-Well,- Silver remarked, -that is a very good question.-
"Indeed," Lise agreed, "but before you answer it, consider a few of mine." She continued as the three gods gave her their attention. "Are the immortals involved this time?"
-Ozorne's armies comprise immortals – you know the hurroks and killer unicorns well,- Silver remarked. –Spidrens, too. But the main armies are currently concealed in a camp in the northernmost part of Scanra, and you will only run into smaller parties on your way back to Tortall.-
"What about ours?" Lise pressed.
The badger sniffed. –There are some who wish to help us, and some who wish not to be involved in what could destroy their Realms also. Mithros won't allow their involvement, for the time being.-
"Then aren't we at a disadvantage?" Daine exclaimed.
-Yes,- Broad Foot admitted, -but they haven't attacked yet, so we are still safe.-
Safe, Daine thought, but for how long? "I think we should get some sleep," she said out loud. "It sounds as if we'll have to travel, and I don't know about any of you, but I'm too exhausted to do anything else but close my eyes."
Lise nodded agreement. "Do you three need to sleep?" she asked the gods.
-Not particularly,- Silver said quietly, -but we wouldn't mind.-
Daine nodded. Wearily, she waved a hand and created two human-sized straw pallets and three smaller ones. She thought a while, and, for lack of remembrance of what she could make mattresses out of, made two cotton sacks stuffed to the very seams with down. She fashioned pillows from two smaller versions of the mattresses, and two thick blankets from stretched out, thinner versions. "What would you three like to sleep on?" she asked finally.
-Straw is fine for all of us,- Silver assured her. –Good night, then.-
Daine crawled underneath her blanket, rolling herself up, and was fast asleep before she'd heard any of the others bid her a good night.
.::.
The ominous silence was broken by a quiet creaking of a door and an indignant, though quiet, piercing whistle.
"What the hell," Numair mumbled. He looked up, his bloodshot eyes clearly showing his lack of sleep. It was sometime in the middle of the night, the moon having risen to her zenith and shining benevolently upon the earth. The mage was sitting on the bed in he and Daine's shared Carthaki suite, cross-legged and thinking sombre thoughts as a single candle burned lower and lower on the table beside him. He blinked, focussing on a small shape on the ground that was scampering towards him.
"Oh," he said vaguely as it dawned on him, "it's you, Kit."
The dragonet chirped distastefully, as if looking down on the way he'd failed to recognize her at first sight. She leapt up on the bed and climbed into Numair's lap, placing one gentle forepaw on his right temple. The mage's eyes widened as his mind cleared and his thoughts sorted themselves out, as if he'd slept for two days and returned to this point in time.
"Did I know you could do that?" he asked Kitten, who shook her head and lowered herself to curl up next to Numair's chest. After a few moments, he noticed that her ear was pressed against his heart, and he wondered at this gesture.
"Did you want something?" he asked cautiously.
Kitten looked up at him and trilled enthusiastically, first loudly, then softer, as if she'd remembered that people were sleeping and she couldn't wake them up. She resorted to humming and nodding very fast.
Numair sighed. "Kit, I can't understand you, but you can understand me, so we're going to play a guessing game, alright?" The dragon resignedly sank lower on his leg. "Alright," Numair began, "so can you tell me at all what it has to do with?"
The dragon rose up on her haunches and blew spitefully in his face. She rolled her eyes, as if she were refraining from stating the obvious only because she couldn't speak. When Numair showed no sign of comprehension, she stamped on his knee impatiently and then winced. Kitten stared right into Numair's eyes, snorted basely, and pressed her snout against his lips, shocking the mage, who drew back immediately.
"You kissed me?" he asked incredulously. "What was that for?"
Kitten's scales turned a slight tinge of red as she pranced off his lap and stood on the bed a foot away from Numair. She rose on her haunches again and clasped her forepaws together, then made her eyes as big as she could, looking pointedly at him.
Numair shook his head. "Sorry, Kit, I really don't understand you. I'm not Daine," he added, and once more the jolt of not being with her hit him squarely in the face.
The dragonet, however, was excitedly batting his face with her forepaws, whistling.
"Daine?" Numair asked. "Was that it?"
Kitten nodded, then leapt off the bed into the darkness, returning a few seconds later with a large scroll balanced awkwardly on one paw and loping without its use. She couldn't jump up, so Numair leaned down and picked the scroll from her, allowing her to bound. He couldn't read the title in the fading light, and thus gestured at the candle stub, making it grow to its original height to burn with a bright flame. Squinting, he read the bold words: The Capabilities and Magical Potentials of the Dragon.
"Mithros, Mynoss, and Shakith," Numair breathed at his own stupidity. "I must be the biggest, most bloody thick-headed idiot in all the Realms. Kit," he said, addressing the dragon, "I suppose you mean the third section, clause forty-two?" She nodded, rolling her eyes.
"Dragons can go whithersoever they wish, should it please them and only them alone," Numair murmured. "You can go to Daine, can't you?"
Kitten chirped, then dove under the sheets, curling up. She jabbed at one of the pillows with her tail, then closed her eyes.
"You'll go tomorrow, won't you?" Numair asked. "When she's awake. I understand now," he said, smiling. "Kit, you're an angel."
The dragonet opened her eyes and sniffed, her scales going slightly pink. She trilled softly, and settled herself into slumber. Numair grinned, the first real feeling of happiness coursing through his veins that he'd felt in a while. He slid under the covers and closed his eyes, suddenly tired again. He fell asleep wondering if Kitten had reversed his condition, and dreamt of a pair of blue-grey eyes.
.::.
HuntressDiana: Thanks! And yeah I kinda forgot about ff.n for a while . . . :P
CrAzYhOrSeGiRl88: Thank you :D You'll probably have to wait for the putting back together thing though :P
Martini: I AM!! LoL yeah I'm baaaack :P
kitten55: Liar, but thanks for saying so! LoL :P Yeah I love em :D Everyone who loves Daine and Numair honk! :: honnnnkkkkkk ::
Eyrnwen: Yeah I have written stories of my own; maybe when I read them again I'll do some uploading on fictionpress.net (: Thanks!
eunhye: Thanks (: and nopez I'm not dead yet hehe :P
Short chapter, but yeah, it's finals time for me and I failed math :P Anyway hope you liked that, and come on review, it's your hidden inhibition! (:
