Daine strode carefully through the tall grass surrounding the castle. She was intent on finding the wounded immortal she heard was in the vicinity. From a few feet away, she heard a trill as Kitten signaled to her.
"What is it Kitten? Did you find something?" Daine asked her dragon as she spotted her tail wrapping around the trunk of a tree.
Kitten trilled three times, signaling to Daine she had found the immortal they were looking for.
Peering carefully around the tree, Daine saw a beautiful luminescent white unicorn, its fur radiating sunlight in all directions, causing her to have to squint as she looked at it.
"Good job Kitten," Daine told the dragon, patting it on the head. She then knelt to the unicorn, peeling its sweat soaked hair away from its eyes.
"Who hurt you dear one?" Daine asked it, noticing the large gash in the side of its leg. The unicorn showed her pictures of a rouge stormwing, intent on drinking the blood of the unicorn. Food had been scarce lately because of the nationwide famine. The only unusual thing was that stormwings were having issues finding food. There were so many starving peasants that they should be having a feast on the bodies of poor starving peasants.
Daine reached inside herself for the copper fire she knew dwelt within her, pulling just one strand; the unicorn's wounds were not that serious, and busied herself repairing its leg. Several minutes later, the unicorn was standing, licking Daine's face.
She giggled. "Run off now, and be careful of stormwings!" she called after it as it raced back through the tall grass.
Daine glanced up at the setting sun with caution. "Come on, Kitten," she said. "If there are rouge stormwings about it's best to be back at the castle before dark. We had better hurry."
She focused for a second, before transforming her body into a sleek black eagle. Taking flight, she soared over the grass fields and forest, the castle now in sight. Kitten sailed behind her- the dragon's wings had grown strong enough for small flights, and this was a good one for the dragon to practice.
Daine and Kitten sailed over the turrets of the castle, landing on a large window ledge high on a tower. The ledge was much larger than normal, and was enclosed in a wrought iron fence, courtesy of Numair. He had discovered that Daine had taken a fancy to landing in bird shape on the ledge that had been there before, then transforming back into human shape. Concerned for her safety, he had extended it and put the railing up.
Smiling slightly, she slipped back through the window and landed deftly on her feet in their large bedroom. Kitten chirped a greeting to Numair, who was working silently at the desk.
He had turned when he'd heard Daine's feet land on the flagstones.
"Magelet! Didn't you just leave?" he glanced disgruntledly at the sky outside. "Oh, I must have lost track of time. I'm glad you got back before dark."
She shrugged. "It's not like I can't take care of myself, honestly you worry too much."
He stood up and stretched his long legs before approaching her. "It's only been a few months since the end of the war, and we still aren't sure about all the immortals that have been left behind. All I'm saying is that it's best to be cautious, just for now." He brushed a hand softy along the length of her arm.
She sighed with resignation. Numair could be a pain in her ass, but he was right most of the time. It never hurt to be too careful.
Later, as they climbed into bed, she told him about the unicorn she had found injured.
"So there are rouge stormwings in the area?" Numair asked her.
"I can't tell. That's what the unicorn told me attacked it, but it's hard to form concepts from just the images they give you. I wish I could talk to some immortals better!" Flustered, she slammed her head back into the pillow with a huff.
Numair reached his long arms across the width of the bed and pulled her close to him. "We just have to take it one step at a time, Magelet. The famine is making everyone stressed, myself and the King included."
"I just feel so useless, cooped up in and around the palace all day, I want to do something to help."
She felt his shoulders shrug from behind her, his large mass moving the mattress. "That might all change tomorrow."
"What do you mean?" She turned her head to glare at Numair.
"I'm sorry Daine, the King has asked me not to tell you until his council meeting tomorrow."
Daine was angry. She sat up, her body rigid, Kitten trilling from the foot of the bed at the sight of Daine upset. "What do you mean you can't tell me? I thought now that we were to be married you were supposed to tell me things. Isn't that what married people do? Ma and Pa seemed to in the Realm of the Gods"
Numair placed his hand on her shoulder, gently drawing her back down to his level. "All I can tell you is that we're leaving the day after next to do something for the King regarding the famine. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow."
She nodded, content. That would have to do for now. She felt a large hand start stroking her hair, and she fell asleep dreaming of foreign lands and strange immortals.