Disclaimer: This story is based on the creative masterpieces of Tamora Pierce. She owns everything.

A/N: You will see a little piece at the end of this foreshadowing the smallest details in RotG. Jon and Daine have their own idea of knocking on wood, by knocking on their heads. It's origin is below as well as the first hint of a darking. I hope you like it.

Chapter 12 – Passage

Numair held the locket open in the palm of his hand. He still could not believe how perfect the painting was. The small portrait held every detail of Daine's beautiful face from chestnut curls, blue gray eyes, and delicate nose to stubborn chin. Like all of Volney Rain's work, the portrait seemed to beckon to him with a smile meant only for his eyes. He had paid Rain three times the price he had asked for when he painted the other locket portraits. He had also brought the artist more work in the form of newly betrothed couple from court. But he also still felt guilty. He could not forget how Rain's hands shook as he handled the small masterpiece.

The jewelry itself was easier to buy without awkward questions. A jewel-smith had little work this time of year and spent the winter days building up inventory. Numair had been able to find the perfect piece already designed. Not only did it fit the portrait perfectly, but also the locket contained a gold clip, in which Numair had secured the lock of hair he had taken in January. He had never quite been able to part with it. The craftsman had called this bracelet the "perfect lover's token". He was hardly a lover to Daine, but it didn't matter as long as it kept him from behaving like an idiot.

A speaking spell glittered in the corner of his eye. He hastily refastened the bracelet around his wrist and the invisibility spell made it vanish. He, of all people, knew a speaking spell did not allow the speaker to see anything and yet he behaved as if he were a thief caught in the act. So much for stopping me from behaving like an idiot, he thought with irony. He heard Jonathan's voice asking for his immediate presence in his study. Numair didn't dawdle.

Harailt and Lindhall were already present along with a group of healers from the Royal University. Numair could see Jon sitting at his desk looking anxious. Before Numair could say a word of greeting, Jon stood and said, "Good, you're here. We have a bit of a situation. I need to know about the viability of opening a Tharsen Window. Where does the power come from and are there consequences – if so what are the consequences?"

The last time Numair had witnessed this kind of rush of questions from Jon, there had been an attack on a port and no soldiers nearby to help. He wanted to ask his own questions, but knew better than to keep Jon waiting when he was this nervous. "Jon, the spell takes an enormous amount of power and draws it directly from the person opening the window. As far as consequences – it's not the type of spell we should do without a dire emergency because they vary. Unlike a word of power, which has a direct and corollary reaction, the answer is enigmatic." Jon looked at him confused. "In the easiest terms I can use to explain it, you force a distance to bend and connect where it shouldn't naturally. It's like taking two sleeves of a shirt and sewing them together so that you have one long hollow tube to hold something." Numair pressed his hands together to give the king something concrete to reference. "But in this case, it is time and space that is being connected unnaturally and it is a temporary window. There may be no consequences if the space you move is empty. But this window could allow other things in. It may bend around a body and cause a distortion. You could have a whole section of nature; rocks, trees, wildlife, vegetation, bodies of water,…" He stopped mid-list when Jon shot him a look that could melt glass. He smiled at his own folly and picked up the thread of conversation, "All these things could be distorted or destroyed in the process."

Jon focused worried eyes directly on his own. "I have a village of mostly children suffering unicorn fever. More mysterious gelatin cubes appeared there three days ago. Those who originally ingested the candy are gone and the epidemic has killed their healer. A nine year old managed to send a carrier pigeon begging for help. It may already be too late."

Numair felt a rush of the panic that Jon must be suffering. He understood the gathering in Jon's study now. "I'll need a map and we should take our entourage outside and away from the palace. I think we take less chances if we remove as many outside influences to the window as possible. I will also need Daine." Though he never actually confirmed that they would do it, Jon and Numair understood one another. No matter what, this was their course of action.

Fifteen minutes later they were gathered on the snowy edge of the forest. Jon and Numair consulted maps and tried not to discuss the even larger number who had collected there. The healers stood nervously with their supplies as if they were about to walk off a cliff. Raoul of Goldenlake had put together a force to provide support to the area. Harailt, Lindhall and Daine stood just behind Numair to offer their magic. Duke Baird had come to oversee things. And then there were a few people that Numair thought were there simply because they were curious. Many were students from the university. He felt a bit like a street magician preparing for a show, but the stakes were much higher .

Once the decision was made, Jon beckoned the lead healer and Raoul to the map so they could see where Numair and Jon had decided to send them. Numair turned to discuss things with the other mages. Daine smiled at him and said, "Numair, what am I here to do?"

"Do you remember at all how I took you to Alanna when you contracted the fever?" She shook her head. "This spell opens a Tharsen Window. It bends time and space. I want to clear out as much wildlife between here and there as I can. I'm trying to limit potential consequences. I will prepare the window in the normal way. I'm hoping that you will be able to feel the distance between here and there and ask your friends to evacuate for their safety."

"And if I don't have enough range?" she asked. The intensity in her eyes caught him by surprise and he felt his stomach flip again. He paused a bit too long. "Numair?"

"Then we can look together -- like the deer – I'll amplify you with my own power."

"Will that leave you enough power for this task?" Lindhall asked.

"No," Numair answered. "I barely have enough for this magic alone anyway. To do it for Daine, I stripped off boots, coat and shirt on a January morning in the dawn chill. Although I had used some magic before that to bury some friends, it was this spell that nearly drained me. I'm hoping you'll help me." Both Lindhall and Harailt smiled excitedly, showing expressions similar to those worn by children when presented with a new toy. Numair chuckled to himself.

Daine looked at him nervously and is if she had asked him to, he automatically leaned down so she could whisper in his ear. "It's one thing to have you in my head – I trust them and all but – not like I trust you…" She pulled away and stared at him imploringly.

Finally he understood. She was nervous they might be able to see inside her head "They can share power without taking that step," he whispered back. He felt suddenly strange. Daine had just told him she trusted him more than the other mages. He tried to remind himself that it still might be the kind of trust you give to an eccentric uncle, but he felt that hope surging inside him again and he tried to crush it silently.

Behind him, Numair heard Jon say, "Get ready." It was his cue and he was a little nervous. He felt a small hand fold into his. He looked down to see Daine smiling at him reassuringly. He thought, This is why I fell in love isn't it? You always know just what I need.

Numair took a deep breath and said the Old Thak word that creates the window. The air in front of him developed a sparkling blotch the size of a floor length mirror, then it opened wider and wider revealing a clearing outside of a village. Looking to Daine again, he saw her reach with her copper fire, searching. She looked back up to him and shook her head. No words were necessary. He lifted his hand from hers and placed it at the back of her neck, merging his essence with hers. He was amazed at how fast it was this time. It was as if her magic reached out for him, welcoming him. When she opened her mind to call for the animals, he could feel them answer in colors. The spectrum was amazing – blues, greens, grays, browns, and more colors he recognized but could not exactly name. Then he saw metallic colors – gold, bronze, silver – colors that made him nervous.

To onlookers it was strange. Lindhall would say later that there was something tender about the way they stood together as one, and then shocking when both Numair and Daine said, "There are immortals in our path." Magic surged to gently push them aside. It was black and copper twisted smoothly and infinitely. Then the two voices said, "It's safe now."

Numair's hand reached for Lindhall, who then reached for Harailt in turn. Numair's voice rung alone with a powerful word that made the air hiss. A violent pressure raced through the onlookers and all noise halted abruptly. The powerful crackling broke the silence and the pressure became heavy – nearly intolerable, before settling to a calm. "I can probably hold this open for five minutes, no more," Numair advised.

"Go," Jon ordered behind them and most of the healers apprehensively walked to the window and stepped through, followed by Raoul's forces.

The last healer was drawing back in fear. It felt to Numair as if he had held the window open an eternity and he could feel it pulling at him in a new and strange way. He severed his connection from Daine and tried to focus on the peculiar shift in the magical working. Numair felt a twinge through the center of himself but said nothing. Still the last healer hesitated, as if he were being asked to walk off a cliff. Numair's twinge suddenly became intense pain that seemed to be trying to quarter him. His mind screamed but he bit his bottom lip. Since he was no longer connected to Daine, he was never certain how she knew. He heard her voice bellow, "Shove that man through, Jon, it's ripping Numair apart." He felt the muscles in his back start to tear. He saw Jon shove the man through the window and heard Lindhall use an all-purpose completion spell. Numair could not imagine what had happened unless it was the duration of the spell. He had carried Daine through the window before much more quickly. The horses had run ahead of him so he might not have held it for a full minute. He had read the text thoroughly and it mentioned nothing like this. The pain of it was agony. He felt Duke Baird's magic reach for him and knew no more.

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Daine watched fearfully as she listened to Numair try to figure out what went wrong. He muttered to himself before he crumpled. Duke Baird rushed to the fallen mage and began to probe him with magic. Daine stayed, kneeling in the snow, frightened by splashes of blood on the pure white around them. She did not know whence they had come.

Once Numair had been moved back to the infirmary, Daine refused to leave him. Luckily, Lindhall seemed to be of the same mind and it gave her an excuse to be stubborn without explaining herself. Duke Baird had promised that Numair was safe and would recover once he rested, but Daine needed to see him awaken before she could move from his side.

"Did you hear him trying to figure it out?" she whispered to Lindhall.

Lindhall smiled. "He tends to mutter to remember bits of information or to form hypothesis, doesn't he. Does it bother you?"

"No, it's kinda' dear," she answered with a smile. "If he stopped I'd think there was something fair wrong with him."

Lindhall chuckled lightly. "The two of you have done that merging spell before?" he asked in a low voice. There was a strange something in his eyes she couldn't put her finger on.

"Once a little over a month ago. But this time it was more powerful and so quick."

Lindhall seemed to study Numair a little. "That's a rare magic – not usually something he would use, however -- I suppose he asked permission first?"

"Yes. He explained it to me and let me have any part of my mind guarded that I wanted. He told me I didn't have to or anything, but I thought it sounded neat."

"It can be invasive," Lindhall said. "I'm a little surprised he knows how to do that. It's so close to what an evil sorcerer would do for mind control that…"

Daine closed a hand on Lindhall's. "You know him better than that. First, he would never, ever, ever hurt me. And second, is it that different from passing information from his mind to Alanna's? We both seen him do that -- only I was there in dreams."

Lindhall smiled at Daine and searched her face for something. He looked like he might be about to say something, but thought better of it. But before she could ask, Jon entered the room. She looked up at the king and saw a look on his face that she'd never seen him wear before – guilt. It stunned her. She stood, offering her chair. He smiled gratefully but said, "A man is supposed to offer a lady his chair, not the other way around."

"Nonsense," she teased. She promptly sat on the corner of the bed and Numair turned in his sleep, pressing his forehead into her hip. "See, now I don't dare move," she whispered. Jon chuckled.

"Can either of you tell me what happened?" Jon asked. Daine actually felt bad for him. For the first time in her life she was seeing a glimpse of what it must be like to be a monarch. She was glad she would never have that responsibility.

"He was muttering – trying to understand it himself, Jon. I can tell you what he said but…" she answered.

"Daine and I are in the same position, Sire. We can tell you what we saw and heard. However, Numair is probably the only one who can answer your questions unless Harailt has…"

Lindhall's response was interrupted by Jon, who said, "No, I asked him. He's read the text Numair showed him. Apparently the book that contains it was a gift and Numair refused to part with it even temporarily." Daine felt herself blush. Jon noticed and said, "You gave him that?"

She nodded. "I sent some money to Kaddar and asked him to pick a book that he thought Numair might not have seen before. That's what he sent."

"Hmmm," Jon said and stroked his beard contemplatively. "I spoke to Alanna. She said there was no effect like this before. She said the magic seemed to swarm back into him as the window closed. She also said he was mostly drained when it was over. Still, that's not what we saw today. The most curious thing to me is what you said, Daine – 'it's ripping him apart'. According to Duke Baird, that seems to be physically what was happening. What I'd like to know is how you knew."

She stared thoughtfully for a moment. "We were connected when the spell started."

"Numair was looking through Daine's mind," Lindhall explained. Jon looked a little surprised and uncomfortable and stared at her intensely.

"I can't read his thoughts or anything unless it's part of the magic we're using," she explained a little defensively. "It was different this time because he was giving my magic a boost. He stopped the connection before it went bad though."

"What did you feel right before he separated?" Jon asked.

She thought for a moment. "Fear – but not for him, for me – he was afraid for me. It was suddenly pulling him. When he broke our connection, I looked up and saw him bite his lip the way he does when magic hurts him. He bit clean through. So I yelled for you. I don't know how I knew. Maybe he knew and it spilled over."

"Daine, have you done this magical merging a lot?" Jon asked.

"Once before s'all." Why is everyone harping on this? she wondered. "Lindhall was asking too. He didn't just jump in to my head. He asked first if I would let him."

"You must be closer than I realized," Jon said. "Either that or Numair is even more powerful than I thought."

"Or a little of both?" Lindhall offered.

"Odds bobs, I hate when people don't explain themselves." Daine said.

Jon chuckled. "You've heard of mind-capture right? Numair taught you that?"

"Sure. Most mages use a shiny object and you can't move until they let you go."

"Most mages?" Jon asked.

"Numair doesn't need an object. He has to be very careful. Sometimes he does it without meaning to – especially when he's tired." She added with a grin, "I teased him that it's just the big brown eyes."

Jon looked both impressed and a little frightened. "Gods, what keeps him from taking us all over?" Though Jon didn't say it as a serious question, more a statement of realization, Daine felt offended.

"He does!" She brushed her hair back and stared down at the face pressed against her hip. "Jon, he would do anything for Tortall. He would put himself between us and the end of the world if he had to. You have not forgotten the word of power from December have you? How could you even suggest…"

"Calm down youngling," Jon said. "I know you're right. I was not seriously questioning him. I was just a little – overwhelmed. And I didn't mean to suggest – ask Thayet. She'll tell you that sometimes I'm thick-headed. Some have skull and I have oak."

Daine looked up at him and was suddenly aware that she had just yelled at the king. Worse, she had managed to wake Numair. Her cheeks burned crimson both from her tirade and the fact that Numair seemed to have suddenly realized his forehead was pressed into her hip. He pulled back and she stood.

"I'm sorry, Daine," Jon continued. "I'm lucky to have the loyalty of both of you and I know that. Here's hoping I'm not stupid enough to mess it up." He reached up and knocked a fist against his own skull lightly. "A little knock on wood," he explained, blue eyes dancing. She laughed. "Let me see if our friend here is up to explaining today's events to me."

None of them noticed a small black shadow pass liquidly across the floor. It clung to Jon's boot and settled as if it had merged with the leather.

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