Secrets
Chapter Six: The Man and the Marmoset
Daine sat bolt upright in bed. "Excuse me? Did I hear you correctly? Are you telling me not to heal animals? Because if that's what you are saying, then I suggest you walk right out that door because I will never stop healing, no matter how sick it makes me."
Numair's face hardened and his eyes grew cold with determination. "Not only am I telling you not to, I'm forbidding it. It's too dangerous for you and the baby and I won't stand for it." He watched her as she stood slowly, trying to hold back tears in her eyes. It tore at his heart to see her like this, but he knew what had to be done. "I'm sorry, Daine, but I can't let endanger yourself or our child by healing those animals. I'm sure someone else can take care of them for the next few months."
With that, he kissed her cheek and strode out the door without looking back.
Daine could no longer hold in all of her pain. She wept, her tears soaking the pillow as she fell back onto the bed. Zek, who had stopped pacing when the argument had begun, walked over and hopped onto the sheets next to her. Kitten followed and placed her forepaws on Daine's hand. Her scales were a deep purple, expressing the concern and anger she felt.
-What did he say that could make you cry so much?- Zek asked, head cocked to one side.
Daine wiped her eyes, yet the tears kept coming. He told me that I couldn't help heal the People for a while, she replied through her mind between sobs.
-Why would he tell you that? You love the People, and we need you. Look at what you did for me.-
"He said that because I'm pregnant," she told the marmoset aloud. When he looked at her oddly, she explained to him what that meant. He seemed happy for her, but there was a hint of guilt in his mind voice that made her curious. "is there something you aren't telling me Zek?" she asked "Like why you aren't traveling through the mountains with Lindhall looking for new plants?"
Zek looked genuinely guilty then, his lower lip quivering slightly.
"Come on, Zek," she prodded. "Spill it. What happened."
-I didn't want to tell you this and spoil your happy news, but I guess I have to. Master Lindhall is dead. He was killed by spidrens about four days ago.-
Daine sat in silence. Lindhall Reed? Dead? How could that be? She and Numair had just gotten a letter from him - no, that was a few weeks back. Anything could have happened since then. Including this. "But didn't they lock all the Immortals back in the Immortal Realms at the end of the war, though? At least they locked all the evil ones in." She thought back to the Immortals War and remembered. "They let some stay, didn't they?"
The marmoset nodded angrily. -Who would let a creature like that stay in the mortal realms when there are creatures like him who will let them kill People and two-leggers?-
Daine halted in mid-thought. "Who'd 'him', Zek? Who let the spidren kill Lindhall?"
-The man from Carthak. From home.- he seethed.
Kaddar, she thought instantly.
-No, no, no, not the emperor. A magic man. Not very powerful magic, but still enough to control that spidren. He told them that bad was better, and they believed. Master Lindhall never saw them coming. They ate him right after they...- he gulped. Daine could sense how upset he was, and frankly, she could relate. Lindhall had been a good friend to she and Numair and he was suddenly gone forever. But what about this other man? She thought back to Carthak and all the people she had met, but none of them were mages, except for the occasional Banjiku wild mage. Gods, I wish I could remember, she thought. Then maybe I could help.
-But I thought he told you not to do anything while you've got that little two-legger growing inside you.- Zek pointed out.
Daine sighed. "Well, I'd like to see him try and stop me."
***
As she walked through the nearly empty halls of the palace, Daine began to wonder what someone could have against Lindhall. As she knew him, he was a caring friendly, and humble person. Who would actually dislike him enough to kill him?
Daine found herself outside the king's chambers, the door cracked ever so slightly. She heard voices from inside, familiar ones, that all seemed to be focusing around one topic of conversation: her.
"Numair, I know you're worried about her, but the more you tell her not to do something, the more she'll want to continue doing it!" She heard Thayet's voice above the din, and it sounded full of what seemed like anger and sympathy.
"Don't you think I know that?!" Numair retorted. "I just can't risk something happening to her or my child. If something did happen, I don't know what I'd do..."
Daine was fuming. His child? His child? Well, she'd teach him something. Pushing open the door with such force that it slammed against the wall, she burst into the room. "What if I told you it wasn't yours? What would you do then, huh?"
Alanna, Thayet, Jonathan, Onua, Duke Gareth the Younger, and Numair were spread all over the room. The group around her was silent as they watched her unleash an unspeakable wrath upon Numair.
"Wh-what did you say?" Numair's eyes were wide as turkey platters.
"I said, 'what if I told you it wasn't yours?' What if I told you it was Nealan of Queenscove's? Or Perin's, for that matter! What if I told you it was mine? Mine, Numair. At first even you were doubtful that it was yours and then you just claim it all as your own, not ours. You want it, you carry it for nine months!"
Suddenly, a terrible pain swept over her body and her knees buckled. Out of the corners of her eyes, Daine saw everyone leap up at once. Numair dove to catch her, but it was too late. She hit the floor with a sickening thud and everything was dark.
***
Daine lifted her eyelids groggily, and turned her neck gingerly to look around her. She was lying in her own bed, with Numair at her side. His face was buried in his hands, but she could still see the tears streaming down his cheeks. She silently reached out and stroked his hair. "I'm sorry, Numair. I didn't mean to upset you so. I just thought that you should know that this baby isn't only yours."
He looked at her, his cheeks puffy and his eyes red. "Don't apologize," he said as he gripped her hand in his. "Besides, there's nothing to apologize about."
Daine saw another tear creep eerily down his jawline and fall onto the sheets. "What do you mean by that?"
He began sobbing again. "You lost the baby, Daine! You miscarried and it's all my fault!"