Kel woke on the second day of Midwinter with a massive headache. She moaned and made herself sit up, all she really wanted to do was to curl back up and fall asleep. But she had things to do, places to be...

A cool hand pushed a cup into her hands.

"Drink," Yuki commanded. "We can't have Lady Kariami with a headache. Neal sent it over for you. He thought you might need it."

Kel groaned again, remembering what Yuki had in store for her. Idly, she wondered why she had a headache.

She froze, the cup halfway lifted to her lips.

"Oh no..." she remembered, horrified. "No, no, no, no."

Now she remembered why she had a headache. Dom had offered her wine. She had gotten drunk. And kissed Dom in her drunken state.

"Oh no," she whispered again. "I won't ever be able to go near him again!"

Yuki sat on the end of the bed, looking amused.

"Who's this 'him'?"

Kel took in Yuki's amused expression and put two and two together. "No one. And you, it was you, who hung mistletoe above my door." She tipped the contents of the cup into her mouth and nearly spat it out again. Neal's concoctions were foul, but they worked.

Yuki ignored that statement. "Is this 'him', Dom, perhaps?" she suggested slyly.

"No," Kel denied, her face heating up slightly.

Yuki rolled her eyes and stood up. "Are you going to get up? We have a lot to do to you before Midmeal."

"We?" Kel looked around the room and to her alarm, Alanna and Lalasa stood next to her desk, smiles on their faces. "And before Midmeal? What about breakfast?"

Alanna pointed to a tray sitting on Kel's desk. "You're up late. Everyone else has eaten and they think you've gone on your assignment."

Kel stood up slowly. The tea was taking its affect. Her headache was disappearing slowly.

Then she registered something Alanna had said. "You mean... I can't talk to anyone in the palace for three days now?"

Yuki nodded.

"Damn!" Kel muttered. Now she wouldn't be able to go and apologise to Dom... The word would be out that the Lady Knight got drunk and laid one on a sergeant of the King's Own. She buried her face in her hands, but couldn't help hoping that maybe, just maybe, her kiss would have meant something to Dom.

Dom sat in his room, thoroughly depressed.

-flashback-

He had been waiting all morning for Kel to come and say something to him. It wouldn't be what he was hoping for, he was sure, but at least it would hold their friendship together.

Dom had gone down for breakfast and scanned the tables hopefully for Kel.

She wasn't there. Neal and Yuki sat together with a spare place for him. He had walked over, not bothering to get any food, and sat next to Neal.

"Where's Kel?" He had asked.

Neal and Yuki exchanged a glance. Dom eyed them suspiciously, wondering what they were up to.

"Kel left a little while ago on an assignment for Lord Raoul," Neal replied.

-flashback ended-

Hurt enfulged him. She could have come before she had left. After all, Neal had said 'a little while ago.' She could have woken him up, explained and then left.

Dom could only come to one conclusion. She must hate him after that. She must think that he had taken advantage of her by kissing her back.

He made a decision. He must push these feelings for Kel out, and never think of her that way again. She would never return his feelings and he would only wait and watch while she moved on with life. He would find another woman. Hadn't Yuki mentioned a Yamani friend?

After all, he thought bitterly, every woman except the one I want admires me.

Kel closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of her bath. A prod on her arm made her open her eyes abruptly.

"Yes?" she demanded, looking at Yuki.

"Time to get out." Yuki held out a towel to her. Kel took it and Yuki retreated to the other side of the screen.

Reluctantly, Kel got out of the bath. She rubbed herself dry and wrapped herself in her towel. She poked her head out from behind the screen.

"Do I have any clothes to wear?" she asked. Lalasa pointed behind her. Kel turned to find a bundle of clothes draped over a stool.

"I am not wearing that!" she informed them crossly, as she spotted a corset. "No, no, no."

"You promised!" Yuki called to her. "And if you don't put it on, Alanna will come around and force you to."

Kel muttered something rude under her breath and began to dress. She pulled on what Lalasa called a 'underskirt' and then eyed the corset rebelliously.

"How are you supposed to do the thing up, anyway?" Kel glared at the screen, wishing she could escape.

Lalasa came behind the screen and deftly wrapped the corset around Kel. She began lacing the corset up tightly. Kel winced; why did it have to be so tight?

When Lalasa was done she helped Kel pull a thin, white woollen shift on and then she held the gown up.

Kel stared at it in horror.

"No. No, no, no."

"Yes." Alanna came around the screen with a wicked grin on her face. "Do I have to force you? I'm not as weak as I look, you know. I may be smaller than you, but..."

Yuki followed her. Kel noticed that they were both dressed up, Alanna in lavender and Yuki in pale yellow.

"It's not fair," Kel grumbled. " I am not wearing that."

Alanna stretched her arms and swung them. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this. Do you want us to dress you like a doll, me holding you still and Lalasa dressing you?"

Kel winced at the picture that her words presented. "Fine. Go away and I'll put it on."

Alanna and Yuki stepped around the other side and Kel pulled the gown on, mumbling angrily. Lalasa pulled it so it was sitting right and Kel pulled it back up, so the neckline was higher.

Lalasa adjusted it again. "It sits like that."

"I know it sits like that," Kel gritted her teeth. "But I do not wear clothes like that."

Alanna stuck her head around. "Is she being difficult again?"

Kel shook her head glumly. "No, I'm not."

"Come out!" Yuki called. "We need to do your makeup."

Dragging her feet, Kel came out from behind the screen. Yuki grabbed her arm and sat her in a chair. Alanna began massaging rice powder into her face and Yuki handed Kel a pair of thin slippers.

"Before you argue, you're only going to be inside."

"Inside for the whole day?" Kel protested. "When am I going to train?"

"Not training for three days won't kill you," Alanna promised, finishing the rice powder and beginning on the kohl. "I do it, sometimes."

Kel sat in stony silence. Yuki began brushing her hair and pinning it up in some sort of painful style. Alanna brushed lip paint onto Kel's lips.

At last they both finished and Kel bent to shove the slippers on her feet. To her surprise, they were soft and not uncomfortable, unlike the rest of her outfit. She was finding it slightly hard to breathe in the corset and was trying to take slow, deep breaths.

Yuki stood in front of her and nodded.

"No one will ever recognise you," she said in satisfaction.

"Want a bet?" Kel asked, confident. "One gold noble."

Alanna bobbed her head enthusiastically as Yuki shook her head. "I will. One gold noble that no one realises that you are Lady Kariami over the whole three days."

Kel nodded in agreement. Alanna held out her hand and Kel shook it.

"You should have looked in the mirror before agreeing to that," Yuki muttered.

A/N- Sorry I didn't update for a little while. What with New Year, birthdays and weekends, well, I got a bit busy. But this week I should be able to update more.