Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce owns this and I merely live in her world...

~ So you all get this chapter today because I was EXTREMELY happy because I finally came up with the design for my next tattoo!!! I'm soooo happy that I finally decided now all I have to do is find the money to pay for it... but I should probably pay for tuition and books first... and get a job since I will be broke once I pay that off... but its not my fault barely anyone is hiring right now... booo... ~

Thank you to those of you who have reviewed! - - LJane, wiltingflowersandpinkribbons, Shang Leopard, spazzysassyangel, jayley, quickreader93, DomLuver

The Ball

Kel sat with Yuki in her room as Lalasa took baby clothes out of her bag. The little clothes were beautiful, made out of colors for either a boy or a girl. Yuki and Neal had decided to wait until the baby was born to find out whether the baby was a boy or girl, despite the fact that they easily could have found out. In the Yamani Isles, it was bad luck to find out the sex of the baby before it was born.

Once all of the clothes were taken out, the three women began to fold them and pack them into bags so they would be ready when they left for Queenscove. They exchanged small talk during the task. Kel missed simple times like this when she was out in the field.

"I heard there was another ball tonight and I figured you would need a new dress, so I brought one to fit for you," Lalssa said.

Kel grimaced. "What would I do without you?" she asked sarcastically.

Lalssa rolled her eyes. "You would be wearing the same old worn out clothes day after day." She took the dress out of the bag and held it up. "Put it on," she said firmly.

Grumbling, Kel grabbed the dress and disappeared behind the dressing screen. "Isn't this a little bit much?"

"No," came Lalasa's firm response from the other side of the screen.

"Isn't it cut a bit low in the front?"

"No! Just come out already! You've faced numerous machines' in battle but you cannot even face two women? Come out!" Lalasa commanded.

Grumbling, Kel stepped out from behind the screen and awaited the two women's comments. For a few seconds they sat in silence, then Yuki exclaimed in a soft voice, "Oh Kel, it looks absolutely marvelous on you."

The dress was made of deep blue silk with stars embroidered on it in shimmering gold thread. Kel had to admit that the dress did look amazing though she still thought it was a bit much for a knight of the realm.

After scrutinizing her from every angle, Lalasa said, "The dress fits perfectly! Which is amazing since you keep outgrowing your clothes with new muscles that you put on."

"Since it fits can I change out of it now?" Kel asked, her voice pleading.

Lalasa rolled her eyes. "Stop acting like a child at her first fitting," she rebuked while waving her hands in dismissal.

"You know," Yuki called out casually, "Dom will love that dress on you."

Hope flared in Kel's heart, but she quickly dampened it and asked, "Why does that matter?"

Sighing, Yuki replied, "I know how you look at him. It's obvious that you have feelings for him. There's no point in denying it."

Before Kel had a chance to respond a knock sounded at Yuki's door and Kel heard a deep man's voice talking. Curious, Kel quickly finished dressing and came out from behind the dressing screen to see who was there.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Jason casually leaning against the door frame, watching her. "Do you realize how long it took to find you?" he asked.

Kel shot him a questioning gaze. "Why were you looking for me?"

"Will you help me with a dilemma that I seem to be having?"

"Sure," Kel answered. "I'll do whatever I can."

"Great," he replied smiling broadly. "I'm being formally introduced at court tonight and I need an escort to tonight's ball, preferably someone who has not been formally introduced to court yet. When I asked, the king said you have yet to be introduced…" His smile grew even wider as understanding flickered across Kel's face.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. No way!" she cried.

"But Kel, you already said you would help him," Yuki reminded her.

"And you already have the perfect dress," Lalasa added.

"If you wear the dress when you are introduced it will boost Lalasa's sales," Yuki remarked.

Finally giving into their barrage of comments, Kel shouted, "Fine! And I'm only doing this because it's the perfect way to scare the hell out of Neal. What time do I need to be ready?"

"Well, the ball starts in two hours, but we are supposed to arrive half an hour early." He paused, "What colors are you wearing so that I may coordinate?"

"I'll get the dress. She was just trying it on," Yuki explained, disappearing behind to screen. She came back out, gently holding the dress out in front of her.

Jason reached out to touch the golden stars embroidered on the dress. "I have a silk tunic that matches the color, but I'll have to find someone to add some gold details to it."

"I have time to do that," Lalasa said, gathering up her sewing kit. "It will not be as grand like the dress, since there's not enough time, but I can add some details that will show off the gold." Kel took a moment to marvel at how much Lalasa's confidence had grown since she first met her. Gone was the timid young woman and in her place stood a woman confident in what she did and who she was.

"Great!" he exclaimed, leading Lalasa from the room. He shot a quick grin back at Kel and said, "I'll see you later, don't be late."

Kel waited nervously in the waiting room off the ballroom for everyone to enter the ball. She walked to the mirror to fidget with her gown to make sure it was on right. Yuki had put some face paint on her face and had played around with her hair. She had to admit that she looked pretty good. After a lot of badgering and pestering, Yuki had convinced Kel that bangs would make her hair look good, so Kel emerged from her room with side swept bangs. She put her hand over them one last time to smooth them out.

She knew that some people would be surprised that she decided to wear a very girly, flouncy dress to the ball, but she wanted people to realize that even Lady Knights were still women and they were allowed to dress and act like one while still protecting Tortall.

Jason came up behind Kel and laid his hands on her shoulders. He bent down and whispered in her ear, "Stop fidgeting, you look beautiful."

She spun, surprised. "You're late!"

He winced, "Sorry, Lalasa just finished sewing the details on my tunic, you like?" he asked, indicating to his tunic. There were small stars scattered over his tunic.

"It looks great! Though I knew it would since it was made by Lalasa." She paused biting her lip anxiously. "I'm a little scared to do this," she admitted.

"It will be fine. I promise not to step on your feet when we dance," he said grinning at her lopsidedly.

"It's time," a voice behind them said. They turned to look at the herald. "Are you ready?"

They both nodded to the herald and followed him out to the entry doors of the ballroom. The herald threw open one of the doors entering into the ballroom and strode through. Jason and Kel waited a few seconds for the herald to begin his introductions before starting down the stairs.

"Introducing for their Majesties, Lord Jason of Stone Mountain, Lieutenant of the Kings Navy, accompanied by Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan, Protector of the Small."

Kel winced slightly at the use of the last title, but carefully schooled her expression to be calm and serene. Once she knew that her face was devoid of emotion, she looked around the room for familiar faces.

Neal's face was the easiest to find since he was still holding the remnants of a broken glass and his mouth was hanging open in shock. Yuki was standing next to him with a furious expression on her face while she wiped wine off her dress. Others looked shocked, some confused. Her eyes finally found Dom in a group of King's Own men. He had a strange look on his face as he watched them descend the stairs. As Kel watched different emotions flashed across his face, each one as hard to pinpoint as the last.

When Kel and Jason reached the thrones the king and queen formally greeted them. As Jason bowed, Kel sank into a deep curtsy. She was happy that she had been practicing her curtsy so she would not feel embarrassed.

Once the King Jonathan opened the dance floor for couples to start dancing, Jason led her onto the dance floor and started dancing around the floor with her. He asked, "Would it be a horrible inconvenience if I asked you to dance every dance with you tonight?"

Kel looked up at him in surprise, "You don't want to dance with anyone else tonight?"

He shook his head and shuddered, "Look at all of those mothers waiting on the sidelines. They are ready to shove their young, unmarried daughters at me in hopes of catching my title. I don't want to suffer through an endless night of giggling girls." He shuddered once again to prove his point.

Smiling, she answered, "Fine, I'll save you… again, but only because no one should go through that kind of torture."

He studied her silently for a moment before asking, "Would you come somewhere with me tomorrow evening? I want you to meet a good friend of mine. It's very important to me that you get to know him, since I feel that we have already become friends."

"Why is it so important to you that I meet you friend?" Kel asked frowning.

"Please I feel that I can trust you. Just come with me tomorrow."

"Alright."

He sent her a bright smile, full of relief before leading her into the faster steps of the new song that was being played. Kel had little time to thing of his request before her mind was swept into trying to keep up with Jason's quick moving feet.

The night wore on and they finally stopped dancing long enough to get a drink and some fresh air. While Jason went to find both of them a drink, Kel walked out into the gardens directly outside of the ballroom. She happily inhaled the cool night air deeply. For once she was actually having a good time dancing at a ball. Jason was fun to be around. Many people would probably think that they had some sort of a relationship, she realized. Maybe even some would think that they were lovers, but she knew instinctively that they would never like each other like that. She could see them forming a very strong friendship though.

As she was staring up at the stars, she heard footsteps come up behind her. Thinking it was Jason with the drinks, she casually asked, "So did you manage to fight off all of the evil court mothers?"

"I don't think any of the court mothers are trying to push their daughters off on me tonight," an achingly familiar voice said from behind her.

Kel spun, to look up into Dom's bright blue eyes. "Sorry, is Jason stealing all of chances of wooing a young woman tonight?"

Disregarding the question, Dom asked, "What's the deal with him? Are you in a relationship with him or something?"

Frowning, Kel responded, "I don't have to answer to you. Besides, why would that matter to you anyways?"

He sighed in frustration, "I care about you, Kel. I don't want people to sully your reputation, throwing you into bed with just anyone."

"Isn't that your reputation? Just jump into bed with any lady who's nearby?" Kel countered angrily.

"Not all rumors are true, you know," he replied hotly. "Sure I flirt a lot but that does not mean that I sleep with every woman I flirt with. That's just stupid gossip."

"Then maybe you should stop listening to rumors about me."

He ran a hand through his hair and Kel longed to fix to unruly strands sticking up. "I just don't want you to get hurt. Be careful, you remember what his brother was like."

"He's nothing like his brother!" Kel exclaimed.

"How do you even know that?"

"Because she's a good judge of character?" a quite voice asked from behind them.

Dom turned to find Jason standing behind him holding two drinks in his hand. Dom walked up to him and whispered threateningly, "You better not try to do anything to hurt her or you'll have to answer to all of her friends." He glanced one more time at Kel before he disappeared back into the ballroom.

Kel watched Dom leave with a look of sorrow on his face. She told Jason, "Sorry about that, I don't know what's gotten into him."

"Jealousy." Kel looked at him with a questioning look on her face. "It's obvious that he has some sort of feelings for you. Jealousy just brings out the feelings. When there's a chance that you won't always be there like before, then the evil green monster rears its ugly head."

"He's just a friend. It's nothing more than that."

Jason smiled at her ignorance, "So you think." He paused, sizing her up. "Here you look exhausted, let me escort you back to your rooms."

She nodded in acceptance and took his arm as he led her away, her mind full of confusing and troublesome thoughts.

A/N: Yaaaayyyy that was looong for me and my short attention span!!! It think I will go make some mac and cheese and sit on the porch since its still toasty warm outside...

Here's my awesome movie quote of the day from Laws of Attraction : "I'm not here on a Tuesday. I know, I know what you're thinking- If I'm not here on a Tuesday, and we're not open on a Tuesday, and today is Tuesday and I'm standing here, then how can it be. Well, it depends on how you look at it!" Sorry that makes me chuckle...

Review!!!