Chapter Seven – Target Practice
Alanna, Raoul and the very, very hung over members of Third Company (minus Wolset, of course) gathered in Third Company's barracks. They had seen neither hide nor hair of either Dom or Kel since they had returned from the forest with Neal in tow. Neal, however, they had seen, heard and smelt a great deal of, and they wished they hadn't.
"It's like they somehow managed to apologize to everyone," Alanna complained. "And none of them have any hard feelings. That shouldn't be possible. How is that possible?"
Raoul just shook his head, realising a lost cause when he saw one. "And they still aren't even together yet," he pointed out. "They're closer, but they're still dancing around one another. How can two people who are so very smart be so gods-cursed blind?"
"I don't know," Alanna pouted," but I intend to do something about it. I mean, it's not like we actually need someone who's mad at them. We'll just tell them that they missed a person and make someone up," she finished with a grin; eyes alight with excitement over her new plan.
"I'm not sure that'll work," Raoul frowned. "Kel and Dom will probably see right through it."
"Well, it's worth a try. Better than just sitting back and watching them flirt without doing anything about it."
"True," Raoul conceded. "But not right now. I'm starving. Let's go to dinner."
Alanna agreed, and they headed off.
The members of Third Company groaned as one.
"Did they have to talk so loud?"
Dom grinned wickedly as he strolled calmly into his uncle's office in the Infirmary. His grin only grew as he caught sight of his hapless cousin bemoaning his life to the obviously amused Duke Baird.
"Cousin Meathead!" he cried happily. "Why, if I knew that you were going to be here, I would have come sooner!"
Neal merely threw a disgruntled look at the grinning soldier, and sniffed disdainfully. He really wished that he could pay Dom back for what he and Kel did to him, but he knew that it would probably start an all-out prank war with the blue-eyed man. A war that Neal knew, from past experiences that he could never win and would most likely end with him being utterly humiliated. He huffed grumpily. It just wasn't fair.
Dom grinned again as his cousin flounced out of the room, muttering various obscenities about life and annoying cousins in particular. He strode confidently over to Duke Baird's desk and sat in the seat that Neal had just vacated.
"So," Baird asked, eyeing his nephew warily, "what can I do for you today, Dom?"
Dom eyes twinkled and his grin grew again, which scared Baird because surely that couldn't be good for his face.
"Well you see Uncle, it's like this…"
Kel knocked on the door leading to Daine and Numair's rooms and waited patiently for someone to answer. When the door opened seemingly of its own accord, she blinked and looked down, then smiled brightly at the dragonet at her feet.
"Hello Kit," she greeted, receiving a trill in reply, "is Numair in?"
Kel leaned comfortably against the doorframe as Kitten trilled a positive and disappeared inside the rooms to fetch Numair.
He appeared moments later, sans dragon, and smiled when he saw who was in his doorway.
"Keladry! How wonderful to see you! What can I do for you?"
Kel grinned in a rather un-Kel like fashion, and explained.
"Well you see Numair, it's like this…"
Half an hour later, Kel and Dom met up in a hidden courtyard and shared conspiratorial grins. Everything was going according to plan. Kel cackled with glee and rubbed her hands together.
"This should be good."
Dom grinned back. "Definitely." Suddenly his grin disappeared and he began to scuff his foot along the ground, looking like a shy page. "Kel…do you like me?"
Kel threw him a confused look. "What do you mean? Of course I like you."
"No, I mean like, like me," Dom muttered, blushing faintly.
Kel's confusion doubled, before suddenly understanding shone in her eyes.
"I dunno, Dom, you're going to have to be more specific."
Dom faltered, and began to speak hesitatingly. "You know like, liiike me. Get butterflies in your stomach when you're around me. That kinda stuff." Silence. Dom chanced a glance up and his jaw dropped when he caught sight of Kel's twinkling eyes and huge grin. She laughed as he continued to gape at her and he suddenly joined in, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her body into his.
"That was cruel."
She grinned up at him, while simultaneously trying to regulate her breathing so he wouldn't notice what the close proximity of his body was doing to her.
"But funny."
Kel opened her mouth to comment on his flabbergasted expression, and Dom decided right then and there that he really didn't want to hear it, so he shut her up the best way he knew how.
He slanted his mouth firmly over hers and kissed her with everything he had.
When they pulled back minutes later Dom was pleased to note Kel's slightly vacant face and her harsh breathing.
"What were you going to say before, Kel?"
She looked up at him and her eyes focused slightly. "Huh? Oh, nothing, don't worry about it."
Dom grinned and began to pull her towards the mess hall. "Well in that case, let's go get some dinner. Don't want to miss the show, do we?"
Kel grinned at him, seemingly over her bout of vertigo. "We'll miss it anyway," she informed him. "Master Numair is very good at sleight of hand."
"Well, yes," he grinned. "But actually I meant the whole Raoul-and-Alanna-passing-out show."
Kel's eyes lit up and she began to tug on Dom's hand, urging him to walk faster. He complied, laughing. When they reached the mess hall they stopped outside for a moment to gather themselves and walked in. Unfortunately, they still couldn't wipe the huge grins off their faces so when they sat down at Kel's usual table they were greeted with many wary looks.
"Alright, out with it," said Merric. "What have you two done?"
Dom gasped indignantly, and replied in a high-pitched voice. "Who, us? How could you even think such a thing, Sir Merric?" Then, just for good measure, he fluttered his eyelashes at the horrified knight.
Kel laughed, and hit Dom on the shoulder. "Dom, stop scaring the poor man. But seriously guys, we haven't done anything."
"Not yet anyway," Dom muttered, eyes following the slightly heavy movements of two particular knights at the high table.
Kel's friends shared an uneasy glance and decided not to comment as Kel and Dom silently rose and followed Raoul and Alanna out of the mess hall. They would undoubtedly find out what was going on soon enough and in the meantime, they didn't want to get involved. Kel and Dom were scary.
The two in question were currently following Alanna and Raoul as inconspicuously as possible, and trying to hear snatches of their conversation.
"Feeling kinda woozy…"
"…don't know what's going on…"
"…Kel and Dom."
THUD
Kel and Dom shared a grin and dragged the two unconscious knights outside to the wagon they had waiting. The herbs Duke Baird had given them were very strong, so they didn't have to worry about Raoul or Alanna waking up and ruining their plan.
"Mithros, Minnoss and Shakith, this man is heavy," Dom complained. "How come you get to carry Alanna?"
"Oh stop complaining," Kel grinned. "It's not much further."
Grunting and groaning, together the two conspirators managed to heave the two deadweights into the wagon.
"Well," Dom snorted. "Tomorrow should be interesting."
The first thing Alanna thought when she woke up was that George must've left the curtains open again because the sun was shining harshly into her eyes. Then, she realised that maybe there was another reason for that, because she most definitely was not in her bed. As soon as this fact registered her eyes flew open and she stared at the scene surrounding her.
"Great Mother Goddess," she whispered, before raising her voice dramatically. "Raoul! Raoul, wake up! Raoul!"
"Huh? Whassat?" the hulking knight snorted as he finally woke up. Raising his head, he glanced at his surroundings, blinked, and then stared.
"Alanna? Why are we tied to posts in the middle of the town square?"
"I don't know!" Alanna hissed, remembering the last time she had viewed a scene like this. She gulped. The memory was not a good one. "But I intend to find out."
She struggled with the rope that bound her wrists for a few minutes, before sighing in defeat and slumping against the pole she was tied to.
"Can't you just magic the ropes off?" Raoul asked, curious as to why she didn't even try.
"No. There's a magic dampener on the ropes, too strong for even me to break."
Suddenly, a third voice piped up and Raoul and Alanna's heads swiveled as one to fix on the speaker.
"Well, look here. They're finally awake."
"Dom," Raoul hissed, glaring at his grinning Sergeant. "Get us out of here, now!"
"Sorry, Raoul. Can't do that."
"Why not?" Alanna growled. If looks could kill, Dom would be very, very dead by now.
"Because then I would hurt him," a new voice added. Kel calmly walked up to the two trapped knights and continued, ignoring the hissed curses coming her way. "What you did yesterday wasn't very nice, you know. Dom and I, well, we just couldn't let something like that pass. So, here we are. Revenge is sweet."
Walking away, she threw a final "Enjoy" over her shoulder before Dom gave her a quick kiss on the lips and looped an arm around her waist. Alanna and Raoul could only watch the two lovebirds walking away and blink at their retreating backs.
"Well," Raoul started. "Guess we didn't need that second plan of yours after all."
Alanna's only response was a hissed curse as she continued to struggle with the ropes binding her. Raoul looked around; trying to see what Dom and Kel had planned for them. Suddenly he gulped, and tried to get his comrades attention.
"Alanna! Alanna!"
"What?" she hissed, head swinging around to glare at him. Catching sight of his wide-eyed expression, she followed his gaze slowly, fearing what she might find.
Alanna's eyes widened, and she gulped.
"Nice kiddies…you don't want to hurt us do you?"
Her only response was the scariest war cry she had ever heard as the children in front of her launched their first assault. As the rotten fruit flew through the air, Alanna shrieked "I swear by the Goddess, I will get you two for this."
Kel and Dom, who had been watching the proceedings from a safe distance, smiled and Dom laughed as he pushed himself up from the sign he had been leaning on.
"Let's go get some food. I'm hungry."
"You're always hungry," Kel smiled as she followed him up the road leading to the palace.
Behind them, the sign sat innocently, unaware of the message it portrayed.
'Target Practice. One day only. Test your skills against two of Tortall's finest!'
Meanwhile…
"Dom? Lerant? Someone? Anyone?"
"Well, crap," Wolset sighed as he slid down the door until he was sitting on the ground, back resting on the door. Hearing a strange noise, he looked up and his eyes widened as he stared into the beady black eyes of the hen standing menacingly before him.
"HEEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPPPP"
THE END