Author: jessalae
Disclaimer: Well, they're on my Hannukah list, but sadly enough Tamora Pierce's characters and world don't belong to me. Boohoo.
A/N: Text in / is thoughts.
oO0O0Oo Five DaysOn Monday evening, the door of Neal's room slammed open so hard that no less than four breakable objects fell off various shelves. Neal dived and managed to catch the little ceramic cat Kel had given him, wincing as he heard several somethings shatter across the room.
"Mithros, Aludra, what do you think you're doing!"
"That– that girl– and Dom– argh!" she shrieked, banging her fist against the doorframe hard enough to leave a mark.
"What? Dom? And– and Kel? What happened?" Neal asked, horrified. /Oh gods, what if he actually does love her/
"They were messing around with my clothes!"
"What?" Neal shrieked, wondering how he'd ever get that mental picture out of his head.
Aludra laughed in spite of herself. "My my, someone has a dirty mind." Her good humor vanished as quickly as it had come. "They were having some sort of– of snowball fight or something with my best underclothes!"
Neal blinked. And blinked again. "Repeat?"
"They were throwing all my nice petticoats and things around the room!"
Neal blinked for what seemed to be the millionth time, and burst out laughing.
"It's not funny!" Aludra screamed, glaring down at her brother, who was rolling around on the floor clutching his sides. "They had no right to treat my clothes like that! I don't know why I even left my trunks in Dom's room to begin with." Realizing that Neal had no intention of stopping his cackling, Aludra sniffed haughtily and stalked out, slamming the door behind her. Neal lunged and caught a vase right before it hit the floor.
/That does it! First thing tomorrow, I'm gluing down everything that could potentially shatter./
Four DaysWhen Kel waltzed into the library on Tuesday morning, Cleon had to force himself not to hide under the table. He had seen that determined look before, and when Kel had it on, things were most definitely not going to go his way.
"Morning, Cleon," she sang, sitting down next to him. "Want to go for a ride?"
"Not right now, Kel," he replied, grateful that she didn't seem to have anything particularly embarrassing on her mind. "I'm reading." He brandished a book as proof.
"Pity," she sighed. "Peachblossom can't exactly talk to me… I tried to get Neal to come, but I think he was busy. He just yelled something about his sister and gluing things to shelves." She frowned. "I probably should have gone in to see exactly what he was doing, but I think his sister is pretty mad at me right now, so…" she trailed off.
"Hmm." Cleon returned to his reading, mentally ordering Kel to go away before she could ask him about Neal.
"Do you think Neal's been acting strangely lately?" Kel asked.
/Got to work on those telepathy skills/ Cleon thought. "What do you mean by strangely? Neal's always strange."
"Yes, I had realized that, amazingly enough," she replied sarcastically. "But I don't know… he seems nervous. And he was very strange when I asked about his sister."
/Of course he's nervous around you! Hell, I'm nervous, and I'm not even the one who's in love with you/ "He has a sister? He's never mentioned her."
"Apparently they don't like each other. But she told me that someone thought of my differently than I thought they did, and Neal thought she meant Dom, but she didn't–"
"Hmm," Cleon said again, having heard all of this already. /Please don't have figured it out… Neal'll blame it on me, I know it…/
"–but Dom thinks– Cleon, are you even listening to me?"
"What? Of course."
"Good. The thing is," Kel leaned down confidentially, "Dom thinks Neal loves me."
/Damn./
"I don't really know what to think," Kel continued. "It could certainly explain a lot, but it also complicates things more than I care to think about. If Neal was a girl I wouldn't worry about his behavior, I would just think it was that time of the month or something…" She frowned speculatively. "What do you think?"
"Me? Oh… oh, I don't know. Has he really been acting strangely? And why do you think Dom knows so much? I mean, if you want to know what Aludra mean, Neal would probably know more about his own sister, she's just Dom's cousin, and since– er, if he's in love with you, he's not really going to tell Dom, they're not really on friendly terms at the moment–" Cleon realized he was babbling and tried to slow down. "–he'd be much more likely to tell one of his friends, don't you think?"
"I suppose," Kel started, still trying to work through most of what Cleon had said. "That's why I'm asking you, actually. I thought he might have talked to you. I tried Owen, but he didn't seem to be in…" her brain screeched to a halt on one particular sentence. "Did you say since? Since he's in love with me?"
"Did I? Oh, look at the time, see you later!" Cleon jumped up and raced from the library in a panic. /Neal's gonna kill me…/
Kel gaped after him. /Did he really mean… oh, dear…/
Three DaysThe entrance to the dining hall was blocked by the multitude of people who had arrived for the ball. Aludra frowned, glancing around in the hopes of finding a place to squeeze through. Unfortunately, the crowd seemed to primarily be made up of fat old lords, leaving no room for even the thinnest girl to enter. She was just about to try to get between two not-too-round ladies when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned, exasperated at having missed her opportunity.
"Hello," Kel said tentatively. "Nice morning, isn't it?"
Aludra's frown deepened. "It would be a lot nicer if I could get in and have some breakfast."
"Well, yes," Kel smiled. "I suppose I'm lucky since I get to use the knight's mess. Lots less people there." Her expression turned serious. "I'm sorry about what happened on Monday… I had no right to touch your things, and if anything is damaged I'd be happy to pay for having it repaired. I know a very good seamstress in the city."
/How would you know a seamstress/ Aludra thought maliciously. /You've probably never worn a dress in your life! Ah well… mustn't be rude to Neal's little crush…/ "It's fine, really," she smiled disingenuously. "No harm done."
"Oh good," Kel sighed. "Um… about our conversation on Sunday. I was wondering about what you said about people thinking of me differently. I'm not sure who you meant… I don't think it was Dom, was it?"
"Well now…" Aludra glanced over her shoulder, noting that the crowd had thinned out. "It might be, or it might not be."
"I think it wasn't," Kel persisted. "I think you meant Neal. I think you meant that he loves me."
/Smart little thing, isn't she? I shouldn't tell her, though… let Neal have his fun./ "Now why would you think that?"
"Well, he's been acting strangely… actually it's Dom's idea, that's what we were talking about, but maybe he's right?" she asked.
"Maybe. Goodbye!" Aludra sang gleefully, nudging her way between two pompous-looking noblemen and into the dining hall. Kel tried to follow, but the gap closed as a new deluge of guests poured into the hall. Kel sighed in frustration and walked away, just as confused as she had been before.
Her confusion only increased when she was intercepted on her way back to her rooms by Princess Shinkokami, who was looking unnervingly anxious.
/Something must really be wrong if I can tell that Shinko's worried/ Kel thought uneasily. She bowed to the princess.
"How are you?" she asked.
"I'm well, thank you. I thought you might want to see this." Shinko handed Kel a piece of parchment. "It arrived a few minutes ago. It's from Yuki."
Kel's eyes widened as she unfolded the letter and began to read.
Dear Shinkokami,
I hope that this letter finds you well. I myself am fine, although a bit nervous for reasons I shall explain later in this letter.
I realize my departure was quite sudden and unexplained. I hope I have caused you no anxiety. I felt I had to leave because of a personal situation. I shall spare you the details. Suffice to say that I have gravely wounded my honor and destroyed my relationship with Sir Nealen because of a horrible mistake on my part. Now he hates me. However, this does not bother me as much as it once did, because I am no longer in love with him. I won't ask you to pass along any messages to him, but I would be much obliged if you would give Keladry my apologies. She is less likely to become violent at the mention of me. I will speak to Neal myself when I return. I should be back in Corus in a little more than a week.
With respect,
Yukimi noh Daiomoru
Kel frowned disbelievingly. "Yuki's coming back? When?"
"The letter was written four days ago, according to the messenger who brought it," Shinko replied. "She should arrive on Sunday."
"Sunday," Kel muttered. "Neal isn't going to be happy…" She turned back to Shinko. "Thank you for showing this to me. If you see Yuki before I do, tell her she is forgiven."
"I will." Shinko still looked curious, but knew when not to pry. "See you at the ball, then."
"See you," Kel responded absentmindedly. She arrived at her rooms still thinking deeply, and sat heavily on the bed, pulling out a worn little book.
Dear Diary,
Things are more confusing than ever. Dom thinks Neal loves me, and Cleon seems to agree. Neal's sister is no help, although I can hardly expect her to be after the lingerie incident. And now Yuki is coming back! I can't even begin to sort it all out.
I suppose I'll have to see what happens at the ball…
oO0O0Oo
A/N: Next update coming very soon, hopefully. Happy Holidays, everyone!