a rock and tipped one end down to her.

"Grab on!" He ordered.

Kel obeyed. Dom strained, pushing down on the other end of the stick. Finally she was high enough to rest her elbows on the ledge. Dom abandoned the stick and grabbed Kel under the arms. Kel pushed herself up with his help and collapsed, shaking with relief.

"Are you all right?" Dom asked.

"As all right as anyone can be after hanging off a cliff." Dom flinched at her words and Kel softened her tone a bit. "I'm not mad at you. Thank you for coming for me." She shakily got to her feet.

"So did I earn some more of your trust back by rescuing you?" He asked, helping her stand.

Kel narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Is that the only reason you did it? Because if that's the case–"

"Of course that's not the reason!" Dom said, sounding shocked. "I rescued you because you needed rescuing, that's all."

"So the earning my trust was an afterthought?"

"Yes."

"Well, then..." Kel considered for a moment, then nodded. "Yes."

Dom grinned. "I'm glad."

-o-O-o-

It was purely a coincidence that Neal found himself near the King's Own barracks the next morning. He had gone down to the stables to welcome Kel back, been preoccupied with what had happened to her, and gotten lost on his way back to his rooms.

"You'd think that after living practically my whole life in this palace I would know which way my rooms were," he grumbled to himself, "And where the places I want to avoid are!" He was about to turn around when a familiar voice floated out of a room to his left. Neal's fists clenched.

"Dom." He muttered. The door of the room was slightly ajar and Neal put his ear to the opening.

"–Quite an adventure," Dom was saying. "Fortunately I was worried about her and went after her with a lantern. Now I think I may be back in her good books, or at least partially."

Neal realized they must be talking about Kel. A sudden, unexplainable wave of rage swept over him.

"Dom!" he exclaimed, throwing open the door. The occupants of the room looked up in surprise.

"Yes, Neal?" Dom asked tentatively.

"I need to have a word with you." Neal said through clenched teeth.

Dom glanced at him in confusion, then shrugged and got up. "All right."

"How could you be such an idiot!" Neal exclaimed once they were both in another room.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Kel could have been seriously hurt!"

"I know. That's why I went after her."

"It was still your fault!"

"What was? Why are you angry at me?"

"Because–" Neal stopped as he realized he had no real reason to be angry; he just was. Trying to save face, he invented something, "Did you know that ledge was there?"

"It was on the map."

"Why didn't you warn Kel?"

"She had looked at the map just as much as I had!"

"You can't expect her to remember where every ledge is!"

"She just rushed off! I couldn't do anything about it!"

"You could have called after her!"

"She was gone before I realized the ledge was there."

"So you should have gone after her!"

"I did!"

"It's still your fault!"

"I don't know what your problem is, Neal," said Dom, shaking his head in disgust. "You eavesdrop on my conversation, then you accuse me of doing something I didn't do, then you continue to be angry at me even when I've disproved you theory several times! I don't know what Yuki ever saw in you."

Neal lost it. He uttered a garbled yell and flung up his arm. I flash of green light erupted from his palm, crashing into his cousin and knocking him down. Dom's head hit the ground with a loud thunk. The men who had been talking with Dom rushed out of the room. Neal was still staring at the spot Dom had been standing a moment earlier, wide-eyed. From his place on the floor, Dom let out a squeak. Then his eyes fluttered closed and he lay still.

-o-O-o-

"What exactly were you thinking, Neal?"

"I don't know." Neal stared blankly down at the bed that his cousin lay in.

"You could have hurt Dom, or even killed him!"

"He's going to be all right, isn't he?"

"Yes, no thanks to you! Honestly, Nealen, I don't know what to do with you!"

"Don't call me Nealen."

"You're my son and I can call you whatever I want! You don't go around hurting people for no reason, especially not you cousin! And you don't hurt anyone with magic for any reason!"

"I know! I wasn't thinking straight!"

"Well, until you can learn to think straight, I think you had better try to stay out of trouble. I will be extremely angry if you hurt someone else."

"And you aren't already?"

"I am! This is only the tip of the iceberg! You need to have more self control."

"I have plenty of self control! Stop treating me like I'm five years old, father."

"I will when you stop acting like you're five years old!"

"I think you're overreacting."

"I am not overreacting!" Duke Baird drew himself up to his full height, his eyes blazing. "What you have done here is very serious. This behavior needs to stop right now."

"I can't stop it!"

"You must!" his father shouted. "Don't let me see you again until you have!"

"Fine!" Neal stalked out of the healer's wing, slamming the door shut behind him.

-o-O-o-

Dear Diary,

Today has been an eventful day. I found out Kel almost died, I attacked Dom, and now my father isn't speaking to me. I know it was stupid to lash out at him like that, but I was just so furious!

Why was I angry, anyway? I really have no idea. I was just listening to Dom brag about saving Kel and I got so mad I nearly exploded. Why would that make me angry? The way I see it, there are two possibilities.

Possibility number one is that I'm just mad at Dom for the Yuki thing and I hadn't gotten really mad at him yet. That's not really true, though; I'm not quite as mad at him as I am at that little- well, I won't go into that now.

Possibility number two is that I was jealous of him saving Kel. I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous. But she's my friend! Of course I want to save her! All right, that sounds even more ridiculous, but it makes the most sense.

-Neal

Oh, Gods. I just re-read what I wrote. It sounds absolutely idiotic. The only really feasible explanation is that I am in love with Kel. You would think I would know if that were true.

But would I really? I haven't known myself to be especially perceptive. I do like being around Kel more than my other friends. I like touching her. No, not like that! Get your mind out of the gutter! It's just that, looking back, I realize that I get the warm fuzzies when I hug her and hold her hand and things like that. I can never stay mad at her.

Conclusion: I love Kel.

Gods, I am confused

-o-o-O-o-o-

A/N: It finally dawns on him. Took him long enough! I hope this chapter wasn't too cheesy. Sorry to all of you who want Dom to die, but I can't kill characters off. I'd do an awful job of it.

Thank you again to Jessie for her help with this and upcoming chapters.

-- jessalae