Disclaimer: Tortall and its characters are the sole property of Tamora Pierce. The additional characters are too insignificant to sue for.
A/N: There are more twists and turns to this plot than to a slinky. Watch it take a nasty turn below.
Nativewildmage: I hope they don't avoid practice. And I'm so glad you liked it.
Kit49: Okay, you are just way too psychic. And I can't tell you whether Numair gets possessed or not because it would spoil the story completely for you. As far as shady goes, just remember what the Goddess said in MC and you'll know all you need to about Cearl.
Purple Eyed Cat: Yeah, this is probably the most complex story I've devised. If it weren't for a few comedy side kicks (Cloud, Kit, etc.) it might be too heavy.
X17SkmBdrchiczxx: Ummmm, two Alanna's was never confirmed. Ask yourself how the other Alanna came to be riding Darkmoon.
And now
Chapter 8 – Allies
The stormwing perched on the edge of a rough tree stump waiting. He disliked waiting. It had taken two months to start to regain a role of leadership. He was good at leading. Many people and immortals fell into line without questioning him. It had been so when he was emperor of Carthak and it was so now. However, some followers liked to keep him waiting. He growled at the night. But finally he heard the fox approaching.
"It's about time!" he yelled haughtily. "It worked?" The fox merely nodded.
Ozorne laughed with vicious mirth. "The large knight is in the king's dungeon. Do we let them think him cured?" Again the fox nodded.
"Good, good." Ozorne's eyes narrowed and his metal feathers rustled slightly. "Was the lady knight hard to infect?"
The fox shook its head and made a weird bark that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
"Now, we need a few bigger targets. The wildmage?"
The fox nodded and gestured with its head toward a clearing where Daine, Onua, Cearl, Buri and Alanna had set up camp.
"Did the king recall Draper to join them?"
The fox nodded and sneezed, then made that weird laugh again.
"Will Draper be difficult to control?"
The fox resumed his human shape. "Perhaps, milord. And I would like to test the wildmage a little. I need another immortal foe. Make them expendable but difficult to kill. I want it done before the other mages arrive though. Remember there are currently five in this party." He laughed sycophantically before morphing back into the fox.
"It will be attended to. I shall place them in their path before they encounter the riders."
The fox nodded. He then waved a paw and bowed, before turning to leave.
"There will be a unique place for you in my new palace when this is all done," Ozorne said. He then flew off into the night.
------
Onua awoke to find herself alone. She looked around for Cearl and finally decided he must have gone to the stream to wash up. Memories of the intimacy of the night before drifted through her mind. She stretched lazily and began to dress. Getting dressed in a one-man tent is never an easy feat. Her wiggling around alerted Tahoi that she was awake. The big dog entered the tent sulking.
"Morning, Tahoi," her voice was low and hoarse as was usual when she first woke up. She reached out and petted his nose. "You are so used to defending me that you don't know what you're about, do you?" she asked him. "Try to be a little friendly to him, for me?"
Tahoi snuffled and headed back out the tent. Onua poked her head out to watch him go and saw him wiggle his way into Daine's tent. "Traitor," she muttered in his direction. Then good smells greeted her nose. It was supposed to be her turn to cook, so this surprised her. Looking back to the fire ring, she saw Cearl was making breakfast.
He smiled warmly and flirted, "You look almost as good dressed as undressed." He stirred the pan over the fire. "I thought I'd surprise you with breakfast, but you woke up too fast."
"How long have you been up?" Onua struggled to ask around a yawn.
"About an hour and a half. Your dog tried to crawl in with us and growled and snapped at me. He was trying to be protective. I'm sorry to say I used a paralyzing spell to avoid his teeth, but he wasn't hurt. Daine can probably confirm that when she wakes up." He looked humble and Onua thought it was endearing.
"Tahoi seems fine. I'm glad you were able to keep him from biting without harming him."
She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, peeking into the pan as she did so. "Where ever did you find eggs?"
"Oh, they're one of my specialties." She saw white magic with black sparkles swirl in his palm and an egg appeared out of thin air. Stunned, she said, "Do you know your gift is the exact opposite of Numair's in color?"
He looked surprised. "I hadn't remembered that about him."
"And I don't think he's ever tried conjuring eggs. I have seen him conjure flowers and heard of him conjuring a jewel, but not food items."
"It takes a lot of practice to make them taste right. The first few I conjured were rather bland and smelled terrible. But I didn't give up." His smile was infectious and Onua laughed. "Why would he conjure flowers? And conjuring a jewel would be difficult. Was it an actual stone or…"
"You mages, always the academic curiosity."
He laughed, set the pan down and turned in the circle of her arms, returning the embrace. "Yes, I like to learn. But I have a healthy biological curiosity too." He leaned in to kiss her and everything was forgotten except for him as she pressed against him, hands roaming. But then she heard a throat cleared behind them. She turned to see Alanna, waiting outside their barrier.
Cearl and Onua both blushed brightly. Cearl dropped his magic barrier and let Alanna join them at the fire.
Before long, Buri had joined them too. They ate breakfast and joked a bit, intending to let Daine sleep after her long search for Darkmoon the night prior. So they were surprised when she came walking over from where the horses were tethered. "Tahoi woke me," she answered their unspoken question, so I snuck over to visit Darkmoon and see if he was feeling better and could tell me anymore about yesterday."
"Did he?" Alanna asked. There was urgency in her voice.
"Umm, we could talk privately."
"No, everyone should know what's going on. I might be a danger to you."
Daine looked slightly hesitant, but eventually bowed to the severe expression Alanna was giving her. "He told me that the fake you rode him out yesterday." Her words were slow and cautious and she looked at Alanna with sympathy. "I think that kills the imposter idea. It seems you were lying on the ground because that's where he dumped you."
Alanna swallowed hard. "All right, well there's something wrong with me then." She stared hollowly at the ground and said softly, "I killed those men." Tears ran down her cheeks.
Daine rushed to put her arms around Alanna, and Buri reached over to pat her arm. Onua wanted to comfort Alanna but thought it might have the opposite effect right now. "Let's not hear any more of this poison," Onua said. "Someone did this to you. That means they killed our friends. They killed the horses. Don't you go blaming yourself for the work of another."
Daine nodded agreement. Buri said, "I know you, Alanna. You would never do anything like that of your own free will."
Alanna looked at Cearl and said, "Your magic has returned completely, right?"
"Yes ma'am." He answered.
"Then I expect you to bind me. I'll need to be able to ride so I'm not a hindrance. I know Numair can do it. I assume you can too."
"What binding spell did you have in mind?"
"Block in my magic and chain my hands. You can spell my leather armor if you prefer. I'll wear that today. I'll give my weapons to Buri."
"Consider it done." Cearl turned to get up, but came face to face with Tahoi. The big dog growled, hackles raised.
"Stop it," Daine and Onua commanded together. The dog looked mournfully at Daine.
"That's strange," Daine said.
"What?" Alanna and Onua asked together.
"Tahoi says he doesn't trust you, Cearl. He says you're a sneaky two-legger. Did you paralyze him this morning?"
Cearl blushed. "Yes, I had to. I didn't hurt him did I?"
"No, but he didn't like it. It made him sleep and he doesn't like being forced to sleep when he's watching out for Onua."
"I'd like to be friends but I'm a little afraid of his teeth." The women all laughed.
------
Elyra gathered her courage and tried the spell again. She had spoken to Lindhall by fire only one hour ago to learn how it was to be done. It seemed simple enough when he explained it. And yet, she wasn't getting the hang of it.
She put her palm to Ilane of Mindelan's head again. "Think of that day one more time, please. Try to remember as clearly as possible." The tall blond woman scrunched up her face in concentration. And at last, Elyra felt the memory enter her own mind. "I've got it, finally. I'm so sorry I'm very new to this. But I promise I'll return it once we've done what we needed."
"My husband trusts you, so I trust you," Ilane said simply. Elyra was amazed at how composed the woman was. She really had learned the Yamani smooth expressions, something Elyra didn't always do well.
"I need to practice the projection spell a little and then I'll be ready to face him." By him, she referred to her brother-in-law, the soon-to-be emperor of Yamani. "Don't worry. I will do my part. Tortall has come to mean a great deal to me and my children. We will make this treaty stand."