A/N: Hey everyone......like the new characters? Well I surely didn't

and you aren't supposed to because Jarlath is one of the

meanies....lol...sorry if I'm stating the obvious....I'll just shut up

now and get on with what you came here for, my fic....

Oh, I'd like to congratulate Rosh and the forgotten fate for their -er-

'successful' dating....I wish Rosh the best of luck...It seems like

only 2 weeks ago I created him and now he's off dating my reviewers! Oh

wait a minute....it was only two weeks ago....*sighs*

Disclaimer: Yes, I suppose its best if I leave one of these....you know

the drill, I own the plot and a few characters, but thats about

it...*sighs* Anything you recognize isn't mine, and it likely never

will be.....

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

       "Daine, Numair, you'd best wake up!" Alanna called into the

small room the two friends were sharing. She pulled back the flap of

canvas that served for a door, only to find them lying on two small

cots, sound asleep. It was still rather early, now that Alanna thought

about it, but not for her, for she had risen with the sun. It seemed as

if it were time for the noon bell to ring, but that was still several

hours away.

       Alanna walked past Numair's cot and over to Daine's. The young

woman slept peacefully, her chest slowly rising and falling as she

slept. Much to Alanna's amusement, Numair didn't breath as easily as

Daine. Even as he slept soundly, loud snores erupted from his mouth

that hung open. It was a comical site, one Alanna couldn't recall

seeing before. Stepping up beside where Daine lay, Alanna lay a hand on

her young friend's shoulder, rousing her from her sleep. "Wake up

Daine," Alanna said, not at all bothering to keep her voice low. She

had no reason to keep quiet, for the only other person who shared this

room with Daine was Numair, and Alanna was here to wake him as well.

       Daine opened her eyes to find a pair of purple tinged eyes

looking back at her. She almost jumped before she realized it was

merely Alanna. She reached her hands up to her eyes to rub the sleep

out. She then stretched thoroughly before turning her full attention to

the lady knight. "What time is it, Alanna?" Daine asked, yawning. She

sat up, leaning her back against the room wall.

       "Its only around nine o'clock right now," Alanna said, eyes

thoughtful. "I only came to wake you and Numair to tell you that I've

just talked to Jonathan and he's asked that I send you back to the

palace immediately."

       " I didn't think we'd be summoned this quickly," Daine said,

though not disliking the prospect of returning to the palace. It was

the means of getting there that bothered her. During the war, she'd

spent a lot of time traveling. This was especially so after she and

Numair were transported into the Divine Realms by her Ma and Da. She

didn't exactly fancy doing anymore traveling for a while. -Well I

suppose once I get to the palace, I won't be going anywhere for a

while- she thought hopefully. What she really wanted was for Jonathan

to grant herself and Numair a good, long leave. Fighting in the

Immortal war had taken its toll on her and she was sure it had had the

same affect on Numair. They needed a rest. They'd earned a rest.

       "I'm not surprised," Alanna said dryly, rolling her eyes. "When

you two disappeared, Jonathan went into a frenzy. He was lost without

his two best mages. Now that you're back, he's going to want a full

report right away. The man has little patience. He won't let you rest

until he's questioned you both thoroughly, so I'm warning you now."

       "Sounds wondrous," Daine said sarcastically, causing Alanna to

chuckle at her enthusiasm.

       "Hmmm?" Numair mumbled, his voice muffled pillow his face was

buried in. "What's wondrous?" His voice faded out with a yawn. He

stretched out his lanky form, which overlapped the cot he lay on by

several inches.

       "Perhaps if you wake up, we'll tell you," Alanna prompted,

fighting the urge to step over there and pour water on her lanky

friend. She was still sore at him for the spider.

       Numair groaned and threw the thin blanket off of himself. After

stretching one last time, he sat up, leaning his back against the wall,

mirroring Daine's sitting position. "I'm awake, now what's the news,"

Numair said, voice no longer filled with sleep.

       " I spoke with Jon this morning, and he wishes for me to send

you two to the palace immediately," Alanna said, causing Numair to

groan again.

       " Not more traveling!" he voiced his annoyance. "The man hasn't

even given us time to properly adjust to things!"

       "Your reaction isn't far from Daine's," Alanna said with

amusement. "I'm not saying I agree with Jon, because I rarely do, but

once you get back to the palace and let Jon badger you for a day or so,

you'll be free to rest in familiar surroundings. You'll be home."

       "Yes, but its getting there that doesn't sound appealing," Daine

said, hand placed firmly against her hip. "I'm fair sure that being

badgered by the King isn't something I much look forward to."

       " To be truthful, I envy you two for getting the chance to go

home, despite the cost. I won't be able to get back to the Swoop, or

even the palace for that matter, for months to come. I could be stuck

surveying forts and war damage until just before Midwinter!"

       "When are we expected back at the palace?" Numair asked dryly,

planning to take his dear sweet time traveling to get there.

       "He wants you to be on the road today," Alanna said, calmly

awaiting outbursts of protest from her two friends. They did not let

her down.

       "WHAT?!" Numair yelled, thoroughly shocked. "He doesn't even

give us a full day's start?!"

       "No," Alanna said simply, though on the inside she was having

fits of laughter. "Since when has Jon ever been reasonable?"

       "I suppose you're right," Numair said grumpily. "We'll head out

as soon as possible."

       "I'll meet you outside by the stable in half an hour," Alanna

said seriously. "That will give the two of you just enough time for

breakfast. I'll be sure to have the hostler prepare Cloud and Spots."

With that said, Alanna turned on her heal and headed out of the room,

leaving Daine and Numair alone.

       There was a brief moment of silence, both deep in thought. It

was Numair who first stepped forward. Just as he moved towards Daine,

his eyes darted towards the door to make sure no one was watching. He

then closed the distance between himself and Daine, taking her into his

arms. "I never got to properly tell you good morning, as I was rudely

awakened by a certain lady knight," he said, eyes twinkling with

mischief. He brought his lips down swiftly to hers. Holding her firmly

against his chest, he kissed her an awaited her response. She soon

responded with zeal, returning his passion. They each moaned with

pleasure, not wanting to stop by any means.

       "We need to go," Daine said reluctantly, pushing him away as he

continued to run tiny kisses up her neck. "We barely have enough time

for breakfast."

       "You're right, sweet," Numair said, sighing in disappointment.

However much he wanted to stay and proceed with what he was doing, he

couldn't ignore the fact that he was rather hungry. As if to emphasize

this point, his stomach growled in hunger. After planting one last

swift kiss on her cheek, the two took a step back until they were

standing a respectable distance away from one another. They then left

the room and out into the open fort ground. They followed the path they

had taken with Alana the previous day and made their way to the Mess

Hall.

       After eating a quick meal of biscuits with peach preserves for

flavor and a glass of fresh milk, Diane and Numeric picked up their

trays and brushed the remains of their breakfast into the trash pit to

be burned. "We'd best get outside and meet Alanna," Numair said, a

slight grin forming at the edge of his mouth. "She gets a temper when

it comes to lateness." They began making their way to find the lady

knight.

       "Most knights are like that," Daine said wryly. Numair grinned

at her comment, never missing a chance to mock Alanna behind her back.

       "Very unlike mages," Numair said in mock seriousness. "We mages

are very humble beings."

       "You're about as humble as Alanna is tall!"Daine retorted,

mocking him.

       "Oh, and what is so wrong with that, hmmm?" Numair asked back,

trying his best to flash her a hurt look, but failing miserably.

       "I suppose nothing is wrong with it unless you have to deal with

a mage on a daily basis," Daine replied after carefully thinking of an

answer. After that, there was a brief moment of silence as they walked.

In an odd way, it felt as if all eyes were on them as they walked. It

made Daine feel as if there was a chill in the air. She longed to break

the uncomfortable silence, but could think of nothing to say. She stole

a glance at Numair, who walked alongside her at a respectable distance,

and saw that he seemed to be feeling the same. It was obviously why he

had let her mock insult to him slide without returning the blow.

       They walked in silence the rest of the way to the stables. The

awkward feeling of judgment never faded. Daine knew that the news of

their escapade had spread as she knew it would. Good gossip spread like

wild fire, even at a fort such as this. She hated to think of what

would happen if they had been caught in such an act at the palace. The

court would be in an uproar with gossip, of that she was sure. Daine

wondered how long it would take for the news to reach the palace. Being

that there were many clerks stationed here that Daine recognized from

the palace, the news would travel fast upon their return. If Daine and

Numair were lucky, they would get to the palace before the clerks did

and would thus have time to prepare themselves for the revilement.

       Soon, Alanna's short, burly form came into view, as did the

stable. Tied to the mounting post was Numair's patient gelding Spots.

The hostler had already saddle him and attached the necessary packs to

his back. Cloud was nowhere in site, but Daine was not surprised. The

only human ever to handle the frisky mare besides Daine herself was the

palace hostler, Stefan, who had wild magic like Daine. "Where's Cloud?"

Numair asked as soon as they had reached Alanna and the hostler. Unlike

Daine, Numair hadn't jumped to the obvious conclusion.

       "Daine, I think you're going to have to handle Cloud," Alanna

said, her voice tinged with embarrassment. "We -er- had some trouble to

say the least."

       Daine was about to respond, but was interrupted by the voice of

the hostler, who stood next to Alanna. "That's putting it mildly!" the

man retorted, glaring menacingly at Daine. "That pony isn't even fit to

be made into paste!" With that, the hostler stormed off, his footsteps

soon fading away.

       "What happened?" Daine asked curiously, slightly shocked by the

hostler's behavior.

       Alanna shook her head, a smile forming at the edge of her mouth.

"Well, he'd already saddle Spots. He went to go saddle Cloud, but she

threw a fit. She left a particularly nasty mark on his right shoulder."

       "I've warned her not to misbehave," Daine said with a sigh. She,

Alanna and Numair found the situation amusing all the same though. "I'd

best go and saddle her myself." Daine left Alanna and Numair and her

way into the stable. It was rather small, but then again, most stables

were extremely small compared to the Royal stables at the palace which

Daine was used to. Compared to the palace's two hundred stall stable,

this one merely held one hundred stalls at most. Though the fort

was constantly occupied by Riders and their mounts, most Riders let

their mounts stay in the small pasture rather than in the stalls. The

stalls were reserved for the particularly nasty mounts, usually

knight's warhorse stallion.

       "Cloud!" Daine called out as she went up and down each of the

five rows of stalls looking for her steel gray mare. "This time I'll be

sure to singe your tail for sure!"

       -I'm sure you will, Daine-Cloud said sarcastically through mind

speech.

       -I've warned you to behave when I'm not around to make you-Daine

said, scolding her mare for attacking the unsuspecting hostler. Daine

reached Cloud's stall, unlatching the door. -Come on out, Cloud, we

have to make a trip to Corus-

       -Good, I've been needing to stretch my legs since you left me in

this box for over a week without so much as a good bye. I was afraid

you'd abandoned me and I would have to search for a new rider-Cloud

said tartly. Daine stuck her tongue out at the mare. Quickly, for she

did not want to keep Alanna and Numair waiting, she curry combed her

mount, making sure there were no burrs that would irritate Cloud's back

once the saddle was set in place. Once satisfied, Daine threw the brush

aside and went to get Cloud's tack. She pulled out her usual teal

saddle blanket, one that had been given to her as a Midwinter gift from

Queen Thayet herself. Next came Cloud's saddle. It was of a reddish

brown leather with a basket weave imprinted as a design. Her GrandDa

had made it for her when she was only seven. It had last all the years

since then and had served her well. Even after she'd tried many other

saddles, none were as effective for her as that one. Her GranDa had

been an excellent craftsman. Finally, Daine pulled out Cloud's bridle.

It matched the saddle and was also made by her GrandDa.

       "Daine!" Numair called as he entered the stable to look for his

love. "Where are you?"

       "I'm over here!" Daine hollered back, letting her voice guide

him to her location. He was soon standing outside Cloud's stall.

       "Are you ready yet? We really need to get going," Numair said,

keeping a safe distance from the mare. Though he'd known Cloud a very

long time, she'd never grown to like him, and showed him this by

snapping at him every chance she got. On the rare occasion that she did

actually bit him, he was left with large teeth marks on the spot for

weeks after.

       "Yes," Daine said, gripping Cloud's reigns as she readied to

leave the stable. Just as she stepped forward though, she was stopped

by Numair's hands on her shoulders, gripping her tightly. She looked up

into his face to see his eyes twinkling as he looked back at her.

       "Why not take advantage the few moments alone we get?" Numair

said, his voice breathless. He closed his eyes and brought his face

down to hers, swiftly kissing her. He let his lips linger for a brief

moment, but drew them back quickly, eyes darting both ways to be sure

none had seen. It was over all too soon, leaving Daine wanting more.

She looked at her love and he smiled back at her. "I suppose here isn't

the best place. Perhaps later, as we are traveling alone." Mischief

danced on his face.

       "Count on it," Daine said reaching up to his hands that still

rested on her shoulders and knocking them off teasingly. He smirked at

his love's choice of action, turning to follow her as she led Cloud out

of the stable. Once outside and in the yard, Daine grabbed a handful of

Cloud's mane, and used it to steady herself as she swung her right leg

over the saddle. Once mounted, she turned to look into the direction of

Spots to see Numair struggling, as he usually did, to mount the tall

gelding. Spots was patient with the unskillful rider, moving closer in

an attempt to help the mage mount. Daine chuckled at the gelding's

antics. Spots really was the perfect, and perhaps only mount suitable

for Numair.

       Alanna walked over to where Daine sat mounted on Cloud. She had

a look of amusement of her face as she watched Numair struggling to do

what she considered a simple task. "And so we see Tortall's most

powerful mage who once turned a living man into a tree, and yet he

cannot even mount his steed," Alanna mocked Numair, chuckling. Daine

joined in laughing at her lanky friend and love.

       Once mounted, Numair wobbled a bit to help steady himself and

gain back his posture. This made him look even more comical as he

brushed the dust from his clothes after having fallen in the dirt

several times from his failed attempts to mount Spots. After he had

finally gotten himself in order, Numair turned his attention to the two

women, her were in hysterical fits of laughter. "I resent that!" he

called out to them, pretending to be hurt.

       As Numair continued to shift around in his saddle, Alanna turned

to look at Daine, her tone had gone from joking to serious. "Daine,

watch out for yourself, all right?" Alanna said, her eyes sincere.

Daine's eyes widened in curiosity. What did the Lioness mean?

       "You know I will, Alanna, but why are you so worried all of the

sudden?" Daine voiced her question.

       "I just am," Alanna said, not wanting to reveal her suspiscions.

She knew if her beliefs turned out to be false ones, Daine would

genuinely be hurt by the knight's conclusion. It was best that until

Alanna was sure she was right about Daine and Numair, she kept silent

about it. If it turned out that she was wrong, then Daine and Numair

need never know that she thought any different.

       Daine let Alanna's strange behavior pass. She was too distracted

at the moment to care. She'd been very distracted lately, and she

didn't have to wonder why. She'd always heard the saying 'love does

that to a person' and she now knew, and felt what that truly meant. It

left you in a constant daze, almost as if you were in a whole new world

and your life had just begun. Daine felt all of this and more, and had

the distinct feeling that these things would only grow deeper as time

passed.

       "I shant hold the two of you up any longer," Alanna said with a

smile, looking from Daine to Numair. "Its not wise to keep Jon waiting,

especially since he's been so temperamental lately."

"You're right about that, though I would love to put a word in edge

wise to him for summoning us so early," Numair said dryly, but meaning

every word. "I hope we'll get a chance to see you soon, Alanna." Numair

added with a grin.

       "Yes, I'll miss bickering with you, Numair," Alanna said before

turning to Daine. "I'll miss you too Daine. Keep an eye on that sanity

lacking teacher of yours, and please remember what I told you."

       "You know I will," Daine said, just as she had said before.

Numair looked from Alanna to Daine, puzzled. He sighed, and then turned

Spots around, positioning him for the gait to leave. Daine did the

same, giving him a look that said she'd explain the knight's words

later.

       "Open the gate, private!" Alanna called out to the gateman, her

voice ringing. The man jumped to do so, not wishing to displease the

Lioness. He stumbled as he hurried to fulfill his orders. He gripped

the crank and pulled down on it with all his might. Soon, the main fort

gate was slowly swinging open. Since there were just two riders

leaving, he only opened it a short distance.

       With one last wave to Alanna, both Daine and Numair urged their

mounts forward and through the gate. Once outside, they heard the

gateman pull on the crank once more, and pull the gate shut behind

them. They were finally going home.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

       Night had fallen, and Daine and Numair stopped to make camp. It

wouldn't be far to Corus, so they had only brought enough provisions

for one night of camping. While Numair had busied himself in securing

the camp with a magical barrier, Daine had begun unrolling their

bedrolls. She first unstrapped her own from the packs the hostler had

attached to Spot's saddle. Numair had already dug a pit he planned to

use for a fire after he was done with the barrier, so Daine layed out

her bed roll right beside it in order to keep warm through the night.

She then went and unstrapped Numair's bedroll for him and laid it out a

short distance from her own.

       Once she had the sleeping arrangements in order, Daine moved on

to collecting firewood. Though Numair could easily start a fire with

his Gift, they would still need wood to fuel it and keep it going. She

walked a ways into the woods that lay off to the side of the main road,

away from the small break in the trees that she and Numair were using

as a campsite. She gathered wood as she walked, and soon had enough to

last for the night.

       When she returned to camp, she found that Numair had moved a

small log up to the fire pit to sit on. He was waiting for her to

return with the wood. She walked over to him, wood in hand, and threw

it onto the ground beside him. "I saw a small stream not far into the

woods," Daine said, breaking the silence. He looked up at her, giving

her his full attention. "I'm going to go bathe. I won't be long."

       " All right Magelet," Numair said thoughtfully. "I'll start on

supper while you're gone. Don't stray too far, only the gods know what

lurks in these trees." Numair added as an after thought.

       "All right," Daine said as she went to her pack to retrieve her

toiletries. She pulled out a towel for drying on, and a bar of soap to

scrub the dirt off of her body with. She then headed back into the

forest, turning her eyes into that of a cat to enable her to see more

clearly in the dark.

       Once she reached the stream, she found that the moonlight leaked

through the tree canopies just enough to give her light enough to see

without her cat eyes. She quickly stripped off her shirt and breeches

and tossed them aside. She then tested the cool water of the stream

with the tip of her toe. It was unbearably cold, but it would have to

do. She slipped out of her breast band and loincloth and stepped in.

She hurriedly waded into the stream until she was up to her waist in

water. She reached for her soap and quickly washed herself, in a hurry

to get done so she could get out of this cold water and into her dry

clothes.

       As she scrubbed, Daine could see the smoke from their campsite

coming up over the trees. If not for the trees, for they were too

thick, she would likely be able to see a slight glow coming from the

fire as well. Once done, she quickly dashed out of the water and was

immediately met by the cool night air against her bare skin. It was of

little more comfort than the stream water, so she hurried to put her

clothing back on.

       Daine dashed through the trees and back to camp, longing for the

warmth of the fire. When she stepped through the last of the trees and

into the clearing, Daine found that Numair had successfully gotten a

fire started. He had also pulled out all of the cookware and had

started dinner. From the smell coming from the fire, it smelled like

soup with steamed vegetables and chunks of chicken in it. That was

usually what they had when they cooked while camping, for it was easy

to preserve and take on long journeys.

       "That smells good," Daine said, taking a seat next to Numair,

who sat on a log by the fire, slowly stirring the soup. "I'm starved."

       Numair smiled at her compliment and snaked his spare arm around

her waste. "You were gone too long," Numair said, tightening his arm

around her teasingly.

       "I wasn't gone more than half an hour!" Daine retorted, grinning

at his complaint.

       "I stand by what I said, you were gone too long!" Numair

protested, grinning from ear to ear. He leaned down and kissed her

warmly and lovingly. He moved from her lips to cover her entire face

with kisses. Daine threw her head back to better contain his passion.

She moaned in pleasure, as did he. She could feel his hands trembling

from the passion as they ran up and down her back. All notions of

watching the soup to see that it didn't burn were forgotten. It wasn't

until an intense burning smell filled the air around them that the two

lovers came back to reality. Numair suddenly snatched his lips from

Daine's mouth and jumped to save their dinner. He threw the lid off of

the pot and black smoke poured out of it, filling the air.

       "Gods curse it!" he muttered, stirring what was left of the

soup. Luckily, it wasn't completely ruined, for both travelers were

rather hungry. "I think it's only slightly burnt."

       "That's alright, Numair," Daine supplied, looking over his

shoulder to see how bad off their dinner was.

       "Yes, well, its done now," Numair said with a slight laugh. "You

got me distracted and it almost burnt!" He added jokingly.

       "I believe it was you, Master Salmalin, who were doing most of

the kissing!" Daine replied, lightly slapping his shoulder. Numair

laughed so hard at this comment, he almost snorted.

       "If you weren't so irresistible, Magelet, then I might have been

able to control myself," Numair said teasingly, not turning away from

the soup. Though Daine could not see, for his back was mostly to her,

his eyes twinkled with pleasure from the passion they had just shared.

       Daine laughed at this, not knowing entirely what to say. She had

never received such a compliment before. She let this thought pass,

telling herself she'd think about it later. Numair passed her a bowl of

the slightly burnt soup, which she accepted gratefully. She moved from

his lap to sit in the place beside him. They ate in silence, both

considering different things that had been on their mind often in the

past few days.

       When they both had finished, Daine put away everything and

cleaned up the mess. This was a routine for herself and Numair. When

traveling, they would take turns with the different chores that went

along with it. If Numair made dinner, Daine would do clean up and then

make dinner the next night. She had soon cleaned up everything that

Numair had taken out to use for their dinner, for there hadn't been

much. It was a short trip to Corus, so neither so any reason to bring

much along.

       Forgetting about Numair for the present moment, Daine went to go

and sit on her bedroll. Just as she sat, she felt a large hand on her

shoulder as Numair turned her to face him. He sat on his knees next to

her, mischief written in his eyes. "Now where were we?" he asked, voice

filled with emotion. Daine felt giddy from his words, hoping he would

carry them out.

       "Here," she replied in little more than a whisper, leaning

forward and planting a kiss on his neck. He pulled her roughly to his

chest, his hands gently caressing her arms. He kissed her forehead

lightly, and then rained tiny kissed down the side of her face. She

lifted her arms in the air and wrapped them around his neck, pulling

her face closer to his own. She could now feel his warm breath against

her skin, their faces touching. He was drawing in ragged breaths,

fighting the passion to keep it from over taking him. He didn't want to

get carried away, or did he? He wiped that thought from his mind for

the present, and preceded to lock his lips firmly with his loves for

the time being.

       "Mmmm, I love you," he said raggedly, his voice quiet. As he

again brought his lips to hers, she fell back, letting the passion

consume her. Soon, he was on the ground and on top of her. Their lips

were locked in a passionate kiss, sending chills of pleasure up both of

their spines.

       Running her fingers through his long strands of raven black

hair, Daine held him close to her, as he held her close. Suddenly,

everything stopped. He seemed to freeze on top of her, as if caught in

some horrible act. Daine opened her eyes to look up at him, and saw

many emotions flaming in his fiery eyes. One she could clearly see was

his love for her, another was one she'd seen before, but had never been

able to identify. It was an emotion that caused his eyes to darken and

his breaths more ragged. It was an emotion that gave her an excitement

that she never got from anything else.

       Another emotion Daine saw clearly was a look of confusion. He

seemed torn between two ideas. Daine longed to comfort him, to quell

the look of longing that burned deep in his every feature. Hesitantly,

she spoke up. "What's wrong, Numair?" she asked, her voice shaking

every bit as hard as her limbs were. Her whole body trembled beneath

his weight, and Daine was sure she could feel his body tremble as well.

       "Sweet, I-" Numair began, but cut himself off, not fully knowing

how to put his emotions into words. Fire suddenly rushed into his eyes,

brighter than she'd ever seen before. He seemed to lose all notion of

whatever he had begun to say just moments before. He pulled her face up

to meet his suddenly, taking her off guard. She gave into him, letting

him kiss her with the fire and passion that flowed through his veins.

Through all the times he had kissed her, this time she had gotten a

whole knew feeling. It felt as though she had never kissed before. She

had a feeling she knew what was making her feel this way, but she put

that thought aside for later. There would be other times for rational

thinking.

       Suddenly, and all too soon for the both of them, Numair jerked

his head back, much as he had done before. "Daine-" he breathed, doing

his best to regain himself and speak rationally to her. He was finding

this impossible. He had let the passion take him too far, and now it

was clouding his mind. "I-I, I mean-" he stuttered as he spoke, hands

shaking uncontrollably as he grasped her hands in her own. "I-we-We

need to stop." he finally said what he had meant to say before, and it

had been to the best of his ability this present moment.

       Once he had choked these words out, he rolled off of his love

and went to move over and into his own bedroll. He turned on his side,

refusing to face her. "We don't have to stop if you don't want to,"

Daine offered scooting over to place a hand on his shoulder. His body

reacted immediately to her touch, even though she had only touched him

in the slightest way.

       "No," he said firmly, though it had been hard to do so. It had

taken every ounce of his self-control. "W-we should wait." his voice

came out ragged, barely understandable.

       Daine thought for a moment, and felt her rational thoughts

returning to her. She nodded to his words, though he could not see for

his back was turned to her to block out any temptation. "Yes," she said

after a while, "Yes, you're right." With that said she pulled back the

cover of her bedroll and slipped inside. Though she hadn't known it

moments ago, for she had been rather preoccupied, she was fair tired.

Since they would have to rise early the next morning so as to get a

decent start on their journey to Corus, Daine thought it best to get

some sleep. "Good night, Numair," she said with a yawn, just before

pulling her covers up to her chin.

       "Good night, Magelet," Numair said, not sounding the least bit

tired. All was silent after this last comment was made. All that could

be heard was the crackling of the fire that still blazed beside them as

a source of warmth and all natural sounds of the forest. Daine heard a

cricket chirp nearby, and the whoot of an howl not long after.

Drowsiness began to pull her in, erasing the sense of the cool night

air upon her face. It only took a few minutes for her to drift off to

sleep, the sounds of nature lulling her into dreamland.

       Unlike Daine, Numair did not drift off to sleep so fast. He was

up for hours past the moment when they had said good night to one

another. He was deep in thought, and in feeling. He couldn't wipe away

the intense longing for his Daine. He hadn't wanted to stop, but he had

known full well what was proper.

If it had been anyone else, someone he loved any less than Daine, he

would not have stopped. It was his deep love for her that had told him

he had gone to far. It was also her deep love and his deep love for her

that had made it so difficult for him to stop what he was doing. Now,

he sat awake, listening to the sounds of the forest. He had a feeling

that he wouldn't be able to drift off to sleep any time soon.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

A/N: Well? What do you think? I think I went more intimate than

usual....please feel free to let me know if I went too far, or for that

matter not far enough. I love to hear your comments, and I usually take

you suggestions, so if you have an ideas, I'd appreciate you dropping a

review. In fact, if you guys don't review, I won't update, so just keep

that in mind..... ^_^