A/N: Hey everyone, it's me again, I'm here to present you with the next installment of my little tale. To everyone who read and reviewed my story Pain, thank you for your opinions. I can see that I have some explaining to do concerning that piece and I'll put that at the end of this chapter along with response to the reviewers of this story.
Disclaimer: The setting and the characters belong to Ms. Pierce and various publishing houses.
Chapter 4: Advice
They reached the first village by mid-afternoon and Kel was reminded of when she was first a squire and the Own had been called to investigate an attacked town and then spent several weeks pursuing the centaurs that were responsible. Looking down at her hands, she grimaced at the scars there, another unfortunate effect from that escapade, that damn baby griffin.
As she transitioned Hoshi down to a walk she took in the burnt buildings and the open gates. Like before someone had allowed the scum in to decimate the small village. No one walked the streets or came out to greet the soldier. The place felt dead.
With a glance at Raoul, she knew that he sensed it too. The commander hand signaled for third company to turn around and return the way they had come. Hoshi fidgeted beneath her and Peachblossom looked overly alert at the end of his tether. She knew that if these had been normal horses, not influenced by the presence of a wildmage, they would have bolted already.
Raoul then signaled for her to stop and called Dom over. Although she desperately wanted to run away from this place that felt eerily like a crypt, she pulled Hoshi up and placed a calming hand on the mare's neck. "Sergeant, I want you to take the men down the road to that clearing we passed through about a bell ago, the lady knight and I will be following shortly. Kel, I'd recommend switching horses and allowing Dom to take your mare with him, I don't like the feelings I'm getting here and I'd be much more confident if you were on that beast of yours."
Following the knight's wishes, she was soon mounted on her temporal steed and handing Hoshi's reins to Dom. The two exchanged a worried glance and then the blue eyed man turned and galloped down the line calling out orders. Kel watched him go while reaching down to loosen her sword in its scabbard, looking over she saw that Raoul was doing the same. Sending him a questioning glance, she kept Peachblossom where he was even after he had urged Drum forward. She wanted to know why Raoul was doing things the way he was and until she knew, she wasn't going anywhere.
With a sigh the lord turned and looked at his former squire, he had known that she was going to do this no matter how much he had wished she wouldn't. He already knew what they were going to find here, he had known the moment his horse had stepped through the opened gates. He had smelt the death that covered the town, but they still needed to search for answers. The reason he had sent the rest of the men back down the road was simple, he needed to have a few words with Kel away from prying ears. He waved her forward and started with their little talk. "I'm sure you're wondering why I sent the men away. For one thing the only things we'll find here are cadavers and I'm sure you already have realized that. I don't need a hundred men here who, no matter how careful they are, will probably destroy some of the few clues that we may find. What I'm not certain you noticed is the fact that there were no tracts leading in or out of here. You know as well as I do that that means it was either magic used to cover them or they flew in, judging by the gates I'd say it was magic but they could have done that to throw us off."
"Sir, with all due respect you're hedging. What is it you really wanted to talk to me about? I know it's not about the possibilities of magic being used, we're going to need a powerful mage to get here before we can find out if that's true or not." Kel felt exasperated, she didn't want to be in what amounted to a cemetery, she wanted to be chasing after the villains responsible for the massacre. Besides all that she had a feeling about where he was going with this little talk and really didn't want to face that particular issue at the moment, but she wasn't going to put it off until a more convenient time.
"Mithro's Kel, you're not making this easy on an old man." With a sigh he tried to gather his thoughts and broach the subject that needed discussing.
Kel watched as he struggled to find a way to start this particular phase of their conversation and decided to take pity on him, "This is about you seeing me come out of Dom's tent and then overhearing my conversation with Jump this morning, isn't it? Well, I'll save you from some from some of your thoughts, nothing happened last night except him offering me shelter from the rain because I seem to currently be without a tent."
Raoul motioned for her to turn her horse and followed suit. Then they began following the road to where the Own would make camp for the night. "I'm relieved to hear that, but Kel you must know what people would think about you having an affair with a man in the Own, that it's a bad idea. I must also say that it has the potential to create some major conflicts within the company, you know how soldiers talk." Watching her carefully he saw her face fall, quickly covered by her mask, and continued, "With that said, I think it's a good idea to follow one's heart and not let a chance for love slip by without a fight."
While Kel was still reeling from his words, he nudged Drum into a canter and headed towards the camp. A messenger still needed to be sent to the king and a mage was necessary to investigate the town before Third Company could pursue the vagabonds responsible.
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A/N: Well this chapter is out before I thought it would be, mainly because of my love of procrastination when it comes to studying and packing. I hope you enjoyed although not much happened.
Concerning Pain: This wasn't anything that I had planned on writing, but it just kind of happened anyway. When I went to write the second chapter of Of Ants and Love, I found myself writing about Kel and Dom's capture. Knowing that wasn't the direction I wanted the story to go I scrapped that and settled in to write what is now posted as the second chapter to OAaL, but that other piece of writing kept on bugging me. Every time I would sit down to write, my mind would wander back to it. So instead of fighting back I just wrote it. I'm not a very big fan of it and it sounds like most of you aren't either, but I'm going to leave it up anyway. It's my most controversial work so far and as such has a special place in my heart. So there you go, that's my explanation, and I hope you understand why I wrote what I did now.
Now on to responses for each of you!
TheBrassPotato: Wow, you sent me two reviews to try and get me to update. I'm sensing that you're a very tenacious person. I'm glad you like my story and that you think it has potential.
Dom's Angel: I have no idea where I learned to write like this, but I'm going to blame it on my 8th grade English teacher, Mr. O'Gara, he taught me so much and I'm forever grateful to him. Tell me when you open your account and post your first story I'll make sure to read it and review for you.
Pussin Boots: I agree with you and that's what I was thinking they would be, but as I'm continuing this story I'm getting the feeling that the ants just might disappear. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that I find some other place to work them in, cause I really am evil and like to cause my characters to be but through heck and back.
Pinky: You know what, I don't know if Neal will make an appearance in this fic, but I am planning to make Watching Events Unfold into a longer story so you can read about Neal there when I update that again. Tootles!
Pandora Markku: Don't worry, I'm continuing this story and I'm so delighted to hear that you think my story is good.
FanFictionFantom: Are you talking about my version of Dom or Tamora's? If its mine I'll do my best to give him a bit more personality. Can't go around writing flat characters now can I?
Darth Tater: Oh no! Not a wet noodle (runs to a corner and cowers in fear, hands raised in submission) anything but a wet noodle!
Allimba: That's okay, I kinda figured that you may have gotten a little confused so I didn't take any offense.
Alie Jnns: I will and thank you.
Salma-sol: I know it was a bit convenient, but that's the way the story wanted itself to be written and since I'm a slave to my plot lines, well, that's how things went. Thanks for your well wishes concerning my exams, everything should go great I only have two and one of them is for Horsemanship (yea, get to go ride a horsey twice this week!).
DamLuvr4Ever: I hope it was.
Bellachaos: this college girl has too many distractions at the moment, but that's what happens when you hate almost all of your classes and the school you go to. Hope this last chapter was distracting enough for you.
Dreamerdoll: why is that every time I'm too lazy to sign in, the author doesn't accept anonymous reviews? Don't worry I will finish this, eventually. Until then I hope to get several chapters up a week.
Well, there you go. We have reached the conclusion of yet another update.
Happy Derby Day to everyone!
SW