"So, do famous Lady Knights not have to eat vegetables?" Neal sneered as she prepared to bring back her plate without eating the vegetables.
She glared at him, wondering when he had finally started listening to her advice. "What about yours?" she retorted, seeing that he'd only eaten a few string beans.
He raised an arched eyebrow tersely and stuffed the greens into his mouth. She smiled triumphantly and began to eat her own. "And since when did I become famous?" she asked between bites.
"All that Scanra stuff got out, Kel, and you know it. You were already known for your skill and all that, but this really made you stand out—"
"I'm a girl, Neal," she cut him off. "I already stand out." She looked down to hide her blush— had her mission to recapture her people really made her famous… or was it infamous?
Dom came to join Neal and her, his plate loaded with turkey, rice and vegetables. He smiled at Kel—the smile that had once made her feel like jelly and now made her feel warm. Kel knew she had missed him: his good company, his cool outlook, even his handsome face, which she couldn't deny.
"So, Lady Knight… learned anything new since I last saw you?" he grinned.
"Not really. It's only been a few weeks since I saw you," she said, noticing how blue his eyes were in the light from the chandelier. No, she told herself firmly. I won't allow this to happen again, not so soon after Cleon.
Dom finished his food quickly, not heeding Kel as she ordered him to slow down. It was after they had finished eating and were walking toward the library that Neal brought it up.
"Tomorrow Raoul is having the rehearsal dinner. He ordered you to bring a partner, did he not?" he asked Kel, his eyes gleaming with mischief.
Kel groaned. "Doesn't mean I will," she muttered.
"I don't have a partner," Dom commented with boredom.
"You'll find some random girl," she retorted scathingly. "You do it often enough."
"That hurt," he said with feeling. "I was going to ask if you would mind going with me."
She blinked. "You? Well… I suppose it'd be a lot easier then going with some stuck-up noble that I don't know," she mused.
He grinned. "It's a date then!" and walked off whistling.
"Wait—I didn't say yes!" she yelled after him, but he pretended not to hear. "You sure your family isn't in the Book of Meatheads, Neal?" she hissed.
"Quite… and what was your family in again?" he said lightly.
"We aren't, dimwit," she replied absent-mindedly. "Do I have to wear a dress?"
Neal nodded and left her to stand at the library door alone. She glared at her reflection on the polished wood—she wasn't exactly the prettiest girl at the palace, and there were scars all over her arms… what would Dom think of her in a dress? Was he even inviting her as a girl? What if he didn't like the way she looked? She closed her eyes and thought of that clear, smooth lake, breathing deeply. This was just a friend taking a friend, nothing else to it.