Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce wrote some great stories. Then I came along and added stuff in between. Ain't fanfiction great?

Nativewildmage: My writing makes your heart pound teehee. I hope you'll like the latest twist. If Sinthya had gotten to speak, they would have known before RotG about Chaos. Instead, Sinthya lost his head.

Twilight Shades: I loved giving the suits a downside. Wait until you read.

Kit49: I figured there would be people cursing at me about the kiss. It was fun to write it and have it undone in the next line. I keep trying to picture her frozen in that position too. It would look freaky. It's great how Numair's failure to look at his feelings is starting to really mess with his life.

Ethalas Tuath'an: You asked about Sinthya. He's in this chapter and for the last time.

Narms Briton 44: I did explain it. Dragons use spells. Basilisks use spells. Kit is advanced because of all of Numair's books and Tkaa's influence. So I decided he taught her the spell.

Chapter 15 – Puzzle

The morning rose gloomy and stormy. A heavy snowfall kept Onua and her friends from traveling any further south that day. The falling snow and pounding wind made visibility so poor that they could easily have been lost. A dread seemed to spread over the small camp, despite the fact that a shield made by Harailt and Lindhall kept them all dry. Numair stayed tucked mostly in his tent, pouring through what books they had on hand trying to find a better solution than the magical shield suits.

Of course, Numair couldn't entirely keep to himself once everyone in camp realized the downside of the suits. Not only could those shielded not touch anyone, they couldn't comb their own hair because the comb was outside of the very solid shield. Neither could they eat or use the privy without having the shield temporarily released. This was both inconvenient and dangerous, especially because both Daine and Alanna could potentially do damage without being in site.

Jon had contacted Numair repeatedly that morning, first because Raoul needed to eat and use the privy, and then because Jon wanted to learn to do the shield himself so that he didn't have to find Numair every time Raoul needed to attend to a normal biological function. Soon Lindhall and Harailt began to practice the shield spells as well, in the hope that they could each take a charge and make the shields more practical.

Onua played her citole by the fire for a couple hours that morning. Cearl was back in the tent they had started to share pouring through his own book. She wasn't really sure what he was looking for, but she hoped it was a way to help them. She had begun to feel strange about Cearl. She was used to the mages around her using whatever power they had to offer to help out. Cearl didn't usually volunteer. While it was true that he had helped out during the big battle when they discovered Daine was now being controlled, he usually didn't offer help unless specifically requested.

Numair came out of his tent about that time and smiled at her. "Onua, your talent never ceases to amaze me. It's nice to hear your music this morning. I think I would have sunk into a deep depression without it." He stretched and tilted his neck as if trying to work out a kink. "I haven't had any privy calls in a while," he added, "but it's almost midday."

"Sometimes a solution is more a problem isn't it?" she teased grinning.

"That's the problem with trying to make up spells as you go along. Most poisons have been invented while trying to come up with an antidote for another poison."

She had never really thought about how poisons were invented before. She found the thought discomforting. "Are you any closer to the real answer?"

"I honestly don't know. Usually it is a matter of looking at the problem correctly. I probably have more information than I realize, or at least that's the way this kind of thing has worked in the past. The Gods are lucky enough to see things completely. We mortals get to scramble as if hunting pieces of a puzzle. When they are all assembled, only then do we see what was right before our eyes all along. I'm sure that will be the case this time as well. Do me a favor and distract me for a few minutes. If I don't think about it, maybe I'll see what I'm missing." Kit nearly ran into him as she scurried after Tahoi. They were playing their crazy game of tag again. He laughed and shook his head at them.

Onua thought for a moment. "Before all this madness hit I was preparing music for the Rider's Midwinter Party. I used a couple of your songs. I thought I might have you sing one or maybe Sarge because it's meant for a male singer."

She watched him blush darkly. "I couldn't sing in front of a lot of people. It's one thing to play the recorder in front of a lot of people – and even that is usually for magic spells – but it is quite another to sing in front of everybody." He stared out into the middle of camp, watching the baby dragon and huge dog chase one another.

"But these are all friends – the riders group," Onua protested. "You are very familiar with all of them because of myself and Daine and because of various lessons. And this is your song."

He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. Onua thought he was probably looking for a flaw in her argument. "Your music might not be something I could sing, did you ever think of that? And which song are we talking about anyway?"

Onua looked at him suspiciously. She thought he might pretend not to remember the words, so she pulled out the book, opened it to the page and handed it to him. "The tune is not hard either. It could be pitched to fit your range, so don't tell me you couldn't sing it."

To her shock, Numair sat hard as he read the lines. He never looked up. "What made you – why did you pick this one?" he mumbled. His suddenly heavy mood in contrast to the comical antics of Kit and Tahoi made the scene surreal.

She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "I picked it because I thought it was beautiful. It says so much in such few lines." She tried to study his face, but he was looking everywhere but at her. There was a very long silence, "Do I know her?" she asked finally.

He stood quickly, "No, I don't think so." Kit began to sparkle brightly as she stopped chasing Tahoi. And whatever Numair mumbled next was unintelligible over the small dragon's sudden loud chirping. Onua's attention was drawn back when Numair said, "Is Daine somewhere by the horses? I need to talk to Cloud and could use her help."

Onua nodded and glanced back to the sparkling dragon. Then Numair picked Kit up and asked her, "Where's your ma?" Onua had to smile at the question. That was how Daine referred to herself in regard to little Skysong.

Kit and Numair crossed over to the horses, about the time that Daine exited Alanna's tent. Onua stood and walked to her. "Numair wants a discussion with Cloud and was hoping you'd translate."

"Oh, okay. I was going to take her an apple anyway," Daine said with a smile. "I can't feed myself properly, but I think I can feed her."

Onua chuckled. They walked together to the horses and saw the strangest site. Numair had Kit on his shoulder and was feeding an apple to Cloud. "Did I die yesterday and no one told me?" Onua asked sarcastically.

Daine laughed. "Cloud says she'll take a free apple from nearly anybody."

Numair and Onua laughed too. "This is a sight I never imagined I'd see," Onua teased. "You're training him very well, Daine."

Daine covered her mouth but her eyes looked amused. Numair said, "You make me sound like a naughty puppy."

"Goddess knows I could never get you around a horse when you didn't have to be," Onua said mockingly.

Daine reached up and took Kit, balancing the tiny dragon on one hip. "Cloud says it must have been the fox and she's sorry. She usually doesn't think anything of any animal entering my tent."

Suddenly serious, Onua asked, "What about a fox?"

"I asked Cloud to keep an eye on Daine back before we resolved our argument," Numair explained. Seeing the sour look on Daine's face he added, "I also asked her to keep an eye on me for that matter. It makes sense that she might see thing that we miss."

"That is true," Daine acquiesced.

"Cloud, did the fox seem odd to you in any way?" Numair asked the horse then he turned to face Daine.

"She says he was a little unusual but she's not sure exactly why."

"A fox?" Onua asked. "How could an animal be part of this?"

"A couple of ways," Numair said, leaning back against a tree. "It could be an illusion spell, although it would have to a very complete one indeed to also fool the eyes of various animals. It could be a strong wizard like myself, who can shapeshift. Or the animal could actually be controlled in a similar fashion to Daine, Alanna, Daniel and Raoul. Whoever this is knows quite a lot about us, even a few secrets. They would have to know that Daine could potentially have spies everywhere. But it isn't unusual to see a fox enter her tent or even to find a hedgehog curled up in her bedroll," he grinned at Daine. "So Cloud, I doubt if I would have noticed either." He petted the gray mare. Onua checked to make sure her mouth wasn't hanging open.

Daine smiled and chuckled. "She says she forgives you too, Storkman." Both Daine and Onua giggled.

Briefly a sour expression crossed Numair's face. "I suppose I can't hold it against her. I would be dead now if it weren't for her." He pulled another apple from his pocket and fed the mare.

Daine stared at the ground uncomfortably and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Magelet, it wasn't your fault, remember? Besides, I'm the one who sat there on the ground doing nothing to protect myself for a whole minute. I learned how to deflect arrows from my person when I was twelve. I certainly could have done it yesterday. And you know that brings up a question. Why wasn't Cloud affected? Under this sorcerer's control, you forced the animals to do things they would never have done otherwise. If you had that tight of control with your magic, why wouldn't it affect Cloud?"

Daine looked thoughtful for a minute, chewing on her bottom lip. "Maybe I didn't control Cloud because I didn't need her to do anything. Or, it could be that she's different because of the bite." She tapped her elbow, watching her finger bounce against the magic shield.

"I wonder if it's important here," Numair said thoughtfully. "I keep wondering what I would see if I could look at one of these battles from…" His eyes opened wide and he began to murmur something to himself. Onua heard words like, "Elyra"… "worked on teaching her"… "should have done it myself." In his own world now he hurried back toward the tent where Lindhall and Harailt were working.

"Inspiration," Daine said with a smirk.

Onua laughed. They began to feed apples to the other horses. "We're going to run out of these soon," Onua said. "Since Cearl can make eggs, I wonder if he can make apples."

Daine stopped and looked at her. "Can I ask you something, Onua?"

"Sure."

"What is it about Cearl that – well I'm not sure the best way – but I was wondering.."

"..why I like him?" Onua finished.

"Yeah." Daine blushed slightly.

"Would you believe I don't know the answer to that? There are moments I don't exactly know how we – well it's not like I saw him and said 'Oh, he's the one.' I'm not sure he is the one anyway. I'm sure a fling like this is foolish. He will go on to do magely things and I won't see him again, probably." She felt her face color. "I can't believe I'm talking to you about this."

"Why?"

"You're still so young."

"What does that have to do with price of peas in Persopolis? My ma had men stay over sometimes. I know sometimes a woman wants to bed a man even if they're not married."

"Daine," Onua began, "Have you…"

Daine began to laugh. "Not many men want to share a bedroll with me and a hedgehog or two."

Onua chuckled. "Perin seems fairly accepting of your magic. Maybe he…"

Daine blushed. "Perin is a friend. I've been away long enough now that he probably moved on. Even so, I think it might be a little strange to him too. The riders talk about it sometimes -- that I have friends visit. Always the males look like it's the worst thought they ever heard. A few even make very inappropriate jokes. Honestly, the only man who never teased me about the friends that keep me warm is Numair. We've traveled together enough that he's seen me curled up with wolves, marmosets, cats, martins, and even smelly sea lions. He's still my friend." The girl looked distant.

Onua smiled to herself. "You treat his strangest behavior as normal too. Yesterday, you were the only one who didn't back away from him while he was blowing up rocks. Did you notice?"

"He told me once that we 'weirds' have to stick together." Daine said nodding. "Still, I was surprised that Alanna did. She usually understands everything about him. Onua, do you think Buri's right about why he wrote that song?"

"No. I asked him about the inspiration for that song. He said he didn't think that I knew her. But he wouldn't give me any more information than that. He seemed rather embarrassed."

"Oh," was all Daine said. But she was staring at the brush as she combed out Cloud's coat. "So Cearl – you're not going to follow him and leave me alone with all those riders are you?"

Onua laughed. "No. Sarge would string me up anyway. So would Buri for that matter. If Cearl wants something more, he can come to me. Tortall could always use another mage, especially another black robe." Secretly, she doubted if Jon would want someone who didn't volunteer more though. Jon liked people who weren't afraid of hard work.

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Jon was sitting in his study when a herald fetched him to where Duke Gareth had just arrived. At the name of Peter of Sinthya, the two men had shared a look that spoke volumes. He couldn't imagine what Sinthya had to tell him that could not be shared with anyone else, but to risk Traitor's Hill to return and share this information, it had to be huge.

Raoul and Jon rounded the corner in time to see a fight break out between two member of the Own and Gareth the Younger. Gary wasn't usually the fighting type and this made no sense.

"Sire!" Sinthya yelled from where he was chained in Gareth the Elder's wagon. "I have important information that you must know, before he destroys us all."

Raoul and Jon hurried toward the chained man, ignoring the fight on the other side of the wagon.

Sinthya looked terrible. He was dirty and very thin. A haunted look on his face spoke of horrors he had witness while in hiding. "A plot with dire consequences – he's allied himself with the Queen of…" It was the last thing that Sinthya said before a sword parted his head from his body. Jon shot a paralyzing spell at the killer – Gary.

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Okay, time to respond