A/N: Sorry for that cliffhanger! :D Here's the next chapter...let's see what's happened with Kel and Dom!

Chapter Sixteen: Facing the Chamber

"Third Company turned out to see her and Raoul off. They said little, but scratched Jump's good ear, or fed the birds, or slapped Kel on the back. They patted Hoshi, though not Peachblossom. To Kel's surprise, even Flyndan wished her luck. Her Yamani training kept her from crying as they rode through the gate, but it was a closely fought battle. If she leaked a tear or two, Raoul pretended not to notice."

-Tamora Pierce, Squire

"Good luck, Squire Kel, we sure are gonna miss you around here."

Kel smiled as Qasim patted her on her back. Third Company was lined up in front of her, biding her farewell before she left for Corus and her awaiting Ordeal.

"Yeah, 'specially Wolset when he doesn't have anyone to put him in his place when he questions orders," one man remarked, raising a laugh out of the men.

Wolset rolled his eyes, "That only happened once. Besides she made me corporal after." He gave Kel a nod of appreciation.

She smiled and nodded in return. Then someone added another joke that set the hot-tempered corporal off. Kel watched, laughing.

Moving on, she turned and saw Dom. Their eyes met and held as a knowing and secretive smile passed between them.

"I don't know how I'll be able to control them with you gone," Dom joked quietly, still grinning.

Kel smiled just as Jump ran up to him. Dom squatted down to pet him, "I'm going to miss you too, Jump." Then he looked back at Kel and stood up. He tucked his hands into his breeches pockets.

"Well, I guess this is it," he said.

"Yep," said Kel, still smiling, "I guess it is."

Dom offered her his hand, "Then I wish you all the best, Squire Kel. Or should I say, lady knight."

She grinned. "Not yet, anyway," she said, taking his hand.

"But you will be soon," he told her assuredly. They smiled at each other as they squeezed each other's hand. Kel felt a thrill shoot through her from their touch. They were still holding hands, when suddenly Dom told her very softly, "And you'd better go now before I break my promise and kiss you right now."

Their eyes held and Kel could feel her body warming from his words. Not much had happened after she had kissed him, except that Kel had explained to him that the only reason why she was technically still with Cleon is because she didn't want to break it off with him in a letter. Dom had completely understood. Then Dom went on to explain that Cleon was the only reason he hadn't already kissed her back. He then told her that he had made a promise to himself that he would only kiss her again when she no longer had a sweetheart.

He was currently having a tough time staying true to his word. However, having most of Third Company and Lord Raoul around is what he thought was making it possible. If they were alone…he wasn't sure if he could've resisted.

To curb the temptation, and to not look too suspicious, they finally broke their handshake. Then Dom said casually and loud enough for others to hear, "Gods all bless, Kel, I hope to see you again soon."

"Me too," Kel told him, smiling. Though it sounded like a normal farewell, the smiles they gave each other said more.

Then a grin spread across Dom's face, "Of course, with you being a lady knight and all you might forget about a lowly sergeant like me…"

Kel smiled and told him seriously, "You'll never have to worry about that, Dom."

His playful smile turned sincere as he looked at her. Kel smiled in return as their eyes held. And in that moment, they both knew what they felt for each other was real.

"Are you ready, Kel?" Raoul asked her, coming up behind her and already in his saddle. "We don't want to waste daylight."

"Hurryin' to attend a court gatherin', milord?" one man asked.

"Nah," joked another, "he's hurryin' back to be in Commander Buri's arms." Laughter rose among the men.

Raoul rolled his eyes as Kel mounted Hoshi beside him. "Hush, you insolent dogs, and get back to work," he told them. Kel smiled. She sure was going to miss this.

As she and Raoul made their way to the gate, Kel took one more glance back at the men…and one man in particular. He was leaning casually against a building, his blue eyes trained on her. When he saw her looking, he sent her a warm smile, earning one of hers in return. Then Kel turned back in her saddle, still smiling as she felt tears welling in her eyes. Leaving was even harder now than she thought possible…

"The order in which the queen drew names was the order in which the squires faced the Chamber. When Kel heard the results, she thought that the Yamani trickster god Sakuyo had danced in that bowl.

Neal was first. She was last…She also knew Neal. If he wasn't distracted, he would make himself sick with worry. She enlisted Yuki to help her. Neal and Yuki always had something to talk, or argue, about…and that night, when the king knighted him, Neal wore Yuki's delicate, deadly shukusen in his belt…"

-Tamora Pierce, Squire

It took them a good two and a half weeks of travel before they arrived in Corus, and it appeared as though they had beaten all the fourth-year squires there. However, Yuki and Shinkokami were there, so Kel found herself hanging around the two Yamanis whenever she had free time.

Before she knew it, it was November and Neal finally arrived in Corus. "Ah there's my fellow in suffering," he had said when they had first seen each other. "I am truly starting to wonder why I ever left the University. I could comfortably be enjoying this Midwinter, denouncing some apparently brilliant new scholar's work. Instead, I'm going to be enduring the Ordeal of Knighthood. What a dolt I am."

That was the first and last thing Neal ever mentioned about the Ordeal, even after his name was called as the first to go into the Chamber. Kel, of course, would be the last of that year's squires to go through it. Some people just have all the luck, she thought dryly.

On the day of Neal's ordeal, she and Yuki did the best they could to keep his mind off it. However, Kel thought Yuki was doing a better job. All day long, whatever topic Kel brought up, Yuki and Neal somehow always got into a discussion, and often an argument, over it. At one time, they even got in an argument over the use of shukusens. Yuki said it was for protection for Yamani women, and Neal argued that they were dangerous to all because it could be used against the woman just as easily. Yuki went on to explain that the women are trained with the fans so that having them used against them is highly unlikely.

"So you're saying that Yamani women are that unsafe, that they constantly have to defend themselves?" Neal accused.

"Of course not," replied Yuki hotly, "but in the case of sea raider attacks, they can come quite in handy. And they have other purposes as well."

"Like what? Chopping down trees?"

Yuki practically rolled her eyes, "No. They're also used in court to give to the suitor of your choice."

"Oh, well that's a token of favor. A fan that can chop his arm off if he gets too close," Neal said sarcastically. "Why would he want that?"

"Because, it shows him that the woman likes him and trusts him enough to put her safety in his hands. The man should be honored."

"No, the man is an idiot," replied Neal.

"I've seen the tournaments here in Tortall, and knights tie the scarf of the lady of their choice around their arm. What's so different?"

"The difference is that it's a scarf. Scarves don't exactly cut peoples' appendages off."

Kel stopped listening after awhile. Her two friends were so stubborn that they would never concede, even if they did secretly agree with each other's points.

When Neal was knighted later on, with Yuki's shukusen in his belt, Kel grinned and wondered when her friend's view on the shukusens changed…

"She returned to her room late in the day and sat down to write to Cleon…She lost track of how long she sat looking at blank parchment, unable to think of something graceful to say. The ink was dry on her quill when she finally tried to write…She wrote, 'Dear Cleon- I love you and I will miss you. Kel.'

'I could do better,' she told Jump, 'but I just can't seem to manage it right now.'"

-Tamora Pierce, Squire

Taking the piece of parchment, Kel folded it up and set it aside. She wished Cleon were here so she didn't have to write a letter. Then she could tell him how much she loved him- and how much she was going to miss him. The thing she couldn't figure out how to write was why she was going to miss him. What she wanted to say would break his heart, because even if she did survive the Ordeal, she was still writing to say goodbye to him.

She had come to a decision while she had been looking at that blank piece of parchment. She had to tell Cleon the truth. She did not feel for him the way a sweetheart should, the way Cleon felt for her, and she felt guilty. It wasn't fair to him. So she had written down what she could on the parchment. Looking down at the few simple words that she had written, she had sighed. She wanted to expand on it, but didn't know how. If she sent it, she wondered if he would be able to interpret what she was saying. Probably not.

Looking at the folded up piece of paper again, sitting motionless at her desk, she sighed once more. She couldn't send it. It left too much unsaid, and she felt too heartless to write more. Instead, she picked up another piece of parchment and began to write another letter.

"Dear Dom," she began, "I don't know if you've heard, but I've been chosen last to face the Chamber. Neal went first, and he's in much better spirits now that it's over. If he hasn't already written you about it, there has been another new development, which may have added to his happiness. When he was knighted he wore Yuki's shukusen in his belt. They've been together ever since. I think they really like each other.

Tonight is my Ordeal. To say I'm not scared would be a lie. I wish you were here. You always know how to cheer me up. If I don't make it through, I just want you to know that I will miss-"

She stopped her quill and looked at the paper. She couldn't get herself to write that she'd miss him. She didn't want to miss him. Dom believed that she would get through the Ordeal. Why didn't she?

Suddenly she set her quill down and stood up. She had to believe in herself like Dom believed in her. She would make it through the Ordeal.

"A force urged Kel forward. She walked out of the Chamber of the Ordeal."

"'You are dubbed Lady Knight, Keladry of Mindelan,' he announced solemnly as his court watched. 'Remember your vows and service to this Crown. Remember your promise of chivalry.'"

-Tamora Pierce, Squire

A/N: Yay! Kel's knighted! And okay, I know that the format of this chapter is really different. They're little snippets of events, but there was nothing I wanted to expand on more, and I definitely didn't want to make them all their own chapter. And I'll also admit that I wanted to finally get Kel knighted. It seems like she has been waiting long enough! (And we have too lol!).

But don't worry, the next chapter will be back to the regular format! (And a certain red-headed knight will make an appearance…;D ). And besides that, I hope you liked it! I loved writing the interactions between Kel and Dom in the beginning, and then Neal and Yuki. And then the way she was determined to make it through the Ordeal! And…Kel's finally a knight! Woo! :D