Lost and Found
This story is a scene from The Realms of the Gods, in Numair's point of view. It begins when the rocks grab him, page 159. The dialogue is all the same, but Numair's thoughts and feelings are portrayed.
Numair took a big step with his long legs and cleared the Chaos vent with ease. He motioned behind him for Daine to follow him, and then turned back to continue. Suddenly, one of the curious rocks seized him around the waist and lifted him high above the ground. Numair yelled for Daine, and more of the boulders stirred. He put up a barrier of magical fire to protect himself. The stones convulsed with pain. The one clutching him squeezed its hands harder, then dropped the man. He hit the ground running, still using his Gift as a shield. He raced back to the Chaos vent to find Daine and leave before the stones came after them.
He skidded to a stop when he reached the vent. Daine wasn't there, but a large break in the rim of the canyon and a downward trail of broken tree branches gave evidence to where she was. Looking farther down, he could see her bow caught on a tree limb. Numair's heart sank. She'd fallen down the cliff, into Mithros' knew where. He'd probably never see her alive again, not if she fell that whole way. And she didn't even know what he feelings he felt for her...
"No time to despair and think tragic thoughts, Draper," he said, gritting his teeth. "I've got to try to save her." Numair pushed up the shirtsleeve on his left arm, revealing a bracelet and a locket. He opened the locket and stared longingly at the contents within. A perfect, minute portrait of Daine was in one half, a lock of her smoky brown hair in the other. He unclipped it from his wrist and tossed it high in the air. Pointing at it, he cried out three forgotten words: "Nishwot, sheecoom, absra!" The locket hung in mid-air, and the world seemed to stop. The locket shone brilliantly. Numair stared at it intently. A picture formed in his mind. A map, really. He saw the entire valley below the cliff as clearly as he would with his eyes in broad daylight. A path of vivid light flowed down the cliff through the vale. At the far end of the path a large beacon shined. By the way it quivered and pulsated, Numair knew it meant that Daine was there, and in grave peril.
The trail firmly imprinted in his mind, Numair whispered "So mote it be," and the locket lost its sheen as it fell into his awaiting palm. He fastened it back on to his wrist, where is belonged. He secured his pack, and started down the cliff, both cautiously and hastily at the same time. "I'm coming, Daine," he said.
Reaching the bottom of the steep climb, Numair leaned on the side and breathed heavily. He could feel both his magic and his strength flowing on of him rapidly. A focus-spell takes a lot of power and energy to perform and maintain, and scaling a cliff is not the best remedy. But he couldn't rest, not when Daine was in danger. He compared his surroundings to the focus-map. A deep, swift river swept by. It was on the map, and the lighted path went past it. He saw some dark objects floating freely in it. He recognized them. "Those are Daine's!" he said as he fished out a pack. But he knew she hadn't drowned, because his focus-map indicated she was further away.
Numair followed the river downstream, and it got shallower and slowed. Referring to the focus-map, to determine how far from Daine he was, he heard voices. He did not like the sound of those voices.
Running towards the sounds, the beacon on the focus-map got stronger. Then the entire map winked out completely. Numair didn't even notice, because he had reached his destination. But he feared he was too late, for three spidrens surrounded Daine, who was trapped in a cocoon of gray spidren web. He prayed frantically to any god that would listen that she was alive and unharmed.
He cast anxious glances at the girl as he lifted his staff up into the air. She wasn't moving. Summoning his last bit of magic, the mage focused on a spell. The crystal adorning the staff blazed white, and the spidren nearest to Daine exploded. Jelly leaped from where it had been cowering in Numair's shirt and covered the spinneret of a female spidren, who had been planning to strike. Leaf, hiding behind Daine's limp form, sprung to aid its companion by stretching its body over the female's nose and mouth, suffocating the vile being.
Numair advanced on the remaining spidren. He managed to register that the immortal was male before he pounded the life out of it with his staff. All of his fury and grief were unleashed on the monster.
When at last it died, Numair stared at it, feeling suddenly very weak. He leaned on his staff for support and tried desperately not to cry. Daine was gone. Forever. She hadn't stirred since he'd found her. These ghastly creatures had taken her away from him. Killing them had not brought her back, nor eased any of his pain.
Numair remembered the first time that he saw her, when he was a drugged hawk. She had saved his life. He thought he loved her from that very moment. He knew for sure that he loved her when they were separated by the magical barrier in the valley on Dunlath, he on one side, she on the other. Not being with her had nearly broken his heart. Now, he was sure that his heart was shattered into millions of irreparable pieces.
"Numair?" If he thought hard enough, he could almost hear her voice, saying his name. How he had adored the way she said his name...
"Please...are you all right?" That was not his imagination. He whirled around. There she stood, free of her prison. She was disheveled and covered with cuts and bruises, but she had never looked more beautiful to Numair.
His mouth hung open. He wanted to run to Daine, kiss her, tell her how much he loved her, but he couldn't move. All that came out of his mouth was, "You-you're alive. I thought..." He trailed off, not daring to finish.
"I hurt too much to be dead," Daine told him, staggering over. He grabbed her, pulling her to him tightly, intending to never again let her go. He caressed her back as she buried her hands in his hair. Then she pushed away, and looked deep into his eyes. His heart pounded, and then he kissed her.
He had yearned for this for a long time. A kiss had never felt so wonderful to him. He kept his lips on hers, relishing in the sensations and fire racing though his body. He could hardly believe that she had survived! She had fallen down a cliff, was caught by three spidrens, and here she was, safe and sound in his arms.
Numair tore his lips away from Daine. He wanted to tell her how exhilarated he was that she was alive, how he much he treasured her. But Daine had other ideas. She whispered "No!" and pulled him back. He kissed her more gently and pulled back, then came back quickly.
Although he could go on all night, holding her close, kissing her passionately, he knew that they had both been through a lot tonight and needed rest. He broke the kiss and tried to laugh, but his emotions surfaced, and the laugh emerged from his throat sounding choked. Then Numair scooped her up into his arms and carried her to a nearby rock, where he sat down and cradled her in his lap. "Goddess bless," he murmured. "Magelet, I thought I'd lost you." Daine buried her face into his shirt. He held her tighter and kissed the top of her head, his lips lingering in her tousled curls.
After a time he said, "We need to rest and eat. It'll be soon too hot to travel, and there is the path to relocate as well. If I remember correctly, this river is on the map. It parallels our route and emerges from this canyon near our path. Once you feel better, perhaps you could fly up and locate it. What do you think?" When she didn't answer, Numair became worried and stretched his neck to see her face. "Sweet?" he asked, and found that she was fast asleep. He sighed and climbed to his feet.
He held Daine as close to him as he could without crushing her. His thoughts and emotions were mixed up and confused, but he knew that he had never been so happy or relived in all his life. How could have he had continued living, knowing that she was gone? His very existence would have been misery without her. He gazed at the slumbering form in his arms, and tears of joy welled up in his dark eyes. He was so in love with her. His blood pounded in his veins at that very thought.
Numair needed to find them a place to sleep, soon. His strength was evaporating quickly. He spied a hollow in the side of the cliff. It would shelter them from the relentless sun, and keep them safe. He carried Daine over to the hollow and laid her down against the back wall. Then he rummaged in his pack and drew out a blanket, which he wrapped around the girl gingerly, noting all of the scratches on her body. They'd need to be cared for soon. He gathered a few dry twigs and branches and set them down towards the front of their sanctuary. He tried to light them with magic, but he was completely taped out. He had to start a fire manually.
He started a pot of soup and the flames danced around it merrily. The darkings watched it with fascination. Numair did too, as he leaned on a wall. Thoughts and images of the night's events paraded through his head. He remembered every moment of each kiss. Then realization kicked in. What did the hell did he think he was doing? Daine was fourteen years his junior! He couldn't be mooning over and kissing young girls! No matter how much he loved this one...
Horrible thoughts of Daine being tricked into loving him trickled into his head as he rested against the wall, until he fell into an uneasy sleep.
""Food done," squeaked Jelly, shaking Numair out of his slumber. "Very good," he said to the darking. Daine was awake, too. He glanced at her, then blushed. He looked at the fire instead. How could he face her?
"How in the name of Shakith did you find me?" she demanded. Numair froze. He couldn't tell her that! He'd have to reveal the locket, all of his feelings...this morning, all of that didn't seem like a good idea.
"It was merely a simple magic, Daine-," he began.
"Mouse manure," she interrupted. "D'you think I've lived all this time with mages without knowing what it takes to find somebody and go to them?" She had him there. Numair had to tell her something.
"I had a focus," he said quietly.
"A focus? Something of mine to connect us?"
"Yes-and I'm glad I had it." Very glad, he added to himself.
"Yes-but-may I see it?"
No! a voice screamed in his head. But, she has the right to know, said another, more sensible voice. Please don't laugh, he thought as he relinquished his bracelet to Daine. Please, don't make this any harder than it already is. Numair watched her face carefully as she looked at the picture, the lock of her hair. Except for the small look of surprise, he spotted no other expression. She is so lovely, he caught himself thinking.
Daine turned the locket over in her hand, then gave it back to him. I should offer her some sort of explanation. "I thought you might laugh if I asked you to sit for a portrait." Numair fastened the trinket back on his wrist, and hid it with his sleeve. "The painting was done by Volney Rain." She knew the artist, no need to explain that. "The hair I got when you delirious with unicorn fever six months ago." Oh gods, does she think I've completely lost it? What does she make of the bracelet? He couldn't look at her anymore. He went to the fire and dished out the soup. Three bowls: one for Daine, one for Jelly and Leaf, and one for himself.
Numair sat back down, and looked at his soup. It didn't appeal to him at the moment. "What happened to you? What about those rock things?" she asked, taking a sip of her meal.
That question was easy enough. "They carried me off. I used my Gift to shield myself, but it took them sometime to realize that I was the source of their pain. Once they did, they fled. When I returned to the Chaos vent, and realized that you had gone over the cliff-," he gulped. Maybe this wasn't so easy.
"You can thank a number of trees and a deep part of the river that I'm reasonably alive." Daine sat down next to him and scooted over until he had to raise his arm. He gladly put his arm around her, happy that she wanted to be so close, but nervous. He shook slightly when she leaned on him. Don't become lovesick over a child, a voice warned in his head.
"You're trembling," whispered Daine.
He couldn't tell her why. "I'm only tired." Would she know he wasn't telling the complete truth? "I used my entire Gift to reach you."
"You shouldn't have. You need it to defend yourself-and we still have to reach the Sea of Sand."
His arm tightened around her. How could she say that? Didn't she know that he would never leave her? "If I'd lost you and kept my power, I would never forgive myself. Eventually magic returns, even after a draining. I had no idea if you would."
She smiled up at him. "It would take more than falling off a cliff to keep me from you."
Numair melted inside when she smiled at him, and ignoring the warnings in his head, he kissed her with all of the passion he could muster. He pulled back and whispered, "I'd hoped you felt that way." Then he kissed her eyelids, the tip of her nose, her lips again. She began to tremble as well. But they couldn't go on like this forever. She had wounds that needed healing. He sighed. "I should look at you cuts."
Daine straightened and he moved to get one of the packs. When he turned back to face her, she was taking off her shirt. "Daine!" he yelled.
"What?"
He flushed red. What was she doing? "You- We aren't- You should be clothed!"
"I've a breast band on, dolt. Besides, this shirts in shreds. Like the rest of me."
"It just doesn't seem right. I feel that I'm...taking advantage of your innocence. A man of my-years, and reputation-,"
" `Taking advantage of'? And what reputation?"
"You of all people should know that I've been involved with ladies of the court."
She stared at him. "What has that to do with the price of peas in Persopolis?"
"It's easy for an experienced man to delude a young woman into believing herself in love with him. It's the basest kind of trickery, even when the man does not intend it." Like me.
She still didn't seem to understand. "Do you love me or not?"
Why was she putting him through this? "That is not the topic under discussion." He removed Sarra's ointment from the pack, and the darkings brought over a bottle of water. "Thank you," he said to them as he took it. Daine pulled her shirt off anyway. Numair ignored that fact and spread some of the medicine on her back.
"We're not talking about love? What are we talking of, then? Canoodling?"
"Daine! Is that what you think I want? Sex?" Why was she acting like this? How could he possibly make her understand?
"It isn't?" She rose up on her knees and stripped off her breeches. That hurt him, and he put the ointment down and moved away.
Daine turned around and looked in his eyes. Then she grabbed his left arm and looked at the bracelet again. "You're in love with me?" I can't deal with now, he thought, and looked away.
"Love's fair wondrous. Where's the harm?"
"I was `canoodling', as you so charmingly put it, when you were four. You're so young, Daine. I knew that if I spoke, you might think yourself in love with me; you might ma-," What had he almost blurted out?
"Marry? Marry you?" She sounded upset.
Numair still refused to look at her. "One day you'd turn to me and see an old man. You'd want a young one." His worst fear voiced, he walked out of the shelter and sulked by the river. Daine probably thought he was being foolish, and he agreed. He wished he hadn't said anything at all.
Daine came out, dressed now, in one of his shirts. He resisted one urge to run, and the other to hug her. "Can't we just go on as we always have?" she asked. "This is a fair weight to solve when things are so-mad." He whole-heartedly agreed, and smiled at her, although very weakly. "That is certainly true."
"I know I love you. Maybe I always have-,"
"Which is what I was afraid of."
She ignored this. "Once we're home-once the war's done-we can work it out. We'll talk then."
He couldn't help himself then. He stood and cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. "Indeed we will."
A/N: I apologize if this story has already been done. I'm not trying to steal ideas from anyone. I hope you liked this.
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing in this story. The characters, ideas, dialogue: everything belongs to Tamora Pierce.
This story is a scene from The Realms of the Gods, in Numair's point of view. It begins when the rocks grab him, page 159. The dialogue is all the same, but Numair's thoughts and feelings are portrayed.
Numair took a big step with his long legs and cleared the Chaos vent with ease. He motioned behind him for Daine to follow him, and then turned back to continue. Suddenly, one of the curious rocks seized him around the waist and lifted him high above the ground. Numair yelled for Daine, and more of the boulders stirred. He put up a barrier of magical fire to protect himself. The stones convulsed with pain. The one clutching him squeezed its hands harder, then dropped the man. He hit the ground running, still using his Gift as a shield. He raced back to the Chaos vent to find Daine and leave before the stones came after them.
He skidded to a stop when he reached the vent. Daine wasn't there, but a large break in the rim of the canyon and a downward trail of broken tree branches gave evidence to where she was. Looking farther down, he could see her bow caught on a tree limb. Numair's heart sank. She'd fallen down the cliff, into Mithros' knew where. He'd probably never see her alive again, not if she fell that whole way. And she didn't even know what he feelings he felt for her...
"No time to despair and think tragic thoughts, Draper," he said, gritting his teeth. "I've got to try to save her." Numair pushed up the shirtsleeve on his left arm, revealing a bracelet and a locket. He opened the locket and stared longingly at the contents within. A perfect, minute portrait of Daine was in one half, a lock of her smoky brown hair in the other. He unclipped it from his wrist and tossed it high in the air. Pointing at it, he cried out three forgotten words: "Nishwot, sheecoom, absra!" The locket hung in mid-air, and the world seemed to stop. The locket shone brilliantly. Numair stared at it intently. A picture formed in his mind. A map, really. He saw the entire valley below the cliff as clearly as he would with his eyes in broad daylight. A path of vivid light flowed down the cliff through the vale. At the far end of the path a large beacon shined. By the way it quivered and pulsated, Numair knew it meant that Daine was there, and in grave peril.
The trail firmly imprinted in his mind, Numair whispered "So mote it be," and the locket lost its sheen as it fell into his awaiting palm. He fastened it back on to his wrist, where is belonged. He secured his pack, and started down the cliff, both cautiously and hastily at the same time. "I'm coming, Daine," he said.
Reaching the bottom of the steep climb, Numair leaned on the side and breathed heavily. He could feel both his magic and his strength flowing on of him rapidly. A focus-spell takes a lot of power and energy to perform and maintain, and scaling a cliff is not the best remedy. But he couldn't rest, not when Daine was in danger. He compared his surroundings to the focus-map. A deep, swift river swept by. It was on the map, and the lighted path went past it. He saw some dark objects floating freely in it. He recognized them. "Those are Daine's!" he said as he fished out a pack. But he knew she hadn't drowned, because his focus-map indicated she was further away.
Numair followed the river downstream, and it got shallower and slowed. Referring to the focus-map, to determine how far from Daine he was, he heard voices. He did not like the sound of those voices.
Running towards the sounds, the beacon on the focus-map got stronger. Then the entire map winked out completely. Numair didn't even notice, because he had reached his destination. But he feared he was too late, for three spidrens surrounded Daine, who was trapped in a cocoon of gray spidren web. He prayed frantically to any god that would listen that she was alive and unharmed.
He cast anxious glances at the girl as he lifted his staff up into the air. She wasn't moving. Summoning his last bit of magic, the mage focused on a spell. The crystal adorning the staff blazed white, and the spidren nearest to Daine exploded. Jelly leaped from where it had been cowering in Numair's shirt and covered the spinneret of a female spidren, who had been planning to strike. Leaf, hiding behind Daine's limp form, sprung to aid its companion by stretching its body over the female's nose and mouth, suffocating the vile being.
Numair advanced on the remaining spidren. He managed to register that the immortal was male before he pounded the life out of it with his staff. All of his fury and grief were unleashed on the monster.
When at last it died, Numair stared at it, feeling suddenly very weak. He leaned on his staff for support and tried desperately not to cry. Daine was gone. Forever. She hadn't stirred since he'd found her. These ghastly creatures had taken her away from him. Killing them had not brought her back, nor eased any of his pain.
Numair remembered the first time that he saw her, when he was a drugged hawk. She had saved his life. He thought he loved her from that very moment. He knew for sure that he loved her when they were separated by the magical barrier in the valley on Dunlath, he on one side, she on the other. Not being with her had nearly broken his heart. Now, he was sure that his heart was shattered into millions of irreparable pieces.
"Numair?" If he thought hard enough, he could almost hear her voice, saying his name. How he had adored the way she said his name...
"Please...are you all right?" That was not his imagination. He whirled around. There she stood, free of her prison. She was disheveled and covered with cuts and bruises, but she had never looked more beautiful to Numair.
His mouth hung open. He wanted to run to Daine, kiss her, tell her how much he loved her, but he couldn't move. All that came out of his mouth was, "You-you're alive. I thought..." He trailed off, not daring to finish.
"I hurt too much to be dead," Daine told him, staggering over. He grabbed her, pulling her to him tightly, intending to never again let her go. He caressed her back as she buried her hands in his hair. Then she pushed away, and looked deep into his eyes. His heart pounded, and then he kissed her.
He had yearned for this for a long time. A kiss had never felt so wonderful to him. He kept his lips on hers, relishing in the sensations and fire racing though his body. He could hardly believe that she had survived! She had fallen down a cliff, was caught by three spidrens, and here she was, safe and sound in his arms.
Numair tore his lips away from Daine. He wanted to tell her how exhilarated he was that she was alive, how he much he treasured her. But Daine had other ideas. She whispered "No!" and pulled him back. He kissed her more gently and pulled back, then came back quickly.
Although he could go on all night, holding her close, kissing her passionately, he knew that they had both been through a lot tonight and needed rest. He broke the kiss and tried to laugh, but his emotions surfaced, and the laugh emerged from his throat sounding choked. Then Numair scooped her up into his arms and carried her to a nearby rock, where he sat down and cradled her in his lap. "Goddess bless," he murmured. "Magelet, I thought I'd lost you." Daine buried her face into his shirt. He held her tighter and kissed the top of her head, his lips lingering in her tousled curls.
After a time he said, "We need to rest and eat. It'll be soon too hot to travel, and there is the path to relocate as well. If I remember correctly, this river is on the map. It parallels our route and emerges from this canyon near our path. Once you feel better, perhaps you could fly up and locate it. What do you think?" When she didn't answer, Numair became worried and stretched his neck to see her face. "Sweet?" he asked, and found that she was fast asleep. He sighed and climbed to his feet.
He held Daine as close to him as he could without crushing her. His thoughts and emotions were mixed up and confused, but he knew that he had never been so happy or relived in all his life. How could have he had continued living, knowing that she was gone? His very existence would have been misery without her. He gazed at the slumbering form in his arms, and tears of joy welled up in his dark eyes. He was so in love with her. His blood pounded in his veins at that very thought.
Numair needed to find them a place to sleep, soon. His strength was evaporating quickly. He spied a hollow in the side of the cliff. It would shelter them from the relentless sun, and keep them safe. He carried Daine over to the hollow and laid her down against the back wall. Then he rummaged in his pack and drew out a blanket, which he wrapped around the girl gingerly, noting all of the scratches on her body. They'd need to be cared for soon. He gathered a few dry twigs and branches and set them down towards the front of their sanctuary. He tried to light them with magic, but he was completely taped out. He had to start a fire manually.
He started a pot of soup and the flames danced around it merrily. The darkings watched it with fascination. Numair did too, as he leaned on a wall. Thoughts and images of the night's events paraded through his head. He remembered every moment of each kiss. Then realization kicked in. What did the hell did he think he was doing? Daine was fourteen years his junior! He couldn't be mooning over and kissing young girls! No matter how much he loved this one...
Horrible thoughts of Daine being tricked into loving him trickled into his head as he rested against the wall, until he fell into an uneasy sleep.
""Food done," squeaked Jelly, shaking Numair out of his slumber. "Very good," he said to the darking. Daine was awake, too. He glanced at her, then blushed. He looked at the fire instead. How could he face her?
"How in the name of Shakith did you find me?" she demanded. Numair froze. He couldn't tell her that! He'd have to reveal the locket, all of his feelings...this morning, all of that didn't seem like a good idea.
"It was merely a simple magic, Daine-," he began.
"Mouse manure," she interrupted. "D'you think I've lived all this time with mages without knowing what it takes to find somebody and go to them?" She had him there. Numair had to tell her something.
"I had a focus," he said quietly.
"A focus? Something of mine to connect us?"
"Yes-and I'm glad I had it." Very glad, he added to himself.
"Yes-but-may I see it?"
No! a voice screamed in his head. But, she has the right to know, said another, more sensible voice. Please don't laugh, he thought as he relinquished his bracelet to Daine. Please, don't make this any harder than it already is. Numair watched her face carefully as she looked at the picture, the lock of her hair. Except for the small look of surprise, he spotted no other expression. She is so lovely, he caught himself thinking.
Daine turned the locket over in her hand, then gave it back to him. I should offer her some sort of explanation. "I thought you might laugh if I asked you to sit for a portrait." Numair fastened the trinket back on his wrist, and hid it with his sleeve. "The painting was done by Volney Rain." She knew the artist, no need to explain that. "The hair I got when you delirious with unicorn fever six months ago." Oh gods, does she think I've completely lost it? What does she make of the bracelet? He couldn't look at her anymore. He went to the fire and dished out the soup. Three bowls: one for Daine, one for Jelly and Leaf, and one for himself.
Numair sat back down, and looked at his soup. It didn't appeal to him at the moment. "What happened to you? What about those rock things?" she asked, taking a sip of her meal.
That question was easy enough. "They carried me off. I used my Gift to shield myself, but it took them sometime to realize that I was the source of their pain. Once they did, they fled. When I returned to the Chaos vent, and realized that you had gone over the cliff-," he gulped. Maybe this wasn't so easy.
"You can thank a number of trees and a deep part of the river that I'm reasonably alive." Daine sat down next to him and scooted over until he had to raise his arm. He gladly put his arm around her, happy that she wanted to be so close, but nervous. He shook slightly when she leaned on him. Don't become lovesick over a child, a voice warned in his head.
"You're trembling," whispered Daine.
He couldn't tell her why. "I'm only tired." Would she know he wasn't telling the complete truth? "I used my entire Gift to reach you."
"You shouldn't have. You need it to defend yourself-and we still have to reach the Sea of Sand."
His arm tightened around her. How could she say that? Didn't she know that he would never leave her? "If I'd lost you and kept my power, I would never forgive myself. Eventually magic returns, even after a draining. I had no idea if you would."
She smiled up at him. "It would take more than falling off a cliff to keep me from you."
Numair melted inside when she smiled at him, and ignoring the warnings in his head, he kissed her with all of the passion he could muster. He pulled back and whispered, "I'd hoped you felt that way." Then he kissed her eyelids, the tip of her nose, her lips again. She began to tremble as well. But they couldn't go on like this forever. She had wounds that needed healing. He sighed. "I should look at you cuts."
Daine straightened and he moved to get one of the packs. When he turned back to face her, she was taking off her shirt. "Daine!" he yelled.
"What?"
He flushed red. What was she doing? "You- We aren't- You should be clothed!"
"I've a breast band on, dolt. Besides, this shirts in shreds. Like the rest of me."
"It just doesn't seem right. I feel that I'm...taking advantage of your innocence. A man of my-years, and reputation-,"
" `Taking advantage of'? And what reputation?"
"You of all people should know that I've been involved with ladies of the court."
She stared at him. "What has that to do with the price of peas in Persopolis?"
"It's easy for an experienced man to delude a young woman into believing herself in love with him. It's the basest kind of trickery, even when the man does not intend it." Like me.
She still didn't seem to understand. "Do you love me or not?"
Why was she putting him through this? "That is not the topic under discussion." He removed Sarra's ointment from the pack, and the darkings brought over a bottle of water. "Thank you," he said to them as he took it. Daine pulled her shirt off anyway. Numair ignored that fact and spread some of the medicine on her back.
"We're not talking about love? What are we talking of, then? Canoodling?"
"Daine! Is that what you think I want? Sex?" Why was she acting like this? How could he possibly make her understand?
"It isn't?" She rose up on her knees and stripped off her breeches. That hurt him, and he put the ointment down and moved away.
Daine turned around and looked in his eyes. Then she grabbed his left arm and looked at the bracelet again. "You're in love with me?" I can't deal with now, he thought, and looked away.
"Love's fair wondrous. Where's the harm?"
"I was `canoodling', as you so charmingly put it, when you were four. You're so young, Daine. I knew that if I spoke, you might think yourself in love with me; you might ma-," What had he almost blurted out?
"Marry? Marry you?" She sounded upset.
Numair still refused to look at her. "One day you'd turn to me and see an old man. You'd want a young one." His worst fear voiced, he walked out of the shelter and sulked by the river. Daine probably thought he was being foolish, and he agreed. He wished he hadn't said anything at all.
Daine came out, dressed now, in one of his shirts. He resisted one urge to run, and the other to hug her. "Can't we just go on as we always have?" she asked. "This is a fair weight to solve when things are so-mad." He whole-heartedly agreed, and smiled at her, although very weakly. "That is certainly true."
"I know I love you. Maybe I always have-,"
"Which is what I was afraid of."
She ignored this. "Once we're home-once the war's done-we can work it out. We'll talk then."
He couldn't help himself then. He stood and cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. "Indeed we will."
A/N: I apologize if this story has already been done. I'm not trying to steal ideas from anyone. I hope you liked this.
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing in this story. The characters, ideas, dialogue: everything belongs to Tamora Pierce.