Disclaimer: I don't own it and I'm way too honest to claim I do. All rights to Tamora Pierce

Chapter 12 - Bonedancer

Lindhall broke the silence that followed Numair's oath with, "Well, with that out of the way, I think we should go collect your – what did you call her -- Mageling?"

"Close," laughed Numair. "I call her Magelet. I admit that it fit better when she was a tiny thirteen-year old, but somehow I cannot let it go. It has become a term of endearment." Internally, he blanched. He had not meant that the way it came out and yet it was true.

There was a strange look on Kaddar's face that made Numair nervous. I am lecherous and he knows it, he thought beleagueredly.

Lindhall laughed. "As teachers, we do get set in our ways, do we not?" He walked toward the door where Daine had exited, apparently unaware that the other two men hung back.

"Master Salmalin," Kaddar whispered, "I had not realized that Daine was yours. When you spoke to me last night …"

"She is not mine," Numair said blushing against his will. "Daine belongs to herself as all women do. And I was merely watching out for her as I swore in oath to my King I would do. You misunderstand 'endearment' I think." Numair was glad to hear that his voice came out solid, because inside he was sputtering. Daine would never be mine. But there was something there, a knowledge he felt he could just turn and see if he looked at it the right way….

"Mithros bless, I didn't know you had the magical assemblage spell!" cried Lindhall. Numair was pulled instantly from his thoughts and he and Kaddar could only stare. A small skeleton, about the size of one of Lindhall's birds was crouching in front of Zek on the countertop. Next to it, Daine sat on a stool, looking resigned. The skeleton moved as if reanimated, though it lacked flesh, muscle and organs. It even lacked some of the bones it had required in life to move. Those spots were left blank, as if the ghost of a bone filled the empty space. Worse, cracked stone lay scattered on the countertop. Numair realized with horror that this had been a fossilized skeleton, released from its ancient tomb by Daine's latest power.

"It doesn't seem to matter if pieces are missing." Lindhall walked to the counter for a closer look at the creature. "But that's why I didn't use the assemblage spell on my own. It doesn't work if the skeleton is incomplete."

If it knew it was incomplete, the lizard-bird didn't act it. Looking around, it stretched, wagged its arms clumsily, then leaped off the counter. All four humans lunged to catch it. Numair and Kaddar accidentally knocked their heads together and pulled back stunned. The skeleton had managed to take flight, flapping awkwardly as if it still wore feathers.

"But there aren't any birds with claws in their arms!" Daine protested as the skeleton swooped and turned around the light-globe overhead. "And its bones are solid, not hollow like a bird's. Bats have sort-of-fingers, but they are genuine clawed toes, not like a bat's wing."

Listening to her words, Numair realized that this opened up a whole other world of questions. This creature had not been built aerodynamically for flying and yet it had. Now without feathers to help it glide on air, the skeleton still managed the feat. He wondered if magic held it up or if their concepts of flight were very misdirected.

"It was no bat. It is a link, between the dinosaurs in the Hall of Bones and animals – birds – alive now," Lindhall explained without taking his eyes from the flier. "The seers who look back in time have seen lizard-birds in the same era as the largest snake-necked dinosaurs and the lesser tyrant lizards. They have followed the lizard-bird's development, and it is true – it comes from the land walkers."

Numair had come closer to examine the skeletal creature. "Instead of scales, feathers," he picked up where Lindhall left off. "Also a bird's wishbone and a bird's gripping foot. But it has abdominal ribs, as reptiles do, and a flexible tail." He wished he could really take time to examine the creature. He watched it settle onto Lindhall's shoulder.

Kaddar leaned in to inspect the empty spaces in the bones and nearly got pecked. "Stop that," Lindhall ordered, stroking the creature's beak. "He was only looking."

The prince focused on Daine, questioning. "This isn't the assemblage spell. I've never seen anything like this in my life. What did you do to it?" He looked almost frightened.

Numair felt an urge to step in between them and tell Kaddar to back off. But Kitten did it for him. She squeaked reproachfully at Kaddar. Numair also saw the iguanas move in from the other room protectively. He smiled to himself.

"I can't – I'm not –" Daine was stammering and looking to Numair for help.

Numair rubbed his sore temple. That was where his head collided with Kaddar's. "I think you must explain," he said finally.

"These rooms are warded," Kaddar offered helpfully. "That's how I could talk with Master Numair safely.

Numair could see Lindhall's face light up with curiousity. He leaned against the counter and added, "What's in place here is unlike normal warding spells. The emperor must never suspect these rooms are warded or he would come to discover what I have that's worth concealment. If he or his servant mages try to eavesdrop in these rooms, they will hear only dull, innocent conversations and noises made by my animals." The skeletal creature on Lindhall's shoulder was now showing its affections, preening Lindhall's hair with its beak. Numair tried not to laugh.

He heard Daine whistle appreciatively. That's my Magelet, he thought and then chided himself for it. Still he couldn't help but be proud of how well she had learned her lessons. Clearly she understood the level of magic those kinds of spells took. "It's a new thing that's happened," Daine told Lindhall and Kaddar. "I'm not sure of the details … Numair, what should I say?" Her beautiful blue-gray eyes pleaded with him for direction.

"All that you told me yesterday," he answered softly. He knew these men could be trusted. He moved over and put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. Then she began to tell her tale.

While Daine was talking, Numair was adding the ruby locket to the clasp on the chain at the nape of her neck, being careful to keep her from noticing. She was involved in her story. Kaddar was staring out the window, absorbing the information with a look of pure fear. Lindhall saw what Numair was doing, but Numair put a finger to his lips and shook his head. It was enough for Lindhall to keep his silence. When the ruby was attached to the clasp on the back of her chain where she would not see it, Numair sent a little bit of his Gift to it to keep it in place. He did not want the clasp to float forward and alert her to its presence. Daine might not mind if she knew about the ruby, but in the current situation, Numair needed to avoid the awkward questions that might arise.

When at last she had finished the story, there was a long silence. She looked up at Numair, head tilted back and he squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. And then Numair saw something in her expression. He was not the only one keeping something to himself. He wondered what it could be.

Finally, Lindhall asked her, "You mean this isn't permanent? He'll stop being alive." The skeleton was now behaving like a spoiled pet, gnawing Lindhall's shirt buttons affectionately.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but it does seem to run out, after a time." Again her demeanor seemed to suggest that she was holding something back.

"You should try this in the Hall of Bones," Lindhall remarked, turning the skeleton's head from an opal necklace he wore under his shirt. "Stop that. If you bite it, you'll hurt yourself. Although I suppose it would be a bit inconvenient if any of the dinosaurs were to walk away."

Kaddar made a face at Daine, who giggled. "Inconvenient puts it mildly," the Prince said. "But Daine's right to keep this secret. I hate to think what my uncle would do with someone who has such power. Can you imagine? An army of dead creatures that can't be hurt by normal means?"

Numair was still shuddering at the thought of what Ozorne might do to Daine. He felt compelled to pull her to him protectively, and stepped backward instead. "It would be precisely to his taste," Numair said quietly. Remembering that Daine wanted to be kept in the dark about a pending war but wanting to let her understand what was at stake he added, "He might decide such power was worth a war in Tortall, perhaps even all the Eastern Lands."

Kaddar glanced at him with an expression he could not read.

Breaking the tension, Lindhall said, "Well, while he's with us, I am going to call this one Bonedancer." He stroked the lizard-bird's skull. "There's one thing I find troublesome about all this, however. Numair is right – wild magic does not function this way, as far as we can determine. What is the provenance of this power? Even the Black God is unable to give a semblance of life to the dead."

"Mynoss --?" suggested Kaddar. "No. He judges only."

Numair had given this subject quite a bit of thought before turning in the night before. He spoke quietly, "In The Ekallatum Book of Tombs it's said the Queen of Chaos once raised an army of the dead."

Lindhall seemed to pick up the chain of thought. "But the Scrolls of Qawe Icemage refute it. According to him, the Queen of Chaos assembled dead wood and stones to be her army. No, the only God, I believe, who can resurrect that which was once flesh and is now dead is the Graveyard Hag."

"That's right," Kaddar said. "Remember? There are legends of bonedancers – the resurrected dead – from the fall of the Ikhiyan dynasty, and the end of the Omanat priest-kings – " He stopped, realizing what he was telling them.

Numair looked at him sharply. The prince had gone to great pains to pretend he was not a scholar and yet here he was quoting a story Numair had not thought about in a very long time. The Gods had destroyed the Ikhiyan dynasty. The legends told of selfish leaders, the Omanat priest-kings who were willing to sacrifice every living thing in their lands for God-hood. It was these priest-kings who had developed the despicable blood-rain and used it on areas in the south of the land now known as Carthak. Some legends suggested that the area was not dessert then and that it remained sandy and desolate as a reminder from Mother Flame of the consequences of greed.

Suddenly, a force that Numair could not explain pushed him back toward Daine. He realized she was gasping. He caught her when her knees buckled and held her to a seat. He came around to kneel at her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked anxiously. "Bringing things to life tires you, doesn't it?" His eyes locked onto hers and he felt she wanted to tell him something but couldn't. Unable to pull his gaze away, he barely realized that Kaddar had left and returned with water and a glass.

But what Kaddar said next nearly pulled the breath from him. "We have to be careful talking about the Graveyard Hag," he was teasing good-naturedly. "Yesterday she had a coughing fit in the Hag's temple. It didn't let up until we were outside."

From behind them, Numair heard Lindhall say, "Should you have visited her temple?"

"We visited them all," Kaddar responded.

"It's my fault," Daine interjected hoarsely. "I wanted to look at them."

"Uncle can't fault me for doing it when he told me to take her wherever she wanted."

"No, of course not." Lindhall said. Numair's mind was bouncing around the possibilities. Had this power come from the Graveyard Hag? Did Daine know? He realized that if she did, she probably couldn't answer. And he wasn't sure how the power could have come from her if it was transported by the badger. He was barely listening when Lindhall said, "Numair, I think you must be getting back – it's almost noon. And what will you young people do? I could have lunch brought to us and then show you around a bit."

Daine smiled at Lindhall and said, "I'd like that, if it's all right with Kaddar. I can get to know your friends better."

Numair stood, petting Daine's hair once and walked to the other side of the room. He began to shape-change. Only when he was a hawk and his clothing had completely dropped to the floor, did Lindhall open a door so he could fly into the garden and away. His mind did not leave the subject of Daine once on the way back to the castle.