Chapter 11. Numair finally decided to work himself back into the story and
who was I to stop him? Hahahaha, anyway thanks once again to my reviewers
and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the places in the story, they belong to Tamora Pierce.
***
When Daine first regained consciousness, she lay quietly where she was and kept her eyes closed. Everything was silent. Her head was throbbing sharply and she feared that even the smallest movement would cause it to explode. Once the initial pain dulled, Daine risked a quick peek at her surroundings.
Slowly, she pried her protesting eyelids apart, opening them to the world. All she saw was black. Nothingness. She couldn't see anything, she was blind.
***
"May I have this dance?" Numair ask courteously to the most beautiful girl in the room. That was saying something too. The ballroom was filled with the most splendid ladies in all of Tortall, including the queen, but they were dull in comparison to this one.
The lady in question smiled the most dazzling smile he had ever seen. He'd take that for a yes.
Taking her hands, Numair began dance with her.
Tonight was a night to celebrate! He picked her up and swung her around, pleased to hear her giggle. Numair kissed her softly on the forehead.
Around them other couples were chattering with the greatest cheer. Looking up for a moment, Numair turned towards the throne where his king and queen sat. Jon was grinning from ear to ear. Numair hadn't seen him so happy since before the Immortals War and was glad to see that Jon hadn't been hardened by the troubles of his kingdom.
He deserved to be happy; after all, he was going to be a grandfather! Two days before, Princess Shinkokami and Prince Roald had announced to their rather shocked parents that they were going to have a child. The news had spread through the realm like a wild fire and a ball had been thrown to honor the occasion.
Looking back to his dance partner, he found that he was now holding a small monkey.
"Sarra!" he cried to his daughter, "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't shape shift anymore!"
"You agreed to that, but she obviously didn't," Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau said mischievously, as Sarra wrapped her long arms around his neck and swung from side to side. Alanna was clad in a beautiful plum dress that accented her eyes, hair, and the silver gleam of the sword that she kept always by her side these days.
"This is the third change today," Numair said wearily to his long time friend. "She kept me up all night long with her wolf howling. She's only good when her ma's around."
"Let me hold her for a moment," Alanna said, gently prying her godchild off of Numair's neck and into her arms. She held Sarra up, eye level with her, and said gently, "Must we take you back to Tkaa, or do you want to stay here with your da?"
Slowly, the monkey that was his daughter changed back to her own form. Alanna handed her back to Numair.
"You just have to know how to talk to her." Other than Daine and her parents, Alanna was the only one who Sarra would listen too.
"Nah, she's too stubborn, just like Diane." The silence stretched between the friends, neither knowing what to say. Numair bounced Sarra gently in his arms. She was just like Daine, form the stormy gray eyes to the curly brown hair that had recently sprung from her head. Beautiful like her ma, he smiled, not able to get enough of his baby girl, but in ways even more beautiful. While he could see Daine in his daughter, there were bits of him in her too. Sarra's skin was the golden color of his own and her nose was unmistakably his.
Finally, Alanna placed her hand comfortingly on his shoulder, letting it rest there for a moment before she walked away.
Numair stood quietly for a moment, deep in thought, before he finally decided that it was about time he went to pay a visit to his sovereigns. He noticed that, for the moment, the crowd around Jon and Thayet had cleared away, and Numair strode over to their thrones.
Noticing the arrival of the mage, Thayet stood up and hugged him.
"Isn't it wonderful Numair? A grandchild! It will be so nice to have a baby underfoot again!" Thayet was as beautiful as ever, seeming to never fall into the clutches of age. Her eyes were aglow as she looked back to her husband, "Won't it Jon?"
"Yes, of course," Jon said, dutifully agreeing with his wife, but his eyes showed that his response was heartfelt. "Another little one to toss around," he grinned, "Mind if I hold my goddaughter, I'm going to need some practice at holding a baby again."
"You certainly will," Numair said, laughing at his boyish enthusiasm, and gently placing Sarra in his arms.
Suddenly, a loud screech pierced though the chatter of the ball. A bunch of feathers swooped through the open window and into the ballroom. The bird circled the room for a moment, as if searching for someone in particular before dropping exhausted at the feet of Jonathan.
The monarchs starred at the osprey for a moment before Thayet whispered, "Daine,"
She reached down and picked up the trembling creature, gently working a rolled up bit of parchment from his beak. Numair watched her tensely as she unrolled the parchment. News from Daine...
Quickly, the queen let her eyes scan the paper. When she finished, she closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.
"Jon, we'd best call together the council,"
***
No not blind, Daine realized with relief moments later. It was just very, very dark. Once her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, she could just make out her surroundings. She was in a cell, that much was clear, but where, she wasn't exactly sure. The room was hardly big enough for her to stretch out fully from her position on the ground. Daine slowly stood up, closing her eyes to the dizzying nausea she felt. Her head began to throb again. Unsteadily she took a couple steps toward the barred door of her cell, before being rudely jerked back. She lost her footing and felt to the ground with a whimper. She was tethered to the wall of the cell by chains at her ankles and wrists. Why hadn't she noticed that before?
Then she remembered the club falling down to her head. Closing her eyes, she replayed the moment over and over, searching for a detail, anything to try to explain who had attacked her and why.
She saw a quickly flash of purple and silver behind the blur of the club. Purple and silver were the colors of the City Guards. They answered directly to the regents. That meant only one thing, she'd been found out.
She was probably somewhere below the palace, in the deepest, darkest of the nation's dungeons. A rat scurried across her bare foot startling her. Sighing, Daine slowly reached her hand to the top of her tender head. She felt blood on her fingertips.
She took a deep breath. The world around her smelled dank and moldy, but just underneath all of that, there was the slight odor death.
But that wasn't what scarred Daine. It wasn't the smells, the darkness, the chains, the pain. It was the silence. No matter how hard she listened, she couldn't hear the People. She couldn't cry out to them for help. Not even to the rats.
***
The iron glowed an angry red as it sat just in the reaching fingers of the fire below it. The shopkeeper dropped a single bead of water into the pot and smiled satisfied at it turned to steam with a sharp sizzled.
It was hot enough.
Turning, he picked up the box that lay on the stool behind him. It was filled to the brim with gold. Gold candlesticks, watches, rings, goblets, bracelets, plates, and necklaces. His gold, free for him to sell to the highest bidder. Well, not yet, he thought bitterly, looking back once more to the glowing pot.
He had gotten the gold cheap from thieves and it would be bad for business if a customer came into his shop and saw his stolen gold rings for sale. Terribly bad. So he was forced to melt it all down, pour it into bar molds, and then bring the bars to a goldsmith for shaping.
It was a dreadfully long process, but all worth the profits he made. Reaching into the box, he pulled out a beautifully crafted gold plate. Admiring it for a moment, he saw his reflection in the polished surface. Giving himself a grin, he tossed the plate into the pot and watched transfixed as the plate melted like butter into pure liquid gold.
Growing impatient, he grasped the heavy box in his weak merchant arms, and turned it over, spilling his treasures into the pot, the clanking of metal on metal music to his ears.
It all landed neatly in the center of the pot where it began to melt, all except for a small locket, which caught on the buttons of his sleeve as he had emptied the box.
He lifted in up studying it. Ah, the locket, he remembered. What a deal. Still curious, he tried once again to open it up, but failed. The clasp must be jammed he thought, and carelessly tossed it into the melting pot.
***
The council was silent; stunned at the news that Jon had just given them. Raoul was the first to speak up.
"When?" he asked composedly.
"Very soon," Thayet replied.
He nodded, "I'll get my men in position." Standing up he crossed the chamber and headed to the door.
As it opened, Numair thought her heard Raoul tell one of the servants, "Fetch me Lady Keladry and Sgt. Domitan." But he couldn't be sure. He was still in a stupor.
Hadensra alive, war mages, immortal attacks? Daine? He completely ignored whatever it was the others were saying, lost in his thoughts.
His heart burned with anger, love, hate, too many emotions to sort apart. How could Daine say she'd stay in the Isles longer? He couldn't bear to be apart from her. While she'd been gone, it felt like a part of him was gone too.
Placing his hand to his chest, Numair realized that his heart didn't just feel like it burned; it really was burning his chest. Reaching down into his robes, his hand closed over a small burning object. So it wasn't actually his heart burning, just this charm.
Lifting it over his head he held it aloft. It was the charm that he had connected with the locket he had given Daine. Only, it wasn't glowing with his gift like it was supposed to when Daine opened the locket, it was melting!
"Her locket's been destroyed!" he yelled aloud to everyone, "Something's gone wrong!"
"What are you talking about Numair?" George growled at him, hating to be left in the dark.
"Before Daine left, I gave her a locket that would alert me when she opened it. She said she would only open it if she was in trouble, but this charm that connects me to that locket just reacted in a fashion that tells me the locket has been destroyed!"
"Numair calm down," Prince Roald said to his former teacher.
"No," he cried, not caring who thought he was crazy, "something's gone wrong. She's been captured. I can feel it!"
"Salmalin, you've overreacting, I'm sure everything's fine. Daine's a tough girl," Buri said, "She knows how to take care of herself!"
Why was everyone telling him that what he knew in his heart to be true was wrong?
He shook his head, "No, nothing's fine! I'm going to her."
He stood up and headed to the door, but found his path blocked by Jon.
"You're not leaving here," the king said sharply, "there's an attack headed here right now with mages no one can even try to handle but you. Are you willing to risk this entire realm for the rescue of one person?" he looked into Numair's eyes.
Before he could reply, a squire burst into the room.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we're under attack!" he cried, before hurrying out to go join the fight. The chamber was a furry of activity as everyone rushed to prepare for battle.
Jon stood unmoved in front of Numair. 'This is it, Master Salmalin, choose now what you're going to do. Whatever that is, the gods know I won't be able to stop you, just think, what would Daine want you to do?"
Numair cursed Jon over and over again for his tact. Daine would want him to help the country she loved so much. He knew what he had to do.
"I'll be on the wall," he fumed as he brushed past Jon and stormed out the door.
***
Daine didn't realize that she had been sleeping until a bright light erupted in her eyes. Unexpectedly, she longed for the cool darkness again.
"Rise and shine Veralidaine," said a voice from beyond the light
Squinting, she peered into the torchlight and saw three men. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, though they still ached at the brightness, she was able to make out the figures.
Two were dressed all in black and wore masks on their faces. The third was a richly garbed figure with copper rings on very finger that Daine recognized as Regent King Rubinyan of the Copper Isles.
"How are you feeling?" he asked in a concerned manner, "Do you like the accommodations?"
Daine glared at him, remaining silent. This fellow was too much like Orzone for her liking, from the arrogant manner to the rings.
"What, not in the mood to talk? That's great because I am. All you've got to do is listen."
He squatted down until he was eye level with Daine.
"You're probably very confused right now, maybe angry, maybe scarred? Well, that's perfectly expectable. Why, you're still a very young woman, what are you doing involved in all this spy business?"
When Daine didn't answer, he continued. "You can talk to me, you know," he said sweetly, "There's no one here but me, and a couple of my friends." He gestured to the men behind him. "Hey do you like those chains?" he asked suddenly pointing to the metal around Daine's wrists.
"Their marvelous really, I wish I could call them my own, but they were developed in Carthak. Some of my men pulled the metal that they're made of out of the ruble that was once my cousin's palace in Carthak. You made quite a mess of that place, but I'm sure you remember Emperor Orzone and his palace. You see, he had plans to keep you in Carthak and had several mages working on a way to stop up you wild magic. They came up with that. Who'd of thought?" He was disgustingly cheerful.
Who could forget Orzone? She resisted the urge to shiver at the thought of what might have happened if she hadn't gotten away from him. Daine looked into the king's eyes with a look that could have killed.
"Well, I supposed you remember." He stopped himself for a moment, seeing her look. "Yes, well, were not here to talk history, I'm here to make a proposition."
"You are an amazing woman with amazing talents. You're wasting those talents in Tortall. Why that king of yours hasn't even made you a noble, or given you lands for all that you've done for him! Think about it, you could work for me. Together, we could rule both the southern and northern lands. I can offer you everything, slaves, money, lands, titles. Duchess Veralidaine sounds about right, doesn't it? What do you say? This all ends right now and we climb together to the top."
Daine looked at him as if considering his offer, then she spit in his face.
Rubinyan didn't move and starred coldly at her as he wiped her saliva off his face with one shaking hand.
"Fine, then we're going have to do this the hard way." He screamed. Turning on his heel he cried to the men with him, "Find out what ever you can about Tortall from her, and make it painful."
***
That's it for 11. Just wondering, how many people did I get with that Numair tease? I tried to make it seem like he was cheating on Daine, dancing with some lady, but it was just his daughter. I can picture Numair as a really loving father so I tried to portray his love for Sarra the best that I could. Oh, and I was reading my summary for this story the other day and I was like, wow this summary stinks! If you have any ideas how I can make it a bit more interesting, let me know in a review. Your input is greatly appreciated! Now, make like the end of a math chapter and Review!
Oh, and thanks to , who pointed out an error with the original version of the chapter. I changed that little bit (grins sheepishly) sorry about that, I haven't read the Immortal series in a while, but I'm working on that!
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the places in the story, they belong to Tamora Pierce.
***
When Daine first regained consciousness, she lay quietly where she was and kept her eyes closed. Everything was silent. Her head was throbbing sharply and she feared that even the smallest movement would cause it to explode. Once the initial pain dulled, Daine risked a quick peek at her surroundings.
Slowly, she pried her protesting eyelids apart, opening them to the world. All she saw was black. Nothingness. She couldn't see anything, she was blind.
***
"May I have this dance?" Numair ask courteously to the most beautiful girl in the room. That was saying something too. The ballroom was filled with the most splendid ladies in all of Tortall, including the queen, but they were dull in comparison to this one.
The lady in question smiled the most dazzling smile he had ever seen. He'd take that for a yes.
Taking her hands, Numair began dance with her.
Tonight was a night to celebrate! He picked her up and swung her around, pleased to hear her giggle. Numair kissed her softly on the forehead.
Around them other couples were chattering with the greatest cheer. Looking up for a moment, Numair turned towards the throne where his king and queen sat. Jon was grinning from ear to ear. Numair hadn't seen him so happy since before the Immortals War and was glad to see that Jon hadn't been hardened by the troubles of his kingdom.
He deserved to be happy; after all, he was going to be a grandfather! Two days before, Princess Shinkokami and Prince Roald had announced to their rather shocked parents that they were going to have a child. The news had spread through the realm like a wild fire and a ball had been thrown to honor the occasion.
Looking back to his dance partner, he found that he was now holding a small monkey.
"Sarra!" he cried to his daughter, "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't shape shift anymore!"
"You agreed to that, but she obviously didn't," Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau said mischievously, as Sarra wrapped her long arms around his neck and swung from side to side. Alanna was clad in a beautiful plum dress that accented her eyes, hair, and the silver gleam of the sword that she kept always by her side these days.
"This is the third change today," Numair said wearily to his long time friend. "She kept me up all night long with her wolf howling. She's only good when her ma's around."
"Let me hold her for a moment," Alanna said, gently prying her godchild off of Numair's neck and into her arms. She held Sarra up, eye level with her, and said gently, "Must we take you back to Tkaa, or do you want to stay here with your da?"
Slowly, the monkey that was his daughter changed back to her own form. Alanna handed her back to Numair.
"You just have to know how to talk to her." Other than Daine and her parents, Alanna was the only one who Sarra would listen too.
"Nah, she's too stubborn, just like Diane." The silence stretched between the friends, neither knowing what to say. Numair bounced Sarra gently in his arms. She was just like Daine, form the stormy gray eyes to the curly brown hair that had recently sprung from her head. Beautiful like her ma, he smiled, not able to get enough of his baby girl, but in ways even more beautiful. While he could see Daine in his daughter, there were bits of him in her too. Sarra's skin was the golden color of his own and her nose was unmistakably his.
Finally, Alanna placed her hand comfortingly on his shoulder, letting it rest there for a moment before she walked away.
Numair stood quietly for a moment, deep in thought, before he finally decided that it was about time he went to pay a visit to his sovereigns. He noticed that, for the moment, the crowd around Jon and Thayet had cleared away, and Numair strode over to their thrones.
Noticing the arrival of the mage, Thayet stood up and hugged him.
"Isn't it wonderful Numair? A grandchild! It will be so nice to have a baby underfoot again!" Thayet was as beautiful as ever, seeming to never fall into the clutches of age. Her eyes were aglow as she looked back to her husband, "Won't it Jon?"
"Yes, of course," Jon said, dutifully agreeing with his wife, but his eyes showed that his response was heartfelt. "Another little one to toss around," he grinned, "Mind if I hold my goddaughter, I'm going to need some practice at holding a baby again."
"You certainly will," Numair said, laughing at his boyish enthusiasm, and gently placing Sarra in his arms.
Suddenly, a loud screech pierced though the chatter of the ball. A bunch of feathers swooped through the open window and into the ballroom. The bird circled the room for a moment, as if searching for someone in particular before dropping exhausted at the feet of Jonathan.
The monarchs starred at the osprey for a moment before Thayet whispered, "Daine,"
She reached down and picked up the trembling creature, gently working a rolled up bit of parchment from his beak. Numair watched her tensely as she unrolled the parchment. News from Daine...
Quickly, the queen let her eyes scan the paper. When she finished, she closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.
"Jon, we'd best call together the council,"
***
No not blind, Daine realized with relief moments later. It was just very, very dark. Once her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, she could just make out her surroundings. She was in a cell, that much was clear, but where, she wasn't exactly sure. The room was hardly big enough for her to stretch out fully from her position on the ground. Daine slowly stood up, closing her eyes to the dizzying nausea she felt. Her head began to throb again. Unsteadily she took a couple steps toward the barred door of her cell, before being rudely jerked back. She lost her footing and felt to the ground with a whimper. She was tethered to the wall of the cell by chains at her ankles and wrists. Why hadn't she noticed that before?
Then she remembered the club falling down to her head. Closing her eyes, she replayed the moment over and over, searching for a detail, anything to try to explain who had attacked her and why.
She saw a quickly flash of purple and silver behind the blur of the club. Purple and silver were the colors of the City Guards. They answered directly to the regents. That meant only one thing, she'd been found out.
She was probably somewhere below the palace, in the deepest, darkest of the nation's dungeons. A rat scurried across her bare foot startling her. Sighing, Daine slowly reached her hand to the top of her tender head. She felt blood on her fingertips.
She took a deep breath. The world around her smelled dank and moldy, but just underneath all of that, there was the slight odor death.
But that wasn't what scarred Daine. It wasn't the smells, the darkness, the chains, the pain. It was the silence. No matter how hard she listened, she couldn't hear the People. She couldn't cry out to them for help. Not even to the rats.
***
The iron glowed an angry red as it sat just in the reaching fingers of the fire below it. The shopkeeper dropped a single bead of water into the pot and smiled satisfied at it turned to steam with a sharp sizzled.
It was hot enough.
Turning, he picked up the box that lay on the stool behind him. It was filled to the brim with gold. Gold candlesticks, watches, rings, goblets, bracelets, plates, and necklaces. His gold, free for him to sell to the highest bidder. Well, not yet, he thought bitterly, looking back once more to the glowing pot.
He had gotten the gold cheap from thieves and it would be bad for business if a customer came into his shop and saw his stolen gold rings for sale. Terribly bad. So he was forced to melt it all down, pour it into bar molds, and then bring the bars to a goldsmith for shaping.
It was a dreadfully long process, but all worth the profits he made. Reaching into the box, he pulled out a beautifully crafted gold plate. Admiring it for a moment, he saw his reflection in the polished surface. Giving himself a grin, he tossed the plate into the pot and watched transfixed as the plate melted like butter into pure liquid gold.
Growing impatient, he grasped the heavy box in his weak merchant arms, and turned it over, spilling his treasures into the pot, the clanking of metal on metal music to his ears.
It all landed neatly in the center of the pot where it began to melt, all except for a small locket, which caught on the buttons of his sleeve as he had emptied the box.
He lifted in up studying it. Ah, the locket, he remembered. What a deal. Still curious, he tried once again to open it up, but failed. The clasp must be jammed he thought, and carelessly tossed it into the melting pot.
***
The council was silent; stunned at the news that Jon had just given them. Raoul was the first to speak up.
"When?" he asked composedly.
"Very soon," Thayet replied.
He nodded, "I'll get my men in position." Standing up he crossed the chamber and headed to the door.
As it opened, Numair thought her heard Raoul tell one of the servants, "Fetch me Lady Keladry and Sgt. Domitan." But he couldn't be sure. He was still in a stupor.
Hadensra alive, war mages, immortal attacks? Daine? He completely ignored whatever it was the others were saying, lost in his thoughts.
His heart burned with anger, love, hate, too many emotions to sort apart. How could Daine say she'd stay in the Isles longer? He couldn't bear to be apart from her. While she'd been gone, it felt like a part of him was gone too.
Placing his hand to his chest, Numair realized that his heart didn't just feel like it burned; it really was burning his chest. Reaching down into his robes, his hand closed over a small burning object. So it wasn't actually his heart burning, just this charm.
Lifting it over his head he held it aloft. It was the charm that he had connected with the locket he had given Daine. Only, it wasn't glowing with his gift like it was supposed to when Daine opened the locket, it was melting!
"Her locket's been destroyed!" he yelled aloud to everyone, "Something's gone wrong!"
"What are you talking about Numair?" George growled at him, hating to be left in the dark.
"Before Daine left, I gave her a locket that would alert me when she opened it. She said she would only open it if she was in trouble, but this charm that connects me to that locket just reacted in a fashion that tells me the locket has been destroyed!"
"Numair calm down," Prince Roald said to his former teacher.
"No," he cried, not caring who thought he was crazy, "something's gone wrong. She's been captured. I can feel it!"
"Salmalin, you've overreacting, I'm sure everything's fine. Daine's a tough girl," Buri said, "She knows how to take care of herself!"
Why was everyone telling him that what he knew in his heart to be true was wrong?
He shook his head, "No, nothing's fine! I'm going to her."
He stood up and headed to the door, but found his path blocked by Jon.
"You're not leaving here," the king said sharply, "there's an attack headed here right now with mages no one can even try to handle but you. Are you willing to risk this entire realm for the rescue of one person?" he looked into Numair's eyes.
Before he could reply, a squire burst into the room.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we're under attack!" he cried, before hurrying out to go join the fight. The chamber was a furry of activity as everyone rushed to prepare for battle.
Jon stood unmoved in front of Numair. 'This is it, Master Salmalin, choose now what you're going to do. Whatever that is, the gods know I won't be able to stop you, just think, what would Daine want you to do?"
Numair cursed Jon over and over again for his tact. Daine would want him to help the country she loved so much. He knew what he had to do.
"I'll be on the wall," he fumed as he brushed past Jon and stormed out the door.
***
Daine didn't realize that she had been sleeping until a bright light erupted in her eyes. Unexpectedly, she longed for the cool darkness again.
"Rise and shine Veralidaine," said a voice from beyond the light
Squinting, she peered into the torchlight and saw three men. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, though they still ached at the brightness, she was able to make out the figures.
Two were dressed all in black and wore masks on their faces. The third was a richly garbed figure with copper rings on very finger that Daine recognized as Regent King Rubinyan of the Copper Isles.
"How are you feeling?" he asked in a concerned manner, "Do you like the accommodations?"
Daine glared at him, remaining silent. This fellow was too much like Orzone for her liking, from the arrogant manner to the rings.
"What, not in the mood to talk? That's great because I am. All you've got to do is listen."
He squatted down until he was eye level with Daine.
"You're probably very confused right now, maybe angry, maybe scarred? Well, that's perfectly expectable. Why, you're still a very young woman, what are you doing involved in all this spy business?"
When Daine didn't answer, he continued. "You can talk to me, you know," he said sweetly, "There's no one here but me, and a couple of my friends." He gestured to the men behind him. "Hey do you like those chains?" he asked suddenly pointing to the metal around Daine's wrists.
"Their marvelous really, I wish I could call them my own, but they were developed in Carthak. Some of my men pulled the metal that they're made of out of the ruble that was once my cousin's palace in Carthak. You made quite a mess of that place, but I'm sure you remember Emperor Orzone and his palace. You see, he had plans to keep you in Carthak and had several mages working on a way to stop up you wild magic. They came up with that. Who'd of thought?" He was disgustingly cheerful.
Who could forget Orzone? She resisted the urge to shiver at the thought of what might have happened if she hadn't gotten away from him. Daine looked into the king's eyes with a look that could have killed.
"Well, I supposed you remember." He stopped himself for a moment, seeing her look. "Yes, well, were not here to talk history, I'm here to make a proposition."
"You are an amazing woman with amazing talents. You're wasting those talents in Tortall. Why that king of yours hasn't even made you a noble, or given you lands for all that you've done for him! Think about it, you could work for me. Together, we could rule both the southern and northern lands. I can offer you everything, slaves, money, lands, titles. Duchess Veralidaine sounds about right, doesn't it? What do you say? This all ends right now and we climb together to the top."
Daine looked at him as if considering his offer, then she spit in his face.
Rubinyan didn't move and starred coldly at her as he wiped her saliva off his face with one shaking hand.
"Fine, then we're going have to do this the hard way." He screamed. Turning on his heel he cried to the men with him, "Find out what ever you can about Tortall from her, and make it painful."
***
That's it for 11. Just wondering, how many people did I get with that Numair tease? I tried to make it seem like he was cheating on Daine, dancing with some lady, but it was just his daughter. I can picture Numair as a really loving father so I tried to portray his love for Sarra the best that I could. Oh, and I was reading my summary for this story the other day and I was like, wow this summary stinks! If you have any ideas how I can make it a bit more interesting, let me know in a review. Your input is greatly appreciated! Now, make like the end of a math chapter and Review!
Oh, and thanks to , who pointed out an error with the original version of the chapter. I changed that little bit (grins sheepishly) sorry about that, I haven't read the Immortal series in a while, but I'm working on that!