Hooray! That was a wonderful vote! I'll show you the counts.

One that kills everyone: zero (go figures)

A K/N: three

A K/F: four

A stupid Daine: zero

Circle of magic: two

HOORAY THE KEL/FALERON ONE IS THE WINNER!!!!

-This is going to brilliant!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kel had a mission. Not one of the normal missions that she usually had. Running back and forth over the realm was nothing compared to what she was about to do. Not even close.

It had been a secret for years now. Right after the Scanran war. No one but her handler knew of her secret. Not even her parents. Kel was part of the secret service against the king. The secret service was called the AJO. (Anti Jonathan Organization) It was the first time in years that someone stood up for what was right. That such person was none other then George of Pirate's Swoop. In fact, headquarters for the AJO was the Pirate's Swoop castle. George had taken many lengths to make sure that no one knew about such organization except for the people who worked there. Not even the civilians of the land had a clue as to what was going on.

Kel was happy to be in such organization against the one she hated most, but it hurt her to lie to her friends when they asked her what was going on. Of course they suspected, but she never said a word. She now thanked the people who trained her at the Yamani Islands for teaching her to keep her emotions in everyday. Otherwise her friends would have found out a long time ago.

Her best friend Neal however knew her secret. Not because of his slyness and abnormal urges to find out secrets that weren't meant to be told, but because he was Kel's handler. It was a load off of both of them to have someone to talk to about their secrets. It brought them together like brother and sister instead of just best friends.

(A/N: okay enough dramatic talking, let's get to the action. Gods I can ramble on for hours.)

"Kel, come in I have a mission for you. Like I informed you before." George said as he beckoned her into his small yet cozy study.

Kel walked in calmly, but gripped her hands together tightly. She was more nervous then she ever had been before. She had a good guess as to what mission it was, and it didn't look promising. George motioned her to sit on one of the chairs opposite his desk. Kel sat thankful for she had been standing nearly all day.

"This mission will be a tough one. There is no promise that you will come back alive, but it is for the good of Tortall. Your goal is to kill King Jonathan." George said darkly.

Oh gods I'm right. Better start my funeral now, she thought. Fear crept up on her like a stalker would down an alley. But she held it down with the shield of her Yamani mask.

George continued on. "Now as you know, the target is away at his summer home. You will go there disguised, and at night while he is sleeping, you will go into his room and kill him. Sound easy? Think again. There will be countless guards on the alert. However, some of them are loyal to me. You will recognize those people if they have a brown armband on their wrist. Now getting into Jonathan's room will be a bit tougher. He may have protection and sensor spells on, and since he has the gift, he may sense you. Hopefully one of the loyal maids will take care of that with a bit of sleep potion. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." Kel said standing up. George stood up as well and excused her off to her handler and best friend.

OOO

"What do you mean kill Jonathan?!" yelled Neal flabbergasted. Never before had he heard such nonsense. He threw his hands up in the air. "Why don't you go murder Mithros while you're at it? I'm sure it will be a lot easier!"

"Neal, please calm down." Kel pleaded. Neal looked at her and drooped his shoulders to try and be calm. His face went down a couple shades of red. "I have to do this for the good of Tortall. I'm the only one who fits the job. Neal, I-if I don't come—"

"Kel, you are not going to die you are—"

"Neal, please listen!" Kel urged tears brimming her eyes. She held her head. "Neal. If I don't come back, tell my friends. I don't care if it's against the rules." Kel added at Neal's stare. "I want them to know." It was an effort to speak and her voice was shaky of thinking of leaving Neal and the rest of her good friends forever. All that they went through flashed before her eyes like a memory book. But much more real.

(A/N: Wow this isn't funny is it. Oh well. You can't really make something like this funny without making it stupid.)

Neal hugged Kel tight never wanting to let his best friend go. He would have nightmares while she was away, he was sure of it.

Kel laughed. Why she wasn't sure, but it made her feel better. She wiped her eyes not wanting to be a sissy even though there was a good reason to cry.

Neal reached for something in the pocket of his breeches and produced a light chain. "I want you to have this." Neal told her handing it out.

Kel reached for it and took it from his hands. It was a light chain made of the purest gold she had ever seen. There was a locket in the shape of a circle on it. When she opened it up, there was a portrait of Neal in it. It had all the details from his arched brows, to his stubborn hair.

Kel giggled when she saw it. "You keep this everywhere you go Meathead? Wow, you really are full of yourself."

"No I do not bring it everywhere! Well, kinda, sometimes, okay so what if I do?" Neal said admitingly.

That brought another round of laughs from Kel. "I can't believe you, Neal." She shook her head in disbelief. "I have to go pack. I'm leaving in an hour."

"YOU'RE LEAVING IN A? KEL I CAN'T BELIVE—WHAT WERE THEY—HOW COULD THEY—DAH! Kel you CANNOT leave in an hour!" Neal yelled sadder then outraged. It was just his way of expressing such feelings.

"I have to Neal." Kel said calmly. She was by now used to such outbursts. She turned away. "Good-bye Neal."

OOO (A/N: Okay it was a little funny then I guess, but now it's just turning sad. THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A SAD FIC! I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!)

Kel had been on the road for a week. Nothing eventful had happened, but that was a sweet and bitter victory. Her fingers itched for danger even though she knew that when she arrived at the summer castle that the adventure there would substitute this week three times over. Her trusty steed Peachblossom also stamped his feet impatiently. Now more then ever he wanted a certain green-eyed healer to nip at. (AKA Neal if your stupid and didn't know who I was talking about.)

At last they arrived a little while away from the large castle. They hid in the thick forest just yards away from a good part of the palace wall to sneak over. But part of her was doubtful.

How in the name of Mithros am I going to sneak in much less find out where Jonathan's rooms are? She asked herself as she poked at a smokeless, small fire that she made. More then ever she needed Neal to cheer her up. It wasn't the first time she wished she had wild magic as well. It sure would come in use in such times.

She sighed to herself knowing that this was the only way. I better strike tonight. I do not want to spend a lot of time here. At the midnight bell would be best.

The night was well dark when she began to grow bored of staring at the fire. She picked up her beloved glaive and began some practice dances to pass the time.

She heard twelve strokes of the bell a couple of hours later and banked the fire. She prepared Peachblossom for a quick get away by putting all her packs and saddle on her. The large war-horse didn't care a bit about the burden, but instead nudged his master affectionately. She also put on a black tunic and breeches and pulled a black mask over her head that hid everything but her hazel eyes.

"Peachblossom," Romeli started. "I may not come back. I just want to let you know. If I'm not back when the sun starts to rise, run for the nearest town okay?" Peachblossom nipped Kel in understanding.

Kel smiled and walked off towards her positive doom.

The wall was easy. Even though the height made her panic a bit. The guards dozed off and could not wake. Kel thought it was the work of one of the loyal people to George. It was reasonable.

She followed her gut feeling and entered one of the many doors that were on the outside wall. When she opened it she was surprised by what she saw.

Normal castles did not have maps like this. Most castles didn't even have maps. The map was large and covered the wall. You could see each room, corridor, and even secret passageways etched into the paper. She spotted a room that said King Jonathan on it on the second floor picture. What was said below shocked her even more.

This room is occupied by King Jonathan over the summers.

If you are attempting to kill him, attempts must be made at lunch to dinner. No exceptions.

There are some traps and stuff in the room that you may want to watch out for.

We don't want you to get hurt.

And King Jonathan prefers to be gutted rather then shot by arrow.

Trust me, I asked him personally.

The King and I have special connections.

We like to golf on Thursday mornings.

I always win.

What in the world was that about? Idiot that wrote that he is, Kel thought as she headed towards the second floor. She clutched her glaive tightly. Gutted he shall. Damn I wish I brought an arrow.

As she rounded a corner, trouble lurked in front of her.

"Oi what are yer doin' 'ere?" A guard asked as he held up his badly made sword.

"I'm here for the King." Kel said praying to the gods that the man approved. She pointed to the glaive to show what she meant.

"You goin' to try an kill the King?" asked the burly man amazed. "That'll never do missie. That would be treason yer doin'."

Oh shit. Just what I need. She held up her glaive as the man ran towards her for an attack. He was obviously not trained well for he swung the blade sloppily and got out of control when he swung too hard.

Kel however blocked each clumsy attack as if she was born to do so. Eventually she found an opening and beheaded the man. It was for his own good, she thought to herself. Excusing the fact that she just killed another Tortallan.

A while and four headless bodies later, Kel had reached Jonathan's room. She crept silently inside thanking Lord Wyldon for his strict training for once. The sleeping King didn't notice at all. Of course that was probably because he was drugged with a heavy sleeping potion.

It's a shame I can't see him in pain, Kel thought uncharacteristically. But she couldn't help but think such dark thoughts when the man who ruined so many people's lives was sleeping right in front of her.

Her Yamani mask swallowed rage down, as she held up her glaive, ready to pounce. Right when she was about to rid the country of its burden forever, an arrow shot through the window and buried itself right into the King's neck. Kel sighed with relief thinking that the arrow was meant for her.

Panic rose through her body as she saw another masked person climb through the window and plop onto the wooden floor. She froze not knowing what to do. Damn it why can't I think of something to do? She was about to attack the other masked man, but something stopped her.

The man also froze when he spotted her. Something about him was familiar.

"Gods! Faleron is that you?" Kel said freaked out by the coincidence.

"Kel?" said Faleron's voice through his black mask. He slipped it off to show his handsome face with dark hair.

She too slipped off her mask showing her grown out hair that went to a little below her shoulders. She tried to fight off rapidly growing blushes. Since when did Faleron look so handsome? Instead of showing her thoughts she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I was tired of watching the King abuse his people. When Raould said he would be a much better ruler a while ago, I had to take action." He explained with a shrug. He had a slight twinkle in his eyes.

Kel walked over to him. Seeing him up close she noticed tiny gorgeous features that she hadn't noticed before. The way his soft lips always closed with a slight smile, how his brown hair fell into his face naturally, and his nose that was born for him…gorgeous.

"Um, we better go before someone finds us." Kel pointed out. Her voice brought Faleron out of a sudden daydream.

"Huh? Oh, right. Follow me." Faleron said. He grabbed his bow and climbed down the window. Kel gulped and followed.

When a last they made it to the bottom, it was still dark out and Kel's face was rosy from the cold. Or was it a blush? She couldn't help but think of Faleron the whole way down.

They hid in the forest for a while just thinking.

At last Faleron spoke. "I knew you were keeping secrets from us." Faleron started shyly. Gorgeously shy, Kel thought. "Is this it?"

Kel was silent for a minute thinking everything over. "Yes." She finally said. "I have to tell you something. And it hurt me so much to keep this from you and Merric, and everyone, but Neal and me—well we work for the secret service."

Kel waited for a reply from Faleron. His face seemed a little surprised, but he said nothing. Kel continued grateful. If Faleron were Neal, she wouldn't know what to do. "And well the service that we work for is called the AJO, or Anti Jonathan Organization. It is held at Pirate's Swoop and is led by George. I was assigned to assassinate Jonathan." She looked down. "Please don't be mad at me for keeping this from you, but--"

Soft fingers crept under her chin and made her look up into Faleron's kind, smiling face. The smile made her melt uncontrollably. His beautiful brown eyes twinkled in happiness and an emotion she did not recognize on his features. But before Kel could question more, Falerons lips were on her as he kissed her sweetly.

The kiss. It wasn't like the others that she had shared with Cleon. There was so much love and passion. Love that, she guessed, had built up for the years. It now emptied into that very kiss. It made her weak. And she was surprised to find that she was kissing him back.

Faleron was also a bit shocked, but pulled her close knowing that she loved him back. Funny how it took her this long to find out.

Faleron stopped it too soon for Kel, but she did not protest. Instead she looked deep into Faleron's blushing face and smiled.

"I have to get my horse." He told her. "How about we ride back to Pirate's Swoop together. I have nothing better to do, and I'm sure you would want the company. We'll meet here with both of our horses."

Kel nodded and walked off towards Peachblossom.

Soon enough they were on the road both silent as they thought. Kel was the first to speak. "Why did you do that?"

Faleron needed no explaining. He knew exactly what Kel was talking about. "Because I love you, Kel. I've loved you for a long time. Ever since you and Cleon were over, I've felt differently about you. At first I shrugged it off as nothing, but it soon grew on me until I couldn't stand it anymore. I swore to myself that I would kiss you the next time I saw you, but when that next time came, I could never get you alone or I was afraid that you wouldn't love me back. And when I saw you back there, I couldn't control my feelings about you anymore. Every time I saw you, laughing with our friends or just alone in a corner, it pained me that you couldn't be mine. And every time I saw a tear roll down your cheek, my heart would break because I couldn't be the one to heal you of your sadness."

"That was quite a speech." Kel pointed out with a kind smile. She thought for a minute thinking everything over and over in her mind. Maybe I—no. I couldn't. Could I? I can, and I do. "I love you too, Faleron. And I can't believe it took me this long for me to figure it out."

Faleron was shocked trying to comprehend what Kel had just said. Finally he smiled his normal happy smile. "I'm glad."

That night they made camp in a small clearing a little ways from the road. And once again Kel had a cold dinner from the lack of fire. Peachblossom and Flaeron's gray mare, Silver huddled close together both having their share of delightful grass.

Kel began to shiver, she was tired and it was an extremely cold night for summer. An arm wrapped around her shoulder, and Kel scooted closer to Faleron for his warmth. Leaning on his chest, she felt him kiss her head making her shiver more. She looked up into Faleron's kind yet dark face and kissed him passionately back.

Neither of them could bear to stop except for air. Faleron let his hand slide up and down her back in comfort as Kel weaved her fingers in between his flowing brown hair. When at last they let go of each other, Kel leaned back on her lover's chest and closed her eyes in tiredness. Faleron also stifled a yawn from staying up last night. He carried his beloved Kel to her bedroll and tucked her in.

He sat there a while just watching her sleep in happiness. A smile was printed across her lips. He smiled as well wanting her locked in that place forever. To rid her of all her worries and have her in peace wherever she was in her dream. He would die for her without question. No matter what would happen to her he would be there forever, never letting go. With these thoughts running through his mind he touched her soft cheek following her jaw-line until he reached her soft lips. Gently brushing his lips against them, he smoothed down her long hair.

He was the happiest he ever was in his life as he walked over to his own bedroll on the other side of the fire. Oh how he wished he could sleep closer next to her. In different bed rolls of course, and a couple feet away, but would still please him. Just to protect her from the evils of the world. But he respected her space and thought against it having Kel come first.

"Fal?" asked Kel tiredly.

"Yes, Kel?" her name on his lips gave him shivers of happiness.

"I'm lonely, can we sleep by each other?"

As the answer to her question, Faleron slid out of his bedroll and set it up a couple feet away from Kel's. He once again climbed back inside. Reaching over to Kel's wondrous face, his lips clung to hers for another long passionate kiss.

"This good?" He asked with a kind, respectful smile. Kel nodded and once again closed her eyes waiting for sleep to come.

Faleron's sleep came quickly as he thought about Kel, and all the things they've been through.

Kel knew this was going to be a wonderful trip back to Pirate's Swoop.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

AAAWWWWWW! Wasn't that just the cutest? I love Faleron. I think he's almost tied with Neal, but Neal comes first in my life. Fal is very close though. I like Faleron's personality. He's respectful, shy, kind, mmmmmmm. Neal's humor beats it all though.

Love Ya Fal!

Yes I know I'm in love with fictional characters. Sue me. You probably are too.

I mean really, who would hate Neal?

I must apologize for it not being a funny one though, but it just didn't work out. Oh well.

Next chapter I promise will be long, tear-jerkingly funny, and sarcastic.

My specialty!

Should I do a sad cry a river chap in this fic?

I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS ABOUT SOME THINGS FROM TP…

-If Duke Baird died (yes I know it's sad) would Neal be duke? (hahahaha that's funny Duke Nealan)

-What does Faleron actually look like? I searched all over the Protector books, and didn't find anything except that he had dark hair. And I haven't read the series in a while so I'm kinda rusty on personalities. Except for Neal's of course. No one can forget his personality. If you tell me what he looks like, and it's different then what I have in this ficcy thing, I'll change it for your sake.

THANK YOU! Read and review! The more you review the more I am convinced to update faster! It's true!

Toodles…

Heartdamoose

Disclaimer: I did make up the guards, but Tamora will take all the credit. I don't own anything...weeps over loss lol!