With Lord Raoul

With dinner over Kel reported in to Lord Raoul's study, having briefly asked where his rooms were from Lerant, the standard bearer for Third Company. He was reading a letter from King Jonathan as she knocked on the door.

Raoul,

I have to wonder what you are thinking of, but I find it agreeable. That law is out of date, and with all the female warriors around these days it is somewhat pointless. We need our realm's commanders, and if it comes down to losing those men as commanders or allowing them to stay in and be married then…I have already spoken to the council. The law is passed.

Hereforth men in the own with the ranking of sergeant or higher may marry upon petition to the Knight Commander of the King's Own. He has ultimate discretion over who may marry, based on his perception of that persons' ability to deal with the pressures and the Own. His is the final word.

That is what the law says, in plain Common. Now it is your responsibility. Don't let the men go too overboard. And you might suggest to them that a court lady will not actually appreciate a man in the Own who is never home so it doesn't change it that much.

Enjoy your wedding. Thayet and I wish we could be there.

Jon

"Come in Kel," Raoul called out with a grin on his face. Wouldn't the men be pleased to hear that? Well, one man in particular.

The door opened and a tall, broad-shouldered woman with short-cropped light brown hair and hazel eyes came in tunic and breeches. Her face was serene, but to Raoul who had known for years it held a small hint of sadness about the eyes. He decided not to ask about it. Kel was a private person and dealt with emotion her own way. While he knew she respected him and would tell if asked, he didn't like to pressure her.

"Sir?"

"Buri wanted me to let you know that she expects you for a dress fitting about …." The door opened and Buri walked in. "Now."

Kel tried not to groan. This had been a trap. She should have known; she didn't report to Raoul any longer. Buri grinned at Kel. "Lalasa sent your dress in. I've got a seamstress waiting to take in anything that needs it. She made it a teensy bit big. Just in case she said…" Buri led Kel off.

Raoul grinned wickedly. Maybe he didn't really need to worry about Kel's sad face tonight. Buri did seem to have a way about her that Kel opened up to when she was upset. He went back to his paperwork as Buri shut the door between their chambers and the study.

Raoul was nearly done filling out some reports to go to the capital before the snows started, which meant he was in a hurry since Wyldon was predicting snow within the next day, (his old wound still told him when it was on its way) when another knock sounded on the door. He called out for the caller to come in, as he had with Kel.

This time it was Dom, his blue-eyed sergeant reporting in, back from patrol. Perfect; Raoul had wanted to talk to him as well.

"All was well sir," Dom grinned. "Unless of course you count the cold and lack of ladies' present. Wolset sure made enough whines to be mistaken for one though…."

Raoul grinned wryly and chuckled a bit. "Good, good. Now why is the real reason you are here? Normally you'd just report to the watch commander." He raised his eyebrow.

Dom didn't lose a beat; he was quick with words, just like his cousin Neal. "Your wedding is tomorrow evening, I presumed you had something you wanted to tell me…." His eyes betrayed him though as they flicked towards the connecting door.

The glance wasn't lost on Raoul, but he wisely stayed silent since Dom was in the wedding tomorrow. Raoul's male friends from old, Gary, Jon..neither of them could be there for the wedding since they weren't close, neither could Douglass or Sacherell or Geoffrey who had been friends of theirs in lower years. That meant Raoul had had to ask his sergeants to be his best man. They'd none of them really wanted to, or so they all claimed since it meant standing up in front and not getting to be with the few ladies who'd shown up for the wedding, so they had drawn straws. Dom had lost and so was his best man.

"Yes Dom. I did need to speak with you." Raoul sighed. "I hope you made sure your best clothes were laundered? Good, good. Well I just needed to let you know that Kel is the maid of honor. Buri and I decided on her, since you can blame her for this wedding in the first place. We hadn't known for sure if she'd do it until a few days ago—although we had assumed. She's in getting her dress fitted now."

Raoul kept his face straight as Dom winced. "I can't imagine she appreciates that, Sir, after a long ride today. I'm sure Meathead made them hurry here…But yes, I get the meaning."

Traditionally in Tortallan weddings the best man and bridesmaid shared a dance, however this wasn't to be a traditional wedding. Despite Buri having lived most of her life in Tortall she was a K'mir and they had a slight variation to the wedding. Most of the wedding ceremony was the same, but they'd changed one thing. The best man and the maid of honor walked down the aisle together, rather than separately as in a Tortallan wedding, up to their places at the dais. Dom would be escourting the lady knight.

Raoul was silent for a moment, lost in thought and then he and Dom said their goodbyes. Dom walked out the door and shut it, but Raoul didn't hear very many footsteps leading away. 'He'll get bored waiting for her to come out,' he thought, then grinned. 'And here I'd begun to think that our thank you to Kel for helping us get together was all for nothing..'

There was a devious reason that they had chosen that one aspect of the wedding to make follow the K'mir traditions. And it didn't have to do with Buri wanting her heritage part of the ceremony.