Description: The Graveyard Hag reveals she's been working through Daine all along. The mages try to find somewhere to stay and rest until the Tortallan delegation returns to collect them.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. Everything belongs to Tamora Pierce.

Author's Note: As you might have guessed, I had a lot of fun adding little gestures while Daine was unconscious. She can't be blamed for her actions when she's asleep. Just a bit of foreshadowing to when she does it in the next book.

There's quite a lot of deep introspection in this chapter as Numair finally faces up to his feelings for Daine.

Chapter 14

"She couldn't have done it without me."

The Graveyard Hag appeared at the back of the enclosure bent over her cane and wearing her typical eye patch with the badger god waddling at her side.

"That's true enough," Daine snapped angrily at the goddess. "But if you'd done what you're supposed to, none of this would've been necessary."

Numair's worst fears were confirmed, his friend had indeed been used as the Graveyard Hag's pawn. The mage tried not to glare at the badger god, perplexed at what his part was in all of this. Wasn't he supposed to protect Daine?

"And I told you, we have rules. Oh, go away, you." The Hag waved a hand at the Coldfangs and they disappeared in a flash of silver light. "You too," she pointed her cane at the spidrens, killer centaurs and killer unicorns. Each of the Immortals vanished in turn in a flash of light. "I'll talk to you when I get back."

"Interesting company you keep these days." Numair baited the badger.

– If I had a choice, I would have given up the experience. – the animal god grumbled. – You did very well, kit. –

"Thank you, Badger. Coming from you, it means a lot."

The Graveyard Hag approached Daine. "Well, dearie, it's been fun, but you have something of mine, and I want it back."

The mage put his arm protectively around his friend. "She doesn't have anything of yours, Goddess – does she?"

"Bringing the dead animals back," the young woman yawned. "That part's hers. You can have it. It makes me nervous."

Numair cursed silently having already concluded that for himself. Somehow, he'd misread the situation and thought the Hag had meant Daine had a physical token of hers. The young woman held out a hand to the goddess as the Graveyard Hag wrapped her gnarled fingers around the Wildmage's wrist and a white light blazed where they touched. Daine's legs gave way and Numair caught her before she fell to the ground, pulling his friend close. Kitten jumped down from her dais with Zek on her back and proceeded to scold the goddess angrily, her scales turning pink.

"Oh, stop it." The Hag reprimanded the young dragon. "She's just a bit tired. It's only to be expected."

"Goddess – will you listen to me for a moment?" Kaddar knelt before the Graveyard Hag. "Please?"

The goddess leaned on her stick and smiled showing all seven teeth at the prince. "What have you got for me, handsome?"

"Gracious lady, my uncle's palace is a shambles, its treasure burning or scattered or buried. His chief mage is dead, as are many of those mages who supported him. There are people of good will in this realm, people who feared to cross my uncle while he ruled. I know the gods are angry, but – please, will you stay your hand from more destruction? Intercede for us before Mithros's court? Give me a chance to prove our worth. I represent a secret fellowship of nobles, academics, and merchants who genuinely wish things to change here. Carthak is not beyond hope."

Lindhall bowed deeply. "Your Imperial Majesty."

"So he is," Numair remarked and bowed to the new emperor, although perhaps not as low as he should have. Daine hesitated before bowing to Kaddar as well.

"What do you recommend?" The Hag looked at Daine with her one eye. "Seems to me, since you did the hard work, you ought to have a say."

"Give him a chance. Prince – Emperor Kaddar, I s'pose – he cares about the land and the people. If the gods were only interested in destroying the empire, not saving it, you wouldn't have waited to use me. You'd've gotten on with it."

Numair smiled down at his magelet filled with pride. He wasn't sure he could have spoken so candidly to the Graveyard Hag as she did, but her courage was one of the things he admired about her.

The goddess grinned toothily to the Badger. "You were right about her. Sharp as a Shang blade, she is." The Hag looked up towards the heavens. "Well, my brothers and sisters? What do you think? I say let's give 'em the benefit of a doubt."

For a moment nothing happened and then a rich wind blew, and thunder rolled overhead. When the rumbling stopped, rain poured down drenching everyone in seconds and continued the deluge.

"Very good." The goddess tapped her cane on the ground and hobbled towards Kaddar. "Get up. Silly for a ruler to kneel in a cloudburst." The new emperor rose slowly to his feet. "I hope your memory is better than Ozorne's, sonny. I won't be ignored! Not in my own empire! Now, give me your arm. We need to talk."

Numair put the pair out of his mind and cast a protection spell over himself and Daine to keep the rain off. In retrospect, it was a little late as his clothes were already soaked to the skin and he held too much of his Gift to risk drying his clothes or the robe covering his naked friend.

"Arram, or Numair – whatever you call yourself –" The Hag looked over her shoulder at him. "Put that girl to bed. She'll sleep for three days, give or take."

"Three days?" he looked down at the young woman concerned.

– It was divine power moving through her – the badger god explained.

Daine slid out of his arms and sat on the floor smiling up at him making the mage's stomach flutter.

– Sleep is all she needs. – Badger continued.

Kitten and Zek crawled into the Wildmage's lap, and she cuddled them both happily. Numair couldn't take his eyes off the young woman, and discovered he really should, as the cloak opened briefly when she cuddled Kitten giving him far too good a view of bare skin.

– Don't worry about the menagerie animals. We animal gods will see to it that they reach their proper homes unhurt. It is the least we can do. –

The mage closed his eyes, fighting a blush, and when he opened then again Daine was fast asleep on the floor. He knelt beside her and gathered his young friend into his arms. The marmoset hopped up onto the mage's shoulder and whistled softly as he stood.

"What about you Zek?" Numair asked. "Would you like the badger to return you to your true home or would you like to stay with Daine?"

The tiny monkey whistled and cheeped in response.

– The marmoset says he would prefer to stay with you and return to your homeland. – the badger god translated.

Numair shifted the young woman in his arms trying to get her comfortable as she snuggled into him and nuzzled her cheek against his shirt. He froze and stared at her as the blood rushed southwards and his heart thundered in his chest.

– Take good care of my kit, mage. She will need you in the days to come. –

The mage blushed hoping no one had seen his reaction. He wanted to ask what the badger god meant by his last words, but he'd already vanished. Daine smiled in her sleep and rubbed her nose against his shirt sighing contentedly. Numair gazed down at her, completely mesmerised, as it hit him just how precious she was. He pressed his lips against her curls in a gentle kiss, smelling the scent of smoke in her hair. I love you; the thought was like a bolt of lightning to the heart.

Kitten trilled at his feet breaking him out of his earth-shattering revelation. The mage swallowed and looked down at the dragonet as she stamped her foot and tugged at his breeches.

"I can't carry you as well. You could try asking Lindhall – if Bonedancer won't attack you."

He looked up at his old friend to find the man studying him very closely. Numair blushed crimson afraid of how much his former teacher had just observed.

"I'd like to get Daine out of this downpour. Is there anywhere safe we can take her so she can rest?" he asked the older mage.

"She can stay at my mother's house." Emperor Kaddar said, choosing that moment to reappear. He looked a little dazed as one would expect after speaking with a goddess. "She will need to hear what has transpired this night."

It was a long walk to Princess Fazia Iliniat's villa, but there were no carts on the roads that night. Kaddar offered to carry Kitten which irritated Numair, even though he knew he should be grateful that the dragonet did not have to walk the entire way. Daine continued to sleep peacefully and would occasionally rub her cheek or nose against his chest which was proving to be horribly distracting.

When they arrived at the villa in the early hours of the morning, the princess demanded to know the meaning of the imposition. Kaddar spoke to his mother privately until she agreed they could stay in her house. Numair asked the servants to clothe Daine when they collected her and moved his friend to the woman's quarters. He hated to be separated from her and refused to sleep in case someone tried to steal his young friend away again. The mage contacted Alanna, and after a grumpy exchange with the sleepy Lioness, she agreed they would return and collect the mages. He only gave a brief account of the events; that Kaddar was now emperor, Ozorne was a Stormwing and that there had been some trouble. Numair neglected to mention Daine's rampage through the palace or his supposed execution, but he promised to explain everything once they arrived.

The mage stood at an open-door watching smoke rise from the palace while Lindhall slept on a pallet in their shared room in the men's quarters. The rain had put out the fires hours ago, but the smoke continued to rise. His thoughts were consumed by Daine while he attempted to ascertain when he had developed romantic feelings for his student. As much as he would like to deny having any feelings for the young woman, Numair couldn't ignore his earlier epiphany. He'd certainly noticed his recent attraction to his friend but loving her didn't surprise him as much as it should have. The mage replayed so many moments from the past three years with Daine, until he couldn't understand how he hadn't recognised his feelings sooner. It was disturbing to realise just how long he had harboured these romantic feelings for his student. Numair had never considered himself a lecherous man before, but what other label could he place on himself when he desired a young woman fourteen years his junior? The only small consolation was that, until this past week, he had never lusted after Daine before now.

Numair didn't know what to do with his sudden discovery. Telling Daine was absolutely out of the question. She would be horrified and sickened if she learned of his feelings and desires. He wouldn't threaten the friendship he had built with her under any circumstances. The only solution the mage could see was to bury his feelings deep down and pretend they never existed, but that seemed nearly impossible now he'd acknowledged them. The other possibility was that this was just a phase, and it would pass quickly. Numair had flirted with the idea of being in love with many a young lady in his past, but it had never lasted, and he had bored of the women after a month or two. They could never truly accept who he was, and pretending to be someone he wasn't grew tiresome after a while.

A small part of his brain argued that Daine was different. She did accept him for everything he was, including his Gift, which was the main reason most women couldn't accept him. The Wildmage even tolerated his scholarly, absentminded personality and was never surprised to find his nose buried in a book. She took a genuine interest in any of his academic pursuits and had helped him with the research for several projects. If it weren't for the age difference, she seemed an almost perfect match for him.

Numair shook his head trying to physically shake the thoughts out of his mind. The fact remained there was an age difference and one that could not and should not be ignored. Daine was young and only just starting to discover the joys of love and intimacy. She would hardly welcome the affections of an older man in her life. He sighed heavily noticing his thoughts had started to circle around the same point as his heart continued to war with his head.

Lindhall was cross when he woke to discover the younger mage hadn't slept at all during the night. They shared a light breakfast with Princess Fazia when a messenger arrived with word about the events that had taken place at the palace the previous night. After that, nothing would convince the woman that Daine, asleep in her room, wouldn't bring the villa down upon the princess's head. Kaddar attempted to placate his mother, but she became even more irrational and irate. The servants then refused to go near the sleeping Wildmage until Numair collected Daine and said they would find somewhere else to stay.

"Let me order you a carriage to take you where you will go." Kaddar offered. "I must leave shortly. The ministers and nobles that survived last night's debacle will want to discuss what we should do to rectify the situation. I want to ensure you are pardoned, Master Numair, and that the guards will not try to arrest you again. You said the Tortallan delegation is on its way back to Carthak to collect you and Daine?"

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty," the mage bowed his head. He held a sleeping Daine in his arms once again and was amazed at how good it felt to hold her.

"Very good. I will speak to my ministers about signing a new peace treaty between our lands. A real treaty this time. Where will you go now? Back to the university?"

"I think we must, Your Majesty." Lindhall replied. "Mages are more tolerant when it comes to demonstrations of power. They might be uncomfortable with what Daine was able to accomplish, but they will be easier to reassure if we explain that she was a god's vessel. Better they know a version of the truth than believe she is a necromancer."

Kaddar wrote a quick letter of pardon for Numair, so that the university mages would allow him to enter the grounds before the carriage arrived. The mages were given adjacent guest quarters at the university but were mostly left in peace. Numair carefully settled his friend in the bed and tried to get her to take a little water. He was relieved that the princess's servants had at least clothed Daine before they were too terrified to approach her. Kitten and Zek climbed up the bed and settled themselves beside the young woman as the mage pulled over a chair to sit with her for a while.

Taking her hand in his, Numair brushed the tumble of brown curls off her face and stroked her cheek gently. "I've very confused, sweetling," he confessed. "I've never had anyone destroy half a palace for me before."

Daine sighed and smiled in her sleep as the mage snatched his hand away and froze. He sat watching her sleep for some time before speaking again.

"I promise I won't let – whatever it is I'm feeling ruin our friendship. I swear I'll behave and get myself under control."

Despite his words, the mage couldn't seem to stop trailing his fingers through her curls. It didn't help that Daine seemed to be soothed by his touch. Every time he made himself stop, a few moments later his fingers would return to stroke her hair.

"I almost wish I was ten years younger. Although – I'm not sure you would have liked me very much back then." Numair tried to imagine his younger self meeting Daine for the first time after she left Galla and shook his head at the absurdity of the idea. "No, you definitely wouldn't have held a high opinion of me. I think I should just accept that I'm not worthy of you."

The mage kissed the fingers of her hand tenderly and forced himself to sit back in his chair, crossing his arms so he wouldn't touch her again.

Lindhall found him like that several hours later when he came to fetch his friend for lunch. "I thought I would find you in your own bed resting not keeping a bedside vigil. Daine is tired not sick. You will make yourself ill if you do not get some sleep!"

It was rare to see Lindhall truly angry.

"If I had been a better friend, Daine wouldn't have been taken at all. Ozorne targeted her because of me. I allowed myself to become distracted, and she was kidnapped from under my very nose. She is in this state because I wasn't there to protect her."

"You were not the only member of the delegation who didn't notice that Daine had been kidnapped. Ozorne would have targeted her regardless of your connection. The girl was able to heal his birds and you know how he doted on them. Knowing that you care for her, and that she was your student was an additional bonus. You cannot put all the blame on yourself. Don't become self-deprecating, it doesn't suit you."

Numair blushed through Lindhall's tirade. While he appreciated his friend's strict defence of him, his teacher wasn't entirely aware of all his indiscretions during the visit; namely attempting to strike the emperor and having relations with Varice. The mage had only agreed to join the delegation so he could keep an eye on Daine and Kitten, and he'd utterly failed them both.

"Come and have something to eat and then I insist you rest! I will sit with the girl myself if it will make you take care of yourself."

He followed his old friend to a communal area where he could still see the young woman sleeping through the open door. Kitten trailed after the mages with Zek riding on her back. Numair picked his way through the meal but fed the majority of it to the dragon and marmoset. The inner turmoil he felt had ruined his appetite and he didn't argue when Lindhall ordered him to bed.

In his dream Numair saw Daine standing in the circle of hyenas as he floated his cloak around her. When he held out his hand, she didn't hesitate this time but ran into his arms. The mage swept the young woman off her feet and wrapped his arms tightly around her body as Daine's arms went around his neck. He pulled back to look at her face and into those beautiful blue-grey eyes then he was kissing her passionately as he'd wanted to do before. Numair lost himself in the feel of her lips against his as the blood pounded in his veins until a foul smell reached his nose. The mage broke the kiss to ask Daine about the smell when she was ripped from his arms. Stormwing claws cut deep into her shoulders as Ozorne bore his love into the air above him. Numair tried to reach for her but found his ankles were chained to the ground. Daine was kicking and screaming defiantly as blood trickled down her bare shoulders. The mage reached out with his Gift but the runed shackles around his wrists prevented him from touching it. Magical lashes wrapped around his arms and legs dragging him to his knees as he screamed for her.

"You cannot defy the will of an emperor, Draper." Ozorne's face twisted into a cruel smile. "I swear I will take everything you love and destroy it, starting with her."

Tears streamed down his cheeks as Numair begged and pleaded with the Stormwing. Ozorne raised his steel wings and with a harsh laugh proceeded to slice Daine to ribbons before his eyes.

The make woke up screaming and drenched in sweat as Kitten burst through the door. The dragonet scrambled up the bed and into his arms. He held her tightly, rocking back and forth, unable to stop himself from trembling violently. Lindhall knocked lightly and stood in the doorway while Numair hid his face feeling embarrassed and ashamed.

"Are you alright, my boy?" the older mage asked softly.

"It was just a nightmare," he mumbled.

"I'll get you some water."

The mage scrubbed his face as Kitten sniffed and examined him chirping a series of questions. He stroked her scales and tried to reassure her he was fine when Lindhall returned with a cup and jug of water.

"Did I wake Daine?"

"No, she's still sleeping."

Numair nodded and accepted the cup of water gratefully sipping slowly.

"Would you like me to make you another tonic?" Lindhall asked.

"No, thank you." The mage shook his head. "I don't think I could sleep now. I might read for a bit instead. I should have asked the new emperor to have another look at the spells to open the Divine Realms."

"I will ask in the morning. For now, its late and I'm going to head to bed myself. Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"I'll be fine. Goodnight, Lindhall."

The older mage bid him goodnight and left for his own rooms. Numair drank another cup of water before disentangling himself from the blankets. He gathered Kitten into his arms and cuddled her close as they entered Daine's room. The mage cupped her cheek and stroked it gently with his thumb needing to reassure himself she was alive and well. He sat in the chair and settled Kitten onto his lap stroking his fingers over her scales.

Despite telling Lindhall that he would read, Numair spent the night watching his friend sleep while Kitten snored softly on his lap. He didn't even notice the time pass as he watched the rhythmic rise and fall of Daine's chest.

The mage jumped, startling Kitten who shrieked unhappily, when Lindhall touched his shoulder in the morning. "I didn't hear you come in," he apologised. "I'm sorry Kitten," he stroked her until the dragon settled back onto his lap.

"Have you been here all night?" the older mage asked.

Numair nodded absently.

"She means more to you than a mere student."

The younger mage hesitated. "We're just close friends."

"You'll forgive me for saying so, but I haven't seen you take so many risks or pushed yourself to the point of exhaustion for any other friend."

Numair turned with an easy lie on his lips but the look in his former teacher's eyes stopped him. "I love her," he whispered, looking away, unable to meet his friend's eyes and see the condemnation in them.

"Does she know?" Lindhall asked.

"Of course not, and neither will she find out," the younger mage said bitterly.

"Arram –"

"It's just a phase! A reaction to this past week," Numair cut his friend off before he could chastise him. "It'll pass in time. As soon as we get home things will return to normal. I don't intend to burden her with my feelings when they'll have gone in a week or two."

"Are you certain?"

"It has to be that way. I'm her friend, her confidant and her teacher. I'm not going to ruin that because I've developed – an attraction to her," the mage snapped unhappily. Saying it out loud only reinforced the notion of how idiotic he sounded.

Lindhall said nothing more on the subject only invited his former student to join him for breakfast.