Thanks for all the reviews guys. Yogi75 and SilverlakeI did mean "incorrigible" instead of "encouragable." My dictionary didn't even have the latter one in it! Ace Ryan Knight I will try to make them longer if I can. Everyone else you are fab and I really appreciate your enthusiasm. Keep it up...
You're all to clever to think I own this stuff, so just get on with enjoying it!
Kel had waited long enough. Be as stone, she thought to herself as she pushed open the door.
Dom stood as she entered the room. "I suppose you want to know what Jonathan said."
"Yes," said Kel, sitting down. Dom sat too.
"Kel," he said slowly. "The king gave me the land and title of Eagle's Tor." Kel said nothing. She didn't trust herself to speak. "Kel?" Dom asked.
"Congratulations." It was the only thing she could think of to say.
"Thank you," replied Dom, obviously confused by Kel's bland answer.
"You deserve it," she added. Her voice still devoid of emotion as she struggled to work out how she felt about what had happened.
"Aren't you happy for me, Kel?" asked Dom.
"Of course, I am." Kel tried to mean it.
"No, you're not," said Dom. "You can tell me how you feel Kel. Youdon't have to be all Yamani with me."
Without thinking Kel blurted out "Yes, I do." She clapped a hand to her mouth and rushed out of the room.
Halfway down the corridor, she nearly crashed right into Yuki and Neal.
"Kel?" asked Neal as his friend hurried past.
"She is upset, Neal," said Yuki to her fiancé. "I will go and see if she is all right."
"Perhaps I had better check on Dom," suggested Neal.
"Yes," agreed Yuki.
Kel was in full flow of tears when Yuki knocked on her door.
"Go away."
"Kel, it is me. Yuki."
"I can't talk to you now, Yuki. Go away."
Yuki ignored her and opened the door. "Kel, you are upset. We are not in the Yamani islands now. You can talk to me about how you are feeling."
Kel turned her face to the wall in embarrassment. A fan dropped onto the bed. Kel picked it up, opened it and turned to Yuki.
"Since I have lived in Tortall, I have learned that sometimes it is not shameful for a woman to confide her feelings in a trusted friend," said Yuki. "I think now is one of those times for you, Kel."
Kel kept her fan hovering just below her eyes. "Maybe you're right, Yuki."
"You are sad because of Dom, yes?" asked Yuki as she sat down on Kel's bed.
"Not exactly."
"Because of what King Jonathan said to Dom?" Kel nodded. "I thought you would be happy that he has been rewarded rather than punished?"
"Yes, I am happy that he has not been punished…"
Yuki looked carefully at Kel's face. "You are jealous?" she asked.
Kel dropped the fan. "Since when were you so good at reading people."
"You have forgotten what it is like to live in the Yamani islands, Kel."
Kel smiled at her own stupidity. "Of course…"
"Why are you jealous of Dom?" asked Yuki.
Kel thought for a moment and then decided she might as well tell the truth. "When I rescued the people of Haven, all I got from the crown was a purse. A generous purse, but just a purse. Dom rescues one man and he gets a whole fife."
"Do you want lands and a title?" asked Yuki.
"No, but that still doesn't make it fair."
"Has your journey taught you nothing, Kel? We do not always get what is fair. Dom is a good man. He well deserves such a reward."
"I didn't mean that he didn't deserve it." Kel paused."It's just, it's complicated Yuki."
"Matters of the heart are always complicated," sighed Yuki, her eyes sparkling.
Kel glared at Yuki. "My heart has nothing to do with it," she said firmly.
Yuki smiled. "Perhaps that is the problem, my friend."
Can Kel and Dom make up? Or will land and titles come between them? You know the drill. Review me to find out...