4
Neal hadn't waited for Master Ivor to give him permission to follow his best friend. He knew he would catch trouble for that later, but Neal was used to trouble. He lived and breathed trouble.
He was more worried about the way Kel had ran out of the room. The look on her face was as if she had opened her eyes to discover she was in a spidren nest.
Long legs eating up the distance between them, Neal finally caught up with Kel and grabbed her by the shoulder.
"What are you doing?"
She stopped and gave a cry, as if his touch had stung. Snatching his hand back, Neal stared at his friend aghast as she backed away from him until her back hit the wall of the corridor.
"Kel? What's wrong?"
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. To his absolute horror, tears started to pour down her cheeks.
"Mithros…Kel, tell me! What's the matter?" Neal had never seen her like this before. She was deathly pale and her eyes were enormous with…with fear, he realised.
Keladry of Mindelan looked terrified about something.
He went to reach for her again and she flinched from him; as if it was him she was scared of.
Hurried footsteps reached his ears; both Neal and Kel turned to see a small figure running towards them.
"Neal!" said Lalasa, breathlessly, skidding to a halt in front of him. "Neal, something…" The maid stopped, her eyes widening as she saw Kel behind him.
And the most awful sound filled his ears. Neal had never heard Kel scream before, in terror, but she was doing so now, staring at Lalasa as though her eyes were going to fall out.
Before he could say, or do, anything to stop her, the sound ended as Kel's eyes rolled up in her head and she crumpled to the floor in a faint.
"Oh Goddess!" Neal crouched down to his friend, his Gift glowing around his hand as he placed it on her forehead. "Lalasa, go and fetch my father, something's wrong with Kel!"
"Something's very wrong with Kel," agreed the maid.
Frowning, Neal looked up at her. There was something odd about the way Lalasa was standing there; he couldn't put his finger on it, maybe it was the way she was standing, it seemed…different.
"Lalasa," he said again, patience wearing thin. "What's going on?"
"I'm not Lalasa," answered the girl, her dark eyes regarding him seriously. "Lalasa's right in front of you."
His head was starting to hurt. "You're not making any sense."
Looking straight into his eyes – that was it, even though she had become more confident in the last few years, Lalasa never looked directly at any of them, not the way she was doing now – she shook her head and pointed at the prone form of the female page at his feet. "That is Lalasa. I think."
Neal didn't answer; he just stared at her.
"It's me, Neal. I'm Kel!"