Hormones a Running

Kel walked away from the Dining Hall in confusion. How was she supposed to deal with this thing with Cleon? She knew she loved Cleon but…Neal was so protective of her. She was like a little sister to him or maybe more than a-no Kel thought, I'm not going there. She walked along the practice fields now and saw a few squires and pages on the fields but most were getting washed up and ready for supper.

Kel looked ahead of her and stopped suddenly. She thought she had just seen her horse, Peachblossom out of her stable. She ran forward a bit and looked around carefully. Taking out her sword, she crept forward. Peachblossom wouldn't be out of the stables without someone leading her and that someone must have pretty good control on her because Peachblossom didn't take well to anyone except Daine and Kel.

A faint movement had moved a few yards in front of her. She heard a horse snort and she knew it was Peachblossom. She walked onward toward the sounds of her horse. Suddenly she stepped back.

There on her horse was Neal. Neal was the last person she had expected to see these days and especially somewhere else then on her horse.

"Hello Kel! Long time no see?" said Neal smoothly.

Kel stared in pure surprise. "N-Neal what are you doing here?" she said her voice rising a bit.

"I came to visit you Kel. Lady Alanna came back for a night or two and of course, me being her squire came along. Aren't you happy to see me?" he said smiling.

"Of course! But…how did you get on Peachblossom? Shes as stubborn as anything." Kel said bewildered.

Neal laughed lightly. "Oh, I got Daine to help me. Her gift is wonderful don't you think?" Neal said smiling a bit more.

Kel laughed again. For some reason, she was feeling uneasy with Neal. She didn't know why. He had been her best friend ever since she started training. She tried to smile a bit more.

"So how have you been? Where has the Lioness been taking you?" Kel asked trying to start a conversation. Anything to hide the uneasiness she felt.

Neal decided now was a good time to get off Peachblossom because she was getting very annoyed with him and not Kel on her back. He got off of her and stood in front of Kel.

"Oh she's been taking me all sorts of places. Tortall and Mindelan" and at that he winked "and I even got to go and get a glimpse of the Yamani Islands! It was fascinating." Neal said excited.

Then something in the air changed and Neal's eyes got darker and more mysterious. Kel was starting to feel very uncomfortable. "But not as fascinating as you." He said quietly but it still sent shivers up her spine.

"Uh…Neal are you feeling alright?" Kel said backing away from him.

"Oh, I'm fine Kel. So thoughtful of you to ask! I've always known you were a sweet little girl. You are a great little sister to me. Who knows? Maybe we'll become more than friends." Neal smiled a weird smile. A smile that you could tell hormones had taken a big turn and he wanted Kel real bad.

'This is just Neal. This is just Neal' she kept repeating in her head. But Neal was not acting how he should.

"Come here Kel. I won't hurt you!" Neal said, his voice reassuring and very calm but his eyes still dark.

Kel walked toward him again but only because he sounded so calm in his voice that she had thought maybe his weird behavior had only been a slight boy thing that boys went through. Neal suddenly embraced her and held her close. Kel's eyes fluttered in surprise.

"What…" she started to say but then it was cut off. Neal had kissed her. She went into a freeze mode where she couldn't think but all she knew was she wanted to get out of the kiss. She could hear a voice calling her name and then it stopping short. She heard a gasp and she felt Neal pull her closer. She didn't like this so she tried to push Neal lightly away from her. Neal let her go and she stepped back from him quickly.

"What did you do that for?" Kel demanded.

Neal shrugged and said casually "I wanted to make your little boyfriend jealous. I think it worked too."

Kel looked confused and then froze. She just realized who must have been calling her name. She whipped around and saw a horror stricken Cleon.

"No! Cleon it wasn't like that!" Kel said, desperate to explain before he could comprehend most of what he saw.

Cleon just stared at Kel with the most sad and confused look and said, "I thought you loved me. I thought you were choosing me as your lover. It was me who broke your shell and got you to be romantic. I thought we'd last forever. I guess I was wrong."

He turned away and ran back toward the castle.

Kel gave Neal a furious look. "How could you do this Neal? You've never done this before!" she shouted.

Neal simply shrugged but he looked a bit hurt.

"You don't need him. You've got me."

Kel looked at him with disgust.

"I don't need you anymore" she said fiercely and with that she turned around and walked quickly to her room, skipping dinner entirely.