Disclaimer: All characters and places recognized belong to Tamora Pierce
Kel woke up slowly the next morning. Without opening her eyes she smiled as she remembered how loving and gentle Dom had been, knowing that it had been her first time. He had set a perfect pace to insure her comfort. She had never imagined being with a man could be like that.
Kel finally opened her eyes when she felt Dom's hand quickly cup her breast and then slowly travel down her stomach to come to rest on her thigh. "Morning love." He said between placing kisses on the back of her neck, causing her to shiver.
Kel turned over to look into Dom's bright eyes, she smiled. "Morning." She saw that Dom was searching for something in her face, and knew that he had found it when he smiled back at her.
Dom pulled her closer, "Want to try again love? They always say the second time is better, for the female at least." He laughed when he felt Kel shyly move her hands over his chest and down his stomach. Needing no more instruction Dom captured Kel's lips as he rolled on top.
Still trying to catch their breath Dom and Kel got dressed for the day, which proved rather difficult as each time they brushed against each other they found themselves removing some of the clothes they had just put on.
Finally fully dressed, Kel turned to her first task of the day and sighed. Pulling her to him, Dom kissed the top of her head. "What's wrong love?"
Kel gestured to her room, "I need to sort through all this and choose what to send back home with Lalasa and what I am taking on the mission." She bit her lip.
Dom gave the top of her head one last kiss before pulling away and saluting her, "At your service." He gave her a smile and stated, "Besides, this gives me a reason to be locked away in your room." He wink at Kel, causing her to blush.
"Okay Sergeant, can you pack up my mission clothes as I get the dresses ready for Lalasa?" Kel smiled as Dom quickly went to work on his task.
With Dom's help Kel had managed to pack all of her belongings with more time to spend with the man she would miss most during this mission. Having left a note for Lalasa to take the dresses, flowers and jewelry back to Corus with her, Kel and Dom agreed to go to a local charm worker and purchase something that would allow them to know how the other was doing.
Quickly locating a shop with what they wanted, they purchased matching medallions that would grow warm if the other was injured enough to draw blood. The salesman reassured the couple that it would also tell them how far away the other was, which direction to look, and the warmer the medallion, the worse off they were. Still feeling skeptical, the man quickly produced two pins and stabbed them in the finger tips, the medallions grew slightly warmer. Satisfied that they would work, they left the shop and went to eat lunch.
Kel would be riding out in an hour.
Kel had lunch with Dom's squad, where there was a small amount of teasing towards the couple. The only tense moment arose when Fred joined the table. Kel frowned at the man's apparent condition, a bruise was blooming on his cheek and he had a slight limp. She looked sharply at all the men with the exception of Dom.
Wolset grinned at her sheepishly, "The sergeant told ye didn't he?"
Kel nodded, looking at Dom from the corner of her eye, "He had no choice unless he wanted me to be angry with him for dragging me to a tavern last night. And I feel that I shouldn't need to remind you lot that I can take those types of slanders. I have been hearing them from peers since my second year as a page."
Riley spoke up, "But weren't you only eleven? That's too early for even commoners to be starting those relations!"
Kel sighed and told him dryly, "Be grateful you never met Joren of Stone Mountain and most of his cronies. Sir Zahir ibn Alhaz turned out to be slightly decent, but Sir Garvey of Runnerspring is still nasty when he has a chance, he was the first one to question my virtue."
Greatly curious, Fred spoke for the first time, "What happened?"
Kel frowned at the memory, "Sir Faleron of King's Reach took some time to warm up to me, I think it had something to do with me standing up against three older pages for his cousin, Sir Merric of Hollyrose, and then Sir Seaver of Tasride. For it was the next night that he finally joined our study group. It was around winter my probationary year. Then second year, he actually started asking me for help. It was because of him asking for help and me telling him that he needn't ask that Garvey spoke up, basically asking if he was friends with me so he could have me anytime."
Fred winced, knowing that he had basically inferred the same idea, "And Faleron fought Garvey over that statement."
Kel shook her head, "I managed to hold him back." She smiled at Dom who was looking very excited for what had come next, having heard the story from his cousin in a letter. "Go ahead sergeant."
"It was the Meathead." Dom laughed, "He let his tongue get him in trouble, like always." The men who were most familiar with Neal laughed.
"What did the sorry lad say?" Fred asked not wanting to make that mistake as well.
Kel smiled, "He asked Garvey if he spent so much time with Joren because he could have him whenever he wanted." She shook her head, "I had to have Peachblossom pull him out of that fight. I also yelled at him for the first time that night."
"Did that actually stop all of the fighting over your virtue though?" Riley asked.
Kel shrugged and looked at Dom, he would know better than her.
Dom shook his head. "Whenever they made a slander to the pages in Kel's absence, they would fight, Neal included.
Kel frowned. "I never saw them with bruises."
Dom laughed, "Neal healed what he could and at least healed the bruises that were visible on your friends, he didn't want them yelled at by you. I think Meathead liked that for himself."
Kel muttered something that caused Dom to choke on his drink. She gave him a small smile before rising to return her tray and go double check she had everything ready.
Dom watched her go, wanting to run after her, knowing that this could be the last time he got her alone. He looked up when Wolset cleared his throat. He smiled as he saw him nod his head towards the retreating lady and smile. He got up and almost tripped over the bench from his rush sending his men into laughter.
Kel cursed causing Dom to laugh as he watched, from her bed, search for her discarded clothes. She glared at him, "You know I came to my room to double check that I had everything and take it down to the yard, not that."
Dom smiled as he finally climbed off of her bed and quickly located his clothes. "Sorry love, but you can't deny that this was fun." He chuckled as she stuck her tongue out. "Besides I can still help you down and the men can't leave without their commander."
Kel sighed, "I'm going to miss you. Maybe I should have taken Buri's offer." She blushed when he raised his eyebrows. "She wanted to ride with me so that Raoul would trade your men for her."
Dom smiled as he cupped her face. "I love you Kel. You made the right call, who knows if I could keep my head if I saw anything happen to you now that you are mine." He gently kissed her before pulling on his tunic and grabbing one of her bags as she finished placing some of her armor on, Dom helping to tighten the straps.
Having arrived in the courtyard several minutes ago, Kel scowled as the regular army finally arrived. While the men of the Own had teased her about her slightly late arrival, they were all itching to make it to their destination in time to prevent the next attack.
When the three squad leaders approached first Raoul to ask who was in charge of them and their men, Kel could tell that it would take some time to win them over. She sighed when she noticed their hesitance to approach her. She did not have to deal with men like this since the end of the war, she had been spoiled. She urged Hoshi forward to talk with the men.
"What are your names solders?" Her command came in her well used commander's voice asking for her orders to be obeyed. Upon their names she nodded. "I'm Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan. I will expect you to have all your men ready to ride out on time next time. If we have to wait on even a single man from your squad, all men will be punished as a reminder of punctuality. Am I clear?"
Kel waited for them to respond. They didn't, not really feeling like getting off her horse, and now wishing she was on Peachblossom, Kel nudged Hoshi forward and looked down on the men. "You will soon enough learn, but until then, know that I don't and will not go running away from my command because some men don't think I am capable."
Dom, who had been watching from nearby, always loving to watch Kel as she dealt with new people, spoke up, "You would do well to heed the Protector's words men, you don't want to be at the receiving end of her glaive." He smiled sweetly at them, "I've seen her work, and let me tell you, it wasn't easy to carry out those corpses." His smile grew wider when they turned pale.
"Thank you for that Sergeant Domitan, I'm not sure you helped to convince these men that I won't lead them out of harm." Kel scowled at Dom.
Dom gave her a player's bow, "I am sorry Protector, but it will get them to think."
Kel just stared at Dom hard enough that he flinched. Then turning back to the men in question, she softened her gaze. "You have a few days to learn, you don't have to like me, but for the safety of your men and yourself, you do need to follow my command, now mount up!"
When Kel turned Hoshi around, she caught Raoul's eye and he gave her a small nod. She smiled back knowing that she had done all she could for now to gain these men's trust. She knew that she would only fully get it once they saw her in a fight. Riding to the front of the column, Kel signaled for them to ride out. It was all she could do to not look back to Dom.
The ride to their patrol area was longer and harder than Kel had imagined. In part was that the terrain they had to cover was more mountain and rock than she had initially realized when they were mapping out their course. The second was the men from the regular army. She had been given thirty regular soldiers, and only a third had heard of her fame, for which she was grateful for, it meant that she only had to prove herself to twenty men. Also while they were riding out to their destination, most of the men she had been given were foot soldiers and therefore unused to riding for long hours upon a horse.
As Kel rode up at the head of the line, Qasim came to join her. He smiled, just like he had when she had been a page. "What is troubling you young one? Missing lover boy already?"
Kel smiled at her old friend, "No, not yet, we have been separated longer than a few hours before."
Qasim laughed, "But that was before your heart was involved."
Kel shook her head, "Never with Dom, he truly is a Player, but something about him has stayed with me, even before we became more."
Qasim looked thoughtful for a moment before he smiled as her ever present sparrows came flocking around him, it seemed to be common knowledge for all the birds that he had seed and berries for them. "It still surprises me that, while your flock may change, they are just as loyal as the last. First, your page friends came to defend you when most would have ignored your help during that spindren hunt. Later, any man of the Own would have laid his life on the line to help you. We were all very jealous of Dom and his squad when they got the chance to go after you. You even had the full and utter respect of all those you rescued from the heart of Scanra. It will be no different than any of that by the end of this mission Lady Kel. These regular army men will come around." He smiled at her as she thought over his words.
"I guess that I have become spoiled. I have forgotten just how much work I had to put into gaining people's loyalty." She looked up when Qasim reached over and clasped her arm.
"You'll do it again and again Kel. There will always be those who hate you for your sex, but they will never forget what you have done for them." He then rode off to talk with some of the others, leaving Kel in thought as to how she could go about winning these new men's respect.
Before dinner that first night on the move, Kel had come up with a plan to start winning over the new men, and to see how well they worked with members of the Own. Signaling for a halt, Kel turned Hoshi and face the men. She pitched her voice to the one she used during battle, commanding the full attention of the men. "Alright men, we camp here tonight, but don't get too comfortable, before we sup tonight, we are having a practice session. Now move!"
Kel watched as the men from the Own grinned at her, they knew they were about to have fun. She smiled back, holding back a laugh as the men from the regular army started at her in disbelief. The men for the Own having already started to make camp, Kel called again, "I said move! If I don't see you men moving your sorry asses in the next thirty seconds, you'll bet your sorry behinds that you will not be given supper!"
One of the men form the Own called out to her, "May I have their share commander?" Others quickly joined in, making the immobile men scurry for fear of losing a meal.
Finally dismounting knowing that her orders were being followed, Kel quickly looked after Hoshi and check up on Peachblossom before gathering her tent. Kel still finished in time to wait for most of the men. She knew that the Own had already started the cooking fire and had set the stew on to heat up. She bent down to pet Jump. "Keep an eye out on these new ones, if you see something don't hesitate to either come and get me, or fix it yourself." She smiled at his quiet woof and the thump of his tail.
As Kel stood, she finally saw that the last of the men had finally come.
"First, we will warm up; there is no need for us to be dysfunctional before we even begin. No weapons, first we will do various stretches used by the Yamani court, follow my example." Kel started what would be the equivalency of one of her pattern dances, minus the glaive. She paused to watch the men, most of the Own who had seen her with her glaive smiled as they began to mimic her movements. The regulars just stood looking confused. "Move now, do you want to pull a muscle?" Kel called out, making the men jump and start to mimic her movements.
Feeling nicely warm, Kel called for a halt, she noticed the regulars had begun to breathe heavily, not used to that kind of work out. "We will do this once more in the morning before we ride out, and before supper every day we are not expecting a fight."
"Now pair off." Kel started to walk around, correcting men as she saw fit. At one point she heard a cry and then a gruff call of "Get off me ye mangy mutt!" Kel quickly made her way to all the commotion. She had to stop herself from laughing as she saw Jump hanging off one of the men's rear end.
When she saw that his partner was about to swing his sword at Jump, she whistled. Jump quickly let go and ran towards her, at that same moment she used her glaive to knock the sword out of the potential attacker's hand.
She bent down to pat Jump. Out loud she asked him, "What was he doing wrong?"
She ignored the snickers from some of the men around her. She looked up at the two men who had been brought to her attention after Jump had finished his report. "You two find different partners! If you think that this is just a game, you are wrong. We are here for a job, not to socialize!"
When there was no movement she stood. "You practice with him, and you," she pointed to the one Jump had bit, "you will practice with me."
He smiled, believing it would be easy, obviously he believes that women couldn't fight Kel thought to herself as she waited for his attack. He attacked without warning, Kel easily blocking. She allowed him to continue his attack, when they came hilt to hilt; she finally began to show him her full range. Only a moment later she won. "Again." This second match lasted shorter than the first. On the third Kel had him on his back, her sword at his throat. Upon his yield, Kel walked away to check the other men.
Kel called a halt to the practice an hour later, she was more than pleased to see that while breathing hard and sweating uncontrollably, the men from the army were still standing, barely. The men from the Own on the other hand, while being sweaty, still held a fairly steady breathing rate and were already laughing and joking. She was also pleased to see that they worked well together, as during the last thirty minutes she had mixed the groups.
Having grabbed her bowl, she looked around, spotting first Qasim who waved her over, she shook her head, deciding to head over to a group of regulars. She still had a long way to go before she fully earned their trust, and hopefully loyalty, but she only had another day and a half of so to do so.
Before sitting, she cleared her throat and politely asked if she could join them. While she noticed their slight hesitation, she was pleased to see that they nodded their agreement. While conversation now seemed more forced, it eventually turned towards Kel.
"So commander," Kel pretended not to notice the sneer in the man's voice as he addressed her, "how many time have you actually been in charge of a force, any size?"
Kel thought for a moment, "It all depends." When she noticed several of the men raise their eyebrows in question she sighed. "Well, as a first year page, I led my group of friends on a campaign against bullies. I know that was nothing big, but it did make life easier."
Before Kel could continue Qasim, whom she hadn't noticed joining the group, spoke up, "Lady Keladry, don't forget, it was also your first year that you led Lord Raoul on a spindren hunt." He smiled as she scowled.
"She led the Giantkiller at what? Age ten?" One of the men asked.
Kel shook her head, "I was eleven, and all that I did was follow my sparrows to the nest."
Qasim laughed, "You forget youngster, I was your partner. You were the one who even thought to ask for help, and we never would have found that nest in one day if not for you bringing it to My Lord's attention."
Kel sighed, "Fine if you count those two, there was also the time in my second year where I was forced to take command against Hill Bandits. The leader froze up when he saw we were trapped."
Qasim shook his head, "Lady Keladry, you are far too modest, Sergeant Domitan told us of Sir Nealan's letter, stating that you saved lives during that spindren hunt as you pages watched the rear, so that is now four times before the age of twelve."
She glared at the older man before continuing, "I also led a mock defending force in my final year as a page, my team won, even with one of my men not bothering to give us warning that the attacking force had passed him. As a squire I had to take over command of Sergeant Domitan's squad when he was hit by an arrow." Kel forced a small smile, "That was the very day that I killed my first Killing Device." She shuddered at the memory, many of the men made the mark against evil over their chests. Even if none had seen them first hand, they had all heard reports of the things.
"Is it true Lady Knight that they were taller than a giant and had claws made of knives?"
"Yes and no. They were made from giant's bones, chains and pulleys, but if you tried, you could easily climb the thing. And their hands and feet were knives. The only way you could kill them without a mage was by cracking open their domed heads, releasing the spirit of the child that powered them."
Many of the men growled, they had never heard that part before, "I'd love to shake the hand of the man who disemboweled that godless mage. Killing children to power monstrosities." One of the men spat.
Qasim laughed, "You'll be getting your wish soon enough, I've heard the story often enough, but never from a first person point of view." He smiled at Kel, willing her to continue to speak.
"My next command was to organize a refugee camp, protect it the best I could with three green knights, a few squads of convict solders and the people of the camp itself, men, women, and children. It was by far not as easy as one would think; I had to prove myself to my friends, those people and myself. Then, while I was away, they were taken by the Scanrans."
"To be taken to the mage?" One of the men asked.
Kel shook her head, "Not fully, they sold the adults into slavery, and the children were sent to the mage." She smiled, "I was so proud of them all. They proved to be more trouble than their captors thought." She quickly sobered up, "Some of them were killed for it, some of them were raped, but they held on until I got to them."
"Got to them? Ye followed them past the boarder? How come ye still got yer head?" Another of the men asked.
Kel nodded, "I ran off after them. By morning, Sergeant Domitan's squad had found me, with orders from Lord Raoul to follow my orders. Before we left, my knight friends joined me, along with a squad of convicts and my old serving boy and a friend squire. We managed to free the adults from the slavers, but the children had already been moved further into Scanra. We followed them to the mage's hide out, laid siege to the castle and rescued all of the children."
"But who killed the mage?" the men frowned, all wondering what ill fate awaited the Tortallan hero. "Did he die fulfilling his deed?"
Kel snorted, "Nearly, Kinslayer and his ax were what caused most of my injuries, along with a tumble down the stairs with him. I also had to see past the mage's illusion to kill him. Sergeant Domitan found me in the castle and thought me dead at first. Sir Nealan yelled at me for my shotty bandage."
The men were very silent. Then one of them, the one who had wanted to shake the hero's hand, stood up and bowed. "Thank you Lady Knight." More of the men followed suit.
Kel was very embarrassed, "Please, get up. It was nothing really."
Qasim chuckled, "You have always been too modest dear Protector."
Kel scowled, "Don't call me that."
Conversation continued for a while longer, many wanting to know a little more of the mission.
Kel went to bed feeling that while she still had to do a little more work to convince all the men of her abilities, she had most of them won over.
By the time Kel had divided the men into their fighting groups, she only had four stubborn men who doubted her. Knowing that the only way to gain their trust was to have them watch her in action, Kel had two of them under her direct command for the upcoming skirmish. She could tell that those men were not too happy, but like everyone, they had learned to obey her command. She knew on the day of the first attack that the men were ready. She just hoped that they lived long enough to see the second half of the fighting force; Dom in particular crossed her mind.
AN: I was hoping to get this chapter up faster than I have, but I have been distracted. Here it is now, hope you enjoy the little bit of fluff in the beginning of the chapter, I honestly don't know how many more chapters before they will be united, I'm shooting for one chapter for the mission, which has been started, and there may be a dream or two, but I have not decided.