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Kel shot out of bed and answered the door. "Go get ready, I'll find the Sergeant, be in the courtyard in half a candle mark sharp"
The man bowed and left. She turned toward Dom "Go get your squad ready"
He nodded and left. Her stuff was all packed and ready to go at the bottom of her dresser. She took her tent and her bedroll out and a bag with her clothes on and went towards Raoul's suite.
He opened the door at her first knock. He invited her in and said "This emergency is all on you. It's at Blue harbour, there is a pirate that attacked the city. They need some repairs and the pirates are bound to come back. So you'll be there until the repair are finished or for at least one months to make sure the pirates are not coming back, got everything?"
"Yeah, it should be fine"
"Make me proud" he said, and in a rare gesture of affection he kissed her forehead. "And the moment you come back you have some explaining to do!"
"About what?" she said confused.
"Dom" he replied has he walked toward his room "If you get yourself killed I'll never forgive you" he finished as he returned to his room and wife.
"That's helpful" she murmured.
She then rushed to the Own's courtyard, where all of Third company was assembled. She saw the sergeants making sure their men's mount were properly saddled and servant of the king's own loading all their belongings in the wagon. She gave her tent and clothes to the servant so her stuff could be loaded to. She turned to find Tobe leading Peachblossom and Hoshi out. She looked at him and beckoned him over. "Tobe, you need to stay here" she whispered "You need to study with Daine"
He looked at her through sleepy eyes. "But..."
"Tobe, I can't take you out on the field" she whispered as she went on her knees so their eyes could be levelled. "You are too young to be in the King's Own. I will try my best to come back soon, and I promise you will always be taken care of, you are my son. But I really can't bring you and worry if my son is fine. Keep studying with Daine and go annoy Neal. I told him to take care of you"
"But, Mom, there is no one to take care of you" he whispered.
"Peachblossom and Hoshi, and all my sparrows and Jump will take care of me" she told him. She gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Everything will be fine"
She straightened up and looked around the clearing. She saw Dom walking toward them. When he reached them he gave her a smile and bent down to Tobe's level and whispered in his ear. Tobe then nodded and hugged her around the waist and left for his room with tears in his eyes.
"What did you tell him?" she asked.
"That I'd look after you. He agreed that I'd do a good job of it since I care about you" he then looked at her and shook his head. "Did you eat?" he then gave her a warm turnover "Just rolled out of bed and came charging down. You'll learn"
She laughed as she remembered those were the first word he had ever said to her. She took a bite of the turnover, smiled at him and said "It's good!" with her mouth full.
He chuckled. "Go now, give us some inspiring speech and what the emergency is"
She smiled and mounted Hoshi. Like on the first day she had ridden with them the sparrows took flight so Jump could get settle in his carrier and the sparrows resettled themselves. Of course, Hoshi was used to this by now, she didn't even notice anything.
She turned towards the men "This is what I know, Blue Harbor has been, again, attacked by pirates. We will go there to help them get back on their feet and make sure the pirates do not come back" She turned around and raised a glove arm and signalled for them to move out.
As she guided the company on the road she remembered her first day; of how she had daydreamed about leading armies and had imagined, while riding behind Raoul, that she could be a general. Back then she hadn't believed it possible because of her gender. And yet, here she was leading the King's Own. For the first time since she had been given the title she truly felt like the Knight Commander of the King's Own.
They rode in silence for a while. Toward midmorning she raised her hand signalling a break. The men dismounted and rested their horse for a while. Someone produced a bit of cheese and jerky.
"So, Lady Kel" said Wolset. "How was the ball last night?" he asked. Apparently the gossip had not reached them yet. But she wasn't surprise. Dom and Kel had announced they were together the night before, or to be more exact very very early this morning and they had ridden out before dawn had broken. When they had kissed all of the Own was peacefully sleeping in their beds and they had woken before anyone told them.
She looked over and saw that everyone was now paying attention to her. She rolled her eyes at them. "It was nice" she replied.
"Did anything exciting happen?" asked Lerant.
"Lots of stuff happen! Lord Raoul was actually there, not even behind the curtains" she replied.
"What about you Dom, you were there right?" asked Fulcher.
"Yes I was" he replied. "It was quite entertaining"
"All the ladies at court took a liking to him" said Kel.
"Mithros Dom, leave some for us poor fellows" said Aiden.
Dom laughed "You can have them" he said.
"Did a lady catch your eye?" asked Volorin.
"Well, we really couldn't find him this morning!" replied a recruit in Dom's squad. The recruits were obliviously spending too much time with Wolset.
Dom just raised his eyebrow.
"Common Dom, tell us whose lady has just captured your heart, and please do tell us how you manage to land in a Lady's bed after wooing her that very night!" said Wolset.
"Well, this Lady is very special" all the men came close around and were listening intently. "She's amazing, and I've been courting her for a very long time"
"How long?" asked Lofren.
Dom looked at him "Around 10 months or so"
"Wow, I did not know someone could catch your attention for that long" said Wolset, all the while thinking that the betting pool about Dom and the Lady Knight was for nothing.
Dom laughed "She's different than the usual court lady"
Kel just sat there laughing quietly to herself. "So, who is this Lady that you have been courting for over ten months or so without once mentioning it to your lowly squad?" said Devon, a men in Dom's squad.
Dom smiled at them, looked at Kel and raised an eyebrow. Kel tried to hide her blush behind her Yamani mask, but failed entirely. No one but Wolset saw the quiet exchange. "NO WAY" he yelled.
Dom looked at him. "TEN MONTHS?" yelled Wolset. Dom nodded. "You have been with Lady Kel for TEN MOTNHS?"
Kel and Dom nodded again. "Ten months?" he asked more quietly after the initial shock was passed. "I can't believe you! Who knew?"
"This is all very fun and interesting, but we have to get going!" said Kel.
They all groaned as they got to their feet and went towards their mounts. Dom quickly stole a kiss from he, that did not go unnoticed by the men.
"Ok tell us the story" said Emmit as they rode out.
"Well, me and Kel have been together since midwinter. All because of a mistletoe" said Dom.
"Who knew?" asked Fulcher.
"George found out, so did Daine" said Dom.
"You know Wolset" yelled Kel "We totally knew about the bet and the pranks you guys pulled on us"
"What? How?" he asked.
"Tobe" she replied. "Then George found us and totally helped us. His wife wasn't to happy about that"
"Daine knew too, so she kind of lied on the spying sessions" replied Dom sweetly "Oh and we spelled Kel's room so you wouldn't see any interesting stuff if you scryed"
"Did you guys tell Lord Wyldon?"
"No he figured it out on his own" replied Kel "We were very surprised once we learned he had bet on us, and that he knew we were together"
They continued to talk and laughed all the way to Blue Harbour. There they were meet with an ugly sight. The town was devastated and most building were burnt. "Well boys" she yelled "Let's get to work"
Thank you for the awesome reviews and for the good wishes for my finals. I'm sorry for the wait! but I promise as soon as I'm done my finals, I'll upsdate more regularly and bigger chapters!
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