Chapter two must contain an injury. How's THAT for foreshadowing? :P
He's found a lady, whispered a nasty voice in Kel's mind. He's found a love, and he's hiding her from you…and he's sneaking her into the camp at night.
Hot tears of hurt threatened to spill over from Kel's eyes. She dashed them away angrily, choking back a sob. Why had he had to get involved with someone else? How long had this been going on for? Who was she?
These question and others like them raced about inside Kel's head. Yet another question lingered in the foreground. She gnawed on a hangnail anxiously as she contemplated: why was he keeping it all secret from her?
Couldn't he trust her? Didn't he like her? Sure, she would have secretly hated anyone involved with Dom, but he wasn't to know that! So why wouldn't he tell her, his friend, his fellow knight, who he was in a relationship with? Or even that he was in a relationship!
It's because there's a division in your ranks. The voice was back, and now it sounded funnily like Lord Wyldon. He doesn't want you to know he's sneaking in a lady at night. Everyone knows that's a shocking breach of decorum. Kel could practically envisage Lord Wyldon's eyes bulging, his face red with rage. He pays in men well to keep you from catching him. Maybe he pays them by allowing them to sneak in ladies of their own!
That thought made Kel freeze with dread. What if half the men were actually more interested in pretty women than their jobs? If such news ever made it back to Lord Wyldon, she'd be disgraced for leading the squadrons and not knowing the happenings of the group. Goddess, what a shambles – imagine not noticing that your co-leader was breaching the knight's code of work! She'd had to prove what was going on and report it to Lord Wyldon. If she didn't, she'd probably be removed from the field, for either withholding information, or not being aware of the dynamics within thee group. Or – Kel shuddered – for being in utter disgrace for letting this happen, ruining the good name of Tortallen knights – bringing shame to their sparkling reputation!
She ran her fingers through sweaty brown hair. She didn't want to betray Dom, but she just had to do the right thing. Her knight's honour was a stake. And besides, the nasty voice piped up, he was the one who betrayed you.
Not that that was entirely true…but it did help Kel to justify her decision.
"What a mess…" she murmured to herself, her expression distant. "To think that tings have come to spying on Dom to gain proof to condemn him." And, of course, she added silently, there is also the fact that I simply want to know who his lady-friend is – but let's not mention that.
"So, I just have to keep Dom from finding out what I'm up to," Kel told herself, "and everything will work out. Yes. Of course it will."
She clasped her hands together decisively – and then lost her calm demeanour entirely as she realised she was already failing at her resolve to keep her plans secret.
She swore an oath that would have made her mother throw her off a balcony. She couldn't let Dom know what she was up to – but he'd be sure to ask questions when he got back to camp and found her gone.
She scrambled down the rocky outcrop. Small rocks tumbled away from under her boots. She moved quickly, hurriedly. Her one thought was that she needed to get back – and she grabbed at a ledge as her foot slipped. She missed it and fell heavily on her right leg, grazing exposed skin on the forest floor. Her knee began throbbing. Gingerly, she rolled up her riding pants to find that her knee was already swelling fast.
Gritting her teeth, she hauled herself up by a low-hanging tree branch. She eased her weight slowly onto her injured leg, and bit her cheek to keep from crying out as her knee protested. Kel, however, knew that more was at stake than her knee if she didn't get back to camp quickly. She hobbled as fast as she could along an improvised route, hoping to make it back to her tent unseen.
Luckily for her, she did emerge into the clearing without anyone noticing. But her relief was short-lived; her stomach dropped as she saw Dom approaching.
"Where have you been? We thought you might have been expecting us to get organised without you!" His tone was light, but Kel saw that Dom still expected her to answer his question.
Her mind went blank. "I-uh…" Stammering, she gained some time, and then blurted out, "Ladies' business."
Dom raised his eyebrows and smiled knowingly. Kel wanted to die.
"So…" Dom broke the silence. Kel wished he would just leave. Then Dom frowned, glancing down. "What happened to your knee?"
"Oh, that." Painful embarrassment had made her forget all about her knee – which now throbbed with a vengeance. "Oh, um, I fell down."
Dom raised his eyebrows again.
"Yeah." Kel glanced away. "Tripped."
"Riiight." Dom made the word sound five syllables long. "You tripped. Okay." He shrugged. "Okay."
Kel didn't care that she sounded whiny. "But I did!"
Dom just looked at her. "It's okay," he said. "I believe you. Now let me take a look at your knee." He bent down and frowned at her injury; the joint was now swollen to almost double its normal size.
Kel gave an inward sigh of relief. He hadn't seemed fully convinced by her lie, but hopefully he'd forget about it quickly.
Dom straightened, and met Kel's muddy brown eyes with his own gorgeous blue ones. Kel's heart fluttered, and she berated herself. He's in love with someone else. Stop kidding yourself. Dom patted her shoulder. "I think," he said, "it would be best if you slept in the hospital tent tonight."
They walked slowly through the campsite, Dom supporting Kel. Soon she was set up in a bed in the hospital tent, which was near Dom's own tent for convenience: he was the only one Gifted enough in their group to be able to perform strong healings in emergencies.
By now the sun had set. Dom poked his head into the hospital tent, glancing over at Kel and her newly acquired bandages and creams. "Goodnight," he said, and left.
Kel had been lying down, doing her best to look tired and weak. Now, she sat up and reached under her bed sheets to where a handful of griffon feathers lay. She grasped them tightly. Had Dom forgotten she had these? Had he really thought she wouldn't notice the listening spells layered thick over his tent, to protect his privacy? Kel listened; the magic of the feathers cut through the blanket of spells over Dom's tent and heightened her hearing. She latched onto the conversation greedily.
"…I wasn't saying I was happy that she's injured; of course I'm not." Dom's voice sounded as clear as if she was standing next to him.
"Okay, there's no need to get so defensive!" Kel narrowed her eyes. Was that Dom's lieutenant?
"Look," said Dom. "All I meant was that there's some real good that'll come from Kel injuring herself; at least now we'll have far less trouble hiding everyone and everything from her."
The conversation ended then; the two men said their goodnights and parted. Kel lay down and thrust the griffon feathers back under the bed sheets. She'd get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing she did.
So…I hope you enjoyed it :) Check back soon, the other three chapters need to be up before the end of May. I do respect deadlines, I just…use all the time I've been given :P
And as much as I appreciate the alerts and favourites, please, as always, review as well! (just because I like reviews, and I'm also annoying enough to ask you for them :P) Reviewers receive virtual cookies! (all the satisfaction of a real cookie – well, not really ;) – and no weight gain! What's not to love?)