Numair asked Daine to take an extra watch when the sun rose. His eyes were as shadowed as her own, and he admitted that he had not slept. He had cast the strongest shield he knew over the twins, waited until every animal in their tribe had gathered around them, and then walked back into the ruins. He spent the rest of the night searching for the catacombs.
"What if there aren't any?" Daine whispered, not knowing how closely the tree was listening. She had turned her magic off already, in case Dagon could hear it, and the silence was so deafening she was relieved to see her husband. He shook his head wearily.
"I don't know, magelet. I don't think we can leave here until we know what that thing…. What that man really is. People don't just get cursed for no reason. If he did something terrible then they will have written it down."
"Yes, mages like their books." Daine murmured, winning an arch look. Her humour faded quickly. "What will you do if he really is bad?"
Numair looked away, and shrugged. The woman could read him like an open book. "You can't be serious. That's so cruel!"
"Would you rather I killed him?"
"I wouldn't, but he might!" She hissed.
"It's my responsibility. I made a stupid mistake and it's my job to fix it. Whatever that means."
"Well, aren't you just the most sympathetic…"
"Don't be such a child!" He raised his voice and then, with an effort, fell to a heated whisper. "That thing is a powerful mage, Daine. Don't tell me you can't smell it on him. Gods, he reeks of the gift. It's oozing out of him into the air and the soil. He hasn't meditated for years. Who knows if he can control it?"
"I reckon, what with being a tree and all that, he had plenty of time to meditate." She retorted, "He seems alright to me. I'd've noticed him burning up."
"Forgive me for thinking that's worse. I'd rather have a madman burning up than have a criminal commanding lightning with my children ten feet away."
She scowled and folded her arms. "You want me to take another watch, right? Do you want me to shoot a few arrows into him as well? Because for all of your worries and imaginings I don't see you planning to actually talk to the man."
"He can't…"
"Oh, such a dangerous mage can definitely talk. How can he slaughter our family without reciting words of power? It'll take more than a few mumbles about ants to get past either of us, you paranoid dolt."
Numair tugged at his nose in frustration and then drew a deep breath. "Daine, will you take the watch or not?"
She shrugged, shouldered her bow and walked back down the rise to the river. Sarralyn joined her a few minutes later. At first, Daine wanted to send the girl away – but then her daughter's lip trembled, and she held out her arms. Sarralyn cuddled into them like a kitten.
"What's wrong, little cub?" Daine asked softly.
"Da's cross."
"Not at you." The woman said quickly, and then laughed shortly, "I never thought I'd have a reason to be happy he's angry at me. Did he say anything?"
"No. He said…" she bit her lip and blushed, "But he said I shouldn't say anything. He said he doesn't want to talk."
"He doesn't want to talk now, but…"
"No, he doesn't want to talk at all. Not to you." The girl hugged her anxiously, "He's cross, ma. I know you didn't do anything bad, but if you…"
"Water." Dagon said suddenly. Daine and Sarralyn's heads flew upright, and the little girl squeaked a little in surprise. The man's voice was as slow and stupid as ever, but Daine couldn't help thinking his eyes were too sharp. It was Numair's fault, she thought, still bitter about Sarralyn's innocent accusation. He was making her see danger everywhere.
Daine let Sarralyn go, stood up and filled a waterskin from the river. She idiotically passed it through the barrier rather than throwing it to Dagon. She shrieked when the man grabbed her wrist. Liquid brown magic licked along her skin and out of the shield, dissolving it from the outside in. She was drawing a breath to shout for Sarralyn to run when something flashed across her eyes, and then the world was swallowed by such darkness that she was dizzy. She could hear everything, feel him tearing strips from her sleeves to bind her wrists, but whenever she tried to move a crashing vertigo made her retch. Sarralyn was screaming, and then she wasn't. The silence was as terrifying as the darkness.
"Now, girl," The mage hissed into her ear, "Where did your husband go?"
She thought about not answering, but she was too worried about Sarralyn to risk making Dagon angry, "He's at the catacombs. He was tryin' to prove you should stay as a man. I guess now he'll have to turn you back into a tree."
"Why?" The man sounded amused, and hauled her to her feet, "I only want to talk to him."
"You can talk to me!"
"Why?" This time he sounded genuinely baffled. It was the same answer he would have given if someone had suggested he talk to an infant. Daine realised, in a strange rush, that he genuinely saw her that way. He was centuries old. Some people still thought of women as chattel hundreds of years later. When Dagon was alive women probably weren't even allowed to meet a man's eyes, much less have opinions. It made her feel a little better. If he thought she was stupid, then he wouldn't see her as a threat. He hadn't captured her because he felt threatened. He was simply using Numair's property as leverage.
"Don't hurt me," She whimpered, and reached her hands out pathetically into the darkness, "I'm scared."
He scoffed, "Where's that bitch bravado you used when you were dragging me into the river?"
Daine's answer made her choke back bile, "Numair was there. He…"
"…used his gift to make you look stronger. I know." The man drawled with laboured, patronising impatience, "I'm a mage, girl. Don't think I don't recognise the Gift when I see it. That little show was beyond pathetic."
"Then why didn't you say something?"
The man fell silent, and Daine breathed out. Good. He was scared of Numair, at least. Dagon dragged her to her feet, and her eyes cleared enough for her to see where she was putting her feet. When she tried to look up the dizziness made her stumble. She croaked out, "Where's my daughter?"
"She's here." Dagon sounded impatient, "Will you shut up, or should I gag you?"
The woman lowered her eyes and watched her feet. "I'll be good."
They walked for what seemed like hours. Daine's vision slowly returned, and she was relieved to see Sarralyn trudging along beside her. The girl's lips were pressed tightly together by some twisted spell, so instead of crying tears were rolling silently down her cheeks. Daine's temper snapped, but she had only made it a few sentences into her accusations before the man used the same spell on her. She walked in seething silence. Even memorising the terrain was pointless; she had been blinded for miles, and had no idea where they were. The man knew where he was going, although he did sometimes mutter to himself about the things that had moved since he was alive.
They stopped at sunset beside a waystone that must once have marked a road. Dagon lashed them to the stone and waved a lazy hand. Daine's mouth fell open like a trap, and she heard Sarralyn burble something as her gag disappeared, too.
"Will you be silent?" Dagon asked. Both of the girls nodded, and his thin lips stretched over his teeth in a smile. "Remember that I can do that whenever I wish. There won't be a warning. If you want to spend the next few days blind and deaf and dumb I can numb every sense you have." He pointed a long finger at Daine, "Don't think about being brave. If you misbehave, I'll do it to the brat."
"If you hurt her, Numair will burn you." She hissed. The man shrugged, smiled a little more, and then stood up.
"I'm going to catch a hare or two. You can cook it when I get back."
"Anything else?" She demanded sarcastically, "Do you want me to wash the dishes and rub your feet like a good little woman?"
He scowled and pointed at her feet. They immediately locked into place. Every toe bound itself to the one beside it, and her ankles refused to flex. Daine raised her chin stubbornly. It didn't hurt; she could pretend Numair had done it as one of his jokes. She had once spent a whole day walking around with green hair without realising it.
Dagon sauntered off without another word. Daine wriggled her hands experimentally, making sure that they had not frozen too, and then smiled at her daughter. "Well, he's gone." She said lightly, "How are you feeling?"
"Feeling!" Sarralyn all but shrieked, and then bit her tongue when her mother hushed her, "Why are you so happy, mama? He wants to kill us!"
"No." The woman shook her head, "He wants your da to do… something. I'm not sure what. He's not going to hurt his hostages."
"How do you know?"
"I know, miss, because I'm older than you and I've done this before!" She returned tartly. Sarralyn chewed on her lip and then lowered her bound wrists to the ground. She whispered something. Daine saw the bronze glow of magic and silently ordered the mice not to obey the little girl. The chirruped and ran away rather than chewing through the rope. The little girl's face reddened with anger. Daine cursed under her breath. She might as well have spoken to the mice out loud; Sarralyn could hear any wild voice.
"He doesn't know we have magic." She said in a low, intense voice, "Are you listening to me? Most mages don't believe in wild magic. We're going to stay right here and watch him. He's too clever and powerful for us to escape from. If you run away then when he catches you it'll be rings of fire, not rope, around your wrists. Even your da might struggle to fight him, and you know that sooner or later he'll have to. We need to work out what Dagon's planning before anyone gets hurt."
Sarralyn looked dolefully down at the grass and her lip wobbled. Daine sighed and scooted over so that the little girl could lie down in her lap. "You have to be brave, little cub," she whispered, "We can't just think about ourselves. Dagon doesn't know about your brothers."
The girl thought about that for a moment and took a deep, shaking breath, "They can't fight for themselves."
"Exactly. We're not in any real danger; the twins would be. We can run when we need to - and we can tell your da where we are." The woman pointed upwards just as a shadow sped across the setting sun. With her hands tied she could not reach the tiny scraps of paper that she always carried, so instead she taught the crow that one caw was yes, and two caws was no. It was a system she and Numair had used many times before. She sent the crow back towards the ruins knowing that, despite the many things she had told the bird, Numair was bound to ask it a question she hadn't thought of. For all she knew, the secret of the ancient mage's mortal weakness had something to do with the length of his nose hairs.
"I thought you and dada weren't talking." Sarralyn pointed out at exactly the wrong time. Daine shot her an odd look.
"That has nothing to do with this. Besides, grown-ups don't sulk."
"Da does."
"He has more growing up to do." The woman muttered, and then flexed her numb hands ruefully, "He'd say the same thing about me, pet."
"Is that why you're fighting?"
"No, we're fighting because when he finds out we've been kidnapped he's going to say 'I told you so' and be an insufferable pig." Daine grimaced and then forced herself to smile. She had not meant for her tongue to run away with her. "We argue all the time, love. You know that. We always forgive each other in the end, just like you and your brothers."
"But you've been fighting for ever so long. Ever since you lost little sister…" The girl went pale and clapped her bound hands over her face. Daine froze, and for a second the child saw how wounded her mother was. It was not a comforting revalation. Her voice lowered to a guilty whisper, "The cats told me."
"She wasn't a… you mustn't think of her as 'little sister'. She wasn't even old enough to be a… to be a girl." The women struggled to find enough words, "The goddess took her back. We didn't lose her. One day we'll find her in the dark god's realms and kiss her a thousand times, and you can play all the games in the world together."
The child considered this, and cuddled closer to her mother. It was awkward, as they were both tied up, but she felt her mother kiss the crown of her head and was comforted. They stayed like that for a long time, until distant footsteps told them that Dagon was coming back.
"Mama," Sarralyn whimpered, "I need to…" she pressed her hands between her legs and squirmed. Daine nodded and helped her sit upright.
"He'll be back soon. Make as much fuss as you can! I want him to think you're one of the babies."
The girl grinned and threw her shoulders back. Daine watched her with a small smile trembling on her lips. Sarralyn had believed her when she said that they weren't in any danger. She hoped to all the gods that it was true.
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