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"There you are!" Neal's voice rang out across the courtyard. He waved at her, as if they weren't the only two people out here, and started in her direction.
Kel suppressed a sigh, stretching out her back. It wasn't that she wasn't happy to see her best friend. Of course she was. But she'd come out here specifically because there wasn't anyone else out here. It was her first time back at the castle since getting her shield, and she was thoroughly exhausted by all the noise and the people. She waited until he was close to stand up from the stone bench. "It's good to see you, Neal."
He pulled her into a rough hug, but she'd seen the look in his eyes that said he was up to something. She hugged him back, and then stepped back to look at him. "What is it?"
"Oh, nothing. Can't I just be happy to see my best friend?" He wilted under her gaze, but underneath the act she could tell he was still excited. "I forget how well you know me. Someone wants to see you."
As she followed him back inside, she wondered who it could possibly be. Raoul was here, she was sure, but he wouldn't have sent Neal. He'd have sent one of the men under his command, which would have turned into the entire squadron coming to get her. Or he'd have come himself. The king would have sent a messenger, not a knight. Yuki, perhaps, would have asked Neal to come find her, if either she or Shinko wanted to see her. Wyldon, if he was still living here, might have also sent Neal, she thought with amusement.
Her answer, when she got it, turned out to be none of them.
Neal let them into chambers she'd never been in before, and called out unceremoniously, "we're here! Now, I should warn you—"
He was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice in the next room. "When have I ever needed you to warn me about anything? We'll be fine, you can go."
"You'll be fine," Neal said to Kel, turning to her. "You can thank me later. Just remember, it's not you, she just has a temper."
"As opposed to when anyone else talks to you, I'm sure." Kel was starting to wonder what exactly Neal was setting her up for when they were joined by a woman with short red hair, looking up at Kel with piercing violet eyes. Neal slipped out while Kel was struck by the realization that she was face to face and now alone with The Lioness.
"I had heard you were back to visit," Alanna said, waving Kel into the other room. She had tea set out and a fire going in the fireplace. "We didn't get to talk very much last time."
Kel sat in the seat that was offered to her, quietly in awe. Even though she knew why the older woman hadn't visited her during her page and squire years, she still felt a little unsteady around Alanna. Or was it the look she was giving her as she offered Kel a cup of tea? "Thank you," she said, accepting it. Once again she was thankful for the childhood that had taught her to keep her emotions hidden. She would look like a fool otherwise, staring openly at the woman who had paved the way for her to become a knight.
"You don't need to be so formal with me," Alanna assured her, and either it was Kel's imagination or Alanna was staring at her. She took the other open seat, the other end of the couch, and leaned toward Kel. "I've heard so much about you, Keladry. Neal talked about you the entire time he was my squire. I almost feel as if I already know you."
Sipping her tea to give herself a moment to think about what to say, Kel nodded. "You can call me Kel, Lioness. I know the feeling. Neal told me all about you, too."
The fire and the tea warmed her, but not as much as the Lioness' touch, when she reached out to place one strong hand on Kel's knee. "It's nice to have someone else around who understands what it's like to be a woman and a knight," she said softly. "Call me Alanna. I've been hoping to get to spend some time with you, but nobody knew when you'd be back. You're too much like me, I hear, at least in that you like to stay busy."
Kel moved toward Alanna, onto the seat between them, hardly able to believe that her hero was flirting with her. She was given an approving look. "Usually, yes. I think it's about time I took a break though."
"Agreed. You've already done a lot for a brand new knight," Alanna said, wrapping her arm around Kel's waist. "I hear Jon wants to talk to you, but I told him I needed to see you first. He tried to argue, but his arguments were far less compelling this time. It boiled down to 'I'm the king', and I laughed at him."
Was she trying to impress Kel? It was working. She laughed and wrapped her arm around Alanna's shoulders. "You laughed at the king?"
"Jon isn't that intimidating when you grew up with him," she said dryly. She was restless, as Kel had always been told she was. She moved to straddle Kel's lap instead, smiling. "Spend enough time with me, you'll get comfortable with him too. But I don't want to talk about him. I'm much more interested in you. You're all anyone will talk about, you know. I met some of your refugees, and I heard all about everything else you did. You're a hero, Kel, and I'm proud of you."
She was enchanted by the pretty violet eyes smouldering up at her. She didn't even know what she said in response, just that she was leaning toward Alanna eagerly. When their lips met, Alanna's hand moved to the back of her neck, keeping her there.