Disclaimer: All characters, creatures and places recognized belong to the wonderful Tamora Pierce!

Kel was tired. The fight the day before had been a difficult one. The merchants/farmers were desperate. They were down to their last sixteen members, and they were either going to kill those who stood in their way, or die trying. As they were taking those captured to the prearranged destination many had tried to escape or kill themselves.

Even after dropping off the prisoners, Kel and the men pushed forward. They wished to put less distance between them and the men of Raoul's force. It was just a little past twilight when they stopped to set up camp. For once there was no talking or joking among the men as camp was set up. This mission had taken its toll.

Having eaten, Kel decided to go to bed early. As soon as she had gotten settled in her bed roll, her mind turned to Dom. She smiled as she pictured his dancing blue eyes, the way he looked at her. Then her mind turned back to the last few hours they had spent with each other before she had ridden out.

Kel sighed; it would not be helpful if she stayed awake all night thinking about her lover. "When did I become such a girl?" Kel though to herself as she lazily stroked Jump's head. She could not remember if she had ever lay in bed thinking about a man in this fashion, not just thinking about how he made her skin tingle, but also thinking about his hands roaming over her body, his lips and tongue exploring her. And she in turn doing the same.

She knew the answer was no. She sighed as she turned in her bedroll once more, making Jump grumble. After being unable to fall asleep for another twenty minutes, she got up and grabbed her glaive before leaving her tent. She found a secluded spot and then began on the most complex pattern dance she knew. Upon its completion, she felt that her head was clear and she was now even more physically tired than she was before.

Returning to her tent, Kel finally was able to fall asleep. She had dreams, such sweet dreams that suddenly turned into nightmares. She shivered as she held herself, remembering the dreams.

Kel had been in a garden with Dom. She had been walking around the garden, looking at the roses. She liked the orange with pink tips the most. She was just stroking the petals when she felt Dom's arms wrap around her.

She quickly found herself naked under Dom, the soft springy grass under her, acting as a cushion. She had begun to lose herself in Dom's passion.

Then the dream turned, she was running through the rocky mountains that she had been fighting in over the last month and a half. She was being hunted. She knew that something was on her trail, something lumbering after her, waiting for her to trip and stumble before it attacked.

Determination filled her. She would not run, she would turn and fight. She was a Lady Knight. Standing her ground Kel turned around to face what was coming. She heard thundering hooves, long shadows cast down towards her. Her breath caught in her throat as she noticed the long horns in the shadow. She knew she should have kept running.

The loud hungry cry made her open her eyes in time to see the tips of the horns emerging over the short hill. Bile had started to rise in her throat.

Kel sat up in her bedroll, her heart pounding, sweat rolling down her back. She put her head in her hands, trying to calm herself down. It was only a dream, a nightmare. She reached a quivering hand out to stroke Jump.

Feeling that she would not be able to go back to sleep, Kel got up and dressed. Grabbing her glaive, she left her tent and started to practice. Knowing she needed to, she evaluated her dream.

The beginning was clear, she had been with Dom. She knew that that part had arisen due to the fact that she would be reunited with Dom in a few short hours. But it had been interrupted by her nightmare. She knew that it wasn't sent to her by the Chamber. It was something else.

Having finished her first dance, Kel started on a second dance. She knew that she needed to work this out, that this was important. She had been running through this landscape. Whatever it was, it was going to happen here. Something about the area was screaming that she pay attention, that she had forgotten something important.

Still trying to think about what she could have missed, she began yet another dance. Having come up with nothing, she turned to what had been following her.

Her thoughts had started to send a chill down her spine, it had nothing to do with the chill in the air, she was warm from her workout. It had been from what she had been trying to not think of. There had been hooves and horns. All her mind could come up with was a tauros

Kel knew that she should have tried to remain in her nightmare for longer, see what it was that had been following her, but the emergence of the horns had shocked her back into reality. While her brain kept insisting that it have been a tauros, something else in her wanted her to see, or remember something.

Kel had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't realized that the camp had started to wake up. The men had looked at the commander and thought that she was just doing her normal morning routine, all but one.

Qasim took one look at Kel and knew that something was bothering her. Before he went to the Lady Knight, he gathered two bowls of food. When he saw Kel slow down towards the end of her current pattern dance, he managed to get her attention.

"Most of these lads just assume you are doing your morning practice, but I know better." He handed her a water skin and then the food. "So what has you up and in a sweat, you'll need to change before we head out, you're drenched."

Kel looked down, noticing for the first time that her clothes stuck to her, she frowned trying to think of how long she had been practicing. She slowly started to pick at the food, not feeling very hungry.

"I had a nightmare, and I am trying to figure out what it was trying to tell me." Kel told him, feeling a bit better now that she was talking about it.

He chuckled, "This close to seeing Dom, I would have expected you to have dreams of him." He laughed out right at her flushed face, this time not from exercise. The he frowned. "Was it sent by your Chamber?"

Kel shook her head. "If it had been, I would have seen what was chasing me." She snorted, "Knowing the Chamber I would have not just seen what it was, but lived through the attack." She shivered at the thought. She frowned in thought for a few moments before she started to shiver in the cold. "I am going to go change now; we ride out in twenty minutes."

They had been riding for an hour, Kel knew that they should be closer to Raoul now, they had been riding at a steady pace, but they had also covered a lot of ground before stopping the day before. "And" Kel thought "Raoul is more than likely going to be moving towards me."

She was starting to think over the dream once more when her sparrows came shrieking back to her. Upon their warning, Kel only had time to signal a halt when she saw them emerging. The first thing she saw was a shadow with long horns, then over the rise, the horns came just like in her dream, her breath caught, momentarily over whelming her.

The first raider appeared over the ridge, wearing a helmet with horns attacked. That's when Kel realized what she had been missing; there was not a single set of hooves ringing within the dream, but many. They were under attack, and from the sounds of things, they were not a small raiding party.

It was as the first arrow embedded it's self into her right shoulder that she finally broke into action calling out orders.

The heat was far more extreme than any other that he had felt the medallion emit before, he could swear that he would have a scorch mark on his skin. He nearly fell from the saddle as another wave hit him. He hadn't noticed that he was slipping sideways until he felt Raoul's large hands steady him.

"Sergeant Domitan what is wrong? You are as pale as a sheet in the infirmary." He could see the worry in his eyes.

Fumbling, Dom grabbed the medallion and looked at it. He felt another wave of heat, he finally swore. Looking up he met Raoul's eyes. "It's Kel, she's…she's been greatly injured." He tried to swallow the lump that suddenly obscured his throat. "They are only a league away; we can easily make it there in fifteen minutes as long as we move fast." He paled as another intense wave of heat reached him, waiting for his orders.

Raoul clasped him on the back before calling out, "Well lad's, it seems that Lady Keladry found some trouble and needs our help." He then looked at Dom, "You're on point Sergeant, lead us to your lady."

Dom took the lead, setting the pace to help save the horses and make it to Kel in time, but on the inside he was panicking. He nearly whined every time he felt the medallion blaze. His heart nearly stopped as he reached the rise that led down to where the fight was happening. He scanned the area and felt his heart nearly break when he didn't see Kel.

As they approached the fight, the bandits, for as soon as they began to turn away and run it became apparent that these men were more accustomed to this life style than the Tyran merchants and farmers that they had been chasing, ran.

Dom quickly dismounted and found Peachblossom and Hoshi, who were protecting their wounded mistress. As he walked towards her he noticed her apparent injuries. An arrow in the shoulder, he remember how painful that was, she also bleed heavily from some minor cuts. When she finally turned towards him fully, he noticed the gash running across her chest. He swore as he rushed forward to catch her before she hit the floor.

He had to hold back his bitter laughter as he realized that he finally was holding Kel in his arms, but this was not the happy reunion that he was hoping for.

Raoul found them sometime later. He had chased after the bandits who had run as they saw them approach. To his relief Kel had already been seen to and Dom was sitting there by her side.

He hesitated before placing his hand on Dom's shoulder. "How is she?"

Dom gave him a small smile. "She'll do fine; at least that's what I was told after they dragged her away from me to patch her up. She took an arrow to the shoulder, had a big but luckily shallow cut across her chest, and they also found a gash on her calf. On top of all that she had minor cuts." He gave a shaky laugh, "I'm surprised I even found her standing."

Raoul gave a half-hearted grin. "Well, you know Keladry, if the Yamani could fight with worse injuries than so can she." He looked into Dom's eyes. "You did good today, kept your head even though you knew she was in danger."

Dom nodded, looking back down at the woman on the cot. "I surprised even myself. I was sure that I would lose my head and do something stupid." Dom shook his head. Looking up at Raoul Dom decided to voice his mind. "Commander, Raoul…I…I'm not sure how much longer I will be with the Own. I came to my decision last night." He looked at Raoul almost pleadingly.

Raoul laughed. "Dom, quite frankly, I'm surprised that it took you this long to even say anything." He clasped the younger man on the back and looked towards the woman on the cot. "You're still enrolled so don't forget to do your duties. I won't accept your resignation until we're back in Corus and you have already asked her."

"Thank you Raoul, I would not dream of doing otherwise, otherwise I may end up with no job and no wife." He shuttered. "Then my mother will really be pushing the court ladies on me."

Raoul laughed as he walked out of the healer's tent. Once he got back to his and Buri's tent he sat down heavily, and started rubbing his hands over his face. "God's I wish I had Alanna nearby, I really need to talk to Jon."

"Why do you need to talk to him?" Buri asked from behind him.

He smiled at his wife. "I was about to give Sergeant Domitan some congratulations on an Own matter, but before I could, he informed me that he was planning on leaving sometime in the near future."

Buri smiled, "That's great, for him at least." The she frowned, "Do you have anyone else in mind for your offer?"

Raoul shook his head. "Nobody would work nearly as well; they may turn out to be another Glaisdan of Haryse from First several years back."

Not missing Raoul's hint at duties, Dom hesitated before he leaned in and kissed Kel's cheek. As much as he wanted to stay by her side, he knew he also had to see to his men. Giving one last glance towards Kel, Dom left the tent.

Wolset stopped him a few steps out of the tent, the rest of his squad with him. "How is she?"

Dom looked at all the worried faces of his squad and smiled, "She's in better shape than when we pulled her out of that blasted castle in Scanra. It also helps that our healers are at full strength. Not an exhausted Meathead."

The men in front of him sighed with relief. "T'wasn't as bad as ye thought then?" Wolset asked.

Dom grimaced "I wouldn't say that. I'll be having words with her when she wakes, she was lucky to get away with what she had without wearing her armor." He saw the men's face darken. "I know we taught her better, but what is done is done. Now lads, what shall we do as we wait? The healers estimate we will be here for another day or two."

Kel felt like she was floating. Everything was numb, very numb. She just let the currents pull her were they may, feeling no need to worry.

Slowly, she started to ponder a few questions. Why was she just floating? Shouldn't she be doing something? What was she even floating in? Why was she so numb? Were her eyes closed? Or where they open but she was just in a pitch black place where no light could penetrate?

As her mind started to work, she started to see things, she just wasn't sure if she were seeing it with her eyes or with her mind. It confused her. She wasn't a seer, why would she start now?

She just continued to float, feeling lost, and feeling like she needed to find something. She just couldn't figure what or who she was trying to find.

Wolset had been watching Dom. He knew that he was trying his best to not worry about Kel. If he was truthful to himself then he would admit that they all were. But there was no use in dwelling on it. They had to find a way to get his mind off of the woman in the healer's tent.

He smiled as a plan formed in his head. He just hoped that they would not be killed for doing what was in his mind's eye.

Raoul sat in the tent he shared with Buri, his head in his hands. He wanted to go back to Corus. He snorted. It wasn't often that he made that wish, but he was this time. They had been away for about two months. That was nowhere near a record, the war had lasted years and yet he had happily stayed on the border until Jon called him back. But now, he felt like it was almost too much in this current situation.

He relaxed when he felt Buri rest her hand on his shoulder. "What has you thinking so hard?"

He looked up at his wife and smiled. "I just want to go home. I'm not sure I am still cut out for this line of work. I still wish to serve Jon, I still will protect our home, but I no longer feel the thrill behind hunting down bandits, staying in one place as I watch the men, and woman who I trained heal. It is all just too much. I feel as if I have forgotten how to laugh, how to just be myself, not Knight Commander of the King's Own."

Buri gave him a soft smile. "You were not always a Knight Commander Raoul. I know," she laughed her "that I never saw that Raoul. By the time I got into Tortall, I met a man who had been thrust into the position of Knight Commander of the King's Own. A Commander of one of the laziest bands of men I had ever known. I watched as you took those men who knew nothing of fighting a real battle, who felt privileged to just sit in the capital and let everyone else, the army and the knights fight to defend outside of the palace. You took that force and turned it into something."

Raoul smiled at his wife before pulling her into a hug. "Thank you Buri. I needed a reminder of my accomplishments. The Gods know that I've made too many mistakes in my past." He gave her a quick kiss.

Buri just gave him an evil grin.

"What?" Raoul as starting to feel uncomfortable with the look his wife was giving him.

"I'm just remembering some of your other great accomplishments. Like the time you managed to tear down Thayet's favorite drapes while running away from a particular dragon of a matriarch."

Raoul groaned Thayet had not been pleased with Raoul; he absently rubbed the scar she had left on him. "Why did you have to bring that up? I have been trying to forget how angry a pregnant queen can be." He paused in thought, "Actually I have been trying to forget how angry pregnant women in general can be."

Buri's grin only grew larger. "How about that one time when Alanna nearly decapitated you because you told her that she looked like an angry fat elf while she was pregnant?"

Raoul groaned.

Wolset quickly looked around the camp, insuring that Raoul was nowhere to be seen before he closed the tent flap and looked at the men crowed inside, specifically Dom who looked like he wanted to leave. "So men, let's begin." He quickly pulled out some dice and a hip flask.

He took a quick drink before passing it to the next man. "So what are we betting with this time?" Fred asked as he dug out his own set of dice, the others, including Dom, following.

Wolset's grin grew wide, an evil grin on his face. "Pranks." He laughed at the other men's faces. "The loser has to pull a prank on someone in this camp, not tomorrow or in the near future, but tonight. Right when it is expressed."

Dom finally broke into a grin. "Rules?"

Wolset pretended to think, "Those in this tent and the healer's tent are off-limits. Otherwise, all is fair game, including those Regulars that are still with us." He smiled at the relief passing over Dom's face; did he really think that they would mess with the healing Lady Knight? But he had to shake the thought away; they had done that in the past.

Dom groaned, how could he have gotten himself roped into this. They had been playing dice for an hour; once one man's flask was depleted another one took its place. Needless to say, they were all very happy, slightly buzzed, and had pulled almost a dozen small pranks. Now it was his turn, his luck had run out.

The men had just given him his mission and he was dreading the results. Needing a little more courage, or so he thought to himself, he took another drink from the latest flask before flashing them a confident smirk and saluting them. He exited the tent and thought a moment as to how to safely accomplish his task.

As the idea finally struck, Dom smiled. There would be no way that his plan could not work. It was fool-proof. Whistling to himself he walked away from the tent full of his friends and towards the tent that belonged to his commander and his wife.

AN: I am really sorry for how long it has been since I last updated this story. I have had half of it written for a while, but it has taken me longer to finish than I would have liked. But now that finals are over and I don't have school or work for a month, I plan on going over earlier chapters to get a better timeline/make sure I don't repeat any pranks within the up coming chapters. Once that is complete, I believe that it should be easier for me to write the next chapter.