A/N: Thanks for the reviews, here's the next one! Sorry for the delay, but it's been SUCH a busy week!

Chapter Nineteen: Welcoming Lady Kel

"Kel continued to eye her new home…Suddenly another flag climbed the mast from inside the fort until it flew just below the national banner…It was Kel's own insignia, the flag of the commander of the fort. She lowered her spyglass and took her time as she collapsed it and set if just so into its pouch until her leaping emotions were under control. Who at the camp would have known she was coming and gone to the trouble to create a flag for her?"

-Tamora Pierce, Lady Knight

A refugee camp.

She was going to be in the command of a refugee camp.

She wasn't upset about her post, but she did admit that being in charge of a refugee camp had not been in her mind as one of her options now that she was a knight. She felt like she was needed on the border instead, where there would be fighting and she would feel useful. Instead Lord Wyldon assigned her to a refugee camp, farther inland from the border than she had thought she would- or ought to- be.

Kel sat quietly in her room at Giantkiller, thinking over her assignment.

Wyldon had chosen her for a reason. He had even told her so. And even though his reasoning made sense, Kel still felt a little unsure of herself. Under Raoul she had learned all about commanding, from working a fort's accounts to hiring on new soldiers, but that was not what she was worried about. She was worried about the people she was to command.

She knew that she was going to have to arrive confident and together, trusting her instincts to make the right decisions. She was going to have a good impression on the people…meaning she was going to have to work twice as hard as her male counterparts would to earn the people's respect and attention.

Lord Wyldon had also placed Neal and Merric under her command. Neal she didn't have to worry about, but she wasn't so sure about Merric. Though they were friends, he was proud and they were of the same age. He might feel a little indifferent toward her. If she were in his shoes, she would probably be able to relate.

That night, after leaving Lord Wyldon, Neal and Owen had visited her. Although she had expected a positive response from Neal, she waited to hear what he would say, just in case. When he greeted her with happy congratulations, Kel had smiled.

"Now if they have any complaints, I'll just direct them all to you," Neal had joked cheerfully, referring to the refugees. She had laughed. Then she asked them where Merric was. She already expected that answer as well.

"He's wallowing in self-pity somewhere," Neal had said, waving it off, "Don't worry, he'll come to."

Kel hoped he would. Becoming commander of a refugee camp was as much her idea as his.

She tried to clear her mind. She couldn't worry about what one young knight thought of her. It hadn't been her idea so there was nothing either of them could do about it.

But although she knew this, she did care what he thought, and she hoped he would come around soon. Besides, if she couldn't get her own friend to respect her as commander, how would she be able to convince a whole refugee camp?

She sent a quick prayer up to Mithros to help her.

"When is Lady Kel going t' get here?" asked Wolset. "We've already been here for two days."

"They'll probably be here soon," replied Fulcher, the other corporal in Dom's squad.

"Well they sure are takin' their sweet time about it."

Dom felt the same way but didn't dare to say so out loud. Lately his men were developing a habit of twisting everything he said around so that it related somehow to him and Kel. He wouldn't have minded if they were together, but they weren't. He wondered if she had somehow seen Cleon since the last time they saw each other. Even if she hadn't, and she was still with him, Dom would just be happy to see her, and the waiting was making him anxious.

Then again, what would a few more days be when he had waited almost seventh months already?

"Maybe they heard y' were here, Wolset, and decided to turn back around," joked one of the men. The other men laughed.

"Yeah, and maybe they mistook y' fer a Scanran mage when they spotted yer face in their spyglass and it shattered," retorted Wolset. This got another rise out of the men. Then he added, "Maybe we should send up a friendly signal fer when they do arrive, incase Good-Looks over here is up on the ramparts."

"Very funny…" the man mumbled, just as another added, "And we should do something to welcome Lady Kel especially, since she is the commander here."

The squad fell into silent thought.

"A party?" one suggested. They all shook their head.

Silence fell over them again.

Then finally, Wolset proclaimed, "I got it! How 'bout a flag?"

"A flag?"

"Yeah, her flag."

"I like it," said Dom. "Good thinking."

"It took me long enough. No thanks to Good-Looks over here," said Wolset, nodding to the man, "I can practically hear the wheels turnin' when he thinks."

Ignoring the man's retort to Wolset, Dom smiled and clapped his hands together, "Okay, let's get on it."

A couple of hours later…

"I didn't know Lady Kel's crest had a goat on it," commented Fulcher, looking down at the unfinished flag.

"It doesn't," said Wolset, looking up at the other corporal, his brow furrowed.

Fulcher narrowed his eyes and pointed to the center of the flag, where Wolset was outlining a shape with a piece of chalk, "Then what, in the name of Mithros, is that supposed to be?"

"An owl," Wolset replied a defensively.

"An owl? What kind of owls did you see growing up?"

"I don't know, what kind of goats did you see?"

As the two men started to argue, Dom quickly broke them up and set them to work on the sewing with him. He gave the chalk over to Lofren.

It was only a few seconds before suddenly Wolset cursed loudly. He had stuck himself with the needle. He continued working, only to stick himself again a few minutes later. Looking over at him, Dom thought to himself that Wolset was as good with a needle and thread as Kel was with a hammer and nails.

"Don't you know how to sew?" Dom asked him. He, like the others, had learned out of necessity. Traveling with the King's Own was not exactly high on a tailors list.

"Sorry, I must have missed that class in my convent years," Wolset replied sarcastically. He was soon instructed to overlook the project instead.

When it was finished, they hoisted it up on the fort's mast to test it out. As it waved and flapped in the wind, Dom smiled. He was sure Kel would like it. He hoped it would come as a nice surprise…

As the riding party approached the fort, Kel was having a hard time not staring at the flag that was waving beneath the flag of Tortall. It was her flag- blue and bordered in cream, with an owl and two glaives at the center. It still baffled her as to how it got there. Who had made it for her?

Owen, riding beside her, whistled in admiration. "I hope to become a knight just so I can see my flag hoisted up like that for all to see," he said, marveling. "It's beautiful."

Kel smiled at her friend. "It'll happen soon enough, Owen."

"Really?"

"I'm sure of it."

"Wouldn't that be the jolliest!" he exclaimed, practically bouncing in his saddle.

"Oh yes," Neal drawled in his usual sarcastic tone, "the flag was the reason I decided to become a knight as well. I would feel as if a part of me was missing if I didn't have my flag."

Kel laughed as Owen asked, "Who do you think sewed it for you?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. But I guess we'll soon find out…"

Their riding party was met by Captain Elbridge, the temporary commander of the camp until Kel arrived. After hearing the man talk, Kel was glad he would be leaving. He was a hard, cold-hearted man, and Kel already cared for him as much as she cared for eating cold food. She hoped he would leave very soon.

Looking around her new home, Kel was already getting ideas in her head about what to improve, and what to change. She certainly would not have any use for the whip Captain Elbridge kept. A commander who had to keep a whip to discipline those under their command was not a commander at all, Kel felt.

Captain Elbridge led the rest of their party into headquarters while Kel, Neal, and Merric stayed behind. Merric was in the middle of saying something, when suddenly they heard a new male voice call out to them.

The three of them turned, and who Kel saw immediately brought a bright smile to her face and set her heart pounding.

A/N: Yay! We know who that is! They're going to be together again! Woo-hoo! And guess what? She and Cleon aren't together anymore either! (As if you didn't know lol) :D I'll update soon!