Hello my darlings. So incredibly sorry it's been so long. Between finals, track meets, and muses that have apparently committed suicide, I've had no time to write and no ideas even when I did. Unlimited cookies to all those loyal readers who have stayed with me. I love you all. To forewarn you, I'm leaving on a mission trip for a week, but hopefully I'll have some new chapters when I come back. Now, on with the story!
The first distaff knight in centuries woke up to the sound of sparrows. She rolled out of bed with enough time for glaive practice before she had to load Peachblossom. She and Neal, along with Connac's squad as a guard, were leaving for New Hope today. As sad as she was to be leaving her friends at Steadfast, she was impatient to return to the small town. She picked up her packs and called to Jump. It was time to leave
Kel watched the men as they mounted up. There seemed to be more men than there should be, but perhaps it was just the mist obscuring her vision. The weather was eerie. A thick fog blanketed everything, muffling the sounds of men and horses and giving everything an other-worldly feel. The lady knight jumped when someone clapped her on the shoulder. She turned to face Dom and frowned as she took in his saddled horse and riding clothes. "Where are you going?"
The sergeant grinned at her confused expression. "Same place as you, sunshine."
"But--"
He raised an eyebrow. "If you object to having extra troops that much, I'm sure my lord would gladly assign us elsewhere."
Kel saw Raoul waving at her over Dom's shoulder. He must have obtained the extra troops she had requested, but he could have told her. She waved back at him with a rude hand sign picked up in her time as a squire. "Mount up, sergeant. We ride out in half an hour."
A few days later:
Kel slumped into her seat at the meeting table. She rested her head in her hands and rubbed her temples, her eyes closed. As soon as she entered the room, Neal had called for a mug of tea. Now he reached into his pocket for a vial. He tipped a few drops of the potion into the steaming brew and shoved it across the table to the lady knight. "Drink." She did so gratefully.
About to put the vial back in his pocket, Neal changed his mind and handed it to his best friend. "Why don't you keep it? That way you might actually take it when you need it, and get rid of this ridiculous and stubborn notion of yours that I'm too busy to help you."
The young commander was too tired to argue. "Thank you, Neal. You're an angel sent by the Goddess herself." He blushed. "Now, who wants to report first?"
A few weeks later:
Dom sat sprawled in a chair, watching as his cousin worked on Ena's youngest. The girl had broken her arm falling down the stairs.
There was a tap on the door, and Kel stuck her head in. "Neal?"
Just a minute." He gestured toward his office.
The Protector sat down with a sigh. Dom sat up and leaned forward, elbows on his knees and hands clasped. "What's wrong, dearest Protector?"
"Nothing. Tired, that's all."
The sergeant climbed to his feet and stood behind her, massaging muscles made tight by stress. "Don't bite my head off for saying this, but you do realize you don't have to do everything yourself? It's not against the law to ask for help occasionally, and I can't think of a single person here that wouldn't do anything they could to help you."
"I know, but everything I do is something no one else can."
"Riding out on patrol? Putting yourself on the work lists no matter how many times we take you off them? Don't tell me no one else can do that. And clerks can write reports, believe it or not. That's what they get paid for."
"A good commander should do everything they ask their men to do. And I do need to write the reports," she said defensively.
"I'm sure you do," he said soothingly, not wanting to alienate her. "But seriously, Kel. Promise me you'll at least think about it?"
She relented. "Okay. But only as long as you promise to stop pestering me."
"Done."
Neal walked into the office, wiping his hands dry on a towel. "So what can I do for you today, dearest Protector?"
"What is it with you people and that name?" The Protector in question asked, mock glaring. The cousins grinned and shrugged in unison. Neal made the sign against evil, and everybody cracked up. Kel caught her breath and regained her composure. "Anyways, Neal, if you get a chance, I could use some more of that headache medicine."
Neal threw his hands up in exasperation. "Kel! That was three months' supply at the very least, and you used it in three weeks! What have you been doing, drinking it instead of cider with your dinner?"
She had the grace to look apologetic. "Sorry, Neal. Tobe startled me, and I knocked it off the edge of my desk. I'll pay for some more, if you want."
"No, no. I'll get you some more. But be more careful in the future."
"I will. Thanks, Neal."
Dom stayed for a little while after Kel left, finishing his business with Neal, but his mind was on Kel. He thought he saw something flicker in her eye when she said she knocked the vial off the table, and he wondered if she had been lying. What had really happened? He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice Tobe until the boy slipped from the shadows of the infirmary and walked beside him. He didn't say anything, knowing Kel's servant would speak when he was ready.
There was silence for a long time. At last Tobe gathered his courage and took a deep breath. He had known he ought to talk to the sergeant for a long time, and now he must, for Kel's sake. "She didn't, you know."
Dom glanced at him, puzzled. "Didn't what?"
"Knock it off the table."
"I wondered, but I had no way of proving it. What happened?"\
"My lady used it."
"All of it?"
"Yes, sir. Lady Kel gets migraines almost every day, and the medicine only dulls the pain. She tries to hide it, but I watch her. Between that and the nightmares, I worry about her."
"Nightmares?"
"Every night. I don't know what they're about. She wakes up screaming, and doesn't go back to sleep. She works instead. I'm not allowed to sleep in her room anymore, because she knows I listen."
"Does Neal know any of this?"
"No. I tried to get her to go to him, but she refused. That's when she got me my own room. Please, sir, can you get her to see reason? She trusts you, and she might listen to you."
"I'll try. Do me a favor Tobe, tell me if you see or hear anything else."
"Yes, sir."
"And call me Dom."
"Yes, sir—I mean Dom." The boy ran off, leaving Dom to ponder his words.
Is it less confuzzling now, TC?
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Tata,
Dragon Eyes