Chapter 4 - Domitan
Disclaimer - All the characters, etc. belong to Tammy.
At the next bell, Joren was waiting outside the stables impatiently, having readied everything for their trip. If only his knight-master would arrive. Finally, Lord Paxton came, wordlessly took his things and horse from Joren and mounted and rode towards Lord Wyldon and Duke Baird, his face grim. Confused, Joren followed him. Upon reaching the pages, he wished he could have stayed in Corus. He was the only squire stuck with the pages, including the Lump, and Third Company hadn't even left yet.
"Meathead!"A cheerful voice sounded in his ear.
Joren was turning to correct the arrogant puppy when he heard someone drawl, "Not in front of the lady, Dom." Seeing Neal hug the other man, Joren smirked. Meathead, he thought to himself, very apt. "And this is demoiselle Keladry of Mindelan," Neal gave an exaggerated bow.
As Neal turned to Merric, Dom smiled, blue eyes sparkling. "It's a pleasure to meet you Kel."
"You too, Sergeant… uh…" Kel fought not to blush.
"Domitan. Just Dom though. Neal has told me so much about you, I feel like we're already friends."
Kel smiled warmly at him. "Any friend of Neal's is a friend of mine."
"Neal's friend?" Dom remarked in mock horror. "No, I'm just his cousin."
"You do look a lot like Neal."
"I hope that's a compliment, although I am far more handsome than Neal is," he replied wickedly.
"I heard that," said Neal, turning back. "And you're wrong. Oh, and Kel, this is my cousin, Sergeant Domitan of Masbolle."
Kel and Dom smiled at each other. "I already introduced myself, Meathead." Seeing Neal's scowl, he remarked to Kel, "he does act like a meathead, doesn't he?"
"Oh, absolutely," Kel replied, lightly teasing. "Come on, Lord Wyldon is here. We'd better go Neal. Nice to meet you Dom."
"Until next we meet my lady," Dom remarked with a bow. Kelwaved back at Dom as she dragged Neal away.
Joren, scowled as he watched this interchange. They were flirting. She'd smiled at the sergeant, but never at him. Not, he added, that he wanted her to. Still, she had a nice smile, although why the sergeant was flirting with his Lump was beyond him. He froze as his mind registered that last thought. His Lump? His? Why would he want the Lump, of all people to be his? Shaking the thoughts from his head, he rode forward to meet up with his knight-master.
Two days later, they were well away from Corus and Kel was feeling restless. She could feel Joren's eyes upon her constantly, watching her. This made her nervous, except for when she was with Dom. He was so amiable and good-looking, a lot like Neal. Sometimes while riding, she wondered what it would be like to kiss him, which in turn, always turned her thoughts to Joren. She dreamt of his kisses at night and shivered, thinking of his arms around her yet again. "Cold, Kel?" Dom's voice brought her back to herself.
"No, it's just the breeze." Kel smiled at him.
"Sergeant Domitan, Lord Raoul is looking for you." Joren's cold voice interjected. Dom nodded in acquiescence. With a quick smile for Kel, he turned and left. Instead of leaving with Dom as she had expected, Joren stayed, riding alongside her through the woods. Kel kept her face blank, unsure of Joren's motives.
Joren looked at her face and mentally groaned. The Lump wasn't making things easier for him and his plans were getting out of hand. Now Garvey and Vinson knew too and had been overly enthusiastic in helping make plans for her demise. Remembering the way Dom had smiled at her, his eyes narrowed. Putting on an air of joviality, he tried to converse with Kel.
Fief Cavall was a mess. Joren looked around the remains of the outer village. Noting that the stone walls surrounding the stone castle which was Lord Wyldon's residence were still standing, he rode up to Lord Paxton for instruction. The train stopped as the ground beneath them shook. The horses, spooked, reared and bolted and everyone tried to regain control of their mounts. Joren firmly brought Icestorm to the ground, stroking his mane to calm him. He looked around. Kel had brought her horse back under control and Lord Wyldon was trying to gather everyone's attention.
Finally, all was calm again and everyone turned to Wyldon. "Well as you can see, Cavall still isn't safe. The first thing we do is look for survivors. Lord Raoul and Third Company will search the grounds and castle. I will take the pages and search the tunnels underground."
"Iam togo with the Own, you will go with the pages." Joren's knight-master murmured in his ear. Joren nodded silently.
As the pages went to the hidden entrance, Joren heard Neal remark, "Trust the Stump to make us walk through tunnels which could collapse any minute." Most of the older pages around him nodded.
"That's not why he did it Neal." Kel's statement made him turn towards the conversation again.
"I know Kel, I just meant…" He was abruptly cut off by Seaver.
"The Own could have gone in the tunnels and we could have gone above ground. The Stump always has to make our lives harder."
"But there aren't enough of us to search the clearing and we can move through the tunnels more easily. That is why Lord Wyldon put us there." Kel's reply was met with silence and a couple of wide-eyed stares from the younger pages who had heard.
"Every one in groups of three." Wyldon called to the pages. "And stop gawking at page Keladry."
Joren wondered if Lord Wyldon knew how much Kel seemed to admire him. Severely doubting it, Joren smirked and walked over to Kel, Neal and Owen. "Hello." This was the perfect opportunity to further his foothold on Kel.
Neal stared while Kel replied, "Yes Joren?"
"I thought I could join you and Neal." Which was definitely better than any of the other groups ofpages, even if they did drivehim insane.
"You thought wrong," interjected Neal. "We have three. Kel, Owen and myself."
At that moment Iden and Warric appeared behind Joren. "Owen," asked Warric, "could you join our group?"
Joren smirked triumphantly. "Of course he will," he told the younger page, "and I'll go with Neal and Kel." Turning to Neal and Kel, he smiled.
As he moved ahead of them, he heard Neal whisper to the Lump, "What do you think he's up to?"
"I have no idea."
A/N - Thanks to everyone who reviewed and a special thanks to Tuathail for betaing. Please review.