A/N: I'm so so so so so sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up! These last two weeks have just flown by with absolutely no extra time! For this one I also had to consult the book constantly to make sure I got the details right, so hopefully I did. I sure read the battle part in Lady Knight plenty of times! Anyway, here's (finally) the next chapter. Sorry again it took so long!

Chapter Thirty-Three: Protecting the Protector

"…[Stenmun] jabbed with the pointed, spearlike tip between the twin crescents of the axe blades. Kel knocked the axe aside just enough that the point punched through her mail into her left shoulder instead of into her throat. A blaze of fire leaped in her left side…

He closed in, his eyes alight, thinking he had her. With a yowl that made the hair stand on Kel's neck, the cat who had made him bleed on the road once more launched herself onto Stenmun's head. She clung to his scalp with three sets of claws and swiped at his eyes with the fourth. Stenmun yowled and flailed at the cat one-handed, using his other hand to try to keep his axe between him and Kel…

Kel lunged, bracing her glaive with her right wrist and elbow so she could wield it one-handed…"

-Tamora Pierce, Lady Knight

Mounting his horse, Dom tried hard not to stare at Kel as she assembled the group that would be accompanying her into the castle. He had the foolish desire to go with her. It was foolish because they both knew he and his squad would be needed to charge through the main gate when the time came. No matter how much he wanted to be with her through her first task, he knew his place. He was needed elsewhere.

Wolset, mounted to his right, noticed the direction of Dom's gaze. Understanding filled his eyes as he clasped a hand on the sergeant's shoulder. Dom turned and gave him a look of gratitude for the friendly gesture.

"It'll sure be one hell of a reunion between you two after we make it out of this mess," the corporal told him quietly, a small smile playing at his lips.

Dom smiled, "Never have truer words been spoken, corporal. Let's hope that after comes for us all."

"Mithros, hear that," he breathed. Then he grinned. "But let's make sure to take down a couple of Scanrans first."

Owen, saddled on his horse Happy nearby, heard the corporal's words and added, "I plan to take down more than a couple!"

"Oh, good," drawled another voice. "Then that will give the rest of us some time to eat some breakfast." Neal sidled Magewhisper up beside the eager young squire. They would be with Dom's squad for the beginning of the fight, charging through the front.

Dom chuckled softly and then looked back at Kel. She and her group were getting ready to depart. His foot itched to urge his horse to follow, but he restrained. He watched as she turned to address everyone gathered.

"You all know what you are to do here," she told them. "Fight with honor and courage, and know that I thank you all deeply for aiding me on this crazy adventure. Come what may, I thank you. I have never had any greater friends than you. Gods all bless, and keep you safe."

Everyone bowed their heads toward her in respect, wisely not voicing their own wishes.

When Dom lifted his head, Kel's gaze rested on him longer than on anyone else. He gave her a small smile, his eyes telling her his thoughts. She smiled and bowed her head slightly to him in response. Then she turned and told her group to start out.

A familiar gray-and-orange cat hopped onto his saddle in front of him as he watched. He looked down and petted the animal, a smile flashing across his face as a memory struck him. It had been early on in this Scanran trip that the cat had become accustomed to traveling in his saddle bags. The first time he had tried to remove her, the cat had protested strongly. He had told Kel at the time that he made it a rule never to argue with a lady. Now the cat rode with him almost all of the time. She had proved a very good fighter as well…

Suddenly Dom's hands stopped stroking the cat's fur as he looked down at her. Perhaps he couldn't go with Kel, but maybe…

The cat looked up at him with big eyes, waiting. In a quick few hand movements, he told her what he wanted her to do. "Watch over her for me," he told her softly.

She leaped deftly off his saddle and padded quietly after the moving group, mixing in with the dogs already with them. It wasn't long before she took her place beside Kel.

Noticing the small feline next to her, Kel immediately glanced back, knowing the cat very well. Dom returned the warm smile she gave him. Then she and the rest of her group disappeared through the trees.

It felt like an eternity, waiting for the castle's gate to be raised. Dom's hands were sweaty inside his gloves as he clutched his horse's reins. The tenseness in his shoulders was due not only to the coming fight, but for what was happening inside the castle now. Kel and her people, if all had gone according to plan, had broken into the castle and were now trying to take the children to safety.

So many things could go wrong. They could be discovered. Stenmun could find them. Then they would have to fight, vastly outnumbered…And there would be nothing he or the others could do to help because they wouldn't know. That's what Dom disliked even more than waiting- it was the not knowing if they were still alive- if Kel was still alive…

Dom tried to ease the uneasiness in his stomach at the thought, but it was hopeless. He was always a bundle of nerves before a fight- like any sane man should be, maybe besides Owen- but it was even worse tonight. Now, more than ever, he wised he had gone with her into the castle.

The men around him were all silent. They were hiding as close to the castle wall as they could get without being detected on their mounts. A couple of watchmen strode the walls, looking for any movement. They could not risk discovery for fear of jeopardizing the lives of the others inside.

His horse shifted slightly underneath him. Dom loosened his grip. He had been thinking of Kel again, the tension in his body causing his hand to clench on the reins. He stroked his horse's neck in a way of apology.

Around him, the others were just as tense as he, waiting for the moment when the gate would open. Neal, to his left, was going over both healing and battle tactics in his mind, trying to come up with the most efficient ways to do both. Wolset, to Dom's right, was glancing at the array of weapons he carried with him, trying to decide what his weapon of choice would be. Tobe, in the middle of the group, was using his horse magic to try to calm the horses and keep them quiet. And Owen…well, Owen was thinking his own typical thoughts of defeating the Scanrans and how the ladies at court would go crazy over his battle scars, which he would wear in pride, of course.

So it came as a surprise to them when the sounds of fighting came from behind the walls, breaking them out of their thoughts. Then they heard the sound of the gate started to be lifted. The time had come.

"Okay, boys. Move out!" ordered Dom. The sentries on the walls had been shot down by Kel and her archers, giving them no problems riding up to the wall.

Raising the heavy gate was no easy task, however. The gears ground together from the force of the men pushing to open it, but it was slow work. The minutes dragged on and felt like hours. Meanwhile, fighting was going on inside, making them all itch for battle.

When the gate finally opened, Dom and the others all sent their prayers up to the gods, and then, at Dom's command, they all charged through the gate, swords raised in their hands. With the force of his sword, Dom knocked down two Scanrans he saw running out of one of the barracks. One man he took care of quickly with the slash of his blade, and he went to do the same to the other. He was slightly out of Dom's reach, but soon the man fell in front of him, clutching his side. Dom's horse took care of the rest as he pressed forward.

All around him was chaos. With the glimpses he got, he saw that the others had tried to bar the doors of the barracks, trapping the soldiers inside. By the number of bodies lying in front of the barracks, it appeared the tactic had been a successful one. However, now the barriers were pushed aside and men were streaming out, the Tortallans no longer able to control the flow of soldiers from the buildings.

Surveying the area quickly with a keen eye, Dom started shouting his orders out to his men. Neal and Owen had dismounted quickly, already fighting on foot, their warhorses taking care of themselves by running down Scanrans. Tobe was leading the attacks of the warhorses.

Quickly running down another Scanran, Dom turned his horse to make another sweep of the courtyard. His men were doing the same, getting caught often by an adversary. He saw one of his men's horses go down with his rider still on his back. Used to mounted attacks, however, his man quickly rolled aside. In one fluid movement, he sat up on his knees and ran his sword right into his attacker's middle. The other man went down.

Dom witnessed this all in the few seconds it took him to turn his horse around for another attack. He didn't stop shouting out his orders as he did so. It was also in that instant that he got his first view of Kel. He didn't know if it was his voice she had heard, but he turned to see her eyes on him. Their eyes locked for a quick second before they were forced to break it, but those few seconds were enough. Both of their eyes held relief to see the other alright, but they didn't want to jeopardize that by being be cut down by some soldier they hadn't seen.

When a burly soldier came at him, Dom considered getting off his horse to fight on foot, but with the way the man wielded his sword, the precaution didn't seem necessary. And it wasn't. The man fell quickly at his sword.

His gaze involuntarily returning to Kel, he saw her looking somewhere else, her eyes suddenly going wide. Following her gaze, he saw what caused her expression. Neal was kneeling alongside Gil, trying to tend to him. What caused Kel's distress however was the Scanran soldier coming up quickly behind him. Dom had just dug his heels into his horse to bear down on the man, when suddenly Neal turned on his knees. His sword bit deeply into the man's side. Dom reined in just as quickly as he had spurred on his horse, a broad smile sweeping across his face. Don't mess with Meathead, he thought wryly.

Dom's smile quickly disappeared, however, when he heard a girl scream. Turning quickly, he saw Loesia- who had screamed- and another girl with Tobe, with two soldiers advancing on them. Tobe had an arrow in his side. Even more quickly than he could react, out of the corner of his eye he saw Kel start to race to their aid. Dom followed quickly, dismounting in an instant. He was just a few feet behind her when he noticed the gray-and-orange cat practically at Kel's heels. He would have smiled if not for the grim situation.

In no time Blayce's soldiers were dead. Dom kept close to the two young girls as Kel carried Tobe to Neal. The fight was winding down, but it still was not over. His voice carrying over the courtyard, Dom instructed his men on what to do to help bring the fighting to a close- herd the remaining soldiers together. He quickly helped his men to the task.

They had won. That was clear now. He turned to look for Kel; she was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, it felt like his heart was in his throat. It wasn't over yet- Stenmun and Blayce were still alive somewhere in the castle. Dom looked up at the large edifice, wondering what was going on inside. Of course Kel was in there, perhaps fighting at this very moment. His heart was now beating like a drum. He hadn't even seen her go…

Like many times earlier that night, Dom had the unmistakable urge to follow her. It probably wouldn't be too hard to find her…

He shook his head. She had to do this alone, for reasons neither one of them understood. All he could do was pray for her safety…and wait.

Waiting was impossible. Dom was on pins and needles the whole time, glancing at the castle every other second. One second he was going to charge inside after her, and the next he was just going to finish up his duties like he knew Kel would want him to do.

Well, Kel also wasn't big on public affection either, and that hadn't stopped him on a couple of occasions, he reminded himself.

Dom stalked over to Neal, who was busily tending to the wounded. "How long has she been in there?"

Neal looked up at his cousin, his green eyes tired. Then he looked at the castle Dom was pointing at. "I don't know, almost a half bell's time?"

Mithros! She had obviously slipped inside earlier than he had thought! He had been waiting perhaps a total of five minutes, thinking she had just gone inside! He could wait no longer.

Turning on his heel, Dom walked determinedly toward the castle.

"Where are you going?" asked Neal.

"I'm going to go find Kel," Dom replied, not breaking his stride as he called back over his shoulder.

Neal nodded, worried, but too preoccupied at the moment to wonder why his cousin was so anxious. If someone would have asked him then, he would've muttered something about them 'being good friends'. He was too busy healing the hurt people to wonder much at all.

The castle seemed deserted- and in truth, it probably was, but Dom was careful to be cautious. He looked around everywhere for any sign of Kel. He was nearing a corner when suddenly he heard the sound of feet on the stone floor. Small feet.

His brow knit together at the sound, listening carefully. All of a sudden, he recognized it.

Stepping around the corner, Dom was met by the sight of Jump coming down the hallway. The normally easy-going dog was ruffled and anxious. It was apparent that he had been through many fights that day.

Jump stopped and jerked his head back the way he had come. He didn't wait for a response, but turned around and started back in the direction he had come from.

Dom's palms were sweating. Jump's behavior had made Dom even more nervous than he already was- which was fairly hard to do. He quickly followed the dog through the corridors.

When they rounded another corner, Dom suddenly stopped. Kel lay a few feet in front of him, propped up against the castle wall. He saw the motionless gray-and-orange cat beside her, Dom's mind blank as he stared. Then in an instant, his sword clattered to the ground, forgotten as he raced to Kel's side.

She was pale. Her body was lifeless and unresponsive when he touched her.

"No, no, please, Kel, please…" he breathed. His hands moved to check her vitals. He heaved a sigh of relief when he felt the slow but steady beat of her heart. His fingers gently caressed her face, willing her eyes to open, but they didn't. She had passed out, no doubt from the wound on her shoulder. His hands stopped moving as he shifted so that he could see her injury more clearly.

There was a lot of blood. It was the initial sight of it soaking through the left side of her chain mail that had truly scared him. Judging by the deepness and size of the wound, the only explanation Dom could come up with was that Kel had fought Stenmun. Remembering his favored double-bladed axe, Dom also knew that a pointed tip also went along with the man's preferred weapon. It was thus obvious what had happened.

"Are Stenmun and Blayce dead?" Dom asked Jump quietly.

The dog nodded, and in the way taught to him by Daine the Wildmage, he conveyed the message that their bodies were upstairs. They were dead. Dom let out another breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Then his eyes fell back on Kel, the hint of a smile playing on his lips. He told her she would do it. Her stubbornness and determination had to pay off for something. He just wished he hadn't had to be so nervous about it.

Seeing the sergeant's admiring gaze as he looked down at Kel, Jump decided to bring his lady's lover back to reality. He butted Dom sharply on the leg.

Dom glanced at the dog as Jump reminded him gruffly of Kel's wound. Then Dom moved quickly, checking to see if it was alright for him to move her. Once he found out that none of her bones were broken, he cupped her face in his hands and whispered in her ear, "You're going to be alright, Kel. I'm taking you to Neal." He hoped she heard him as he leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead. Then he started to gather her in his arms. With the additional weight of her armor, she was quite heavy, but somehow Dom got her halfway out of the castle before help came. Wolset came running down the hall, relieving Dom as both of them carried her out. Dom called back for Jump to bring the gray-and-orange cat out with them.

"Is she alrigh'?" asked Wolset, glancing at her shoulder worriedly.

"She's unconscious," Dom replied. "Stenmun got a good blow in."

His corporal then gave him a questioning look, and Dom interpreted it easily. "Dead," he told Wolset. "Both of their bodies are upstairs."

Dom caught a glimpse of the same look of wonder on Wolset's face that he had gotten as they finally stepped out into the courtyard.

Dawn would be breaking soon, but it was still easy to see what was going on in the torch lit area. The ones healthy enough to move around were piling the dead together and tending the wounded that Neal had yet to get to. He was helping the ones with the most serious injuries first.

So intent on his work, Neal was the last one to glance up at the two men carrying Kel toward him. Dom ignored all the questions as they took her straight to Neal, setting her down next to him.

He told Neal the same thing he had told Wolset. "She's unconscious. The only injury I found was her shoulder wound. From my guess, the tip of Stenmun's axe was the cause."

Neal's hands deftly assessed Kel's condition. Dom helped him remove Kel's armor, lifting the extra pressure off her hurt shoulder. The cloth Kel had pressed into her wound was soaked in blood. Neal cut open the sleeve of her tunic so he could have access to it. He cursed when he pulled the blood-soaked bandage away.

"What's wrong?" Dom asked nervously.

"I need to clean it. Some threading from the cloth came off in her wound, but first I need to stop the bleeding."

Dom watched as green fire glowed from Neal's hands. Dom had his own hands wrapped tightly around one of Kel's, praying as Neal worked. Everybody around them was watching.

"What of Stenmun and Blayce?" Neal asked, his eyes trained on her wound.

"They're both dead," answered Wolset.

A gasp went up all around them, followed by shouts of victory and celebration. But Dom was too concentrated on Kel to hear it.

As the villagers started asking to see the bodies for assurance, Dom turned to his cousin and asked, "Neal?"

"The bleeding's stopped, but now I have to clean it. It'll take some time." The two cousins sat together over Kel, oblivious to the jubilation going on around them. They didn't even take notice when six men came out of the castle, carrying the dead bodies of Stenmun and Blayce, and laid them on the ground for all to see. The shouts of joy increased tenfold at the sight of the bodies.

Dom held Kel's hand throughout the entirety of Neal's healing, stroking the back of her hand gently. Neal had to pick out every piece of thread caught in her wound. When he finally finished and bandaged it up, Dom asked his cousin softly, "Is she going to be alright, Neal?"

For the first time since he had started working, Neal looked up at his cousin. What he saw in Dom's eyes surprised him. He was worried, of course, but it was a different kind of worried that Neal thought he recognized. It was the kind of look he himself would have if it was Yuki he was tending.

Slowly, Neal nodded. "She'll be alright, Dom. She'll be alright."

Within moments, the sky started to lighten with the coming sun. Kel was going to be fine.

Dom had gone to help the others when Kel's eyes finally opened. It was as he was helping a man into his saddle that he heard Neal shout for some water. Turning around quickly, Dom saw Neal checking on Kel. She was sitting up with the help of Fanche. He watched as Kel's eyes wandered over the courtyard, coming to a rest on him. Time seemed to stop. Her eyes were tired and slightly out of focus, but their gazes locked over the space in between them.

Their gaze was broken however when Neal shoved a cup of water in her face. She drank it greedily. Dom finished helping the man onto his horse, watching out of the corner of his eye as Kel tried to stand. The slightest falter and he would be at her side in an instant.

Strong woman that she was, Kel got her bearings and surveyed the aftermath of the battle around her. She stared the longest at the Tortallan dead. Dom hoped she wouldn't hold herself responsible for their deaths; they had all died honorably.

Seeing her going over to comfort Loesia, Dom made his way toward her. As Kel struggled to get up from the ground which she had been kneeling on, Dom reached out and took her arm. She glanced up quickly at him, although she already knew who it was. He helped her stand.

She then addressed everyone, their faces all turned to her for guidance. Dom's supportive hand never left her arm.

Then he and another helped Kel up onto Peachblossom. No longer the center of attention as the others started to mount their own horses, Dom stole a quick moment. Handing her up into the saddle, Dom kept hold of her hand and raised it to his lips. His eyes held hers as he brushed a kiss across her knuckles. Then he squeezed her hand before letting go.

"You did it, Kel."

A faint smile spread across her weary face. "We did, huh?" Her tone held disbelief and wonder.

Dom smiled, his hands playing with the edge of her saddle blanket. "Kel, I-"

He was interrupted by Saefas asking Kel what they were to do with the dead Scanrans. She answered him quickly then looked back down at Dom. He smiled sheepishly, then told her, "Never mind. I was just going to ramble on about how happy I am to see you alive, but I guess that can wait. Plus, I would rather show you, and I know how you feel about displays of public affection."

Kel felt like throwing those rules out the window, so happy to see Dom that she didn't really care at the moment, but she refrained. She would probably pass out before anything happened anyway. Besides, it would give her something to look forward to later.

She turned in her saddle and started shouting commands to get ready to move out.

Then she told Dom, with a glint of humor in tired her eyes, "The sooner we leave, the sooner you'll be able to show me."

Dom bowed low, a wide grin on his face. "As you say, Lady Kel."

And when they got started on their way, Dom smiled and looked up to see a small gray-and-orange cat riding in Kel's saddle bags, eyes alert and roaming…

A/N: Whew! That was a packed chapter! Again, sorry for the wait, but I hope the length made up for it (hopefully…maybe…possibly :D ). And I bet we're all just waiting for Dom's little show and tell moment haha. If I was Kel, I definitely would be! ;D Get a move on, riders!!