Hey Everyone:

New Chapter! I hope you like it. Random competition for you all: Find the Pirates of the Caribbean quote in this chapter. I only realised there was one when I proof-read, hehe :)

StarryEmeraldNights

Lela-of-Bast: You've just gotta love George's ear collection :) I think Kel would personally seek revenge on every person in Raoul's rooms if she ever found out

opalshine: Awwww, how can I resist updating now? Thanks :)

LandUnderWave: Wow, that's one biiiig number! Thanks for the review!

Anonymous: Oh I loved writing that bit. According to LandUnderWave that means 1,042+ people are ready to kill Dom...Thanks for reviewing :)

HappeeGoLuckee: I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't, Kel's too nice. Maybe a couple of conservative bums? Glad you like the story ;)

Meganidge: 3x love it! Wow! You make me so happy...and so I update :)

PolskaGirl: Thanks heaps for the review

WingedxFantasy: They certainly are mad. Thanks for reviewing :)

Dark Unicorn Lurking: Thank you sooooo much, that was the nicest review EVER! Sorry about Gydo, I was sad killing her off too, but she had to go :( I certainly will keep up the jolly good fun!

disiny2003: Awards prize for shortest review ever Thanks anyway :)

jellybean839: You just gotta love the word splendiferous, huh? Thanks for your review :)

Sydelle Rein: Well I updated just twenty minutes after getting your review, pretty good, yeah? Thanks :)

Chapter 6

Kel stood glumly in Yuki's room for what seemed like an age as Yuki and Shinko dolled her up, Loesia playing their personal assistant. Every time Kel would say 'No' (to the corset, high heels, face paint…) they had the undeniable excuse that since she was masquerading as a court lady, she had to wear what court lady's wear.

Kel nevertheless failed to understand how on earth anyone would be able to tell if she was wearing heels or not under the hopelessly heavy skirts of her dress.

'How does the dress feel, Kel?' Yuki asked

'Are you supposed to be able to breathe in these things?' Kel replied grumpily

Shinko and Yuki laughed as Loey said 'No.'

Kel smiled wryly. 'It's perfect, then.'

At the end of it all Alanna stepped in and used her gift to change the colour of Kel's hair to a silky black, and her eyes to a sparkling green.

Then they all shoved Kel in front of the full-length mirror, who slowly opened her eyes and nearly died of shock.

Her dress was a deep purple, with a full skirt and thin straps over her shoulders. The front of the bodice was decorated with hand sewn glass beads, with a matching trim around the skirt. Her now black hair was curled and primped up into a loose updo, wispy curls loosely framing her face. Her hair was set with diamantes. The face paint that Shinko and Yuki had put on her looked stunning, and the corset changed her shape completely.

To Kel, it was like looking in the mirror at a completely different person.

She rounded on Alanna 'What else did you change, apart from the colour of my hair and eyes! I know you changed other things, I'm not that beautiful!'

The other girls stifled laughter, and Alanna said through tears of mirth 'I absolutely swear Keladry, I didn't change anything else. You've just never gone to this bother before, so you've never realised that in actuality you're very pretty.'

Kel gaped, and turned back to the mirror as Shinko left to get ready and Yuki did her own face paint. Loesia wore an old dress of Yuki's, a pale pink off-the-shoulder from last Midwinter.

A few minutes later and with half an hour to go to the ball, Neal walked in and started saying to the room at large 'Kel, I checked with Merric and he said you could pretend you were his younger sister Lady Kitaji of Hollyrose, she hasn't been presented at court yet. I suggested you could come as my younger sister Melayni, but noooo' Neal changed his voice to mimic Dom's 'that would mean I'm dating my cousin, Meathead-'

Neal trailed off when he realised he couldn't see Kel. 'Yuki, where's Kel? I thought she was getting ready with you?'

Kel rolled her eyes and turned around. 'Possibly here, Nealan, and you can tell Merric thank you from me, I'll go as his younger sister.' Kel smiled wryly 'Mind you that means I'm going to have to be announced.'

Neal just gaped at Kel. She had been transformed from his best friend to a gorgeous court lady within the space of an hour. Yuki picked up a fan and whacked Neal in the stomach, ending his stupor. 'It's not polite to stare,' She told him, and gave the fan to Kel 'They're the latest fashion now, look, there's even a little hook in your dress to hang it from.'

Kel smiled and accepted the fan.

Keladry of Mindelan had fought centaurs, spidrens and metal monsters, commanded squads, armies and forts, endured bullying, probation and the Chamber.

But Keladry of Mindelan had never been this nervous. She was waiting with all the other ladies to be announced behind the doors at the top of the Grand Staircase. They were all flitty and excited as well as nervous like Kel. So far, no one had recognized her for the younger Lady Knight, instead she just receiving friendly greetings of 'How odd I never met you at the convent, Lady Kitaji' when she gave her name.

Kel smiled in spite of herself when she was asked by the girl in front of her, Lady Ilessa of Seabeth and Seajen, who was escorting her down the staircase. As if on cue, Dom appeared in the room, searching for Kel.

'Think Dom, think.' Dom told himself. 'What had Neal said? Black hair, green eyes, purple dress, shukus-' And there she was. She looked absolutely beautiful and almost entirely unrecognisable from this morning. But Dom could tell. No matter what she was wearing, Dom could still see that same beauty that she always held, the kind that no other woman held for him. It was the beauty of love.

When Dom smiled at her, Ilessa nearly gaped before she caught herself just in time. 'Domitan of Masbolle?' she whispered, amazed. 'You must be the luckiest girl on earth!'

It seemed like no time at all before Kel was giving her name to the announcer. On Dom's arm, somehow Kel didn't feel quite as nervous anymore.

'Introducing Lady Kitaji of Hollyrose, escorted by Sergeant Domitan of Masbolle!'

Kel and Dom exchanged glances as they stepped out onto the staircase, while Dom whispered to her 'I take it your Merric's sister tonight then, my lady?' Kel stifled a giggle at the title as they began walking down the stairs. Everyone's watching me, Kel thought, amazed. Especially all the men. Oh my gosh, Faleron's watching me, Wolset's watching me, Seaver and Esmond are watching me…!'

Dom seemed to realise this to. 'I think I might have a lot of competition to dance with you tonight, Kel. And can I call you Kit?'

Kel nodded absent mindedly, they were at the bottom of the staircase already. Dom had kept her occupied all the way down, just so she wouldn't feel nervous. They came to the front of the dais, and Kel instinctively got ready to bow. Just in time Dom whispered 'curtsey!' to Kel, who pulled off what she thought was a decent attempt.

'Thanks' whispered Kel as they went to find Neal 'And don't forget, you don't know me, so stop acting like you do.'

Neal was standing in a circle that included Owen, Merric, Faleron, Esmond, Yuki, Shinko, Roald, Seaver, Ilessa and a few other girls she didn't know. Quickly Kel calculated that only Neal, Merric, Yuki and Shinko actually knew who she was, and that Kitaji would only know Merric and Ilessa. This was going to be a tricky night.

Neal turned around and opened his mouth while Kel silently prayed 'Please, Neal, don't mess this up.'

'Lady Kitaji, a pleasure to welcome you to the palace, I am Sir Nealan of Queenscove. I see you've met a certain mad cousin of mine.'

Relief flooded Kel and she had to wait a bit to control her laughter before she spoke 'Thankyou Sir Nealan, and please, call me Kit. Would you be so kind as to introduce me to your friends?'

'Of course Lady Kit, and on the same token, please call me Neal.'

Turning back around and moving the circle out to include Dom and Kel, Neal began introducing her to everyone. It was a surreal experience for Kel. These were her friends, and they were looking at her like…well, like she was an excellent possibility for courting, really.

'Beauty really does addle men's brains.' Thought Kel. 'If it wasn't for the fact that I can't breathe and feel like an idiotic twit, I'd do this more often.'

The musicians struck up a tune, and Dom asked her to dance much to the annoyance of many of the other men. Kel gladly accepted, at least Dom would know the reason behind her poor dancing skills.

'So are you enjoying this so far?' Dom asked as he twirled her around.

'Well apart from the fact that I can't breathe and can't walk,' Kel leaned up to whisper 'And all my friends are eyeing me which is just gross' and then talked normally again 'I suppose the whole ball thing isn't really that bad.'

Dom laughed, and whispered back 'I don't like them eyeing you either, my fair lady.'

Kel's eyes twinkled with laughter. 'Oh, I'm your lady now, am I?'

'Absolutely.'

The song ended, and Kel was asked to dance by a never ending stream of people. Finally, Merric cut into Faleron with a 'Hello, sis' and brought her back to her seat with Yuki, Neal and Dom.

'Thanks, Merric.' Kel said 'I was about to die out there. Dancing, especially in a corset and high heels, is damn hard.'

Yuki smiled 'Welcome to the ladies world, Kel. Have a drink.'

Later

'By the way Kel' Neal said loftily 'I'm under strict orders not to let you leave until midnight, so you better get used to the whole dancing thing, you've got three hours to go.'

'Fine' said Kel, only a little grumpily, and took Dom's hand when he offered it with his infectious grin. 'At least I'm dancing with you, Dom.'

'Ditto that' he told her 'I can't stand those flitty little court ladies.'

Kel laughed as they began to dance.

A while later a blonde-haired man cut in. He had a scar reaching from his eyebrow to the point of his chin, and a smile that didn't reach his eyes. Kel didn't like him immediately, and she could tell Dom didn't either. But protocol said she had to dance with him, so Dom watched warily from afar while Kel danced.

'Your name, my Lady?' The blonde man asked.

'Kitaji of Hollyrose' Kel told him, watching his eyes for the reaction. They gave nothing away, but his mouth curved into a cruel smile.

'That's odd.' He told her 'I've never met a Hollyrose who didn't have red hair.'

Suddenly Kel realised exactly who he was, and her first instinct was to get away. But this Scanran man was determined to play games, and he wouldn't let her go.

'I met a lovely little girl a while back, coming to the ball.' He told her 'Dirty blonde hair, pale pink dress, about fifteen or so.'

Kel wiped her face clear of any sign of recognition, but knew immediately that he was talking about Loey.

The blonde man grinned evilly 'We had a nice little chat' he told Kel 'She had some information I wanted, see, and she gave it to me-'

Kel glared at him.

'-After a little, oh, sharp and pointy persuasion.'

Kel gave up any sweet pretense at that point. 'You bastard, where's Loey?' Anger drove her to say it much louder than she should have. The people closest to her turned in shock at her behaviour, and the entire room followed in a chain reaction until everyone was staring at her and the blonde man.

The blonde man's voice was icy as he spoke in a voice loud enough for half of the court to hear. 'Don't pretend you aren't the wench I know you are. You are responsible for my country's famine, my country's downfall. It is your fault that my people are starving. It is your fault they are hungry for revenge. That Elder girl, she idolised you, and she died for it. You are responsible. And now, you have no weapon. But before I kill you, let us show these lovely people the wench that you truly are…'

Still holding tightly onto her, he used his own gift to lift Alanna's, turning Kel's hair back to its brown colour, her eyes back to hazel. '…Lady KELADRY!'

The entire ballroom gasped. The closest men drew their dance partners away, leaving Kel almost completely defenseless against the man's dress sword, which he drew as she unclipped and spread her Shukushen.

There was a tale in the Islands. That the greatest warriors of all could fight with the Iron Fan so well that they could beat a swordsman. It was the ultimate test of skill, to throw a swordsman to the ground with only an Iron Fan.

Kel felt the thin iron spikes in her fan screech from the pressure as his sword met them, but she thrust his sword away. He was over confident and stupid, and she could beat him. As he swung his sword down for the next blow, she threw the fan out of her hands and up into his wrist. His hand and sword clattered to the ground as Kel caught the fan at the other end. His right arm now just a bleeding stump, he picked up the sword with his left. He was badly maimed, but he was smart enough to learn and was careful to keep pressure on the fan so that she couldn't throw it again.

His sword left a deep gash in her thigh on the next stroke. The iron spikes of her fan were bending and Kel knew she couldn't last much longer with a flimsy shukushen. None of her friends or any guards could make it through the tightly packed throng of people around her. She was all on her own.

So, being Kel, she resorted to less common methods. Pushing back on his sword with her fan, they locked into body-to-body. She stamped on his foot with the heel of her shoe, and heard the satisfying crunch of broken bone. Then she flipped him straight over her leg and onto his back. Her fan left a two inch deep gash mark down his leg.

He was badly injured now, and when Kel threw her fan again, into his left wrist this time, he couldn't stop it. His left hand dropped off, and his sword was near useless, but he wasn't dead yet. Panic and disbelief in his eyes, he struggled to sit up, rightly guarding his sword with his life.

'Kel!' someone yelled.

Kel looked up and saw a sword sailing through the air towards her. It was Dom's.

She caught it deftly by the hilt, and without further thought swung it straight through the Scanran's neck. He collapsed, instantly dead.

Kel struggled to keep standing, leaning on Dom's sword for support. She could barely breathe. The crowd dispersed in horror at the corpse, leaving Dom finally able to fight his way through. He caught her as she almost collapsed, and held her steady.

Kel managed to gasp out 'Can I borrow your knife?'

Bemused, Dom gave it to her. Kel promptly cut the lacings of her corset, ruining a beautiful dress.

The entire court roared with laughter when they saw what she was doing.

'Couldn't breathe' explained a resigned Kel 'Mithros witness, I hate corsets.'

Hope you liked it! Please review!

For those who might like to know, the Iron Fan tale is actually a true Japanese tale.

StarryEmeraldNights