Keladry of Shang

A/N: hey guys…. I feel like I owe you guys an update, but I am not actually feeling very inspired, so I apologize if this is not the world's greatest chapter… bear with me and cut me some slack, after all, I'm writing this at 2 in the morning. yawn .

Chapter 9:

Kel sat at her desk, staring mindlessly at a piece of parchment she had out on the table. Although her head swirled with confused thoughts, she sat still, not moving to write down what went on in her mind.

It had been cool, the day she had been dismissed by Wyldon. That was to say, it had been cool for a Tortallan summer's day. Later, she would reflect that the weather had been like an omen from the gods. She would smile bitterly, remembering how she had ignorantly ignored it, and been therefore unprepared for the blow her training master had dealt her.

She had stood in his office, her face Yamani smooth, as usual, while inside, bees buzzed excitedly in her stomach and her heart played leap-frog against her chest. Wyldon had sighed and gestured for her to be at ease. He sat down behind his desk and leaned his elbows on the table, resting his head on interlaced fingers.

" Mindelan. You have had your fun, proved whatever it is you think you are proving. It is time to go home now, and stop this nonsense. I don't know why you did this, but if you think that this will force the future eligible bachelors to notice you when you come to Court, looking for a husband, I will remind you that just because they notice and remember you doesn't mean they will look favorably upon you. My advice to you is to go home and receive proper training at the Convent next year, before it is to late, and you have scared away all possible suitors." Wyldon spoke to her gently, acting as if she were already a young noble lady from the Convent.

Kel clenched her fists and held in her indignance, trying to reply calmly. "My lord, I am not doing this for suitors or for attention. I wish to be a knight of the realm, like Sir Alanna. I wish to protect this realm and to help its people when they are in need. I wish to defend my country from its enemies, and aid it with whatever strength I have." Kel finished her adamant speech, flinging her head back defiantly, and looking Wyldon proudly in the eye for the first time since he had called her into his workplace.

Wyldon's face grew hard and stern. His voice lost it's gentleness, and his tone was harsh and commanding, "Girls cannot be knights. You cannot fight. The Lioness is a chosen of the Goddess, you are not. You will not suvive. I cannot allow you to return, Mindelan. Go home."

Kel stood there. She couldn't think, couldn't believe his unfairness. She had proved herself, she had been as good as the boys, despite the conditions and circumstances Wyldon had knowingly allowed to be forced on her, and she had still persevered. How did he have the nerve to send her away?

Wyldon looked at her disbelieving face stonily. "I repeat, Mindelan: dismissed."

Kel trudged to her room, only to find that Wyldon, knowing what his answer would be, had ordered her bags to be packed. She glared at her packs, hating the sight of her belongings already prepared to leave. She flopped down on the bed and lay there, too depressed to move. A knock on the door disturbed her quiet misery. She grunted in response. When the knocking continued, she rolled onto her back and looked at the door before muttering a quiet, "Come in." the hopeful faces of her friends peered in but fell as they saw her dismal look. She tried bravely to smile, hating that they were sad because of her. Seeing the tears in her eyes, they became more distressed, and all of them began muttering about how the room needed to be aired out, as they wiped their leaking eyes.

Neal cleared his throat and looked meaningfully at the door, asserting his right as her best friend to talk to her in private. They glanced at Kel who nodded in agreement before rummaging through her bags for a handkerchief and blowing her nose. One by one they came up to her and hugged her, before scurrying out of the room still rubbing furiously at their eyes.

Neal stood there, looking at her. Finally he sat next to her. She released all her pent up emotions, grabbing his shirt and crying into it, while he patted her on the back, feeling helpless. When she quieted, he gave her a hug. She looked up at him and gave him a watery and apologetic smile. They sat there together, unhappy and not knowing what to say.

Eventually, Neal broke the silence. " I'll miss you Kel. Even though you are so much younger than me, I always felt like I was the young one when I talked to you. You are always so mature and calm, whereas I can't 'hold my tongue' as the Stump always says." He flinched, having forgotten the sensitivity of mentioning that particular person.

Kel ignored the pain that stabbed at her when he mentioned the sexist training master. She smiled up at him, " I'll miss you too, Neal." She laughed somewhat hysterically. " I'll be fine. Or, at least, I'll survive. It just, hurts, you know? Being a knight was a dream I have had for a very long time. It hurts terribly to have something so cherished shattered."

Neal hugged her again. He then carefully looked her in the eyes. " Promise you'll come back, Kel."

" I promise, Neal."

Kel shivered, picturing Neal's warm and resonating green eyes, his sharpnose, and messy brown hair. She sighed. Neal was her best friend, so why did seeing him again make her stomach start cart-wheeling? Why did brushing hands with him affect her so much? What was this weird, tingling sensation she got whenever she saw him?

And why was Joren affecting her the same way?

A/N:

Muahahahahahahahahaha! A cliffie! Anyways. I have decided to close the voting everyone!

And K/R totally lost.But I am not going to tell you who won the K/J vs. K/N

Because……..you get to draw your own conclusions!

I would personally like to thank Nina, for giving me an idea for the plot. Unfortunately, I am having some problems sorting the idea out, but I would never have had it at all if it weren't for Nina, so thank you!

Uh. I am not sure how a beta reader works and all that, except that they are like, your editor or something… so, umm, does anyone want to be mine?

If not, can someone at least tell me, does it work if I have someone in mind who doesn't read Tammie? I mean, she can still edit the story, right?

so confused! And tired… it's 3:00 am…. Ha! No one knows I'm awake J XP

review responses:

Gatermage: thanks. I actually hate that movie, so I have no idea about her name. I always liked how she looked, but other than that I always thought it the movie sucked. Sorry if you liked it!

Queen-of-sapphires: I am really sorry, TT. you must think I am really dunb! I made you write a two whole reviews about Kel's court face, and I still really don't get it! Sorry!

MysticMoonEmpress: sorry, this will probably not be k/j, depends on whether I decide to ignore your guys votes and stuff. I am REALLY thankful to you that you don't mind if it isn't. so many people act like they will stop reading if I choose the wrong pairing. It's really distressing. Thank you so much!

Native Wolf Cub: thank you for such a positive and also interesting review. And I won't tell you about Joren , because other people will read this response and then the plot is ruined. However I would in fact appreciate it a lot if you would email me and we could discuss it, because I actually ran into some plot/character trouble and could use some help from someone with good ideas… my email address is please contact me when you have a moment! I will try and talk with you, although I will be away for a good part of the summer and might not have computer access… TT

About wyldon, he doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would make jokes about himself. (did I understand what you meant right?) however, I too don't like his lack of honour. His character is reaching out to me to pull it back together. Hmmm… maybe he'll be hororable but clumsy? That would be nice… still kinda OOC though. Oh well. We shall see.

Clair-a-net: the joren theory is pretty close to what I have in mind, although it never occurred to me to have neal uncovering joren… hmmm… I might want to do that! Thank you.

On top of cloud 9: I read weddings. It was good. No offense, I think it could use a little fine-tuning and editing, but the idea is good! Keep writing, I am eager to see buri/raoul…

Em: most of those things are likely to happen, but right now what I am really worrying over is the plot mess I made with Joren. I am still trying to figure out how to get out of that…. X (

BlueSword16: I am sorry. This isn't going to be K/F. that kind of fic is fine with me, but I just personally feel that Tammie doesn't give enough character information about Faleron for me to write a good, in character fic. And plus, I am too lazy to go back and read what little there IS about Faleron. J

Wingedrider: I don't want Alanna to lose either! I think a messenger would be a good distraction, don't you? Alanna and kel would fight because alanna wants to challenge herself, since no one is really good enough to beat her anymore… and she wants to see how she would hold up against the 'greatest warrior'

CommanderRhade: the idea is good, however, Kel is better than Liam, and in Lioness Rampant, Alanna barely managed to beat Liam. Thank you for the idea though!

I won't be around much the rest of this summer, so don't expect much, if at all! Luv ya!