Disclaimer:Oh, how I wish I had invented Daine, Numair, Alanna, etc. But I didn't. I just use them for my own nefarious purposes. This story is The Emperor Mage from Numair's point of view. Some dialogue will be copied word for word from Tamora Pierce's fine work, beginning in this chapter.

Chapter Three – Numair's Weakness

Gainel, the Master of Dreams, must have had other plans for Numair. If he dreamed anything between midnight and the nightmare that woke him just before dawn, he did not remember. However, the horror that did precede consciousness would haunt him for weeks. Initially, it seemed very like the dream from the night before except for the one significant exception that he was now observer rather than participant. If some circumstance had brought him upon a couple in this exposed state in waking hours, he would have turned and discreetly taken his leave. But in this dream world, he was compelled forward. He approached from the side until he could confirm that the woman was Daine. Though he could not see her face, he recognized curves and features he had no memory of ever studying. And something was wrong. There was no beauty reflected in this act. He noticed that instead of the loving gesture of laced fingers, the man held the woman's wrists. The grip looked hard and painful. The next difference he noticed was that Daine appeared to be wearing some sort of collar shaped necklace that emitted a green glow in the darkness instead of her usual badger claw. The collar looked oddly familiar. With dread, he realized it looked almost exactly like the collars they had seen on the hurroks in Dunlath, which the mages used to control the beasts.

With a sickening fear his gaze traveled to the man beneath Daine. It was Ozorne. The emperor then turned to face Numair and laughed with hollow mirth. Numair saw Daine turn her head. His gaze met hers and he felt a terror like he had never experienced. Her eyes were hollow with despair and bloody tears trickled down her cheeks. There was blood around her mouth as well. She mouthed soundlessly, "Help me, please." He knew beyond reason that her tongue had been cut out. A gasping scream from some distance rang through the air and carried Numair back to the waking world. It was his own voice he had heard. He leaned over the edge of his bed and wretched. If there had been something in his stomach, he would have vomited.

Numair was drenched in cold sweat and there were tears on his cheek. He didn't cry easily and it was not something he would have wanted someone to see. He wiped his eyes with Varice's handkerchief and tossed it in the corner, where it landed on the stuffed vulture displayed there. He dressed without really realizing he was doing it and flew out the door, stopping to breathe only when he had reached the door to Daine's room. This is insane, he thought. If she were hurt every animal in the place would be searching. I'll knock and she'll come to answer the door wearing the groggy look that she always has in the morning. The thought brought a smile to his mouth for the first time since he had awakened. He told himself to calm down and knocked gently at her door. But no answer would come.

Over the following quarter of an hour, Numair searched for Daine frantically. He managed to wake every one of the delegates, none of whom had seen her since the previous night. Kitten, the dragonet Daine had adopted, did not know where Daine was and Zek, the marmoset she had rescued from the river two days before, became frightened by the panic that Numair exuded. Zek hid the entire time he remained in the room.

Next, he searched the gardens and the baths and even tried scrying. But the mirror remained painfully blank meaning either that Daine was somewhere protected heavily by magic, or that she no longer existed. Numair tried hard not to think about the latter. The horror of the dream stayed perched on the edge of his thoughts until he was certain that Ozorne must have her. Lindhall had said Ozorne spent every morning with his birds. Rage bubbled inside Numair's brain as he raced to the aviary. Then he pushed the doors open with his magic.

"What do you mean by this intrusion?" Ozorne stood abruptly from where he had been reading. He must have immediately registered the dangerous state Numair was in because green lightning balled around his hands protectively.

Icily, Numair demanded, "Where is she?"

"Of whom are we speaking?"

"Daine! Where is she?"

"Now don't tell me you've lost her already," Ozorne replied sarcastically. "And why are you looking for her here? This is hardly a peaceful gesture for a delegate. You burst into this private atrium demanding your girl. She is not here. Maybe she's in her room sleeping."

Numair registered that he was on dangerous ground. Normally he was patient and able to maintain a calm exterior, but here and now he was behaving like a monster and he knew it. He forced himself to take two steadying breaths in a standing meditation. Calmer he said, "I'm sorry for the intrusion. But Daine is missing. She is not in her rooms and Kitten does not know where she went or how long ago she left. We've checked the common area with no success. We've checked the baths, the gardens, and she is nowhere to be found."

Ozorne looked amused and it refueled Numair's anger. Before Ozorne could retort sarcastically Numair continued, "If she is here and you are concealing her from me –"

"Be assured, Draper, she is not here. We had hoped she would be, to see how our birds have improved."

Numair noticed the man had begun speaking with the regal we instead of I. He followed suit. "If they have, then you have no further need of her. We all prefer that you leave her in peace."

"We are inclined to give her grace and favor." Ozorne's tone was haughty but his eyes were amused. Numair's concern was clear and it was a foothold the emperor could use to torment him. "She has served us well and we wish to reward her."

Narrowing his eyes, Numair responded hotly, "She requires no rewards for your providing, Your Imperial Majesty. She is well enough as she is."

"Such heat over a girl child, and one without family or connection to recommend her. Why concern yourself in her affairs? You will forget she exists the moment some rare tome of magic comes into your hands, or some arcane toy. That has always been your way. You take up with someone, make them feel you are their sworn friend, then turn on them the moment you have what you wanted from them."

"How like you to see it in those terms. She is my student. You will never understand that. You never could sustain so profound a tie. Once you gained your throne, you decided you no longer required mere human bonds." But as he said it, his thoughts drifted guiltily to the first dream of the night prior – Daine, naked, in a place no mere student could occupy.

"Human bonds," Ozorne said quietly, studying his gilded nails. His eyes flashed dangerously. "I am certain you and your lovely student have a most profound bond. Must you share a bed with her animals as well as with her?"

Numair was shocked, feeling as exposed as if the emperor had somehow read his thoughts. He wasn't aware that his cheeks burned crimson, nor did he consciously decide to attempt to strike Ozorne. He only came to himself when his hand bounced off the visible shield the emperor had used to protect himself. The shock of the shield burned and he pulled his hand back quickly, rubbing it. He knew he should not have done that, but there was no taking it back now. "If you interfere with her, if you harm her in any way, it will be a breach of the peace accords." The harm he'd witnessed in the second dream came back to his mind's eye full force. He swallowed painfully and finished, "All of the Eastern Lands will unite to destroy you." Numair turned and walked out.

Outside the door, Numair found himself shaking violently. The flood of images from the nightmare raked his mind – her despairing eyes, bloody tears, blood around her mouth, forced to – it was too much. He even thought he could hear himself screaming again. But no sound escaped him. He needed to search some more. He knew he had to find Daine. He ran back toward the delegates' rooms, trying to escape his own mind.