Lela of Bast: I hope you continue to enjoy it!
Snowtigress: I'm including lots of fluff in the next chapter (4).
Disclaimer: All characters are the creations of Tamora Pierce. If they were mine, I would be staying at home tomorrow because I could!
Chapter 3 – Fever
The stables has been surrounded by twenty unicorns, mouths foaming, their eyes a bloody red and turning in their sockets. Numair could feel Daine panicking at his side as she thought of Cloud and the other mounts inside the stables.
"I can spell the stables to protect the horses," Numair told her gently. "You need to do your best to try and round them up." Lindhall and Harailt had created an enclosure using their gifts, which would be enough to restrain immortals once they had got them into it.
Daine called on her wild magic to try and speak and reason with them, but their own sanity, it seemed, was too far gone for to able to talk to them. She took tiger shape and began to growl, they moved away from her, gnashing their teeth and scraping their hind legs. Daine targeted the one she sensed to be their leader, putting on a spurt and running straight at him. He reared up at her, attempting to drive down on her. She rose up onto her hind legs and went for his throat.
The unicorn fell to the ground, the rest of the pack moving away from Daine, preparing to flee. Daine swiftly moved around to the side of them and began to herd them into the pen, which Lindhall and Harailt were moving to catch the immortals. In less than a minute they were enclosed. Numair dropped the protection spell from around the stables and Daine prowled towards him, he had gathered up the clothes she had shed and her jewellery. Turning his back, he allowed Daine chance to get dressed as she changed from tiger shape. She felt woozy and disorientated as she stood up, holding onto Numair for support. He swung his arm around her, steadying her.
"Check on the horses," she muttered, before falling unconscious into the mage's arms.
Numair insisted they take her to his room, as it was nearest. Harailt went to find Duke Baird in the infirmary. Daine was placed on his bed, her face pale and wan, and her body limp. A large bite mark had punctured her arm. He went to touch the area near to it, to get a better look, but Lindhall stopped him.
"She has a unicorn bite," his old teacher informed him. "She is probably developing unicorn fever. The healers will make her up a medicine; it will reduce the fever. She will be fine in a few days, Numair. It's very rarely fatal. I've had it myself." Lindhall looked at Numair, the his face wrapped with concern and worry. "She'll be okay, son," and he patted Numair's arm before leaving the room.
Numair sat beside her on the bed, holding her hand. Gently he moved hairaway from her face and plumped up her pillow. He made up his mind not to leave her until she was well again. A knock sounded at his door and Alanna entered, carrying a bottle of a strange coloured liquid. She glanced at Numair before administering an amount to Daine.
"Numair," she said gently, "Get me an old shirt of yours so I can change her clothes. A dress like this isn't for sleeping in." Numair fetched her an old silk shirt and turned his back as Alanna swapped Daine's dress for something more comfortable. She cleansed Daine's face and applied a cool compress to her head.
"The infirmary's full and Duke Baird's busy, so we'll leave her here for the time being," she said matter-of-factly. "She has got a particularly nasty fever, but she'd strong and she should break through it."
"It set in so quickly," the mage observed, "She was only bitten half an hour ago."
"Her immune system's good, Numair. Her body's dealing with it quickly." Alanna looked at her friend, his concern etched upon his face. "I'll leave you to look after her. Try and get some rest yourself." Alanna left to go and attend to her own family. She had no doubt that Numair would worry himself sick over Daine, but it certainly wouldn't do him any harm.
Two days later Daine remained in the same condition and Numair was becoming more visibly apprehensive. The fever hadn't broken like it had been expected to and the healers were anxiously thinking of new ways to overcome it. Numair looked dreadful, he had had little sleep, spending most of his time trying to cool Daine down, his observant eyes watching her as if she were a new spell, checking for any changes in her condition.
"Why is there no improvement?" he demanded when Duke Baird and Alanna came to administer more medicine. "I know it's a fever from an infection, but surely it should have reduced by now."
"You're right," Duke Baird confessed. "I would have expected her to be well on the way to recovery by now. If there is no improvement by this evening then Alanna or I will check the inside and see how far the infection has travelled. Who knows what germs those beasts had in their mouths."
Numair nodded, taking a gulp of water.
"When's the last time you've eaten anything?" Alanna glared at him.
Numair shook his head. "Not hungry."
"Well, I'm going to have cook make you some broth. Daine needs you to be well. When this fever breaks and she wakes up to find that you're ill she'll get upset and that, laddybuck, will do her no good at all!" Numair nodded at Alanna, she had just pulled all the right strings. He was an easy target with anything related to Daine.
Alanna and Duke Baird left Numair to look after Daine and walked back down towards to kitchens. Both were more concerned about Daine's lack of progress than they had let on to Numair.
"I think it's possible that the infection from the bite is spreading fast and her immune system is unable to keep up with it. Why did we not burn it out to start with?" Duke Baird muttered at Alanna.
"Daine usually recovers much more easily on her own without healing. It seemed to be only a small area that was infected originally, and her initial recovery was good. If there is no improvement by this evening I'll try to burn out as much of the infection as possible," Alanna decided, striding into the kitchens to ask for soup for Numair.
"We'll have act quickly if that is the case," the Duke said in undertones so the servants couldn't here. "If she gets much worse, and the infection spreads to her brain she will risk losing her life."
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