Another chapter to keep you busy... Hope this explains what happened to Kel enough. Thank you to all my reviewers. You are what makes this worth it and the only reason I have to finish the story. I will be rewarding you with fluff in about two chapters time.

As Kel swam out of the darkness all she could remember was that she had fallen. She opened her eyes and found herself in her room. Tobe was sitting in a chair watching her. Once he realised that she was awake, he came over.

"It's all right, Lady Kel."

"What happened?" she asked groggily.

"Sir Merric says you fell of the wall. Looked like you slipped or something."

Now, she remembered. She had been inspecting the walls with Merric when someone had come running past. Her mind on other things, she had stepped back to avoid them hitting her and gone hurtling backwards over the edge… Her stomach churned.

"How long have I been out?" she asked quickly.

"Two days."

"Two days!" Kel repeated. She tried to sit up, but as she did so her body screamed. She fell back.

Tobe looked worried. "I'll get Sir Nealan. He did say to fetch him the moment you woke up."

Kel mumbled an agreement and Tobe disappeared. Neal entered the room a few minutes later.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Kel raised her eyebrows. "Stupid question. I feel awful," she retorted.

Neal smiled. "Well, next time you feel like trying to fly, I'd suggest you stick to jousting with the stump."

"I'll try to remember that," said Kel tartly. "Now, what did I do to myself?"

"You broke your left leg."

"I what?" exclaimed Kel.

"Don't worry, it's not a bad break. Once it's healed properly you'll be able to fight again. The real problem is your exhaustion."

"Exhaustion?" asked Kel incredulously.

Neal nodded. "You've been working too hard and not sleeping enough. You've been pretty sick the last two days."

Kel frowned. "Can't you just get on and heal me?"

"It's not that simple," said Neal, unusually serious. He sat down on the foot of Kel's bed. "If the body you're trying to heal is exhausted, malnourished or has several illnesses, it's harder to heal. Healers have to work with the body's natural ability to heal itself. Because your body is exhausted it doesn't have many resources left for me to draw on, and I can only pump so much magic in to make up for it."

Kel pouted. "How long until I'm back on my feet?"

"I reckon you need complete bed rest for a couple of weeks really," replied Neal. "You should be able to train gently again in two months."

"Two months!" Kel echoed in frustration. "How can I run this place from my sick bed?"

"You can't," said Neal, "and that's why Lord Wyldon has agreed that you should go home to Mindelan."

"What!"

"I'm sorry, Kel, but you are sick and you are not ever going to be able to fight again unless you get some serious rest. He wanted to send you home after your rescue mission, you know."

"Can't I just rest here?"

"We're down to the last two groups of refugees, Kel, and then they're disbanding the camp. After that, I have to go to Corus to sort out all the things for the wedding."

"I will be well enough to come to it?" she asked, remembering that Yuki had asked her to be chief bridesmaid.

"I should think so. It's not for another month. You should be walking unaided by then."

Kel sighed. "I guess I don't have any choice."

"Not really. I'll tell Wyldon you agreed," said Neal cheerfully. He got up and left the room. Left alone, Kel found her eyes began to fill with tears and before she could stop herself, she was crying.

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Dom was bored. Days on end of tailing bandits just didn't cut it after the months of war. The third company and two rider groups had moved off at the break of dawn and they had barely seen the sun, let alone open space for a good four hours now.

Dom's mind began to drift. Almost immediately, he thought of Kel. It was funny how much he missed being around her. He missed her hard-won smiles and her crisp humour. He thought about their last conversation. How we wished he had said something rather than letting her walk out on him. He could have kissed her. He'd wanted to. The big question was did she want to kiss him too?

Lost in his thought, Dom didn't see the low hanging branch until he got a mouthful of water and pine needles.

"Ugh!" he exclaimed.

"You should watch where you're going, Sarge," said Kean as he rode up beside Dom.

"I was," replied Dom gruffly.

"Didn't look like it to me," replied Kean. "Looked more like you were day-dreaming

Dom picked up his speed and pulled away from Kean.

"What did you say?" asked Natan. He directed his horse to bring him closer to Kean.

"Asked if he was day-dreaming." Kean shrugged his shoulders. "I guess whatever it is that's on his mind is pretty important to him."

"You want to know what I think?" asked Natan. Kean nodded. "I reckon he's in love."

"You're kidding!" exclaimed Kean.

"Remember when Will was seeing that Legann girl. He fell out of his saddle twice."

Kean chuckled. "The question is, who is it he's in love with?"

Up ahead, Dom winced. It had only been a matter of time.

As they had every night so far, the Third Company pitched camp in the largest clearing they could find. As soon as he had completed his duties, Lerant of Eldorne headed down to a nearby stream to wash.

"Hey Lerant," called Kean as Lerant passed him. "Do you want to place a bet?"

"On what?" the standard bearer asked, walking over.

"Who Dom's lady friend is," explained Kean. "Lady Haname is favourite at two to one."

"Lady Haname?" said Lerant, surprised.

Kean shrugged. "Y'know that Yamani girl."

"I know who she is. I was just wondering who it is who's stupid enough to think Dom would fall for her."

"We've Lady Caroline is four to one or Lady Jane five to two if you prefer."

"You know if Raoul finds you've opened a book on this he'll have you out of the Own before you can say ."

"Who's going to tell him? Look do you want to bet or not?"

Lerant thought about it. "All right. A gold noble on Lady Keladry of Mindelan."

"Raoul's former squire? Are you crazy? I haven't even calculated the odds on her."

"If you don't want to take it…"

"Oh no, I'll take it. Give me a minute." Kean scribbled down some numbers. "It's got to be at least a hundred to one."

"That's fine with me."

"So that's one gold noble on Keladry of Mindelan at one hundred to one?"

"Yes."

"If you're sure…" Kean opened his piece of parchment and scribbled down Lerant's bet. Lerant handed over the coin. "Pleasure doing business with you," Kean said.

"And you," replied Lerant and walked away.

Down at the stream, he was surprised to find Dom washing in the water.

The sergeant greeted him cheerfully. "Hello Lerant. How are you finding the bandit chasing?"

"It's not so bad, though I'm beginning to realise that having Kel help with my duties wasn't so bad after all."

Dom laughed. "I know what you mean. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been worth trying for my knighthood just to have a squire around."

"Yes." Lerant paused. "Did you know Kean has opened a book on who your lady friend is?"

Dom groaned. "It was going to happen eventually. Just don't let Raoul know. You know his feelings on gambling." Dom dipped his face in the water and then looked back at Lerant. "So who's the favourite?"

"Lady Haname at two to one."

"She is a damn fine looking young lady, but sadly, not the girl for me." Dom climbed out of the stream and pulled his clothes back on. "So who did you go for?"

Lerant wasn't sure if he wanted to answer, but he did anyway. "Keladry of Mindelan."

Dom jaw dropped. How did he know? he thought. Instead, he asked "How much did you bet?"

"A gold noble."

"Are you crazy?"

"Not judging by the look on your face."

Dom was stunned into silence

"Kean hadn't even calculated the odds on her before I asked. I don't think anyone else has guessed."

"Then how did you?"

"Intuition, I suppose," replied Lerant. Dom obviously didn't believe him. "Well, that and I can lip read."

"You can lip read?"

"It's a useful skill for a standard bearer. I saw your conversation with Raoul." Lerant paused. "Look, if it's any consolation, I think you two would work well together."

"Thanks…" said Dom, suspiciously. "I have to get back."

"I mean it," said Lerant as Dom walked away. "If you really are in love with her, don't let her slip through your fingers."

Unnerved, Dom returned to his tent. Lerant was right. If he loved her, then he mustn't miss his chance. She loved him, or so Raoul thought, but did he really love her? Not just that passing semblance of love, but a true, deep, lasting love. Dom settled down to sleep and dreamed of Kel.

To find out if our heros will be reunited, please review me. ;)