(A/N: No. No K/N, sorry)

Winter and spring came and went. Cleon and Rosary had settled in. He had reaquainted himself with Kel, Merric and Neal, though he had noticed a strange tension between Merric and Domitan of Masbolle. He couldn't figure it out but it revolved around Kel. Was she lovers with both of them. He looked over at her and decided no. He got the feeling by the way she reacted to some of the "usless" fights between some men over a woman, that she wouldn't do such a thing herself.

But he did notice the tension go out the gate with the Own as they left at the end of spring. He had noticed that Kel avoided Dom like the plague, even looking to him a couple of times for rescue. She never said what was wrong to him, and if Neal and Owen knew anything they weren't going to let it out. He admitted to himself that he did feel 'out of loop' with them at times. Merric would be constantly teasing him, Owen and Neal about being married, and the other men would join in about the woes of married life. Some of the ex-convicts said they were convinved it was their wives, and the need to get away from them that drove them to do what they did. And deliberately get caught.

Hearing these jokes Cleon would only smile and chuckle at the real funny ones, but they hurt. Kel would ask him if he was expecting a letter from Ermileine.

"No, I don't expect one," he would say and walk off, a baffled Kel watching him go. Neal recieved sometimes three letters a day from Yuki, and Owen's wife would visit every now and then. 'Maybe their having marital difficulties' she thought, Then shrugged. They only couples with marital difficukties she had to worry about were the ones in the camp. Cleon and his wife would have to sort it out themselves.

Going to her office she sat down and started reading through reports. She sighed. The Royal Training Master was planning to bring the Pages here for their away-camp. HELLO! A letter from Kennan addressed to her! She looked up and then opened it. Maybe it was Ermileine checking up on Cleon via her...

Dear Lady Keladry of Mindelan,

Doubtless you know of my sons recent loss of his wife,

Kel looked up, her mouth open a little. Loss...

I know better than to send him letters, for I know full well he will not respond to them. Please inform him that I require him home soonest, as I have another match that I would like him to meet. I will be sending some Kennan men to keep him company on his way back. If it is at all possible, please keep Rosary up there. This is a good match and I do not wish to have a daughter from his previous marriage hanging around causing problems.

That was all. No thanks for reading or anything. Kel folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. Why had Cleon not told anyone? This could possibly explain hid daughters withdrawness from the other children. Then Kel felt anger stirring. To send a father home without his child? Who did Cleon's mother think she was? He had lost his wife, Roasry her mother, and now Cleon's mother wished to take her father away too? Kel shook her head and brought out writing paper, and readied her quinn.

Dear Mistress Kennan,

I have a Refugee Camp to run, and I refuse to get involved in family disputes that have nothing to do with me and my immediate surroundings. I have neither the time, nor the desire. If you feel the need to write to your son and ask him to abandon his daughter so as to go flouncing off into a new marriage, I leave that up to you. I will have no part of it. Rosary has lost a mother. Why do want her to lose her father also?

Kel folded the letter and put it beside some reports. She wasn't going to pass on a message like that to a grieving husband and daughter.

She was however, going to go have a talk with said grieving husband...

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Cleon leaned over the edge looking down into the dark night. "Why did you not tell me you had lost your wife?" a voice asked from behind him.

He spun around and saw Kel standing there steadily looking at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I recieved a letter from your mother, addressed to me, asking to send you home without your daughter so she could introduce you to your next wife," she told him, stepping forward. "Jeromia said she will take over for you. I think we need to have a talk," she told him sternly. He felt like a little kid who had been caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing. He could see why the people of the camp refeered to her as "Mother". He followed her, as a woman in her thirties smiled compassinately at him and took his place.

They slowly and quietly made their way to the mess hall. It was empty this time of night, which is what Kel wanted. She hoped it would make Cleon more comfortable to talk. He took a seat at a table and Kel looked back at him.

"Stay here," she warned, pointing a finger at him. "I'm going to make some tea, and you had better still be there when I come back," she turned and walked towards the kitchen. Cleon sat for a few minutes trying to think of a way to get out of this. Kel would hate him, and Merric and Neal and Owen would no doubt hear about this, and hate him as well. He had to think of a good lie...

In the kitchen, Kel poured boiled water into a mug then dipped the tip of a griffin feather in to it. Just as a precaution, when talking to people, she had found that doing so made them more...truful. It was very helpful when it came to the new children who would lie about stealing or something. Then she walked back to Cleon who was sitting there, head in hands, no doubt thinking up a lie. Kel could practically smell lies while they were brewing these days. Numair had told her that it seemed as though the magic of the griffin feathers was sinking into her skin, and into her blood and soul. He said he could actually see it happening . . .

She put the mug down in front of cleon. and took a seat across from him, then took a sip. Cleon made no move to drink or talk, but Kel knew it would only be a matter of time, and didn't push him.

"I'm glad I was never able to marry you," he said quietly. Kel's eyebrows shot up. "I couldn't have lived with myself if I had let a wife and best friend down. It's hard enough dealing with letting Emy down..." he stopped and looked up at her. Was she insulted by his first comment? He hadn't meant for it to come out that way. He took a couple of sips, and Kel smiled encouragingly.

It began two years ago. Emy found out she was pregnant again, and we were both happy about that. Especially Rosary. Four months into the pregnancy I was called away to the Tusaine border. They were having some trouble with raiders. I didn't want to leave. But Emy said I should go, "It's you duty," she'd said. So I went. I remember her saying "There'll be three of us waiting here for you when you get back." So I went. I was there for 6 months. I was expecting to recieve a letter that Emy had had the baby, but I didn't. So I was in a hurry to get home, obviously. But when I got home, I found out that Emy had had a fall and lost the baby. "She's alive, but ill," I was told. I went to see her, and she was in bed, looking all pale and sick. I asked the Healer what was wrong with her.

"Nothing I can fix. She's heart sick, not body sick," she told me and left the room. Rosary was in the nursery. Thank the Gods she was too young to know what was happening.

I stayed home for four moths, hoping Emy would recover, but she didn't. She didn't want too, was the Healers excuse. Rosary went in to see her one day, and she came out crying. "Mother doesn't love me," she told me. "Of course she does," I told her. "No! She said she would rather have her baby that died instead of me!" she scremed and ran off to the nursery.

I cracked. How could she say something so nasty to her daughter? I was so angry I went in and yelled at her. She told me to go find "that Lady Knight" I was so smitten with. At first I was confused. Why would she think I was still in love with you? After four years, and she still hadn't let that go. So I left. I went on assignments, anything, just to avoid going home. 10 months later I went home. Emy was up and about again, but I couldn't forgive her for saying that I didn't love her, or for how she had treated Rose. She ignored Rosary, and pretended she didn't exsist. My mother suggested I take her to my aunts to stay, which I did. But I didn't return home. Emy wasn't Emy anymore. I started to mourn the loss of her then and there. Which is why when 8 months later, I recieved a letter saying she was really ill, I ignored it. Why go see a wife who wasn't my wife anymore? I thought. And she wasn't. In name, yes, but in every other way...

I tried to understand, I really did, and a month after the first letter I recieved another letter saying she had passed away. I was guilt-ridden. So she was upset, and angry, I still should have been there for her. But I wasn't. My mother had retrienved Rosary, and taken her home five months before her passing, without even letting me know. So Rosary was there the whole time. Emy never warmed up to Rosary again, but she had come to "tolerate" her. Rosary was a mess when I finally got home. She was confused and frightened, and my mother had told her off, and apparently told her that if she had been more behaved Emy would have loved her more and wouldn't have died. I did the most dishonorable thing when I heard that. I struck my own mother.

Cleon stopped for a moment and looked up at Kel. She was sitting there, looking thoughful, chin in palm, elbow on table.

"That explains Rosary's behaviour," she mumbled. "Poor thing,"

"I felt terrible, Kel. I felt like I had failed both Emy and Rosary, and then to stirke my own mother..."

Kel sighed. "I've seen men do worse, for much less, and I probably would have done the same. I think any parent would have..."

They both sat in silence for a while.

"So what led you to being here?" Kel asked. Cleon sighed again...

A month after her death my mother started bringin young ladies around again. I knew what she was trying to do, and I was so annoyed. She kept telling me that the convent in the City of the Gods would take Rosary, or I should send her to my aunt's again. I wasn't going to do that. She was messed up enough and I knew that if I sent her off somewhere, she would only believe what my mother had told her. I had lost my wife, Rose had lost her mother, and all mine could think about was getting me married off again.

The servants would look at me all pityinly, and poor Rosary was sinking into depression. Imagine a five year old depressed. So I went to Lord Wyldon and asked if there was anything I could do. I told him what was going on and he told me to come here. I could bring Rosary with me, and that basically cinched it. So I came.

"Well, I;m glad you did. We needed all the help we could get," Kel said smiling at him. He realised she was holding his hand. "But you should have said something to Neal, or Merric, or even Owen, Cleon. To keep something like that bottled up..." she shook her head. "And poor Rosary..." Kel removed her hand and slumped back a little in her chair.

"Now it's your turn," Cleon said, leaning forward. "What is happening with you, Dom and Merric?" he asked.

Kel blushed slightly. "Another time, maybe," she said, and left to go wash their cups.

Cleon watched her go. At least she still wanted to be his friend...