You guys really don't need to worry about updates. There's plenty more where this came from and my muse is going crazy. This will be my third update today? Unless I burn out, expect at least an update a day. I'm loving this story too much to slow down now.

Chapter 7: Old Lovers

For the next month, Kel was still in shock. She spent the time catching up with old friends, like her year mates. Merric, Seaver, Faleron, Esmond, and even Owen, who had recently been married, were all at the palace. She trained, ate meals with her friends amongst the Own and knights. She met Tobe's friends amongst the riders and met Shinko and Roald's newest child, a son named Jonathan or Johnny to join their daughter Lianokami. At the back of her mind every second, though, was the fact that soon she would be returning to New Hope. Her home. Her fief.

Her friends who were at the palace sought her out to offer their congratulations. They clapped her on the back and offered to bring her to dinner to celebrate. Those who were outside of the capital sent letters and gifts. Lalassa came the day after the king's announcement, already prepared with a new flag that Kel would take back with her to New Hope. It was similar to her old personal coat of arms, but the Owl of Mindelan was replaced with the new griffin of New Hope. There were still two glaives crossed under the immortal but the blue background was replaced with yellow. It only added to the overwhelming feeling in Kel's stomach. How was she ever going to live up to this?

Kel was the most surprised by the congratulations she received one morning as she was making her way to meet Raoul for breakfast. Unlike during her previous stays at the palace, she was not avoiding the Own mess hall like the sweating sickness. Most everyone she ate with, especially those in third company knew the reason: Dom wasn't there. No one brought it up to Kel, however. And Kel only hoped she'd get enough warning after his inevitable return that she wouldn't bum into him.

This, it turned out, wouldn't be the case.

It was a hot day in the palace, and the cool stonewalls seemed to do little to cool down the heat that was wafting in from the windows. Even in her thinnest tunic and shirt, Kel still felt sweat make the cloth stick to her skin. She was thinking longingly of a swim and too busy rolling her sleeves up above her elbows to pay attention to what Jump was barking at. Her head down and her hands busy, Kel only realized when she ran straight into what she thought was a tree.

"Oh, Mithros, I'm so—Dom?"

To Kel's horror, she had not ran into a tree trunk, but it might have well been as hard. Dom had stumbled back a few feet and was looking at her with as much surprise as she was looking at him with. Jump ignored the human's awe struck faces as they gaped at each other, both speechless, and instead shook his tale as he nudged his nose against Dom's leg.

"Yes, that would be me." Kel didn't know what to do as he smiled at her awkwardly, his hand running through his hair, something Kel remembered as a nervous habit. She raised her eyebrows at him slightly.

"I didn't know you were back. Neal finally get sick of you?" Kel regretted having said it, thinking he might be offended by it, but Dom simply chuckled and nodded his head slightly.

"Yuki has her hands full enough with him, I didn't want to add to her worries." Kel watched as he bit his lip. It struck her suddenly that this had been the first actual conversation they'd had in the past five years. Since that night, he hadn't spoken directly to her. Now… "The Own has to do some recruiting as well. So here I am."

"Here you are." Their eyes met for the first time in what literally was years and Kel couldn't help but look down. For a few moments, there was an awkward silence between the two. Kel shifted nervously from one foot to the next as she tried to think of something to say.

"I was just heading to breakfast." They both spoke at the same time and looked up to find the other blushing, embarrassed. Dom smiled shyly as Kel motioned to the Own mess hall door, feeling her heart try and beat out of her chest. When Dom nodded, she swallowed and started to walk towards it.

"Kel," Dom called. She turned and tried her best not to make too much out of the kind smile that was on his lips. "I heard about New Hope."

It was Kel's turn to bite her bottom lip as she looked at him, wondering what he was thinking about the whole things. Perhaps he thought she didn't deserve it? As if he'd read her mind, he stated sincerely, "I can't think of anyone who deserves it more."

Once more, Kel was speechless. Her mind was fuzzy and her heart was thumping at her ribcage. Finally, she managed a soft, "Thanks, Dom." After a few seconds, he nodded and they both seemed to break out of a trance and walk into the mess hall.

If the pair that entered the room surprised anyone, no mentioned it. Raoul did give them both a queer look as he raised his dark eyebrows but Kel tried to concentrate on her food as she half listened to Raoul and Dom discuss new candidates for the Own. The conversation took an uncomfortable turn as Raoul turned to Kel and smirked menacingly.

"You know Kel, now that you've got you own fief and all, you'll have to get married soon."

Her eyes snapped up and she tried her best not to openly glare at knight commander. A few men snorted and looked up interestedly. Kel was too keen on strangling Raoul with her brain that she didn't so much as glance at Dom.

"Or I could just take a leaf out of your book and wait until I'm old and decrepit, milord."

All the men laughed at that. Raoul looked surprised at Kel's unusually sarcastic comment but simply continued to grin.

"But then what good will that do you in creating little 'uns?" This time it was Wolset who spoke. Kel felt like elbowing him, but instead she pretended the conversation didn't make her embarrassed in the least and concentrated on the last of her porridge. Wonderful, she thought. She was finally on speaking terms with Dom once more and the only thing the men can discuss is babies and weddings. She called them a hundred colorful words, all she had learned from them, in her mind as she pondered the best way to hide their bodies.

"Maybe we should start compilin' a list of all the eligible bachelors? No? Make things a little easier for ya, Kel."

"Well, you can cross out any conservatives," she mumbled, pointing her spoon across the table at Wolset who was pretending to take down names on a napkin. "And no mages. They're too fussy."

As the men at the table joked and laughed over who their lady knight would end up with, Kel chanced a glance at Dom. His face was set and stern, something Kel had never seen before. His eyes were cold as he stared down at his plate and stabbed at a potato with a fork. No one seemed to notice, but as Kel looked away she met Raoul's eyes. One eyebrow raised, he nodded his head at Dom in a questioning manner. Kel shrugged, playing dumb as she stood up, much to the displeasure of her companions.

"Oh, don't leave now! We've got the bets down to Lerant and Merric!"

Kel groaned and rolled her eyes as she turned away. "I think Lord Wyldon would be more likely."

"But Kel, you said no conservatives and besides, he's married!"

From that morning on, Kel resumed her old habit of avoiding the Own mess hall at all costs. Instead, she started to take her meals with Tobe, Buri, and Daine in the Rider's mess.

Kel's mother returned at the end of the month just like was originally planned. The first thing Ilane did when her daughter entered the Mindelan house in Corus was to pull her daughter into a tight hug which was soon joined by Kel's father. Kel had been worried that her parents would be hurt by the fact that she was no longer a Mindelan, but they reassured her immediately that they had never been more proud of Kel. Kel had tears in her eyes as she smiled up at them. Even the site of Hattie, who she knew would be making her rounds with Dom now that she was in Corus, didn't bother Kel at that moment.

Well, not at that moment anyways. Kel was spared the site of the two until the ball that night in which Kel was officially announced for the first time as the Lady of New Hope. Everything had been going wonderfully. Kel was for once not self-conscious as she wore a russet colored silk gown made by Lalassa and specifically designed to hide her muscles while enhancing her more feminine curves. As far as Kel noticed, however, the one person whom she wished would take interest in it only had eyes for another.

Kel was sitting next to Merric, pretending to be fully concentrated on her drink when she heard the red head mumble, "Wow, Kel. I can't believe you're related to—Who is that?"

Sighing, Kel set down her drink and opened to her mouth to once more defend Hattie among her friends only to see that Merric's eyes were not on her brown haired niece…but on her blonde haired one. Lorraine looked beautiful that night, her dress a pale violet that accented her creamy skin and the golden hair that was piled artfully on top of her head. Her eyes were dreamy as she made her way through the crowd, taking in everything she saw. Kel turned back to watch her friend, his mouth slightly open as he watched Lorraine with eyes of amazement.

"She's my brother's oldest daughter, Lorraine of Mindelan." Merric didn't so much as blink as he nodded numbly. After a few seconds of silence in which Merric stared at the blonde like a lost puppy, Kel prodded, "I think she'd like to dance. Go ask her." Merric didn't need telling twice and Kel was left alone.

Once Merric was gone, Kel's eyes wandered over to Hattie and Dom once more. The two had danced solely with each other the entire night with the exception of when Thom of Pirate's Swoop had stolen a dance from her niece. Now, however, it was the same old. The two seemed to have eyes only for each other as they laughed and smiled at each other like their wedding was tomorrow. Kel sighed wistfully, but was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard a voice from behind her.

"Keladry of New Hope, is it?"

Kel was so surprised, she didn't recognize the voice of the speaker until she turned and very familiar gray eyes set in a face framed by red curls met her gaze. "Cleon!"

Her old friend and one time lover smiled at her as he took the seat previously occupied by Merric. Cleon looked her over as she was doing the same to him. He hadn't changed much, she noted. He still had the same smiling face, but his eyes seemed duller than they had been the last time she'd seen him. There were also more lines around his mouth and an age about him that made him seem much more mature.

"You really haven't changed much, Kel," Cleon said, voicing her own thoughts as he smiled at her warmly. "You just looked older. Wiser, perhaps?"

Kel returned his smile. It was nice to see him and it was even nicer to have a distraction.

"It's good to see you, Cleon. How are things at Kennan? How's your wife?" Kel had met his wife once a few years before, and she had been glad to see Cleon so happy. As far as she remembered, the two had been expecting their first child.

To her surprise, Cleon's face was suddenly dark as he looked away from Kel. "She died in childbirth two years ago."

Kel could have kicked herself. Her heart instantly went out to him and she reached out to rest her hand on his arm. "I am so sorry, Cleon." She felt like an insensitive twit, wondering why she hadn't heard about this before now.

After a few moments silence, Cleon looked back up at Kel with an obviously forced smile. "Don't be sorry, Kel. You didn't know." There was another awkward silence as they both looked out at the dance floor before finally Cleon looked back at Kel and said sadly. "Our son will turn two in a week. It's just this time of year. It always reminds me of her."

There was another wrench in Kel's heart as she thought of her friend raising his son alone. "It must be hard," she said slowly and softly. "If you ever need anything, Cleon…"

Cleon nodded and changed the subject. Knowing the topic was dropped, Kel didn't push him to talk about it. Before she knew it, the two had been talking for most of the night, laughing about their page and squire years, discussing the lives of the friends they had in common. It didn't seem like it had been very long before Cleon was asking if he could escort her to her rooms. She agreed quickly, not noticing the glares her companion was getting from a certain blue-eyed captain.