Disclaimer: I am not Tamora pierce and in no way am I being paid for my
writing, except by my readers' reviews. I wish I were, although what money
my stories would make is beyond me. Uhmm there are some new characters in
this chapter but I don't think I'm going to expand on them....
A/N: I am one of the few out there who actually semi like Jon... I needed a reason to keep them at Legann so I decided to make Jon very strict. For one thing right after a war the generals etc. don't get to go home they have paperwork to fill out... So there was my excuse. Eventually when Jon and the others rejoin the story I'm going to make him a lot nicer than he was. I know that the characters are OOC. That I cannot help. I'm not TP and in no way do I have her writing abilities. I also don't know the characters as well as she does so I have to go with what I know.
As some reviewers complained about the spacing I put in extra spaces...
Thanks for reviewing everyone! I can't believe I got so many reviews! My other story never gets so many! Perhaps it's because no one reads CoM and tCO? Well you should. I recommend them. Anyway on with the story!
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Numair and Daine reached to tower just after dark. The moon had risen and stars were shining brightly until grey storm clouds swooped in to cover up the beautiful night sky. As they entered the gate the rain began to fall in large drops. Numair's assistant came out to take their mounts. Daine smiled at the boy who had wild magic with horses. He bowed and walked to the stables Cloud and Spots following. Numair took Daine's hand in his and lead her up to a cozy sitting room. Daine stood next to the deep blue couch while Numair attempted to light a fire with his gift. The logs exploded sending pieces of chard bark everywhere. Daine laughed. A servant, called Lara came in carrying a tray with steaming mugs. She put it on a table then turned around. Hiding a smile behind her hand she went to the fire. Numair's magic, so powerful, couldn't be used for little every day things. All of his servants were used to this sort of 'over exaggeration' even if they still found it amusing. Imagine someone who could use words of power couldn't light a candle with his gift!
When the fire was crackling in the hearth the maid opened the burgundy drapes, lit candles and then left the two alone. Numair sighed relaxing onto a couch. Closing his eyes he thanked the Gods he wasn't still at Legann. After a minute he realized something was weird. Opening his eyes he looked up to see Daine, still standing, looking at him strangely. It almost seemed that she was unsure of herself. Giving her a questioning look Numair straightened in his seat.
"Something wrong Magelet?" He asked.
"Should I uhmm...?" She looked at the space beside him.
"Sit please!" She did so but didn't relax, her back perfectly straight. Also she was as far away from him as she could be on the love seat, not allowing her legs to touch his. "Daine what is it? What's wrong?"
"Well the kissing and hugging is fine but..." Numair gave her a look as if to say 'continue' before realizing what was bothering her.
"Come now. You know me. Have I ever hurt you?" He asked.
"No but this is different. I don't know how you are with women. I've never seen you with anyone. Well except... Varice." Numair blushed.
"I... Uh.. That..."
"Don't. You don't need to explain. It isn't any of my business." Numair looked at her.
"Ok well believe me when I tell you that I'll never make you do anything you don't want to. I don't like to see you uncomfortable." (A/N: Ok so that was just a lot cheezy! Don't know what came over me. Oh well!)
Daine smiled at her teacher. She relaxed onto the couch and let the events of the past weeks cycle through her mind. Silent tears streamed down her face as she finally accepted the deaths of her friends among the riders, the King's Own, the People, and the immortals. Numair took her hand and rubbed the backside of it with his thumb. He knew how she felt; many of those who died had been acquaintances, some even friends.
The tears kept coming until eventually they consumed her. Numair hugged her, the tears soaking his shirt. "Hush love." He cooed. Eventually her crying became dry sobs as her tears ran out. Taking a few deep breaths she got herself under control.
The rain was coming down hard on the glass windowpanes and lightning flashed across the sky. Daine could feel the People's fear as they cowered in stables, crept deep into borrows and tried to say dry in their nests. She had tried to calm them during storms before but she knew that there were to many animals in the forests around Numair's Tower and near Pirate's Swoop for her to calm all at once. She couldn't fully relax with all the animals' thoughts so she blocked off her magic, just listening to the rain pounding the windows and the sounds of the distant thunder.
Daine's eyes began to close. It seemed that her long day had caught up with her. She snuggled closer to Numair who wrapped his arm around her. He murmured a spell and a blanket unfolded itself from a nearby chair and covered Daine. Blowing out a branch of candles he looked around. Another breath and a thought spell and a slight wind swept the room. The remaining candles were extinguished and Numair tilted his head so that it was resting on Daine's and fell asleep. ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Numair awoke to bright sunshine streaming in through the large windows. A warm breeze was blowing through a partially opened one, ruffling the curtains. He smiled and stretched out. It was good to be home. In a few days he would travel to the capital to deliver his report to the King. But for now he could spend time working on his spells and resting. Standing up he walked to the door and up a set of curving stairs. When he got to his study he sat down and took out a scroll.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Daine sat outside on a fallen log surrounded by foxes, squirrels, chipmunks, and other woodland animals. There were birds of al kinds perched on Daine, the log and the surrounding treetops. It was nice to just sit and relax with her friends. The past months had been so busy that resting was something she had only dreamed about.
Sending out her magic to speak with the People in the area Daine felt the pain of a wounded animal. She disentangled herself from her company and set of into the deep forest. A few minutes walk lead her past a creek and she followed it up stream to where a small waterfall trickled through the trees. She climbed up the rock and found the poor creature sprawled on a boulder. From a quick look Daine gathered that it's left front paw was broken and it had a large gash on its side. Slowly and carefully she picked it up and sat down on the rock to inspect it's hurts more closely.
What kind of animal it was Daine had no idea. Which was the first strange thing since she had recently read a bunch of Numair's books on the types of animals living in Tortall. There were also strange vibrations coming from the small creature, which fit in between her palms. Its fur was a deep red with lines of cherry blonde. It had ears like a bat, which flopped over, and its whiskers were as long as Daine's pinkie. It's eyes (which were closed) looked like they would be the size of cherries, which was rather large for the size of the creature.
It took Daine a while to heal the gash and to mend a couple of broken bones. When she was done she splashed her face in the water to wipe away sweat, and took a long refreshingly cold drink. Picking up the animal once more Daine resided herself to bringing it back home with her. Even thought it was fully healed the poor thing hadn't opened its eyes and she could still fell the weird vibrations. Maybe Numair would know what was wrong.
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Back at the tower the mage sat cross-legged in the center of his workroom. The little bird sitting in the window recognized his position as that of the "sitting thing". There was a candle in front of him and the mage looked intently at it without really seeing it. Black fire shone through his hands, which were faced together, fingertips touching. As he moved them slowly apart then tension in the room began to build and the bird on the sill took flight as there was a loud 'pop'.
"Blast..." Numair muttered. He sighed, opened his eyes and blew out the candle. Stretching he stood and put his tools away, then went to the stairs and down into his bedroom where he began to plan out his next experiment. He had no idea what was wrong. In theory the spell should have worked, but perhaps Mithros and the Great Goddess didn't want him messing around with their ecosystem. Oh Well.
Suddenly there was a loud bang on his door and it was flung open to reveal a girl of about 5'6 wearing a lovely lilac dress. He long dark curls hung below her shoulders and here eyes were of the deepest brown he had ever seen. Numair was breath taken by this woman. She was such a beauty. And she was staring at him with such an open and loving gaze that he was drawn to her. But... Who was she?
"Numair..." Daine asked looking strangely at him. "What's wrong... Why do you look at me so?" Numair shook his head, rubbed his eyes and then looked at her again.
"Daine..." It wasn't a statement. It was a question.
"Yes love." He continued to stare at her, like he had forgotten ever meeting her. Daine sighed. "Come sit down," She said indicating the couch against the right wall. "I'll go get us something to drink."
When Daine returned, carrying a tray laden with things to eat, 2 goblets, and a jug, Numair still stood where she had left him. She sighed again and set the tray down on the small table, near the couch. Taking off the bag that was on her back, she lay it down gently on the couch then went to Numair. Wrapping her arms around him she buried her head in his chest and rubbed her nose in the V of his shirt. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her and took a deep breath. "Mmmm... Daine don't do that, you know I can't concentrate." She giggled and looked up into her teacher's eyes. He smiled and kissed her nose gently. Daine took Numair's hand and led him over to the couch.
"Sit, you'll feel better if you do." Sitting Numair took a cherry muffin and Daine poured berry punch into the tall glasses. Breaking off a piece of the muffin he popped it in his mouth, its soft and moist texture melting almost instantly. Taking another piece he looked at Daine. "Numair?" She questioned. He sighed.
"I'm fine, Magelet. I've just been working to hard. Maybe I should have waited a while before attempting magic. Don't look at me like that." Daine was looking at him with that 'Told you so!' expression.
"What happened to the spell anyway?" Daine asked.
"Well it didn't work." This was unusual in itself for even if Numair's spells didn't create the outcome he had anticipated it would have given him something to work with. "I was trying to create a door, a kind of portal, to increase the speed of travel."
"Wouldn't that be dangerous? If an enemy got hold of the spell weaving and opened up a portal into the bedroom of Jon and Thayet they could kill out the entire royal line before anyone was the wiser." Daine asked, worried.
"I thought of that. If someone wanted to go through the portal they would have to seek permission from the person at the other end. Said person would then open the second door. If I could get it to open then I could make it so that even the ungifted could have the power to open a gate. We could set up docks from which to travel from." Daine still looked worried.
"A magic can be modified Numair, I don't know if this is a good idea. Maybe you should speak with Jon."
"I'm not going to tell him about a spell that I'm not even sure's possible. If I make some progress I promise I'll tell him. We have to go to Corus soon anyway." As if only seeing her for the first time, and seeing the stains on her dress Numair exclaimed, "Daine what have you done to yourself. Didn't the Queen give you that dress?"
"Oh!" Daine jumped up and carefully picked up the cloth bag. "I found him in the forest near a little waterfall." She said taking out the small animal and placing him in Numair's outstretched hands. "But I have no idea what it is, nor what's wrong with it. It seems to have been in a fight, I healed its wounds, but it's still asleep and it's breathing is queer."
"I'm not so sure that vibration is it's breathing." Numair said inspecting it with his magic. "I've never seen this type of animal before. It could be from the same family of mammals as Zek, but the long whiskers and large eyes are different." Numair opened his eyes and tried to look in its pupils. He swayed and nearly fell off the couch before breaking eye contact. The animal's eyes were constantly rotating counter clockwise in his head, and they were a mix of colours. "Whoa." Numair murmured. Daine looked at the swirls intently from the corner of her eyes. It seemed so familiar but she had no idea why. "Well we should keep him warm. Get a sheet from Lara and wrap him in it, then place him near the fire. " When she had done so Numair came to her and slid his arms around her waist. He kissed her forehead, her nose and finally her lips. "How do you feel about a picnic?"
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A/N: Ok I don't feel like looking through emperor mage so if Zek has large eyes then that's too bad! Sorry it took me so long to update. Can I claim writer's block? I came up with a plot the other night... I'm not telling though! Read and Review (please!)!!
A/N: I am one of the few out there who actually semi like Jon... I needed a reason to keep them at Legann so I decided to make Jon very strict. For one thing right after a war the generals etc. don't get to go home they have paperwork to fill out... So there was my excuse. Eventually when Jon and the others rejoin the story I'm going to make him a lot nicer than he was. I know that the characters are OOC. That I cannot help. I'm not TP and in no way do I have her writing abilities. I also don't know the characters as well as she does so I have to go with what I know.
As some reviewers complained about the spacing I put in extra spaces...
Thanks for reviewing everyone! I can't believe I got so many reviews! My other story never gets so many! Perhaps it's because no one reads CoM and tCO? Well you should. I recommend them. Anyway on with the story!
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Numair and Daine reached to tower just after dark. The moon had risen and stars were shining brightly until grey storm clouds swooped in to cover up the beautiful night sky. As they entered the gate the rain began to fall in large drops. Numair's assistant came out to take their mounts. Daine smiled at the boy who had wild magic with horses. He bowed and walked to the stables Cloud and Spots following. Numair took Daine's hand in his and lead her up to a cozy sitting room. Daine stood next to the deep blue couch while Numair attempted to light a fire with his gift. The logs exploded sending pieces of chard bark everywhere. Daine laughed. A servant, called Lara came in carrying a tray with steaming mugs. She put it on a table then turned around. Hiding a smile behind her hand she went to the fire. Numair's magic, so powerful, couldn't be used for little every day things. All of his servants were used to this sort of 'over exaggeration' even if they still found it amusing. Imagine someone who could use words of power couldn't light a candle with his gift!
When the fire was crackling in the hearth the maid opened the burgundy drapes, lit candles and then left the two alone. Numair sighed relaxing onto a couch. Closing his eyes he thanked the Gods he wasn't still at Legann. After a minute he realized something was weird. Opening his eyes he looked up to see Daine, still standing, looking at him strangely. It almost seemed that she was unsure of herself. Giving her a questioning look Numair straightened in his seat.
"Something wrong Magelet?" He asked.
"Should I uhmm...?" She looked at the space beside him.
"Sit please!" She did so but didn't relax, her back perfectly straight. Also she was as far away from him as she could be on the love seat, not allowing her legs to touch his. "Daine what is it? What's wrong?"
"Well the kissing and hugging is fine but..." Numair gave her a look as if to say 'continue' before realizing what was bothering her.
"Come now. You know me. Have I ever hurt you?" He asked.
"No but this is different. I don't know how you are with women. I've never seen you with anyone. Well except... Varice." Numair blushed.
"I... Uh.. That..."
"Don't. You don't need to explain. It isn't any of my business." Numair looked at her.
"Ok well believe me when I tell you that I'll never make you do anything you don't want to. I don't like to see you uncomfortable." (A/N: Ok so that was just a lot cheezy! Don't know what came over me. Oh well!)
Daine smiled at her teacher. She relaxed onto the couch and let the events of the past weeks cycle through her mind. Silent tears streamed down her face as she finally accepted the deaths of her friends among the riders, the King's Own, the People, and the immortals. Numair took her hand and rubbed the backside of it with his thumb. He knew how she felt; many of those who died had been acquaintances, some even friends.
The tears kept coming until eventually they consumed her. Numair hugged her, the tears soaking his shirt. "Hush love." He cooed. Eventually her crying became dry sobs as her tears ran out. Taking a few deep breaths she got herself under control.
The rain was coming down hard on the glass windowpanes and lightning flashed across the sky. Daine could feel the People's fear as they cowered in stables, crept deep into borrows and tried to say dry in their nests. She had tried to calm them during storms before but she knew that there were to many animals in the forests around Numair's Tower and near Pirate's Swoop for her to calm all at once. She couldn't fully relax with all the animals' thoughts so she blocked off her magic, just listening to the rain pounding the windows and the sounds of the distant thunder.
Daine's eyes began to close. It seemed that her long day had caught up with her. She snuggled closer to Numair who wrapped his arm around her. He murmured a spell and a blanket unfolded itself from a nearby chair and covered Daine. Blowing out a branch of candles he looked around. Another breath and a thought spell and a slight wind swept the room. The remaining candles were extinguished and Numair tilted his head so that it was resting on Daine's and fell asleep. ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Numair awoke to bright sunshine streaming in through the large windows. A warm breeze was blowing through a partially opened one, ruffling the curtains. He smiled and stretched out. It was good to be home. In a few days he would travel to the capital to deliver his report to the King. But for now he could spend time working on his spells and resting. Standing up he walked to the door and up a set of curving stairs. When he got to his study he sat down and took out a scroll.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Daine sat outside on a fallen log surrounded by foxes, squirrels, chipmunks, and other woodland animals. There were birds of al kinds perched on Daine, the log and the surrounding treetops. It was nice to just sit and relax with her friends. The past months had been so busy that resting was something she had only dreamed about.
Sending out her magic to speak with the People in the area Daine felt the pain of a wounded animal. She disentangled herself from her company and set of into the deep forest. A few minutes walk lead her past a creek and she followed it up stream to where a small waterfall trickled through the trees. She climbed up the rock and found the poor creature sprawled on a boulder. From a quick look Daine gathered that it's left front paw was broken and it had a large gash on its side. Slowly and carefully she picked it up and sat down on the rock to inspect it's hurts more closely.
What kind of animal it was Daine had no idea. Which was the first strange thing since she had recently read a bunch of Numair's books on the types of animals living in Tortall. There were also strange vibrations coming from the small creature, which fit in between her palms. Its fur was a deep red with lines of cherry blonde. It had ears like a bat, which flopped over, and its whiskers were as long as Daine's pinkie. It's eyes (which were closed) looked like they would be the size of cherries, which was rather large for the size of the creature.
It took Daine a while to heal the gash and to mend a couple of broken bones. When she was done she splashed her face in the water to wipe away sweat, and took a long refreshingly cold drink. Picking up the animal once more Daine resided herself to bringing it back home with her. Even thought it was fully healed the poor thing hadn't opened its eyes and she could still fell the weird vibrations. Maybe Numair would know what was wrong.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Back at the tower the mage sat cross-legged in the center of his workroom. The little bird sitting in the window recognized his position as that of the "sitting thing". There was a candle in front of him and the mage looked intently at it without really seeing it. Black fire shone through his hands, which were faced together, fingertips touching. As he moved them slowly apart then tension in the room began to build and the bird on the sill took flight as there was a loud 'pop'.
"Blast..." Numair muttered. He sighed, opened his eyes and blew out the candle. Stretching he stood and put his tools away, then went to the stairs and down into his bedroom where he began to plan out his next experiment. He had no idea what was wrong. In theory the spell should have worked, but perhaps Mithros and the Great Goddess didn't want him messing around with their ecosystem. Oh Well.
Suddenly there was a loud bang on his door and it was flung open to reveal a girl of about 5'6 wearing a lovely lilac dress. He long dark curls hung below her shoulders and here eyes were of the deepest brown he had ever seen. Numair was breath taken by this woman. She was such a beauty. And she was staring at him with such an open and loving gaze that he was drawn to her. But... Who was she?
"Numair..." Daine asked looking strangely at him. "What's wrong... Why do you look at me so?" Numair shook his head, rubbed his eyes and then looked at her again.
"Daine..." It wasn't a statement. It was a question.
"Yes love." He continued to stare at her, like he had forgotten ever meeting her. Daine sighed. "Come sit down," She said indicating the couch against the right wall. "I'll go get us something to drink."
When Daine returned, carrying a tray laden with things to eat, 2 goblets, and a jug, Numair still stood where she had left him. She sighed again and set the tray down on the small table, near the couch. Taking off the bag that was on her back, she lay it down gently on the couch then went to Numair. Wrapping her arms around him she buried her head in his chest and rubbed her nose in the V of his shirt. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her and took a deep breath. "Mmmm... Daine don't do that, you know I can't concentrate." She giggled and looked up into her teacher's eyes. He smiled and kissed her nose gently. Daine took Numair's hand and led him over to the couch.
"Sit, you'll feel better if you do." Sitting Numair took a cherry muffin and Daine poured berry punch into the tall glasses. Breaking off a piece of the muffin he popped it in his mouth, its soft and moist texture melting almost instantly. Taking another piece he looked at Daine. "Numair?" She questioned. He sighed.
"I'm fine, Magelet. I've just been working to hard. Maybe I should have waited a while before attempting magic. Don't look at me like that." Daine was looking at him with that 'Told you so!' expression.
"What happened to the spell anyway?" Daine asked.
"Well it didn't work." This was unusual in itself for even if Numair's spells didn't create the outcome he had anticipated it would have given him something to work with. "I was trying to create a door, a kind of portal, to increase the speed of travel."
"Wouldn't that be dangerous? If an enemy got hold of the spell weaving and opened up a portal into the bedroom of Jon and Thayet they could kill out the entire royal line before anyone was the wiser." Daine asked, worried.
"I thought of that. If someone wanted to go through the portal they would have to seek permission from the person at the other end. Said person would then open the second door. If I could get it to open then I could make it so that even the ungifted could have the power to open a gate. We could set up docks from which to travel from." Daine still looked worried.
"A magic can be modified Numair, I don't know if this is a good idea. Maybe you should speak with Jon."
"I'm not going to tell him about a spell that I'm not even sure's possible. If I make some progress I promise I'll tell him. We have to go to Corus soon anyway." As if only seeing her for the first time, and seeing the stains on her dress Numair exclaimed, "Daine what have you done to yourself. Didn't the Queen give you that dress?"
"Oh!" Daine jumped up and carefully picked up the cloth bag. "I found him in the forest near a little waterfall." She said taking out the small animal and placing him in Numair's outstretched hands. "But I have no idea what it is, nor what's wrong with it. It seems to have been in a fight, I healed its wounds, but it's still asleep and it's breathing is queer."
"I'm not so sure that vibration is it's breathing." Numair said inspecting it with his magic. "I've never seen this type of animal before. It could be from the same family of mammals as Zek, but the long whiskers and large eyes are different." Numair opened his eyes and tried to look in its pupils. He swayed and nearly fell off the couch before breaking eye contact. The animal's eyes were constantly rotating counter clockwise in his head, and they were a mix of colours. "Whoa." Numair murmured. Daine looked at the swirls intently from the corner of her eyes. It seemed so familiar but she had no idea why. "Well we should keep him warm. Get a sheet from Lara and wrap him in it, then place him near the fire. " When she had done so Numair came to her and slid his arms around her waist. He kissed her forehead, her nose and finally her lips. "How do you feel about a picnic?"
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
A/N: Ok I don't feel like looking through emperor mage so if Zek has large eyes then that's too bad! Sorry it took me so long to update. Can I claim writer's block? I came up with a plot the other night... I'm not telling though! Read and Review (please!)!!