DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters; they belong to Tamora Pierce (obviously!) and please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors.
This story is basically about Daine (16.5 years) and Numair (30.5 years) going back in time to when Alanna was a squire, after the war with Tusaine. There will be D/N A/J and A/G romance in it. So sit back and enjoy! Reviews are welcomed but not required!
PROLOGUE
"Intriguing!" cried Numair from his workroom. Daine, hearing his muffled cry through his workroom door, stopped unpacking her things and ran to the door. The large apartment was cluttered with things from Daine's recent move. Daine and Numair had only been "together" for a month and a half when Numair had asked Daine to move in with him.
"Numair?" called Daine as she opened the door. Numair turned, slipped on a pebble, and fell backward into the large mirror behind him pulling Daine with him in the process.
"Daine! Are you alright?" Numair asked. Daine nodded and giggled thinking of what just happened. She stood and offered a hand to Numair. When Numair was halfway up Daine suddenly realized that they were no longer in their room and dropped him.
"Ouch!" Numair muttered as he stood up on his own. Daine just stood there looking at the hall that was there instead of their apartment.
"Numair, what did you do?" Daine said, her voice hushed and small.
Numair glanced about then his eyes grew wide as he said in a horrified voice, "I think I got us stuck in the past."
CHAPTER ONE
"What do you mean 'stuck in the past'?" Daine asked Numair as they studied their surroundings.
"Well, I was doing an experiment. I found a spell the other day that told of ways to record your actions using a mirror, and then later you could play them back. As I was doing this experiment, something went wrong. I tried to correct the mistake, but it didn't appear to do anything. I was just about to start over with a new mirror when I noticed that there was a strange image in the mirror. It wasn't a reflection, but a moving image. As I watched I realized that the moving image was of Alanna when she was a squire, and Jon, Gary, Raoul were all there as well, only Jon was still the Prince, and Gary and Raoul were recent knights. When you came in I slipped and hit the mirror, taking you with me. The mirror must be some sort of portal that takes you to whatever part of the past it reveals!" Numair said, in what appeared to be one breath.
Just then a thin, but commanding man walked up to them. He had muddy brown hair and eyes. "Are you two in need of something?"
"Err…Yes. I am Numair Salmalin, a black robed mage from Carthaki University. And this is my… colleague, Veralidaine Sarrasri, a Wildmage. We hail from Tyra and we are supposed to meet the King, but we got turned around. Might you tell us the way?"
"Tyra? The other Tyrans arrived yesterday. They are meeting the King right about now." The man said with a questioning look in his eyes.
"Oh, well we were supposed to arrive with the other Tyrans, but we got held up and got here late last night."
"Well if you hurry you can be introduced to the King with the others. The room is right up the hallway—" the man stopped as a young squire walked by. The youth had red hair and purple eyes. The man changed what he was about to say. "—Squire Alan. Would you escort these two to the King's meeting room where the other Tyrans are." The man directed to the youth. "Squire Alan" nodded.
"Thank you—" Numair began. He knew who this man was, but he didn't want the man to know that, since he was supposed to be from Tyra.
"Duke Gareth the Elder of Naxen." The man replied, understanding why this stranger had stopped.
"—Your Grace." Numair finished. He and Daine both bowed. When Daine looked up at Duke Gareth he was looking at her oddly. She blushed slightly guessing (correctly) it was her clothes that caused this look to come about.
Numair and Daine followed "Squire Alan" silently, not wanting the youth to overhear anything. When they reached the King's meeting room "Squire Alan" spoke for the first time.
"Everyone is being introduced individually, so you can wait out here with the others until it is your turn. You might want to mention something to the herald though." "He" mentioned softly. Numair tossed "him" a coin and the youth bowed and trotted off.
"That was Alanna, wasn't it?" Daine asked Numair quietly.
"Yes, Magelet, I believe it was. But we cannot call her Alanna; we have to call her Alan. I have no idea who might know who she really is at this point and we don't want to blow her cover." Numair replied just as quietly.
"And Numair?"
"Yes?"
"We're from Tyra?"
Numair smiled. "Yes. It was the first thing that came to mind. Besides I originally come from Tyra. We are just tremendously lucky that the Tyrans are here to see the King. But we had better not talk to any other Tyrans or they might realize that we are not from Tyra. We, of course, cannot tell anyone where we are really from unless absolutely necessary, I don't think they would understand." Daine grinned. She had forgotten that Numair was from Tyra. Just then a herald came up to them.
"You aren't on the list." He said frowning.
"We just arrived." Daine commented, noticing the same face appear on the herald that had appeared on Duke Gareth. . She thought, smiling a little to herself.
"Well what are your names and titles, I'll take them down." The herald said sighing.
"I am Numair Salmalin and this is Veralidaine Sarrasri." Numair told the herald waiting while he copied the information down.
"Any titles?"
"Yes. I am a black robed mage."
"From…?"
"Carthaki University."
"And the lady?"
"I am a Wildmage." Daine said, taking over for Numair.
The herald gave her a curious look, and then copied down the new information. Meanwhile the group of people waiting to be introduced had gotten suddenly smaller. The herald rushed up to the door and went inside leaving Daine and Numair alone. They walked up to the door and waited to be called upon.
"Numair who is the King?" Daine asked quickly, for they were to be called upon shortly.
"King Roald and his Queen is Lianne" Numair replied just as quick.
The door was opened and Daine and Numair walked in as a different herald said their names and titles. They walked up to the King and bowed low. The King like everyone else had a puzzled look on his face, but it was soon revealed that the puzzled look was not about Daine's clothes (well-bred manners kept King Roald from revealing his mystification about Daine's clothes).
"A Wildmage?" He asked. "I have not heard of Wildmages before." The informality of the introductions allowed King Roald to ask questions of his guests.
The other Tyrans had apparently left through another door because Daine and Numair had not seen them leave through the door they had entered nor were they in the room with Daine and Numair. The only others in the room besides the King and Queen were two young-ish men both with black hair and blue eyes. Although one man had darker hair and brighter eyes than the other: Daine recognized the man to be Jonathan, Prince Jonathan. The other man was unfamiliar.
Daine realized that she was being addressed, and got a little nervous. While she was comfortable with the royalty of her own time she didn't know what kind of man this King was, although he seemed nice enough.
"My magic is a little different than the Gift." Daine began, a little shaky. She gained courage when she saw the queen smile at her. She went on. "My wild magic allows me to speak with, heal, and shape shift into animals. Your Majesty." Daine looked up at Numair, with eyes that screamed, "help." The faces before Daine still had perplexed looks on them.
Numair cleared his throat. "If I may Your Majesty I might be able to help with this explanation." The King nodded and Daine wished that she had Numair's well-bred courage that allowed him to speak well in front of important people.
"Wild magic is like the Gift because it is magic and it can come in many forms. But it is unlike the Gift in that it is part of the natural world and cannot be drained or done away with. It also has been known to act without the owner's consent. The Bazhir use a type of wild magic to unite their people, the Doi use another to read the future." The King, Queen, Prince, and other man looked slightly less confused after hearing Numair's explanation.
"If you wouldn't mind I would like to see a demonstration." The king told Daine.
"I would be honored to give one, but I would have to give it where there are animals around, Your Majesty." Daine replied, trying not to let her nervousness show. What if she messed up her demonstration?
"Then we will find an area and you both will be summoned when we find a time for this demonstration. Do you have rooms to stay in?" The King asked, directing the question at both of them.
Numair answered it. " No, Your Majesty, we do not. We were just outside Corus when night fell and did not get to the castle until this morning."
"Due to the fact that everyone seems to be visiting at this time we are out of guest rooms. Three guests had to be put up in the pages wing of the castle. But, alas, there are no free rooms left in the pages wing." Prince Jonathan muttered something to his father. They conversed for a moment and then the King turned back to Daine and Numair. "I have just been informed that we have a free room in the squires wing. Since it is in the squires wing it is a double room. Does that suit you both?" The King inquired.
"That will be fine, Your Majesty." Numair answered as Daine and himself bowed.
"And what about your bags?" The King questioned.
Daine began to fidget and Numair took about quick moment to think. They hadn't exactly had time to pack anything before they left. Numair's mind raced until he thought of a suitable answer.
"We do not have bags, Your Majesty. That is part of the reason we are late. Umm…our bags were…stolen when we were camped out on our way. We tried to find them which delayed us for a day, but to no avail." Daine breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the Gods for Numair's quick thinking.
The King frowned. Then spoke, "The palace tailor will be able to give you more clothes later today. As for now, Prince Jonathan," he indicated the young man behind him, "will show you to your rooms."
"Your Majesty is too kind." Numair murmured. Daine and Numair knew a dismissal so they muttered another thanks and bowed as the Prince led them out of the room.
This story is basically about Daine (16.5 years) and Numair (30.5 years) going back in time to when Alanna was a squire, after the war with Tusaine. There will be D/N A/J and A/G romance in it. So sit back and enjoy! Reviews are welcomed but not required!
PROLOGUE
"Intriguing!" cried Numair from his workroom. Daine, hearing his muffled cry through his workroom door, stopped unpacking her things and ran to the door. The large apartment was cluttered with things from Daine's recent move. Daine and Numair had only been "together" for a month and a half when Numair had asked Daine to move in with him.
"Numair?" called Daine as she opened the door. Numair turned, slipped on a pebble, and fell backward into the large mirror behind him pulling Daine with him in the process.
"Daine! Are you alright?" Numair asked. Daine nodded and giggled thinking of what just happened. She stood and offered a hand to Numair. When Numair was halfway up Daine suddenly realized that they were no longer in their room and dropped him.
"Ouch!" Numair muttered as he stood up on his own. Daine just stood there looking at the hall that was there instead of their apartment.
"Numair, what did you do?" Daine said, her voice hushed and small.
Numair glanced about then his eyes grew wide as he said in a horrified voice, "I think I got us stuck in the past."
CHAPTER ONE
"What do you mean 'stuck in the past'?" Daine asked Numair as they studied their surroundings.
"Well, I was doing an experiment. I found a spell the other day that told of ways to record your actions using a mirror, and then later you could play them back. As I was doing this experiment, something went wrong. I tried to correct the mistake, but it didn't appear to do anything. I was just about to start over with a new mirror when I noticed that there was a strange image in the mirror. It wasn't a reflection, but a moving image. As I watched I realized that the moving image was of Alanna when she was a squire, and Jon, Gary, Raoul were all there as well, only Jon was still the Prince, and Gary and Raoul were recent knights. When you came in I slipped and hit the mirror, taking you with me. The mirror must be some sort of portal that takes you to whatever part of the past it reveals!" Numair said, in what appeared to be one breath.
Just then a thin, but commanding man walked up to them. He had muddy brown hair and eyes. "Are you two in need of something?"
"Err…Yes. I am Numair Salmalin, a black robed mage from Carthaki University. And this is my… colleague, Veralidaine Sarrasri, a Wildmage. We hail from Tyra and we are supposed to meet the King, but we got turned around. Might you tell us the way?"
"Tyra? The other Tyrans arrived yesterday. They are meeting the King right about now." The man said with a questioning look in his eyes.
"Oh, well we were supposed to arrive with the other Tyrans, but we got held up and got here late last night."
"Well if you hurry you can be introduced to the King with the others. The room is right up the hallway—" the man stopped as a young squire walked by. The youth had red hair and purple eyes. The man changed what he was about to say. "—Squire Alan. Would you escort these two to the King's meeting room where the other Tyrans are." The man directed to the youth. "Squire Alan" nodded.
"Thank you—" Numair began. He knew who this man was, but he didn't want the man to know that, since he was supposed to be from Tyra.
"Duke Gareth the Elder of Naxen." The man replied, understanding why this stranger had stopped.
"—Your Grace." Numair finished. He and Daine both bowed. When Daine looked up at Duke Gareth he was looking at her oddly. She blushed slightly guessing (correctly) it was her clothes that caused this look to come about.
Numair and Daine followed "Squire Alan" silently, not wanting the youth to overhear anything. When they reached the King's meeting room "Squire Alan" spoke for the first time.
"Everyone is being introduced individually, so you can wait out here with the others until it is your turn. You might want to mention something to the herald though." "He" mentioned softly. Numair tossed "him" a coin and the youth bowed and trotted off.
"That was Alanna, wasn't it?" Daine asked Numair quietly.
"Yes, Magelet, I believe it was. But we cannot call her Alanna; we have to call her Alan. I have no idea who might know who she really is at this point and we don't want to blow her cover." Numair replied just as quietly.
"And Numair?"
"Yes?"
"We're from Tyra?"
Numair smiled. "Yes. It was the first thing that came to mind. Besides I originally come from Tyra. We are just tremendously lucky that the Tyrans are here to see the King. But we had better not talk to any other Tyrans or they might realize that we are not from Tyra. We, of course, cannot tell anyone where we are really from unless absolutely necessary, I don't think they would understand." Daine grinned. She had forgotten that Numair was from Tyra. Just then a herald came up to them.
"You aren't on the list." He said frowning.
"We just arrived." Daine commented, noticing the same face appear on the herald that had appeared on Duke Gareth. . She thought, smiling a little to herself.
"Well what are your names and titles, I'll take them down." The herald said sighing.
"I am Numair Salmalin and this is Veralidaine Sarrasri." Numair told the herald waiting while he copied the information down.
"Any titles?"
"Yes. I am a black robed mage."
"From…?"
"Carthaki University."
"And the lady?"
"I am a Wildmage." Daine said, taking over for Numair.
The herald gave her a curious look, and then copied down the new information. Meanwhile the group of people waiting to be introduced had gotten suddenly smaller. The herald rushed up to the door and went inside leaving Daine and Numair alone. They walked up to the door and waited to be called upon.
"Numair who is the King?" Daine asked quickly, for they were to be called upon shortly.
"King Roald and his Queen is Lianne" Numair replied just as quick.
The door was opened and Daine and Numair walked in as a different herald said their names and titles. They walked up to the King and bowed low. The King like everyone else had a puzzled look on his face, but it was soon revealed that the puzzled look was not about Daine's clothes (well-bred manners kept King Roald from revealing his mystification about Daine's clothes).
"A Wildmage?" He asked. "I have not heard of Wildmages before." The informality of the introductions allowed King Roald to ask questions of his guests.
The other Tyrans had apparently left through another door because Daine and Numair had not seen them leave through the door they had entered nor were they in the room with Daine and Numair. The only others in the room besides the King and Queen were two young-ish men both with black hair and blue eyes. Although one man had darker hair and brighter eyes than the other: Daine recognized the man to be Jonathan, Prince Jonathan. The other man was unfamiliar.
Daine realized that she was being addressed, and got a little nervous. While she was comfortable with the royalty of her own time she didn't know what kind of man this King was, although he seemed nice enough.
"My magic is a little different than the Gift." Daine began, a little shaky. She gained courage when she saw the queen smile at her. She went on. "My wild magic allows me to speak with, heal, and shape shift into animals. Your Majesty." Daine looked up at Numair, with eyes that screamed, "help." The faces before Daine still had perplexed looks on them.
Numair cleared his throat. "If I may Your Majesty I might be able to help with this explanation." The King nodded and Daine wished that she had Numair's well-bred courage that allowed him to speak well in front of important people.
"Wild magic is like the Gift because it is magic and it can come in many forms. But it is unlike the Gift in that it is part of the natural world and cannot be drained or done away with. It also has been known to act without the owner's consent. The Bazhir use a type of wild magic to unite their people, the Doi use another to read the future." The King, Queen, Prince, and other man looked slightly less confused after hearing Numair's explanation.
"If you wouldn't mind I would like to see a demonstration." The king told Daine.
"I would be honored to give one, but I would have to give it where there are animals around, Your Majesty." Daine replied, trying not to let her nervousness show. What if she messed up her demonstration?
"Then we will find an area and you both will be summoned when we find a time for this demonstration. Do you have rooms to stay in?" The King asked, directing the question at both of them.
Numair answered it. " No, Your Majesty, we do not. We were just outside Corus when night fell and did not get to the castle until this morning."
"Due to the fact that everyone seems to be visiting at this time we are out of guest rooms. Three guests had to be put up in the pages wing of the castle. But, alas, there are no free rooms left in the pages wing." Prince Jonathan muttered something to his father. They conversed for a moment and then the King turned back to Daine and Numair. "I have just been informed that we have a free room in the squires wing. Since it is in the squires wing it is a double room. Does that suit you both?" The King inquired.
"That will be fine, Your Majesty." Numair answered as Daine and himself bowed.
"And what about your bags?" The King questioned.
Daine began to fidget and Numair took about quick moment to think. They hadn't exactly had time to pack anything before they left. Numair's mind raced until he thought of a suitable answer.
"We do not have bags, Your Majesty. That is part of the reason we are late. Umm…our bags were…stolen when we were camped out on our way. We tried to find them which delayed us for a day, but to no avail." Daine breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the Gods for Numair's quick thinking.
The King frowned. Then spoke, "The palace tailor will be able to give you more clothes later today. As for now, Prince Jonathan," he indicated the young man behind him, "will show you to your rooms."
"Your Majesty is too kind." Numair murmured. Daine and Numair knew a dismissal so they muttered another thanks and bowed as the Prince led them out of the room.