I have updated the story at last! Thank you all so much for those much-encouraging reviews. I hope you will enjoy reading this chapter. Please tell me what you think.

Emperor Ozorne once again sat on his mighty throne, viewing his people with a majestic air. He had just been watching the Carthaki dancers when his attention was riveted by the entrance of two people.

Actually, the attentions of quite a few people –both male and female– were directed on Daine and Numair as they entered the door in a flurry of blue and black.

Eyes turned admiringly at the wildmage's swishing figure, and dreamy sighs followed her teacher's back.

Daine, who was oblivious to her own admirers, noticed at once the look of longing on many Carthaki ladies as their beautifully painted eyes followed the mage. Daine regarded this with a painful twist of envy, but mentally scolded herself for it. Stop it she told herself, just because Numair is your teacher doesn't mean that he only exists for you!  

To Daine's dismay, much of the food was the same as the previous banquets. Plates upon plate of meat, both raw and cooked, were piled on the great eating table. Sighing, the wildmage reached for the basket of bread rolls.

'Bad food?' Numair whispered from beside her.

Daine nodded. 'You'd think people around here knew what vegetables were!' she hissed.

There was a polite cough, and Daine turned to see a young man of around her age sitting to her left. He was finely dressed in a cloud of silver.

'Excuse me, lady,' he said courteously, 'but I couldn't help overhearing…if you prefer lighter dishes, there is a salad mix here. The dressing is a Carthaki special.'

'Oh – ' Daine began, feeling herself blush. She had just caught sight of the lapis lazuli rod fixed in his belt, which only meant once thing: he was the Emperor's next heir. 'I'm sorry your majesty. I didn't mean to criticize the way – '

The young man suddenly grinned. 'No offence taken,' he said cheerfully, 'my uncle always preferred meat to greens. Just because he likes goose-fat soup doesn't mean you have to as well.'     

Daine grimaced. 'Goose-fat soup?'

'It's his favourite. I'm Kaddar, by the way. I know who you are already.'

The rest of the banquet was spent in polite small talks. Daine, being not very used to dinner-conversations was rather embarrassed at Kaddar's rapid attention on her. Not knowing what to do, she sought for Numair and tried to include him into their conversation, but her teacher was absorbed in a complicated discussion with Lindhall. The mage's eyes were lit in excitement.

Daine rolled her eyes. The only thing that brought this kind of enthusiasm from her teacher was on the subject of diplomatic magical law, or some other equally boring topics.

'Your teacher seems very knowledgeable,' Kaddar remarked, nodding towards the mage.

'Yes,' Daine agreed, 'he is fair gifted. Sometimes though, I do wonder how he can take everything in, what with teaching me and doing his own experiments.'

Kaddar smiled. 'You must be very lucky to have him for a teacher. I have heard of many great things about him from Master Lindhall.'

Daine grinned. 'You should hear some of the things people say about him back in Tortall then. Did you know that the our cook swore never to let him enter his kitchen again because he blew up the oven?'

'Complimenting me again, Daine?' Numair had just turned his focus on to his student.

'You must be Kaddar,' he said formally, and extended a hand over Daine's knees.     'It is an honour to meet you, Master Salmalín,' replied Kaddar, reaching over to shake Numair's hand politely, and then he grinned. 'Daine was just telling me how you managed to make the kitchen oven explode.'

Numair grimaced. 'I wouldn't say explode,' he protested, raising an eyebrow pointedly at Daine, 'you will find that not everything my student here tell you is entirely accurate. I merely malfunctioned the oven a little, and it was purely accidental based too.'

Daine snorted. 'Of course it was.'

Numair gave his student a slight push with his shoulder – Kaddar laughed, regarding this with amusement.  

'Actually Kaddar,' Numair continued, 'before Daine throws away any more of what's left of my honour, I will tell you what happened. I was actually trying to test the property of a new type of gem I had discovered a while ago. Lava Agates are very famous for its ability to store heat, and I wanted to see just how much heat it can hold. So, very logically, I put it into the oven, planning to come back for it in an hours time.'

'But then, you got distracted, as you always do,' Daine cut in, 'and by the time you remembered about it, the kitchen was in blackened ruins and all you managed to do was laugh!'

'Great heavens above,' Numair said, shaking his head, 'the way you tell the story – you make me sound like a demented madman! No wonder people give me strange looks.  No, Kaddar, do not listen to her – what really happened was that when I eventually returned to the kitchen, the oven was looking a tad more… sootier.'

'The oven didn't look sootier, the oven wasn't even there anymore!'

'Well,' Numair sighed in defeat, shaking his head at Daine, 'I never liked that oven anyway. I was merely doing the cook a favour by blowing it up. The one we have now works much more efficiently.'

Their conversation was interrupted by the sudden sound of music. A group of hired musicians began to play in one corner of the hall.

All around, people stood up to make their way towards the middle of the room.

Daine, Numair and Kaddar followed suite and soon found themselves amidst a large crowd of Carthaki nobles.

Although Daine had been to a few banquets in Tortall, she was still not used to such large public gatherings, and been surrounded by these high, elegant strangers made her feel uneasy. 

Seeing her discomfort, Numair gave Daine's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. 'Its all right,' he said softly, 'there is no need for you to stay for the whole event. Just pay your respect to the Emperor and then you may leave.'

Daine nodded. She had no intentions of staying for long.

The sweet melody of the flute player gradually came to a halt, leaving a lingering silence within the hall.

Daine waited for the next piece of music to start, but it did not come. She looked about her to find that everyone was looking expectantly towards the Emperor.

'What's going on?' she whispered.

'It's the beginning of the dance,' Kaddar informed her, 'it is traditional for the Emperor to start the dance by choosing a partner.'

Intrigued, Daine looked around her once more, picking up things she had not noticed before.

A group of finely dressed Carthaki ladies, Daine noted with amusement, had fought their way to the very front of the crowd, so that they were in perfect view of the emperor. Each lady's eyes were filled with the identical look of hopefulness.

To be chosen by the Emperor must be a very big honour, Daine thought to herself, and then laughed when she thought of the facial expression Alanna, the King's Champion would be wearing if she were chosen. 

Hearing her laugh, Numair gave her a quizzical look but Daine just shook her head.

There was an excited murmur and Daine turned to see the Emperor striding proudly down the hall. He regarded his fellow subjects with a courteous manner, and when he bowed, the rest of the room bowed in return.

Slowly, Emperor Ozorne walked towards his people, eyes searching for a dance partner.

The silence was on knife-edge point. Daine could almost hear the screaming desires of the ladies around her, as they desperately tried to catch the Emperor's attention.  

Curious, Daine studied the Emperor of Carthak, trying to guess whom he would settle his choice on.

'I bet he'll pick that blond lady in the silver gown,' Daine whispered to Numair.

'You are too young to bet,' Numair murmured offhandedly. His eyes were fixed on the Emperor with an aggressive intensity.

Daine shook her head, worried for her teacher. It was bad enough that he had to come to Carthak, but to stand this close to the man who once locked him…

Quite suddenly, a large shadow loomed over Daine. She blinked in surprise, and then felt her face turn beet red.

Emperor Ozorne had stopped right in front of her.

Well, that's it for now. I will try and update as soon as possible. Again, please review!