Disclaimer: Only the idea is ours.... the rest belongs to Tamora Pierce.



A/N: Hi everyone!!! Hope you like our D/N fic! hehe.... REVIEW OR ELSE!





Daine yawned as the sun shone brightly in her eyes. She rarely woke up after sunrise, but the previous night had been an unusual one. Trying to remember what happened, she ruefully shook her head, letting out a prolonged sigh. Her bare feet met the chilly wood floor as she pushed away the tangled sheets and stood up. She flopped back down onto the bed just as quickly as she had stood up, feeling dizzy. Gently, closing her eyes, she stood up again, this time more slowly.

She looked at the things strewn across her desk; a hairbrush, miscellaneous papers, the sapphire eardrops Numair had given her for midwinter, hair ties, and an open jar of face paint. A space had been made for a porcelain basin filled with steaming water. A servant had attended to Daine's rooms before she had woken up. There was only so much that could be done in one morning, however, considering the state of her rooms. She had been so busy with jobs from the King and her own personal affairs that there hadn't been time to clean up after herself. She groaned as she bent down to splash her face with water. It felt that although she hadn't gotten much sleep, she had aged quite a few years in those few hours. Once that was done with, she tugged the hair brush through her exceptionally messy locks, her actions punctuated in a small yelp as she hit herself with the heavy brush handle, not yet conscious enough to do simple chores.

After the painfully long time it took her to make herself look presentable, she sat back down on the bed, rubbing her throbbing temples with her fingers. Wait... something was wrong... Kitten! Where was Kitten? For a few short moments she began to panic, getting up and frantically searching the large rooms for any sign of the young dragon. She stopped just as she was getting on her hands and knees to look underneath the large four-poster bed, remembering the dragon's whereabouts.

"Oh thank the Goddess, I left her with Lindhall," she said aloud to herself. She plopped down rather ungainly on the floor. Eventually, the ache in her belly motivated her to stand up and make some tea.

With tea on the kettle and herself dressed and clean, she sat back down in a chair, her head in her hands and elbows on her knees. A very loud noised interrupted her rest. She was puzzled for a moment until she heard it again; a knocking on the door. Out of habit, she got up and went to the door, even though she didn't feel like seeing anyone. She turned the knob and pulled. The door didn't budge. The knocking came again, even louder now. Her blurry vision cleared, allowing her to see that the door was locked- something she rarely did. She fumbled with the lock until it clicked open and tugged at the heavy door once again, this time to reveal the Lioness. She smiled weakly at Daine, looking as if she too had slept later than usual. She was holding a silver tray with a simple breakfast.

"I thought you might be hungry. You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"No. Actually, I slept in this morning. Would you like some tea?" Alanna nodded and Daine disappeared into another room. Once there, she sat down to fight off another headache. Daine, get a grip on yourself, she thought, as she steeled herself to get up. She bustled around, preparing the tea for Alanna and herself, stopping every now and then to clear her head.

"Daine, are you all right in there? You're taking a long time!" Alanna called from the other room.

Ouch. I wish she didn't have such a loud voice. "Almost done!" she called out, forcing her voice to sound cheery. Picking up the steaming cups of tea, she walked back to where Alanna was seated. She handed her a cup and sat down across from her. "So, what brings you here today?" she asked the Lioness, taking a sip of her tea. She could feel the warmth spread through her body.
"Well, Numair's away on his magely duties, so I thought I'd keep you company this morning." Daine winced at her voice and this didn't escape Alanna's quick eye. "What happened? Are you all right?"

Daine shook her head briefly. "My head feels as if I've been up doing wild magic all night," she explained. The lady knight scrutinized Daine, taking in the bags under her eyes, and her disheveled state.. Then, suddenly she smiled. Daine scowled. "What's so funny?"

"I should've guessed. Years after taking care of Coram, and it took me this long to understand!"

"Some of us are still in the dark here," Daine said dryly.

Alanna grinned. "You're drunk. Or you were last night. Now you just have a hangover."

Daine's jaw dropped. "Me? Drunk?"

"Let me go make my specialty…a hangover cure." She disappeared into the other room.

Daine put her head in her hands. "Mithros, Mynoss, and Shakith! How in the Mother Goddess's name did I get drunk?"

Alanna chuckled from the other room. "The question is not how did you get drunk, but what you did during that time."

Daine sat up straight. "That's not funny! I could've done something horrible! I could've punched the King, for all I know!"

"Well, don't worry, it would've done him some good." Alanna walked back into the room, and sat down next to Daine. She handed Daine another cup of a fuming liquid with a rather bad smell. "Drink."

Daine puckered up her nose. "Do I have to?"

"Now you sound like Coram. Yes."

Daine lifted up the cup, held her nose, and swallowed the vile fluid in one gulp. "Ugh." She lowered the cup, and suddenly her head started to clear, and it didn't hurt as much to look out of the window.

"It's rather odd, though, because Sir Neal was drunk as well. Though that's not unusual, he couldn't remember what had happened either. Maybe you were with him…what?"

Daine had dropped the cup. Memories flooded her head, and she wished she could forget them again.

"Daine... what's going on? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, really. I'm just not feeling like myself this morning. Perhaps I should go get some rest. I do feel a little better thanks to your cure, though." Daine stood up and got a towel. She placed it over the new wet spot on the floor.

"Are you sure you don't want help cleaning? Maybe I should stay here and just make sure you're all right."

"I promise you, I'm fine. I'm sure you have things to do anyway. Thanks, Alanna." Alanna nodded, still unsure of leaving the young woman alone in her unstable state.

"I'm coming back to check on you in a little while. You're probably right. You just need some rest."

"I'll be fine. Bye!" She smiled as she closed the door behind her friend. The smile quickly faded and she frowned, on the verge of tears, but she would not let them come. She walked back to the mess she had made and began to pick up pieces of the broken cup. She needed to talk to someone. A certain someone in particular. She hadn't even had the courage to confront Alanna about her problem so she wasn't sure how it would ever be solved. Once the mess had been cleaned up, Daine realized that she wasn't going to be able to think logically about anything right now. She would rest as she had said she would and worry about her problems later.



Daine awoke to a very similar scene except the sun was no longer shining brightly. At least she felt better. She realized that it was a knocking on the door which had woken her. Checking the mirror to make sure she was presentable-looking, she opened the door. It was Alanna.

"Told you I'd come check on you. Feeling better?"

"Much," Daine said. Truthfully, she had wanted more time to think things over for herself before seeing anyone. Oh well. She would just have to put up a facade for now.

"The dinner bell just rang. You must be starving. Come on," the Lioness said, taking hold of Daine's arm.

"Shouldn't I at least change my clothes first?"

"No need for that. You look fine." She resumed walking down the halls, which were very drafty during this time of year, dragging Daine behind her at her fast pace. When they had gotten far away enough from Daine's rooms and Alanna felt satisfied that Daine would follow her, she released her hold. They continued along the dark, winding halls in silence. They both knew their way around the palace unconsciously.



Daine looked around to see who was taking a meal in the great hall. She saw the royal family, nobles, knights, and guests visiting the palace. She thought for a moment. She wasn't any of those things. She could hardly be called a noble. For the first time in a long time, she thought of her parents. She was God-born. But she shook away those thoughts and somewhere in her mind she was reminded of the things she liked to think about. She loved her work and it kept her more than occupied. She was on the King's council which was an honor, really. She had reliable friends like Onua and the Lioness and Numair. Numair... Oh Goddess, what had she done?! He would think that she didn't love him anymore. He would think that she took the opportunity while he was away to.... She had to clear this up. She stood up, no longer feeling so hungry and walked over to a table of young knights. Neal was among them. Alanna just stared after her, not getting a chance to ask where she was going. Daine walked up behind Neal and bent down beside him.

"Can I please have a word with you? Alone?" She added when she saw that he made no motion to stand up. He nodded.

"Excuse me," he said to his friends. Daine didn't look at them. She began walking towards the door as Neal followed behind her. When they were outside, he closed the heavy door behind them.

"What was it-" he began.