Whew…it's been over a year since I have updated anything! I really don't know what happened, I think I wanted to take a break and that break ended up lasting the entire summer. Then school started up and Crew started eating up all of my time and here I am now! I under scheduled this summer, so I have some time on my hands and I thought now was a good time to finally post a new chapter! I hope it's better than the last one; I have been trying to improve my writing skills. OOPS! I forgot Kit last time! Well, pretend she was there; I just didn't talk about her.
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The next morning, Numair gently shook Daine to wake her. He explained that Marianne wanted to meet them for breakfast. Daine dressed and woke Kitten, who would also be coming along. The dragon first trilled in irritation, but was soon satisfied with the prospect of seeing new things. The trio set out for the private room Marianne had requested they meet at.
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"There you are Numair. I was beginning to wonder what was keeping you." Marianne stood at the door of the small room. Her gaze turned to Daine. "You must be Numair's student."
Daine opened her mouth to disagree but Marianne had turned around and led the way into the room. A round table sat in the center of the floor and was covered in a pale blue cloth. Three sets of dishes and utensils were set on the table and a small vase of red flowers sat in the center. Daine noticed a door on the opposite side of the room from the door they had entered through, no doubt concealing a passageway to the kitchen.
Marianne gestured for her companions to seat themselves, and took her own seat once they had done so. She rang a small metal bell that had been sitting next to her plate and the door Daine had noticed earlier swung open, revealing a slave carrying a silver tray. Once they had all been served, Marianne once again looked to Daine.
"How are things with your magic going, dear?" She sounded almost patronizing. "I'm sure things don't get out of control like they did during your last visit."
Daine was only momentarily shocked. Most people in the north were pleased with the goings on of her last visit, and she had almost forgotten that people in Carthak might disagree. "Everything was completely under control. Everything I did was completely intentional." Daine smiled sweetly.
Marianne voiced a murmur that could only convey disagreement. "You meant to completely vandalize the palace, causing the empire years of repair?"
Numair cleared his throat when he saw the look on Daine's face. He wanted to avoid an all out war between the two women. "Particularly nice weather we've been having." He sent a warning glare Daine's way, only causing her to become angrier. She chose to remain silent, and would talk to Numair about this later.
Marianne smiled as if nothing had happened. "Yes. It usually is much more humid this time of year. It's actually quite pleasant."
The rest of the meal was rather uneventful. It seemed that Marianne and Daine had decided not to talk to each other, and both directed the majority of their comments to Numair. When she was finished eating, Daine stood.
"I'm going to leave you two to reacquaint yourselves." She turned to Numair. "I'll see you later, I suppose."
"Goodbye, child," Marianne said dismissively.
"Yes, I'll talk to you later." Numair replied, smiling slightly.
Daine walked out the door and down the corridor, breathing deeply to calm herself. Kitten marched after her, obviously upset at what had happened. The Wildmage headed toward the archery fields, knowing what would rid her of this tension.
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Numair later found Daine at the archery range, talking with the same boys from the banquet the night before. He suppressed feelings of jealousy and walked over to her, putting a protective arm around her shoulders. She smiled up at him, and he noted with satisfaction the angry looks on the young men's faces. He knew exactly what they were thinking. They thought he was too old for her and that he was taking advantage of her. Of course, they assumed that he would be done with her as soon as he had gotten his way with her. Both Daine and Numair knew that this wasn't true, but it didn't stop people from thinking these things.
"I need to talk to you," Numair whispered to Daine once the young men had returned to practicing, each trying to over shine the others. "Can we go back to the room?"
"Sure," was Daine's hushed reply. They bid the boys goodbye and headed back into the palace to their room. Once inside, Daine sat on the bed while Numair continued to stand.
"Your behavior was incredibly rude at breakfast this morning," Numair scolded.
Daine's large eyes widened. "What was I supposed to do? You heard what she was saying to me. It's not like I brought it up."
"I can't imagine what you would have said, had I not stopped you."
"Nothing I said could have been worse than what that—" Daine struggled for a moment for the right word, "pig."
"Daine! Do not say such things of people you barely know!"
Daine rolled her eyes. "Go ahead. Defend her. You didn't defend me this morning when she was insulting me. It's not like she knows me any better than I know her."
"You're obviously impossible to talk to right now." Numair shook his head and smiled slightly, making Daine feel like a misbehaving child.
"Very well then. Since you don't want to be around me, I'll go sleep in the other room Kaddar had for us. Have a nice evening!" Daine gathered the things she would need for the evening and headed out the door in search of Kaddar. Kit trailed after and chirped rudely at Numair, who through the whole ordeal was leaning his tall frame against the wall near the dressing table, amusement clear on his face.
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Daine found Kaddar in the throne room, milling over some papers. When she entered he smiled, but his grin faded when he saw the look on her face and the items in her arms. "What's going on?"
"Is the room you had for me when I got here still empty?" Daine sank into the chair that usually was reserved for Kaddar's advisor. Kaddar smiled briefly, wondering what dear old Rasor would say if he saw her sitting in his chair.
"Of course. Do you want to tell me what happened? You look upset," Kaddar placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Soon the entire story had poured out, and even Daine herself was surprised that she had told everything to the young emperor.
Kaddar voiced his disapproval of Numair's behavior. "He just smiled when you left?"
"Yes. That's the worst part. He made me feel like a child. That's probably all he sees me as. A child. Did you know that he's 14 years older than me? 14!"
"But that's never bothered you before, has it? Why should it bother you now?"
"I don't know. It's all so confusing. I think I'd like to go to bed now; I'm beginning to get a headache." Furrowing her brow, Daine stood and gathered up the possessions that had been set on the table during her conversation with Kaddar. Kaddar rose and insisted on carrying some of her things. Too tired to argue, she complied and followed Kaddar to the room he had shown her the day before.
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I hope you liked it! It's not very long, but I'm just posting it to see how the feedback is to see if I will continue. Please review!
Also, if you like Newsies, it would be really cool if you would go take a look at my story, Fly Me to The Moon. It started out co-written with Mads, but she abandoned me and now it's just me! It's under the pen name Mads and Alex. Please go check it out!
