Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it belongs to Tamora Pierce.

Chapter 5 – New friends

The banquet hall tables had been rearranged like a big rectangle with an opening at the far end. Jon and Thayet were seated in the center of the opposite end from the opening. Delegates were scattered among the Tortallans to allow them to meet one another. Daine had already been seated on the east side with mostly riders and clerks. A simple swap of names allowed Layne to be next to her. Her back was to the wall, so she could see the King and Queen easily. She could also see Numair and Elyra easily. They were on the west side of the rectangle with their backs to the opposite wall. It made it easy to stare at them, something she repeatedly found herself doing.

Directly across the table from her sat Onua. Alanna, who had originally been seated by Jon, swapped her place setting and sat next to Onua. Down the table she could see her friends Evin and Miri. Both were riders she had met when she first arrived in Corus. Up the table from her sat several clerks, including the young man named Perin Porter she had met earlier that day. He smiled when she looked at him. Had he been staring?

"You look pretty tonight, Daine." Alanna's voice drew her attention.

She blushed and said, "Thank you. So do you."

She introduced Layne, although Alanna already seemed to know him. Conversation became easier between them with the help of Alanna and Onua. When their first course came they were all talking about rider training and how to pick a great horse. A very loud girlish laugh carried across the din. Daine realized it was Elyra Kelton.

It hadn't just drawn her attention, several people turned around in their seats to find the source of the sound. With a mocking smile, Onua said, "She seems to be enjoying herself."

"I would say your teacher must be funny," Layne observed, drawing a sour expression from Daine.

Another exaggerated laugh rung through the hall and Daine saw Numair gesturing as he spoke. She thought about changing her ears to hear better, but remembered that her hair had been pinned up and everyone would notice. She realized suddenly that Layne had asked her something, but she had no idea what. She looked at him warmly, "I'm sorry, I was listening to the birds outside the window."

Layne looked surprised. "You can really do that?"

"Yes," she smiled. She noticed that he looked a little less than pleased.

"What do they talk about?" there was a very skeptical look on his face.

"They can talk about all kinds of things. Those birds were saying hello. I asked them not to come in as some people might not like having birds where they're eating." Lying usually didn't come easy to Daine, but tonight she felt like a master. It wasn't entirely untrue because she had said hello to some birds when she first sat down. But it all sounded so much less embarrassing than "sorry, but I'm fixated on my teacher".

"I thought people made up all that stuff. They say you can shape shift into animals too. Is that true?"

"Sure." Layne was definitely looking disturbed. Surely he knew these things about her if he had been stopping by the stables for weeks.

"Any animal?" he whispered. Meanwhile, servants were clearing the appetizer dishes and serving salads.

"As far as I know." Daine noticed Layne's eyes were far too wide. She blushed a little. He obviously wasn't comfortable with her magic, but it had become such a part of her that she couldn't imagine trying to hide it again.

Alanna changed the subject politely. "Where is Kit tonight, Daine?"

"Tkaa is giving her some lessons. They went to the sea shore for a couple of days. He says that some people are bothered by his preferred food and he didn't want to disturb the delegates. I offered Kit to come, but she missed him a lot." Seeing the blank look on Layne's face she said, "You've seen Kit with me in the stables, right? The baby dragon?" Daine took a bite of salad and looked at him nervously.

"Yes,it's very strange – not like anything I've ever seen anywhere else. How do you know how to care for it?" Layne responded.

"She's very wonderful," Alanna interjected.

"Like family," Onua added. None of the women were warming to Layne.

"Numair helps a lot. He found old writings on dragons. Tkaa knows a lot too, so I can ask him when I get in over my head, although while he was in Dunlath it took a while to get answers – well, except when Numair talked to him by fire," Daine said.

"Tkaa?"

"He's a basilisk. They are related to dragons. Basilisks are fair woundrous. They can speak to anything, people, two-leggers, immortals.."

"What are two-leggers?"

"Humans."

"Then people are?"

"The different animals call themselves 'the people'."

They ate silently for awhile and soon servants began to clear the salad dishes. "Do you know what the main course is tonight, Alanna?" Daine asked.

"Hmm, I think Thayet said venison roast. It is one of Joel's specialties."

"Oh," Daine said. She didn't know how she was going to explain not wanting to eat venison. She really didn't even want to look at it. But it was clear that Layne already thought she was strange. She fingered her flowers. The daisies were looking very wilted. The rose looked perfect still.

Layne saw where her attention had gone. He looked confused. "Why are the daisies so dead looking while the rose looks so fresh?"

"It's a spell." Alanna and Daine answered simultaneously and smiled at one another.

"It's a Numair specialty," Daine added. "He likes to impress women so he figured out how to extend the life of cut flowers."

"Isn't that kind of a waste of magic?" Layne scowled.

"That depends on your perspective," Alanna answered. "When you're the recipient," she fingered her own rose, "It seems rather sweet."

Daine wondered if Elyra got a rose too. By now most of the people around her had been served the roast venison and potatoes. "Why didn't they serve you yet?" Layne asked her.

Just then a servant brought her a plate. Unlike everyone else, she had been given salmon and rice. The servant continued his job, silently refilling water, fruit juice and wine glasses. "How did they know?" Daine asked, not to anyone in particular.

Alanna chuckled, "That's why he had to stop by the kitchens."

"Who?" Onua asked.

"Who do you think," Alanna said sardonically.

"Numair?"

Daine felt bad for every mean thought she had entertained when she heard Elyra Kelton laughing. She thought of something and smiled. "Alanna, waive down the server."

While Alanna tried to get the server's attention, Daine shifted her right arm smoothly into the pearly wing of a dove. She plucked a feather, wincing slightly and changed her arm back. She was holding the feather in her left hand and grinning when she looked up and saw Layne's horrified expression.

"Calm down, it barely hurts – like pulling out a hair."

From further up the table she heard Perin say, "Amazing." Alanna and Onua seemed to be stifling fits of giggles. Layne just looked nauseous. When the server arrived, Daine handed the feather to him, pointed out Numair and asked him to deliver it.

-----

Elyra Kelton had turned out to be fairly nice company. She laughed a bit too loud and a bit too hard, but otherwise, Numair enjoyed himself. The only problem was that he ached to be near Daine. He knew he shouldn't. But there it was. He could see Daine across the room. She looked beautiful. Her hair was swept up into an elegant twist that left curly tendrils to frame her delicate features. Her light blue dress matched her eyes exactly and was cut just low enough to show the badger claw she wore as a necklace. He saw the young man next to her watch her admiringly and made himself promise not to look again.

As they talked, he learned all kinds of things about the Copper Isles from Elyra, but none of it was anything of substance. He wondered if Elyra was avoiding descriptions and geography on purpose or if she was just nervous.

Before he knew it, the main course was being served. He couldn't help but look up at Daine to make sure she had gotten her special meal. He saw her taking a bite and noticed that Layne was staring at her like she was alien. Numair felt a surge of protectiveness and chided himself for it. He turned his attention back to Elyra, only to be interrupted when a server tapped him on the shoulder. The man handed him a dove feather. It brought an immediate smile to his face.

"What's that?" Elyra asked.

"It's a dove feather. It's a private thank you from a friend." He looked up at Daine. This time she was looking back and smiling. She stood up and mouthed the words "thank you", then sat back down. Numair chuckled to himself.

"That was her?"

"Yes. You met today."

"I remember. She has quite a grip."

Numair just laughed. "Sorry, that incident had completely slipped my mind."

"You're close," Elyra observed.

"It's been a rough couple of years. She's saved my life more times than I can count. She's got wildmagic and I'm the 'expert'. While I was teaching her how to manage her ability, we've spent a lot of time together and we've fought side by side"

"Does she carry those things around with her?"

"The dove feathers? No. She can shapeshift. She doesn't even have to change her whole body, just parts. The first time she did this was a few months back. She made a bad decision when she got in a bind and shapeshifted into a goose. Then she was shot with an arrow and nearly lost her arm. When she was finally healed she immediately wanted to go out flying. I got a little overprotective and said some things I'm not proud of. She called me a few things that hurt. We didn't speak for two days. I sent her a flower shower. She sent back a dove feather."

"What is a flower shower?"

Numair covered a laugh with his hand. He thought for a minute and finally said, "Watch Daine." A small disk of black fire grew in his open palm. Elyra stood up to get a better view. Numair blew on the disk and it floated across the room to hover over Daine's head. Then it spun wildly and showered Daine with small white flowers. Numair could hear her laughing from across the room. He watched her snatch at the flowers as if they were falling snowflakes.

Elyra giggled.

And suddenly, Numair was aware that everyone in the room had stopped talking. He blushed and sat back in his seat. Jon shot him a strange look. Elyra sat too, trying to stifle a laugh.

Shortly the din returned and Elyra asked, "Can you teach me to do that? Meesha would love it."

"Meesha?"

"My daughter." She pointed to the little girl sitting with the other children and her nanny.

"She's cute. Are you married?"

She looked sad. "I was. Michael was the love of my life. He died two years ago."

"I'm sorry," Numair said sincerely.

There was a long silence. Finally Numair said, "I don't know if I can teach you. Conjuring is difficult. It's not the kind of magic everyone with the Gift can do, but I can try. I like to teach."

"How did you learn it?"

"I more or less made it up." Elyra looked surprised.

"Last year, Daine and I went to Dunlath. We tripped across a conspiracy and ended up in a bit of a siege. While we were there she learned to shape shift and I ended up using a word of power to stop a madman. So we were both wiped out for a week. Our trip back was slow. We did a lot more camping then traveling. At one of the stops Daine found these tiny white flowers. She called them shooting stars. She picked enough to cover her head to toe. She grew up in a place similar to Dunlath. She said the flowers were the only thing she missed other than her family, who were all killed when she was twelve."

"She's had a hard life."

"Yes. But she's a strong girl." He smiled. So anyway, they seemed like they would be easier to conjure than most flowers. I used to do small pink ones to entertain when I worked as a juggler."

"A what?" She laughed.

"It's a long story for another day. Anyway, these are easier. You see they don't actually have petals. They are one piece which makes their formation much more simple. And the name – shooting stars – gave me the idea of a flower shower. So if you want to learn, we would have to start with the conjuring and once you get the hang of that, you use an encapsulating spell for the disk and a hovering spell to send them where you want to them to go. It looks simple, but it's actually complicated."

"You are amazing. And you did that just to make her smile?"

"She has had far too much reason not to smile. Besides I like smiles. You have a nice one." She smiled at him broadly. "See?" That made her laugh.

"You are very likeable, Numair Salmalin. Go ahead, flirt some more."

He laughed amiably. He suddenly realized that at some point the dishes had been taken away. Dessert was being served. "Can I meet Meesha?"

Elyra looked stunned. "Do you want to?"

"Sure. I like children. Just don't tell anyone. I have a bachelor reputation to uphold. Besides, I want to show off a little more. I can shower her with flowers too." He smiled broadly, but inside he felt a little strange. He had never shared the flower shower with anyone but Daine before. But he knew that he needed to get past that and to quit thinking about his student all the time. He glanced across the room at her once more and smiled as he watched Alanna lean across the table to pick a flower out of her hair.