Tobbers 15: Yes, I missed that bit in the book! The eye was thrown. Apologies, I must have been too caught up with D/N to really notice it.

Neals Chick: Chapter 10 will be extremely fluffy, it should meet your fluff needs.

Lela-of-Bast: I'm glad I can make someone think!

Sonnet Lacewing: Thank you!

Sprightly Mordred: I hope you stay hooked, unusual name by the way.

Daine's Daughter: I won't split them up, promise.

Silverlake: Thank you.

Goldeneyedwildmage: Fluff's my fave.

Narm's bananas: The reaction possibly came from experience.

Twilight Shades: I see Kitten as being like an intelligent toddler who eats anything.

Kit49: Thank you.

A/N: Consider it disclaimed.

Chapter 3 – The Sweetest Taste

Daine found Onua in the Legann stables, cleaning a gash from an unnerved horse. The horse looked to be in some pain and was beginning to show signs of being none to keen on Onua. Daine knelt down, speaking softly to him to build up his trust. He responded well to her. "I'll heal him, Onua," she told the older woman, seeking the copper fire that was her wild magic as Numair had taught her years ago. She began to clean the wound of any infection and started to heal the skin. When she had finished, she automatically went to the next horse, checking for any signs of injury or infection and then healing that. She continued without a break until mid-afternoon had swam off into the beginnings of evening; and although the bright summer light did not fade completely it did begin to dim slightly into a glorious summer's evening.

Onua watched the girl work methodically until she was absolutely drained. Daine sat down on a bale of hay and put her head into her hands. Instinctively, Onua went to sit next her and threw an arm around her, pulling her towards her to give her comfort. Daine had begun to sob like Onua had never seen her before, although she could quite understand why. She didn't try to quieten the young woman; she let her cry herself out, simply being there. When the tears finally subsided she offered Daine a clean handkerchief and calmly asked what the matter was.

Daine dried her eyes and blew her nose and then shook her head. "Everything. I don't think I understand," she snivelled.

"We all need to have a good cry, Daine. It helps to get to get it out of your system. You've been through a lot. Between you and Numair you've rescued Tortall from a battle it might have lost or at least not have ended without great devastation," Onua soothed.

Tears streamed down her face. "I think that's it. I've just had to carry on without thinking… When I left Numair to go to Port Legann I thought I might never see him again…" she began to cry again.

Onua hugged her close. "You have done, though. You both got through it. Numair's here, he's safe and he loves you."

"But I don't know if he does," Daine said in between sobs. Onua sighed. She would maim Numair later for upsetting her.

"What's he done?" Onua said quickly, thinking murderous thoughts.

Daine shook her head. "Nothing. Jon and Thayet were congratulating us on getting together and I just thought what if Numair has second thoughts and now he feels he can't get out of it because people know and he doesn't want to look terrible or hurt me…"

Onua rolled her eyes. She should have warned Jon and Thayet to not make a big deal of it for a few weeks to let them get adjusted. She stood up abruptly. "I'm going to get Numair," she told the girl and left before Daine could begin to protest.

Onua found him quickly, figuring that since he was banned from doing anything that could tire him he would be in Imrah's small library. She was right. He sat there, hunched over a book in a manner that would give him an aching back.

"Numair," she called to him from the doorway.

"Wahhat?" he glanced up, still in planet book. Then she noticed its title: Delenimentum Mulierositas Egeo. Numair was reading a book about women? Onua shook her head, she had enough knowledge to work out the title in Common and was surprised to see Numair reading such a thing.

"Daine's upset. I think you should talk to her." He swung round immediately, looking straight at Onua.

"Where is she?" he stood up. How can Daine have doubts that he loves her? Onua thought to herself. "She's in the stables and has tired herself by healing. She thinks you're having doubts about her."

"What?" Numair yelled and shot off running. Onua followed slowly, hoping to give them time before she got there herself.

Numair reached the stables and found Daine in a miserable heap on the bale of hay where Onua had left her. He pulled her into his arms and began to kiss her nose, cheeks and eyelids. "Why do you think that I'm doubting what I feel for you?" he asked when she finally met his look with her own.

"Thayet and Jon made such a fuss, I thought that you'd feel that you had no way to change your mind, and when we walked outside you looked so miserable," she tried not to begin crying again.

"I was just thinking about all the work to be done and then I saw your face. I could tell you were troubled by something, but I didn't want to ask in case you thought that I kept smothering you," he reassured, holding her face in his hands

Onua watched from the doorway as Numair began to kiss Daine and she responded, relieved by his words. She smiled, glad that they had finally found someone who would love the whole of them completely. She sighed, remembering her conversation with Numair in the stables at the palace when he had asked he why she had never found a man since her husband. Now there was a man, and he wasn't here with her; he was back in Corus and she had started to long to be with him. Finally, she realised, she had made up her mind about him. Now she had to act on her feelings.

Daine and Numair sat down in the evening sunshine and talked. The age gap had ceased to exist. Numair's extra years of experience no longer mattered. Daine, and this Daine, was new to him. His feelings were new also and he was going to have to learn everything as she did. They discussed what had happened and why she had been so upset. Some of it, she assured him was down to the stress of the past few weeks and leaving him to fight Inar Hadensra, not knowing if he would be coming back.

"We need to be able to talk to each other, Daine," he said. "We've spent most of the past three and a half years talking about various subjects, we can't stop now."

Daine gave him that soft smile. "I know," she was silent for a moment, just looking at him. He wondered what she was thinking. He was about to ask her when she began to speak again.

"I love you, Numair Salmalin," she said, still quietly smiling. She had told him that she loved him before, after the fall when he thought she'd died, but had followed that with "maybe I always have." She had never declared it before like this. The simple words caused his heart to beat faster. He continued to stare at her before she pulled him down to the ground, pulling out the tie that was keeping his hair in place and ran off, giggling infectiously. Numair chased after her into the stables.

King Jonathan IV of Tortall stepped wearily up the stairs, cursing war and all its effects. He had wanted to give Numair a few days to recover from the battle against Inar Hadensra before asking him to do yet another task. Numair would be only too willing, he knew, but still he had to keep an eye on the man's health. One of the prisoners of war, a Carthaki man, was proving problematic. Jonathan suspected that he was either a mage and was extremely proficient at hiding his gift or he was being controlled in some way by another mage. Both he and Harailt had so far interrogated him, but to no avail. Hopefully, Numair would have more success. The prisoner was proving rather adept at stirring up trouble with the other captives and winding up the guards, causing massive unrest in that area of the fief. Jonathan really didn't want a rebellion to break out, and somehow he thought that Numair, with his knowledge of Carthak to help, might be the resolution to the problem. He started to search for the mage, first checking the library. Noticing the book left on the table he decided that Numair could not possibly have been there, he would have no need to read a book about women. Eventually he found him in Daine's room, trying to teach Kitten to change the colours of an unusual stone.

"Numair, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I'm going to need you," Jonathan said, distractedly. "We may have a situation with one of the prisoners and I need you to speak to him."

Numair stood up and nodded, picking his robe up from where it had been folded on Daine's bed. Jonathan vaguely noticed that Daine's bed had looked as if it had just been changed; it was made so neatly, especially since there had been no maids available today to do the housekeeping. He thought nothing more of.

Numair followed him to the cells where too many prisoners were being held than there was space for. Jonathan had begun to explain about the Carthaki who was causing concern.

"His name's been given as Ecatzin Amaro. He's causing uproar with his complaints about the treatment he's receiving and getting the other prisoners irate about it too. It's not ideal in there at the moment, Numair, there's not enough room and we're short of men to be down there to control them, so we really could do without this. Can you speak to him and find out what his tactics are. Harailt is under the impression that he's either a mage, or he's a puppet for one," Jonathan sounded at the end of his patience.

"I can give it a go, Jon. I'm not saying anything will come out of it though. Almost certainly, if he knows of me then he won't like me," Numair replied.

Jonathan let him into a secure room where Ecatzin Amaro was waiting for him, drumming his fingers repetitively on the battered wooden table. Jon stood to one side, leaving Numair to take the centre stage with a guard as big as Sarge there to keep them company. The prisoner was a wiry man, only slightly smaller that Jonathan, with dark hair and skin like Numair's. He moved around the space behind the table, grinning manically at the tall mage.

"Well, if it isn't Carthak's finest!" Ecatzin sneered. "Arram Draper! How nice to see you again!"

Numair sat down at the table. Jonathan could tell he was searching the man for a hint of a gagging spell. Numair's face revealed nothing, as he looked Ecatzin in the eye.

"Where are you from?" Numair asked him.

"Carthak," Ecatzin spat at him.

"What is your job?" Numair remained stony faced.

"I was a jewel dealer," he said in a threatening tone. "Then your little whore came and spoilt it all!" Jonathan saw Numair's fist discreetly clench.

"Which mages were you connected to?" Numair held his temper.

Ecatzin laughed in such a way that led Jonathan to think he was insane. "What makes you think I have anything to do with mages? You're all filthy, disgusting creatures, thinking you can see something that's not there." He fell silent for a moment. Numair stood up to leave. Jonathan knew he had picked something up.

"You're the worst, Draper," Ecatzin mocked in a quiet, unnatural voice. "I knew you while you were at the university, I saw what you were like. And now you're with another one just like you, but she's worse, she's dirty," Ecatzin moved directly in front of Numair, his nose almost touching the mages as he brought himself up to Numair's height. "She full of disease from all the places she's been, no better than your own mother, is that why you like her, is that why you like to…"

Numair's fist made sharp contact with Ecatzin's jaw. Jonathan saw a tooth fly across the side of the room and blood appeared down the side of his cheek. "Won't they like this when I show them," he moved his head back and rammed it forward into Numair's jaw. Jon heard a nasty crunch and felt himself wince. Quickly he grabbed Numair as the guard was holding back Ecatzin and pulled him out of the room. The mage clutched the right side of his jaw, obviously in some pain.

"Let's get you to a healer and quick," he muttered, hoping there would be one nearby.

"Hag's bones, Jon, don't let Daine see me like this," Numair muttered, spitting blood into his handkerchief.

"She won't, but she might be able to tell something's happened when she sees the bruise that you'll be left with," Jonathan sympathised slightly. He found a healer in a room off the hallway that led away from the cells. Numair had split his lip and slightly knocked two teeth out of position. Jon watched him wince as the healer set to work. "It might hurt when you eat for one or two days," she informed him.

"It'll hurt even more when Daine finds out," Numair muttered. Jon squashed a smile.

They went into the rooms where Jon and Thayet had been staying, which were thankfully empty. Numair sank down into a chair and looked mightily ashamed of himself. "I've not helped matters, have I?" he said, his words slightly slurred due to the pain from his lip and jaw.

"We don't know yet. What did you learn?" Jonathan replied.

"He's being controlled. Somebody has a focus and they're pulling his strings like he was a puppet. It's pure mind-control," Numair explained.

"How good is the spell? Can you release it?"

Numair shook his head. "It's good. I'd need to destroy the focus. Keep him separated with minimum contact from everybody, including guards."

"I definitely will be doing now," Jonathan laughed ironically.

"I'm sorry about that, Jon. He pushed all the right buttons," Numair groaned.

"How bad does it feel?" Jonathan enquired.

Numair responded with a glare. "All I can taste is blood," he complained. "What in Mithros' name am I going to tell Daine?"

"The truth. Just leave out the bits about her and your mother," Jonathan advised. Numair stood up, a look of disgust on his face as he tasted the blood lingering in his mouth. "I'd better go and explain," he sighed.

He found Daine in his room, playing with Kitten. Quietly he slipped in, enjoying watching her being relaxed and happy. "Daine," she turned round at the sign of his voice. The expression on her face changed immediately to one of concern and anguish. She got up instantaneously and came too him, her arms automatically moving round him.

"What's happened?" she asked.

"The prisoner Jon asked me to interrogate introduced his head to my jaw," he explained. "It's okay, I've seen a healer. It's just bruised and sore."

"Why did he do that, Numair?" Daine asked knowingly. "Did you hit him first?"

Numair looked shamefaced. "I swung for him."

"Why? Did he say something about me?" She didn't sound cross; in fact he was surprised by how calm she was.

"He did. About my mother as well. I think he's being controlled by another mage," Numair told her.

"Any idea who?" Daine questioned.

Numair shook his head. "I didn't recognise the magic. It was a very good spell." He sat down on the bed. She joined him, sitting up close. Very gently she kissed his lip. Any sign of discomfort from it was covered by the elation he felt at her gesture. He felt the desire to pull her into his arms and make love to her, but he knew that they needed more time to lay the foundations of their relationship.

Gently he pulled away, pulling his cloak over his lap. "I don't think we should sleep in the same bed tonight, Daine," he told her, hoping that this wouldn't sadden her in any way. "I want to court you properly. Having you that close is too much of a temptation to not do so."

She smiled. "As long as you don't take too long," she warned. "You should probably go and get something to eat. There may be something easy to eat left in the kitchens if you're lucky."

"And if the presence of Aliz doesn't scare me away," he added. She laughed, dragging him up off the bed to the kitchens.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Not entirely sure about this chapter, but here goes. Please review.