A/N: Okay, this chapter takes place right before the battle. Hope you enjoy it!
Chapter Thirty-Two: Vulnerable
"'We'd best take these people, if they'll go,' Dom pointed out. He lounged against the tree trunk, hands in breeches pockets. 'Leaving them here for King Maggot seems like a bad idea.'
Kel scowled. He was right. 'Will you talk to them?' she asked. 'After, I suppose, if we get an after.'
'We'll get it, Kel,' Dom replied, his eyes serious. 'I have faith in you.'"
-Tamora Pierce, Lady Knight
Protector of the Small?
Dom glanced over at Kel from where he and the others sat cleaning their weapons. She was squatting down on the ground, listening attentively to the villagers that surrounded her. They were giving her all the information about Blayce's castle that they possibly could. Kel was using the ground to draw her map of the castle. Her face was set in deep concentration.
The Protector of the Small. That was what the little seer-child had called Kel. She also told them that she had seen them coming and that Kel would save them from Blayce. Could the child be right? Would Blayce fall as she foretold?
They could only hope.
Dom thought back to the eerie voice that had later spoken through the child, the voice of the Chamber, Kel had said. It had told her that it was her time. Time for what, exactly? Dom wondered. It must have had to do with destiny, and what Kel was to do here. But even though both the seer-child, Irnai, and the Chamber's messages had sparked a feeling of hope among those going to be fighting and the villagers, Dom still had to wonder- But what was Kel's fate? Irnai foresaw that she would lead to Blayce's fall, but what of Kel? That was the problem with prophecies. They gave you enough knowledge of the future to worry more about it.
He looked at Kel again. With the villagers still circled around her, feeding her all the knowledge she would need, Dom couldn't help but feel that there was a sense of fate surrounding the lady knight listening raptly to them all – the same lady knight he cared so deeply for.
A troubling thought again recurred in his mind: If Kel's fate was to indeed defeat Blayce the Gallan, would her name, the Protector of the Small, be spoken preceding her arrival back to Tortall, or would it be spoken in reverence, in memorial, as a legend…
Dom didn't let his thoughts lead him any further. They were all risking their lives. As warriors, they did it constantly- daily since the war had begun. Why the morbid thoughts now?
Because it's Kel, his mind replied instantly.
If anything happened to her…
Again, he stopped his thoughts. Kel was the most determined, strongest person he knew. She was going to kill Blayce and make it through alive.
She had to, because he couldn't imagine life without her.
Protector of the Small?
Kel sat in the village's alehouse with the rest of her people and the villagers, finishing up supper. Her mind was racing a mile a minute with different thoughts, though they all shared the common thread of attacking Blayce's castle. Thoughts of Blayce also led her thoughts to Irnai, the seer-child, and her words earlier that day.
She was the Protector of the Small? She would lead to Blayce's fall? Kel wasn't much in favor of prophecies. Sometimes they had a definite effect on people, especially warriors who were as suspicious as they come. She hoped the small girl's words would not go to her head- or the others'. Over-confidence was never good.
Her eyes roamed over the people in the crowded room. It was buzzing with excitement as everyone talked and many even laughed occasionally. It was a good release for the tension and nervousness building up in all of them. That night, when the moon rose, a group of them would break into the castle. The fighting would begin not long after. Some of these people would not make it back…
Looking over all the faces she cared for so much, she couldn't imagine losing any of them. But warriors, though often superstitious, also had to be realistic. There was a very good chance that many of them would not be returning…for all she knew she may not be either. Though the thought was rather frightening, it wasn't nearly as frightening as the thought of losing any of her friends- and one man in particular…
Though she tried not to single him out from the others, she couldn't help it. Kel cared deeply for all of her friends- Neal, Owen, Fanche…- but what she felt for Dom was so…different. She valued all of her friends' lives intensely, but the thought of losing Dom scared her to death.
She was thinking these thoughts when her eyes met those of that same man across the room. His blue eyes were watching her intently, a new habit he seemed to have picked up ever since he and his men had met up with her at Giantkiller. Although she used her Yamani Mask often, Dom always seemed to know what she was thinking and how she was feeling. She wondered if he knew what she was thinking as she met his gaze.
A few moments later, she ordered everybody to rest up. They had a couple of hours before moonrise.
"I wish that I could be like you, Owen. The only thing you feel before a fight is excitement." She grinned down at the young man who walked beside her. He was practically bouncing as they walked back to the house where everybody was supposed to be resting. Owen had intervened on a conversation Kel, Neal, and Dom were having outside to remind them of that.
"What else am I supposed to feel?" questioned Owen.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe something called nerves?" Neal answered sardonically from his other side.
"Nerves? Why would I want to feel nervous?"
Dom chuckled softly.
Kel shook her head, smiling.
Neal sighed audibly. To himself he muttered, "Am I the only sane one around here?"
They entered the house to find it dark and quiet, except for the snoring coming from the sleeping warriors. Stepping over the resting bodies, Neal remarked, "Great. How are we going to get to sleep with this racket?"
Dom laughed and told his cousin, "It gets worse."
"Then Mithros, help us."
The four of them settled down in the far corner of the room, the only unoccupied space. They talked quietly for awhile longer.
Owen, perhaps from all his excitement, was the first to nod off, his blanket wrapped tightly around his body.
Dom was talking to Neal when Kel's silence caught his attention. She hadn't said anything in awhile. Glancing over, he saw that her eyes looked thoughtful and distant as she worried her lower lip. He knew she was concerned about her people. He could tell by that anxious look in her eyes that he had seen plenty of before.
Suddenly, she stood up, pulling her blanket up with her.
"I'm going to go check on the others," she told them, already walking towards the adjacent room.
Dom's eyes followed her as she disappeared through the doorway. He frowned slightly.
"That's Kel for you. Always caring about everyone but herself," said Neal, shaking his head and settling down under his own blanket.
Still looking towards the door, Dom suddenly got up. Hearing his movements, Neal propped himself up on his elbows. "Dom, where are you-"
He was interrupted as Dom excused himself and followed through the door Kel had used. For a moment he stared after his cousin before the wheels in his mind started turning. Could it be that-?
His thoughts were disrupted by someone mumbling, "Take that you Scanran!...Jolly good fight!"
Rolling his eyes, Neal whacked Owen on the head with the balled up jacket he was using as his pillow. Neal muttered something about 'all this racket' and turned his back to his sleep talking friend. Before he turned completely over, however, he glanced once more at the door, his brow furrowed.
Needing to get a good rest however, Neal decided to ponder over these thoughts another day and turned over to get some sleep.
Kel checked on her people in the next room, and then found an empty space distant enough from the others so that she would not disturb anyone. She knew sleep was not going to come easily to her, and when it did, she figured her dreams would be filled with Blayce and the task they were here to fulfill. She didn't wish to wake anyone because of her nightmares.
She had escaped from the watchful eyes of Neal, Dom, and Owen because of that particular reason. She didn't want to worry them when they themselves needed to rest.
Pulling her blanket up around her, Kel turned on her side so that she could survey the room and people around her. Fanche was the nearest to her, maybe ten paces away, and Kel could tell by the even rise and fall of her chest that the older woman was in a deep sleep. The same was for all the others she could see, though the bodies were far enough from her to be unidentifiable in the dark room lit only by the moonlight coming through high windows. Kel sent out a prayer for each and every one of them.
The peaceful quiet of the room almost made Kel shiver. It was like the quiet after a battle, a ringing silence that chilled you to the bone.
Wrapped up in her thoughts about what was to come, she was unaware of a man standing in the doorway. Like she was watching the others, he was watching her, curled up on the floor. He saw her body tremble and he knew it was not from the temperature in the room.
Kel became aware of the other presence when she heard his soft footfall. She didn't need to look to know who it was. She had been expecting him to follow her.
He said nothing as he lowered himself to the floor beside her. His strong arm circled gently around her, and Kel immediately turned into his hold. He knew her just as well as she knew him.
Dom held her closely, neither of them speaking for a long time. Kel had her face buried in his tunic, his clean smell instantly calming her frantic mind. Never before had she found so much comfort in another person. She was used to going through things alone; but now she had Dom.
As if hearing her thoughts, Dom whispered into her hair, "You don't need to go through this alone, Kel."
She pulled her head back to look at him. His blue eyes held concern and something else, something deeper that she couldn't explain.
The hazel eyes that looked up at him took Dom by surprise. Doubt and fear graced her features, her Yamani Mask completely gone. He had never before seen her look so…vulnerable.
His arms instinctively tightened around her.
"I'm scared, Dom." Her voice was so soft that he could hardly hear. "So many things could go wrong. What if the children were already killed? What if we get captured and never return to Tortall? And if we do, what waits for us there? Traitor's Hill?"
She was speaking all the things that crossed her mind, all the things that had been worrying her even since the beginning of her renegade. Dom didn't speak; he just listened and stared at her. He had never heard her open up like this before, letting him hear the worries that often plagued her thoughts but did not share.
"I know it foolish to think, but I wish that no harm would come in this fight to any of our people, including the villagers here. Tobe, Owen, Neal…" she shook her head and looked down.
"They'll be fine, Kel," he told her reassuringly.
Her hand reached up to touch his face. Her fingertips glided gently across his cheek, her eyes following their path. "I don't want anything to happen to you, Dom. Especially you."
He caught her hand and turned his face into her palm, kissing it gently. "I'll be fine, too, Kel. Don't worry about me." Before she could object, he looked her in the eye. "All I need to know is that you'll promise to take care of yourself."
They looked at each other for a moment. Kel was no longer a green knight and wasn't stupid, but she knew what Dom was referring to. She placed the others' lives before her own, and of all the worries that ran through her head, very few revolved around her own life that was just as much at stake as the others.
Dom's eyes bored into her. "Promise me, Kel."
"I promise."
He squeezed the hand he still held and then let go to run his own hand across her cheek. Her eyes closed at his touch, her body moving closer to his. She rested her head against his shoulder, her eyes remaining closed. Dom continued to run his hand slowly against her face, brushing her skin.
The movement calmed her immediately. It was only after a few minutes that she felt her mind clouding over with indistinctive thoughts.
Feeling her body relax in his arms and her breathing turn slow and steady, he pulled his face back to look at her, careful of his movements. Finally, her face looked genuinely peaceful, her thoughts unable to trouble her in her sleep. She looked beautiful.
His hand continued to caress her cheek absentmindedly as he stared at her. Then with his hand, he ran his fingers slowly through her hair, pulling it back from her face. Angling his head, he leaned down and placed a soft kiss below her ear, whispering, "I love you, Kel."
He was surprised when he heard a quiet voice reply, in his own ear, "I love you, Dom."
Dom looked down at her quickly. Her eyes were still closed, but there could be no mistaking the soft smile gracing her lips as she drifted back to sleep. Resting his own head beside hers, he pulled her closer- the woman he loved.
The moon was high in the sky when Kel and the others going with her stepped out into the night. It cast enough light to see by, but enough shadows to conceal their advances as well. They were depending on that. If they were discovered, there was no hope for them or the children inside the castle.
Kel shook her head of these thoughts, grateful that she had been relieved of them for the few hours she had slept. Her eyes darted around for the man whose calming arms had produced that miracle. He had been gone when she awoke, already readying himself and his men. She had yet to see him.
She looked around but to no avail.
"My lady, are you ready?" It was one of the villagers that would show her and the others the back way into the castle. She sighed inwardly. She had wanted to at least see Dom before-
"May I have one word, first?" asked another voice from behind.
Her breathing halted and then she turned. Blue eyes looked down at her. "Of course," she replied.
"Privately?"
She nodded, too absorbed by the look in his eyes to trust her voice. Kel followed as he led her away from the readying soldiers and people.
As they went behind one of the buildings, she half-expected him to turn and kiss her heatedly. She'd admit that that was what she was hopeful for, because it was certainly prevalent in her thoughts. Instead, however, he turned and told her, "Remember, wherever you find Blayce, you'll find Stenmun. And remember he favors that double-bladed axe of his. Once you get passed Stenmun, I'm thinking that Blayce will be easier, but then again, he is a mage…"
Kel stepped toward Dom, saying his name softly. "Dom." He stopped in his pacing to look at her. She gave him a small smile.
His response was to shake his head. "What am I doing?" he asked. "Of course you know all this already…"
She reached out and took his arm. "It never hurts to be reminded," she told him sincerely.
Dom looked at her for a long moment. Then he asked, "You promise to be careful?"
"Yes," she replied, looking back at him. "I promise."
He had just taken a step forward, Kel's earlier hopes of a warm embrace close to becoming a reality, when the same man from earlier appeared and asked if she was now ready to go. She could tell he did not want to waste any time at all. And neither did she.
Kel dropped her hand from Dom's arm and looked at him. The other man was still standing there, looking at the two as he waited. She became uncomfortable.
Dom bit back a curse as he saw Kel's hesitation. Why couldn't that man leave them alone for another minute?
Taking matters into his own hands, Dom excused himself, saying he needed to get back to his own men.
Watching him go, Kel tried not to look at the other man still standing beside her. He was only doing his job, and didn't deserve an ugly glare from her.
Suddenly, she became aware of a change in the sound of Dom's footsteps. Instead of getting farther away, they were getting…closer.
She turned her head just in time as Dom yanked her into his arms and kissed her. Hard.
Kel didn't know how long they stood there, lips never daring to part, but when they did, the man was gone.
When she rejoined her group, the man was careful not to meet her eyes at first. It may have been tricks of the moonlight, but his face looked as red as a beet.
A/N: Well. What did you think? They finally told each other 'I love you'! That's been a long time coming :D More chapters to come!