Kel was eating her breakfast sleepily after glaive practice when the man came and smacked her with his riding glove. Did this man want to joust? Kel asked herself, remembering that this is how men had challenged her when she was on the Grand Progress a few years ago.
"Is what I heard true?" the man snapped at her, thrusting himself onto his seat.
Kel whipped her hands and moved her plate aside, studying the man. He looked very familiar. "Is what true, sir?" she asked.
"Don't sir me, Kel," he spat at her.
"Garvey?" she asked after a few seconds. "I didn't recognize you."
He flinched. "They tell me that you killed Blayce the Gallan."
"I did," she acknowledged, frowning. "Don't you believe it?"
"The hell I do! He must have been some runt, though!" he growled.
"He was," she nodded. "But his protection was quite large, I can assure you."
"There's no doubt that this is some scam to get the conservatives to believe in your skill… but I'm not fooled, whore," he hissed.
She wasn't fazed by his insult—he wasn't the first who had called her this. "And why are you telling me this?"
"I wish to prove my point, scum. If you are truly worth your title, the Gods will let you win, and if you are simply the trash I believe you to be, you will die," he said dramatically.
Kel bit her lip. A fight to the death? Those were drastic measures, even for Garvey. He knew she was skilled, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself… so why would he risk himself? There were plenty of other ways to tarnish her name.
"Details?" she asked him, knowing better then to refuse. It would simply prove his point.
"Tomorrow at noon. No armor—swords," he said with malice, his eyes gleaming.
Kel sighed a little before nodding her head… she'd always known that people doubted her, but she wished that people could lay off a little and maybe accept the proof she was giving them. As soon as this fight was over, there would be many more challenges—if she were still alive. "Can I please finish my breakfast?" she demanded then, when he didn't leave.
He spat in front of her and marched from the room.
Neal walked in the mess hall then, his green eyes calculating, unusual for him in the morning. He sat down before her and frowned. "Since when does Garvey run around spitting at girls?"
"I never thought he was much of a conservative myself," she murmured. "But maybe he's simply like Joren's father—thought that his death was my fault."
"Maybe. But what was he talking to you about?" Neal asked, his eyes sparking with interest.
"A fight to the death tomorrow at noon," Kel said quietly. Neal was going to worry about her, but she couldn't avoid telling him or he'd just get angry. "He doubted that I had the strength to kill Blayce."
"To the death?" he hissed. " But that's risky even for a conservative! And what if you're killed?"
She shrugged, putting on her Yamani mask. "You know I couldn't refuse, Neal," she said.
He scowled at her. He knew that it would just create more trouble if she refused to duel. "Kel—what will we do if you get killed?"
"You know better then to suggest that, Neal," she said softly. Although she often doubted her skills, her friends never did, either because they knew she would succeed or because they were afraid of her reaction. "Some conservative scum like Garvey can't beat me. It's just that I don't want to kill him."
"Cocky, are we?" Neal chuckled, despite the grim subject.
She bit her lip. "I didn't mean to say that it was impossible," she said hastily.
Neal glanced over his shoulder to see Dom going to sit with some men of the Own. "Hey, Dom!" he yelled to his cousin. Dom raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to play chess later? Noon, say?" he asked when Dom came over.
"Yeah, sure, Meathead. But I request cousin-to-cousin confidentiality about the results," he said, winking at Kel.
Her stomach did flip-flops and she hastily looked back at her foods. Having a crush on anyone was too dangerous for her—it never lasted. She couldn't help but here Neal's voice over and over in her head—"He was jealous when you said what you did to me—it was plain as day."
"Like you did last time. Even Kel knows that I win every time…" he chuckled, but his eyes were anything but humorous.
Dom blushed a little, making Kel's blood run cold—since when did Dom blush—and walked off purposefully. She exchanged an inquisitive look with Neal and murmured, "This doesn't happen to be about last night, does it? Honestly, I didn't think it was that big of a deal."
"What we are to discuss is of no concern to you."
She shrugged. "Just remember that you have to be a the wedding at six."
"Oh yeah… What are you wearing? The same dress?" he asked.
"Pigs might fly!" she laughed, pleased at the laugh this wrung out of Neal—it was an all-too-familiar phrase from his previous knight master, Lady Alanna. "Raoul said he wants people to recognize me so that he can brag about having trained me. I'm wearing a tunic and breeches in Mindelan colors."
"I'm glad—I was sure that Raoul was going to kill one of your admirers. And it's hard to look away from a lady so pretty as yourself," Neal drawled.
"Shut up, Meathead," she said quietly, trying to keep herself from giggling—maybe making her feel like such a girl was something that ran in Neal's family…
"Since when do you have permission to call me that?" he snapped.
"Since when does Dom?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
He didn't respond to this but ate his breakfast.
"What's going on with you?" Neal asked mildly as he moved his pawn forward, sipping his whine.
"What do you mean?" Dom asked, copying Neal's own move.
"You know very well what I mean. You insulted Kel last night. I can't deny that I was surprised. You're much more likely to flirt then insult, even if it's the cook you're with," he said, mentioning the fat, ugly lady that ran the kitchens.
Dom couldn't help but grin. "Raoul thought that we were… you know, more than friends," he said, looking down to hide the slight blush that had crept on him when he thought about that moment the previous day. "Kel would have killed me if I, if I went along with it…"
Neal watched him with suspicion as he moved a knight. Finally, "I don't think that's why."
Dom, refused to look up into his cousin's eyes, his skin crawling with goosebumps, eyes wide as he thought about what Neal was suggesting. Yes, he liked Kel a lot… but as friends, nothing more…
"Whatever do you mean?" he cleared his throat. Thinking of Kel romantically made him very warm.
"You were acting like a boy with a crush on a girl he's too afraid to confess it to," Neal accused.
"You think that I like Kel?" he asked, chuckling a little. "Kel is one of my best friends. I think I would know if I had a crush on her after years of knowing her. But I can't deny that she looked really nice in that dress," he said, trying not to blush for the umpteenth time. What had gotten into him?
Neal himself turned a little red. "I'd rather you not repeat that. It will get you killed by Raoul—and it makes me a little uncomfortable. I just can't trust you on this, Dom—you insulted Kel, when all I've ever heard you do around a girl is flirt!"
Dom agreed with Neal in a small corner of his mind, but he couldn't admit that anything might be wrong with the way he felt. "I'm not proud of what I said… but you know she'd have killed me if I'd said otherwise," he pointed out.
"I'm surprised she didn't kill you after the response you gave. And you guys flirt too often for her to have taken you seriously if you'd said anything else," Neal argued.
Dom looked at the chessboard, not seeing it. He was thinking about Kel—it was strange that she hadn't gotten angry with him. She was the fiercest woman he knew, but she hadn't seemed to care when he'd insulted her. What could have triggered that insult anyway, besides Raoul's accusation that Dom was interested in her?
"And you're not jealous either?" Neal prodded, taking Dom's second knight with his queen.
"Of who?" Dom asked with a frown… Neal had put him in check.
"Of—" Neal blushed "—of me. Because you didn't really seem, well, happy when she said that she'd had a crush on me as a page."
Dom's blood went cold and he froze while about to take out one of Neal's towers. He could feel Neal watching him intently. Dom swallowed and knocked Neal's piece off the board with an effort of will. "Why should I be? I told you that I don't feel that way about Kel. What makes you all so sure, anyway?"
"Notice that all you ever do around Kel is try to make her smile?" Neal said softly.
Dom frowned at the board. Kel had a very pretty smile, and he was always happy to be the one who made her do it, but how did that mean that he liked her?
"Check mate," Neal sighed. "One more thing before we get ready for the wedding, Dom. Kel is doing a fight to the death against Garvey."
Dom went pale. He knew Kel was one of the most able people he'd ever known, but the thought of her fighting Garvey to the death drained all the good out of the day. "She can't," he whispered.
Neal regarded his cousin with a stern look. "Maybe you should talk to her," he suggested after a few moments.
Dom looked at his cousin with eyes full of fear and hopelessness for their friend. "Yeah…" he finally replied before collapsing back into a chair as Neal left, his mind almost humming with thought.
Note: If you've looked at the chapter name, you'll see that this is only part 1… I had a lot planned for this chapter, but it's really late, and I'll die if I don't write to you guys daily. Your reviews make me feel so special… I'd feel awful if I didn't at least try to live up to your expectations. But you'll get Kel's fight with Garvey in part 2.
Anyway, thanks to Kari of Mindelan who suggested that Neal have a talk with Dom… YOU'RE AWESOME.
Thanks to Starzgirl, although she hasn't read my story… she gets the credit for them playing chess… you should really read her story "Unwritten Love"! It's really how I want my story to be. She's almost as good as Tammy herself, and she makes me absolutely love Dom even more than I already did…
Thanks to thewierdworder, whose story you should definitely read, called "In her Darkest Hour". She writes tragedy better then anyone else I've read, and the way she writes the characters is absolutely true to the books! She also wrote some really good one-shots about Kel and Neal that are quick and fun to read called "Telling Neal". She also gives me really awesome, long reviews! So YAY!
I also have to thank Peacelovegreen, SarahE7191, Lady Blooddrop, Fire Daughter, quickreader93, sharingiscaring. Even if they weren't recent, you gave me the reviews I needed to actually want to continue!
YAY!