Bonus Chapter

Disclaimer: All characters (except Meldrose) belong to TP

Heh okay it probably be GOOD TO READ THIS before you start on this chapter… I do realise there are probably a lot of impossibilities for such a thing but hey, it's fanfiction right?

So this is set a few years in the future when Kel and Joren slightly older… She's around thirteen and so Joren is sixteen? I'll revert back to the original timeline after I get this of my system… I realise that much of Joren's character was either really mean or a facade in TP's books, so here's my chance of exploring his character. I did get influenced by Sulia Serafine's depiction of Joren though, as she was really the one who inspired much of my my KJ obsessions.. so do go read her fics! They're seriously the best pieces of writing I've ever seen! yup anyway... bonus chap- bon appetit!

"Come in."

Joren reclined in his seat at his desk, absentmindedly fingering the tiny porcelain cat as he watched the girl enter the room. As she turned to close the door, he examined her figure, short cropped hair, well defined muscles highlighted by an undershirt pulled taut by her action. To many, she would seem stocky and far too tall to be the common beauty, but to him, he knew the grace and slenderness of her figure. He alone watched her dance, watched her as she displayed feminism unlike that of the woman in the practice courts. He felt a wave of possessiveness wash over him as Keladry turned to him.

"Hey," she looked at him with a fading bruise over her left eye.

"Hey," he involuntarily felt his lips curve into a smile, which widened as she her eyes slid past him and she frowned. "Problems with my less-than-adequate lodging?"

Keladry rolled her eyes muttering under her breath as she stalked to his desk. "Look at this clutter! I don't know how you stand to study like this! Where are your books and your writing materials? It's like a tornado flew in and had a party or something!" As she complained, she pushed Joren aside and sorted out the piles of papers and books into neater stacks.

"I can't stand it," he smirked again as she stopped to look at him questioningly, "therefore I sit when I study". He raised his arm when she turned to box him in the shoulder. He saw her wince as her fist came into contact with his bicep. A pang of sympathy resonated within him as he took her wrist and examined her hand.

"Pulled a tendon in the back of my hand. You or Vinson, I can't recall." She answered his unspoken question. "Don't worry. Neal said he'll take a look again tonight and it should be fine by tomorrow."

Joren let go of her wrist and looked away, his face warring with emotion. "I'm so sorry. I…I just..."

Kel reached up to run her fingers through his hair. A familiar habit which she knew he liked, but would never admit. "Hey, we've been through this a thousand times already, there's nothing to we can do about it, okay?"

Joren dropped his head and let her hand curve to the base of his neck. From this proximity, he could see her bruised eye, the light dusting of freckles and the delicate nose that he always marvelled had never been broken. As he traced over the discolouration, he let his thumb sweep over her lashes and stepped closer. He felt her tense and pull away after a moment of hesitation. He stepped back unwillingly and let her settle onto the edge of his bed.

A spurt of irritation flared within. Always. It was always like this. He would try to get close and she'd back away. Retreat away before he could do anything more. Curse father and his conservative lackeys. He knew part of it was from her fear of the repercussions if they were found in such a situation, not just for herself but for him as well. She was always selfless like that, giving up her own happiness for the sake of others. And well, there were a multitude of other reasons which he could probably guess at. After my shield… I would escape Father's clutches… I would be free, I just need to wait for after my shield…

"So what's so inadequate about your room?" her sudden question broke into his thoughts and they both knew it was an attempt to dispel the tension in the air. He was glad she hadn't already left, given the situation and moved his chair over to join her.

He threw his arm out dramatically and gestured at the room. "Look, it's so small and cramped, the furniture is sparse and minimal! Theus! I could die here! I would die here! Leave me to despair, wallowing in this hole, oh fie! The cold! My heart would fold! I could-"he stopped as Kel doubled over laughing. Smiling, he put his feet up on the bed.

"From the last play we went to! How long did you take to memorise that?" Keladry clutched her stomach from laughing, still grinning and the tension melted out the room. She relaxed against the wall behind her. They both knew Joren hated anything that was opulent as it reminded him of his father's tastes, and Joren's love for practicality was known to only a few.

Joren winked, "A man's got to keep his secrets. Though my section of the fief really does use rooms of this size to only house the servants." At her puzzled look, he turned slightly more serious. "Father commissioned a new section of the keep in Stone Mountain for me and Jayce when I turned twelve, so we each have our own space to pursue our interests. Though I assumed it was more to keep the family away from his interests rather than ours." His mouth curled into a sneer that Keladry knew all too well when she fought with the blond in the corridors.

Kel knew Buchard's infidelity was an uncomfortable topic for Joren to speak of, so she simply nodded her head. "So the size of this room as compared to your room at the fief…"

"Could have ten of you dancing odoruno cho and still have ten of me watching," Joren mood changed abruptly and he winked at her slyly. As a faint pink tinged her cheeks, Joren glanced back at the drawer at his desk where a certain precious fan, adorned with falling balls of fire, was encased in a simple black box.

"Though if I could redecorate, I still would you know? Paint my walls black, my bed black, my table black, my chair black…" he laughed as Keladry rolled her eyes, a smile tugging on her own lips.

"Whether its black or not, you're still going to have to organise your table," Kel crawled off the bed and pulled another chair to sit in front of Joren's desk. She tugged at him, "Come on, I want you to know where everything is so you can find it yourself next time."

"That's what you said last time," Joren grumbled as he moved his chair closer to her.

Ignoring him Kel pulled out pieces of blank paper and scribbled a few words on them, placing them in an area she had cleared. She pointed to different areas as they were labelled and passed a pile to Joren. "So just set it where it's under and organise them more specifically later." She took another pile herself and began to put sheet by sheet in their respective places.

"I swear, no one could be more organised than you do," Joren commented as he picked up another stack. "You're so neat, it's scary, and don't give me that innocent it keeps-my-toys-safe crap either," Joren prodded Kel with his stack of paper.

Kel laughed as she thought back to her fief. "Unlike you, my fief has ten children to house, along with my parents and servants and the keep is marginally smaller than Stone Mountain's. If we kept things as messy as you did we'd be sleeping on the roofs. Now what would I put this under? Rough work or reports?" Joren glanced at the paper and put it under reports.

Between the two of them, they could never be any more different people. He had seen her family, the warmth that tied them each together, while his was the namesake of his fief, stone cold and distant. His family was too rich, entrenched in their wealth and values, while hers scrimped and saved to form dowries for their daughters, remaining open minded and altruistic. His family would never accept them as they were, and the future seemed impossible to phantom. He pulled himself out of his thoughts, just as the bell at the tower chimed the hour.

He realised that he now had four neat stacks of paper and the girl who made up his days and dreams getting ready to got up and pulled the door open. He glanced to both sides of the corridor, ensuring it was empty.

"All clear," he turned to her, meeting the hazel eyes he could never tire of.

"Thanks Joren, see you soon?"

"I'm leaving for the fief as soon as the big examinations are over, but I'll send word through Mesh when I'm back."

She reached up to ruffle his hair one more time. "Okay, just don't keep feeding her or she'll be too fat to fly."

As Joren protested, Kel turned and exited the room, making her way back to the room before Neal could find her missing.

Hello! If you're confused you probably didn't read my A/N at the top so go ahead and scroll up.

Okay I kind of wrote this cause I wasn't so happy with my previous one, I wrote this to make up to you guys… Yeah it's kind of like cheesecake in the middle of a meal and I'll probably take it down to edit as the story develops. (Awkward pause) I'm being lazy and just typing out my thoughts… I'm not sure when my next one is coming up but until then,

Laters ;)