Weiryn and Numair refused to speak to each other.

It made planning for the solstice very awkward. It upset Sarra, and it made Daine absolutely livid. But there it was. They were adamant that the other person was the very lowest excuse for a male in the entire world – more, in the realms complete – and there was nothing the women could do to persuade them otherwise.

It had all come to a head at harvest the year before. Not that anyone would dare to speak about it, but of course they all dwelled on it in their own ways.

The festival had been wonderful for many reasons, not least being that it was the first Gods-Day since the Immortals war had ended. The shadows of war and famine and disease had faded away, and the world was beginning to right itself again. The fields, although admittedly fed by rather grisly means, had flourished. The harvest was bountiful and the grain houses filled to bursting.

Daine could hardly sit still for long enough to eat her breakfast, because it was also the first day when her parents would be able to cross the realms since she had found out who they really were. She had even chosen her clothes with far more care than she normally bothered with: a dress, because Sarra would make some comment if she wore one of her usual tunics, but made of practical fabric because her da and the People would doubtless find some way to ruin silks. It was green, which she liked, and the embroidery on the bodice brought out the excited shine in her eyes, which Numair liked. It was already crumpled from taking the brunt of her nervous energy.

"They won't be here until this evening, love!" The man laughed, eventually moving closer on the bench they shared in the dining hall and looping his arm around her waist to hold her still. Daine blushed, because she still wasn't used to Numair's easy affectionate gestures when they were in public. She felt like people were staring already, since she was wearing such unusual clothes!

"I know, but I've not seen them in weeks and weeks, and there's so much that I want to talk to ma about, and..."

"... and if you don't calm down and eat something, you'll be far too worn out to walk all the way into the forest, much less talk!" He finished a little sternly, and Daine rolled her eyes.

"If I'm worn out I'm fair sure it's your fault..." she started, looking pointedly at his hand on her hip. He grinned and passed her a piece of toast.

"All the more reason for you to eat."

"Honestly." She muttered, and spread some honey on the warm toast. "Da's going to have a field day with you."

"We seemed to tolerate each other," he shrugged and helped himself to another piece of bacon. Daine winced.

"You do know he showed you all those naked women in the temptation lake on purpose, right? And I'm fairly sure he thinks it's your fault I lost that bow he made me, and he's pretty grouchy at the best of times, and for all I know he actually thinks like a stag, since he's got those horns... have you ever spoken to a stag, Numair?"

"Not that I recall."

"Well, they're a bit possessive of the females, especially around other stags... stop smirking, love."

"I wasn't aware I was doing it." He looked aloof and utterly failed. "It's not every day I get compared to a stag, you know. Especially not by a girl in such a pretty dress. Will I be a stallion next, sweetling?"

"Why, do you need reassuring?" Daine retorted tartly, and he laughed and kissed her neck. The girl squeaked and shoved him off.

"Ugh, you're impossible!" She smiled despite herself and shrugged. "Well, don't blame me if he's not the friendliest person tonight. I tried to warn you. If you don't make friends you can blame yourself for flirting with me when I was trying to be serious."

"I'm flirting seriously. You really do look beautiful. Besides, I'm supposed to flirt today. It's a solstice."

"...and we're meeting my parents. My parents, Numair."

"...which is why I'll wait, and flirt with you afterwards."

"How very noble of you." She kissed his cheek playfully, forgetting her shyness of the other people in the room, and then looked him right in the eye. "Actually, no. You're being bad, and I won't put up with it."

"Very bad. I'm getting it out of my system before we leave for the forest. And since I know how long it takes to lace that dress up, magelet, I'll thank you not to goad me into being worse."

She laughed, and then a hesitant look crept into her eyes. "But you will be good tonight?"

"Of course," he smiled gently and kissed her forehead. "I promise. It's important to me, too."

They set off early that afternoon. Because they hadn't confided in their friends yet about where exactly they had been for the few months when they had disappeared, they tolerated far more wolf whistles and suggestive comments than they really deserved (or at least, that's what Numair complained to Daine – she cut her eyes up at him and didn't have to say anything to make him pull a face back). Whatever their friends thought they might get up to in the Royal Forest was an utter mystery, because the woods were still thick with Immortals, and they both armed themselves before stepping outside of Corus' curtain wall.

Sarra had sent a message through the Badger, who had grumpily shoved at Daine through her blanket until she woke up a few nights before. The creature didn't seem at all surprised to be waking up two mortals rather than one, although he did make a few tetchy remarks about being cast aside, and having to spend his night in the mortal realms sleeping in the cold.

"But at least it means I won't wake up covered in mud and earthworms," Daine replied tartly, passing the note to Numair who rubbed his eyes sleepily. The Badger growled under his breath, and breathed out onto his paws. They shimmered for a moment, and then looked so clean it was as if they had been groomed.

"Fine, get in." Daine said, hiding a yawn and settling back down again. She lifted up the edge of the blanket for the animal to wriggle beside her. "I'm too tired to argue."

-What about him?- The Badger asked, and by the snide note in his voice Daine realised that this whole thing had been some weird Badger-y test. She shrugged and shifted over a little.

"You're not the first, Badger, just the noisiest. Stay on that side of me and he won't mind too much. What does it say, Numair?"

"There's a druid circle ten miles south of the Karim Noss way-bridge, in a straight line." He folded the note up and lay down. "I guess that's where they can cross over."

And three days later they set off at noon and found it by late afternoon. It wasn't easy: the ancient stone circle had been overgrown for so many years that even the stone paths which had once led to it were nothing but white dust on the black soil. Still, with half a day to travel and the warm autumn light to see by, it was a far less arduous trek than they were used to.

The clearing was almost eerie, almost beautiful. The ancient stones jutted out from the blue-green grass like teeth, reaching up among the brown trunks and the golden leaves towards the sky. It felt strange, and after a moment they both realised that it was because no birds were singing, and no animals were foraging. They tensed, hands on weapons as they looked around for a hostile immortal.

There was a hollow thud of sound, and two bright lights suddenly solidified in the middle of the circle.

"Ma!" Daine cried, and darted across the clearing to throw her arms around the green silhouette's shoulders. Numair hesitated, and bowed as deeply as he could to the god, and then the goddess.

"Oh, don't worry about all that," Sarra said brightly, and the green glow faded. "It's just us, and you're almost family, after all."

There was a loud snort. Apparently, Weiryn disagreed. Daine blinked at him and then went over to her father's side, kissing his cheek and speaking in a low voice.

Sarra turned to Numair and her voice was a rapid whisper, "Between you and me, I hope she can calm him down. He's really been looking forward to seeing her but the hunt went badly today, and he's still raring for the kill." She sighed, as put-upon as any fed up housewife, and added, "He really is impossible when he's in this mood."

Numair looked up, but Daine and her father were so focused on each other it was clear that neither of them were needed. "She's been so excited, you have no idea."

Sarra smiled, and it was such a warm expression that the man felt instantly put at ease. "Oh, I think I do. When she was a little girl she was such a terror, getting so wound up before every festival I feared she would burst...! How are you, Numair?"

"Very well. It's good to see you, Sarra. When the war ended, we were praying for both of you... even though we're not quite sure how it works, you know, since you're gods already..."

The goddess grinned and shushed him, resting tapering fingers on his elbow. "I know, it was very good of you. Think of it as getting a nice message from the courier, only... only nothing like that, now I think on it. Oh dear." She frowned and straightened up. "I'm fair sure my idiot husband has scented blood."

"What?" Numair looked around, and saw that the man who was looming over Daine looked absolutely forbidding. His gravelly voice was strident in the clearing, and the laughing tones of their affectionate reunion were instantly banished.

"What do you mean, you haven't told him?" The god demanded of his daughter. The girl folded her arms stubbornly and glared back, all five feet of her beside his nine feet of height.

"I didn't see any cause for telling it." She replied. "And I don't know why you're so set against..."

"But it means that your idiot mortal has no idea who you really are!" Weiryn roared, and Daine took a step back with a nervous glance at her mother.

"This again." Sarra muttered, and rested her hand on Numair's shoulder. "I told you: fresh blood. Whatever happens, don't..."

"I know who I am!" The girl declared, and raised her chin proudly in the air. "And so does Numair – far better than you do, I reckon!"

Weiryn snorted, more like a deer than a man, and leaned closer. Raising one elongated finger, he touched the point of Daine's chin and, meeting her furious glare without flinching, let a single spark of magic flow between them. She shivered, and for a moment nothing happened. Then an odd silvery sheen seemed to flicker across her, and she rubbed at her eyes as if they stung. When she drew her hands away from her face she looked different.

Her skin was more luminious – not glowing, but filled with the first flush of life that newborn infants shine with. Her eyes, too, were brighter and more awake, as if her father had infused her with pure energy. Her hair looked the same, but two gently curving nubs of horn emerged from above her ears and then rose above her forehead like a crown.

"What did you do?" She hissed at her father, feeling at her skin as if it would wipe off. Weiryn drew his hand away, looking at her steadily.

"You are my child, and a daughter of the gods. Are you ashamed of who you are, that you'll keep it secret?"

"No!" She planted her hands on her hips. Her voice was more musical than normal, as if she were speaking in a resonant chamber of the palace, but the irritated gesture was entirely Daine's own. "But since we're talkin' secrets, I wonder why I'm not yelling at you, da, for hiding away for all of my life!"

"Oh, please. It was barely two decades." The god snorted again, but this time it was more like derisive laughter. Numair stepped forward then, because even though Sarra tried to pull him back, that arrogant laugh made white anger pool in his veins.

"If you care who Daine really is, then you might want to start by understanding why she's upset, not witching her." He snapped. Weiryn scowled at him and Numair continued, "You left her alone on that mountain to fend for herself, and I know eighteen years is nothing to you, but to a mortal it's a lifetime."

"If she's upset because she's mortal that's your fault, not mine." The god sneered, and Sarra rushed over to hush him. He shook the goddess off, meeting the mage's confusion with ease. "Daine, tell this human your secret. Tell him what he stole from you. Tell him what he knows better than your father."

"Weiryn, no...!"

"Da," Daine took a deep breath, and looked at her flawless palms. "Please take this foolish magic off me. I don't want this. Maybe, if you..."

"Tell him." The god's voice dripped with power, and Daine trembled. Her voice was defiant, but the words were ripped out of her, and they clearly hurt.

"I chose to be mortal." Then, with more fire she turned on her father again: "I didn't choose to be your... your doll, to dress up like a goddess, da."

"You chose...?" Numair asked, and the girl winced. Weiryn looked a little triumphant, a little ashamed, and entirely pained when a furious Sarra planted her heel firmly into his shin.

"I chose you instead." Daine met his eyes for a moment, tearful, and then looked at her mother. Tears started flowing down her cheeks, and she spoke as if her voice were stitched cruelly to her soul. "I didn't want to tell him, mama. Please make da stop it. Make him stop."

That was too much for Numair. His temper finally snapped, and when Weiryn made no movement towards his pleading daughter the man launched himself at the god and punched him squarely in the jaw. Weiryn staggered back, absolutely stunned for a moment, and then he snarled in feral outrage and hurled himself back.

"Daine!" Sarra wrapped her arms around the girl's shoulders and drew her away, both of them staring with wide eyes at the two who were fighting like creatures, not men, striking blindly at each other in a passion of hatred and fury. Daine gasped and struggled free of her mother's clutches, hurling herself into the fray as Sarra shrieked behind her. It was hard to see, to breathe, to move or think, but then Daine found an opening and hurled herself at Numair, sending him barrelling back into the dust.

"Stop it!" She sobbed, pressing down on his arms with all of her slight weight. He gasped for air and tried to sit up, and the girl shoved him back again. "Stop it, Numair! You can't hit him! You can't!"

"I don't care if he is a damn god, Daine, he's an absolute...!"

"He's my da!" She yelled, and shook her head in absolute hysteria, repeating the same words over and over again. "You can't hit my da, Numair, you just can't!"

"Get off me." He pushed her away, struggling to his feet and holding himself upright against one of the standing stones with breathless fury still livid in his voice. Even as he was struggling to get his bearings, Daine rounded on the other man and shoved at him, both hands outstretched to pound against his chest.

"And you! You don't ever do that again!" She spat, and shoved at him again. "You're not my god, you're my da! Neither of us chose that! If you do anything like that to either of us ever again, I swear I'll tell all my friends that my precious father is really a chaos demon, because you're acting like one right now!"

Sarra gasped in a shocked rush of air at that, because there was no doubt that Daine was making an absolute promise, and it was the worst threat she could have made against the god who towered over her. He growled, livid at her words, and the horns on his head grew sharp, threatening tips. Daine lowered her head, but it wasn't in respect. Even as her father changed shape she matched him, growing long canines and snarling jaws.

They faced each other down, two hunters deathly afraid of their prey, and for a breathless moment even the wind didn't dare to move. Then, with a suddenness that made Sarra and Numair flinch, Weiryn began to laugh. It was a hollow sound, more angry than amused, but it broke the tension and made his daughter slowly shift back into a human shape.

"That trick doesn't come from chaos, daughter." Weiryn sneered, and disappeared in a snap of light.

Daine gasped and dropped to the ground, falling as if there had been strings holding her up. When Numair ran over to her she flinched, and then caught his arm and held it so tightly he couldn't bend the elbow at all.

"I'm sorry," Sarra said, coming over to them slowly. "He... he doesn't mean to be cruel. He just can't help hunting, you see."

"Will you be alright, ma?" Daine whispered, letting Numair help her to her feet. Her mother nodded, and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'll be fine, love. He's had his solstice fight, now. He'll be in a much better mood by the time I get home, and I wouldn't want him skulking around my mothers in that state anyway." She shrugged, and then touched the side of Numair's face where a livid bruise was just beginning to show. Silvery light bloomed, and the bruise sank away.

"Weiryn's will take longer to heal." She confided, and grinned. Numair smiled back, shakily, but his heart clearly wasn't in it, and Daine hardly reacted at all. Sarra sighed and nodded as if all her fears had come true. "I'll talk to him, loves."