Saturday evening Dom found himself pleasantly surprised to be handed a note from Roald asking him to present himself in the royal wing after the first bell of the morning. He had heard from Kel about the conversation that Roald had had with Kas so he at least was aware of what he was being invited to. But it seemed odd to find himself invited to such a thing. He knew Roald, certainly. Not one person in the palace hadn't met the Crowned Prince at least once in their time there, but they weren't more the passing acquaintances.
Unlike most of Kel's friends, he hadn't had the pleasure of serving on the Scanran border with the Crowned Prince though he knew Roald had held a post. They weren't part of the same social circles. The only connections Dom had to be on friendly terms with the Crowned Prince were Neal and Kel. Neither seemed like much of a reason he would have been invited when no one else had received an invitation.
And he knew no one had received an invitation because he had taken his note to Neal to ask what he thought would be expected of him only to have his cousin shrug in his face. He hadn't been invited and after careful enquires with the others he knew from his time at the Scanran border he realized he had been the only one to receive the note.
"Perhaps he's asked you because you're the only noble that Kas seems openly comfortable with," Neal tried when Dom questioned what Roald might actually want with him.
It made more sense than it didn't so Dom went, arriving at the same time as a fussy man leading several assistants loaded down with bolts of cloth, baskets, a heavy wooden platform, and a stool. Roald was in his sitting room looking over what appeared to be a report and drinking tea. When Dom came in he set the report down and offered him a seat.
"A little light reading for your morning tea, Your Highness?" Dom asked with a nod to the report. After Roald had set it down Dom had caught the title of the report: Kasen Lander, Journeyman Swordsmith, Copperturn Street, Corus, formerly of Port Caynn.
"No, your Highnessing me today, Domitan," Roald waved him into a seat. "And you can't blame me for wanting to know a little more about the man Kel is courting. I understand she's a very private person and has little reason to wish to bring a relationship out into the open of court with everyone and their mother having a harsh comment about it, but I need to be able to address concerns that he's not preying on one of my closest friends to gain some access to high ranking people." Roald threw himself down in a seat. "He's not, I knew that the moment I saw them together, but I have to be able to address it all the same."
"I doubt he would have needed me to tip the odds in favor of them meeting if he had plans to use her to get to you," Dom pointed out.
"You would think, but the council is full of conservatives that refuse to believe a noble, even Kel, would lower themselves to courting a commoner. They'll also call her the easiest woman in all of Tortall and claim she's too unattractive to have all in the same breath. My father practically had to sit on Alanna at the last meeting," Roald's lips curled into a small smile.
"So you insisted on meeting him the other night to address the concerns of the council?" Dom pressed. Kel hadn't been the only person to point out how unusual it had been for Roald to have insisted on such a thing. He so rarely used his authority to butt in anywhere that it was news every time he decided to do such a thing.
"Yes, but also because I want to meet the man that has Kel giving that damned smile that makes the sun pale in comparison," Roald turned back to the report to roll it up and tuck it away.
Dom knew exactly what smile Roald was referring to. Kel had two ways of smiling. One was simply as controlled as the rest of her normal facial expressions. The other seemed to appear when happiness took her by surprise. He swore in those smiles, the mixture of green and gold in her eyes grew brighter and twinkled with tangible light. And when she would catch herself smiling so, sometimes she brought her hand up to cover it, her crumpled cheeks turning slightly pink with her embarrassment at her abandon. It was by far one of the single most amazing and sweetest things he had witnessed from a woman. He was surprised, though, that anyone else had noticed in such a fashion. He had thought that perhaps because of his feelings for her it had affected him differently. Now, he wondered if it affected others the same way.
"Is this the man that you need clothing for, Your Highness? I can see why you needed it so short notice," the fussy tailor came over to address them.
Dom glanced down at his clothes and frowned. They were chosen for comfort rather than style: a simple white shirt, a blue tunic, and black breeches all lacking in design or embroidery. He fought the urge to demand what was wrong with his clothing as Roald gave just a fraction of a shake of his head. It was enough to tell Dom he shouldn't say anything.
"Captain Domitan of Masbolle is not in need of any clothing that I am aware of," Roald's voice held an edge of warning as he announced Dom's title.
At the mention of 'Captain' the man's lips went tight. A captain held power and rank. At the mention of Masbolle the man dropped into a bow murmuring his apologies. His fief was in the Book of Gold and Dom had a guess that this man catered to the wealthier fiefs and likely had memorized all of the noble houses in their ranking order to assess the level of business he could extort from each of them. While Dom disagreed with the practice, he knew more effort tended to go into impressing those in the Book of Gold than those in the Book of Copper. There was always more groveling and general sucking up directed towards him when his fief was mentioned. It was one of the main reasons he had convinced his men to call him Sergeant or Dom instead of Masbolle whenever they visited shops together. Now he needed to assure them Captain would also be sufficient if, on the slight chance, they were feeling respectful.
"The young man in question should be here shortly." Roald informed the tailor. "And of course, after his measurements are taken we can have some breakfast." Dom realized Roald had turned back to him. "I gave some preliminary guesses to Kas' sizing to help things along."
"Off of something she said to Raoul, I think Kel was planning on doing this for him before you took it away from her." It was more than what Kel had said to Raoul. She had said it to him when he had gone to speak to her the morning before. She was frustrated with Roald for having some sort of argument that included something about her but wouldn't speak in front of her. And she worried that Kas would be less open to taking something from the Crowned Prince than from her as a lover's gift and that it would close the door on that sort of gift for a long time if not ever.
"I am aware that Kel isn't happy about this. She spoke to Shinko as well about her concerns, and I understand. But I also have a guess that Kas won't turn me down after he hears what I have to say, if he truly cares about her. Beyond that, he'll think I'm only gifting him a few outfits. He'd be able to argue with Kel when more than two or three court worthy outfits show up, but I doubt he'll come and argue with me." Roald gave a slight grin and Dom was almost dumbfounded.
From what his friends said of the Crowned Prince, and what his own experience with the man had taught him, Roald was generally shy and quiet. It seemed reasonable to believe that it was his nature. Now he wondered how much of Roald was tucked away behind that quiet, reserved mask that was far too much like Kel's or any Yamani's mask. It stood to reason that he had at least a little bit of a mischievous streak in there somewhere. From stories Raoul had told of the King growing up and from stories that came from the Riders about Thayet when they went to training camp with her, he knew both of Roald's parents were far from reserved. It stood to reason that Roald at least held flashes of that sort of boldness.
"Your Highness," the door to the sitting room opened and a palace guard stood aside to allow Kas to step through. Dom immediately noted that Kas had found a tunic somewhere and that he was likely wearing his best shirt and breeches under it.
"Good morning, Kas," Roald rose and strode forward to offer a hand to Kas to grasp. Dom was well aware it kept Kas from bowing. "I thought I'd ask Dom to join us for breakfast as well since you two get on so well, and it always helps to have a second opinion on things of this sort should you want them." Roald waved at the tailor who didn't seem to be paying them any mind while he ordered his assistants about.
"Good morning, Your Highness, Captain Domitan," Kas had taken Roald's hand but he seemed to remain at least wary of the palace guard still standing in the doorframe and the tailor.
"Well, let's get you measured so we can start eating," Roald turned to guide Kas further into the room towards the platform but Kas didn't move.
"I haven't agreed to this yet, Your Highness. You said you had a reason but you indicated you wouldn't speak it in front of Kel," Kas pressed.
"Of course," Roald turned back to Kas. "You know I've known Kel since she was ten. She's a good friend of mine, personally, and a better friend of my wife. Their friendship goes back to their childhood in the Yamani Islands, I'm sure you know."
"Kel has told me stories of her childhood and page training years." Dom watched as Kas remained stiff and guarded.
"The point to my mentioning that, is that Kel is a close friend and I take an interest in her life as all good friends do," Roald nodded to Dom and Dom saw Kas' eyes flick to him and back to the Crowned Prince. "She's faced plenty of critics of her over the years. They tend to focus on specific rumors like how easy she is, her looks, and of course, her ineligibility for a husband. She takes all of it in stride, but I'm sure it wounds her heart some. I know I'm not alone in believing that her personal image of herself has suffered some. Neal has made quite a few comments to me over the years."
"Neal has made quite a few comments to everyone over the years," Dom interjected hoping it would help Kas to relax a little.
"Of course, Neal doesn't keep his mouth shut for long," Roald grinned. "But where I was going with that, was Kel has taken enough of that to heart to believe some things just weren't meant for her. We held several parties and balls in honor of the warriors returning to the palace when they returned from the war at the end of Spring. Kel told my wife that she was alright not being asked to dance, when at the end of the night she had not once been asked. Her friends were the only ones that would likely give her the time of day and none of them wanted to venture too far into treating her like a woman by asking her to dance. Kel goes unescorted to parties. She goes unescorted to feasts. She doesn't dance at balls though she is easily one of the most stunning women this court has. I want to see that change and somehow I believe that you'd be the one to show her what she should expect from a decent man, but you need the clothes first. And that is something I can easily remedy. So measurements," Roald stepped aside to nod to the platform where the tailor was waiting.
Dom watched as Kas blinked and then his eyes came to up meet Roald's. "I can see why you wouldn't say that in front of her," he breathed out. "I can afford to pay for my own clothing. It's just going to take some time."
"I'd rather you spend your time on Kel," Roald waved off his concerns. "She spends too much time on others' needs and not enough time on her own. Allow me to give something to her this way." He nodded to the platform again and Kas sighed before going to stand on the platform before the tailor.
"This is the man you want me to make clothes for, Your Highness?" The tailor turned to stare at Roald, disbelief written in his every feature. Kas certainly wasn't his usual clientele.
"Will that be a problem? I can always ask Mistress Isran for a recommendation of where she might direct my current and future needs," Roald's voice held a soft threat that Dom wasn't sure he wouldn't follow through on.
"No, not a problem. I just don't know if I prepared anything the right size," the tailor turned back to Kas. "Arms out."
Dom flashed Roald a small grin as the Prince gave him the tiniest of winks. No one wanted to lose the Crown's future business and if Roald chose to take his business elsewhere, court fashion tended to follow suit. It had only been a threat simply because Dom was sure the tailor wasn't willing to lose business over designing for one commoner.
"Has Kel always gone unattended to things? I thought she had had a sweetheart, Sir Cleon of Kennan," Kas asked after a few moments.
"That was a little different," Roald glanced at Dom as he spoke. "Kel tried her best to keep most of that relationship hidden because she had enough issues at the time with conservatives openly challenging her. One was bold enough to try and run her through on the tilting lanes. Cleon allowed her to keep most of it in private. Beyond that, she was a squire the entire time they were, well I can't call it courting, but together. She wasn't attending parties and feasts as a guest but as a server during that time. She was a knight briefly over Midwinter before she was sent packing to the border in the spring but she didn't attend anything. Most newly made knights spend much of Midwinter recovering."
"And Cleon met up with her on her way to the border to break it off with her," Dom added. "So she has never had an escort when she's been able to attend any of those events as a guest."
"You didn't like Sir Cleon, though," Kas glanced at Dom.
"Oh?" Roald raised an eyebrow at Dom.
"I didn't appreciate that he was leading her on though he was already betrothed," Dom admitted. "She deserved better than that."
"I believe I heard enough from Cleon about that damned flirting Sergeant Domitan that didn't respect Kel was taken," Roald wasn't even hiding his amusement. "I don't believe I've heard those complaints from Kas yet though."
"Flatter her all you like," Kas murmured as the tailor pulled his knotted cord tight around his chest. "She could stand to hear it from more than me."
"You're not worried the handsome Captain will steal her out from under your nose?" Roald teased. "Cleon always was."
"If I worry about every man she spends time with professionally or in friendship, I prove to her that I don't trust her. It doesn't say much about me as a man if I'm that jealous. It also wouldn't say much about myself as a courting partner if she had to go elsewhere to get what she needed," Kas pointed out.
"Unless you can't figure out her needs. She's hard to read sometimes. Most Yamani's are," Roald sat down and Dom followed suit.
"Well, she seems happy with what I've been doing," Kas' cheeks flushed pink.
"You need to remove your tunic, shirt, and breeches," the tailor informed him. "I have some things to try, then we'll look at what colors and styles you prefer."
Soon Kas was down to only his loincloth as hose, breeches, shirts, and tunics were pinned against his frame and then unpinned again. Dom found excuses to look away rather than at Kas' almost bare body. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable seeing a man in nothing but a loincloth. He saw the men of the Own in far less far more often than he wished. It was that his mind had automatically started thinking about Kel and how she would possibly enjoy such a view. It was an uncomfortable thought made more uncomfortable by the fact he knew Kel had seen him in exactly as much clothing as Kas was wearing in front of him now. Had she enjoyed that view? He wasn't sure he wanted to know, but a traitorous part of his mind still questioned it.
"Well, these aren't as far off target in size as I thought," the tailor commented after pinning several different options to Kas' frame. "Your Highness, any preferences to what you've seen thus far?"
"You'll have to direct your questions on that matter to Master Lander there," Roald nodded to Kas. Dom glanced up to see both Kas and the tailor looking less than delighted at the prospect, but Roald had turned away from them to address Dom once more. "How is everything going with taking over the Captainship?"
"Not nearly as bad as First Company had it, but I have been with Third Company for just over a decade," Dom admitted. First Company's new leader that had been found and put in place during the Scanran War had needed to fight hard to get his men in line. The former captain, Glaisdan of Haryse, had allowed the men to become lazy in their training due to their usual placement as a ceremony and parade company only. What training the men had done was only for showing off to the court ladies. The losses they had taken in the Scanran War were obnoxiously heavy until Raoul had managed to send the remaining people back to Corus altogether.
Ulliver Linden in charge of Second Company had selected one of his own men to lead the recruitment and temporary training of First until Raoul could return home and officially select someone. The men remaining from the original First had fought the training and the new men were green as grass. The man Ulliver had assigned was confirmed by Raoul but he had had to fight still after the official rank had been given.
Dom's transition had been far easier. The only changes to his daily routine thus far was more paperwork, more meetings, and including more than just nine other men in his random inspections. The men had easily accepted him as their new captain which had given him a fairly good confidence boost in his placement.
"I believe my father plans on keeping First Company as a parade troop despite the training they are undergoing but their captain has been petitioning for a chance to ride down to the southern coast to get some good combat experience with raiders in Pearlmouth," Roald commented.
"We've done that before. It would be a good field test for them now that they are in some sort of working order," Dom acknowledged.
"Do you believe they'll survive their first true field test in the year and a half they've been a full company again?" Roald asked, eyes intent. Dom realized that the Prince was testing him somehow in his own right.
"Their training is sound. I've seen their rosters myself. It's a matter of taking orders and testing their instincts more than anything else at this point. Even if they take casualties, which any good company might, they'll come away having learned why they need to take orders or why they have been doing all of this training. I don't see why the King would be reluctant to let them go. If he wants them as his first line of protection, then he should make sure they understand how to do more than drills with their swords." Dom waited a moment before he saw Roald nod his agreement.
"I said as much and so did my mother. I doubt they'll be held back from going once Raoul throws his two coppers in." Roald flashed a grin. "It will be good for them to get a few months away from court and see what their mail and swords are actually worth."
"Will Kel travel with them too, or only Third Company?" Kas asked. Dom glanced up to see him pulling his clothes back on. The tailor had abandoned him to start giving orders to his assistants once more. Scissors, needles, thread, and piles of cloth were pulled from baskets to start stitching.
"It's always possible Raoul will see it as a way of keeping her further invested in the Own," Roald admitted with a sigh. "My father is fairly certain Raoul is trying to open up the way for her to be Knight Commander when he finally retires."
"If he does send her with First, it won't be on this outing. The reports from the healers are good about her leg but she'll still be restricted for a while," Dom explained. "And between you and I," Dom glanced to Roald. He could at least give the future King and Kel's friend a warning. It was unlikely Roald or even Kas would give any of the gossips something more to work with. "He wants her for Knight Commander but he has mentioned some complications to that line of thinking that need to be dealt with."
"The conservatives and gossip?" Roald asked.
"More like her preference to a hands on approach clashing with if she ever wants to have a family of her own. After seeing her at Haven and New Hope with those children, I can't doubt she'll want children of her own at some point." Dom sighed. Kel would be a good mother when given the opportunity. Already she had shown that a thousand times over with her mothering of her friends and a thousand times more with the strays she had picked up over the years.
"I suppose that would complicate things a little. Even if you convince her to be a desk knight for a few years, she'd eventually have to leave her husband to care for the children when she does return to the field," Roald leaned back into the couch as he thought out loud. "Perhaps Alanna's son would be more suited to Knight Commander when Raoul gets through with him, and I can steal Kel for Training Master when Padraig finally throws in the towel. She's very suited to training young ones. I may have to bend a few ears."
"I don't suppose anyone has presented these problems to Kel herself," Kas came to join them on the couches. "She certainly hasn't said anything to me."
"I'm sure Kel has thought about it. She knows the rumors as well as any. We've joked about it many times," Dom looked to Kas and sighed. "I'm not sure how much Kel tells you, or anyone really, about her thoughts. She doesn't like to burden others if she can help it. She didn't tell anyone about the Chamber of Ordeal setting her after Blayce the Gallan and went riding off after her people alone rather than ask for help. I know what happened at Haven has given her nightmares but she doesn't speak about it even if you are the one to wake her up from them. Even something as the damage I caused her leg. I'm willing to bet she curses my name hourly for the pain and restrictions my sword caused, but she tells me she doesn't blame me and hides it all behind a smile when I'm about. It would be a blessing for her to just share what's on her mind for once."
"There's a couple of things that I want to address in that speech. For clarity purposes," Kas had leaned forward. "I'm not sure I want to know, but I do. How have you been in a position to wake her from nightmares?"
"Her former servant, Tobe, used to talk about her nightmares from time to time when he woke her from them at New Hope," Dom felt his cheeks flush a little. "And my tent is usually the closest to hers whenever we must camp. On the way back to Corus from the border we camped several times when wayhouses were full. Canvas tent walls don't exactly block that much sound."
"Okay," Kas didn't press that matter for which Dom was grateful.
He didn't want to admit that he had also let himself into Kel's room at New Hope several nights when he had been stationed there to wake her from her nightmares. She had never questioned his presence at the time since she had often apologized for being too loud and disrupting his sleep. Even when he had explained his understanding to her, she hadn't done more than call him a good friend and thank him for waking her. No amount of coaxing had gotten her to speak about her nightmares.
"The other thing," Kas interrupted his thoughts. "Kel explained how she was injured to me. I didn't realize it was you, but I'm not surprised. When she spoke of it to me, she placed no blame on you." His lips curled into a grim smile. "The only thing about this wound that truly bothers her from what I can tell is the scar it will leave behind. She seemed rather ashamed of it. She was right that it wouldn't be pretty, but I should be the only one seeing it after the healers are done with her so her worries are moot."
"She tells you more than she tells me then," Dom felt a dull ache in his heart. He had wanted Kel to find someone to share herself with, but he hadn't realized how much it would hurt.
"I doubt she was telling me more than to try and warn me off of her. She always seems ready to believe I'll be done with her when I realize she's not your everyday woman," Kas gave him a small smile. "As if I ever considered her to be anything other than unique."
"I hope you soothed some of her worries about her scars then. She doesn't have too many but she's liable to gain more," Roald stood. "Shall we have breakfast as I promised? I don't want to send you off to work to faint. Kel would have my head."
"Of course I attempted to show her that her worries were for nothing. I'll do it again whenever I take her up on her offer to spend the night," Kas rose to follow Roald into the dining room off of the sitting room.
Dom stood to follow, holding his breath and releasing it slowly to calm his mind once more. Kel had offered Kas to spend the night with her? To hear Kas speak of it turned that dull ache into a hard throb in his heart. He had done well finding someone Kel would love enough to offer herself to him. He just hadn't expected there to be so much pain mixed in with his relief.
