Kel woke for the fifth morning in a row alone, though she knew she hadn't spent the night alone. There was evidence Kas hadn't left too long before in the warmth still held in the space on the mattress next to her. When she rose she found the still steaming basin of water in the privy in front of the mirror along with the straight razor Kas shaved with. In her sitting room there were two trays on the table. One was uncovered and empty of food. Only a short note on her desk told her not to expect him back the following night. They had talked about it the night before. He needed to spend a night or two in his apartment every now and then to assure his landlord he did still live there and to give a reason to himself on why he was paying rent. When Kel had offered to join him down in the city, not wanting to give up the peace she had found in his arms at night, he had pinned her back to her bed to kiss her and remind her that it was for her health she was at the palace. It was an argument she had lost for now.

But her leg wasn't bothering her as much. She had spent the last four days in her room or in quiet places around the palace not pushing herself too much. Most of it she had spent with Dom, helping him with paperwork for not only Third Company but for First Company as they planned their first attempt at leaving the palace. Baird had confirmed that her leg was healing better and attributed it to better rest. He had done so with a wink.

She had been surprised that Neal hadn't replaced the charms even when she had left the room for the majority of the day. She knew he hadn't replaced them because she had taken the time to place small dots of ink on the charms, slightly elongating certain parts of the runes inscribed on them. She'd know when or if he'd switch them out. But she knew Dom was holding up his end of the lie. Promising Neal that Kas was not given peace while in Kel's bed. Baird's assurances that the extra rest was helping heal her up a little faster had Neal believing Dom's lies.

With a sigh Kel sat down to eat some breakfast wishing for the fifth morning in a row that Kas had woken her when he had woken up. She wanted to know what it was like to wake to him still there, holding her. Somehow she had always fallen asleep first, but even in her sleep she knew he had been there, even when she didn't wake in the night or until after he had left in the morning. She wanted him to stay one morning, but he was no longer taking a day off in the week.

The commission from Shinko had become his priority during normal work hours but he still completed extra work after hours and on the day he wasn't supposed to be working at all. It was to work towards funding his own masterpiece. Then he would be in a better position to take time to be with her. To court her properly despite her protests that he was doing a wonderful job courting her.

And despite the original time line he and Shinko had agreed upon, Master Reeves had requested the work be done a week earlier than that and that they add a matching dagger to the sword as an added gift from the Raven Armory to the Crowned Prince on his birthday. So his schedule had become tighter. But she couldn't fault him for his work ethic. He clearly loved his job.

"Kel?" A voice called from her door as it cracked open an inch. The voice belonged to Neal and she almost groaned out loud. She didn't want him to notice the bed was a mess still and more so than when she slept alone or the extra tray on her dining table which would not go unnoticed in someone as keen sensed as Neal.

"Don't you ever knock?" Kel demanded. "And that door was locked."

And she knew it had been because Kas always locked it behind him now that she had given him a key to let himself in and out of her rooms. She had no reason to ever believe that he would abuse the ability to enter her private space even if she wasn't there. Neal on the other hand never seemed to bother with keys, permission, or caring about her privacy.

"I did knock, you didn't answer," he poked his head in further. "I came to see if you need a healing."

"Why would I need a healing?" Kel asked him. "Your own father said I was improving faster than before." Neal's shoulders followed his head, and then his torso slinked in behind as if he were afraid she was going to attack him if he came in too quickly.

"I happened to…um…see Kas leaving just a bit ago. I thought perhaps you might need some things addressed after he spent the night." Neal's legs were in the room now but he was still hovering by the door, eyes on the floor rather than on her, and it hit her that he might not believe she was clothed.

"I don't need a healing," she told him calmly. She meant to explain that she and Kas had slept and nothing more but his head had snapped up and his green eyes were glaring down at her.

"Are you too afraid to tell me I was right? That it would hurt you? Are you too afraid I will see how much damage you've caused yourself so I can't say 'I told you so'?" He snapped.

"Kas spent the night," Kel shrugged. "He's been spending the night for nearly a week. In that time even you've said my leg is improving. So, no, I don't need a healing." Kel turned away from Neal to ease her leg up onto the other chair. It did better when she kept it up more often.

"I hardly believe he's been spending the night for the better part of a week. You can't tell me that sex is helping your leg to heal. Pulling an injury like that in any way will cause tearing and tearing will cause infection. Infection will cause you more pain and slow your healing time even more. You could get seriously sick from an infection, possibly die if it's not addressed. So I need to see to your wound to take care of it before you prove you are too stubborn about admitting your mistake to me and die." Neal dragged a footstool over from her armchair as Dom had done countless times the last few days so she could keep her leg propped up without offering up the other chair.

Kel could hardly keep herself from staring at Neal as he revealed his line of thinking. She knew that later, when this was over, she would laugh about it with Dom and eventually Kas. How Neal had come to believe bedding would be her death was laughable. How he was accusing her of not taking care of herself was far less laughable.

"I am not being stubborn. You are being an ass. Kas hasn't been staying to harm me in any way. He's staying," she meant to continue on but Neal was growling at her, cutting across her attempt to explain once again.

"So I'm an ass because you don't believe bedding is harmful to you in any way? Were you not listening? Bedding will cause tearing in your wound. Tearing will cause infection. Infection going unchecked will make you ill and kill you. This isn't something you can be a stoic warrior about. You could die!"

"Neal! Shut up and listen for two seconds. I still have my maidenhood. Kas isn't staying to bed me. He's staying to sleep alongside me. I know you can't possibly imagine that it can go without bedding, but Kas does not want to hurt me. He's been making the walk from the city up to the palace and back again every evening and every morning to take care of me, not to hurt me. So yes, he's slept in my bed the last five nights. And yes, you saw him leaving this morning. That makes one of us." She bit her lip as she wished once again she had woken before he had left. "I'd like to be able to see him when I want. I'd like to be able to go where I want. I'd like to be able to chase him down when I realize he only left a few moments before I woke. So don't you think for one second that I am not taking care of myself or refusing healings because I am proud." She glared at him. "Now leave. You can tell your father I will be down at the appointed time this morning for him to see to me."

"Kel," Neal started another explanation but it wasn't Kel that stopped him this time.

"Kas hasn't hurt her. Can't you see how much he is helping her?" Dom demanded from the open doorway. "I apologize for intruding, Kel, but one of my men reported that Neal saw Kas and had come running this way. I thought you might want back up."

"Helping her? He's turning her against me!" Neal whined.

Kel knew there was only one way to end this argument and signaled for Dom to close the door. Despite Dom not looking directly at her while he glared Neal down, he followed her signal and closed the door, barring it shut with his body as she eased her breeches down past her loincloth and then over the bandages.

"There, Neal. Check. See that I'm still healing. See that there's no tearing, no infection, no illness. See that I'm not dying. Go ahead and check to see if I'm still a virgin since you've decided you'd rather have me die an old crone than ever enjoy having a lover." Kel waited as Neal stared at her. Dom was averting his eyes from her bare thigh, his attention on the ceiling rather than anywhere near her. When Kel's already thin patience wore down after a minute longer, she grabbed Neal's hand and put it over the bandage. "Go ahead."

"I don't want you to die an old crone," he murmured as dark green light flared around his hand. After a few moments he made to pull his hand away but Kel stopped him.

"Now go ahead and use your Gift to check my maidenhood. If you're so eager to believe I'm lying about Kas and his intentions." She held his hand to her leg despite how uncomfortable it was to have his hand there.

"I know his intentions with you. I can see desire in his gaze when he looks at you. If he hasn't bedded you yet, he's preparing to," Neal's hand came up off of her thigh.

"And that's a problem?" Kel demanded.

"You aren't married," Neal pointed out.

"You and Yuki weren't married when you two first bedded," Kel felt the words leave her mouth and realized she didn't regret them as Neal stared at her open mouthed, gasping for a moment.

"She told you? She… We were betrothed. There was a plan for marriage," Neal recovered himself and let her pull her breeches back up.

"She told me everything, Neal. She and Shinko had quite a few details to give me about their experiences in the bedroom. I know how you tried to show some strength and went to lift Yuki up only to slip and drop her one night. She hit her head on the doorframe and you almost didn't bed her for fear she had a concussion," Kel drummed up one of the least sexual details she knew though she knew it would still embarrass Neal for her, and now Dom, to know he had actually dropped Yuki. "She also told me how you asked her to be on her knees, facing away from you, while she called you Duke…" his hand sealed over her lips but she pushed on, "Stallion." Her voice had come out muffled by Neal's hand, but she knew she had been understood when Neal had gone pale and Dom had stifled a laugh. "Shinko said Roald informed her the name made sense to him since we always believed Queenscove had horse blood."

Neal backed away from her looking utterly mortified. Not only had she revealed that she knew more and more intimate details about his bedroom life than she even wanted to know, but she had done it in front of Dom and had revealed Shinko had gossiped to Roald.

"How much more did she tell you?" Neal asked horrified.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Kel looked to Dom who was still red in the face from holding back laughter0. "I bet Dom would enjoy hearing some of it."

"No. Don't." Neal stood. "I'll stay out of what you and Kas do in the bedroom. It's not my place to know any of it. Just like it's not your place to be sharing those details," Neal backed towards the door and turned to point a finger at Dom. "I'll tell your crush everything, and I mean absolutely everything, if you so much as breathe a word to anyone," he threatened and then shoved Dom out of the way to get out of the door.

Kel watched Dom's face for a moment after Neal had left. Dom had a crush. The steady blush that had crept up his neck and cheeks had told her that Neal hadn't been simply blowing hot air. Dom did have a crush on someone and the chance of Neal knowing who had Dom worried embarrassed or worried, or worse, both. It was odd to realize that Dom, of all men, might be afraid of rejection. She had always known him to be a flirt and had heard his men and other men in the Own speak of him like some sort of charm blessed man that could talk any woman into his bed given enough time.

"I appreciate the back up," Kel murmured when Dom finally looked at her, the blush still healthy on his cheeks.

"Well, I wouldn't want Kas to stop coming around because Neal decided to reassert himself. He likely knows I've been lying to him now," Dom came forward and took a seat on Neal's abandoned stool. "You might want to send word to Kas. Warn him that Neal saw him sneaking out. Well, he's hardly sneaking, but leaving anyway. Whatever attack Neal springs next will likely be at him, not you. I wouldn't want him ambushed at the gate unprepared tonight."

"He's not coming back tonight," Kel explained. "Maybe not the night after either. He said he needs to keep his landlord assured he still lives there."

"Are you going to miss having him now that's he's warmed your bed a few nights?" Dom teased her.

"The simple answer is yes," Kel admitted. "I wish that just one morning he'd stay long enough for me to see him off."

"Doesn't he take a day off?" Dom demanded.

"Not anymore. He's busy with his latest commission. And that will take another week of his time, at least. Unless Master Reeves adds more to the order," Kel sighed. "Kas works fast, but there's a lot of detail work to be done. And because it's his first true commission given to him, he's to do every step himself. Usually the finishing work is left to the older apprentices."

"And idea of why Master Reeves is depriving his apprentices of work?" Dom asked.

"Kas thinks it's another way that Master Reeves is trying to provide a little extra pay to him. If he does all of the work, he doesn't share his portion of the commission with anyone else," Kel admitted. Kas had spoken in depth about the work the older apprentices did to work on their skills such as sharpening and polishing and eventually crafting the entire blade. He had also speculated several times over the course of the nights they had spent together about why Master Reeves had turned the entire commission to him, never coming up with it simply being owed to him and his skills.

He had also admitted to being suspicious that his weekly pay was increasing though every time he had spoken to Master Reeves about the extra coin, the man had simply played stupid, but had refused to take the extra coin back. Kel knew part of it had to do with Kas putting in so much more time and effort than the other journeymen, but also because Dom had provided extra coin to help supplement his commissions. But this commission had her stumped a little. It had nothing to do with Dom. Shinko hadn't had anyone in mind when she had gone to give a commission to the Raven Armory. That Kas had gotten the commission had been simply Master Reeves and it did feel as if the man was up to something with his sudden change in protocol on a high profile commission. In any other case, a master would have handed down his other work to journeymen and taken the royal commission himself.

"Well, out of all of the journeymen there, he does deserve the commission if they decided not to hand it to a master," Dom informed her. "The others don't put in nearly as much effort as he does."

"Do you think Neal will leave this alone for fear I will spill more details about him in the bedroom?" Kel turned the conversation back to the true issue at hand. "Or do I need to find some other way to address this?"

"I think he's mortified enough that you knew anything about him from Yuki. I doubt he wants to find out what other things you know after Duke Stallion," Dom chuckled as the name fell from his lips. "Revealing that Roald had been informed too was a nice touch. It means you have someone you can ask to back you up."

"You know, I think back to the time in the Own as a squire, or among my own friends, and think, perhaps, the level of detail I heard about their sexual encounters might have been an attempt at modesty," she blushed as she said the words. The men had given details to each other, mostly vague about the size of a woman's breasts, or vague details about what she was willing to do, but never the depth that Shinko and Yuki had scandalized her with.

"Among the men that I know that talk, usually they brag it happened, maybe a detail or two about breasts, but details like names they want to be called in bed never usually come out. Women, I've found, in comfortable settings, don't mind that sort of discussion." Dom shrugged. "I wasn't aware you've never been on the receiving end of such girl chat."

"I don't necessarily have female friends I'm around without men around," Kel reminded him. Usually having Shinko and Yuki to herself was a rarity. "Do most men have preferences like that? Names and such?" Kel felt her cheeks burn. She hadn't intended to ask Dom but with all of the talk about tumbling and Kas frequently spending the night, it had become a subject her mind tended to worry about constantly.

"I can't speak for most men," Dom told her, his own cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. "I certainly can't speak for Kas. But, I think you'll find it's quite thrilling to hear your name on the lips of someone you are giving pleasure to. As for positions, even you'll find you enjoy one over another." His voice cracked slightly and he cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry," Kel bit her lip. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I'm just finding I don't know nearly as much about any of this and I don't want Kas thinking I'm stupid."

"I doubt he'll think any less of you. You've been clear he's your first sweetheart to truly take full interest in you. I doubt he expects you to know exactly what he wants." Dom stood. "Now that the threat has been banished, I will leave you to your breakfast. Should you feel inclined for a bit of air, we are running drills all morning."

Kel did feel inclined, wanting to return to some sort of normalcy after embarrassing herself. After she finished with breakfast, she pulled on some practice clothes, though she knew no one would allow her to actually do a drill, and then made her way out to the Own's practice courts. Any traces of embarrassment from the conversation they had had were erased as Dom waved her over, proceeded to force her into a chair, and enlisted the nearest sparing pair to sit on her should she decide to push herself.

It was strange not having Kas around that night or the next. It had been comfortable having him in her bed but she knew if they pursued the relationship further it was likely they would spend as much time apart as they did together. She would have to learn to adjust to him not in her bed at night though it had been only a week they had been sharing it.

Neal avoided her, a blush staining his cheeks whenever he did see her. She also noticed Roald giving her strange glances that told her Neal had likely informed him that she was more than well aware of his bedroom activities. She knew she'd have to find time to pull him aside to assure him she would never share what she knew about him. She also thought it might comfort him to know that she had nothing actually embarrassing on him. Only Neal insisted on embarrassing himself so much even in the privacy of his bedroom.

When Kas did return two nights later, he brought her a sealed letter from Master Reeves. When she questioned Kas on what the letter was, he simply shrugged.

"Master Reeves said it was for you and since I was already coming this way, he wasn't going to pay for a runner. I'm not to know what it says. But if you would like to open it and accidentally leave it on your desk for me in the morning…," he teased leaning down to kiss her thoroughly. Then he plucked the still sealed envelope from her hands and tossed it down on her desk while he pulled her towards the bed. "I missed having you with me at night. I regret telling you that you couldn't come to my apartment. But I fear you would be bored if I did find a way to take you home with me right now. Once you are healed, I want you to come spend the night with me. I don't want to spend that much time away from you when I know that after you heal, you'll have to go on calls again." Then he had her down on the bed, his lips against hers. When he finally gave her time to breathe, he asked about what she had been up to.

Kas chuckled when she explained about Neal seeing him leaving the palace and the conclusions he had jumped to.

"As if you'd be allowed to have an infection that lasts long enough to do more than make you mildly ill with how often you have to check in with the healers, and even if you didn't check if with them about it, you wouldn't be able to hide it from me for long and I'd drag you myself," Kas informed her. Then he proceeded to laugh outright at how Kel had caused Neal to have a sudden aversion to addressing the physical side of their relationship.

"Do," she swallowed hard as she realized what she was about to ask. "Do you have a name you like to be called when you're in bed?"

"Nothing like that," he assured her. "Maybe I'm not that creative," he grinned down at her. "Or rather, I'm hoping you won't be able to say more than my name, if even that, when we do go down that path." She felt her cheeks flush at the change in his voice when he spoke those words. Just like the times he changed the way he kissed her, she had no doubts he wanted her. "But that's won't be at least until you are healed. I wouldn't want to cause any tearing, that would lead to infection, that, if left unchecked, could cause your death." He leaned down to brush his lips against hers again while she smiled at his joke.

In the morning, Kas woke her before he left for the first time, to kiss her and promise her he'd come back that evening for more than just sleeping. When he left she got up to change before eating breakfast and found the letter from Master Reeves still sealed on her desk. She sat and opened the seal to find a short letter wrapped around another sealed envelope. The letter itself was from Master Reeves.

Lady Knight,

I have already written her Highness, Princess Shinkokami of Conte, to ask for permission to present the sword and dagger Kas will be making to the other masters of the Weaponsmiths Guild for approval for his title of Master. I have shown his already completed parts of the project to several of the men responsible for approving his mastery. They are already comfortable presenting it to him before he has even finished. It is simply in formality that the work will be presented. Why I am telling you and not leaving it for Kas to inform you is simply because he does not know, and that there will be a formal ceremony and celebration for Kas the night of the presentation. Enclosed is an invitation for you to join us. I'm hoping to surprise him completely.

Master Reeves.

Suddenly everything about the commission made sense to her. Master Reeves had saw an opportunity for Kas to shine, which she had known, but then to exploit the detailed work he would do on Roald's sword and dagger to go ahead and formally apply for Kas' mastery without so much as telling him. It explained why he wasn't letting anyone else touch it. No apprentice would be able to take any credit for any piece of it and there would be no one else to blame should there be faults. But if the other masters were already agreeing after seeing the half completed work, Kas was in good shape.

The second envelope bore the official Weaponsmiths Guild seal of a crossed sword and smith's hammer. When she opened it she read through the invitation, latched onto the date, and cleaned herself up to go search out Baird. She had no doubts she could receive a clearance from Baird for one evening if she promised to take a carriage, but she wanted to see if there was a chance she could be cleared completely in a week's time.

Baird heard out her reasoning and promised that she would at least be cleared for the evening provided she took a carriage, but also talked her through some exercises that would help her rebuild strength in her thigh without tearing the freshly forming skin. If she could get through those without paining herself more than a mild ache, she was almost ready to be cleared for field work again.

After her meeting with Baird, Kel walked back to her rooms full of plans to write to Lalasa about what might be considered acceptable to wear to such an event and to work through the exercises in hopes to get things moving properly.