A/N: I'm sorry! I know it's been awhile. Hides in case of missiles being thrown. If anyone throws tomatoes, I'm using this chapter as a shield. ANYWAY, this is the next installment.

Also, there is a lot of Dom-bashing in this chapter. If you like him, you may want to sort of skip parts. He isn't really THAT dumb, but I loathe him with the flaming passion of a million burning suns, so I portray him rather biasedly (although that's not a word).

Disclaimer: Not mine. Got milk? Milk mine. insert evil laughter here

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CHAPTER 5

Domitan of Masbolle ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. A corporal had told him that if he could complete this sheet of math problems he would be promoted. But Dom couldn't for the life of him figure out what 2 + 2 was! It was so HARD.

Behind him, the corporal and a few of his friends were laughing their heads off. Every time Dom asked them what was so funny, they told him that one had just told a funny joke. He supposed it must be true. He believed a lot of things people told him. He also MISTAKENLY believed a lot of things. For example, he believed he was smart. He also believed that Kel liked him. (Privately, Kel thought he was a prat.) :A/N: I agree with Kel. He is a prat.:

A man-at-arms came running up to Dom. He waited a few seconds to catch his breath, panting heavily. "Th' Knight Commander wants t' see ya, sah. He says it be urgent," the poor man wheezed. Taking a minute for his minuscule brain to process the two sentences, Dom then set off at a sprint for the Own's HQ.

"Dom, I want you to listen, and listen carefully," began Raoul. Dom nodded; he had learned to nod his head when he was given assignments so that people would think he understood. "Yukimi noh Daiomoru has gone missing. She was the one who was going to marry your cousin Neal. Remember Yuki?" Dom nodded again. "Find her. You are dismissed."

Surprisingly enough, that assignment had been one he paid attention to. First, he started looking through the rooms where Yuki had been seen last: the dressing rooms and surrounding halls, and so forth. Opening a door, he peered into the darkness. Stepping into the room, he tripped over something on the floor. He lit a candle, peering in the gloom. It was a person. Just the person he was looking for, in fact.

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Neal stared, shaking slightly. Of course, you would probably not expect Neal to be shaking. But these kind of things happen when you have just seen your former fiance's body, surrounded by a pool of blood, in a room near to the dressing room where she had been preparing for their wedding that was supposed to take place that day. Generally, that would make even Neal begin to shake uncontrollably.

Alanna rubbed his back soothingly, humming softly. Normally the Lioness would use her sharp tongue and tell him to deal with it (no pain, no gain, as she liked to say), but these cirumstances were anything but normal. You don't find your fiance's mangled body everyday. She herself felt like shuddering, but she didn't want Neal to get worse than he was. You also don't normally get accidentally married to your best friend everyday, although most people seemed to have forgotten that in light of Yuki's clothing being stained red with her life's blood, but Alanna hadn't. She wondered if Keladry had come to yet, and what Baird would do when she did. Doubtless she would think she had missed the wedding. What irony.

Lord Wyldon stood straight, like the "stump" he was, his face displaying no emotion. Though few had any inkling, he knew more than he let on. He had seen how Keladry's and Nealan's relationship had been all through their training years, and afterwards. Nealan had had a crush on Keladry in the page years, and she likewise; though Nealan's was easy to read, Keladry's was harder. He only noticed it at one Midwinter banquet, when she seemed to smile at him a bit suspiciously. Nealan, of course, had been oblivious. What fools pages could be.

Domitan was munching on an apple the corporal had given him for finishing the math problems. He had promised for a promotion soon. Loudly, the crunching noises continued. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Cru-

"GET OUT!" Neal screeched. That was too much. After all that had happened, his idiot cousin had been MUNCHING AN APPLE, even though he was THE PERSON WHO FOUND THE BODY, for figuring out WHAT 2 + 2 WAS! For crying out loud, the man couldn't even count on his fingers, and he called Neal "Meathead"! This was the last straw. Neal broke down, then and there. Alanna quickly escorted Neal to his rooms, saying he needed rest. She murmured soothing words in his ear, opening the door for Neal and pushing him in his rooms. She then took any breakable objects and enchanted them to be temporarily unbreakable. As an afterthought, she put a short spell on Neal to make sure he wouldn't harm himself. Having him hurt would only worsen the matter.

Alanna then closed the door behind her, leaving Neal to himself. Next on her list of things to do was visit Kel. Purposefully, she strode of down the corridor.

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A/N: So, did ya like it? Hopefully I'll update before 2007. Just kidding. I also hope it was long enough for satisfaction. Cheers.