A/N: Okay, here's the next chapter! Busy week as usual!

Chapter Thirty: Selfish

"Kel fumed silently. I never asked for help, never wanted to ruin anyone's life but my own, she thought wrathfully. What is the matter with them? Can't they see we'll die if this goes wrong? Don't they care that we've earned a warm and lasting reception on Traitor's Hill if we choose to return? Why do men always have to complicate things?"

Tamora Pierce, Lady Knight

"Kel, we've already told you, we're not breaking the rules. There's no need to worry about us," Dom tried for the thousandth time. He and Kel were standing aside from the other men who were busy cleaning up from breakfast and packing their mounts to ride out. Ever since they had gotten the chance to speak alone, Dom had been trying to convince her of the same thing- that they were following orders and they weren't going to get in trouble by following her.

She sighed, her arms folded tightly across her chest, her face like stone. She wasn't going to budge. Dom sighed as well. She was so stubborn.

As Dom continued to reassure her, Kel only listened half-heartedly. She believed him, but dared not say anything for fear of her temper rising again. She was trying to keep herself calm. She didn't want to yell at him, afraid he might take it the wrong way. She wasn't angry at him- she was more angry at herself. She didn't want to take it out on him or his men.

And the reason why she was so angry? Because she wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around the man in front of her and thank him with all the gratitude in her heart for following her. That was wrong. If she did that, then he would never go back to Raoul like she knew she should tell him to do. Thanking him would only make it worse for both of them; there was no way she was allowing them to go any farther with her. She tightened her arms across her chest involuntarily.

"We're not leaving," said Dom determinedly, "so you might as well abandon all ideas of getting rid of us. It's not going to happen. You're stuck with us, lady knight." He grinned.

Kel sighed inwardly at the battle going on inside her. Battle? She scoffed to herself. One side was winning overwhelmingly- the side that she shouldn't want to win, but was.

Determined to hold out a little longer and not give in completely, she told him indifferently, "Mithros save us, then."

With that she turned and started walking to her horse. Dom watched her go with a small smile of victory showing on his face. Though she didn't say it, he had a feeling she wouldn't be arguing with him anymore.

Wolset, who had been watching the pair just as discreetly as the other men, walked over to Dom with a teasing smile. "You're right. I did give you more credit than you're worth."

Dom gave out a short laugh. "Oh go twiddle your thumbs," he told his corporal.

Wolset laughed.

As the now bigger party rode towards the Scanran border, Dom was intent on not only watching their surroundings but the three riding slightly ahead of him as well. Owen and Tobe, who had shown up right as they were leaving Giantkiller, were now the ones experiencing Kel's fury. Dom hoped that their arrival had now diminished her irritation with him.

"Think yer out of the doghouse now, Dom?" teased Wolset, mirroring Dom's thoughts.

"I certainly hope so," he answered truthfully. Since their earlier conversation, Kel had only talked to him when necessary, saying very little otherwise- and even then she was mostly muttering to herself, Dom commenting relatively unsuccessfully. Hopefully he'd be back in her good graces by nightfall when they could have a little alone time- which sounded wonderfully alluring since they hadn't seen each other for over two months…

"Seems he's already thinkin' about usin' the dark forests to his advantage, boys," someone laughed.

Surfacing from the thoughts the idea of alone time with Kel triggered, Dom leaned over and shoved Wolset's shoulder. Of course it had been him that had said that. Dom just wished he could've pushed him off his saddle.

Of all the things to say! Trees, indeed! Dom rolled his eyes. His gaze landed involuntarily on the forests they were passing. Suddenly he found himself pondering. Hmmm…trees. Maybe Wolset has something there… All of a sudden a picture formed in his mind of him pulling Kel into the cover of the trees with him. In their cover and the darkness surrounding them, he could take her in his arms out of the eyes of the others. He could kiss her without anyone being the wiser…

Damn, he thought, if only it was time to stop… He laughed at his own thought. As far as he knew he was still in the doghouse. Receiving a very enjoyable reception from Kel did not seem in his near future…

At about midmorning, his prospects were looking up. Neal and Kel's other knight friends had decided to grace their renegade party with their presence. Now they were experiencing the brunt of Kel's cold shoulder. It made Dom feel undecidedly optimistic.

"So what'd you do, Neal, stop off at a library before coming here? I would've thought you'd be here sooner," he teased his cousin.

"We would've, but unless you haven't noticed, we were stuck hauling a lot of stubborn dead weight around," Neal replied, hooking his thumb back to where Merric was still tied to his horse, recovering from the attack on Haven.

"I didn't slow you down," Merric protested. "It was your hare-brained scheme to sneak out of the fort that did it! You should have just told Sergeant Connac sooner!"

Connac laughed from beside Dom.

"Well we're here, aren't we?" asked Neal indignantly. "That's all that matters. Following Kel is all that matters."

From up ahead, they all heard Kel growl in frustration. All the men hid their smiles.

It was during one of their rest stops, slightly after midday, that Kel once again found herself alone, cleaning her glaive while the others sparred and fed their horses. She had kept to herself for most of the ride so far, despite the attempts by both Dom and Neal to join her. They would be reaching the Vassa River and thus the Tortall/Scanran border very soon. She turned the possibilities over and over again in her mind as she absentmindedly sharpened her blade…

Dom watched Kel from a distance. Her eyes looked far away, deep in thought. He wondered what she was thinking about. His best bet was the refugees.

He sighed, not realizing he did so audibly until Wolset, who was sitting beside him, remarked, "Pining away, sergeant?"

For about the thousandth time that day, Dom shoved his corporal. "I think I need to give you more chores to occupy your time with, Wolset."

The corporal chuckled, "But I enjoy this so much." After a moment's silence, Wolset prodded, "Oh come on, Dom. Just go talk to her. I'm sure she's cooled down by now."

"You think so?" questioned Dom, his eyes glancing at the sharpened glaive.

Wolset laughed. "Yeah. Just take my advice and don't sneak up on her," he advised mock-solemnly.

Dom chuckled, "Thanks." Then he stood up slowly and walked towards her.

Kel was still deep in her thoughts when someone remarked from behind her, "If you sharpen that any longer, you'll have no blade left."

She stopped and turned around. Dom was standing just a few paces behind her, leaning casually against one of the many trees. Despite her attempts to try and seem indignant with him- for both of their sakes, she had to keep reminding herself- she still couldn't control the way her heart sped up at the mere sight of him. Who was she kidding? None of them were going back, and her further attempts to try would sound weak even to her own ears. Just stop the charade already, Kel, she told herself.

Dom pushed himself off the tree and came to sit next to her. He took her glaive and what she was using to sharpen it gently out of her now unmoving hands. After a moment he asked her, "So are you finally going to accept our assistance? Or should I send Neal back to the Stump?" He chuckled.

Struggling to gain control over her emotions, Kel turned her body slightly away from him. From behind, Dom heard what sounded like barking come from his corporal. Dom glanced back to see Wolset with his hands steepled over his head. He mouthed the word, Doghouse, to Dom. He rolled his eyes as Wolset grinned.

Turning back to Kel, he leaned forward to try and see her face.

"Kel…" he tried again, taking one of her hands gently in his own. His thumb stroked the back of her hand lightly. "We're not going to get in trouble, don't worry. We're staying with you."

"I know," she admitted softly. Then more wryly, "Not even an army of stormwings could drive you away it seems."

Dom chuckled, "You can be sure of that."

"It's just…" she struggled with the right words, "It's just that I didn't- don't- want any of you to get hurt. I didn't intend for anyone to follow me. I don't want to risk any of your lives…"

She still had her face turned away from him, but Dom could hear the hidden anguish in her voice. He scooted closer to her and wrapped his other hand around the hand he held. Then, just as softly, Dom told her, "And did you think I would just let you risk your life alone? Not knowing where you were or what had happened? Kel, I would have come after you myself if I had to. There was no way I was just going to wait around with everyone else to hear news of you. I would go insane."

"Kel," he continued, "We're all here on our own volition. We want to help you. That's what friends do. And let me be the first to point out that you have a pretty loyal group of friends- even though I still don't quite understand your choice in Neal…" he added lightly.

Kel laughed quietly. Though it was short-lived, it was the first time she had laughed in days. Gaining control over the tears that had pricked her eyes at Dom's words, she finally turned to face him. His eyes shone with delight at the laughter he had evoked. But there was something else …deeper… warmer… stronger than any emotion she had ever seen before that had her gazing wonderingly into his beautiful blue eyes. His thumb was still gliding gently across the back of her hand, soothingly. His warm touch triggered an electric current to run through her body. An emotion other than worry was taking over full force…

Dom was surprised when Kel suddenly got to her feet, taking her hand out of his hold. Her face was blank as he looked up at her questionably. She turned and walked, without a word, into the surrounding forest. For a moment he watched her, his brows knit together. She was only a few paces away when she stopped and glanced back over her shoulder at him. Was he dreaming or did she just jerk her head for him to follow her? Dom looked back at Wolset to get his opinion as Kel continued on. The corporal shrugged, just as bewildered. Then he shrugged again as if to say he should go and find out.

Taking his unspoken advice, Dom got up and followed in the direction Kel had gone. He no longer saw her up ahead, but as his earlier fantasies had used to their advantage, the forest was dense and shady. However, unlike those fantasies, he wasn't sure that was to his advantage anymore. He was suddenly glad that he had relieved her earlier of her glaive, though he knew she knew other ways to inflict bodily harm…

He was thinking these thoughts when suddenly a hand shot out from behind the nearest tree and grabbed him by his tunic.

"Wha-" he began to cry out, but he was soon silenced by a pair of soft, very familiar, very eager set of lips. Though it took a moment for his mind to wrap completely around what was happening, his lips responded with their own accord, matching her intensity almost immediately with his own.

"Kel…" he whispered against her lips. She didn't allow him to say any more as she pressed herself more tightly to him, his own mouth becoming more urgent against her own…

"Kel…" he repeated, leaning his forehead against hers as they both caught their breaths.

She chuckled lightly, "You said that already…"

Dom smiled widely as he laughed roughly, "So I did…here I was thinking you were going to kill me, and I got this instead. My fantasy in reality."

She laughed again. "Fantasy, eh? I think you should tell me how that one goes…"

With his one hand resting on the tree beside her head and the other wrapped tightly around her waist, Dom leaned in toward her again. He thought he saw her breathing visibly pick up, and grinned. "I think it best to show you…"

Kel always knew she was a kinetic learner…

Wolset watched where Dom had disappeared into the trees somewhat anxiously. He thought he had heard Dom cry out, but it had been quickly cut off. That was quite a while ago. What if Lady Kel really had hurt him? Would he be next? Wolset gulped audibly at the thought.

Suddenly he shook his head and laughed at his own silly thought. How ridiculous! She wasn't that angry at them! She was just…mad. Wolset's eyes flickered to her glaive which was left behind. One swift swing of that and…

He was still debating whether to go and take it away before Lady Kel came back- alone - when suddenly a movement in the forest caught his eye. He almost made his departure when he saw Kel emerge from the trees, but froze when he saw Dom- whole- beside her. Wolset took the time to take judgment of Dom's expression. He would run if it gave him any warning.

Looking at the sergeant's face, Wolset immediately saw that he wasn't frightened or wary- not in the least. In fact, he looked awfully-

Holy Mithros, so that's what they were doin' all that time in there, he thought, looking amusedly at their bright eyes and secretive glances. He watched as the two of them walked toward their horses. They weren't holding hands or anything, but Wolset thought they might as well have been, judging by how their arms frequently brushed as they walked so closely together. Dom, with his hands tucked into his breeches pockets- probably to keep himself from touching her, Wolset guessed- grinned over at her every time it happened. The lad needs to wipe that ridiculous smile off his face unless he wants the whole Realm- including his cousin- to know what he's just been up to, he thought amusedly.

As the couple walked passed him unseeingly, Wolset laughed and made some very low catcalls that he was sure Dom would be sure to hear…

A/N: :D! Haha hope you enjoyed it! Got a good amount of fluff in there for you! :D