Chapter Text
Kel had only cursed the Kings name twice in her life. The first was when she'd been put on probation for her first year as a page, and the second…
The second was being assigned to the Emelan delegation.
Lady Alanna, who had been standing near her, barked in startled laughter, causing some of the nearby nobles to glance at her. A purple-eyed glare had them whirling around, flustered. These Emelanese nobles were unused to the Lioness and Kel really couldn't blame them for their trepidation.
"Such language." The sword mistress remarked, grinning. "Usually you're one to suffer in silence."
Kel scowled, flicking a piece of chin length brown hair from her face. "I just don't know what my being here does for anyone." Kel muttered, glancing around the large hall. "I'm a diplomats daughter, not a diplomat."
King Jonathan had recently opened talks with the Duke Vedris; Tortall was reeling from the Scanran War and needed the steady supply of trade ships to replenish his coffers. He'd sent the usual diplomats along with a few of the trade guild advisors and secretaries, enough to establish a decent embassy in Emelan. That she could understand, being her parent's child. What she could not comprehend was her Kings decision to send both lady knights overseas- she suspected it was a method of subtlety punishing her for her disobeying orders in Scanra. It's not like she was actually useful.
Indeed, the talks were restricted to the pertinent officials only, so Kel was left with little else to do but train in the courtyards all day and attend the balls she loathed by evening.
"Didn't make a difference to Jon, did it?" Alanna shrugged. "He probably figured you'd keep me from doing something stupid."
Kel smiled slightly. "Even the Great Mother herself couldn't do that, Lady Alanna."
Alanna rolled her eyes. "It's not like Emelan is so bad." She mused, taking a sip of the wine she'd snagged off the tray of a passing servant. "A lot like Tortall, only filled to the brim with mages."
"That makes you less prone to trouble?" Keladry laughed. "The dances are still-"
"Boring?" Alanna interjected. "Your hatred of dancing is a really bad attitude to take from your knight master, Lady Kel-"
"Raoul has improved." Kel protested, feeling the need to protect her mentor in his absence.
Alanna snorted. "Buri's whipped him into shape, that's for sure. He used to be infamous for his hatred of frivolity, now it seems he's passed that attitude onto his squire."
"Lady Alanna, he still hides behind the drapes."
"Well, he never quite stopped." Alanna admitted ruefully. "But marriage has certainly agreed with him, as he doesn't do it near as often." She stopped short, eyebrows raised as she watched the younger woman shift slightly, like listening to the Kings Champion natter on about their very physically affectionate friends made her uncomfortable.
She felt no mercy as she waited for the opportune moment, and leapt for the kill.
"Got a man at home, Kel?"
Kel managed to avoid spitting the juice on her tunic, breeches, or any of the nobles that hobnobbed around them. "W-what?"
"You heard me." Alanna smirked. "Last I heard some soldier boy was sweet on you. What was it Nealan called him? Cousin Dom-"
"I doubt anything you've heard is true." Kel said primly, wiping at her lips with a handkerchief. "Certainly nothing about my love life."
Chuckling, Alanna held her hands up in defeat, letting the subject drop. "I'm just saying, Emelan's a good place to have a little fun before you go back to shoving your celibacy into conservative faces. Even the conservatives here are progressive, by Tortall standards. At least they wouldn't crucify you here for taking a lover."
Kel cleared her throat, struggling to retain her Yamani composure, before directing their conversation onto lighter things, prolonging the inevitable call back into society. Kel, as a lesser member of the delegation, wasn't required to play nice but the Kings Champion had to be gracious, benevolent, patient and above all, she needed to suck up to important nobles.
"Well," she sighed, setting her glass aside. "I'm getting dirty looks from our diplomats-in-arms. I'd better go mingle." Saluting lazily, Kel watched her friend disappear into the sea of taffeta, velvet, and silk.
Left alone, Kel sat herself in an alcove out of the way. She had a clear view of the dance floor from her relaxed position, but she felt out of the way enough that she could let her face relax into slack contentedness. She felt her eyes close as she based in the comfortable warmth and the soft notes of the mandolin that carried the tune of a traditional Tortallaln waltz in honor of the delegation.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" Kel blinked her eyes and looked up.
A dark skinned young women about her own age looked back calmly. Her skin was far darker than the copper of the Yamani or the nut-brown of the K'miri. Her equally dark hair was done in braids, every small twist of hair braided and tucked behind her ears. Her eyes were bright.
In her defense, it really wasn't her fault she could barely recall her own name.
"No, of course not." Kel managed to remember. "Uh- it's Keladry of Mindenlan. Just Kel, if you please." She stumbled to her feet, and was pleasantly surprised when, instead of towering over the other woman (as Kel tended to do), their eyes were on the same level.
The women reached out and clasped Kel's hand. Her grip was firm and the muscles in her arms just as developed as Kel's, with almost identical calluses on her palms.
"Pleased to meet you." The Emelanese woman said, smiling slightly, white teeth flashing against dark lips. "Daja Kisubo. Daja to my friends." She gave Kel another warm smile.
"What, no title?" Kel teased, feeling light. For some reason, her usual composure was missing. Oh god, not again- Neal and Dom were bad enough-
Daja smiled slightly. "I have some powerful friends." She shrugged and Kel noticed the tunic that fitted nicely over her shoulders was of good make, with delicate embroidery that would've made Lalasa weep with envy. She was also wearing breeches, same as Kel. She filled them out well. "Comes with magework."
Kel blinked. The women in front of her looked no older than her own bare 21 years. Of course, Kel thought, I'm measuring everything by Tortallan standards. Perhaps it's different, here in Emelan.
"And you?" she heard Daja ask. "What is it you do, Keladry of Mindelan?"
"I'm a lady knight." Kel said, sitting back. "A member of his Highness, King Jonathans forces."
Daja only nodded slightly, her eyes flicking to the impressive array of scars visible on Kel's hands and the scent of oiled metal that clung to her, pinging off her magical senses. She smelled like worked iron.
Kel was still talking. "We're here for the rest of the summer, at least. Our ambassador says he'll have the trade agreements squared away by the time the trade winds come through-"
"That'll be another two months." Daja said confidently. She smiled at Kel's bemused expression. "My sister is a weather witch. She know's these things."
"I'll take your word for it." Kel laughed, and Daja felt it all the way down her spine. She eyed the column of Kel's throat, and swallowed nervously.
Daja, I love you dearly. Tris said tiredly in her mind. But if I have to see you picture another woman without clothes on I might have to have words.
Noted. Daja thought, blushing darkly from the nape of her neck to the tips of her ears.
"Ahem." Kel coughed, her cheeks pink. She looked across the dance floor, painfully aware of Daja radiating heat at her side.
"D-do you want to take a walk?" Daja managed, her voice cracking slightly.
Each caught the eyes of their friends. Kel watched, unamused, as Alanna grinned at her wickedly, mouthing something obscene at her from where she was chatting with the Minister of Agriculture. Daja sent a quick goodbye to her family and shut them out, not wanting them to worry but definitely not wanting them to see what she was thinking about right now. Briar, not wanting to be deterred, caught her eye from across the room at stuck his tongue out lewdly, leering at her as he fought his own laughter.
Daja flushed darkly, ducking her head- and kept it down even as she walked arm in arm with Kel out of the hall.