Kel smiled at the note in front of her. It came from one of her investments in the city, an eating house she enjoyed visiting whenever she visited Lalasa. It wasn't one that tended to cater to the nobility that came to the district for the Raven Armory of Lalasa's dress shop unlike the eating houses around it. This one catered more to the common people working in the district. The prices were lower and the fare much more simplistic to the delicacies the other eating houses put out for every meal. They served a variety of turnovers, fresh fruit, vegetables, and soft rolls along with different juices.
It had been two weeks since she had gone down to see if she could take some of her investment or add to her investment to have baskets of food delivered to the Raven Armory everyday just before midday. She never specified exactly what needed to go, only that she wanted enough for the clerks, smiths, and apprentices to all have a midday. The owner had done the leg work in figuring out how many people were in each area and had started sending specific baskets of food to each private forge and to the outdoor forge along with full casks of juice.
The note sitting on her desk detailed the cost of such a thing each week and how it weighed against her investment. She was seeing less back but she was still seeing money returning each week to her account. It was a surprise because she hadn't invested too much in the business. But the owner had included that since the Raven Armory was receiving deliveries, Lalasa had started asking for deliveries for her seamstresses and clerks. And when Lalasa had started asking for such things, other businesses had noticed and had started asking for such things. The smaller businesses only paid for a few days a week but it was enough to boost their business significantly. Enough that Kel's small investment still saw return every week while she fed close to forty employees of the Raven Armory daily.
She had visited the Raven Armory in that time, as well, several times over to bring Kas a treat of a cold drink or something sweet from a bakery while he worked. Kas never indicated he knew the midday was paid for by her but Master Reeves had pulled her aside one day before taking her back to see Kas.
"You've improved the mood of at least the apprentices and clerks here. At least twice a morning I hear them wondering what will come in the baskets today and what they hope it will be. When their moods improve it makes things easier on us masters. As for the journeymen, when our moods are good, they have an easier time," he had winked at her. "Thank you, on behalf of my employees."
"I have no idea what you are thanking me for," Kel had teased him back and had walked back to Kas.
When Kel was in a mind to visit Kas at work, she never stayed long and she never interrupted if he was in the middle of something. If he was busy, she'd leave whatever treat she had brought near him and would take her leave. Whenever she saw Kas for an outing after, he would express his pleasure at seeing her and his dislike of her running away so quickly. She smiled as she realized that he'd likely have more to say to her when she met with him for their outing later. She had visited the day before to drop off something sweet and he had been exceptionally busy shaping a sword. So she had left it on his table and ran.
"I don't think I've seen you smile like that in some time," Kel heard Dom's voice from the door. She turned to look to see him fully in his uniform for the King's Own. "Did a prank go well? I didn't hear Meathead screaming anywhere so it can't have been on him."
"I was just thinking about what Kas might have to say to me, or rather, do with me tonight when I see him, since I ran out on him again yesterday while he was busy," Kel grinned at Dom. She knew Dom was well aware of what Kas thought on those matters. It was likely he would pin her into some shadowed doorway and kiss her thoroughly while he told her how cheated he felt of time with her in his arms once again. Knowing that line of thinking would get her far too distracted she turned her attention back to Dom. "Recruitment?" She nodded to the uniform.
"Actually, a call," Dom sighed. "And Raoul wanted me to come and get you too. A large group of spidren attacked a village in the Royal Forest. He told me he wants your cool head out there," Dom shifted on his feet. "Do you want me to help you pack things up? He wanted to leave within the hour."
Kel bit back a sigh of her own. It had been an inevitable truth that she would have to leave the palace at some point to return to her duties. Like Third Company, she had been on unofficial leave after returning from the war. It stood to reason since her task master was Lord Raoul. Now that he was ready for some action, she had to be too. Still, it was more than regretful that she would miss her outing with Kas.
"I don't need help, I'll be down in the stables in a bit," Kel told Dom. She heard him hesitate a moment and then he left. Before she left her desk she reached for paper to write a short note to Kas. She had to go but she didn't have to stand him up completely. He would at least know she wasn't going to be showing for that night or any night soon, probably.
One thing that Kel did know about Raoul was that in the past, once he got out of the palace, it was hard to get him back. The only thing that had changed since her time as his squire was the fact he was now married. There was a chance he'd want to return after the call to his wife or at least sooner than a few months if he had a choice to return to her. There was also a chance that Buri would be accompanying them since she was no longer tied to the Riders as closely. If that was the case for this call, then all bets were off on how long it would take them to return.
She had taken the time to explain such things to Kas when he had ventured to ask about her career and how it worked for her. Most knights held posts at the palace or had set schedules for patrols when they did have duties. Kel was bound to Raoul and that made her life much like that of those living in the Own. Even though Raoul had a new squire, he still seemed to like keeping Kel close. She had heard whispers from the men that he seemed to be training her as his replacement. It was just a rumor as far as she knew but even the thought of it brought Kel to wonder what that sort of life would be like for her.
She knew it wouldn't be easily accepted that a woman commanded the King's Own, a prestigious placement for male warriors of the noble class and of the wealthier merchant class. She also knew it would mark her for more ridicule about her perceived easiness as a woman. Men looking for promotions could attempt to pursue her or proposition her, not that she'd accept. Anyone she did promote would face questioning of if they had earned the placement properly or not. It would pose more hassles and complications than the men would likely want to deal with.
Then there was the thought of having the life Raoul tended to live. He was often gone from the palace, commanding at the head of Third Company. She would likely want to take the same approach rather than sit back and paper push while the captains of the companies did all of the commanding. But that didn't leave much of a future for her to have a sweetheart or family if the opportunity presented itself.
She hadn't thought of that last part much in depth before, but now Kas had her thinking of a distant future of maybes. Maybe he would want to be more than just sweethearts one day. Maybe she would want to say yes to him if he proposed a marriage. Maybe they would have a family. But that was a distant and hazy future she wasn't sure existed for her. Despite what her male friends believed of her now that she had a sweetheart, she wasn't planning her wedding any time soon. She was simply thinking that it was a possibility in her future when it hadn't even been a thought before. The idea took some getting used to.
Kel signed her note to Kas and found a servant that would, in turn, find someone to run it down to the Raven Armory. When she was sure Kas would be aware of what had happened she changed into proper riding clothes, pulled her saddlebags from her dressing room, and started to pack them. By the time the rest of Third Company had assembled, she had both Peachblossom and Hoshi ready to go and her belongings stashed in one of the wagons.
Raoul took one look at her and flagged her up to join him at the front of the line. She expected he wanted to talk about her placement for the call. She also noticed Captain Flyndan Whiteford moving his mount aside for Dom to ride up alongside of her in the captain's traditional place. That didn't seem right at all.
"Kel, my sergeant here informs me that I may have interrupted your plans for the evening," Raoul's voice carried further than she wanted. "A new sweetheart you haven't come to speak with me about. I'm not sure how I feel about a man courting you that hasn't sought my approval."
"I wasn't aware a man needed to approach you for approval of courtship with me. Last I checked, even my own parents said the decision was mine and mine alone," Kel informed her former knight master. She made sure to pitch her voice to carry as far as his had. If they were going to have this conversation for half the company to hear, she would make sure they knew she was her own woman.
"Does your man know about life in the Own? Does he understand you could be gone for some time?" Raoul demanded.
"The last time he took us out, Lady Kel, we were gone for three years!" One of the men behind her complained and earned a round of laughter.
"He's well aware that for some reason you still bind me to the Own," Kel rolled her eyes at Raoul as they turned their mounts towards the Royal Forest. "Did you just want me to come along so you could harass me about having a sweetheart or is there actual work for me this time?"
"You know I'll abuse your commanding skills at every chance I get," Raoul grinned at her. "And I have a special assignment for you. I need your keen eyes on Sergeant Domitan."
"As if that will be a problem for her. She's eyed him up and down every chance she's had since she became your squire," Lerant tossed his two coppers into the pot.
Kel masked a blush hoping no one would see if her cheeks were a little pink at the blatant acknowledgement of the crush she had harbored for Dom for all of her squire years and up until recently. One glance at Dom showed he had a smile on his face, but he didn't appear as mortified by the prospect as she thought he'd be.
"Don't be jealous that the lady has taste," Dom scoffed after a moment.
"I believe Lady Kel has her hands full with her current sweetheart enough that I don't have to worry about that sort of fraternization going on anymore," Raoul cut across Lerant's retort. "Kel, I need you to use your skills as a commander and watch Sergeant Domitan as he takes Captain Flyn's spot for this call. We will see if you and I observe the same things."
Kel nodded her acceptance of the task. She had expected that Captain Flyndan would retire at some point after the war, but when it hadn't happened immediately she had begun to question if it would happen at all. That he was staying to train a replacement made sense. That Dom had been picked to be that replacement, at least temporarily, was something worth congratulating.
But the task had something else she needed to pay attention to. Raoul was asking her to give her opinion and that seemed to support the theory that she was being groomed as his replacement a little too well. Kas was a good man, but how would he stand up to her being in and out so much. He'd get a taste of it now but would years of it weigh on him?
"Did you tell Kas you were leaving?" Dom asked, bringing her from her thoughts.
"I sent him a note saying there was a call. We've discussed what it could mean for us," Kel sighed. "We'll see if he stills wants to courtship after he realizes how much I am gone."
"He will. A man that looks at his woman like that, will not let her go because she gone for a few weeks," Dom informed her. "And not after he waited so long to get a hold of you."
Kel rolled her eyes at Dom. Of course he would try and make her feel better about it, but she wanted to hear some practicality too. If she wanted blind romance, she'd turn to Neal. But Neal wasn't giving her any sort of blind romantic notions when it came to Kas. Despite having backed off on his protests after the first dinner, he had little to say about her love life which was odd for him. She wasn't sure what she had expected but anything from him was almost better than nothing.
But Neal had his hands full at the moment too, she reminded herself. Yuki had announced her pregnancy to everyone but Neal so she could watch everyone congratulate him while he tried to argue it wasn't true. How could the great healer, Nealan of Queenscove, not know his own wife was pregnant? It was completely impossible and completely true to his hysteric encrusted dismay. So he had started to prepare for his first child and it had left him fairly busy.
"Let's stop here for a quick midday and to water the horses," Dom called to Raoul when they had been riding for several hours. Raoul called the halt and Kel followed Dom to listen to him give orders for the handing out of midday and for the men to water themselves and the horses. Both Peachblossom and Hoshi were whisked away from her by Raoul's squire, Alan of Pirate's Swoop.
She followed Dom again to break up a dispute between the servants in the Own and then again as he organized the small cleanup. Then they were mounted up again and headed back for the village.
They arrived at the village just after dinner to meet with the headman as he described nearly thirty of the monstrous immortal half human half spider creatures climbing over the walls and taking people from their beds shortly before dawn. The counts had come back at twenty-four people missing between the ages of eight and fifty-two, and four more dead.
"That's odd, leaving so many alive. Usually they kill a few more than that," Alan commented to Raoul, Dom, Flyn, and Kel as they moved away from the headman.
"Likely they are making this their feeding grounds. They won't kill what they want to eat later," Dom turned to the squire. "Just like we don't kill all of the game in an area we intend to hunt in at another time."
"But these are people," Alan shuddered.
"And we are their prey," Dom shrugged. "Let's get the accounts of the witnesses that saw them leaving. We can spread out and start tracking which way they went."
After getting a consensus that the spidren had gone west into the retreating darkness as false dawn had lit the eastern sky, the witness reports were immediately followed with proof from Sergeant Aiden's men of somewhat fresh webbing in the trees just on the east side of the village walls.
"Men, they'll expect to be followed. Stay in groups, bows out, expect ambushes," Dom called as he gathered seven of the ten squads together. He had chosen three squads to stay behind in case the spidren returned for more while warriors were drawn away from the already shaken villagers. "Kel," Dom's voice was softer. "Anything you think I've missed?"
"You're on top of things, Dom," she informed him. "You always are. Where would you like me? With your men?"
Dom grimaced and shook his head. Kel knew he hated not being with his own men but if he were to become Captain, he wouldn't have a squad anymore. It was the only comfort she could offer him to step into the empty roll in the squad's ranks.
"Captain Flyn is going to take that place. He wants me to keep leading," Dom nodded to where Flyn stood with Raoul amongst the men. Neither appeared to be doing more than waiting for instructions.
When Kel glanced to Raoul she saw his eyes on her with a small twinkle. Despite the grimness of the situation, he was likely enjoying watching her advise Dom as he should have been doing. It truly felt like he and Flyn were picking replacements.
"Squads, spread out, horns at the ready," Dom called. Kel gripped her bow and gave Dom a nod as she showed she was also ready to follow him into the search.
After three long hours of painstaking tracking, one squad found the shallow cave where there were clear signs of webbing and muted screams coming from inside. Dom formed them into ranks, keeping Kel with him while they prepared to attack with the goal to keep the people inside as safe as possible.
A screech of a spidren above them gave warning of the awaiting attackers to the spidren in the shallow cave. They rushed out and Kel lost herself in battle as she switched her bow for her glaive holstered to her back when the first spidren charged her. She cut two legs from her spidren before managing to mortally wound it. A slit throat for good measure told her it wouldn't be rising again to even cause a final bit of damage to her.
She turned to find Dom facing a large spidren. Black blood showing on his blade in the mixed torch and mage lit area told her that he had scored several serious hits already but the spidren was still going strong. It was clear that Dom was winning but it would cost vital energy and likely more blood than the minor scratches he already had. She was about to help engage to spare him some injuries but a shadow moving above them had Kel throwing herself into Dom to knock him aside instead. She heard the scream of fury as another spidren sporting arrows from its throat dropped from the trees above them to where Dom had been standing. It collided with the other spidren creating an opening for another member of the Own to finish them both off.
A burning sensation following by a feeling of warmth on her thigh registered in her mind as an injury. The cool, commander side of her mind told her the only possible culprit that could have slipped between the armor on her leg was Dom's sword when she had knocked into him. He thankfully seemed to be unaware of the streak of bright red blood mixing with the black immortal blood on his blade as he seemed to be assessing the battlefield rather than her.
"Thanks, Kel," he gripped her shoulder before moving back into battle. Kel let battle fever take her mind from the wound as she rushed to join him.
Before long only Own stood still moving outside of the cave while Dom turned to give orders for sentries, wounded, and any dead. He turned back to Kel to summon her to his side but his eyes drifted down to her leg. Kel followed his eyes to where blood was seeping through her armor.
"Wolset," he called out knowing his men were posted nearby. "Assist Lady Kel to someplace she can get her wound assessed." Then he turned back to set an order for two other squads to join him in advancing on the cave.
Kel found herself grabbed roughly around the waist to half drag her, half assist her to a fallen log several hundred feet from the last dead spidren. One of the mages had made a fire and had set torches out to surround the area for assessing wounds. Wolset sat her down and turned to unbuckling the cuisse from her bloody thigh.
"What made this cut, Lady Kel? It's not a spidren scratch." One of the men with the gift to heal knelt next to her as Wolset made his escape.
"Sword," Kel murmured without explaining. It was always reasonable for someone to get cut by a friend in the heat of battle, especially battles waged at night and when she knocked into her friend with a live blade out.
"It's fairly deep and there's spidren blood causing additional damage. If you aren't in pain yet, you will be," the healer sighed. "I can clean it and bandage it now, but the rest must wait until we are back at the village with my supplies."
Kel nodded her understanding and she was already starting to feel the burn that marked the acidic blood of the spidren on her skin and inside of the wound. The healer's assessment of the wound as he cleaned it wasn't bad but wasn't good. Dom had managed to miss anything vital hitting the meatiest part of her leg but it would likely leave a scar after the spidren blood had had so much time in contact with her skin.
While the bandage was being wrapped around her thigh, Kel watched the entrance of the cave beyond the firelight. There was the sound of one or two more spidren facing death but beyond that, it was fairly quiet. Getting the people taken out of the webs wouldn't be a hard task. Any person still bound in webs inside would find themselves free when the spidren that had wrapped them died. If any were still bound, it meant more spidren were about.
"I would suggest having someone support you on the walk back. If that proves to be an issue, we will find you a stretcher," the healer told her, drawing her eyes off of the cave, and then turned to walk away.
Finding someone support her wasn't an issue. While Raoul and Dom took charge of the victims coming out of the caves, Sergeant Osbern was sent to pull Kel to her feet and dragged her arm across his shoulders. Kel almost groaned internally. The last time he had been in charge of her when she had been injured, he had told her story after story of men he knew with strange battle wounds. She almost expected the same treatment again, but Osbern seemed to be keeping his mouth shut as he turned to help her back towards the village.
A/N: I do not believe action is my strong suit so I apologize to anyone wanting more detail. I don't believe I can give more and be decent at it.
