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"Alanna, you can't possibly be serious," Jon said incredulously. "You actually think I can control who my subjects bet on and who they don't?"
"No. I do think you can do something about it, though. "
Jon strummed his fingers against the table. "Specifically?"
"Control the betting. Make it all into one huge bet - that way nobody can cheat anybody. Everybody puts in a silver noble, and gets one guess for their noble. The ones who guess right split the pot. People stop asking about it, and Kel is, well, a little bit happier I suppose, and nobody's going to kill the king for completely abolishing the bets - only organizing them. Problem solved."
Jon shook his head in amusement. "Alanna, there's a reason I try to stay on your good side. Not only are you wicked with a sword, but you're brilliant."
"I try," she replied, proud of herself, which made Jon chuckle. "Well?"
"Fine. I'll do it. I owe that Keladry girl anyway, after Blayce. Happy, Lioness?"
"Yes. Announce it at dinner, please," she said, and darted out of the room, leaving Tortall's king with a wry smile on his face.
Then she noticed nobody was eating. She looked up to the Great Table, and nearly groaned. The King.
"Everybody, sit quickly. I have something to announce," he said. Kel walked to her seat amongst her friends with even more speed, trying not to run.
Soon all were seated, and King Jonathan began. "It has come to my attention that there is a topic which many, if not all of you, have been betting on for the past two days. Normally, I would not care, but while betting I think many of you have not only forgotten to pay due respect to one of Tortall's fine Lady Knights," he said, causing Kel to look down, "but it's also caused havoc. I will not have people fighting over a stupid wager. "
King Jonathan's voice was like iron. The more honorable men in the room looked down in shame. Most men, however, didn't. One yelled, "So we're supposed to stop betting?" Men roared in anger, agreeing. The King, stop the wagers? What folly!
King Jonathan only smiled. "Of course not. I'm not going to have somebody kill the king because he was stupid enough to stop the betting. Instead, I'm going to organize it. I won't have anybody in the castle cheated out of a noble. Instead, for each gold noble you pay, you get one slip of paper with a specific guess - only one person's name on every slip. The people with the correct guesses get to split the pot of nobles. It'll all be organized. You still bet, but this way nobody gets cheated or hurt."
People around the room were murmuring agreement. This sounded good. The price was high enough that not as many people would bet, or they'd bet along with friends and split the winnings. The betting list wouldn't be overflowing with paper. And he was right, this way nobody would get cheated.
As the assent ran around the room, King Jonathan nodded. “If I hear of any betting outside of this, I will find a suitable punishment with time. For those of you betting tonight, you are to give your wagers to the Lioness” – who now, sitting a few seats away from where Jon stood, changed her smug smile into a piercing glare directed toward him – “and she will take your money and papers. And now, eat before it gets too cold!”
The King sat and everybody began to eat, chatting eagerly between bites. Kel found she’d lost her appetite, and took a small bite of a roll as she tried to calm herself.
Neal kicked her from under the table. “Ignoring the fact that normally I kick you, what is it, Queenscove?” She’d meant to sound sharp, but it only came out with a tired sigh. She looked back to her bread, but she caught sight of Neal’s scowl.
“I think we’re switching places today. We must be. Usually you kick me, and then you remind me to eat my vegetables. Now I’ve kicked you, and now I’m reminding you to eat your vegetables. And for that matter, the rest of your dinner, too.”
Kel gave him a weak glare. “You do realize this is your fault?”
“What is?” Neal asked, confused.
Kel frowned and half-heartedly grabbed at a roll. She tried to eat, but soon put it down.
It was too much. She was trying to hold her Yamani mask, and having difficulty. On one level, she supposed she was relieved. The new setup for the betting would stop the people from approaching her, but they would still watch and gossip whenever she walked around in the hallways. It’d be a little better with this new idea of the King’s, though not much. She would eventually have to read all those notes and choose the ones who’d gotten it right. That’d be torturous. But thinking of the alternatives, Kel shuddered and thought that it could be far worse.
Neal had set her all up for this, too. Her best friend of all people had let the news leak out that she was in love. It was like betrayal. On some level, Kel knew she forgave him, and that it was in his nature to want to bet. But at the same time a bigger part of her unreasonably thought that as her best friend he should have guessed she was suffering and stopped. She didn’t feel like she could trust him right now. Not while this blasted bet was still going, for sure.
And stressing her out every moment of the day was Dom. It was amazing how badly she wished to be with him. Looking at Neal anytime immediately reminded her of his cousin Dom, and then her heart ached, again. Looking at the King reminded her of the King’s Own, and thus of Dom. Heck, looking at the grass made her think of nights when she’d slept on it as Raoul’s squire and with the Own – wow, another thing to remind her of Dom! Dom, Dom, and more Dom. Everything made her wish that she was his.
Under all this stress combined, Keladry of Mindelan was very, very close to cracking into pieces. She wasn’t aware of this. She didn’t realize that any minute now she was due for an explosion, and the smallest thing could set her off. What she did know was that her Yamani mask was getting more use than usual, and it kept getting harder and harder to put it on.
Suddenly, Kel jumped, as a loud noise to her side startled her out of thought. She looked aside, and gulped, her mask hanging by a hair now.
“Hello Kel, Meathead,” Dom grumbled as he adjusted his position on his seat. For once he was not happy at all. In fact, he almost looked mad.
“You really have to stop calling me that,” Neal said. “What’s got a bee up your bonnet?”
Kel elbowed Neal. “Don’t tease,” she said shortly. “Although admittedly I myself would appreciate knowing why you’re here instead of eating with the Own.”
“Oh, well that’s easy enough to answer,” Dom muttered. He tried to keep as much anger out of his voice as possible, but some got loose. Kel was worried. Very little angered Dom.
“Frankly, some of the men of the Own were talking about a certain friend of mine,” he said, and took a nice hearty bite out of a roll. “They thought that because of a certain wager going around that this friend of mine was nothing more than a flutter brained court lady, to be polite. The words they implied were far different. Anyone with a brain in their head could tell they wanted to call her a silly chit, or a trollop, a run-down bit of tavern scum, a bitch. I couldn’t stay eating with them. So, I came here. I know who my friends are. Not those bastards,” he said, spitting out the word.
Kel winced. Dom’s blue eyes, normally warm and deep, were now flashing in the light, reflecting it like frozen ice. Had she ever seen him this mad? Once, maybe. Twice, probably not. Certainly not often.
She knew they were talking about her, those men. She didn’t care, not right now. Kel just wanted Dom to calm down, so he could be happy as usual. It wasn’t a good feeling, knowing he was angry, even if it was in her defense.
“And you didn’t say anything?” Neal exclaimed, bewildered.
The inevitable explosion came. Kel stood, her mask still in place but for a pair of blazing hazel eyes.
“Are you just determined to make life worse for me these past two days, Meathead? I’m glad he didn’t. Dom didn’t cause a fuss. There’ve been men like that my whole life. I’m used to it. Neal, you should know that better than anybody! Will you just yank your head out of the muck and figure something out for once? You’re not helping me, you’re only making things harder, and thanks to you in the first place, they’re hard enough. Dom did something good. He left without a fuss so that nobody got hurt or anything, and nobody will hold it against him, I’m sure. If he’d defended me, we’d both have troubles. What have you done, besides turn the whole palace on my tail? You’re supposed to be intelligent, Neal. That’s why you read books, right? Use that brain of yours. Maybe if you had sooner, then I wouldn’t be stuck like this! Now, I have no appetite whilst everybody is watching my every move to see if they can figure out who I’ve fallen for, and I’m leaving before you try to do something else stupid and choke me as you shove food down my throat!”
The two tables beside Kel’s, being close enough to hear her yelling, were completely silent as she stormed off to leave the mess.
Well, that was fun. Sorry Neal (hug) but that had to be done. I really do like (cough cough) Neal, but Kel needed somebody to explode at, and Neal's great like that - he can take it, and they are really good friends.
Congrats to Filly8 and Stardust718 for correctly guessing it was Jon. Filly, you get the prize. I'll PM you and tell you what it is.
Hope you all liked it, all 23859846029345 of you, as it feels like there's that many of you to me. Shrug.
Oh, and by the way? For a little fun KD oneshot, check out my little Midwinter Gift to all of you - it's called The Great Mistletoe Mishap. I had tons of fun writing it, so please read it! Thank you!