A/N: A new story. Just pure romance and fluff, because there's never enough out there.
Summary: Their story is one of change and progress. From strangers to best friends, and from that, to lovers. And the next step is...
Metamorphosis
Chapter 1: The Morning
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The ducal house of Queenscove bustled with activity in the early light of dawn. Servants carrying large buckets of hot water quickened their pace to deliver their bath water to the duke's family and their one special guest before they got too impatient.
The aforementioned "one special guest" had gotten up before dawn. Brushing her sweat-soaked bangs from her face, she carried her large pole arm with the curved blade to the corner of the room and stood it against the wall. Beside the long weapon sat a distaff bordered knight's shield, signifying the woman to be a lady knight of Tortall. Stretching the kinks from her back, the tall girl threw herself onto her bed.
Giving this young woman a look-over, one can see that she is too stocky for a normal woman of her age and nobility. A scarred, calloused hand brushed away a bead of sweat from determined hazel eyes framed by long brown lashes. In the centre of her face sate a thankfully straight nose, devoid of any evidence of being broken once. Below this nose rested pink, plump, and slightly chapped lips with the tendency to smile more than frown. It is too rash to call this woman ugly from her lack of curves or hard featured face. But those who knew her would swear that the contrast between her blunt features and soft eyes made her quite pretty.
A loud knock, followed by three gentle ones to her door told the girl that a servant bearing hot water is outside her door. The young woman heaved herself from her bed and opened the door.
A short girl of sixteen peered at the lady knight through her upper eyelashes. In her arms was a bucket of hot water almost too heavy for her.
"G-good morning, Lady Mindelan," stuttered the servant in the doorway. Her body shaking with nerves and the weight of her load caused the bath water to splash onto the ground and both of their clothes. Shocked, the girl began to frantically stutter out an apology.
"Don't worry," the taller girl said kindly, pointing at her drab practice clothes, "These aren't my good clothes anyway." Reaching out both hands, she grasped the edge of the bucket and helped the girl carry it inside. Then, after setting the heavy wooden container onto the ground, she held out one hand and smiled. "Please, call me Kel. And what is your name?"
"Milly, miss, Mildrena Bishop," the servant curtsied low, eyes downcast, "an' if you talk to the head o' the servants here, she can take a cut from my pay to fix your clothes."
"Mithros, no!" the girl called Kel dropped her hand in surprise, "I just wanted to know you."
"Well, you do now," Mildrena smiled shyly, secretly relieved. Now she can have enough money this month to pay off some of her father's debt. Taking the bucket again, the girl poured the water into a wooden tub in the side room. "You have a good day, lady. His grace and his wife expect you at breakfast this morning." The servant girl took the now empty bucket and walked towards the door.
"Wait!" Kel called out as she took out a copper noble from her bags and gave it to the surprised girl, "That's a nasty burn you got from the water. Go get a healing."
Mildrena smiled. Some nobles are sure kind. Strange, yes, insane even. But nevertheless, they still treated servants real well. "You needn't worry, lady, the servants have a healer to themselves. His grace is a good lord, a reasonable man, like. The lady too runs a fine house. An' sometimes, Sir Nealan drags us from our work and heals us if he sees that we're not well."
Kel smiled, warmed by the tale of Neal's kindness, "Yes, he can be quite pushy sometimes."
Mildrena nodded, "You'd better take your bath, lady. The water is getting cold. I'll come back later to straighten your room." She walked to the door, then turned back to the undressing lady knight, "An' forgive my insolence, miss, but all us servants think you lucky. Sir Nealan'll take good care of you, despite his stubbornness."
In a room two doors down from Kel's, the resident green eyed Sir Nealan sneezed himself awake.
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Kel signed as she toweled herself dry. It's absolutely amazing how fast rumors travel among servants. She and Neal had only arrived at fief Queenscove last night, and already the ducal house buzzed of their new relationship.
She tossed her towel onto her bed and rummaged through her saddle bags for clean underclothes. She pulled out some new ones and put them on, along with a pair of soft leather breeches, cream shirt, and blue hose. Once dressed, she cleaned her teeth and impatiently dragged a wooden comb through her drying hair. Then, looking herself over in the mirror (while thinking herself vain in doing so), she decided that she was ready.
The idleness did not sit well with Kel, as her nerves about meeting the duchess of Queenscove made her insides shake. She was quite fine with seeing Duke Baird, Neal's father, who worked with her at the old Haven. But the duchess she had only seen from afar, a tall woman with brown hair and green eyes. They had never been properly introduced to each other, nor did Neal ever talk about her. 'What if she is a conservative?' Kel wondered, then banished the silly thought from her head. Any woman who gave birth to Neal probably isn't conservative. Even if she was, Neal's incessant chatter and arguments would convert her.
Scolding herself for being ridiculous, Kel put on her Yamani face and walked towards the shutters. After some initial struggle involving a rusted clasp and jutting splinters of wood, she opened it with a grunt.
It was a beautiful day out. Beyond their castle grounds she could see the city people bustling in the streets. The merchants were setting up their wares, and the early shoppers went from stall to stall, looking for the best prices. Outside the city, lush green hills sloped and overlapped. Shepherds herded their flock on those fertile pastures. The sights and landscape were obvious contrasts to the steep hills and mountain streams of Mindelan.
A loud knock on the door made interrupted Kel's thoughts as her best friend and recently turned suitor walked in. Dressed in the Queenscove colors, the tall lanky youth looked quite handsome. Brown messy hair that fell about his head made him look as if he had just rolled out of bed. Stunning emerald eyes are revealed as the man swept his hair to the side, only to have it fall back.
"Keladry! My dove! My love! How are you on this fine morning?" The youth grinned with an intensity that would have made the most hardened country wife weak at the knees.
However, remember that Keladry was no normal woman. She is the second lady knight in Tortall in over a century, as well as the youth's best friend for a better half of her life. She was used to his stunning grins. 'Though not completely immune,' she thought to herself as butterflies raced each other in her stomach. Putting on a glowering face, she looked at him in the eye. "And what do you think you're doing? I could have been dressing or bathing and you rush in here like a wolf after a headless chicken! Is this one of your ways to meet women?"
"Do not think yourself so base, my lovely darling. Your metaphor of a wolf after a headless chicken appalls me to no end. We are not animals, we are lovers!" the young man said with a theatrical flair, "I would rather be a wilting flower thirsting after your radiant smile, or a scholar after knowledge, or…"
The corners of Kel's lips twitched. It is difficult to remain uptight and angry when Neal is doing his best to be annoying. "Nealan! Stop it! We've only ten minutes before we're to be in the dining hall and you look like you've just crawled out of bed. Come here and let me fix your hair." Kel took her comb and a basin of water.
"I'll have you know, woman," Neal roared, laughter brightening his dancing green eyes, "that I absolutely do not answer to that name Nealan. I would rather be commanded by that insufferable nickname Domitan gave me before I'll answer to Nealan." He paused slightly to take a breath, and continued, "And I'll never have you, Mindelan, call me Nealan, as I do not need to be reminded of my least favorite aunt when I'm kissing you."
Uncharacteristically, Kel blushed. The sight of her flushed face framed by tendrils of her hair was so adorable that the ranting and raving Neal that he had no choice but to trail off. His heart popped somewhere to the vicinity of his throat and his stomach pooled with heat as he, once again, is reminded of how beautiful his best friend can be.
Kel cleared her throat, uncomfortable at the stare. While they had been more than friends for over seven months, the sheer amount of work at New Hope had prevented them from doing anything more than a few chaste, kisses stolen in the shadows. It was like courting with Cleon all over again, and the frustration at the lack of contact was maddening for both of them. It had taken the combined persuasions of Neal, Merric, Commander Raoul, Owen (Sir Owen, as he had begun to call himself), New Hope's residents, and even Wyldon himself to get Kel to leave the thriving refugee camp.
Kel remembered the day they left to go south. She was so worried for another attack that she would not leave without triple checking everything. In the end, it was Peachblossom, who, tired of this human dawdling nonsense, picked Kel up with his teeth and laid her on Hoshi. A threatening bite to Hoshi's rump guaranteed the absence of the female knight commander from the camp.
The clatter of the wooden comb brought Kel back to her senses. She bent down to pick up the dropped comb and, having retrieved it, stood up and met Neal's eyes. It would have scared her to see such strange emotions in her friend's eyes had she not gotten used to it over the long seven months of their restrained courtship.
Finally, Kel cleared her throat again and stepped back. When she spoke, her voice sounded weak and breathy in the silent room.
"We…we should be getting ready. Your parents…they are expecting us."
The sound of Kel's voice snapped Neal out of his stupor. He nodded slightly, though his eyes still carried that hungry look. Kel, needing something to do with her shaking hands, dipped the comb in water and started to straighten Neal's hair.
The wet comb slid easily through Neal's messy locks. Kel worked in silence, parting this strand here, that one there. Her heart beat fast under her Yamani calm. All that was on her mind were the strokes of the comb and the feel of Neal's soft hair under her fingers. Kel swallowed slightly and resisted the urge to run her fingers through it. 'Because that would be very bad,' she told herself, 'It'll lead to things that should not happen yet. Especially when his mother is waiting for them at breakfast.'
But as Kel combed a strand of hair from Neal's face, her resolve broke. Dreamy hazel met intense green. A hand shot up and grasped Kel's wrist and pulled it out of the way. Before Kel had the time to react, warm soft lips were pressed to hers. The only thing her mind was capable of squeezing out is 'Holy Mithros, this is nothing like the seven months at New Hope.'
The suppressed desire in Kel flared again and she found herself responding to Neal's lips with the same passion. Cheeks flushed and fingers intertwined. A clatter on the ground told Kel that she'd dropped the comb again. But rather than scolding herself for how clumsy she had gotten, she ran her recently freed hand through Neal's hair.
Neal, attacking Kel's lips with feverish need, decided that the sappy romance books were right. He really can do this all day, and for the rest of his life, gladly. His one hand had long since released Kel's wrist and now sat on the small of her back, pressing her against his body. He loved how their bodies fit together, and that he only needed to bend his head a little to kiss those yearning lips. 'Not like those petite court ladies,' he thought grimly, 'bending over double just to talk to them.'
Opening his mouth a little, Neal touched his tongue to Kel's closed lips. She opened them slightly, on instinct, and let out a surprised squeak as Neal explored her mouth. Kel wasn't sure how long this had gone on, but at some point, a series of knocking sounded on her door.
The couple broke apart and grasped for the much needed oxygen. Kel tried to move herself from Neal's embrace to answer the door, but his arms encircling her waist prevented this.
"We can always skip breakfast, you know," Neal's husky voice sounded by her ear, "It's not such a big deal if we miss it. We can always send for food if we're hungry."
Kel found her voice at the bottom of her befuddled mind and forced herself to speak while trying very hard to ignore how good it felt when Neal is nibbling her earlobe, "But it's meeting with your parents," she gasped. Her ears pounded and her knees were weak and desperately needed a bed, or even a desk. However, she continued, "And I can't turn down invitations from a house higher than mine, it would be impolite." Reluctantly but firmly, she pulled herself away and opened the door. Mildrena stood in the doorway.
"Madam told me to bid you for the morning meal. And Sir Nealan too, only he's not answering his…oh." The servant looked from Kel to Neal, noting their swollen lips, tousled hair, and red faces.
Kel bumbled for an excuse, "Well…you see…" She winced at her weak words and paused slightly to regain her composure. "I was helping Sir Nealan arrange his hair." Noting Neal's still haphazardly layered locks, she quickly added, "But it was harder than it seemed."
"Of course, milady. I will now straighten your room. You and Sir Nealan should go to the dining hall." Mildrena smiled blankly, her face betraying none of her thoughts. Sometimes a servant's mask of ignorance rivaled Kel's Yamani one.
Wincing at the rumors to come, the lady knight took her companion's wrist and pulled him outside the room, throwing a quick "Thank you" at Mildrena.
"You needn't be so worried," Neal said in his custom drawl, "Servants would talk even if she didn't catch us. Heck, they were talking about Dom and me for a week when they found us sharing a bed." Seeing Kel's eyebrows rise, he smiled. "Who knew that the manly Sergeant Domitan was afraid of thunder?"
Kel smiled back, "But they'll talk a lot more now that they did see us."
"I'd be offended if they didn't. Ahh…I can't wait until they sing about our everlasting love. And with my looks, we'll have beautiful children together. If the servant hadn't interrupted, our first may have been on its way…Ouch!" A playful swat from Kel stopped his tirade.
"You think mighty high of yourself, Queenscove. If Joren and I had a child, it would be prettier than anything you can ever hope to procreate."
Neal stumbled in his step, losing his characteristic grace for a second. He gaped openly at Kel while shocked squeaks emitted from his throat.
"I was only jesting, Meathead." It amused her to no end to see the ever-confident healer like this.
"But my broken heart is nothing to jest about, Keladry." It was only now that Kel noticed the wall against her back and Neal's arms on her sides. She was trapped, and yet her currently molasses-thick mind is still pondering how they came by this convenient dark corner and when they'd stopped walking.
"Great Mother Goddess," Neal whispered as he nuzzled into Kel's neck, "You're going to drive me crazy someday, woman." He kissed the shell of her ear, "But I'll love every moment of it."
Kel, by this time, was rendered quite speechless by her friend-turned-lover. And when this friend-turned-lover cheerfully told her that 'Oh, look at the time, we should go', like nothing had happened, then proceeded to grab her and skip (yes, skip) down the hall, she remained mute and allowed herself to be dragged to their destination.
The curious sight of the eldest son of Duke Baird dragging his female companion drew many sights from the passerbys, who, appropriately, stopped and gaped. This strange occurrence continued to gain much attention until the recently turned graceless Sir Nealan tripped and fell into the dining hall.
With his female companion on top of him.
And his parents watching with an expression akin to well…shock.
Kel was glad of the silence. If anyone spoke, it would surely make everything awkward, as is the nature of these situations. 'Just let it be this way until the tension is magically lifted by some god or other…' she prayed.
However, Neal had never been a receptive person. Reading between the lines and understanding a situation had never been his strong point. Most of the time, he does things without thinking of the consequences (, which is why Kel is such a good person for him). So when the opportunity came, he said the first thing on his mind.
"Just continuing what we started earlier…heh"
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A/N: Took me a month to do this chapter. This will probably mean that it'll be another month before I update. However with incentives…cough I may work faster.
And yes, I am shamelessly asking for reviews. I can't help it. I am on am I not?