PART III: Corus
Kel had never missed Tobe more in her life. The villagers of Thornfall and its surrounding hamlets had been kind and solicitous, but what she wouldn't give for some supportive companionship. The little boy had somehow become her confidant, and she truly regretted that he had not been born a few years before, so she could fully confide in him. She was sure a teenaged Tobe would have only the most supportive things to say about the bedbugs that had been haunting the first mattress they'd given her, about the insincere obedience she received from the men under her militia command, and the heartsickness that plagued her every moment she did not throw herself into work.
The Lady Knight had awoken for practice one day to discover that her waist had lost a buckle's length in size. Since then she'd had to consciously monitor her nourishment, focusing on eating plenty of meat as well as her customary vegetables. While the weight had returned along with the muscle she'd sacrificed to her broken heart, she still got little pleasure from eating, and she often felt the desire to throw a pie into Dom's dear face for the hell loving him was proving to be.
At last, though, she was almost home. She was lying on the ground, wrapped in one of Hoshi's saddle blankets, waiting for the first bit of sunlight to peek over the paling lavender horizon. It was a hungry, lonely, thoroughly depressed yet successful Kel coming home to Corus. The bandits had been routed, the citizens of Thornfall had been unwillingly cooperative, meaning she had been forced to bully several of the men before they'd succumbed to her clearly greater experience, and she had rescued a damsel in distress. All in a knight's job description, really. She figured now came the dragon-slaying part. Despite how much she tried to picture herself as stone, she missed him too much to contemplate calm. She was less of a knight lovesick. It was intolerable.
As she rode along on that last day, and the fields and forests gave way to the stretching fingers of civilization, Kel wished she could stay away longer. She had no idea how to react to Dom. He was... her Dom. She couldn't leave him just because she'd fallen for his famous charm, but she also couldn't stay too close, for fear of hurting herself further. There was no help for it. She was doomed. Her cheery thoughts were upset by the sound of shouting as she entered the guarded wall around the city center.
"KEL, my pearl!"
"KELADRY!"
"Thank the LADY, you're back, protectress of my SANITY!" This one came from Neal, who'd had Dom duty the last several days. The fidgety Sergeant had kept the mischevious medic on his toes, and Neal was eager to hand him over to the 'calming' influence of Kel. All three of them, Dom, Yuki, and Neal ran to help her off Hoshi. No sooner was she on her feet than she found herself lifted off them by the slightly taller Dom.
Dom felt himself relax for the first time in months. Amazing how the simple realization of his feelings could make being without her so torturous and her presence so much more essential. As he held her close, he relished her heartbeat against him, and her good-natured grousing in his ear. He felt so right, holding her.
'This is home.'
The thought came as a surprise, but she tried to keep her Yamani mask up.
They both blushed at Neal's, "Okay, you two, we get it! No more overly-romantic reunions in front of you," and split apart. Kel was promptly deluged by kisses and hugs from Yuki, while Dom turned to Neal and proceeded to lift him off his feet, in a parody of his more sincere embrace with Kel.
"You were jealous, weren't you, darling?" Dom crooned to a stricken Neal. "I am afraid that since we are cousins, your love must remain, alas!" He set Neal down and stepped mock-regretfully back, "-unrequited!"
As Dom pretended to be repelling his 'advances', Neal whined, "Kel, he's been like this since you left! I wanted to hurt him, but Yuki wouldn't let me! He's fallen off the wagon at last."
Kel and Yuki, who had been giggling at the sight of the two men making a spectacle of themselves, parted, and Kel pulled Neal into a deep hug. "Oh my poor Meathead. Can't you see that's what he's trying to do to YOU! This is a most clever plot by our much older and more immature friend to finally drive you to the brink."
"And he was falling for it, Lord knows, until you poked your pert little nose into my brilliant plan."
Kel turned to face Dom. "I apologize. I suppose then I should just go back to my villagers then..."
"No! I mean-"
" -- since you OBVIOUSLY don't want me here."
"KEL!" Neal yelped. "Don't even JOKE about going away. There will be steel between my cousin and I if you do, and I am not going to beg forgiveness if he becomes a soprano."
Everyone's' eyes widened at the serious threat. Dom even winced and tried to cover a strategic area. Suddenly Kel's eyes took on an evil twinkle. She spoke to Dom in a whisper, "Never fear, threatened one! For I am the Protector of the Small!"
Dom's eyes bulged comically, and for a moment he looked like he might faint, his face turned so red. Kel, feeling a bit apprehensive after her daring comment waited for the explosion.
"I-
"You-
"She-"
Neal and Yuki had been leaning closer and closer in an attempt to figure out what had passed between the two, only to be confused by the Sergeant's abortive exclamations. They spread their hands to urge Dom on.
He couldn't.
"HA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Everyone jumped back, even the duty officers on the wall, except Kel, who sagged with relief before shining a lovely smile at Dom, quickly following him once again into hilarious laughter.
Several minutes later, when even Neal and Yuki had given up on them and had left to take Kel's bags to her room, Dom and Kel were leaning on each other with teary eyes.
"I- gasp!- didn't know you had it -breath!- in you!" Dom crowed proudly.
Kel beamed at him. "I've missed you, Dom! You seem to be my inappropriate behavior muse." She blushed.
He winked kindly, clearly ignoring a joking opportunity, "Always happy to foster mayhem in the younger generations. Besides, what took you so long? I've been waiting for you to come home forever!"
She rolled her eyes at his hyperbolical comments and turned her back on him, relishing in the thought that he'd missed her too. "I'll tell you over dinner, alright? I've got to get Hoshi untacked and scrubbed down, do the same for myself, unpack, clean the room, check Peachblossom-" Dom separated her busy fingers from the ties on the horse's back, capturing them in his hand.
"Whoa, there. How about, just this once, I take care of Hoshi and the stable, and you get rested and cleaned up for dinner." He looked her over. "Kel, you look exhausted. I don't want to know why now, but I'll need an explanation by dinner. And it better be the truth! Between now and then you take a bath and a nap. I'll stop by to pick you up for late dinner." He hugged her, brushing a light kiss on her forehead. "It's good to have my Kel home."
Kel watched in a flummox as he walked away, the tired equine behind him. Next thing Kel knew, her bath was drawn and she was thinking fondly of sleep and the man who made it impossible.
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He accepted her tale well enough, though her 'homesickness' gave him pause, as he couldn't recall her ever having such an ailment before. Perhaps she had just been leery of admitting it in front of a bevy of boys who all waited for proof of her weakness. If that was the case, then Dom was delighted that she trusted so much in him. If not, there was still hope that she was secretly madly in love with him and languished in secret because she thought he didn't love her, but he did, so if she'd only trust him then maybe the whole mess would be over except he also wasn't telling her that he was madly in love with her and was having trouble being happy without her knowing, so maybe he should tell her, though she might just be getting sick which would be horrible since not only wasn't she in love with him but she would also probably die without ever having known how much he loved her, and even if he told her, she'd be dead and his life would be over forever and he'd have to live the remainder of his days alone and in terrible misery...
Yes, Dom thought, that was a good reason to keep silent. He stretched his sore arm and grimaced at the pain that shot up it. To go to Duke Baird or not? Healing or bed? A jaw-cracking yawn turned his footsteps toward his room. By the time he got there, his mental grousing had turned from Kel's ambivalence and his sore arm from jousting with her earlier that day to the draftiness of the castle and the sheer ridiculous size of it all. Did they really need that much space to run a kingdom? It was just a little kingdom... relatively. Sort of.
Upon opening his door a twittering blur flew into his face, startling him out of his brown study. "What are you doing here?" Then, urgently, "Is Kel safe?" An affirmative chirp and the bird landed on Dom's suddenly less tense shoulder. "Well thank you for visiting. What is it?" The bird flew over to his desk, which, he realized bore more than his usual stack of books, and zoomed back, a rolled note in its beak. It read thus:
Dom,
I am sorry for hitting you so hard in the joust. Sometimes Peachblossom gets tired of letting you boys get off scot-free, and it looks like today he's had it. What he did not have was his favorite honeyed oats. While he was easy to punish, I'm afraid I have no instant remedy for your injury. Instead, I send along some warm honeyed oats with berries (not Peachblossom's, but if you want you can tell him it was!), a muscle-soothing tincture which My Lord Baird assures me is a panacea for whatever you may have damaged, and some bandages, made by Lalasa. These always work for me, though I told them the scented bandages might be a bit much for a man. At any rate, I am sorry, and I wanted to show you how much I appreciated what you did for Hoshi the other night. Sleep well, and I shall hope to see you at breakfast.
Yours,
Kel
"Gods, but I think I love that woman."
The words echoed around the room for a moment before Dom grinned at them, for the first time stating aloud his confused conclusion.
Then it was time to eat, and he turned his attention to the previously unnoticed kitchen tray.
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The next morning, after breakfast, Kel was wondering if Dom had gotten her note and apology. He'd acted normal, joking with Neal with the vegetables, both of them theatrically eating their assigned portions as a strict Kel sat by with a keen eye and twitching mouth.
As it turned out, he'd replied with quite the apposite response. Upon reaching Peachblossom's stall she found a small mesh bag with coal inside it, decorated with a blue satin bow. Next door, Hoshi had a similar bag, only it contained honeyed oats, wrapped with a pink bow. Peachblossom's mood did not improve.
Kel's, however, amazingly did.
She responded with the perfect gift for his niece's birthday, which she had known Dom would forget. Lalasa even allowed Kel to help with some of the simpler stitching on the sweet baby blessing gown. This allowed Kel to include the proud note: And I helped!
She was still having difficulty sleeping, but she spent her free time in the nights attempting to focus on her knighthood. She read books on strategy, practiced her math, and even took to tutoring squires in the evenings. Still he was unavoidable, in her thoughts, in her life.
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Dom was determined to cheer Kel up. He tried everything he could. Their exchange of good deeds became more random, with neither of them willing to wait for the other to give first. What was amazing to him was, nobody noticed anything out of the ordinary! When he left a small bouquet by Kel's place at breakfast, their friends all assumed that some servant championed by Kel had left it, though Kel's secret smile told him his gesture was appreciated. He wondered if she truly appreciated what he meant. Most of the time, though, the gifts were more prosaic; a dinner request with the chefs for Dom's favorite meal three times in one week, a stable fairy cleaning out Hoshi and Peachblossom's stalls, a broken practice weapon miraculously replaced and the receipt left for repayment on the desk.
No matter what he did, though, Dom couldn't seem to help Kel. She looked broken. As a result, he felt broken. And Kel would be leaving in a week on maneuvers. Which led him to one incontrovertible conclusion:
Something had to give.
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It had been a real laugh to find the theater tickets from Dom (or at the time she correctly assumed it was Dom) on her window ledge. She canceled practice with the squires and wheedlingly invited her closest friend along. Of course Dom had planned it all that way, and after the obligatory hemming and hawing about all the dates he'd have to cancel, they delightedly wandered down into the very casual pub to see the show.
This one was of higher quality than the previous performance they had taken in together, but that didn't stop them from quenching their giggles all the way back to Kel's room. Eventually they made so much noise that Tobe dragged himself out of bed and castigated them.
"You two are supposed to be grown-ups! How's a fellow supposed to get some sleep with you two nattering on? I'm going to get food, and when I get back it better be a LOT quieter 'round here!"
Dom looked like he'd been shrunk three feet. Kel looked like she'd swallowed an orange whole. They watched amazedly as the shy half-asleep boy tottered out the door in high dudgeon, closing it behind him.
Silence reigned.
"What HAPPENED to him while I was gone, Dom?" Kel queried in a high voice.
"I- I don't know! But it's a beautiful thing, isn't it? I do believe that our little Tobe is entering adolescence!" Dom was now smirking in glee.
Kel blanched. "Oh, no."
Wickedness was bubbling in Dom's voice. "You do recall what young boys are like, don't you? Noisy, disrespectful, rowdy, divisive, quarrelsome, superior, smelly, rude, foolish, insensitive-"
"And very much like you are now, Dom."
"I beg your pardon, I smell perfectly pleasant. See?" He gave her a large comic hug.
Then he didn't stop.
They were both enjoying this far too much.
Kel had to admit that he did smell pleasant. Then again, she found him lovable even sweat-soaked and disgusting. Her nose was brushing his ear, and she inhaled deeply, resolving to keep this memory forever, in all its minutiae. He smelled woody and leathery, sharply of steel and organically of soil, all the things that defined home and her place in the world.
It felt... good. No, Dom thought, it felt right, safe, like closure and beginnings, hope and tomorrow, nostalgia and present loveliness. There was no reason why he shouldn't do this all the time, no reason why he couldn't be with Kel. Except Kel. He loosened his arms slightly around her. And she... she... rested her head on his shoulder!
Brilliant, he thought! Either she's so exhausted she'll not remember me doing this in the morning or she really does feel the same way! Just to clarify, he sent a quick prayer to the Lady, requesting the latter. "Hey, Kel?"
Roused out of her blissful daydream, Kel nodded, unwilling to face reality.
"I need to tell you two things in all seriousness, and I need you to believe me, and tell me what you think, without worrying about hurt feelings on either side."
Was that a death knell? Kel thought as she sharply pulled back. He looked frighteningly staid.
"Tobe is right, Kel. We do need to be more mature about this. We both have responsibilities and we can't afford to blunder around, not knowing how we truly feel about each other. You're an essential part of my life, and I cannot lose you."
Kel was on tenterhooks, wondering whether she should lie or tell the truth, and the next second questioning whether she actually knew what he was talking about.
It sounded, though, like he wanted her to admit her feelings for him, so they both could get on with their lives. But she wouldn't! She shook her head. No way in the Realms of the Gods was Kel going to dismiss this like it didn't matter! She loved him, and she might not have the desire to love anybody else her entire life.
Dom saw the shake of Kel's head, and had to get out what he wanted to say before he lost his nerve or said something stupid. So out came his final galvanic thought:
"I want to marry you."
At that point the only thing that would have startled her more was to hear that he was pregnant with Wyldon's baby.
Ew.
Which didn't bear thinking about, in fact, should not ever be thought about upon pain of death, and what were these black spots appearing in her vision?
She sat down hard on her bed. Sadly, she missed and landed hard upon the floor. Dom cocked his head in concern, but paid more attention to the hyperventilation she was preventing.
"Breathe, Kel." He sighed and plopped down next to her. "Look I hope this sounds as crazy to you as it does to me, but I also cannot imagine taking this courtship any further without you knowing how serious I am."
"C-courtship?" Kel's warm brown irises stood out against the whites of her eyes.
Dom nervously scratched the back of his neck. "Well, I know. I haven't pulled out the big weapons yet. I've only made you swoon this one time, and I know I have a long way to go as far as noticing when you have changed your hair and-"
Kel held up her hand. This was highly embarrassing. How many girls found themselves being courted by the man of their dreams, only to not notice?
All thought processes stopped. Once again the breathing followed. Dom loved her, too! Or, at least, he wanted to marry her! For the puckish Dom, wouldn't that be the same thing?
But didn't it also sound a lot like one of Dom's jokes?
Shakily she got to her feet, hearing gone slightly tinny. He looked up at her like a homeless puppy. She fumed. The stone cracked under the pressure. "How... DARE... you!"
Dom jumped up to grab her shoulders just as the door swung open, hitting her knees rather harshly.
Tobe: "Oops."
Dom: "Ouchie?"
Kel: "Mithros and Goddess!" She hopped around, finally writhing in a pathetic mass on the floor, attempting to circulate the pain away from that area.
The boys watched in great discomfort.
"Milady I am so sorry. And after I talked so rude! Please forgive me! Is there anything I can do? Let me set you up on your bed! Can I get you some tea? What about that book you been reading? On the Ordeal and the like?" Tobe bustled around, drawing her out of her irritation with his consideration.
Once again she wobbled to her feet. "I'm alright, boys. But if anyone hears about that, so help me... well, let's just say the vegetables will be the least of your worries!" Tobe nodded, as did Dom, but she wasn't looking at him.
He decided now was a good time to leave and drown his sorrows in a hot cocoa.
"Dom!"
He perked up. "Yes, Lady Knight, whom I fear and adore?"
Still not looking at him, she colored. "I, ah, my knees hurt, would you please walk with me?"
Next thing he knew, he was being rather expertly steered to his room by the crippled knight. He tried, "Kel? Uh-"
Her hand stopped his lips, "No. You don't get to talk yet."
He could tell she was conscientiously mulling their conversation so he left her to her thoughts, hoping she'd suddenly have a 'Dom Epiphany' that she loved him too and would love nothing more than to marry him.
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"Now," Keladry of Mindelan sat upon Dom's bed, looking at the sheepish and bewildered Sergeant seated on the floor. "I have to tell you something." Deep breath. "Dom, I love you." She stopped him from reacting by turning away. "I've loved you I don't know how long; probably since I met you. This is the second time you've made a joke like this, and I have to tell you... I just ... can't... take it anymore." She sniffled. "It's hard enough seeing you all the time, but if I have to sit and listen to you saying such things... Dom, it's killing me. I love you, and I can't bear to lose you, but --"
Her outpouring of words was halted by Dom reaching for her hands. Pulling her around, she was further silenced by his eyes locking onto hers with single-minded focus. A shudder went through her body at the intensity. He spoke. "Keladry. You love me? Enough to wed me?"
The surprise with which she greeted her tears falling did not obscure the answer in those brown eyes.
He smiled gently, and she thought it rather looked like he had swallowed some bright light, the way he appeared almost ready to combust with emotion. His voice shaky, he brushed a hand on her damp cheek. "Mindelan. And you said I was the dull one. I truly do want to marry you. I've never been more sure of anything in my life." He swallowed. "As soon as I realized I love you I decided I would have no one else the rest of my days."
She was blinking at him incredulously, even as those obnoxious tears continued their travails down her face.
Dom, who was a bit choked up at this point as well, coughed lightly and joked, "Next time, perhaps I should try the courtship bit longer, shall I?" his mouth quirked weakly.
Kel suddenly found her whole body resonating with joy. Her heart felt like a hummingbird was trapped in it, her toes and feet tingled, and her mouth was very slowly inching into a delirious smile. She gazed at her man fondly, "you love me, Domitan of Masbolle?"
His goofy grin accompanied his agreement, "I do love you, Keladry."
A deep breath was followed by a release intended to calm her adrenalin-inundated body. Figuring such methods to be pretty useless at this point, Kel placed a trembling hand on Dom's chest, bringing his intense focus to his gaze. She shrank beneath it, eyes focusing the floor. After another breath Kel said, "B-but I'm not ladylike at all. I fight better than you half the time, and I don't know how to sew very well, and I won't manage your home for you. I'm too tall and not dainty, and I'm the 'Yamani Cow' for Mother's sake! You're handsome and charming, strong and brave, and- and- and you're just beautiful Dom, and I'm not good enough for you!" Finally she wailed to a stop.
During this most surprising speech, the hand resting gently on Dom's chest had become restive, pushing and lightly hitting him until he was backed up against a wall, the upset specimen of womanhood in front of him quickly losing control. He assumed disaster control position, "Kel! I didn't fall in love with you only to want you to be someone else. I love Kel, my friend Kel, who can best me, let's face it, most of the time, who makes me look like the paragon of gentility she's so inept at balls and court functions. I love you, muscles, short hair, right hook and all! You're my best friend. How could anybody else begin to compare?" Please..." he savored the word, "Love... I know it won't be, well, a normal marriage," they shared a rueful smile, "But I can't stop you from fighting. That's what we do. I've thought about it a lot," She snorted. "And- HEY!"
"Sorry, Dom. Go on with your passionate speech." Kel smirked at him.
Instead of continuing to act offended, he resignedly reached into his pocket. "Well, then, I'm sure you won't mind if I consult my notes," a scrap of paper appeared in his hand. "Let's see, 'I've thought about it a lot, and we pledged our lives to Jonathan first. As awful it is to consider, either of us could die at any time. I want to spend as much time with the woman I love,'" Looking up, he saw that Kel was getting teary again, so he mocked writing on the paper, "woman I love, K-E-L-A-D-" She smacked him hard upside his head.
"Domitan of Masbolle!" Her voice came out louder than she was intending. "How dare you give me a prewritten love declaration!"
Shrinking away in pretend fear, Dom protested, "Mithros, woman! How the devil am I supposed to figure out what you want?! Either my courtship is too sudden or my proposal too well-prepared!" He dramatically dropped to his knees. "Milady! Marry me, or put my poor swain's heart out of its misery!" He grabbed on to her pant legs and chased her around the room on his knees, to her hysterical laughter.
Finally he tripped her up, and she fell to the floor, hiccuping giggles. "Oh, Dom! I love you!" She laughed a bit more, looking up to see him giving her the same expression Jump had used when he wanted something desperately. A tender smile calmed her by mysteriously appearing on her face. "Oh, Dom." He made a pathetic inquiring noise. She pretended to think. "Well, let's see. DOM! Of course, I'll marry you! I'd marry you tonight if I could!"
He was upon her in a blink, more serious than she had ever seen him, as he kissed her. Instead of something new and strange as it had been with Cleon, this kiss cemented the feeling of homecoming she'd received from his embrace weeks before. There was something indescribably right about his arms around her, his lips on hers, his hair beneath her hands. Suddenly, he jerked back. "Did you mean that?!"
Annoyed, she tried to kiss him again, but he pulled back. "Grr! Dom, what do you mean?!"
Intently he asked her, "Will you marry me tonight, Kel? If I can find someone to wed us, will you be my bride this night?"
His charming features, lit with such hope and such sincerity could only make her believe this course was correct... even if it meant she'd have to wait until afterwards for more delightful kisses. "Let's Dom! Who would be here? Who could we-"
"I've got it!" He hit himself in the head. "OW! Anyway, there was a council meeting after dinner, they must be finishing up around now! Let's go see Jon and Thayet!"
"THE KING AND QUEEN?!" Kel yelped. "What-?" But Dom was already moving, pulling Kel up behind him, opening the door, and guiding her out into the hallway.
"We must hurry, Kel! Come on!"
Shortly, they arrived outside the royal wing. Stating their business, consultation with the royal couple, they were allowed through to the salon where Thayet sat, feet up on the love seat.
"Pardon me if I don't rise, it has been a rather full day." She gestured them to the two comfy chairs bracketing the love seat. "My lord will be here in a moment, what can I do for you?"
"Your Majesty," Dom began, "I would beg a boon-"
Grumbling in disgust, King Jonathan III blundered into the room, his attractive face contorted in a frown. "Demonic politicians! Why can't they just go live in someone else's country?"
Looking apologetically at the visiting couple, Thayet brought his attention to the room, "Well, darling, then anybody could do your job. Now, sit down. I'm afraid I'm not moving my feet for you, so you'll have to pull up your own seat."
Nodding to acknowledge Kel and Dom, a more tranquil Jon strolled over to his far-too-serene wife, proceeding to lift her up bodily, taking her seat on the couch, and placing her on top of himself. "Now, "Jon said, "what brings my lady knight and sergeant up so late?"
Kel let Dom speak, "Your Majesties, I would beg a boon. I ask you to marry us with your blessing."
"What?!"
"When did this happen?"
They explained to the flabbergasted couple of their betrothal that very evening and their long-standing and reciprocated affections. The King and Queen reacted in a pleasing fashion, the Queen wanting to know all the romantic details, the King exhilarated at the thought that he was one of the first to know, especially before the Lioness.
King Jon called for a servant to fetch a priestess of the Mother Goddess, and before Kel and Dom could pause to catch their breaths, They stood before the visiting Abbess of the very convent Kel's sisters had attended.
"Young ones, for all are young in the eyes of the Mother, do you promise, on the soil beneath your feet, on the ether in the Realms of the Gods, on the blood of your body, on the magic in your soul that you will remain steadfast in your devotion to each other?"
"I do."
"I do."
The wizened lady peacefully beamed. "Then be it declared that this man and this woman are now under the protection of the Mother's holy and most sacred wedlock. Their union is blessed by their goddess, and their desire to be joined most noble. Arise, children, and Goddess watch your path."
Dom poked Kel, "Don't 'holy' and 'sacred' mean the same thing?"
Shaking her head at her immature husband, Kel responded to his whisper. "It was for emphasis, oh Man of the Complex-But-Rather-Small-Brain. Now kiss me, or-"
He cut her off by kissing her ardently to the applause of the watching King, Queen, and Abbess. After a blessed few seconds, Kel reluctantly detached herself from her man and spoke to the other occupants of the room. "Your Majesties, Mother Abbess, if you'll excuse us, this man would not properly kiss me until we were wed. Permission to kidnap him until at least midday tomorrow?"
"Granted, Lady Knight. We shall keep our own counsel on this matter until you say otherwise. Our congratulations we grant, as well as the guarantee that you shall not be recalled to service for the next week." Thayet's eyes twinkled as her husband grudgingly made this proclamation.
Kel grinned until Dom grabbed her and dragged her down the hallway.
