To elaborate on past chapter: Only one murder (Buri) as Raoul was technically suicide (Good for Kel, bad for everyone else) Is that right? And the attempted murder is Alanna, at the moment at least anyway- it could turn to murder ;) Well I'm not overly sure what characters this chapter will be focusing on- whichever one I choose the opposite will be done in the next one. If you could vote on which people you would like me to focus on for the upcoming ones, that'd be great. (I will go through them all eventually, but for the time being. Obviously bits and pieces of other people's POV will be thrown in where appropriate.) I hope that length of the story was good this time.

Thank you for clearing up the knight mistake- I'll try to get that right next time- I'll stick with Dom/Sergeant. Not to forget the query about King's Own/Third Company. He's in both. That makes life a lot easier. Now where would I be without you guys to help me?

Disclaimer is as always, mainly consisting of me glaring at Tamora with green eyes. (Very much like Neal's eyes!) Thanks to Animalwriter1 for past ideas and no doubt future ones too, and not to mention all my reviewers who answer my questions and so willingly correct my mistakes :P. (I am grateful for this, so don't read that as sarcasm please- more wit…)

On top of cloud 9- I very much agree with you there- Kel is past creepy.

x17SkmBdrchiczxx- I'm sorry about the lateness of this chapter, I will try to update more often.

Zerrin of the wind- Aw, its very nice of you to feel sorry for our Dom. It's not going to get any easier for him though!

AnimalWriter1- Thanks for the names- I'm looking through them now- I think I'll write this chapter first, and see what sort of name will suit her.

Nativewildmage- Thanks for clearing up the Knight thing for me, well after all this I think he deserves to be one, don't you? Thank you for complimenting my emotion-working, I didn't think it was any good- but I seem to be mistaken. You do work well with your emotions, I've read some of you stories and they are fantastic!

Now without further a due I give you chapter 12…

Chapter Twelve: Toothpicks and Deals

Recap: He was angry at her making a mockery of him, of Raoul, of everything knights stood for. She deserved to die- but not before he got some answers out of her.

(DOM POV)

"No need to get your tunic in a twist, I only wanted you to explain things for me-"

"-because you're too lazy, dim witted and annoying to do it for yourself?"

Dom couldn't help but retort- he was starting to hope sunrise came a lot quicker- the quicker it came, the quicker she would be out of his life for good. But what help would that be? If she died now, he'd never find the real Kel, she'd leave too many unanswered questions that Dom (and not to mention half the kingdom who witnessed the past events) wanted answers for.

"Now that wasn't very nice now, was it? You've upset my sensitive feelings- I don't think I want to answer any more questions. I think I'll go to bed."

"Wait, look- If you go to bed, the first and last thing you see when you wake up will be the noose, guillotine or something equally deadly which you won't be able to charm your way out of. Now, if you'd care to answer my questions then, well, we could maybe try and work something out for you."

"So basically my choices are, life imprisonment and you get to walk away satisfied with the answers I give you, or I'll die and leave you in suspense? Well in that case, I'll take what's behind door three, thanks."

"There wasn't an option three…"

"I've made one."

"I can see that, thank you very much. So what's your 'Option three'?" He obviously wouldn't let her have a choice between all of them, but still- he was curious as to how she thought she'd escape- or die happier. So he let her go on.

"Right well option three is," She scanned the room looking for something; the cell must really be getting to her if she was becoming this paranoid so quickly. "Don't dismiss it until you've heard me out, ok?"

"You're in no place to start giving orders now- you lost that privilege when you loosed that arrow."

"It wasn't an order- I was merely asking if you wouldn't interrupt. So if you don't mind, I'm going to carry on with my option three." Dom nodded as politely as he could- the complete and utter opposite of what he really wanted to do. To Kel he resembled a nodding wooden dog- the kind you get on the back of carts -but decided not to bring that point up. For her own safety of course.

"Right well, here goes. I'll answer any questions you might have to the best of my abilities, and as an added bonus- but this is only if you're good- I'll tell you where Kel is…or was by the time you get there-"

"-Kel's dead!"

"What part of don't interrupt do you not understand? Let me finish my proposition first. Hold your tongue, ok?" She paused- she wasn't expecting an answer, but it was for dramatic effect to add to the suspense. "And all I want in return is-"

"-You're in no position to try and strike a deal with me, you know we aren't going to let you go free, and we don't have anything you want…do we?"

"Soldiers really live up to their dumber than average stereotypes don't they? When I ask you not to butt in- you don't. It's not hard to understand, and it's even easier to do, so if you don't mind- this is the last time I'm going to warn you otherwise I'll just stay quiet. That's not too hard to grasp is it?" She waited and counted to three in her head, "Now I'm going to take your awkward silence and unnerving stare as a yes. All I want in return is-" She held up her hand to stop Dom from cutting short her speech once more. "- quiet now. All I want is a chat with the admirable King Jonathan."

"What? Why?" Shocked, this was all he was able to spurt out. He was expecting something more along the lines of pheasant for her last meal, or another week to live, or a bottle of poison for herself…not a chat. She has to have something up her sleeve, or trick or spell that she wants to use on the King. Did she? She was thoroughly searched while unconscious, and they could only find a toothpick and a small bottle of water- much harm they could do. Even so, they did send a drop of the water to Numair to check over, you never now these days what could be hidden inside the smallest thing. They'd let her keep the clear liquid- if she'd try to kill herself it'd be annoying yet life would go on. But the toothpick was confiscated, if that was stabbed into someone it might splinter- and splinters can be worse than stab wounds some times.

"So, is it a deal?"