Theola! thanks for reminding me, again. I almost forgot...so, after like months, here it is!
~~~~~~~~~~~
Daine sat up, holding her head. "Gods!" Staggering to her feet, she hurried to the basin and promptly threw up.
Numair sat up instantly and ran to help her. "Daine? Are you okay?" He
"Sure," she groaned. He helped her to her feet and back to the bed.
"Do you need a healer?" he asked, his dark eyes concerned. Placing his hand on Daine's forehead, he wondered briefly if this was a magical after effect.
~~~~~~~~~~~
In the next small room in the Healer's wing, Kalasin sat up in bed. "Collun?"
The boy looked up from where he was sitting. "Yes?"
"Did Father arrange everything already? For some reason-" she grinned, "-I shall feel uneasy until everything is properly documented and such."
Smiling back, her new fiance nodded. "The King stayed up all night to do that. I think he was feeling a bit guilty...after all this fuss..." he trailed off. Squeezing her hand gently, he kissed it. "Its scheduled sometime after my Ordeal."
"Perfect," the princess replied, all smiles.
"Now," he told her, mock-sternly, "Don't move your head anymore, otherwise Duke Baird will kick me out...again..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Pregnant!?" Daine shrieked. "Morning sickness?!"
The healer smiled calmly. "I suppose you're feeling better now, don't you think? Her lungs are perfectly healed," he added waspishly.
Numair leaned over Daine's stomach, his hand protectively on her belly. "Mithros, Mynoss..." his voice trailed off, too shocked to even finish his usual epithet. "Are you sure?" he asked, his dark eyes serious.
"Quite!" The man glared at the mage, offended at having his medical prowess being questioned. "Quite sure. Two months now, it seems." Scowling, he pointed. "You can look too, can't you?"
The man, sweating, drew his power into his former student. Sure enough, inside was a gently pulsing orb of light, shot through with wild magic...and the Gift?
"Great Gods!" he groaned. Daine looked at him, alarmed. "Oh, nothing, sweet," he answered her frightened gaze. "But this child's magic is going to surprise the hells out of both of us."
She giggled. "Oh, good. For a moment, I thought there was something wrong." Daine smiled sweetly at his good-humored dismay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
King Jonathan stood out on the battlements, watching as the bodies of Jaron's soldiers burned. It wasn't exactly Traitor's Hill, to be sure, but close enough.
He stood solemnly as Jaron himself was doused with flammable fluid and applied to with a torch. His adversary went up in smoke, literally, his bloody clothes flaking away slowly into ashes.
Life would seem so simple now, so easy. Almost boring. He chuckled to himself. Back to the old grind, the easy life.
"Your Highness?" a messenger politely interrupted his thoughts. "There's a new application for the Pages' class. A girl."
"A girl?" Jon's attentions were effectively diverted. "Hmm...finally. Won't Alanna be pleased?" he wondered out loud. Dismissing the messenger with a wave of the hand, the King pondered. "Kelandry of Mindeland..."
And the story goes on...