Disclaimer: the characters mentioned in my fic are sadly not mine (though I wish there were) but belong to the wonderfully talented Tamora Pierce… I'm just borrowing them for a little while…I plan on giving then back – eventually –

A/N: hey everyone…sorry its taken me so long to put the next chapter up, but with things round here being so crazy I haven't had the chance to even look at my fic in over 2 weeks! Sad, yes I know…but now that there's only 10 days till Christmas, 'things' a bound to distract me I can't concentrate on getting this finished…yeah I have actually 8 chapters but its no where near being finished. I think that this will have maybe around 15 chapters…but who knows… I'm making this up as I go…

Reviews:

Jossie: special thanks always goes to you in helping me edit this so-called fic of mine…

Martini: thankyou for reviewing my fic, really appreciate it esp. since I don't update often enough as you like but I haven't had the chance to in a few weeks…sorry, maybe this will make it better….

Dracos Myth: thankyou for your kind review…here's the next chapter for you…

Blade Griffin: I know how tall she is, I was told by someone else…but thanks anyway…keep reading…

mary: thanks for you review, I know that the idea of the dead fish is fine I just don't know WHY they are dying…any ideas?


CHAPTER 4: DAINE'S FEELINGS

"I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, about me and Numair, about what he means to me and about my feelings for him." Daine sighed but kept talking. "You remember how we were both pulled into the Realms of the Gods, by my parents?" Seeing Alanna nod she said, "Well, it was during our quest to the Dragon Lands that Numair openly told me of his affections for me. He loves me Alanna. He even kissed me for the first time then too. When I was bought back there after the war finished, the Gods made me chose where I wanted to stay. Either I stayed on in the Realms with Ma and Da or, I came home, to Tortall, to my friends, to the People, to… to Numair."

Daine looked down and clasped together hands that began to shake. She breathed in deeply and it occurred to her how hard this was. She didn't know until now how much she valued Alanna's opinion, especially when the matter was so close to heart. She had wanted to tell someone of her affections towards Numair but wasn't sure of them until now. The thought of expressing them was somewhat daunting. She was about to tell Alanna, her friend, how she felt about Numair. That she was in love with him, and had been in love with him for quite some time but just didn't see it until now. She continued her conversation with the knight.

"When I came back from the Realms, the first thing I did was to go and look for him. I thought I was never going to see him again and that very thought twisted my heart so much that it hurt. I didn't know what I was going to find…a mage who was either dead or alive. And when I did find him…" Daine blushed slightly and then added, "He was just as happy to see me as I was to see him. He… he kissed me all over and I felt so giddy and happy. He even asked me to marry him."

"He did? What did you say? Are you engaged? Is this what you are trying to tell me?" Alanna said in surprise interrupting Daine. "Oh, I'm sorry, please continue." She giggled as Daine did, smiling warmly towards her.

"Yes, he did. And no, I didn't say 'yes', well not yet anyway. I mean all I said to him was that maybe someday I would marry him. But I don't know. I mean I love him, I do, not that I've told him that I love him, but I'm not as sure as to whether I love him enough to marry him."

"Daine, you don't need to worry about marrying Numair just yet, not until he asks you properly. Or was that proposal serious?"

"I'm not sure. I think it was just in the heat of the moment. Although, lately he just seems to be so affectionate towards me, so tentative to me that I can't help but think otherwise. Alanna, I really don't know what to do. I have such strong feelings for him but I don't know how to tell him what I feel. Should I continue on with life and wait for him to do something? Or should I tell him how I feel and let him respond? Or, or-"

Alanna laughed softly at her friend. She had seen lately how Numair would hover over the woman, brimming with his affections towards her. And now that she also knew that Daine has the same feelings towards him, she could start to imagine the beautiful beginnings of a wonderful relationship between the two.

"Why are you laughing?" Daine asked the Lioness

"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't but you seem to have been really thinking a lot to have thought of all that. I must confess that I knew something was going on between the pair of you. The way you have both been acting, I should have guessed that it was this. Earlier today I watched Numair watch you in the courtyard in front of the stables. He leant in and kissed you, didn't he?" Acknowledging her blush, Alanna continued. "And then at dinner this evening, I had never seen you speak to him like that before. I was truly amazed!"

"So was I! Especially since I did that in front of you and Buri. I couldn't believe that I had said that. But I managed to apologise to Numair for my rudeness."

"Oh! You did?"

Again Daine blushed at the thought of how the apology had been 'said'. Her memory withdrew her from the present and returned her to the kiss she had shared with Numair only a matter of minutes ago. The feel of his lips on hers and the gentle teasing of his tongue reminded her body of the giddiness that she had felt. She was brought back to the present by the soft tap on her shoulder. It was Alanna. Daine had completely forgotten that she was there, sitting in the next armchair listening to her go on about how she felt about Numair.

"Oh, sorry…I was just…just…remembering…" she trailed off and stared point blank at the woven rug on the floor that was beneath her feet. "So." She said at last. "What do I do? Do I tell Numair about how I feel or should I wait for him to do something? I think I should wait until tomorrow night…" Daine trailed off once again deep in thought. She did not notice that Alanna stared at her so. Her amethyst eyes waiting intently for her friends mind to return from wherever it was currently.

"Daine…? What do you mean 'wait until tomorrow night'?"

"Huh? Oh, um, tomorrow night, at the ball. You know, the one being held for those ambassadors that arrived from Carthak, in reference to the treaty with Emperor Kaddar or something or rather. You should know the details, not me, after all you are the King's Champion."

"Yes, I know all about the ball, not that I really want to go, but still… what has that go to do with you and Numair?"

"I didn't tell you?" Daine saw the Lioness's head shake and said quickly, "He asked me if I had an escort, and I didn't so I agreed to it, it's nothing much really, is it?"

"Will you slow down? What's nothing? What did you agree to? Please, tell me and put me out of my misery."

"He's my escort for the evening. I didn't want to turn him down, I didn't have anyone else to go with, and besides, he's never asked me before, I've always been the third party. He'll get asked by some court lady having no reasonable excuse not to take her and so drags me along and I end up being the third party and totally left out. But he said he had wanted to ask me for some time now. I can't believe that he would be thinking about his for so long and yet when he has the opportunity to go with an exceptionally beautiful lady he chooses to go with me. Does he have rocks in his head?"

Alanna had come to suspect that with Daine's last comments, that she was jealous of all those times when she had been that unwanted 'third party'. She also suspected that Daine couldn't believe Numair had asked her to this ball for the sole purpose of her good company, in which he must love. And what's this about having rocks in his head? she thought to herself silently. She looked at the female seated next to her and Alanna realised how scared Daine must feel.

"Daine, I'm going to stop you here before you get carried away. First of all, I think we should talk about what your feeling. I mean, it's getting late and we should go to bed. But, you did want my advice on all this, right?" Daine nodded her agreement and allowed the knight to continue. "Right, ok, well this is only advice, so don't take it too seriously because you are the one who needs to make the final decision, this is your life, not mine." She paused in mid sentence and continued looking straight at Daine's eyes. "I can see clearly that Numair loves you. His affections for you are so obvious that only a fool wouldn't notice them. Daine, he loves you, he loves you with all his heart and I for one am happy that he has found someone to make him this happy. And if you are that one, then Gods bless you both. But I can sense that even though you say you love him, you are still unsure about how those feelings make you feel. I think you need to confront yourself about it all and find out what you want in return. Maybe you should hold off telling Numair about how you feel for him until you know what those feelings are. Daine, you're young, you have the rest of your life ahead of you and you don't want it to go to waste just because you made the wrong decision. The right one will come to you when it's ready to reveal itself to you. Don't be in such a hurry to find it out. Make sure you know who you are before you try to get to know someone else. Is any of this making sense?"

Alanna looked at Daine and saw her sigh. She could tell that the young female was going to have to make a really hard decision about her life and how she was wanted to spend the rest of it. It seemed as though the weight of the world rested on her shoulders and that she, Alanna had just made it even bigger.

Daine smiled grimly and answered the question, her blue grey eyes thoughtful. "I understand what you're telling me. I must be sure that he is what I want and that I truly love him as he loves me, right?"

Their conversation continued a little while longer and stopped when they heard the midnight hour being called. As Daine said her thanks for her friend's advice, Alanna removed the spell that was cast over the room to ward off any one from over hearing their private conversation. Alanna said good night to Daine and walked down the corridor until out of sight. Daine closed her door slowly and walked to her bed. She changed into her nightgown and brushed her hair and teeth. Slipping under the covers, she wriggled underneath until she was comfortable. She lay there long afterwards with Alanna's words sounding endlessly over and over again in her head. She couldn't help but remember one line in particular: 'Daine, he loves you, he loves you with all his heart' those words were continuing to repeat themselves in her mind until she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of the possibilities of her future.


A/N: I hope you like that chapter…please read and review it and like I said last chapter if anyone has any ideas about why the fish are dying in Dunlath then could you tell me by reviewing thanks