Disclaimer: I only smile and nod my head.

   A/N: This was my first piece of fan fiction ever and a story kind of grew out of it. The first chapter is kind of awkward, but you'll see, it turned out better than I hoped.  Checked and Revised! ~Karr

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  Chapter 1: Protector

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Rathhausak the Ruthless

Thy name shall be

If thy chooses thy blind path

Blind thy may be

Must you confront a winged one

Twice-native ones

The Lion-Hearted

Thy divine

Thy – Rathhausak the Ruthless

Must run from time!

Doom will be sealed

If the Protected comes near

But when thy see Griffon

Doom will be here

*********************

    Keladry of Mindelan's eyes opened slowly, only to be shut again. The sun was utterly blinding.  'Wonderful. Beautiful February sunlight…terrific.'  Sitting up, she groaned. She winced slightly, waiting for her daily pains to come.

There was none.

She smiled. 'Mithros and Goddess Bless! It's been two months since my ordeal and I'm finally healed!' Her aches, to say the least, had been a miserable companion. She wasn't sad to see them gone.

  She pulled herself out of bed and quickly fed the sparrows. The stone was wretchedly cold beneath her feet. Heading to the privy, she hoped to relax in a warm bath, when a hollow knock thundered through her room. With a sigh, she dressed herself decently, and opened the door.

  Before Kel had a chance, she was swept off her feet and held in a tight grasp. Kel laughed. Neal was back.

   Neal had been away, traveling with the King's Own for the last month. The Own had lost many Healers their last time out, so Neal volunteered for the job. Kel was wondering why they still were not on their way to the border.

"Neal! You Meathead! Why didn't you send word that you were coming back to the Corus?" she asked curiously. He allowed her to slip out of his hold and sit down on her bed, while he stole a seat in her cushioned chair.

"Do I need to send word these days? Huh. I figured you'd already know with those little – feathered things of yours,"  he said idly, pointing to the sparrows perched at Kel's window. They looked at him with contempt, and continued to eat their dried fruit.

      Neal smiled a boyish grin, leapt out of his chair, and grabbed Kel for another embrace.

   Kel couldn't stop laughing. "Stop that you oaf!"

  Just then, Keladry heard a voice outside her open door. "Well – this is new."

   Kel blinked.

The very tall redhead looked down slightly at the two best friends. Kel looked at the young man and tried to think. Neal quickly released himself, straightened his tunic, and smiled at the quizzical looking redhead.

The man in question put up one eyebrow in an inquiring gesture. Kel smiled slightly. Cleon of Kennan smirked at her surprise.  It had been over a year since their last meeting. He coughed. "I'm sorry, was I interrupting some--."

 "Don't fluster yourself, Kennan. He's swooning over Yukimi," Kel told him bluntly. Her thoughts were returning from her moment of shock. She held in an urge to melt. Frankly, Kel was no longer cold.

  Neal blushed crimson and looked at Kel with despise. " Yuki and I are only friends. Lovely creature she is, however. She reminds all of a glorious flower, in the mist of blooming. Her eyes -- they are more beautiful than the heavens above. She --." Neal was interrupted as a pillow was thrown hard at his face, exploding feathers on impact. His face flushed once again. There was no denying the truth – he was in love with Lady Yukimi.  

   Kel grinned.

  Cleon smiled – impressed. "Nice shot Kel."

    Kel scolded Neal. " You couldn't pull off a decent lie if Wyldon himself promised not to be so stiff and like you, for all you are a meathead." Cleon laughed at this, while Neal glared.

   "I'm guessing you've just returned from the border, Neal? " Cleon asked. Kel was wondering the same.

   Pulling the last feather out of his mouth with disgust, he replied dryly. "I was on my way to the border. We were called back – Third Company and I – because exiled centaurs were attacking a town a few miles back, and by the time we were able to go out again, a third of the border defenders were called back. Strangely enough, so were we. Lord Raoul was livid. I swear he was a magnificent shade of plum the entire trip home."

  Cleon nodded. " I'm home for the same reason. I was called back, but I have leave for only three months." Cleon said regretfully.

Kel frowned. 'Again? And here I am protecting the birds.'

  Cleon and Neal, who both noticed, grimaced.

  She was still stuck in Corus. She wanted to protect her country – and she couldn't. Wyldon had given her nothing.  Her ordeal confirmed her thoughts. It had given her a task – to find the nothing man, and to stop his killing. Nothing for Keladry of Mindelan.

  She fought the temptation to make a fist. Wyldon knew what she was capable of!  'He knows.'  He had admitted it. He was testing her. She knew he was. Patience.

"Neal, what town did you say was attacked?" Cleon asked, trying to ease the tension.

  "Owlshollow."

That got Kel's attention. Her head whipped up violently. "What town?"

  Cleon frowned.

Neal, however, was calm. "Owlshollow. They didn't need us."

"What?" chorused both Cleon and Kel.

Neal sighed. "They didn't need us. That's why the last month has been nearly pointless. They culled the centaurs themselves."

 Kel was quiet for a moment before smiling. "Good. They can depend upon themselves. I liked the town."

 Neal shook his head thoughtfully. "It's quite interesting actually. Third Company was there a little more than four years past, and for the same reason – centaurs. They remembered that the now Lady Knight was present. They found courage in this, and they handled their situation quite nicely the second time around. They left none to the crowns justice. We offered our assistance, but they refused. They told us not to worry about Owlshollow.  They had learned to protect themselves – the young squire having left such an impression. Milord was pleased – and I think it was the only good thing that came out of our retreat."

Kel blushed crimson at the thought. She had once been to Owlshollow, confronting and killing a centaur – but not before getting thrashed herself. She was rewarded with a baby griffin for a year, until his parents came back and got him. Her blush deepened at the thought of Raoul being particularly proud of her.

   Kel relaxed once more, happy to know the town was secure. She couldn't help but think of Cleon, her lover for the past two years. They were a secret pairing - but hardly. If Neal and the rest were not informed, they surely had suspicions. Knowing them, they were sure to find out.

  'I'll bet my reputation on it -- not that I've got one -- well at least not a good one.' Kel thought wildly, smirking at her own joke. She was glad he had finally come home. 'Not to be rude Neal, but please leave so I can talk to Cleon  - alone.' 

  Neal saw the look Kel was trying to hide, and smiled wickedly. As if reading her mind, he answered her thoughts. " I'll occupy myself by visiting jolly Owen. Cheers!"

   With that, he vanished rather quickly, managing only a quick pat on Cleon's shoulder, whispering in his ear as he did so. Cleon grinned wolfishly.  Kel thought of eaves–dropping, but thought better of it. She didn't want to know what they were saying. After all, it was Cleon and Neal.

~**~

Kel stared at Cleon. Mentally scolding herself for acting like a child, Kel decided to smile so she didn't look so damn stupid. Cleon didn't seem to be having any trouble. He smiled at her with so much liking and love it made her melt, but there was something in his eyes that wasn't there before -- something that was making the situation tense. He had changed – he was harder – colder, but not with her.  

  Cleon started to talk, but his face told other feelings and immediately he swooped Kel up in his arms and gave her a passionate kiss. "I missed you so much!" he whispered between kisses. Cleon lifted Kel's chin so he could stare directly in her eyes. There it was again, that unknown thing in his eyes. Kel wished she knew what it was. It certainly wasn't showing up at the current time, for she certainly liked this Cleon of Kennan. "So did you miss me then?" Cleon whispered in a voice that made Kel shiver all over.

 She smiled. "Not at all."

After greeting each other properly, Cleon talked of the border. "-Mithros, I thought I was dead. After my hearing came back and my eyesight cleared, I was told that the Scanran died of his wounds," Kennan said grimly.

  It was the story of what happened to Cleon the day Kel took her Ordeal. "I was so scared that I was going to die. I already knew you had or were passing your ordeal as I stood there – defending myself. I was scared that you would make it and that I wouldn't be able to come back to Corus to see you do great wonders for your country." Cleon sighed.

  Kel was speechless. "I'm just an ordinary knight, Cleon. I'm not like Alanna, Daine, or Milord. I just want to protect my home."

   He smiled slightly at her. "No, you're not any of them. You are who you are – Keladry of Mindelan. You are anything but ordinary Keladry, and you're everything you need to be. Stop saying foolish things. Trust me – Tortall needs you – more than we admit."

  He didn't allow her to answer. Kissing her goodbye, he left, promising to see her at lunch.

~**~

 Kel took a long bath as she thought out her mind. 'I can't believe Neal and Cleon are back. Neal is purely a Meathead, never changed a bit. But Cleon – he loves me. Something is different. Its nothing I have detected so far, but something is different.' Kel had a feeling that Cleon was hiding something. She was scared, and she knew why.

Lalasa came in a few minutes before Kel was to go down to lunch. Seeing Kel struggle with what to wear and how to do her hair, the experienced businesswomen and friend decided to help.

"You know Kel, You could always wear the new dress I made you." 

  Kel turned abruptly. "What new dress?"

   "This one."

Kel looked down on her bed to find the most beautiful thing. She looked at it in amazement. It was so – beautiful.

 Lalasa lifted it off the bed with a smile. Kel looked it over. "Try it on, Kel." Lalasa whispered. She did.

 It was the color of the setting sun – a deep, longing red. Its sleeves carried themselves gently down to the length of just past her elbows, where they laid, ruffled and beautiful. The neck was a comfortable length for Kel, reaching down only to the top of her breasts. There too, the top was ruffled in a gentle manner. Small emeralds shimmered across her neckline and followed down in a signal row to her elbows. The dress didn't entirely cover her shoulders, showing some of her flesh. It flowed down past her knees, but only slightly. In the back, the length was longer, coming close to her ankles. It frilled flatly against her skin.

   It was the perfect dress for Kel. It would be the ideal casual outfit. It was looser than most dresses that women wore, but it was equipped with a white silk sash that crossed her waist and tied on her left, making some of her better curves show through. Lalasa also gave Kel a necklace made by the Bazhir, saying only that it was a gift from a friend. It was a ten strand turquoise beaded necklace. It came down to the hollow of her neck.

   Kel was also pleased to find a beautiful pair of her mother's shoes. They had a Yamani design that complimented the gown perfectly. Her hair was now an inch or two past shoulder length. It was easily pinned up in a simple, but fashionable way.

  Kel looked at herself in the mirror with awe. She looked like Kel in a dress. She looked  - astonishing.

  Lalasa squealed. "Oh Kel! You look stunning!!! I have never seen you so beautiful. And you compare with the most beautiful at court!" 

 She looked lovely. She knew that she wasn't competition for the beautiful women at court, hardly so, but she looked – attractive. 'And Joren said I would be pretty if I quit my training. So much for that theory.'' She said to herself, as she remembered the cruel things her old [not to mention dead] foe said to her when she was a page.

The men were up for a surprise.

~**~

 Kel walked down the hall anxiously. She was a little self aware, but knew she looked her absolute best. She wasn't the only one to notice. Some of the servants saw her, smiled, and bowed or curtsied. Kel laughed. Some young knights, a few years older than her, looked at her awkwardly. Others blushed and looked away. Kel felt cheesy. She couldn't help but smile in spite of it all. She wasn't at all used to this treatment!

 Keladry made a mental note to herself.  'It's fun – but awkward. Pretty clothes should be kept for people I don't mind a reaction in – like Cleon – or Dom.'

  Kel blinked. Frowning, she reviewed her last thought. 'Cleon – or Dom? – Where in Mithros did that come from?'  He was handsome of course, and she did still melt when he smiled. But Cleon loved her. Dom was just a young-girl crush. She loved his company, and often spent time with him. She did that with Neal too. What was so different then?

   Kel tried to stop thinking on the subject as she walked, but it kept appearing in her mind. It unnerved her. It was then that a thought occurred to her.

  'Is it that I'm in love with Cleon and Dom's just a friend? Or – is it – I'm in love with one of them and am only confused? Do I reject my feeling for Dom because there are none, or because he doesn't share them?"

  It was a question that needed thought. It was not the time to think, however, for she had arrived at the door of the eating-house, belonging to the King's Own.

~**~

  She opened the door and walked in like always--and like always -- the entire place would turn to see who it was. But generally, they would give a nod or wave or call her over to chat for a few minutes. That was the reaction she was hoping for – it was not what she got. The sound stopped abruptly, and everyone starred. Many of the men Kel knew smiled wolfishly at her blush. Kel waved them off as she walked, wishing that some of their eyes would stop tracing her curves. She saw Osbern and Flyn wearing large grins. Raoul's eyes held wry amusement.

The men continued to find Kel interesting, until Raoul budged Flyn, who shouted some orders to the men, ordering them to eat. Kel gave Raoul a deep look of appreciation. He returned it with a flash of teeth. He gestured her to come over, which she immediately obeyed.

" I never found you to be a distraction to my men before, Keladry. Trying something different?" he asked innocently.

Kel blushed. " It was Lalasa's idea - last time I listen to her," Kel grumbled. Raoul only laughed.

" You look lovely, if an old geezer can say such things. And I must say, it looks very casual. It's a good look for you."

Kel didn't even bother to blush. She brushed him off. " You, Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, are not an old geezer."

 He smiled. "Then why make me feel like one? Call me Raoul – you're my comrade, not my squire, Kel. I don't care what Jonathan thinks - my mother named me Raoul."

 Kel grinned. "Your call." 

He laughed and shook his head. At that moment, Neal came by quickly and asked to steal Kel.

"Well I wont keep you, but I'll admit -- I miss my squire. When you're not busy being heroic, stop by third company. We're likely to be having picnics soon," Raoul retorted. 'Neal was right, he's not happy with the King.'  

She smiled. "I'm likely to be writing sonnets soon. I'll read them at our picnic."

   Surprised at her answer, Raoul laughed. Dismissing her, Neal pulled her towards his table.

  He offered his arm. Shrugging, Kel accepted it. "I see the Lady Knight decided to look stunning today. I think I might just have to dedicate my poems toward you from now on." 

  Neal being such a gentlemen, she kept her mouth shut, trying not to allow it to twitch.

"If I'd known I was making a scene I would have never put this thing on." 

She knew she was lying, and so did he.

~**~

 As she walked over to where her friends sat, she was horrified by one face in particular. Of course there was Meathead, Merric, jolly Owen, Faleron, Cleon, and Dom. That last face made her turn pale and blush simultaneously. He grinned. 

Cleon did not look happy about that grin. He knew Neal, and if Dom was anything like his cousin, then that smile was not a good sign. Cleon gave a silent growl and glared at Dom, only to find a completely innocent face.

Neal also noticed Dom. He didn't miss Cleon's reply either. He watched them both with curiosity. 

The silence grew, and then was broke as Merric and Faleron whistled. Kel grinned and turned around showing off her gown. Cleon smiled slightly, but didn't say anything. 

"Surprised?" Kel asked. Smoothing out the bottom half of her dress, Kel sat.

Owen, Faleron, and Merric shook their heads vigorously. "You look like Kel, except improved," said Faleron.

 Everyone laughed. "Well it's true! No one would expect her to do anything harmful looking like that, but I bet she's got a handful of daggers hidden---."  He motioned with his hand.

Kel glared. "Thank you very much, but where I hide my own daggers is my own business. For your information it is not--." She motioned with her hand as Faleron did. "—There."

  Faleron blushed. Kel smiled and shoved him. "You dolt, I'm just joking!"

   He grinned. Looking across the table at Cleon, she met his eyes. He smiled, but it looked forced. Kel ignored it – she was enjoying herself. Dom gave her a favorable look.

   Ruffling Owen's hair, Kel listened as they caught up on all the events of the past month. After they ate, Dom reminded everyone of the events happening that night. " The King's Own is having tournaments tonight. Everyone is tenting outside, even with the cold. All the knights are being invited. You're all welcome to come."

   Kel had forgotten about the planned event, believing it to be canceled since the Own had been called away. Apparently, Raoul wanted the King to put on a show for his fighters.

They all said they could make it, with the exception of Neal and Owen.

   " I'm afraid my lovely temper mad ex-Knight Mistress is giving me a lesson on the Unicorn Fever. Fun," Neal answered dryly. Owen, on the other hand, wasn't a knight and still had his duties to Wyldon.

" Well the Lioness will be joining us in the celebrations, so maybe you can stop by later on," suggested Dom.

Neal agreed and the plans were set. They were all going to meet later that night.

  As everyone finished with their meals, they talked for quite awhile. Soon, everyone left, and Kel and her hidden daggers left too. 'So many friends, what would I do with out them?' Kel thought, as she walked back up to her room. She quickly changed her outfit to a tunic and full breeches so she would feel more at ease. 'I did like everyone's reaction to my dress. But gods forbid, I couldn't live with men acting so – so—attentive. Humph – and they say I should have been a court lady. Dear god!'

  With that, Keladry had some thinking to do.

~**~

   Yes, well – there it is. I've revised this chapter too many times to count. Cheers.

    A/N: Indian made or Western ten strand turquoise necklaces are absolutely gorgeous. They are especially beautiful if they are mixed with coral red stones.

~Karr

The Last Name

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