p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"If he was honest with himself, their relationship had never really recovered from Carthak. Any time Numair looked at his sovereign, he saw him commanding Numair to travel back into his nightmares. Numair had felt truly helpless only once since coming to Tortall. He was a powerful mage. He could overpower almost anyone if he really needed to. But Jon had made him feel helpless in that moment, and reminded him of another monarch who had pretended friendship...only to exploit his weaknesses. Their friendship had never been the same. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It had hurt worse because Numair hadn't realized until that moment that Daine span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"was /spana weakness. It had been painful to realize that his affection for her had been evident enough that the crown could pervert it against him as a method of control. Numair had gone to Carthak, but he had never forgiven John, even as he continued to serve him in the years that followed. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Now here they were again, at the cusp of war, and Numair found his old antipathy for the king rekindled. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The war room was buzzing. Scanra was unifying. Mauger had somehow united clansmen who had been decimating one another for at least a hundred years. There were rumors of metal beasts that could eradicate villages without the need of an army. Whispers of children disappearing. Flashbacks to the Immortals war, and enemies that were alien to them, plagued Tortallan war strategist. This was an enemy they were unprepared to fight. They needed more information. The whisper man was blind, none of his little birdies could infiltrate Hammerking... /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""...but there is one bird who could." Jon's voice broke over the hum around the war table. The room fell silent, and though he was not the subject of the King's muttered consideration, Numair felt every set of eyes on him. Every set of eyes, save one. Her blue grey orbs were trained on the monarch, and he felt, more than saw, the stubborn set of her jaw. She nodded towards Jon, a movement so slight he wondered if he imagined it. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A crack rang through the room, causing the Knights around the table to draw arms. Sunlight glinted off of steel. The mahogany of the table they sat around split, a straight line from one end to the other. Black and white tendrils rippled out from it, and Numair felt a small hand on his shoulder. Alanna's purple magic flowed through him, and he felt his heartbeat slow. He swallowed. Daine still did not meet his gaze. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""When do we leave Sire?" Her voice was steady, matter of fact as always. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jon's gaze flicked to Numair's briefly, before he glanced away. He stared at the crack that drew a line from Numair to him. Numair saw it there, just a flicker, a fear unbecoming of the King who controlled the dominion jewel. "I said there is span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"one /spanbird who could Daine...this would be something that you undertake. You span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"alone /span." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Numair felt Daine's gaze, but now he could not meet it. She was not seeking his permission. He could not bear the love and pity he would see there, nor the anger that would follow when he said what he knew he would say. Alanna's hand tightened on his shoulder, and Numair knew his magic was visible. He could feel it, that vibrating thrum in his bones. It always overwhelmed him before losing control. He felt the tremor of her hand, and knew it spoke to her years of training that she was able to keep contact despite the pain it must be causing her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I will prepare Jon..." Daine's voice was distant now, and he panicked as he realized she was standing near a window. She would not stay here for this. She would not bear witness to his quarrel with his king. Sheets of darkness rolled across the room, and the murmur of whispers ceased. The pressure on his shoulder increased, and light filled the room again. Daine was gone. The room was empty now. Every knight had fled. The purple of Alanna's magic was the only lingering presence between him and his King. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A piercing blue gaze found his, but it wasn't the one he wanted to be staring into. He felt heavy, depleted, and adrift. He vaguely wondered if it was Alanna's magic or Daine's absence that suddenly drained him. He didn't want to be here without her. "Why Jon?" His voice was soft, but the walls of the room vibrated with each word. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jon sat again, heavy at the end of the table. He placed his face in his hands, then lifted it, fingers dragging to chin. Numair wondered if the same feeling of fatigue had overtaken him. "You once told me it was for her Numair. That you would live your life for span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"her." /spanJon glanced at the window Daine had flown from. "I live it for them..." he gestured to the models of Tortall, spread across the table, the city of Corus falling into the crack that still glimmered with white and black magic. The wood of his chair screeched against the slate as he pushed it back and walked out of the war room. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Daine's argument would be the same, Numair knew...she would do anything for the realm. So here he sat, years later, still helpless against the exploitations of a king./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It had hurt worse because Numair hadn't realized until that moment that Daine span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"was /spana weakness. It had been painful to realize that his affection for her had been evident enough that the crown could pervert it against him as a method of control. Numair had gone to Carthak, but he had never forgiven John, even as he continued to serve him in the years that followed. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Now here they were again, at the cusp of war, and Numair found his old antipathy for the king rekindled. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The war room was buzzing. Scanra was unifying. Mauger had somehow united clansmen who had been decimating one another for at least a hundred years. There were rumors of metal beasts that could eradicate villages without the need of an army. Whispers of children disappearing. Flashbacks to the Immortals war, and enemies that were alien to them, plagued Tortallan war strategist. This was an enemy they were unprepared to fight. They needed more information. The whisper man was blind, none of his little birdies could infiltrate Hammerking... /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""...but there is one bird who could." Jon's voice broke over the hum around the war table. The room fell silent, and though he was not the subject of the King's muttered consideration, Numair felt every set of eyes on him. Every set of eyes, save one. Her blue grey orbs were trained on the monarch, and he felt, more than saw, the stubborn set of her jaw. She nodded towards Jon, a movement so slight he wondered if he imagined it. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A crack rang through the room, causing the Knights around the table to draw arms. Sunlight glinted off of steel. The mahogany of the table they sat around split, a straight line from one end to the other. Black and white tendrils rippled out from it, and Numair felt a small hand on his shoulder. Alanna's purple magic flowed through him, and he felt his heartbeat slow. He swallowed. Daine still did not meet his gaze. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""When do we leave Sire?" Her voice was steady, matter of fact as always. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jon's gaze flicked to Numair's briefly, before he glanced away. He stared at the crack that drew a line from Numair to him. Numair saw it there, just a flicker, a fear unbecoming of the King who controlled the dominion jewel. "I said there is span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"one /spanbird who could Daine...this would be something that you undertake. You span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"alone /span." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Numair felt Daine's gaze, but now he could not meet it. She was not seeking his permission. He could not bear the love and pity he would see there, nor the anger that would follow when he said what he knew he would say. Alanna's hand tightened on his shoulder, and Numair knew his magic was visible. He could feel it, that vibrating thrum in his bones. It always overwhelmed him before losing control. He felt the tremor of her hand, and knew it spoke to her years of training that she was able to keep contact despite the pain it must be causing her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I will prepare Jon..." Daine's voice was distant now, and he panicked as he realized she was standing near a window. She would not stay here for this. She would not bear witness to his quarrel with his king. Sheets of darkness rolled across the room, and the murmur of whispers ceased. The pressure on his shoulder increased, and light filled the room again. Daine was gone. The room was empty now. Every knight had fled. The purple of Alanna's magic was the only lingering presence between him and his King. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A piercing blue gaze found his, but it wasn't the one he wanted to be staring into. He felt heavy, depleted, and adrift. He vaguely wondered if it was Alanna's magic or Daine's absence that suddenly drained him. He didn't want to be here without her. "Why Jon?" His voice was soft, but the walls of the room vibrated with each word. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jon sat again, heavy at the end of the table. He placed his face in his hands, then lifted it, fingers dragging to chin. Numair wondered if the same feeling of fatigue had overtaken him. "You once told me it was for her Numair. That you would live your life for span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"her." /spanJon glanced at the window Daine had flown from. "I live it for them..." he gestured to the models of Tortall, spread across the table, the city of Corus falling into the crack that still glimmered with white and black magic. The wood of his chair screeched against the slate as he pushed it back and walked out of the war room. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Daine's argument would be the same, Numair knew...she would do anything for the realm. So here he sat, years later, still helpless against the exploitations of a king./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p