[Authors Note: Yeah! I'm baaaack! What is up with the sorry author alert
thing, now?? GRR, very annoying. Can you tell I've been gone for awhile? LOL.
Anywho, here is chapter 8. I had originally planned on taking it farther, but
since it has taken me so long, I cut it off for yall. Hope its okay! Thanks for
the reviews yall, your great!!
**Disclaimer - Numair, Daine, Alanna, King Jon, and all the other characters
EXCEPT my cutie patootie Ioka and his brother, and his brothers family, are
Tamora Pierces. Also the wonderful land of Tortall and surrounding world. I have
no claim to them! Just like borrowin 'em, ^_~
Email: Mstryhrs02@aol.com Website:
http://frontpage.tripod.com/mysteryhorsesregion *NEW WEBSITE!* Archives: If
you'd like to add my ongoing story, please just ask and you shall receive!]
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And
How?
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"Oh, Numair... Rise and shine!" Daine
said in her loves ear and leaned down to give him a thorough waking up kiss.
She was fully dressed and prepared to
walk out the door. Numair was still in bed snoring. She had already woken him up
once when she had gotten out of bed, and yet there he was still.
The kiss seemed to have worked though,
as Daine felt his lips beginning to move against hers and a large hand came up
to pull her closer, almost making her fall on top of him.
"Mmph! Numair, we don't have time to
lounge around." she said around his kisses. As much as she was enjoying it, she
had to get him up and dressed before they were called by the emperor. Today was
the main reason they had come to Carthak. To get a pair of tigers who would be
suitable for the menagerie.
The mage released Daine with a sigh
followed by a yawn. Long legs brought the sheets alive and she laughed quietly.
"Numair, stretch your legs all the way out."
He looked at her suspiciously with
sleepy eyes. "Why?"
She gave him a look and he reluctantly
obeyed. "Thought so. Your legs don't fit on the bed! How did you manage to sleep
on it the night before and last night?"
He shrugged. "I've gotten used to such
things, I suppose. It's rare to find a bed as comfortable as I would like.
Though, the one in my room is long enough."
She nodded. "We can move in there
tonight, this bed is sort of small for the two of us, anyway." She slapped his
stomach. "Up, master mage! We've got lots to do today. Frankly, I'm surprised we
haven't been summoned yet."
He groaned and finally rose and began
putting himself together. They were out of Daine's room in a reasonable amount
of time and looked around for any directions as to what exactly they would be
doing.
"How do you think it will go, Numair?"
Daine asked softly at they sat on a bench in the inner courtyard. Numair set his
elbows on his knees and looked thoughtful. "I really don't know, magelet, all we
can do is hope for the best. We may not even find anything suitable today." his
face darkened. "Mithros. I wish I could have done something to have stopped all
this."
Daine shook her head. "You know there
was nothing else you could do. And there's no point dwelling on it, gods know
I have enough." Kit whistled, an alert to the distant approach of a
certain slave with a certain peculiar gait.
Ioka, Daine thought with a
slight smile. She always enjoyed time with the man, though she had only met him
a few days ago. He was interesting in a way she had thought only Numair could
be. They were both very much alike, surprisingly enough. Maybe this was
the reason they got on each others nerves so easily.
"Good morning, Ioka!" he almost smiled
at her exuberance, and nodded with a bow. "Are my lord and lady prepared to
leave?"
Numair answered shortly as they rose
from the bench. "Quite."
The three made their way through any
number of courtyards and gardens before finally reaching their destination.
Though the may have had to move the palace, things were still as beautiful and
ornate as before.
As they approached a building Daine recognized it as the stable where they
had gotten horses the first time in Carthak. But this she knew from the
appearance of the building, and not the usual way she knew such things; by
sensing the animals inside.
Numair grimaced. Daine patted his back
sympathetically, knowing he was not relishing the thought of a horseback ride
and wishing for his reliable mount back in Tortall. She couldn't even request
that his horse he was given here be easy on the inadept
mage.
"Do you want me to have Kitten speak
to it?" she whispered as they came into the large courtyard and saw four horses
tacked up and waiting patiently.
He shook his head. "I'd rather you
not. Who knows what she might convey. I think she's still mad at me for
thwarting all of her runaway attempts. You say slow, Kit says bolt." Daine
chuckled and squeezed his hand.
The emperor's arrival was hard to
miss, just as it had been the day before when he took the couple out to see a
some sights of Carthak. He was preceded by a company of 4 soldiers, with two
bodyguards on either side of him, and two more guards in the rear. Daine shook
her head inwardly. Things had become dangerous for the emperor of Carthak. Even
more so than before.
Daine looked to the side at the sound
of loud clattering ringing out. Four grooms came jogging around the corner with
eight fully saddled horses in tow, weapons banging and clanging from both sides
of each. Numair muttered something under his breath and Daine sighed. They had
both hoped for a smaller contingent on this trip.
"Numair, Daine! Are you both ready?
Shall we saddle up?" Emperor Kaddar, dressed considerably down in fine breeches,
shirt and tunic, looked at Daine anxiously and she smiled. The wildmage
was ready to go. Ready to find a willing pair of tigers, regain her
wild magic and be on her way home to pick her life back up.
Grooms pointed out mounts, adjusted
tack, and soon all twelve riders and horses were off down a quiet street that
lead to the outskirts of the palace and on to a type of holding pen that had
been arranged to keep pairs of tigers.
Daine glanced behind her and got a
smile from her mage. He had been assigned a smooth moving, big horse,
not just leggy, but big. Daine knew it had to have more than a little charger
blood, and wondered how Carthakian's could have come across such an animal. They
were not much suited to the hot weather of the desert, nor had they the stamina
needed to slog through deep sand for any great length of time.
Whatever the reason, Daine was happy
to see Numair easily managing the gentle giant.
She had been placed on a slight boned,
light colored chestnut stallion. She had been surprised to find out his gender,
as his temperament suggested that of a docile gelding. She was enjoying him
thoroughly thus far, a help to keep her mind of the coming events. Kitten had
her own seat in a large saddlebag at the shoulder of Numair's horse. She would
have been too much for Daine's chestnut to carry.
The surroundings began to change, and
did so abruptly as they trotted out of one of the palaces side gates. A few
yards away from the walls and it ceased to be manicured and kept under control.
Scrub and sand were predominant.
The party slowed to a mild walk and
Daine urged her stallion up next to Ioka, who was the closest person that might
have any useful information.
"Ioka, how far will we be
riding?"
He glanced up at her from the orange
he was peeling. "Not far, for thirty minutes perhaps?" She nodded and tightened
her reins to fall back to Numair's side. But Ioka held out a slice of orange to
her. "Would you like to try some?"
She was startled at his unexpected
offer, but took the proffered slice. She was glad she had when the cool, sweet
juice ran down her already dry throat. She looked at him in amazement. "That was
delicious, I've not had better at the king's table."
He nodded. "My niece is an excellent
judge of such things."
"Niece? You have a niece?" Daine was
ashamed at the amount surprise in her voice. Why shouldn't he have a niece! It
was just...she thought slaves were usually family-less.
"Ah, yes, I do. She is as beautiful as
a flower newly rained upon after the dry season. And as sweet as that fruit you
just tasted. But also as willful as the emperor's mare up ahead." He jerked his
chin in the direction.
And as if to validate his words the
mare in question flung her head up and down several times, bit and bridle
jingling. Daine laughed. "I should like to meet this girl. But, I
thought-"
"You thought slaves all lived
together. You thought right, my lady Veralidaine-"
"Daine, please. Veralidaine is too
much of a mouthful."
Ioka nodded amiably. "I agree. To
finish what I was saying; the slaves do live together, all but I. The emperor
granted that I be able to stay with my brother and his family on the servants
plots. A grant which I am daily thankful for."
Daine could imagine. But, why couldn't
Kaddar just release Ioka from slave station to that of a servant?
Daine thanked Ioka for the orange and
let Numair catch up with her. He was speaking into a sparkling black globe that
levitated on the palm of his hand. The man looked up briefly with a small smile
at her appearance before resuming his report. Undoubtedly to King Jonathan. She
was glad to see him so comfortable on his mount as to use a spell aboard him.
Spots hated to have magic worked on him. The large horse Numair was astride now
was lazily flicking flies and following the horse in front of him with no mind
to the strange things being worked on his back. Maybe that's why they have
this horse, for the visiting mages, Daine thought with amusement.
Numair closed his hand, causing the
ball to disappear, and placed both hands back on the reins.
"Good or bad talk?" she asked
him.
"Neutral." was the response. She
smiled, neutral was always better than bad. He continued. "But things are fine
back in Tortall. Alanna, is fine." he said, knowing she was about to
ask. Daine nodded in relief. She hadn't been able to shake a bad feeling about
Alanna ever since they had parted that day when she heard Numair's strange
premonition concerning the Lioness. "Jon says Onua had some surprising news.
Seems Cloud has joined the Riders at the summer camp and is willingly
ferrying officers around."
"The Riders? But, they had already
left, hadn't they? She didn't...I'm going to skin her!"
"Daine, it wasn't far, besides she
went with a supply train, it wasn't like she was strolling through the woods
alone."
Daine tried to calm down and listen.
He was right. It was just...Cloud wasn't a young filly anymore, she wasn't even
a mare, she was an older mare. Daine knew her connection with the pony
had a lot to do with Cloud's prolonged energy and lifetime, but how long could
it last?
Numair gave her a comforting look.
Just then the emperor's head bodyguard called for a halt. Daine glanced around
and saw a large tent in the distance. Metal glinted with the fierce sun, and she
knew those flashes of light must be where the tigers
awaited.
"Here goes nothing," she muttered.
Emperor Kaddar asked Numair and her to come up along side him as they made their
way across the shifting sand to tent and cages.
On the tent, chimes made sweet music
in the soft desert wind. A bear of a man with a long black beard came out of the
tent bowing and consulted with the emperor. They turned to the
Tortallans.
"This is Yazu, Master Numair, Lady
Veralidaine. He is the man who helped capture all these pairs of tigers.
Hopefully we will find one you can bring back north with you."
The large man bowed to each of the
guests. "It is my pleasure, nobility's. I have found the best of all the lands
of Carthak for you to see. I assure you you will find something to your liking.
And do not worry, we will not have such a, a, accident, as happened in
your country."
Numair raised a dark brow and was
about to open his mouth to say the gods know what, before Daine nudged
her stallion close to his gelding, causing the other horse to back away and
Numair clutching to regain his shaky balance.
Yazu smirked and gestured that they
dismount and follow him to the cages.
Ioka came quickly to her side, his
gray desert mare in tow. He seemed to think she would need assistance in getting
down from her stallion's saddle. Daine laughed inwardly but allowed him to take
her hands. She glanced behind her to make sure Numair had regained control of
his horse and then her hands met with the man's below
her.
And Daine felt like she were being
swallowed into a black hole. But there were voices...
"Stupid man, does he think we have
no brains at all? Pya, we've weakened this point of the fence suitably, it will
fall easily."
"What will we do against all those
humans coming towards us? Tuzak, the tall man smells of magic, you know what
that can mean. I say we wait!
"Silence! You are not in
ch-"
And Daine was unable to hear more. She
jerked awake to find herself laying on the hot sand and squinting up into three
very worried faces. Numair was muttering something about healing magic but he
was cursing so much she couldn't make out the actual words. She'd have to talk
to him about his word choice later.
Ioka was staying far from her, yet she
could see the apprehension and concern in his dark eyes. Kaddar was holding one
of her hands tightly and shading her face with a fan.
She coughed to alert them to her
consciousness and they all jumped.
"Daine! Daine, what happened, how do
you feel?" Numair said touching her forehead and brushing the sand from her
hair.
"I don't know. Numair, I-I heard
someone talking..."
His dark brows shot down and he looked
at her hard. "You heard speaking? Who?"
"I'm not sure, I can't even remember
the strange names, but they were talking about breaking out of a fence..." Daine
searched everything she knew about magic. She knew this had been no natural
occurrence, but what was the reason for such strange magic to have happened to
her?
"Daine, when did it happen? I was too
busy trying to get the dratted horse to stand still that I didn't see anything.
Ioka here started shouting and I saw him pull you from your
saddle."
Daine sat up and with Numair's help
regained her feet. Kaddar gave her his waterskin and she felt better after she
took a few sips.
"Ioka," she nodded to the man who was
fidgeting over where he held the horses. "was going to help me off my stallion
and I took his hands....and felt like I was falling-"
Numair squinted at her and then threw
a look to Ioka. He had a thoughtful air, and rubbed the side of his nose.
Oh, no, here we go... thought Daine dryly.
"Ioka, my man, would you please come
here?" Numair asked. The man looked to his emperor and Kaddar
nodded.
"What do you think happened, Numair?
Are you sure your okay, Daine?" Kaddar asked.
She smiled at him weakly. "I'm fine,
truly. Just a little shaken up, as I've right I suppose."
Ioka was approaching the mage and
Numair asked him something Daine couldn't hear. The slave thought a moment
before nodding. Numair closed his eyes. Ioka watched him with a curiously raised
eyebrow.
Yazul came up at this, "Your Imperial
Majesty, what is the hold up? These tigers can be held only so long before we
must let them go."
Daine left Kaddar to deal with the
testy tiger-keeper and went to stand beside her teacher and love. She smiled at
Ioka reassuringly and he nodded at her.
Numair opened his eyes and looked at
Ioka with surprise obvious on his swarthy, and very sweaty, face. He then
favored her with a glance before looking back to the
slave.
"Ioka, have you, were you ever tested
for magical ability?"
The man nodded slowly. "Yes, I was. It
was a negative result.
"Of course, they wouldn't know what to
look for, I am basically the only mage barring Lindhall who knows anything on
this subject..." Numair muttered to himself for a moment before Daine finally
shook his arm. "Numair, what happened to me? Does Ioka have something
to do with it?
He looked at her. "Sorry, magelet. You
know-"
"I know you," she said before he could
finish.
He smiled slightly at her. "Ioka here,
has the slightest bit of wild magic. I didn't see it before because one, I
wasn't looking, and two, it's not a large enough quantity to warrant any kind of
notice." he frowned. "But something reacted with your wildmagic, Daine, and with
a very strange effect..."
He looked at them both and settled on
Ioka. "Would you mind touching Daine again?"
"If it will help the Lady Daine, of
course not."
Numair nodded at Ioka's outstretched
hand. "Daine?"
The wildmage stretched forth her own
hand and watched as it were enveloped in Ioka's dark, callused hardened palm.
Numair had moved behind her to make sure she didn't fall a second
time.
The falling sensation was absent this
time, but Daine still felt a strange pull and overall
nervousness.
"Striker, leave me be, you
overgrown colt."
"Please! I can't reach and you
have access to places I can't get to!"
A sigh. "Oh, all right, get over
here. I still don't forgive you for knocking into me
earlier."
"That wasn't my
fault!"
Daine startled to awareness again. The
horses. She had heard the horses!
Daine dropped Ioka's hand. She whirled
around, jumped, and grabbed Numair around the neck laughing and crying at the
same time. He staggered backwards to keep their balance and started asking
questions even as he laughed himself at her jubilation.
It was like coming home. Hearing the
voices in her head again that were so different from humans...she had missed the
People so much.
"I heard the horses, Numair! I-I could
hear the animals again..." he laughed and kissed her soundly before depositing
her back on the sand. "So I gathered, my magelet. And so, something reacts with
Ioka's wild magic...allowing you to hear animals through him. Yet, he
cannot hear animals himself... This is very, very strange." he gained a far-off
look in his eyes, no doubt his mind running twice as fast trying to figure out
all the implications of this latest occurance.
Daine smiled, she knew with Numair on the job, it wouldn't be strange for
very long. He wouldn't stand for it.
She looked over to Ioka, who was still behaving awfully nervously, and gave
him a reassuring smile. And for once, his dark face didn't just try to
smile, it did. And what a beautiful smile it was. Made even more so
because she knew he could be the help she needed to regain her wildmagic and all
that she held dear. She sighed, grabbing an distracted Numair's hand and hugging
it to her side. Things were definitely looking up.
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