Yay! I love all you wonderful, super, extraordinary readers and reviewers. Real quick, to my reviewers, some of them require personal responses. To those not mentioned below, I really do appreciate your review, I just didn't think that any answer was required. But I heartily thank you!

E.V.P. Thanks! I'm glad! Keep reading!

Arcadia: I'm flattered!

Stormy Winter: Thanks for the detailed review! And I'm sorry about your life. I agree about the fans. I'll go out and buy them right now. What color do you want: )

Queen-of-sapphires: I know, it's coincidental. But I can't help it, I'm too unoriginal to think of something less coincidental.

Other than that, huge thank yous to Lady Em-Chan, Pussin Boots, Misery DeSoul, bbllgirl4ever, justcallmebubba, baseball2horse, Andy-c.o, FanFictionFantom, Scottish Wish, Lady Knight 1512, and guacamole13! I love you all!

Disclaimer: Yeah, right. I'm Tamora Pierce and I'm wasting my time writing stuff that I won't ever publish and get paid for. Plus, of course, I'm going against the story plot that I made up. Uh, huh, right. Can you sense my heavy sarcasm? (To all of you stupid people out there that means that none of it is mine.)

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Merric leaned against the fort's wall, contemplating some of life's many questions. At the moment he was considering what the speck in the distance could possibly be. It seemed to be moving rapidly toward him, which was unfortunate, as his mind was moving at the speed of a tortoise. He sighed heavily, and allowed his eyes to close briefly as he soaked in the last of the sun's rays. He knew that he wasn't paying enough attention, but frankly he couldn't care less. The Scanrans hadn't attacked recently, and there had been small bits of gossip saying that some general had been captured. Hah. He knew that couldn't be possible. Who would be stupid enough to take a general? It was just gossip. He allowed his head to lean farther back onto the wall, and lost the battle of maintaining consciousness. There he slept, until a shouting voice woke him a while later. The distant speck had arrived.

"Merric you idiot, let me in NOW!"

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Neal pounded on the door unrestrained, his voice reaching great volumes due to his nervousness. And he had every reason to be nervous. He had spent the last 2 days running as quickly as possible, pursued at every turn. Eventually he had had to use the general as a hostage, threatening to hurt him if the Scanrans didn't leave them alone. That had helped a bit, but Neal was still wary about assassins, and had accordingly altered his trail, first swerving one way and then the other.

He glanced at his companions. None of them had been any help during the hellish two days. Buri had been overcome with exhaustion shortly after they set out, and had spent the remaining time safely roped to her frantically galloping horse. Faleron had tried to be of some assistance, but his imprisonment had left him weak, so his abilities were limited. Neal's eyes strayed past the filthy Faleron to the unconscious Buri. He grimaced at the form tied just behind hers. The Scanran general was still sleeping soundly, his blonde hair matted from the hard ride. I still can't believe that we have a bloody general. What on earth possessed Kel? He's much more trouble than he's worth. If he hadn't been along, then Kel wouldn't have been shot. She would have been fine…

Neal's eyes wandered to the final, orange horse standing a few feet away. Even though he was the most insensitive beast ever, Peachblossom still shifted nervously, sensing the dreadful state that his mistress was in. Neal knew that she was hot as the fires of hell, and her shoulder continued to bleed. The stump of the arrow still protruded from the quick, makeshift bandages that wrapped her torso. Neal knew that she was dying and he couldn't help her. But his father could. So he pounded on the fort's door with all his might and called to the red-haired knight standing on the wall above him.

"MERRIC!"

He felt as if he screamed forever. All the tension from the distressing ride, his fright at Kel's condition, and his overall stress came out during his scene outside of the fort. And, finally, the doors opened, revealing the shocked visages of Merric, Raoul, and his father.

"Neal?" his father queried hesitantly. He peered at Neal's face for a second before embracing him tightly. "Oh thank the gods you're ok. I've been so worried." Neal relaxed at the touch, glad that he could come home to such a loving father. He was about to tell him that too, when a shaky voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Neal?" Merric sounded shocked. "Neal is that, is that Kel?" Neal pulled away quickly. Un-noticed, Peachblossom had made his way into the fort, with Kel still tied to his back. Kel! In the brief greeting, all thoughts of her had left Neal's head. Now they returned with a vengeance, accompanied by a torrent of worries.

"Yeah, yeah, that's Kel. Father, she's dying. I know it, but I can't fix it. She's dying and I can't help it. My gift is gone, and she'll die and… Father?" Neal's high-pitched voice sounded foreign even to his own ears. Was that him rambling like that?

The Duke of Queenscove stepped in calmly, switching quickly from dad to healer. "Don't worry Nealan, I will take care of it. Trust me." He took Peachblossom's reins in hand and strode quickly toward the infirmary. Neal allowed himself one second of amazement that The Monster allowed the Duke's hand to go unscathed, before moving to follow him. He needed to keep Kel in sight. However, he had only gone a few strides before a hand on his arm stopped him. Lord Raoul used his unoccupied hand to point to the two horses still standing outside of the gates.

"Neal? Is that Faleron and Buri?"

Neal had forgotten about them. "Oh- yeah. They're both fine, just tired from the healing that I gave them." He bowed quickly and tried to continue on his way, before another one of Raoul's quiet comments stopped him.

"My dear Nealan of Queenscove, please don't tell me that that is the infamous missing Scanran general tied to the back of that horse." The knight's voice was actually pleading.

Neal gulped. "Um, yes it is. I would introduce you to our dear Burgad, except he happens to be sleeping at the moment."

"Oh dear." Raoul clutched his head in his heads, and peered at Neal through his fingers. "Boy do you have some explaining to do." The general left instructions with a rather stunned Merric and a dozen other King's Own soldiers before departing with Neal.

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Merric shook his head as he helped the unconscious Buri out of the saddle, and kept his eye on the man roped to the horse next to her. A general. What the hell could Neal be thinking? A general! For crying out loud. Why did they send a Meathead on such an important journey? They must have known that he'd screw things up. They were insane. Everyone's insane. The world is insane. He handed Buri to nearby guard and watched as she was carried to the infirmary, with Faleron stumbling after her. He then turned his attention to the Scanran general.

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Neal ran through the halls, hardly bothering to apologize to those that he bumped into. He had to get to Kel as quickly as possible. She was his best friend, and she could be dying. He sprinted toward the infirmary, gasping as he flung open the door.

He quickly surveyed the healers and closed doors. He fought back the urge to bust into every room until he found her. He knew that he was in enough trouble as it was, without people thinking he was crazy. Of course, he didn't realize that they were already well aware of that fact. Still, because of his ignorance, he decided to wait for his father. Eventually the Duke came strolling out of a room down the left corridor, meticulously cleaning bloody hands. Neal dashed up to him.

"Well? How is she? Will she be ok?"

The Duke frowned at the anxiety in his son's voice before replying slowly. "I don't know Neal. I think that she will be, with a considerable amount of care. But I don't know if I have any healers that I can spare to simply look after her."

Neal looked heartily disappointed for a second until he came up with a plan. "I'll do it!" He saw his father's scowl and quickly rushed to reassure him. "Please father! I will be careful and not extend my strength, I promise! But she's my best friend and I need to be there for her."

The Duke wasn't going to consent, he knew that Neal's promise would be quickly forgotten. However, he noticed Neal's fervor, and decided to give in. He gave a curt nod, followed with a little bit of advice. "Be careful Neal. And good luck."

Neal proceeded into the room, seeing Kel's pale form lying on the bed. He rushed to her, quickly touching her and verifying her loss of fever. He breathed a sigh of relief once he realized that she had a natural temperature. She will be ok.

Slowly, he reached for her hand and clasped it gently in his own. "Kel, thank god you're ok. I don't know what I'd do without you. I wouldn't have anyone to comfort me, and laugh at my silly jokes. And someone to make me eat my vegetables." He smiled slightly, amused at her outraged face once she found out that his last meal had been vegetable-free. He was also partially humored at the fact that he was sitting there and talking to her prone body. But it didn't matter. He needed to. So he continued.

"Kel, you're the only one that I can trust. You're steadfast and loyal, even when you suffer consequences. Like when you rescued Lalasa. Do you know how much courage that took? And how much I admired you for that? I thought that you were the most amazing page in the world. You inspired me to be as good as I could be, just so that I could keep up with you. You taught me about love, friendship, bravery, and chivalry. We're supposed to learn that, but you knew it even before you came. You had to work harder than anyone else, but you stuck to it. I think that that was why I started to love you. You showed me what a knight should be. And I admired that. You, Kel, are the epitome of the good and honorable knight. So I fell hard for you. I fell harder than I ever have before. But it's pointless Kel, because you will never love me in return. I'm just your best friend."

Neal continued to ramble on, and felt his eyes closing. However, before he allowed himself to fall asleep, he looked at Kel one last time. He lightly touched her white cheek, and stroked her hair back. Before he could stop himself, he kissed her gently on her soft lips. It's not as if I'll ever be able to do that again. Then he lay his head down against the bed next to her and went to sleep.

He hadn't seen Kel's eyes flicker open a few moments before. She had woken up just as his lips were caressing hers.

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Hehehe. Lot's of fluff coming for the next chappie! I can't wait for the fluff! And you know, some more plot, stuff with the general, possible some Raoul/Buri. You know you love me! Even thought it's been forever since I've updated. But there is a reason! You see, I've been working on my other story, which all you Kel/Neal fans should read! And I've become a beta for dreamerdoll, which is amazing! She is a spectacular writer and I love her stories to death! I can't believe that someone with such talent and such a large vocabulary is younger than me! Wow! So yeah, if any of you are looking for a wonderful read, go check her stories out! Other than that, please please review, and I will be updating soon!

PrincessPeach