Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story are the property and creation of Tamora Pierce. The Copper Isles delegates came from my demented brain

Chapter 6 – Dancing

Shay had never felt more confused in her life. She knew that her mistress was supposed to help destroy this country. The king she had sworn her loyalty to considered Tortallans to be evil. Their ways were foreign to her in every respect. And yet she could not remember ever feeling more welcomed anywhere in her life. Her low station was one that Yamanis barely noticed. In the Copper Isles, where she had spent the last ten years of her life, she was treated with disdain. But here in Corus, they were respectful and friendly.

She had expected that Meesha would sit with the other nobles' children and she would have to stand at the wall to watch over her. But what she had found was a place setting for herself right next to Meesha. She had expected it would be a lonely dinner for the two, but what she found was that the Tortallan King's own children went out of their way to welcome them. She had expected to be served different food than her charge, but what she had found was that she was given the same meal and portions as the nobles enjoyed.

When their meal was over, Lady Elyra came to see Meesha and brought with her a tall mage. She introduced this man as Numair Salmalin. Shay knew that Salmalin was the man that Elyra was supposed to be working against. But he was so nice. He entertained Meesha with juggling and magic. And when the dancing started, he led Meesha to the edge of the dance floor, picked her up and began to dance with her. The little girl laughed like Shay had not seen her laugh in a very long time. Shay didn't know what Elyra was supposed to do other than seduce this man, but it seemed to Shay that their loyalties were on the wrong side – not that it could be helped under the circumstances.

After the song ended, the mage set Meesha back on her feet and bowed low. "Thank you for the dance, m'lady," he said and kissed her tiny hand. Meesha giggled and Elyra beamed. The king's daughter then begged Salmalin to dance with her and he left for the dance floor again. Meesha ran up to where Shay and Elyra were standing and in her small voice announced, "I'm in love."

Shay patted her head and said, "Me too, child." When she looked up at Elyra, she saw a tear spill down the woman's cheek. Shay searched her face. No words had to be spoken between them to know that Elyra was struggling against her orders. Shay bit her lip and tried to picture Michael. After all, he was the reason they were here.

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Elyra stood and watched Numair dancing with the princess. She was feeling a flood of emotions that she couldn't deal with. Her first and most important duty was to Michael. She knew the only way to get him out of the danger he was in was too cooperate. To cooperate, she had been ordered to seduce the man she was now watching and to find something of his to provide to Master Tyrus. At the moment she had every desire to seduce Numair, but not to cause him harm.

"Mama, can I stay and play with the other children?" Meesha was tugging on her skirt. She looked down at her daughter's pleading eyes.

A chorus of several small voices followed with "Please, can't she stay?" Several of the other children Meesha had been dining with had come to plead her case. Elyra looked to Shay, who shrugged and chuckled.

"Alright, for a little bit," she told the girl. Meesha squealed with delight and followed the other children toward the terrace. "Mind your manners, though," Elyra called after her daughter. Shay followed the child.

Another song had ended and Numair strolled back to where Elyra was standing. With a bow he asked, "May I have this dance, fair lady?"

"I thought you'd never ask," she said smiling. He took her hand to lead her to the dance floor. He put his other hand on her waist and began to move gracefully in time with the music. Elyra had grown used to being able to look men straight in the eye, but Numair was still quite a bit taller than she. She looked up into his handsome face and said, "You make me feel short."

"I have that effect on everyone." His brown eyes danced playfully.

"My daughter says she's in love with you."

He just laughed. "She's a beautiful little girl. She will be breaking hearts before you know it."

She smiled, nearly forgetting where she was. When this occurred to her, she slid back a little, putting more space between them. "Why aren't you married?"

"I don't have a ready answer for that. I've had a strange life. Most men marry when they are 21 or 22. I spent those years hiding from an evil dictator. After that there were always new things to learn and see and I traveled a lot, although certain of my friends would tell you I'm not made for travel." He chuckled. "I've only recently wondered about that myself. Maybe some of us aren't made for marriage. Or perhaps I haven't found the woman for me."

"I'll bet you've broken a hundred hearts."

"I hope not," he said with a smile.

"I can see many reasons a woman might fall for you. You're handsome, kind, friendly, funny, brilliant, charming…"

He cut her off and finished with his own list, "Bookish, boring, a terrible rider, tall and gawky, frightening, I have a terrible temper, and I've even been called vane far too often for my taste. I've worked hard on my humility, don't obliterate it."

"If you're so bad, why do I want you to kiss me so much?" she asked. He looked momentarily shocked and just when she thought he might, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to find the lady knight standing behind her.

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Alanna was feeling like this night was dragging. She missed George, she wanted to kill Layne Smithson, and she wanted to knock Daine and Numair's heads together and tell them to either get over it or on with it.

The flower shower had seemed to her another sweet display between Numair and Daine. But it had been too much for Layne. The idiot boy had no more patience for magic than a one time beau of hersmany years before, except she couldn't remember Liam ever throwing the kind of tantrum that Layne had. He had even gone so far as to call Daine a freak.

Alanna and Onua had asked him to leave and they weren't polite about it. Daine looked very hurt and had spent the next few minutes with her arms folded in front of her self-consciously. Luckily, when the music started, Evin Larse had come and invited Daine to dance. After that several young men asked her. She had spent quite a bit of time on the dance floor.

Then, Alanna looked out on the dance floor and saw Numair looking very intimate with Elyra Kelton. She also saw Daine watching wistfully from where she was dancing with a clerk that Alanna didn't know. Alanna decided to cut in. If Numair wanted a tryst with a woman he barely knew, that was fine. But Daine didn't need to have it rubbed in her face after the disastrous date she just suffered. So she tapped on Elyra's shoulder.

"Sorry to barge in, but laddybuck here, promised me a dance. I came to collect."

"Of-of course," Elyra stammered. She waived to Numair and then left the dance floor.

Numair looked surprised, but behaved gallantly. He folded his left hand over Alanna's right and put his other hand at her waist. He gracefully steered her around the floor and finally broke the silence with, "I never knew you liked dancing so much."

Alanna made a snorting sound. "Say thank you. I just kept you from an embarrassing public display with a woman you hardly know."

Numair's cheeks colored. "Is that what you think?"

"Just keep it private. I don't want to know. But I would like you to see if you can't cheer Daine up a bit."

Numair looked over to where Daine was dancing. This surprised Alanna. She didn't think he had even noticed Daine was on the dance floor. "She looks like she's enjoying herself. Although I admit I was wondering what happened to the blond imbecile that brought her."

Alanna chuckled. "I take it you knew he was a jerk before the rest of us did?"

She saw Numair's jaw clench. "What did he do?"

"Had a tantrum over all the magic. Called her a freak. Nearly made her cry. Onua and I invited him to leave."

"Better you than me. I would have left his clothing smoldering." His eyes never left Daine.

Alanna tried not to laugh. "Here I was thinking that you were wrapped up in what's-her-name."

Numair finally looked Alanna in the face. "Would that be so bad?"

Alanna stopped dancing and stared at him.

"We're close in age. She's nice. She's got a child with no father." Alanna glared and he fixed her with an equally unpleasant stare before explaining,"You have a husband and a family. Jon has a wife and family. Is it so wrong that I might want that too?"

"No, Numair, you should want those things. But you need the love part."

"What makes you think I couldn't love Elyra?"

"Love usually takes longer than a meal and a dance, Numair."

His cheeks colored again and he looked frustrated. He lowered his voice and said, "I didn't mean I did. I just meant maybe someday she might be the one."

"Well if she is, then I'll eat my words. In the meantime, your friend needs you." There was never a moment when Alanna wanted to whack Numair in the head more than this one. Silently she cussed and grumbled as she walked off the dance floor. She wondered if she could just lock the two of them in a room somewhere and see what happened. She was pretty sure that everyone around them would frown on that. And locking up a black robe mage and a wildmage wouldn't be easy. He could blow the door off. She could turn into a snake or a mouse and escape. She finally decided she'd just have to let them be.

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Numair was in inner turmoil. He had tried really hard to be attracted to Elyra. The woman had actually asked him to kiss her. He tried to make himself not see Daine dancing with a young man who looked completely enamored with her. Then along came Alanna, who appeared to have at some point read his thoughts. That was a scary prospect. Some of his thoughts were not for mixed company. On the numerous occasions he had held arguments in his own head about the root of his attraction to Daine, the voice of reason had told him he just wanted a family and that Daine was too young to be part of that. He threw all those arguments at Alanna and still she seemed to think he ought to be dancing with Daine.

As for Layne Smithson, Numair thought he might have to find him and pound him just to make a point. If the boy didn't like who Daine was, why had he asked her to the banquet in the first place? Numair knew the answer to that. Rumors that Daine was sleeping with everyone in that castle had started because she spent time with Numair. Of course it was all innocent, but gossips rarely cared about the truth. Now that he was fighting a growing attraction to her, the rumors about Daine would only get worse. He had to get control of this somehow.

He walked over to where Daine was dancing with a brunette boy he did not know. The two were talking pleasantly as they danced. Numair wondered if this really was the best course of action for either of them, but Alanna had pretty much told him to go.

When he tapped on the boy's shoulder, the boy looked up at him and cringed. I'm not that frightening am I? Numair tried to smile politely as he asked, "May I cut in?" The boy practically fled.

And now he folded Daine into his arms. He had danced with several others this evening. Somehow, the pressure of her hand in his and curve of her waist against his arm felt more right than had any other. "Magelet, you look beautiful. I never got to tell you earlier."

She smiled up at him and his stomach flipped. "And you look very handsome, as always."

"Don't praise me too much. I'll get a big head."

She laughed. It was musical and warm – a sound he loved. "Thank you for talking to the cook. That was very thoughtful."

"Thank you for the feather. It brought such a big smile to face that I had to explain it to the people sitting with me."

"And the flowers…. You know I love that."

"You still have some in your hair you know." Secretly, he thought they looked pretty against her curls.

"I thought Alanna picked all of those out."

"Well maybe it's easier for me to look at the top of your head," he chuckled while he said this. Then he pulled a flower out of her hair. "See?"

"Maybe you just put that there now," she teased.

His eyes locked onto hers. He could feel her dangerously close to him. He wanted so much to press his lips to hers. He felt himself leaning toward her. And he might have lost his head and kissed her right there in front of everybody were it not for the next words out of her mouth. She suddenly paled and yelled, "Hurrocks, scores of them!"