OK, so I got very bored with my last story, Loose Ends, and decided to do something different but with some of what I had originally wanted in my other story. I'm sorry to anyone who liked it, but hopefully this one will be better. :)
Disclaimer: Everything in this story that you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce.
Winter's Reprisal
Chapter One: Midsummer Eve
Numair lounged in his favorite squashy leather arm chair, bare feet crossed and resting on a stack of papers that lay disorganized on the dusty mahogany desk. He gave every appearance of contemplating the view from the window over his desk. His rooms at the palace were set toward the back of the castle, normally allowing him a view of fields, farmlands, and various scattered residences over a considerable distance. Today however brought morning fog and cumulous clouds that looked threatening.
His thoughts were on his student. He thought back to the three times he had casually proposed marriage to Daine. He had been rejected but not discouraged. What would it take to persuade her to marry him? Would a suggestion to officially move in to his rooms at the palace and his tower by the ocean be a step toward that direction, and one that she would agree to? She practically lived in his rooms at the palace anyway.
The subject of his thoughts shuffled into the room, legs obviously still disoriented after a long sleep.
"Looks like there might be rain today." Daine commented with a yawn.
Numair smiled when he saw her rubbing the sleep from her eyes and attempting to balance on one foot as she slipped her boots on. "Indeed. A good day to catch up on my work."
Daine put her hands around his neck from behind, bending to kiss him firmly on the cheek causing him to grin. "You work too much. I still have to help Onua with the ponies today though."
"Think of me in my nice warm study while you are ankle deep in mud." Numair said wryly.
Daine rolled her eyes. "Just because you don't want a little mud and rain to spoil your hair doesn't mean I'll mind it in the least!" She casually leaned against the desk, and ran a finger lightly up the arch of his foot. Numair yelped and pulled his feet up causing the pile to scatter and join other haphazard papers that lay messily around his desk and chair.
"I have to go or I'll be late. I love you." Daine kissed his lips and he returned it with passion.
"I love you too." Numair said breathlessly as she slipped from his arms. She was around the corner and out the main door before his next breath.
He cursed. He was planning on asking her the question about moving in first thing that morning. He rubbed his nose with one finger as he contemplated both the door Daine had left through, and Daine herself.
It had obviously rained last night for Daine found herself in mud that was not only ankle deep, but in some places reached half way to her knee. She waded determinedly though, towing a bucket of grooming items for the ponies and a collection of the palace kitchen's left over peaches that had become slightly too ripe.
The small herd of ponies in the field trotted over but from long term experience with the girl, patiently waited with perfect behavior as she groomed them and gave out the peaches.
I need exercise today. Daine's grey mare Cloud nudged her arm from behind to impress her point.
Daine looked quizzically at the mare. "You do? You never want me to ride you when we're not on a mission!"
It is an unusually cold morning for midsummer's eve. I'm so restless I'm sure I need a good workout. Besides, they've been making a racket over there in the meadow for midsummer. I want to see what they are doing.
Daine grinned at her curiousity. She thought the pony would have other motives for wanting exercise. She placed her bucket of tools on the other side of the fence where other curious ponies couldn't find it. She mounted Cloud bareback easily from the ground. "Over to the gate then!"
She opened and closed the gate easily from the pony's back, locking it securely. As she walked past the barn opening she called in to Onua to explain that she was going for a ride then told Cloud to pick up a working trot.
Deciding to take a known trail rather than a main road, Cloud picked her way through brush and shallow streams at a brisk trot before picking up a fast canter at Daine's queue. The trail broke at a clearing that would allow Daine to give Cloud a good gallop.
She could see that servants were already setting up for the midsummer festivities. A large pyre was being created in the center of field. Daine blushed as she realized that this time last year she would never have imagined that in a year's time she and Numair would be participating in the festivities of Midsummer in his private rooms. She silently requested Cloud to slow to a steady trot and was lost in thought about what happened that day one year ago. How the skinners had nearly killed Numair and herself until her parents had intervened. The thought struck her suddenly; would she be seeing her parents tomorrow?
Daine felt the first drops of rain in the same instant that she sensed immortals. She knew the familiar feeling to belong to Stormwings. The sky opened suddenly and Daine sighed in annoyance as the rain soaked through her clothes in seconds. A mage with a pale yellow Gift cast a sheet of his magic over the Midsummer preparations, shielding it from the rain so that the pyre would light easier tomorrow.
Daine scanned the skies, blinking in the rain, looking for the Stormwing she sensed. The object of her search leaped from the trees ahead of her suddenly and shot into the sky. Shaping her eyes into those of a hawk's, she saw that the Stormwing was missing a multitude of its steel feathers. It soared with some difficulty it seemed until it was lost in the clouds.
Daine, feeling extremely wet and grumpy asked Cloud to turn back. They were almost clear of the woods when they came across the stream that Cloud had easily stepped through not long ago. The torrential rain however had caused the stream to flood turning the trail into a muddy mess.
I can go straight through this. The pony said with a huff. I can't guarantee you'll be happy in that water though.
"How much wetter could I be? Just please be careful! Maybe I should walk."
I have four legs while you have two. Cloud snapped. It will be easier for me. Stay where you are.
The pony took a few cautious steps forward then plunged into the flooding stream. The water rose above Daine's ankles from her position on Cloud but the splashing the pony created soaked the girl further. It happened just as she was stepping out of the water. Cloud's back hoof slipped in the mud and she went down, causing Daine to fall into the muddy water. She rose quickly albeit with difficulty; the mud was thick. Cloud regained her footing and leapt from the worst of the mud onto dryer ground. Daine ran to catch up with her knowing that there was something wrong. The pony was clearly lame when Daine caught up with her. Cloud's head bobbed up severely with every step of her left hind.
"Stop! You'll hurt yourself further!" Daine bent to examine the leg. Probing with her magic, she found that the pony had severely fractured her canon bone. Daine realized with a jolt that if she had not known how to heal animals, Cloud would have had to be put down. No horse can recover naturally from a broken canon bone.
She healed the fracture in under an hour and by the end of it, she was so wet she looked as though she had been for a swim with her clothes on. Which… I have! She thought remembering her fall into the muddy water.
Cloud was in too much pain to say anything as Daine walked her back to the stable. "You are going to need a lot of stall rest." She advised the pony as she slid the stall door open. The rain pounded on the wooden roof of the stable. Hugging the pony around the neck tightly, she said, "I'll have the hostlers put pain killing herbs into your feed. If it wasn't for Numair teaching me how to heal five years ago, I would never have been able to save you like that. What would I do without you, you're my family!"
Cloud nickered softly and nibbled the girls sopping breeches in affection. You have more family now, with the Stork-man as your mate and your other friends.
Daine nodded, feeling intensely grateful for that fact and at the same time, not able to help the tears that prickled around her eyes at the thought of loosing her pony.
"Daine?" Onua's voice was soft. She leaned in, one hand on the stall door. Straw from the stalls she was cleaning clung to her clothes. "Are you all right?"
"Cloud got hurt on our way back. The stream is flooded on the trail back from the Midsummer field. I healed her the best I can but she will still need stall rest and help for the pain."
Onua looked sympathetically at the pony and nodded. "We'll take care of her Daine. You are soaked to the bone though youngling, you better go in and take care of yourself."
When Daine finally trudged up to the door that held the brass nameplate, Numair Salmalín, she lifted a tired hand to knock. The instant her knuckles hit the wooden door, it sprang open with so much force that it bounced off the wall twice before it settled wide open. Daine winced as glass crashed on the floor. Cautiously peering around the door she found that a framed painting of a hunt scene with a glass face lay smashed on the floor. The force of the door opening had caused the painting to fall from the wall.
Numair appeared before her with both hands covering his cringing mouth. Closing the door after her, he muttered, "Remember when I told you that my Gift is too large to do minor projects?"
Daine nodded slowly, still stunned by what just happened.
"I thought I had this one covered, I spelled the door after you left so that it would only allow you to enter, but since that was too small a project, I also made it so that it would sense your touch, be flame retardant, hide itself if it senses anyone with bad intentions, and periodically dispense a perfume through the hall and foyer with a light spice scent. Obviously it wasn't enough." Numair sighed. "Where did I go wrong?" He exited the room and shut the door behind him, keen to work the kinks out.
Daine backed far away and began stripping her wet clothes off. She was in far too grumpy a mood to be patient as Numair worked on his latest pursuit. She threw on one of Numair's large clean shirts to act as a dressing gown making a mental note to buy a spare or bring the one from her rooms to keep in Numair's privy. Just as she was about to make a warm bath, she heard a loud, brisk knock on the door.
Opening it cautiously, Numair stood with a very sheepish look on his face. "I spelled it very well…and in so doing spelled it so that you and you alone could open it!"
Daine couldn't help but giggle at how absent minded the mage could be.
"I'm thinking of reverting back to a normal, non-magical, lock." He closed the door gently which seemed rather worthless considering the door had already done as much damage as it could upon its violent opening. "Magelet you look rather wet, but I'm guessing you haven't bathed yet?"
Daine, however, who was thinking back to what he had said earlier about the door exclaimed, "You spelled the door so it would give off perfume?"
Numair shrugged, blushing. "It was among the first things I could think of and I needed to do it fast! Isn't it time for your bath?"
Daine rolled her eyes, grinning as she stalked to the privy.
It was several minutes later while Daine was still soaking in the basin and in a considerably better mood when Numair burst in.
"Jonathan just contacted me through a speech spell." He announced kneeling beside the edge of the bath.
Daine frowned. "Why couldn't he send a page with a message?"
Numair grimaced. "Well, ah, apparently he did. I was busy working, deaf to everything. The door apparently frightened the page into hysterics so much that Jon himself came to investigate and…" He cringed. "He has a bloody nose, but he'll be all right."
"Numair!" Daine gasped. "You broke the King's nose?!"
"I didn't! The door did!"
"The door that was spelled by you—" Numair silenced her with a long kiss. Daine pulled her arms from the bath around him with enough speed to drench him in a huge splash.
Numair pulled away, startled. "I suppose I should have expected that! By the way, his message was that he needs us to meet him in the Great Hall. There is a guest there who has something he thinks will interest us… why he couldn't just tell me now is beyond me. He said we can take our time though, the man is being treated to true Tortallan hospitality." He unbuttoned his wet shirt and draped it over a wooden drying rack. "You were gone for some time, did you ride?"
Daine nodded slowly. The bath was very relaxing after her minor ordeal and made her sleepy. "It was very flooded on the trail and Cloud fractured her canon bone." Numair drew a sharp breath, knowing exactly what that usually meant in a horse. "I healed it, but she will still need stall rest."
Daine rose from the bath to be enfolded by a towel that Numair held for her. He hugged her close and kissed her on the neck until she giggled. Since she had used Numair's soaps, his scent seemed to cling all over her body by the time she dressed. She suspected that Numair's soap held its scent longer than most.
When Daine and Numair entered the Great Hall they found the King sporting a swollen black and blue nose and a healing woman who hovered around him like a mother hen. Thayet stood beside him looking concerned but slightly amused. An unknown man with disheveled blond hair sat at a table eating a bowl of soup as though it were his first meal in a very long time.
"It's healed, its just bleeding now! Thank you for your services but I can handle it from here." Jon pinched his nose and titled his head back. Spotting Daine and Numair he beckoned them in. "Numair, this man has something that I think you will recognize…"
The man stumbled up from the bench and bowed low to Daine and Numair. "Master Salmalín, Mistress Sarrasri, I am Daman of Whitecliff, Scanra. I found this in the snow near my home. I have been traveling with it for a very longtime because I knew of its connection to you, Master Salmalín."
When Daman revealed what he had found, Numair felt sick.
A/N please review!