A/N: Okay, like I said before, this chapter takes place a couple of months after the last. Kel and Third Company are up north, building Giantkiller. Kel is itching for battle…

Chapter Thirteen: Awaiting the Kraken

"Thus it went throughout the summer: multiple small attacks like biting flies as Scanrans hit and ran. Kel fought twice in June, five times in July…The hit and run battles had one good result. No one, not even Flyn, questioned her ability to fight anymore."

-Tamora Pierce, Squire

At first, war was not what Kel had expected. She and Third Company, a few months after Midwinter, were sent to set up camp in the north. For awhile they were busy cutting logs and building them up into the fort's walls.

One morning, while Kel was busy at her job of cutting off tree limbs, someone remarked from behind her, "Don't saw off any of your fingers now. Those are a little harder to heal."

Kel sent the speaker a sour look.

Dom laughed as he sat down on a trimmed log beside her. "Having fun yet?" he joked.

Sitting back, Kel sighed. "I didn't know we were going to have to build a fort."

"Well forts are a slightly better defense than a line of men," he teased.

Kel grinned crookedly, "You know what I mean."

He smiled and shrugged. "Personally I like building forts; all the mud, hard work, and sweat. I wish I could build forts all year long," he said, sarcasm filling his voice.

Laughing, Kel asked, "And what happens when we finish the fort?"

"Nothing, unless the Scanrans attack soon. Otherwise, we sit on our bums and wait. For the most part, war isn't as glorious and exciting as the court makes it out to be. We spend our days waiting, patrolling, sleeping, eating- and in Lerant's case, feeding squirrels."

Following Dom's gaze to the other side of the camp, Kel laughed as she saw Lerant trying to feed nuts to one of the many squirrels in the area. The standard-bearer was already an extreme case of boredom.

Turning back to Dom, she asked him, "Do you think we'll see any action anytime soon?"

"Who knows," he replied truthfully. "It could be tomorrow, it could be next month." He gave her a curious glance, "Why? Do you want to fight?"

"Not exactly," she replied, "It's just that all this waiting around makes me itch with excitement."

"Nah, that's just because of a lack of clean clothes," Dom laughed.

Kel grinned, "Perhaps."

"Don't worry, Kel," he told her, "you'll see your fair share of the kraken soon enough. I just prefer that the walls to this fort are built first before it happens."

"Yeah an' that won' happen unless y' move yer lazy bum firs'," remarked Wolset.

Dom laughed and stood up as Wolset and some other men came to pick up the trimmed log he had been sitting on.

"Now make yourself useful an' help us. Squire Kel can trim logs without you," added Wolset.

Kel felt herself redden. The truth was she enjoyed his company and she wanted him to stick around. However, her hopes fell when she saw Dom walk over to help, saying something to Wolset that made the men and him chuckle.

As they picked the log up, Dom sent her a warm smile that seemed to warm her body before they turned and carried the log to the half-built wall.

Her attention was still on Dom when suddenly she cursed and jammed her thumb into her mouth. Looking at the shallow cut on her bleeding thumb, Kel cursed again at the saw. Jump, who had come up beside her, barked at her.

"I was paying attention!" she told him. Jump gave her a look that told her he wasn't fooled.

She wasn't lying. She had been paying attention…just not to her sawing. She hoped Dom wouldn't come around while she was sawing anymore. Next time she might lose her whole thumb…or, in the event of seeing him shirtless again like that day at the lake, maybe even her whole hand!

Time passed painstakingly slow. Once the fort was finished in April, the boring wait truly began. The men passed their time when they weren't on patrol or training, hunting and fishing. Kel even found herself winning third place in a chess tournament. Raoul won first and Qasim second.

On patrol one afternoon, Dom rode next to Kel. She only rode on patrol once in awhile, but when she did and Dom was on the same patrol, she almost always rode beside him. He liked it when she did. It gave them time together, without making it seem suspicious to anyone- including Kel. They were on patrol and therefore it gave him a reason to talk to her, and ride by her. Dom was taking all the reasons he could get.

Seeing her fidgeting beside her, Dom smiled to himself. Then he remarked, his eyes still sweeping their surroundings, "You know, most pray to never see the kraken."

"I don't pray to see the kraken," she told him.

"Oh no?" he asked, glancing over at her, blue eyes twinkling. "Then why are you constantly fidgeting?"

"I just can't get comfortable on my saddle that's all."

Dom kept his laughter quiet so as not to alert anyone of their presence. Not fooled, Dom said, "Just admit it, Kel, you're still itching to fight. It's no big deal. Most people are before their first battle. But like I've told you before, you've already been in fights. With the hill bandits and-"

She waved it off. "The hill bandits were nothing compared to seeing the kraken. I almost want the fighting to begin so I don't have to think so much about what it's going to be like."

Smiling understandably, Dom could relate. He had been the same way before his first battle. He still didn't like waiting around for something to happen like Kel, but then again he would rather not be waiting for battle at all.

When June finally rolled around, they saw their first action shortly after Kel's birthday. Then it was if that first fight was the starter for more to follow. Fighting had begun.

During her first battle, Kel quickly realized that the kraken was not something to look forward to- it was something to fear. Men were killed and wounded, and it was a nightmare. Men she had talked to, laughed with, dined with- hurt, dead.

At one of the funeral pyres after a battle in July, Kel was thinking how foolish she had been to desire battle, when Raoul came up to stand beside her. "Warriors have a hard life. Whoever says that a knight's work is all glory is a pompous oaf. They've never been on a field in the aftermath of battle. It's one of the bleakest places on earth."

Not looking up at him, Kel nodded. "It's worse than I could have ever imagined," she said quietly. "I was stupid to yearn for battle. Look what it does. It destroys lives."

Raoul put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

A moment went by before Kel finally looked up at him. "How have you gotten through it for so many years?" she asked.

He smiled sadly, "Not easily. But in our line of work, we have to learn to detach. Otherwise you end up an utter mess. I've seen it happen to many fine men. Though it's not a nice realization, it's the truth- you'll learn to detach. Some do it more easily than others, but you're like me. You'll have a tough time of it, but you'll get through it, though it'll always be difficult."

Looking up at him gratefully, Kel told him, "Sir, you are the best man I have ever met."

Raoul grinned. "Just wait until you'll have to clean my dirty armor later. Then you might be singing a different tune."

Kel laughed quietly as Raoul went to talk with some of the men. Though he had joked about, he was the best man Kel knew, and she had seen the touched look in his eyes when she had told him so. If there was ever a knight she wanted to be like now, Sir Raoul would be that knight. She wished she could become half the knight he was.

Turning away from the pyre, she was met by Dom's soft gaze. Stopping, she held his gaze over the space between them. He must have been watching her looking at the pyre because his eyes held a silent question in them. In response she smiled softly, nodding her head to tell him that she was doing fine.

She saw his face relax, the concern ebbing away. Then with one more gentle smile, in which he returned, Kel continued on her way, silently thanking the Goddess for surrounding her with such wonderful people.

A/N: Though this may not be the funniest or longest chapter, I liked writing it. Now that the fighting has begun, the next chapter will be after the battle where Dom gets hurt and Kel takes temporary command of his squad. What will Kel's reactions be to Dom's fall? You'll find out in the next chapter!