Chapter 4 – The Badger's gift

Once in the delegates' hall, Numair ran back to Daine's room. All the way back he had searched his memory for magical ways to find someone and a focus seemed to be the best choice. But he wasn't sure what to use. He knew her clothes were all new and wasn't certain if they had been in her possession long enough. A focus needed to have been in her possession for a 'long' time. He might find some hairs in her brush. Or he could try to use the sapphire drop earrings he had given her as a midwinter present. They had been in her possession for most of a year, though he had only seen her wearing them on three occasions.

He opened her door and saw Kit sitting on the credenza. Kit had seen him scrying for Daine earlier and appeared to be attempting to do it. She made a joyful noise and pointed excitedly. And there, in the mirror, he saw Daine, hurrying down a corridor. She was safe and healthy. He breathed deeply as relief washed over him. He felt his face break into a smile for the first time since waking that morning. And then it left just as quickly as he realized what a fool he had made of himself.

If he had a tail, it would have been tucked between his legs as he sat down for breakfast. Alanna looked over at him and said, "Did you find her?"

Afraid to open his mouth, he threw his head toward the door she would shortly walk in and started to pick at his food. When Daine did walk in she made a hasty excuse about visiting the aviary and getting lost on the way back.

Numair fumed. If this was true then Ozorne had to have known she had been there and yet he never said anything. He could simply have told Numair that she was there and gone. If he had given Numair an idea of how long she had been gone, Numair could have helped her find her way. But then he realized that it didn't ring true. Daine couldn't get lost. She would simply ask one of the palace animals the way. He glanced up at her and wondered why she had lied.

In the two years he had known her, Daine had lied to him rarely. There was a brief time when Numair first became her teacher that Daine had been afraid of the truth enough to lie to him. Ultimately, she revealed what had been bothering her. The wild magic was so strong in her that she had lost herself to it once. Fueled by grief she had run with a pack of wolves to avenge the deaths of her family. When she began to learn how to use the magic within her, it threatened to take her over. She would hear the nearest pack or herd of animals call to her and lose her sense of identity. She had trusted Numair and their mutual friend, Onua, enough to reveal this and ask for help. Since that time they trusted one another completely, or at least he thought they had.

He wondered if the reason behind her lying now had to do with whatever the Badger had told her. Giving up on breakfast, he realized there might be time to talk now. So he watched for Daine to finish and when she too appeared to tire of picking at her food he approached her. "Daine, you asked to speak to me alone. Let's go to my room."

Alanna, who was seated nearby said, "Then I go too."

Numair searched her face for a reason but before he could ask, Daine said, "It isn't needful – it's just a magic thing."

Alanna's expression was grave. "If you visit a man's room, you need a chaperon." Alanna shook her head and focused on Numair. "Really, Numair, you know Carthakis. They think an unveiled woman is no better than she ought to be. Until we leave here, you can't talk with her unless she is chaperoned or you can manage it in public."

Numair felt the heat of a blush flood his face. "A fine thing, when I can't talk to my student alone." He supposed it was best given the dreams of the night before, though he couldn't say as much. He led the way to his room. "Let's go, then."

In his rush to find Daine that morning, he had given little thought to the state of his room. Though a slave had obviously been sent in to straighten, Varice's perfume still hung in the air. He saddened at the thought of the slaves the emperor kept here. As delegates they could say nothing. He chided himself for making the slave's job harder and was pulled from these thoughts abruptly when he distinctly heard Daine murmur to Alanna, "Did Varice have a chaperon?" Blushing, he pretended not to have heard. Alanna muttered something in response, but Numair couldn't hear what it was.

Numair closed the door and wondered briefly at the scowl on Daine's face. He warded the room magically and then sat on the bed next to Alanna. "It's safe now. Talk."

Pacing, Daine said, "The Badger visited my cabin on board ship the day we arrived. He was fair harsh wanting to know why we were here. I did my best to explain why we were trying for peace despite all we believe Ozorne has done. But he said – this is exact as I can remember – he said that this was the worst possible place I could be now and that I should try to convince you all to go home."

The girl frowned at the memory and continued, "I tried to tell him we could not without insulting the emperor and making it all worse. Then he started muttering to himself saying things like 'I must talk them out of it' and 'they will have to understand' and something about a mortal girl not having the freedom 'they' do but I couldn't make sense of it. When I asked what he meant he said the Great Gods that two-leggers worship have lost patience with Ozorne and that things could get very chancy here."

Numair's mind began to race. What could be coming? He'd heard prophesies but – his ruminations were interrupted by a heavy sigh from Daine. She said, "There was something strange – the badger growled and snapped at the air. It was like he was arguing with someone, but I couldn't tell who or what. And then he said, 'as you wish' and told me to come closer. I tried to argue, really I did. But he yelled at me and then he breathed on me and this – it was like silver fog what covered me. I could feel it clear through my bones. And then he was gone!"

"Curious," Numair observed, while trying to imagine what that could have been about.

"And don't forget what Rikash said – that he wouldn't be here much longer because Carthak is 'unhealthy."

"Isn't he the stormwing you met in Dunlath?" Alanna asked. Daine nodded.

Numair considered her words for a moment. "It's hardly new, Seers throughout the Eastern and Southern Lands have been giving warnings of some disaster that looms over Carthak. Without better information, we have no reason to break off the talks and return home. Have you such information?" Daine shook her head, her smoky curls bouncing with the motion.

Numair shrugged and said, "Next time, tell the Badger he must be more specific if his warning is to be of any use."

"What about the breath thing the Badger did?" Alanna inquired. "Do you know what it is?"

"Oh, I know," said Daine grimly. "And I don't like it – not one bit."

Numair watched her slight figure walk toward the corner. There was a stuffed vulture sitting there. He grimaced as he realized that was where he had tossed Varice's handkerchief. She grabbed it and stuffed it into her pocket. She looked back toward Numair and Alanna with a sour expression and said, "Here's what the badger did." Then she rubbed her palms on her breeches and grasped the vulture with both hands. Light blazed around her fingers, and Numair heard Alanna gasp. The stuffed vulture had moved. The red, purple, orange and yellow head tilted and the wings spread, brushing Daine's head. The vulture leaned toward her, its face inches from hers.

Daine smiled, her pretty face lit in a friendly gesture. "Hello," she told him. Then her face blanched down to her lips. "I need to sit." She sat on the bed and put her head between her knees.

Alanna rushed to her side, checking her pulse. "Daine?"

Numair hated that he had no healing magic. The most he could do was stand back out of the way.

"I'm fine. Just dizzy." She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Numair dug around in a pocket until he found his bottle of wakeflower. But when he produced it, Daine waved it away. Smiling to himself, he acknowledged that Daine desperately hated the smell of wakeflower, which he had to admit was nothing short of putrid. But then the most effective potions were usually extreme.

The vulture flapped awkwardly across the room and clutched the wooden screen over the window. He pecked at the opening in the wood. Six feet in wingspan, the vulture made the room much smaller. It was an overall daunting sight considering it had been little more than a furnishing ten minutes ago.

Numair looked with concern at Daine. "Is your weakness part of this new working?"

"I don't know. The times it happened before – the tiger rug in my room, and a three-horn skeleton in the Hall of Bones – it was just a flash. They didn't move about for long."

"I need to sit," Alanna said, and did. "The – what did you say? – tiger, and the three-horn. Did you bring them to life on purpose?"

"No. It was an accident." The vulture hopped onto the bed and leaned against Daine.

"That may explain why you're weak. This time you tried to do it." Alanna looked to Numair and asked, "Do you agree?"

Numair tugged his long nose. This needed consideration. From everything he had understood about the capabilities of the gift and wild magic this was not possible. Hesitantly he said, "To reason without information is fruitless. To acquire more information, Daine must conduct further experiments." Numair rubbed his temples. He could feel the dull throb of an approaching headache. "What precisely did the badger say?"

"He said he had a gift for me to help me if all went 'ill'."

Numair began to pace. "The tiger and three-horn – what happened? You are sure neither the slave in your room nor Lindhall saw anything?"

Daine shook her head. "No. I don't think they could have covered up if they saw." The girl looked apologetic, an expression that Numair had always found endearing on her."

Alanna laughed shakily. "Nor could I!"

Daine tickled the bird's foot and he nibbled her hair. "I can't talk with him. It's like he's got no mind. But he must, mustn't he? He looks like he can think."

Numair chuckled at that comment. Then he carefully considered what to say next, the whole time fingering his black opal pendant. "The time is inconvenient. We can't investigate properly while we are here. I will say this much – what you have done sounds like no wild magic I have ever heard of. Only the gods can bring the dead back even to a seeming of life."

"I'm no god," protested Daine. "What if the badger passed some of his godness on to me?"

Numair shook his head. This was a subject he had studied in depth. "There is nothing in the writings about animal gods to indicate they are able to do such a transfer. Not only that, but normally their power affects only those of their own species. The badger's magic should apply to badgers alone, as the wolf god applies only to wolves, and so on. Only the great gods have power that translates across species: Mithros, the Goddess, the Black God, the Graveyard Hag, the Master of Dream Gainel –"

"Don't name them all," Alanna interrupted with an air of long-enduring patience.

Numair smiled. He knew that his academia was sometimes maddening to others. "No – of course not. In the meantime, Daine, I think it would be best if you said nothing of this and, in particular did nothing with it until we got home."

"I'll try. It keeps getting away from me, though."

"What about him?" asked Alanna, pointing a shaky finger at the vulture. "We can't just let him run around in here. He's losing feathers for one thing."

It struck Numair that at some distant point in the future, this whole situation might be comical. Right now it was downright unsettling. It had clearly shaken Alanna up. And it takes a lot to shake up the king's champion.

Daine turned to the bird and asked, "What do you want to do, wing-brother?"

The vulture hopped from the bed, landing on the deep windowsill. Keeping his balance with the help of his wings, he pecked at at the cedar screen.

"You want out?"

"Taking him out now is tough," Alanna remarked. "People will ask questions. I assume you want this kept quiet."

"As quiet as possible," Numair said. "You don't know Ozorne. If he found out she could do this... You don't ever want him to find out." He shuddered inwardly as the nightmare crossed his mind's eye again. This would be one more enticement for Ozorne to enslave Daine.

"If I take you to my rooms, will you stay there and pretend to be stuffed if the servants come in?" Daine petted the vulture as she made this offer to him. "When it's dark, we'll go outside."

The vulture nodded.

Numair realized that she would need a little help in hiding the bird. He reached into his belt pouch and produced a polished stone. "This cat's eye agate will make you two invisible once the spell is activated. When you're in your room, put it in your pocket. Out of the light, the charm will end. Don't bump into anyone, or they will see you, spell or no."

"Come on," Daine told the vulture. "You'd best walk. You're too big to carry."

The bird hopped to the floor, wings half opened for balance. Numair completed the spell by drawing a rune in the air over the agate. Then he gave it to Daine.

The girl looked imploringly into his eyes and he felt a fluttering in his stomach -- he wasn't sure why. Quietly she said, "Numair -- you shouldn't have tried to hit him. I dont' think he liked it."

Completely taken aback, Daine was out the door before he could respond. Alanna looked at him searchingly. "What did she say? Did you try to hit someone?"

Avoiding her eyes, Numair shrugged. "I don't know what she was talking about. I'll have to ask later, it's nearly time to begin today's negotiations."

It worked. Alanna left without another word. Numair closed the door and sat down. Daine must have shape shifted into a bird. Ozorne had not known she was there at all. But now Ozorne knew that Daine was important to Numair. He had imperilled her. He closed his eyes as his mind reeled. This could not be undone.