A/N- LOL I am actually freaked! I have had one story alert add and one review (thanks!) and there's only the boring prologue up! Not that that's a bad thing... Ok, I hope I'm not gonna disappoint anyone with what direction this takes...
Keladry of Mindelan ended her glaive pattern dance with a twirl and a stamp. Barely panting, she reached up to brush the hair from her eyes. Her slightly sweat dampened tunic stuck to her back but there was no one to see her, anyway.
She was in a rare, quiet corner of the palace, a hidden garden a few corridors away from her room. No one ever came there, at least not to her knowledge.
She rested her glaive on the ground, watching the sunlight glint off it peacefully.
Peace. A rare atmosphere for a knight.
But she was a knight on holidays or, as she thought, a knight without a purpose. After building New Hope, and getting it running, Lord Wyldon had freed her of commanding it. He, she thought bitterly, probably thought he was doing her a favour. It was true, though, she hadn't wanted the task of commanding a refugee camp when he'd given it to her.
But it was different, after working there. She'd grown to know all the people, their names, their hopes and their dreams. And she'd enjoyed it. But the Scanran war was now over and new towns, cities and homes were being built everywhere. There had been no place for Kel in this, except back at the palace.
She heaved a wistful sigh and began striding back to her rooms. It wasn't like the people had been happy to see her go, or anything, she consoled herself. They had all been sad, even Fanche, an old woman who had at first disapproved of a 'green' knight being placed in command over a refugee town.
Kel reached her door and pulled the key from her belt. Twisting it in the lock, she walked through her door, kicking it shut behind her. A hot bath had poured for her, she had gotten the palace maids to do that for her instead of having to go to the women's bath-house to wash.
Her breakfast waited on her desk. She'd also been getting the palace maids to bring that in, too, so she didn't have to go down to the mess hall and face sympathetic eyes. Especially a certain pair of blue ones belonging to Domitan of Masbolle, a sergeant in the King's Own who Kel had an embarrassing crush on.
Kel knew she'd been avoiding everyone for the past two weeks, but it was for the best, in her mind. She wanted to avoid for as long as possible painful dress fittings with Yuki, Neal's sympathetic and understanding green eyes and the jerk her heart gave everytime she met Dom's sapphire blue eyes. And seeing him with other women, knowing he would never return her feelings anyway.
She stripped off her clothes and slid into her bath, not bothering with breakfast. She wasn't hungry anyway. Closing her eyes, she tried to forget her feelings. She didn't even get close. She tried to think of training, of jousting against Lord Raoul, but her thoughts always strayed to Dom. His blue eyes twinkling as he joked with her, becoming serious as he commanded his company...
Kel shook herself out of it firmly. She would find Raoul later and joust with him. That should get her mind off anything.