A/n: sigh Okay, I hope that this one is okay. If not, someone tell me before anyone else can read it. Sorry it took so long!
The next night found Kel in yet another dress, with another drink in her hand. Their little party had already converged in the same room as the last time, but Kel had to leave because she had to talk to those that didn't go to their private little party. It was the polite thing to do.
She had ended up by the prince and Shinko, talking about tactics and such things when a platter of a Yaman delicacies came towards them. The squire smiled and offered the tray to the royal couple. Kel smiled and grabbed the delicacy closest to the prince and bit into it.
"Ah, so tasty. Shinko please tell me that I wasn't the only one missing this," Kel said, thoroughly enjoying the morsel in her hand.
"No, you weren't the only one missing it. Come Roald, please try it," She said as she grabbed one for herself and another to hand feed the prince. He looked thoughtful then smiled at Shinko, lightly brushing his lips across the back of her hand.
"It's…different."
The two women that were standing with him laughed lightly and their talk resumed where it had left off. The squire on the other hand looked downcast as he went around the room, ending up back at the kitchens with a near to empty platter.
"And?" The man said from the shadows, hiding his face as he watched the squire.
"I apologize sir, but the one that you said was intended for Roald was taken by Lady Keladry. He still liked it, even without that special thing you added in," The squire said, ever helpful. The man paused before saying, "Ah. Well that's fine if he still liked it. Thank you for your help squire."
The squire nodded before leaving to get another platter. Dafarr walked out of the shadows, hands clenched in fists of rage. He took a deep breath to calm himself before shaking out his hands and loosening his neck. He then pasted a smile on his face and walked out into the crowded room to flirt and try to find out any information.
…
Kel walked into the room and sat herself next to Neal and Owen, not feeling quite herself. She was sure that Neal would notice and begin to fret.
"How was it associating with those too lowly to join our party?" Neal asked in a lofty tone, getting a laugh out of Kel. When he looked at her his eyes narrowed before opening again. She was looking pale.
"It was interesting. I had been talking to Shinko and Roald most of the time anyway so I didn't get to talk to the unfortunate." Kel leaned back into the chair and closed her eyes briefly as pain exploded in her stomach. She forced herself to open them again though to look normal to her friends. "Anything happen while I was away?"
"Nothing. Well, besides the fact that Raoul and Buri sneaked off to somewhere before coming back rosy cheeked and with their hair slightly messed up." Kel laughed a bit but it sounded off to her own ears.
"Okay. Kel, what is wrong with you? Are you sick? Here, let me check…" Before Kel could even protest, Neal had his palm to her forehead and Kel saw the green glow of his magic encase his hand.
"There. That should have burned the fever away," Neal said with a sigh as his eyes went to where Yuki was. As Kel watched she began to feel better and the color came back into her face, but as usual even that small healing made her drowsy.
Kel yawned and stood up slowly. "I think I'm going to go to sleep. I'm tired." She stood, as did Neal and Owen.
"Don't sleep through the whole day Kel," Owen said happily as a joke.
"However tempting that might be, I wouldn't be able to manage. I have sparrows that wake me at dawn."
"Such a cruel thing, not being able to sleep through the day," Neal said sadly shaking his head.
Kel laughed and gripped both by the shoulder tightly before smiling, waving, then turning and walking away.
The two men watched her with brotherly love as she walked away from them and out the door.
Kel looked around as she left the bigger party, watching as the nobles laughed or spoke in heated whispers. As she left the room, she decided that it would do her some good to expose herself to the cold fresh air.
She walked quietly to the Royal Gardens and once outside looked up at the sky. It was overcast and she found herself a bench to look at the sky, snow already covering the ground. As she sat there snow began to fall and she smiled softly, putting her hands out to catch some thinking that she was smart to have thought of going out to the garden. But then the pain in her stomach came and she waited for it to pass, perplexed.
Neal had healed her hadn't he? Kel's eyes widened as the pain got more intense. What was wrong with her? She fell off the bench and onto all fours just in time to hurl everything she had just eaten. When that finished she collapsed to the side of the puddle and rolled onto her back breathing heavily before coughing. Her eyes flickered about before she passed out from exertion and the healing.
…
Dom needed to get away from the noble women pressing themselves against him with their floral perfume and heavily made up faces. He politely excused himself and ignored the sighs of want behind him as he walked as fast as he could without being suspicious. He needed out.
Dom walked the deserted halls and had the sudden urge to go outside to look at the white landscape. He went to Royal Garden, since he was very close to it already and noticed a crumpled form on the white snow.
"Miss? Miss are you alright?" He inquired as he rushed to her side only to notice that it was Kel. She was deathly pale and he looked at the puddle beside her. His eyes widened before he swooped down to pick her up and run back to the party and into the room with the little party.
"Neal. Neal, please, help her." Everything had stopped in the room when Dom walked in, Kel cradled to his chest. Neal looked up and went into auto-healer mode.
"Bring her to the Healer's Wing," Neal said as he ran out ahead of Dom.
"You're going to be fine Kel. You're going to be perfectly fine." Dom said as he rushed after Neal, everyone's eyes on him as he left the party in a hurry.
…
Neal hadn't understood what was wrong, and it had gotten so far out of hand that he had to retrieve his father. They would heal her and she would be fine for a few minutes before breaking out into a sweat with a fever that was worse than it had been.
Dom sat in the healer's wing, at the bedside of Kel. He had found her lying on the ground, sweating and coughing. She was still sweating and tossing in her bed, only it was steadily getting worse. To his Uncle and cousin's disgust, they could do nothing to heal her. She would have to fight this battle by herself.
"We can't heal her because her sickness isn't natural. Someone poisoned her and it's something that neither my father nor I have encountered before. Something that only gets stronger when someone tries to heal the person. If we try again, she'll die. She wasn't the only one poisoned. Everyone who tried the Yaman delicacies did, although they're healed now," Neal had said when Dom had first asked.
"Didn't the prince try the delicacies?" Dom asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Yes, but as I said before, those besides Kel have healed. She'll get better, she just can't be helped. If she is, she'll die."
Dom sighed and looked down at the tossing girl before nodding at Neal and walking out the door without a glance back.
…
The magistrate was investigating, but it was obvious that Roald had been the target. That all of those poisoned besides Kel had already been healed and sent on their way signified that Kel got the one intended for the prince.
Also, whoever had attempted to poison the prince knew that his parents would have told the healers to do numerous healings, and under pressure, people tended to not notice things as much. Meaning that they wouldn't notice that doing a certain number of healings would kill the patient. Cleaver on the poisoners part. Of course, Neal still had his regular attitude about, and only voiced his concerns when he was with his wife, Yuki. She understood; she was close with Kel too.