Thank you to everyone who has reviewed!

Hidden Fairy: Thank you, I've read and commented on your story, I will continue to do so.

Skysong the Dragonet: It was good to hear from you again!

Priya: Thank you! I couldn't just write fluff, I'd get bored doing it! There is lots more fluff coming up though, so enjoy!

Esmerelda 01: Your reviews always make me smile!

Lela-of-Bast: Thank you. I was worried about there being too mcuh dreaming.

Dolphindreamer: I don't think that Jon is unintelligent, I just think that because he had so much going on in his head he sometimes forgets to notice other things that are going on! I like writing Jon and Thayet though.

Daine's Daughter: Thank you!

Goldeneyedwildmage: Thank you! I have relayed your message (I forwarded the review). Am happy to do that anytime.

Imakeladrygirl: Here's the update - see what you can make rhyme now!

Sonnet Lacewing: The little girl isn't young Daine... Numair won't really grasp who it was... ttyl

A/N: Disclaimed. Not mine.

Chapter 8 – Water

Daine threw on a shirt and quickly pulled on a pair of breeches, grabbing her bow and rushing outside. Numair followed her once he had dressed, telling Kitten to stay inside the tent. A flock of hurroks were roughly a mile and a half away; to them no distance given how quickly they could fly. Daine readied her bow with an arrow, preparing to shoot first chance she had.

The hurroks had spotted them. The first attacking wave, consisting of about half a dozen of them swept down towards Daine and Numair. Daine noticed Numair send a ball of black and silver gift that split into two as he whispered a word of what she assumed was Old Thak. Two of the hurroks burst into flames and dropped to the ground too close to them. Another one was hit squarely in the chest by Daine's arrow; it too began to spiral to the ground. Daine winced as one came directly towards her, its horrible bat like wings holding its body so the claws on its hooves were directed towards her. She tried to reach for another arrow, but felt the claws graze her head, scraping skin. That hurrok was immediately shot to the ground by a bolt of Numair's gift. It landed on the ground near enough to the tent to worry Daine. Kitten was still inside, what if one of the immortals landed too close? She had to stop worrying, the next line of Hurroks approached. She heard Numair mutter similar words as before and a large belt of fire streamed from his wrist. She heard another word said, then shouted and gasped as the single strip separated into five different daggers of black fire and sunk into their foes. Daine heard screams of agony from the beasts as they crashed to the ground with such force she felt the earth shudder. Numair sank to the ground, holding his head in his hands. Daine went to him, kneeling down beside him. She took hold of his hands and moved them away from his face.

"Are you alright?" she asked worried. She was aware that she desperately needed to check on Kitten, but she had to know that Numair was fine.

"I'm momentarily drained, you need to get Kit," he squeezed her hands lightly, and then put his head between his knees.

Daine ran to the tent, her head where the hurrok had taken off the skin was beginning to sting. She looked through the entrance of the tent and saw Kitten curled up inside the bedroll that she and Numair had shared that night.

"Kit, it's okay now, you can come out," she called to the dragonet. A grey shaded Kitten crawled out of her hiding spot and waddled to Daine, burying herself in the woman's shirt. Daine laughed at Kitten's action, picking her up and taking her to Numair, who now looked slightly better.

"Is she alright?" he asked. "If she's not then there's some bacon that I'm sure will make her better," his comment provoked Kitten enough to stick her out from Daine's shirt. Numair laughed.

"Let's get breakfast eaten and then head off. I really would like to be in Corus by tomorrow morning," Numair said seriously.

"Are you sure you're well enough for it?" Daine asked, sitting Kitten on Numair's knee and proceeding to get the cooking utensils from out of their packs.

"I've had a slight draining, but its not enough to harm me, Daine. You've seen me do more than that. If we were to be attacked again then I would be able to fight," he reassured her.

"I've never seen you split your gift into many daggers like you did then," she told him, smiling up at him as she relit the fire form the night before.

Numair grinned. "See, Magelet, you still have a lot to learn about me yet."

Daine smiled back sweetly. "And lots of those things I can't wait to learn."

Numair blushed at her meaning.

Kitten's colour returned to normal as soon as she had eaten the large pile of bacon given to her by Numair. Numair washed and applied cream to Daine's scalp. The hurrok hadn't actually done too much damage, but Daine still winced as the cream stung when it was applied.

They decamped and left with as much haste as they could muster after such a hectic beginning to the day. As usual, they said very little to each other as they rode, exchanging smiles and glances as Spots and Cloud galloped through the sometimes rocky terrain that they were passing through. Numair's head reeled between his rather strange dreams, what had just happened and what they might face when they got to Corus. He had decided that once they got to the capital, even though it would be the dead of night, they would be best to go round the outskirts of the city, avoiding as many people as possible. He wasn't sure that whoever was behind these rumoured planned attacks should know that he and Daine had been called back, an element of surprise would probably assist them.

They stopped to rest the horses and eat themselves shortly after midday. Numair had wanted to make contact with the king to let him know of the hurrok attack and warm him to be careful on his own journey back. He also wanted to find out if any more information had been uncovered. He opened up a window to converse with the king while Daine was preparing food for them and Kitten. He disturbed Jonathan from a meeting with Lord Imrah.

"How is everything going?" Jonathan asked.

"We're making good progress. I expect we'll be back at the palace in the early hours of tomorrow morning. We encountered a hurrok attack, but the damage was minimal. Have you had any more information for George?" Numair said rapidly, wanting to keep the conference as brief as possible.

"His not back in Corus yet, but he has had word – I've no idea how, how that man works is a mystery sometimes – that several water sources on the edges of the city have been contaminated. Harailt is desperate to get to his books to look into is and examine any traces of the magic that's caused it. I suggest you try and take a look yourself on your way in," Jonathan finished.

"I will do. I will contact you again tomorrow," they nodded their goodbyes and Numair closed the window.

Daine brought him a bowl of soup she had prepared which he ate gratefully. She knew that he didn't like rich food during or after he was travelling and she always made very plain meals that he could easily eat. He wondered about arranging a meal for just the two of them once they had arrived at the palace. The thought grew in his mind until it had evolved into an intricate plan. He smiled at his love, causing her to give him a curious look.

"I recognise that look, Master Numair. That's the one you used to get before a rather complicated lesson in something unfathomable," she told him in a stroppy tone.

He smiled. "I was just thinking of ways to woo you, Miss Veralidaine."

She rolled her eyes, a tinge of colour highlighting her cheeks. "I think you've already done that!"

Numair reached out an arm and touched her gently, balancing his bowl in his lap. "You can't think that!" He said, "I want to be able to court you, Daine and make you realise how I feel. Please let me have that chance."

Her face softened. "As long as I'm with you, I don't mind if your idea of wooing me is reciting every word in the venef…"

"Veneficium Codex," he finished as she struggled to remember the word.

He stood up to hold her, forgetting that the soup was still in his lap. "Hag's bones!" he yelled, scalded by the bowl's contents.

Daine began to laugh at the sight of Numair with soup running down his breeches. "Get into the stream where the horses are, it'll cool you down. You've spare breeches in your pack, I'll get them for you," she left him, still laughing, to find the garment.

Daine could tell that the horses were beginning to tire as they began to ride into the end of the day, the sun beginning to set, causing a multitude of colours to paint the sky so it looked almost like Volney Rain had rather artistically split his paints. She reassured Spots and Cloud that they would be soon in Corus and they could have as many carrots as they could eat when they were there, thanking them for their hard work in travelling so fast.

She told Numair that the horses were tiring and needed to have a few minutes to rest and drink fresh water. Numair stopped gladly, thanking both the mounts himself. They stationed themselves beside a shallow riverbank. Before he allowed the horses to drink, the mage tested the water with his magic, bringing Kitten over to assist. She trilled a sharp note and Daine saw the magic ripple the air and the water.

Numair shook his head, a worried look upon his handsome face. "That water's not safe," he told her. "It looks as if it's been poisoned with the use of cinnabar, a mage has transported the properties of the stone into the water. If anyone drinks from it they will be violently ill." He bent down and filled a flask with some of the water to use as a sample to test later.

"How easy is that to do?" Daine asked, concerned. This was what they had feared.

"The process is relatively easy if you have a good understanding of Old Thak and the relevant texts. But you would need a huge amount of magical energy to be able to do it and continue to live," Numair explained. "There would also be the problem of getting enough cinnabar to contaminate something on this scale. It forms in epithermal veins where you would also find opals, chalcedony and dolomite, generally near where there has been volcanic activity." Daine realised that he was now going through his usual process of reciting everything he knew about a topic. "Transporting the amount required would be a huge task unless more magic was used," he looked thoughtful for a moment. "We need to hurry back to the palace, Daine. I know the horses need a break, but we really can't trust this water or any surrounding it. Let's just move swiftly. I'll contact Jon once we're back in Corus."

Daine attempted to soothe the horses once they were back on their way. They were all feeling physically and emotionally exhausted after taking such a long journey at such quick speed. The moon had been on guard for several hours by the time Daine recognised the edges of the city. They stayed along the outskirts of Corus as they had discussed earlier. Although it was now the early hours of the morning Numair wished to meet as few people possible, not wanting to draw attention to himself or Daine. As they reached one particular area of the city, an area known as Worvield, Numair stopped short, beckoning Daine into the shadows of a thicket of bushes and trees. He pointed into the distance and she changed her eyes into that of owls, taking in as much information as possible. She could see a body of a man being dragged out into the garden of a small house and people surrounding him in tears. She turned to Numair. "What do you think has happened?" she asked him.

"How old is the person they're carrying out?" he asked, continuing to stare into the scene.

"He looks to be about my age," Daine replied. "Numair, some of those people look really sick."

"How so?" He said, quietly.

"They've no colour and I can see a rash on some of their faces."

"Describe the rash to me," he demanded quickly.

"Its clusters of red dots, like pin-pricks. I can see it on their arms and faces, some more than others," she explained, her voice anxious.

"You need to remember exactly how it looks," Numair said seriously, beginning to edge away.

"Shouldn't we go to help them?" Daine asked him, wondering why he was looking as if he was backing away.

"Daine, neither you or I can heal and if this illness is contagious and we catch it Jonathan will probably hang us," Jonathan's words from a previous meeting were playing in Numair's brain.

"Can you contact the palace and ask them to send healers?" Daine said in a rather rushed manner.

"I can," he said and began a speech spell to Duke Baird, explaining the predicament they had and his concerns. Finishing the spell he looked at the woman next to him. "We've done what we can for now, Magelet. We need to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible."

"I feel that we should go and check them, can I not fly over and scan the area, see what other things might be going on? At least we might have some more information then," Daine persuaded.

"That is probably a good plan," he admitted. "I'll wait here with the mounts and try to get in contact with Jonathan. This may be a natural illness, but given that there may be a problem with the water supply I think we should expect the worse."

Daine nodded grimly, beginning to shape shift into a pygmy owl, who as well as having excellent eyesight, also flew in relative silence due to having serrated tips at the end of its wing tips.

Numair watched as she flew off, dreaded anticipation beginning to eat away at the inside of his stomach. She was gone less than five minutes, by which time he had managed to communicate with Jon by opening a window, informing him of what he had seen. Jonathan instructed him to contact him again when he got back to the palace, if Daine came back with any more information.

She didn't bother to hide behind a tree as she changed back, causing Numair to blush slightly and turn his back as she dressed. "There seem to be three new burials in the burial ground," she told him. "Other than that, there was no other activity. The only people about were the ones we've seen already."

"The new burials sound ominous," Numair said, turning round to face her. "Worvield has only a small population. Three new burials, and a fourth due is desperately wrong. I only hope it is natural, and not the work of a mage or the water. Harailt and I will have run some experiments on the water later and see if there could be a correlation. I think tomorrow it would be wise for a mage to come out here and inspect the water supplies."

Daine agreed, mounting Cloud. "We need to get back quickly. I dare say we will have to speak with George and Harailt before we can sleep and it must be the early hours of the morning now."

Numair nodded, clambering on Spots. He thought for a second about telling Daine that she could go straight to sleep and he would inform George and Harailt himself, but realised that she wouldn't appreciate that at all, and her ideas would be a huge help. He couldn't help but want to protect her, although he knew that that would not always be possible, or well received.

They returned to the palace with as much speed as the horses could muster, given that they were excruciatingly tired and thirsty. Numair's first action was to test the water supply for the palace and the horses with his gift, although he thought it unlikely that it would have been tampered with without him already having heard of it. The water sources were fine, and he let a rather impatient Cloud and Spots drink thirstily. Daine took their belongings back to Numair's rooms, as they were closest, looking at his bed with a great desire to jump in it and sleep. They had now been awake for nearly a whole twenty-four hours and they would soon need sleep in order to be able to be of any assistance.

She made her way down to one of the lecture rooms, where Numair had occasionally taught the squires and pages during less troubled times. He had rounded up George and Harailt, deciding that other people who would need to be consulted could be left until the morning.

Numair explained quickly what they witnessed at Worvield, causing George's eyebrows to raise and Harailt to look worried but extremely interested at the idea of testing the water sample. Numair handed it to him.

"How long have you been back?" He asked the two men.

"Since dusk. You made good time on us, but that doesn't surprise me," Harailt informed them. "I'm going to take this into one of the work rooms and begin testing it, and no, Numair, I don't need your help. You are tired and therefore not concentrating properly. By the time you have slept for a few hours I will have done the initial tests and we can move on to more elaborate ones, which I am sure will be needed."

"Daine, in the morning can you fly over Corus and see if you can spot any other areas that look like they may have been infected. Any that are, we will send mages out to take samples of the local water source. This has happened quickly, else our healers would have already known of it," George said, looking closely at the woman before him. She was probably as great an asset to Tortall as Numair, but he doubted she realised that. He intended to make as much use of her skills over this worrying problem to make her know how much she was valued.

"You think the deaths have occurred within the past day?" Harailt asked George and Numair.

"Almost certainly. I doubt they've had time to find a healer due to the lack of healers there are at present and the rapidity of the illness," Numair responded.

"Have you any idea what it might be?" Daine inquired.

Numair shook his head. "Hopefully we'll know more once Duke Baird has returned."

"If it is being caused by the water then there may be a chance that the animals will suffer too. I can look for that in the morning also," Daine said, her confidence beginning to grow.

"We have to assume that. It wasn't an illness that I recognised from your description, and although I am not a healer, I have read about common disease and illnesses. If it is stemming from the water then I would certainly assume that animals, and therefore possibly a source of food, will be affected by it. You will have a lot of work to do in the morning," Numair looked at her, his eyes filled with tenderness and concern that George knew appeared in his when he saw his own wife.

"In that case, you had both better get some sleep," George said, standing up from the table. "I now have things to do of my own, some wheels to put in motion that might help us get to the bottom of this mess."

Harailt joined him, clutching the sample of water. "I'll be in the work room when you wake, Numair," he informed his fellow mage as he exited the room.

Daine looked at Numair. "Where shall I sleep?" she asked. "Kitten's already in your room, sleeping."

Numair returned her gaze, wondering what the correct answer would be and deciding against it. "Stay with me," he said, his voice deepening as he lowered it so no one could hear.

"Good," Daine replied simply, kissing him softly on his lips.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wrote this chapter over a week ago and now I'm not too sure about it. It iuntroduces an important part of the plot, but if I had more time I would do some serious revamping. As I work full time and do extra hours besides, I can't always spend as much time as I'd like editing. Please review and let me know what you think.