Disclaimer: Me? Own these amazing characters? Pigs might fly. They are the property of the brilliant Tamora Pierce.
Authors Note: First off, this is my first fic, so be nice. Second, please excuse all of my spelling errors, grammar mistakes, and plain old typos that I may make. I'm using WordPad which is not as helpful nor as nice as Word. And third: This is just a cute oneshot about Daine and Numair. It also explains the return of the Darkings. I hope I got the timing and stuff right. Feel free to offer any corrections on the timeline. And thanks for reading.
I Love You, Magelet
A lone figure stood atop Balor's Needle. It was Tortal's wildmage, Daine Salamin, who was waiting for her husband, Numair. Her long dark lashes covered her storm-grey eyes rarely, so intent she was on spotting her love. Absentmindedly, she used one hand to brush back her wild smoky-brown locks, resting the other on her slowly growing belly.
Daine smiled, her full lips not quite parting. She still couldn't believe that life was growing within her. If the baby was a girl, she and Numair had agreed to call her Sarra, after Daine's mother, who had been murdered in a bandit raid when Daine was young. They hadn't picked a boy's name yet, but they weren't really worried, the baby wasn't due for several months. Daine personally hoped it would be a girl, but the healers still couldn't tell. It seemed to have the power to shape-shift. And, it could not only change species, but change it's sex as well. Daine had to occasionally shift to prevent the baby from arriving prematurely, but it wasn't often enough to be a bother yet.
Thinking of the baby reminded her of why she wasn't with Numair. She had been having another bout of morning sickness, which sometimes lasted a little past morning, when Numair was called away to the Swoop. Apparantly Aly, the Lioness' daughter, had disappeared. Originally, she had been summoned with him, but he contacted George through speaking-spell to explain her travelling difficulty. In her place, Daine had sent Kit, her adopted dragonling. Kit knew how to detect and disarm some spells, so incase Aly had been kidnapped, Kit could help.
Unfortunately, Numair had contacted Daine at Pirate's Swoop. Aly had runaway of her own free will. George had left to find her, sending Numair back to Corus. He had the not-so-pleasant job of explaining the situation to King Jonathan and possibly dealing with Alanna's temper. Daine was far from envious, though she would most likely accompany Numair on those errands.
The sun was going down and the wind began to pick up. Daine shivered and drew her cloak around her, wishing yet again that Numair was standing beside her. Why is he this late? she wondered. I hope he didn't run into trouble on the way back.Quickly, she banished the thought. Numair was more than capable of defending himself, and Kit was powerful in her own right. Still...
Pining over Storkman? she heard a familiar voice say. Daine recognised it immediately
Daine almost giggled at Cloud's old nickname for Numair. Admit it, Cloud. You miss him almost as much as me.
From down below, the girl thought she heard the horse snort, but it was impossible to tell from that distance.
Stupid two-legger, Cloud muttered affectionatly, finally managing to make Daine laugh aloud.
Thanks, I needed that. I-- she stopped when a small black shape caught her eye. It was a Darking. She hadn't seen one of them since the Divine Realms. It waved at her.
What's going on? Cloud inquired.
It... It's... A Darking... Daine replied, inspecting it more closely. Her eyes widened. "Gold-streak?" she asked aloud and in mind-speak simultaneously.
It crawled up her leg and onto her shoulder, forming a lump for a head. "Hello," it chirped as Daine stroked it's newly-formed head.
"Why aren't you in the Divine Realms?" she asked.
"Dragons boring. Darkings want fun. Darkings miss Daine and Mage."
Daine grinned. "Daine miss Mage too." she said, imitating the Darking's way of speaking. "I'm waiting for him. Care to wait with me?"
Us. Cloud corrected.
"Us." Daine repeated, bashfully. Sorry I forgot you, Cloud.
She felt the horse leave in a huff. Oh well, she'll get over it, Daine thought.
The Darking made a sound that could have been laughter. "Darkings already see Mage. Mage give us funfun." It reached our a tenticle to point at the floor. A cluster of Darkings were waiting there.
"Watch." The Darking on her shoulder ordered.
Daine watched as the Darkings flowed into patterns, stretching to form...
"Words?" Daine asked. Gold-streak didn't reply.
When the creatures stopped moving, Daine read the message and almost cried. It was from Numair. "Oh, Goddess." she gasped before reading the words aloud. "I love you, Magelet." Suddenly she felt phantom lips on her cheek.
She heard a trill and the Darking pointed tward the sunset. "Look." it said.
The sillouettes of Numair and Kitten stood out against the brightness. Daine couldn't stand it any longer. She ran to an open window and jumped through it, shifting into a small sparrow-hawk before barreling tward Numair. He caught her and she nuzzled his cheek for a second before changing to her natural form. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug and whispered in his ear, "I love you too, Numair."
A/N: Okay, a big thanks for reading and please, please review. If anyone knows what the Darkings called Numair please let me know!