A/N: Here's the next chapter! Just to answer a few questions, this is going to be a pretty short fic, no more than 4 or 5 chapters.....Like I said before, its my attempt of throwing you for a loop, so try your very best not to yell at me, though I know that's sometimes hard....actually its hard all the time, buy hey, that's not the point....The point is...actually there isn't a point, so just don't yell and curse and flame me! ^_^
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Numair awoke to find himself lying under a large, shady oak tree in the woods. He had the worst head ache he'd ever had in his entire life, and he had no idea why. His body ached all over, almost as if he'd been trampled by a string of horses. He groaned as he pulled himself up to lean against the tree's trunk. It wasn't until this very moment that memory flooded back to him. The bandits, Raoul, the Riders, it all came back in a flash. Numair shook his head from the sudden impact of flash backs.
Most clearly of all, Numair remembered a rather strange scene. It was of himself riding Spots at a fast pace through the woods, chasing an escaping bandit. He had left Raoul and the Own behind long ago. It was now him and the bandit, riding solo through the woods, or so he thought. It wasn't long before he noticed the group of ten or so bandits riding up behind him and firing arrows at him from behind. Their first shots missed the target, but the second time Numair was not so lucky. One of the bandits near the back of the line hit him with deadly accuracy.
Numair watched as in his memory he cried out in pain, swaying to the left and to the right until he finally lost all balance and fell off of Spots and to the ground. His body hit the ground with a sickening thud, bones breaking as he went. It wasn't more than an eye blink's time before the bandit's horses had trampled him into a gory mess. It was then that Numair snapped back to reality.
He was surprised at his own imagination. That couldn't have been a true memory! It just couldn't, could it? In that memory, he had been shot and trampled until he was a gory, unrecognizable mess! He was clearly unharmed where he now sat, not a scratch on him. Besides, if that had been a true memory, he would be dead. There was no way, not even by a gift from the gods that any man could survive such an ordeal! A single horse weighed well over two thousand pounds, while he only weighed a mere one hundred and sixty-five. Being trampled by over ten horses would surely kill him!
Rising, and laughing at his own ridiculous mind for even thinking there was a possibility that that was not a dream, Numair decided to head for Corus and home. There was no need for him to stay any longer, order from the king or no. From the looks of things nearby, there were no bandits, and for that matter, no sign of Raoul in the own. They had likely left without him while he slept. It was his own fault, and it would likely make Daine even more vexed with him, if that was even possible. He could only imagine her reaction after his company returned from a trip she did not by any means want him to go on, and he wasn't with them! He shuddered at the thought of what would happen when he told her he had fallen asleep and been left behind!
Quickly, he scanned the clearing for his reliable old gelding. Upon finding the horse, he drug himself over to Spots and mounted with absolutely no grace. He never had grace when it came to riding, so this bothered neither Numair, nor Spots.
Once mounted, he rode off through the woods, trying to relocate the path. This took well over and hour, for he could not use his Gift to aid him. He had been drained upon awakening for some reason. It puzzled him, but he didn't have time to think about it just now. If he hurried, he might still be able to catch up with the Own and thus not upset his love.
Kicking Spots into going as fast as he could, Numair raced down the path, stirring up dust as he went. Storm clouds were forming rapidly overhead, making him worry about how this would affect his speed. Rain was not something he wanted when he was traveling alone with no supplies or shelter. A loud crack of thunder boomed over head, followed by a flash of lightning. Numair knew it was only a matter of time before a storm was upon him. He didn't care though, for he was in a hurry.
His journey back to Corus took him two days, much to his dismay. The storm had slowed him down a great deal. It still went on as if it were new, making Numair wondering how long it would last. His trip hadn't been a pleasurable one. He had stopped only twice to camp, but not once to eat, for he had no food. Rain had poured down on him the whole time, making him cold, wet, and annoyed. By the time he reached the palace, he was feeling rather cranky.
Numair rode Spots up to the stable and dismounted. He found the stable boy sleeping on a pile of hay near the stable door. Sighing, Numair coughed politely in an attempt to awaken the boy. He did not stir, or show any signs of a disturbance. This made Numair even more annoyed. If not for the loud boom of thunder that occurred, he probably would have done something drastic that neither he nor the stable boy would like. As soon as the thunder sounded, the boy jumped to his feet with a start, looking frantically around him and sighing in relief when he found it was just thunder. he showed no sign of noticing Numair, who stood right in front of him, Spot's reigns in hand.
"Ahem" Numair cleared his throat politely. "Excuse me?" he asked, tempted to reach out and shake the stable boy by the shoulders, but deciding against it. When the stable boy refused to acknowledge him, Numair sighed angrily and threw his hands into the air. "Be assured, I'm going to have a word with Jon about his choice of employees!" He muttered angrily, taking Spot's reigns and going to put him away himself.
Once he had Spots in his stall, Numair hastily unsaddled the horse, throwing the saddle and blanket on clumsily on its rack and tossing the bridle against the wall, not really caring if it landed on the nail or not. All he cared about was going up to his room that he shared with Daine, and making up with her. He would tell her he was wrong and she was right, for he saw that now.
Trudging through the palace halls, soaking wet with muddy boots, Numair made it to his rooms. He stood outside the door for a moment, admiring the name of his love written on the name plate. -Soon it will read 'Numair and Veralidaine Salmalin'- he thought, cheering himself up a bit.
Without knocking, for it was after all his room too, he turned the brass door knob, letting himself in. He found that everything was just as he had left it. There was a fire burning in the fire place, papers scattered on his desk, the door to his workroom slightly ajar. Yes, everything was just as he'd left it. All except for Daine. Where was she? She was after all, the reason he had rushed home in such a frenzy. Hadn't he the right to see her immediately upon walking in? She must surely still be vexed with him then, if she wasn't waiting expectantly for him.
"Daine?" he called out, almost fearfully, for he was scared of what he might find when he reached her. He always hated fighting with her; it broke his heart. "Dearest, I'm back!" There was no answer to either call. He paused briefly, knowing that she was in here and wondering why she hadn't heard him. Then it hit him. Perhaps she had heard him, but she didn't care.
He walked across the room in a few short strides and stopped at the bed chamber door. It was closed, but he was sure she was in there. He reached out to turn the bass knob, but to his dismay, he found it to be locked. "Oh, for Mithros sake!" he cursed, but immediately corrected himself. Losing his temper wouldn't get him anywhere he wanted to go.
Taking a breath to regain his calmness and swallowing hard, Numair reached out a hand and gently knocked on the door. "Daine, please open the door," he said calmly, but pleadingly. It had no affect what so ever. Sighing, he knocked again. "Daine, we really need to talk this out, so please come out or let me in!" This time, his voice held more urgency as he fought to keep calm.
No noise came from inside the room. Numair slumped down to the floor, and leaned his lanky form against the wall beside the bed chamber door. "Magelet, please don't do this to me. I'm sorry for leaving you when you didn't want me to, but I can't refuse an order from the king!" By now, it seemed to Numair that he was having a one way conversation. He decided to sit and wait for a minute or two. That minute or two turned into an hour, and that hour turned into several hours. Before he knew it, the midnight bell was ringing and he was fighting off sleep. It seemed his love would not be willing to open the door any time soon. He would just have to wait until morning, for she would have to come out some time.
Sighing in frustration, He lifted himself up off of the hard wood floor, stretching as he did. His legs had gotten cramped from having sat in the same position for so long. Determined to have one last attempt before retiring to the couch, Numair approached the bed chamber door one last time. He lifted out a hand and knocked softly on the door and said with a tone to match it, "I know it doesn't mean much to you right now, Magelet, but I'm sorry, and I love you. Sleep well, love," he said, voice soft and filled with care. He knew this fight was his own fault, and he was prepared to take the consequences.
Stepping away from the door, he sighed for what seemed to be the umpteenth time that night and headed across the main living room and over to the couch. He threw his tired body down on it, stretching out his long legs. The couch was rather hard, not at all like a bed, not to mention it wasn't nearly long enough for him. This was going to be an uncomfortable night, but it was still better than sleeping on the muddy ground with rain pouring down on you as he had been for two days straight.
Yawning, Numair did his best to rid his mind of his fight with Daine. He found this to be a rather difficult task, no matter how many wonderful memories with her he could think of. If truth be told, he loved her more than life itself. He hated fighting with her, for it broke his heart into pieces. They had fought before, many times in fact, but it had never been like this. It had always ended up with both not being able to stand fighting anymore. They would kiss and make up and everything would be normal again. It was just like any other couple.
Just as Numair began drifting off to sleep, he was aroused by the sound of crying. It sounded close, like he could reach out and touch the one who cried. Upon sitting up and cupping his ear with his hand to better hear, Numair realized that the crying was coming from the bed chamber he shared with Daine, who was currently barricaded inside. He felt his heart split at the sound of her crying. He longed to go to her, to take her in his arms and tell her without words that he was sorry and that he wanted to make everything all right. He could do none of this though. She had locked the door, and though he could easily spell it open, he knew that would be wrong. If she wanted to talk to him, she would open it herself. He wasn't going to force her.
Soon, her cries turned to sobs. Numair's heart now felt as if it had been crushed into a fine powder. Oh how he wanted to reach her! He kept reminding himself that perhaps things would be better in the morning. They could talk then and work things out. Her sobs haunted him now, and he knew he would have a terrible time trying to sleep whilst he heard them. He prayed to every god and goddess he could name, and he could name quite a few, that she could find it in her heart to forgive him. He couldn't take it if things were over between them. Life without Daine wasn't worth living as far as Numair was concerned. He just wanted things to be back to normal.
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A/N: I know, I know, sad...You're very right in thinking that, I don't disagree with you for a moment. But hey, since when is there a rule that says no sad fics? I promise I'll work things out in my own way and in my own time.....Also, I'm very much aware that I need to update Gallan Return. I promise I will soon! I just got this idea in my head, and I decided to go for it. This won't be long, and I promise I'll update Gallan Return ASAP!!! R/R!!! ^_^
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Numair awoke to find himself lying under a large, shady oak tree in the woods. He had the worst head ache he'd ever had in his entire life, and he had no idea why. His body ached all over, almost as if he'd been trampled by a string of horses. He groaned as he pulled himself up to lean against the tree's trunk. It wasn't until this very moment that memory flooded back to him. The bandits, Raoul, the Riders, it all came back in a flash. Numair shook his head from the sudden impact of flash backs.
Most clearly of all, Numair remembered a rather strange scene. It was of himself riding Spots at a fast pace through the woods, chasing an escaping bandit. He had left Raoul and the Own behind long ago. It was now him and the bandit, riding solo through the woods, or so he thought. It wasn't long before he noticed the group of ten or so bandits riding up behind him and firing arrows at him from behind. Their first shots missed the target, but the second time Numair was not so lucky. One of the bandits near the back of the line hit him with deadly accuracy.
Numair watched as in his memory he cried out in pain, swaying to the left and to the right until he finally lost all balance and fell off of Spots and to the ground. His body hit the ground with a sickening thud, bones breaking as he went. It wasn't more than an eye blink's time before the bandit's horses had trampled him into a gory mess. It was then that Numair snapped back to reality.
He was surprised at his own imagination. That couldn't have been a true memory! It just couldn't, could it? In that memory, he had been shot and trampled until he was a gory, unrecognizable mess! He was clearly unharmed where he now sat, not a scratch on him. Besides, if that had been a true memory, he would be dead. There was no way, not even by a gift from the gods that any man could survive such an ordeal! A single horse weighed well over two thousand pounds, while he only weighed a mere one hundred and sixty-five. Being trampled by over ten horses would surely kill him!
Rising, and laughing at his own ridiculous mind for even thinking there was a possibility that that was not a dream, Numair decided to head for Corus and home. There was no need for him to stay any longer, order from the king or no. From the looks of things nearby, there were no bandits, and for that matter, no sign of Raoul in the own. They had likely left without him while he slept. It was his own fault, and it would likely make Daine even more vexed with him, if that was even possible. He could only imagine her reaction after his company returned from a trip she did not by any means want him to go on, and he wasn't with them! He shuddered at the thought of what would happen when he told her he had fallen asleep and been left behind!
Quickly, he scanned the clearing for his reliable old gelding. Upon finding the horse, he drug himself over to Spots and mounted with absolutely no grace. He never had grace when it came to riding, so this bothered neither Numair, nor Spots.
Once mounted, he rode off through the woods, trying to relocate the path. This took well over and hour, for he could not use his Gift to aid him. He had been drained upon awakening for some reason. It puzzled him, but he didn't have time to think about it just now. If he hurried, he might still be able to catch up with the Own and thus not upset his love.
Kicking Spots into going as fast as he could, Numair raced down the path, stirring up dust as he went. Storm clouds were forming rapidly overhead, making him worry about how this would affect his speed. Rain was not something he wanted when he was traveling alone with no supplies or shelter. A loud crack of thunder boomed over head, followed by a flash of lightning. Numair knew it was only a matter of time before a storm was upon him. He didn't care though, for he was in a hurry.
His journey back to Corus took him two days, much to his dismay. The storm had slowed him down a great deal. It still went on as if it were new, making Numair wondering how long it would last. His trip hadn't been a pleasurable one. He had stopped only twice to camp, but not once to eat, for he had no food. Rain had poured down on him the whole time, making him cold, wet, and annoyed. By the time he reached the palace, he was feeling rather cranky.
Numair rode Spots up to the stable and dismounted. He found the stable boy sleeping on a pile of hay near the stable door. Sighing, Numair coughed politely in an attempt to awaken the boy. He did not stir, or show any signs of a disturbance. This made Numair even more annoyed. If not for the loud boom of thunder that occurred, he probably would have done something drastic that neither he nor the stable boy would like. As soon as the thunder sounded, the boy jumped to his feet with a start, looking frantically around him and sighing in relief when he found it was just thunder. he showed no sign of noticing Numair, who stood right in front of him, Spot's reigns in hand.
"Ahem" Numair cleared his throat politely. "Excuse me?" he asked, tempted to reach out and shake the stable boy by the shoulders, but deciding against it. When the stable boy refused to acknowledge him, Numair sighed angrily and threw his hands into the air. "Be assured, I'm going to have a word with Jon about his choice of employees!" He muttered angrily, taking Spot's reigns and going to put him away himself.
Once he had Spots in his stall, Numair hastily unsaddled the horse, throwing the saddle and blanket on clumsily on its rack and tossing the bridle against the wall, not really caring if it landed on the nail or not. All he cared about was going up to his room that he shared with Daine, and making up with her. He would tell her he was wrong and she was right, for he saw that now.
Trudging through the palace halls, soaking wet with muddy boots, Numair made it to his rooms. He stood outside the door for a moment, admiring the name of his love written on the name plate. -Soon it will read 'Numair and Veralidaine Salmalin'- he thought, cheering himself up a bit.
Without knocking, for it was after all his room too, he turned the brass door knob, letting himself in. He found that everything was just as he had left it. There was a fire burning in the fire place, papers scattered on his desk, the door to his workroom slightly ajar. Yes, everything was just as he'd left it. All except for Daine. Where was she? She was after all, the reason he had rushed home in such a frenzy. Hadn't he the right to see her immediately upon walking in? She must surely still be vexed with him then, if she wasn't waiting expectantly for him.
"Daine?" he called out, almost fearfully, for he was scared of what he might find when he reached her. He always hated fighting with her; it broke his heart. "Dearest, I'm back!" There was no answer to either call. He paused briefly, knowing that she was in here and wondering why she hadn't heard him. Then it hit him. Perhaps she had heard him, but she didn't care.
He walked across the room in a few short strides and stopped at the bed chamber door. It was closed, but he was sure she was in there. He reached out to turn the bass knob, but to his dismay, he found it to be locked. "Oh, for Mithros sake!" he cursed, but immediately corrected himself. Losing his temper wouldn't get him anywhere he wanted to go.
Taking a breath to regain his calmness and swallowing hard, Numair reached out a hand and gently knocked on the door. "Daine, please open the door," he said calmly, but pleadingly. It had no affect what so ever. Sighing, he knocked again. "Daine, we really need to talk this out, so please come out or let me in!" This time, his voice held more urgency as he fought to keep calm.
No noise came from inside the room. Numair slumped down to the floor, and leaned his lanky form against the wall beside the bed chamber door. "Magelet, please don't do this to me. I'm sorry for leaving you when you didn't want me to, but I can't refuse an order from the king!" By now, it seemed to Numair that he was having a one way conversation. He decided to sit and wait for a minute or two. That minute or two turned into an hour, and that hour turned into several hours. Before he knew it, the midnight bell was ringing and he was fighting off sleep. It seemed his love would not be willing to open the door any time soon. He would just have to wait until morning, for she would have to come out some time.
Sighing in frustration, He lifted himself up off of the hard wood floor, stretching as he did. His legs had gotten cramped from having sat in the same position for so long. Determined to have one last attempt before retiring to the couch, Numair approached the bed chamber door one last time. He lifted out a hand and knocked softly on the door and said with a tone to match it, "I know it doesn't mean much to you right now, Magelet, but I'm sorry, and I love you. Sleep well, love," he said, voice soft and filled with care. He knew this fight was his own fault, and he was prepared to take the consequences.
Stepping away from the door, he sighed for what seemed to be the umpteenth time that night and headed across the main living room and over to the couch. He threw his tired body down on it, stretching out his long legs. The couch was rather hard, not at all like a bed, not to mention it wasn't nearly long enough for him. This was going to be an uncomfortable night, but it was still better than sleeping on the muddy ground with rain pouring down on you as he had been for two days straight.
Yawning, Numair did his best to rid his mind of his fight with Daine. He found this to be a rather difficult task, no matter how many wonderful memories with her he could think of. If truth be told, he loved her more than life itself. He hated fighting with her, for it broke his heart into pieces. They had fought before, many times in fact, but it had never been like this. It had always ended up with both not being able to stand fighting anymore. They would kiss and make up and everything would be normal again. It was just like any other couple.
Just as Numair began drifting off to sleep, he was aroused by the sound of crying. It sounded close, like he could reach out and touch the one who cried. Upon sitting up and cupping his ear with his hand to better hear, Numair realized that the crying was coming from the bed chamber he shared with Daine, who was currently barricaded inside. He felt his heart split at the sound of her crying. He longed to go to her, to take her in his arms and tell her without words that he was sorry and that he wanted to make everything all right. He could do none of this though. She had locked the door, and though he could easily spell it open, he knew that would be wrong. If she wanted to talk to him, she would open it herself. He wasn't going to force her.
Soon, her cries turned to sobs. Numair's heart now felt as if it had been crushed into a fine powder. Oh how he wanted to reach her! He kept reminding himself that perhaps things would be better in the morning. They could talk then and work things out. Her sobs haunted him now, and he knew he would have a terrible time trying to sleep whilst he heard them. He prayed to every god and goddess he could name, and he could name quite a few, that she could find it in her heart to forgive him. He couldn't take it if things were over between them. Life without Daine wasn't worth living as far as Numair was concerned. He just wanted things to be back to normal.
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A/N: I know, I know, sad...You're very right in thinking that, I don't disagree with you for a moment. But hey, since when is there a rule that says no sad fics? I promise I'll work things out in my own way and in my own time.....Also, I'm very much aware that I need to update Gallan Return. I promise I will soon! I just got this idea in my head, and I decided to go for it. This won't be long, and I promise I'll update Gallan Return ASAP!!! R/R!!! ^_^