Daine sighed and glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She gasped at her appearance while Kitten, the young dragon she took care of, whistled his approval. Daine was in awe. Her dress, a gift from the emperor, was made of a light blue silk which set off her soft grey eyes. The dress was cut low showing off more skin than Daine normally would have liked to expose, and the sleeves flowed out gracefully at the elbow. The bodice was lined with small pearls and exquisite embroidered swirls. The maid had twisted Daine's unruly curls into a high bun with a few curls cascading down to frame her face. The maid had insisted she wear some rouge for the occasion, but Daine had picked the lightest pink shade she could find. Her eyes were more prevalent with the kohl the maid had penciled on, and Daine had finished the look with the blue sapphire earrings Alanna had given to her last Midwinter. She had no necklace, but it would have to do for now.
Kitten, who had been surveying her top to toe, whistled with indignation. Daine glared at the dragon. "What's wrong?" she asked grumpily. "I thought I looked alright." Kitten shook her head and began to rummage through the pouch in her belly. Her eyes lit up when she pulled a small gray stone from the pouch. She began to hum, rubbing the stone in between her claws. When she stopped, the stone was now a sparkling blue gem. Daine gasped appreciatively and took the gem. Kitten pulled out a piece of blue string from his pouch as well and handed it to Daine. She smiled and tied the gem around her neck. Now, her appearance was complete. Kitten whistled again, her liquid gold eyes dancing. Daine rolled her eyes and left the room, Kitten trailing behind her.
Alanna met Daine by her door, and the two of them walked to the throne room together. Daine laughed the whole way as Alanna complained about her dress and its limited amount of movement. "It's not practical!" she cried. Daine merely smiled.
"It's not supposed to be practical," Daine said. "It's a dress. It's elegant."
"You're one to talk," Alanna grumbled. "All the young men won't be able to resist you."
Daine glanced down and pulled her dress up a bit. She hated exposing herself to foolish young men, but she didn't have a choice. To refuse the emperor's gift was to sign your own death warrant. Daine gulped and remembered the scene she had witnessed between her teacher and Emperor Ozorne. Numair had lost his temper regarding her, and the emperor mage had crushed a magical image of her teacher once he had left. Daine shuddered at the thought, praying Numair had decided to stay in his rooms this time. Alanna, seeming to read her thoughts, nudged her gently. "Don't worry about Numair. He can take care of himself." Daine relaxed a little, but her fear was replaced as they entered the throne room and adjacent ballroom and gardens. The emperor was on his throne surveying the guests. A courier to the right of Daine announced her and Alanna's arrival. Daine gulped as Ozorne turned his gaze on her. He smiled, and she smiled weakly back noting the evil taunt in his eyes.
Daine moved along the guests with ease, finding her way to the far wall. Kitten mingled among the dancers trying to mimic a few steps. He was failing because of his wide claws which were not meant for dancing. Some of the guests giggled lightly behind their hands until Kitten shushed them by trilling loudly. Daine flinched along with many others and eyed the emperor. He said nothing. Clearly, he was as curious about the dragon as the dragon was about dancing.
"Would you like to dance?" Startled, Daine looked up into the deep brown eyes of Prince Kaddar, heir to the Carthakian throne. His hand was held out in front of Daine. She hesitated and took it, not wanting to offend him. He led her to the dance floor where he took her waist. Her body tingled at his light touch. She smiled warmly at him.
"I must warn you, Your Highness," Daine started, "I'm not that good when it comes to dancing."
He merely smiled and whisked her into the beginning waltz. Daine constantly looked at her feet trying not to step on Kaddar's. However, she managed to twice. The third time he stopped her and led her off the dance floor. She blushed when she saw Alanna who was trying to contain herself from laughing her head off. "I'm sorry," she told Kaddar solemnly, "but I did warn you."
"That you did." His voice was kind and gentle, not ridiculing. She looked sideways up at him. He grinned at her, and she laughed. "Oh, I'll never learn, will I?" Kaddar rolled his eyes and left her, strolling over to a slave who held a tray with glasses of wine. Daine watched curiously as he took two and sauntered back to her. He handed her one of the glasses. Normally, she didn't drink at all. She was only sixteen, but it seemed bad manners to refuse the heir to the throne.
"To youth!" He raised his glass, and she did the same. Kaddar quickly downed his while Daine took a small sip. The wine was fire in her throat, but she managed to swallow it without choking. How people could drink this all the time was beyond her. Kaddar kissed her hand and left, claiming he had others vying for his attention. She let him go, relieved for the moment.
Alanna walked over to her and sat down beside her. "Better watch yourself," she whispered softly, trying to refrain from moving her lips. "Kaddar's been known to get drunk quickly. Men are foolish when they indulge too heartily."
"I'll keep that in mind," Daine whispered back her eyes roaming the room for Kitten. Instead, at the opposite end of the room, she spotted Numair. He had just entered and was wearing a fresh pair of clean black breeches and a matching black tunic. The dress shirt underneath was white contrasting the rest of his clothing. His shoulder-length black hair was pulled back as usual, and his equally dark eyes were searching the room too. She guessed he was looking for one of his past lovers who annoyed Daine greatly. She wanted her friend and teacher to be happy, but not with Varice Kingsford.
Daine looked away from Numair and back to Alanna. "I think I've had enough excitement for one night," she said quietly. "Can I be excused?"
Alanna nodded. "Of course. I'll excuse your presence to the emperor later. I'll tell him you weren't feeling well."
Daine thanked her and made her way to the opposite end of the room her gown swaying with her movements. Kitten would come to bed later, but Daine needed to leave the ballroom where she was under the scrutiny of Ozorne and others. She crossed the threshold of the ballroom into the garden. The end of the garden would bring her to the corridor where the Tortallans' rooms were. She slowed, meandering through the garden noting the beauty within such a horrid place. Carthak was no holiday, and the palace's wealth was not an accurate representation of Carthak's starving country. Daine sat on a nearby bench reveling in the garden's vast beauty and pleasantry. She closed her eyes and felt the wind brush her. She shivered slightly.
A hand touched her arm. Startled she looked up into the eyes of Numair Salamin, her teacher. "Are you alright?" he asked clearly concerned. "Alanna said-"
"I'm fine," she said quickly. Numair lowered himself until he was kneeling on the ground, eye level with her. His eyes searched hers until he seemed satisfied she was okay. His eyes then took in the rest of her, stopping briefly where the dress was too low to hide much of her full breasts. Daine blushed and looked away from Numair. She wished he hadn't found her. He had a reputation with lovely women who were his greatest temptation, or so she heard. He shouldn't have to see his student, his maturing student, wear such a dress in his presence. Daine blushed even more as Numair sat down beside her.
"I'm sorry," she said, her voice a whisper. "It was a gift from the emperor. I didn't mean…I'm your student…I shouldn't be dressing this way…I-"
Numair cupped her cheek and made her look at him. Daine shivered at his touch. "Magelet," he said softly his black eyes filled with kindness, "you look beautiful, and I'm sure you impressed Ozorne. He probably wanted to see if he could transform a country-bred young woman such as yourself."
Daine moved her chin out of his grasp and looked away. "Yes, well, Kaddar couldn't keep his eyes off me," she said disgusted at the realization.
"What?" Daine could feel Numair's body go rigid at the thought even though they weren't touching. She decided to leave Numair before he could yell at her. She got up.
"Good night, Numair. Tell Kitten she'll have to unlock the door if she wants in."
Daine started to leave, but Numair caught her wrist before she had moved a step. Daine eyed him curiously, and he pulled her onto his lap with ease. Daine met his eyes and was startled to see an intense longing in his eyes which made him look sad. "What's wrong Numair?" Daine asked fiddling with the gem Kitten had made. Numair pulled her closer to him as if savoring the moment. Then, without a word, he set her gently on the bench and walked away leaving her alone in the cold moonlit garden. Daine sat there stunned and breathing fast. What was wrong with him? Unable to understand, Daine felt tears spring into her eyes. She started sobbing, much to her displeasure, and ran quickly to her room.
Once inside with the door locked, she threw off the gown and put on a shirt she found in her trunk. She glanced down to see the shirt reached mid-thigh. She sighed and dried her tears. One of Numair's shirts had obviously found its way into her trunk. It wasn't surprising considering they had packed hastily for the trip to Carthak. Daine buttoned the shirt up leaving the top two unbuttoned. She was about to take the pins out of her hair when there was a knock on the door. "Kitten, you can unlock it yourself, you know," Daine said to the closed door.
She walked to the mirror and sat in front of it. She took out a few pins before the door finally opened. "See, I told you, Kitten. I didn't have to come and open it for you," Daine said her attention still on her hair. However, it wasn't Kitten's form that appeared in the mirror behind her; it was Numair's. Daine stopped pulling pins out of her hair abruptly and turned to face her teacher. "What is it? Did something happen?" she asked noting Numair's worried look.
"No," he said calmly looking down at his feet. "I was worried I upset you."
"Upset me? No," Daine said her voice trembling with the lie. Truly, she hadn't understood what had happened which made her feel confused and hurt, but she wasn't going to tell that to Numair.
Numair searched her face, then spun her around to face the mirror once more. He began daintily pulling out the rest of the pins from Daine's hair. She let him feeling the warmth of his fingers in her hair.
"Isn't that my shirt?" he asked teasingly, pulling the last pin from its place. Daine stood up on the chair, curls falling around her shoulders and down her back. Now she was eye level with him by standing at his own height.
"And if it is?" she asked in the same tone. His eyes danced in the fading candlelight in her room. He picked her up and spun her around, flinging her onto the large bed.
"I might just have to steal it back," he said carefully, but in the same teasing manner.
"You wouldn't!" she gasped playfully rolling over to make room for Numair to sit on the bed. He grabbed her waist and pulled her onto his legs. She sat facing him, atop his long legs. Their faces were inches from each other. Without warning, Numair kissed her. The kiss was gentle, and Daine tentatively kissed back. She broke off, however, when Numair tried to go deeper. "Stop," she said kindly. "You don't want this, Numair. I know you don't. I'm not even sure I want it."
Numair's eyes filled with despair then anger. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice scratchy. "I wasn't thinking. You looked so pretty tonight, and I-" He broke off unable to say more. Daine moved off his legs to let him stand. He walked to the door and looked back. "Can we go on as we always have, magelet?"
"Of course," Daine said, getting her emotions in check. Without a goodbye, Numair left the room, closing the door softly behind him. Daine laid down on the bed and fell asleep pondering what life would be like if Numair actually liked her more than a student-teacher relationship. She loved him for sure as one loves an older brother or friend, but was there something more between them? Could he actually have fallen in love with her? The idea was dangerous, and Daine willed herself to sleep in order to escape such ridiculous thoughts.