Thayet was sleeping, and watching her sent shivers down his spine. She seemed to smile, and she seemed so serene; Numair had not seen her that way in a long time and it only made her look more beautiful. He had kept feelings at bay for months and now... She was here now, next to him, and he could hardly believe his luck.
And his own stupidity. She was his friend, and she was married to his other friend. But one thing lead to another and it wasn't like either of them was that rational, considering everything that had taken place.
She was lonely and he was... He couldn't think of an excuse except of lust. But she was so beautiful and she had such a great personality. It was natural, but he knew it wasn't going to fix anything.
He had betrayed Jon and taken advantage of Thayet. He wished he could take it all back now, as the guilt began to set in.
The memories seeped in from the night before, without his volition.
Her mouth was pinched, and sadness glazed her moonlight- glazed eye. She was staring mindlessly up on the balcony, with a look that tore apart his heart.
And he felt horrible, watching her. The look on her face tore him apart.
She looked so sad, so lonely. Jon was out again, performing one of his many duties as king. And once again, she was stuck in the castle and wondering about him, thinking about him. Numair knew this, was beginning to sense this after a while of being in Tortall.
He wondered how many times it was like this for her, wondered if Jon knew how much his absence hurt his wife. He wondered if he or Jon knowing any of these things would do them any good.
She always looked beautiful, but she looked even more so when she was happy. He had been with many beautiful court girls, but none would compare to her he knew. It was not just her looks that blew him away though, but it was her equally stunning personality.
''Thayet!'' he called.
She turned and forced a smile. ''Numair,'' she said.
She was so good at making artificial smiles; Numair suspected that she had done it quite often. But he could see that the smile didn't quite reach her eyes, didn't crinkle around the edges of her mouth.
''Come up here,'' Thayet said, and he went up to her.
They talked for a while, about trivial things. About the things that were going on in the castle, and her children.
And then somewhere in there, Numair did something that shocked even himself. He leaned toward her and he started to kiss her.
Her lips were the sweetest thing he had ever tasted, cinnamon jolts that sent shivers of ecstasy throughout his whole being. He felt like he had been in a drought for so long, and that she was his water; he couldn't get enough of her at that moment. He needed her touch or he would wither and die.
His thirst for her had blocked out all other thought. She felt so good and he felt so happy. This was such a change from what he had been feeling for the past few years. He had been hurting, hurting so bad and now it seemed that she was washing his hurt away from him.
Within a moment, his clothes were on the floor and Thayet had ripped off the covers on her bed. And it seemed that just as quickly, she was on top of him and they were moving up into ecstasy...
Numair blocked out the rest, refusing to relive the ecstasy. His mind had to be sober now; he had to accept the gravity of the situation, and find a way to fix it as best as he could.
Thayet stirred beside him, and her eyes opened to meet his. ''Numair?" she asked, at first dazed and confused.
But in a moment, her eyes widened with awareness. ''Oh Goddess,'' she whispered, clutching the covers to her.
''Thayet...'' he said, reaching out his hand.
She ignored him, turning her back to him and hastily putting on her clothes. The stricken look remained on her face as she ran out of the room.
And Numair didn't stop her. How could he? he figured. Before he was trying to figure out how to fix this, but now he realized that he couldn't fix this so easily. He had broken of Thayet and would later to do to her husband. Not to mention everyone who knew them both.
He had shattered the new life that he had been trying so desperately to build. The pain from his past was still there; he had only escaped it for the night. Now he would have to pay desperately for his mistake.
Numair shut his eyes and wished that he could will it all away.
Okay, when I was writing this mid-way I sort of realized that I had also wrote another crack pairing about Thayet and a one-night stand but that's not because I hate her. It's actually because Jon annoys me, and I can handle him being cheated on/understand why someone would be cheat on him the most out of Tortall's men. By the way, to clear up any confusion, I imagined this when Numair was younger and had just entered Tortall. Please read and review; this is my first piece in TPE!