Chapter 16 - the Mission
A/N: In this chapter, you get a glimpse of how Numair can be considered the most powerful mage even when Alanna's in the same room. Alanna, as a former Shaman and a healer, is very powerful in her own right. Hopefully I didn't go too far.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Tamora Pierce, as does the main outline and some dialogue. I'm just borrowing it.
"I haven't seen Daine yet this morning. Have you?" Alanna asked at breakfast.
"No. But I think we should let her sleep. I happen to know she had a late night visit from her Badger friend," he said in a low voice.
Alanna's eyes opened wide and she nearly dropped her fork. "When you're done, we can go and talk," Numair said.
Once inside his warded room, Alanna said, "Spill!"
"Spill?" Numair was in a good mood. He couldn't explain it. He didn't normally like mornings. He should still be filled with trepidation. He had hardly slept. There were a hundred reasons for him to be cranky, but he was all smiles instead.
"What has gotten into you this morning?" Alanna growled.
"I don't know exactly. I guess I'm far too grateful that the Badger brought her back to like to allow any negativity this morning."
"Brought her – what?" she shouted.
Numair explained. Alanna's reaction was like that of a great audience at a campfire tale. She gasped in all the right places. She came to her feet, turned pale and shook when he described waking to the knowledge that Daine had died. She looked properly afraid when he described using the God summoning spell on the Badger. And she looked like she wanted to draw blood when he described learning that the Graveyard Hag had pushed the Badger into putting Daine in danger.
" … so she's alive and safe and probably very tired," he finished.
"But do you realize what this means? And if you don't stop smiling, I'm going to thump you."
"Yes, I know what it means and no, I can't help it. For twenty horrible minutes I believed she was dead. I grieved for my friend. I relived memories and discovered there were far too few of them. And then I summoned and yelled at a God. I experienced a full range of human emotions in a span of a half hour – fear, sorrow, grief, horror, desperation, resignation, anger, relief, fear again. You'll need to threaten me with more than a 'thumping' to wipe the smile off my face today."
Alanna looked like she was trying not to smile, then failed. "She's okay now?"
"Yes. And it seems to me that asleep in her room is a safe place for her. While she's not out of danger, there is hope."
"Well, I can't argue with that."
"So, anyway, I think we should go wind up our negotiations and get out of Carthak as fast as we can. If the Carthakis really are conciliatory today, let's work it to our advantage. I know that Gareth left us in a good diplomatic position. I would kiss his rings, but he might take it the wrong way."
Alanna laughed.
"I think if we use the right combination of friendly gestures and unspoken threats, we can obtain our treaty and go.
They discussed and planned for 30 minutes more, bringing Gareth in on the plan, once they had put it together. It was a cheerful negotiating team that entered the conferencing room when the gong rang. But what they saw inside took all the cheer right out of them.
The emperor sat in his raised chair, a smug look on his face. The room was filled with guards, a handful of Carthaki nobles, and all the foreign ambassadors. Etiakret was not present at all. Soldiers walked in behind the Tortallan delegates and blocked their exit. They held four hematite stones and Numair realized there were three more in the hands of the soldiers in front of him. The circle of seven was complete and there would be no magical escape from whatever Ozorne had in store.
Ozorne stood and began to pace, his eyes flashing dangerously. "So." He glared at the delegates. "So you brought an ambassador to our country who had another agenda. And now that ambassador is running free in our Kingdom, making trouble to destabilize my rule."
Duke Gareth bowed to Ozorne and said, "Please Your Highness, we have no knowledge of the events of which you are speaking. Every negotiator is here – everyone of our delegation, except…."
"Veralidaine Sarrasri!" the emperor finished in a roar. "She was to meet my nephew this morning. Except when he arrived at her rooms he found this instead." He passed a piece of paper to a soldier, who in turn passed it to Gareth.
One by one, it passed through the hands of the delegates. When it reached Numair's hands he read it.
I cannot stand by and watch people suffer in slavery.. I must find a way to help or die trying.. Please try and understand. – Daine
The language wasn't right. The handwriting wasn't even close to right. "This is a pathetic forgery," Numair roared. "What have you done with her? If you've hurt her…." A sword to his throat ended his outburst. He saw Alanna step forward, reaching for a sword she once again was not wearing. Gareth grabbed her upper arm and shook his head with a look that warned her not to die in vain.
"You dare accuse us of forgery?" Ozorne screamed, green lightning balling in his hands. "She has done this. She made her own decision and she is now a criminal to the Kingdom of Carthak. When we find her she will be executed. But we are not barbarians. If you leave quietly, your lives will be spared. I have dispatched slaves to pack your things. They will take you to a ferry and to your ship. We expect your dispatch by midday. But you can tell your king that his foolish decision to send someone outside his control has cost us all our chance at peace."
A rage like Numair had never known grew inside him and burst. A palpable pressure rushed him, but he felt excited by it – electrified. And a loud explosion sounded. One of the hematite stones burst. This was not possible. Alanna looked at him with eyes wider than he had ever seen. He wanted to tear Ozorne limb from limb, but the four most powerful mages in Carthak appeared in the door and paralyzed him with their combined power.
"Temper, temper," Ozorne derided smoothly. Numair was pleased to see a slight look of fear in his eyes however, and a bead of sweat fell from his hairline.
Mages and soldiers surrounded them as they were walked out of the room. Slaves brought them their belongings at the entrance to the guest quarters. Numair heard Alanna ask if they would be taking Daine's things as well. Ozorne answered icily, "She took her things with her. Look for yourself, she left nothing."
The group was then paraded through her empty room. Numair knew it was all part of the lie. Ozorne had her. The rage grew and a buzzing filled his ears. A mirror burst in her room. Alanna reached for Numair's hand and was shocked for her trouble. He shook his head apologetically as she rubbed her stung arm, but he was too angry to speak. He had never seen Alanna look afraid before. She looked afraid now. Some part of him wondered at it. Alanna needn't be afraid of me. But he understood when he caught his reflection in the next mirror he passed. His skin around his nostrils and mouth were white and instead of brown, his eyes were black and glittered with his magic. He tried to take two more meditating breaths and caused all the glass in the hall to explode. Masters Chioke', Templan, Silveni, and Azulono actually seemed afraid as well.
The guards and mages formed a square around the Tortallans, marching them to a waiting ferry. Alanna walked grim-faced behind the covey of clerks, eyes watching everywhere. Duke Gareth, Lord Martin, and Gareth the Younger kept their heads together, whispering urgently. Harailt gripped Numair's arms. He too was zapped once before Numair got control of himself. But once he did, Harailt's hands returned. He half trotted beside Numair saying, "Be smart about this Numair. Getting yourself killed won't help her." Numair just looked down at the much shorter man and glared.
On board their own ship, they found Lindhall Reed waiting for them. He had changed his mind about leaving with them, but had snuck on board to see how he could help. Without so much as a word, Duke Gareth, Lord Martin, Alanna, Lindhall and Numair gathered in a cramped shipboard cabin. Lindhall shielded it against eavesdroppers this time. Gareth and Martin sat on a bunk across from Numair. Lindhall looked very worried, but his presence seemed to sooth a little of the rage that was consuming Numair. Alanna was pacing the small space.
"We have to go after her," Alanna demanded.
"Impossible," Lord Martin said curtly. "Our duty is to return home and warn the king."
"She's one of ours," retorted Alanna. The Champion leaned against the wall, fisted hands thrust deep into her breeches pockets. Lines of worry seemed etched in her furrowed brow. "That letter's a forgery – it must be. He's keeping her somewhere, and using it as a pretext to end the talks and declare war."
Duke Gareth looked at her, eyes sad. "We cannot prove that, my child. Neither can we help Daine; we must warn the country. As it is, Tortall will stand alone against him. By announcing it before the foreign ambassadors, he made certain they believed his proof that Daine conspires against him. As far as our allies are concerned, we caused the talks to fail."
"You can warn Tortall, then, and the king," Numair said quietly. "I won't leave without her." He felt separated from himself now. As if he were two people, the one filled with rage and the one who ached with fear for Daine's safety.
"We never should have brought that child," snapped Lord Martin. "I knew it would be trouble!" A violent rumbling occurred as the ship's very timbers shook. Numair realized he was the cause and struggled to get control of his emotions. Standing, his eyes wide, Martin approached the door. "Let me pass," he ordered with a quavering voice. A hole appeared in the magic; he opened the door and left. Once he was gone, gray fire sealed the room tightly again.
Lindhall patted Numair's arm. "Arram, there is more at stake than any girl, even this one." His absentminded air was gone. "The information passed to you – contacts, new routes for the slave underground, conspirators' names – it must go north, now, before the borders are closed by war. We may have to get the prince out in a hurry if the emperor begins to suspect him, and the only way to do it safely is to have all prepared on your end."
Numair looked at his friend. This was not exactly the news he carried. Clearly Lindhall still didn't know who to trust. So he just shook his head. "I don't care. Someone else can take the information to the king."
Alanna whirled and slammed both fists into the wall. "I hate not doing something!" she cried. "I hate it! I want to go back there and –"
The lizard-bird leaped into the air flapping clumsily across the room to land on Alanna's shoulder. Funny, Numair thought, I had not even notice that Bonedancer was here.
Bonedancer ran his beak through Alanna's hair, trying to comfort her. "Go away you old Bone," she whispered, but her heart wasn't in it. Before long, she was stroking the creature's beak.
"You cannot, my dear," Duke Gareth said, his voice filled with pity. "We are going to war. Your place is at home with the king and his armies."
Alanna's eyes brimmed with tears; she turned away from the men.
"Numair, if you choose to remain, I cannot stop you – you are too great a mage," the duke said. "Please think, then. The emperor is mad, but not stupid. He knows you wouldn't leave Daine here." He paused, his eyes locked with Alanna's. When he looked back he said, "My concern is that he has planned for just that eventuality."
Numair and Lindhall exchanged looks. He, of course, felt that was exactly why he had to go. It might be the only thing that kept Daine alive and untortured. "I'm aware of the danger, Your Grace. I have taken precautions. They may be enough. Ozorne has trouble believing in his heart that anyone else has more of the Gift than he does, even when his mind knows there are more powerful mages. I can use that to fool him. As for the knowledge of the prince's conspiracy –"
"Give it to me," Alanna said briskly, "it's the least I can do." She handed Bonedancer to Lindhall and moved closer.
Numair looked at the duke, who sighed and nodded. Numair's respect had grown a great deal for this man. Getting up, Numair placed his fingers on Alanna's temples. Black fire sparkled where they touched. When the information was there, Alanna's eyes opened very wide.
"I will bring her back safe and whole. I swear it," he whispered to Alanna, who nodded.
"Try not to blow up the palace in the process. Keep your temper," she advised. "And Numair, you are quite scarey yourself, you know that?"
Numair smiled. But he decided he would not say goodbye. He would return with Daine in tow or he would die trying.