Thayet thought very strongly about telling Daine off when the girl was finally summoned to speak before the court. Somehow in the last hour she had managed to crumple her skirts and smudge her carefully applied makeup, and if her hair hadn't still been neat the queen would have suspected her of doing something very inappropriate in the atrium. As it was she hardly had enough time to even look disapproving; as soon as Daine had made her curtsey she raised her voice and announced to the room, "I've negotiated a truce with the immortals in the moat."

"Negotiated, Miss Sarrasri?" Jonathan asked her in his formal voice, leaning forward with interest quick in his eyes. Daine nodded emphatically, and then remembered she was in court.

"Yes… sir. Yes, I spoke to them this afternoon and explained to them that we needed some kind of agreement to make sure that we could trust each other."

"What are the details of this truce?" One of the nobles asked with a frown. "Surely they should have been approved in the small chamber before you even spoke to those fish?"

"The lords of the small chamber wanted to kill them." Daine said quietly. "I figured the fish would be more reasonable than a bunch of scared men hiding behind thick stone walls."

Jonathan held his hand up to silence the inevitable uproar that the very diplomatic wildmage had provoked. "Sir Alcott has a point, Daine. We can't possibly accept this truce until we know what we're agreeing to."

"I told them what you told me. About how you'd kill them if they couldn't prove they were peaceful. I stopped them getting too scared, but that was fair difficult. They don't understand right or wrong so they don't know what they've done to hurt anyone. I had to explain that to them too, you know, and they're so sorry now."

"While this is very pitiable…" another nobleman drawled, and stopped when Daine glared at him.

"Pitiable? You were shoutin' for their blood as loud just as everyone else, but you act like they're too stupid to even be scared of that. They're alive, just like you. They deserve to live." She drew a deep breath and made a noticeable effort to calm herself down. "So… so I offered them a deal. They understand their power now, and they know how it can hurt people. I told them that the people we let into the city are safe. I also told them that the people who throw fire and arrows at our walls, the people who set fire to our farm lands, are dangerous. They've agreed that if ever Corus is attacked, they will use their power to fight for us."

The room collectively drew a breath and held it. The sudden value of the creatures as a weapon occurred to all of them at the same time, and a flurry of whispers burst out around the girl who was chewing her lip nervously as she looked up at the king. Jonathan stayed quite still, but it was clear that his mind was racing just as quickly as his courtiers.

"How effective a weapon are they?" He asked. Daine thought for a moment, counting on her fingers.

"They can hold two or three people each, and they can hold them until it's too dry for them to breathe. So that's maybe a hundred and fifty soldiers turning around and fighting the people who brought them to our gates. As long as no-one attacks us during a drought." She added, more slowly. "They don't like the sun."

Jonathan nodded and beckoned his ministers over to talk to them. Daine watched, nervously twisting her hands together as she watched them wave their hands. Were they angry, or excited, or…?

She looked around and caught sight of Numair in the crowd, standing beside Lindhall. They both smiled at her, and they looked so at-ease that she relaxed. If she had misspoken then one of them would have been trying to send her a signal, or at least would be looking worried. She unclasped her hands and stood straighter until Jon finished speaking and waved the ministers away.

"We have decided," He announced, "That the benefit of these creatures outweighs the risk. We are content to agree to this truce, on two conditions. One of them must be conveyed to the sirens: that if they break their agreement, they will be exterminated immediately, and with no hope of reprieve. We cannot risk such an intrusive magic infecting the minds of the people of our city. Daine, can you explain this to them?"

She bowed, her heart racing. Jonathan frowned, and spoke a little more slowly.

"The second condition concerns you, Daine. For the next year you will remain in the city and be held accountable for every action the sirens undertake. If they act outside of their contract you are to inform us immediately. You must swear not to protect them or to hide anything from us. If you break this condition… my cabinet has decided that if you act against their wishes, you will be punished as if you had committed the siren's crime yourself."

Daine paled a little. Even mind reading was against the law, and carried harsh penalties since the king's uncle had used it to try to usurp the throne. She knew the laws against controlling another person would be merciless. She swallowed and told herself off for being afraid; she trusted the sirens, didn't she?

"I'm happy with these conditions." She managed, and then raised her voice to make sure the room could hear her. "I will tell the sirens that they are safe."

"We should execute one, in payback for my son." One of the lords shouted, but his voice was hushed by the people around him. He retreated, glaring into the room, but as his friends gathered around him Daine saw tears standing in his eyes, and she watched the tremor in his hands. The man was grieving, and sick with anger, but he wasn't a cruel man. He looked like he had hardly eaten or slept since his son had been killed, and his eyes were swollen with crying. She looked away when he glared up at her, and felt such pity for him that she half wanted to cry.

"Numair," she said softly, going to him, "I don't think that man sent the assassins."

"No, he didn't." Numair whispered back, and looked furtively around the room. "I think I know who did it."

"Well, then can't you tell…"

"No!" He shook his head emphatically and then lowered his voice. "There's no evidence, and he's too powerful for our word to be enough to convict him. I've spoken to Jonathan, and we're setting a trap."

"A trap?" She couldn't believe her ears. "What, we're going to wait for him to smash more of our plates?"

"Not quite. But I can't tell you what it is."

Daine planted her hands on her hips and looked utterly impressed. Numair grinned and nudged her shoulder with one finger. "You're not in any danger. You're just not a good enough liar to be convincing."

"Thank you, you unbearable dolt." She sniffed, and made to walk away. The man laughed and followed her.

"Is that you flirting, Daine? I feel so loved."

"If you think it's romantic I have a few other choice flirting words I could call you, Numair."

"I'm just asking because you're still losing our game."

"I just saved a whole species of immortals from certain death." Daine announced in a player's voice. "Some of us don't have time to win silly games."

"So you give up?"

"Not a chance." She grinned wolfishly at him and planted her hands on her hips. "If I win this game and save the sirens in one night I can crow over you for weeks! You didn't think I'd give up that chance, did you?"

"When you glare at me like that it's like you're whispering sweet poetry into my aching ear." He replied, shamelessly oblivious.

She sighed and pulled a face. "Of course, I meant…" She recited in a toneless, robotic voice: "'Oh Numair, I love you and your smug annoying smile which you only wear when you're teasing me, I can't wait to sing to you about butterflies and compare your eyebrows to summer evenings.'"

"That does sound like fun." He said cheerfully, and then caught her hand and pressed it between his own. "But how about dancing with me, first?"

The first dance was a lively dance which they began in small circles, and ended up spinning in small groups with their arms raised into star shapes. Although everyone entered the dance with a partner, they were soon split up as the groups grew and shrank, changing from circles into trios and back into stars. Some of the older nobles sniffed at the sight, comparing the lively lute and crumhorn playing to the rustic recorders of the peasants. Most of the younger dancers enjoyed the fast steps, especially after the tense, boring time they'd had to spend waiting to be announced. The lingering fear of the newly presented had faded, and in that first dance the young nobles forgot that they were at court to impress potential partners, and simply had fun.

Daine and Numair joined in with just as much relief; now that the sirens had been dealt with many of the angrier nobles had calmed down, and far fewer people were staring at them. There were still quite a few, though, but as she danced through the arches of other dancer's outstretched arms Daine realised that she did not care. All they had been ordered to do was to be here, and they were going to have fun. If other people decided to interfere that was their business, and she wouldn't waste any time worrying over it.

She was quite breathless when the music ended, and she looked around half expecting to see Numair dancing with someone else. She wouldn't have minded; in court dances everyone ended up with whoever was least tired, and Numair had always enjoyed showing off his cultured Carthaki upbringing with anyone who wanted to dance. She jumped when the man suddenly appeared through the crowd and handed her a glass of wine.

"Why aren't you dancing?" She asked, drinking it thirstily. He sat down beside her and picked up a flower from the table display, tearing its leaves off before he threaded it into her hair.

"You're not dancing." He replied mildly, "Why would I dance with anyone else?"

She laughed. "You like dancing."

"The unromantic answer is that I like you more. But honestly, magelet, I'm not here to dance or to bow to Jonathan. I'm here because I want to hold you in my arms and show every single person here how lucky I am. Out of all the men in this room, you chose me to fall in love with."

"I didn't choose. It just happened." She mumbled awkwardly, and shivered when the man took her wine glass away and raised her to her feet.

"I know you find all of this embarrassing." He confided, and stroked her hair back from her forehead. "I'm having fun, magelet. Let me know if you want me to stop."

"I just don't know what to say!" She whispered back. "You know all these flowery ways to say things and all I want to say is… well, it doesn't sound anything like that."

"Try it anyway." The man suggested, and led her back out onto the dance floor. Daine chewed her lip as she thought, and smiled wryly when he gently ran his thumb over her mouth to stop her.

The dance was a slow pavanne which was laughably easy compared to the branle they had danced before. It was also one of the few dances that Daine knew as well as her friend, and so she didn't have to think about the steps as she spoke.

"Well, you keep telling me things you love about me." She started, "Like I'm made up of two eyes and curly hair and let's not even get you started on how much you like the rest of me. I don't see you like that. You're just… you. All real and solid and not made up of parts. I don't love your forehead more than your elbows because they're all the same thing. I love you so much that I can't breathe when I look into your eyes … but I don't love your knees or your toes."

"Duly noted." He said seriously, and then: "That's one point you've won, Daine. Keep going."

"How did that win a point?" She demanded, letting him spin her around for the second promenade. "I wasn't flirting! I just told you the truth."

"What about if I had said it?" He pulled her closer, slowing down so that they were barely moving, and when she met his eyes they were so dark and deep that she felt like she was drowning in them. He was silent for a long time, his hand moving to cup the side of her face, and when he finally spoke the words were just as honest as her own had been. "I love you so much that I can't breathe when I look into your eyes."

Daine felt her heart racing, and realised that his own was just as unsettled. "I didn't know it happened to you, too. I feel like I'm drowning."

He kissed her very gently, and then took her hand so they could start dancing again. "That's why I like flirting, sweet. We still don't know these things about each other. If we sat down and talked about them seriously things might get very heated very quickly…"

"Why would I argue about this?"

"I didn't mean arguing." Numair ran his hand lightly down her body and settled it down on her waist for the last part of the dance. He smiled when she blushed. "I meant that we shared one serious thought tonight, and you're still trembling like a leaf."

"You make me tremble." She confessed. He grinned.

"Again, that's mutual. The trick is not to let the pious lords and ladies see you doing it."

Daine raised her eyebrows at him and for the next few steps of the dance she moved closer than she needed to every time the dance brought them close together. Numair was so used to her being a careless dancer that she didn't think he'd see through the trick, but when the set ended and she had her back pressed to his chest he laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Watch." He said, and they looked at the other dancers who had started their sets later. Daine didn't understand what she was looking for until he bent down and murmured into her ear, "The last time we danced this one together you were so awkward you danced a foot away from me, Daine. You can tell a lot about people by the way they dance together."

She bit her lip, annoyed that she had thought he wouldn't notice when he was the better dancer, and looked at the other dancers. Some of them looked like they weren't really enjoying themselves; their faces were set with concentration as they tried to remember the steps, and they didn't really look at their partners at all. "Those are the new courtiers." She murmured, pointing.

"Good." He kissed her ear. "Now tell me which ones have had a fight."

A fight? It was a dance, wasn't it? Why would people dance if they were angry? Daine watched the nobles' slow steps carefully, imagining them as a herd of animals. Who were the dominant wolves, and who were the clumsy pups?

It was hard to see them as animals at all, if she was honest; there was something so human about the way that they were moving that she couldn't quite manage it. It took her a while to work out why she was thinking that, and when the answer came to her she blushed bright red. The dance was mimicking… other things. She had never noticed before, because she had never thought about it before. But some of the couples moved in ways that told her that they had moved together in the same rhythms, that they were used to their hands twining and untwining, that the men knew the women would spin so easily into their arms.

"I've just worked out why you like dancing." She muttered, and heard him chuckle.

"Who's fought, Daine?"

She pointed without having to think about it. The couple were dancing in the same fluid way, but they were deliberately stopping themselves from fitting their steps with the other person. It looked silly, now that she was aware of it, as they were both so caught up in dancing badly that they had synchronised their mistakes into a new kind of grace.

"They'll forgive each other." She said aloud, watching them peacefully. "They won't be able to help it."

"Yes, I think so too." Numair let her go and held his arm out, his eyes laughing. "So now, Miss Sarrasri, will you save your next dance for me?"

"What will you be thinking about while we do it?" She replied, a challenging note in her voice. He looked taken aback for a moment, and then a wary playfulness crossed his face.

"I can't imagine what you mean."

"I'll show you." She caught his arm and spun under it, ending the dance move by cuddling into the crook of his arm. While she was there she rested her head on his shoulder and looked up. "What am I thinking?"

He looked down and tweaked her nose. "You're trying to tease me."

"Not at all. You'll have to do better than that." Daine shook her head in disappointment. "I thought you could read people dancing. How about this one?"

This time the girl caught both his hands, crossed her own and twisted under them so that she finished up facing him, with his hands resting on her shoulders and her own settling on the nape of his neck. "What am I thinking?"

"That's not a real dance."

"No, that's what you're thinking. I could be telling you a secret and you'd never know because my slippers are too tight to skip properly around a shiny floor. What am I thinking, Numair?"

He looked levelly at her for a long time, and took one of his hands off her shoulder to tug at his nose. When he realised he'd done it, he smiled ruefully and returned it to her shoulder. "What are you thinking, mischief?"

She sighed long-sufferingly and mimed a sniffle. "Did you see this dress that Thayet gave me? I like how it flows out when I spin."

He smiled and fiddled with one of the thin straps which held the dress over her shoulders. "I forgot to look. I can't see much of it from here. It's a little…" He looked down, blushed and then forced himself to look away. "Um, it's… there's not much of it on the… the top of it."

Daine looked down in pretend surprise, hiding a smile. "Oh, I hadn't noticed!"

"I'm sure you didn't." He looked guardedly at her.

"The fabric's really soft." The girl ignored his last remark and took his hand down from her shoulder, kissing it lightly before placing it onto her hip. He froze, looking around. Daine smiled and kissed his cheek. "We're dancing, you dolt."

"Dancing." He echoed in a strange voice, and his fingers moved lightly across the fabric. "Daine, please tell me the music is still slow enough for me to kiss you properly. We promised to behave ourselves."

"Then you can't kiss me." She murmured back, and pulled away, curtseying like a noble lady at the end of every dance before walking away. When she looked back, Numair was looking after her and laughing. There was a challenging set to his face which made her shiver; she knew that whatever she did, Numair would find a way to pay her back.