Bitterosemary: Unfortunately I can identify with writing long reviews that are eaten up and spat out by network errors. I write a huge one for Sonnet and that disappeared. Thank you for your compliments about the mage fight, I always worry about action scenes like that – it's not something I'm too confident about writing. I'll be posting some poems tomorrow or Thursday, I'll PM you when they're up. Goldeneyedwildmage: Thank you. Here's the next one. Celuna Cirrus: You'll find out more in this chapter! Daine's Daughter: I like cliffies! I enjoy the torment! Bkwrm: I am always optimistic and sunny! You'll see! Jess: Thank you! Sumeia: Thank you! Esmerelda 01: I may write more clifies, I enjoyed those lines! Siverlake: Thank you! Neals Chick: I hope this is soon enough! Sprightly Mordred: I enjoy writing cliffhangers! I get more reviews! Aikia Riyen: Be prepared for an abundance of fencing questions when I invent a character who in involved in fencing! Kelsey: That's the last major cliffie! Fluff from now on! Dolphin Dreamer: That was where Daine was telling Numair that if he was going to get involved in a battle, then she had that right to aswell. If he was putting her through it then she could do the same. I was thinking of the part in LK when Kel asks Numair if he fights for Tortall with the same dedication as Daine. Aravilui: You're right, I won't be killing Daine! Imakeladry Girl: Here's the update! Sonnet: I haven't actually developed his thanks – I didn't think of that until you mentioned it. That's why I like sending you my chapters and will, if you don't mind, continue to do so!

Disclaimer: You know it by now!

A/N: Remember that application form – well I have the interview on Thursday at 11:15 BST, so please direct your positive energies over to Stockport England at that time!

Chapter 19 – A Look Ahead

Makheen had dropped to the floor, his energy blocked by the three beings that Numair had called. Daine lay next to him, her body lifeless, and Numair heard himself calling out her name, crying like an animal in pain, grabbing hold of her and not wanting to let go. He could not see or hear anything; only feeling as if someone had severed half of his body, then wrenched his heart so hard that he could no longer live. Alanna and Thayet immersed into the room, Thayet heading straight to Daine, demanding Numair's robe from him and covering her body.

"Numair," she said softly to him. "She still had a pulse. It's weak, but its there."

Numair felt for the sign that Daine was still alive and discovered it; as Thayet had said she had a pulse, but it was not strong. More people began to swarm into the room; three of the Own picked up Makheen and carted him out of the building. Numair imagined that he would be seeing more of him at some point soon in an attempt to disable his gift, or limit it so he could be detained safely. Duke Baird had also entered the room, obviously having been called from the infirmary to check the people that Makheen had held captive. He joined Numair at Daine's side, placing his hands where the green bolt had hit.

"How has she survived this?" he mumbled, looking at the mage. "I can feel the power that was behind that spell raving inside her." The Duke glanced up at Numair. "She's got every chance of living as she has survived the initial blow. If it had been you, I dare say we'd be burying you." Duke Baird picked up the limp body in his arms. Daine's weight was nothing for him, given that she was still slight, although good food and nourishment in Tortall had taken away the scrawny appearance she had had when she first came to the capital.

"Obviously the gods have something more in mind for her yet," he said softly, wondering if the incantation had led to Daine being given some kind of divine strength.

Numair stood up and followed him outside, refusing to leave his lover as she was taken back to the infirmary. They left immediately, Duke Baird leaving the care of the prisoners to his deputy. He watched Daine's face with concern as they managed to support her being carried by the healer's horse. Her features were expressionless, as they had been after the unicorn fever had broken. Numair recalled the worry he had gone through when she had been ill, and hoped that the duration of this sickness would be short. It was unbelievable that she had survived such a hit, the fact that she had was what was giving him hope to believe that she could pull through the aftermath.

Alanna had barely noticed Daine in her rush to get to George, almost jumping down the flight of steps into the cellar to see her husband lying on the cold stone floor, his face bruised and bloodied, but his expression was one of someone who was dreaming pleasantly of happy things. Alanna crouched down besides him, holding her hands close enough to sense his aura and discover what spell had him comatose and if he had sustained any other sever injuries.

The spell was merely a sleeping spell, and not a strong one. It was similar to the impact of dreamrose, but without the use of such a flower. Clearly Makheen had needed to silence his prisoners, but hadn't wanted to be completely rid of them in order to use them for bargaining power. Alanna began to use her own gift to negate the spell, waking George up in the knowledge that, apart from his pride, he was completely unharmed. He came to slowly, the effects of the false sleep making him drowsy and somewhat unaware of his surroundings and who he was with. Alanna saw him look at her, and heard the familiar deep throated groan he sometimes uttered when they were in their own bed, with no one else around. She felt his arms heavily wrap around her and pull her down on top of him. Obviously, his drowsiness was numbing any of the pain from the various small injuries that he had received.

"Why do you still have your clothes on?" She heard him mumble, thankfully too quietly for anyone else present in the cellar to hear.

"George," she said with urgency in her voice. "George!" She said a little louder when he failed to respond and she began to feel his hand creeping over certain areas of her anatomy. "George!" Finally he became conscious of where he was and appeared to remember the situation that he had been in.

"Makheen!" he said loudly, attempting to sit up, but unable to with Alanna's weight on top of him.

"It's alright," she told him. "Numair did something that has put him out of action for awhile, so I would imagine that he's half way to the castle dungeons by now."

George quietened, his momentary exigency soothed by her words. Alanna felt relief settle inside her. She had known George to have been in a few situations where he had been put at risk, but never like this when she was present and almost too close to what was happening to keep things in perspective. She had not liked having to sit back and not do anything, although given the state she had put herself in she had been no use anyhow. She realized how much she needed this man and clung to him, shocking anyone who had the time to look over at the actions of the King's Champion. Gathering his strength, George maneuvered her over to his side, wincing as he felt the new bruises he had gained twinge.

"Alanna," he whispered, sitting up and pulling her into him. "Pull yer' self together, lass. Ye don't want people seeing ye like this. Ye can fawn over me all ye like when we get back."

Alanna laughed slightly, feeling exhausted with relief. George stood up, his face pained as the full extent of his injuries made themselves known.

"I'll sort those sore parts out when we get back to the palace," she told him, instinctively needing to do something to help with his pain.

"An' I'm sure ye' can do something to make me forget the trauma I've suffered an' all," he flirted, making his wife smile.

"I'm sure that could be arranged," her eyes danced back at him before being interrupted by a call asking her to help with the other people who had been held captive by Makheen.

Daine was taken to the infirmary and placed in one of the small rooms just off the main ward. She was still unconscious, both Duke Baird and Numair having tried to revive her with their rather different gifts, but neither of them having any luck. Her body seemed to be fighting the spell in its own way. Numair had identified it as being a curse to immediately paralyse the receiver, but it hadn't worked like that on his lover. She still moved, tossing and turning as if she was dreaming in her sleep, and occasionally murmuring unintelligible words, so Numair knew that her mind had not been frozen either.

He remained beside her, not even getting up to greet George and Alanna when they came into the infirmary. The mage became oblivious to what had happened and the need to deal with the extraordinary events and was consumed by Daine. Alanna glanced in to see how the Wildmage was doing and to thank Numair for what he had done. He hadn't yet explained to anyone baring the Duke what had actually happened in the inn, so what Alanna had heard was second hand information. She knew that Jonathan was itching to get Numair to explain what exactly had happened, having glimpsed the three strange beings that had surrounded Karrum Makheen and drained away what remained of his gift. But Numair was now engrossed in Daine's well-being, something that Alanna could well identify with, after thinking that George could have possibly been dead.

She watched him silently for awhile as he sat like stone next to Daine's bed. She finally went to him, saying nothing, simply placing her hand on his broad shoulder and offering her presence as comfort. He turned his head slightly to look at her, not even attempting to offer her a smile. She understood his pain and knew it was worthless to offer words to heal a cut to the heart so deep as this.

"How's George?" Numair questioned weakly.

"He's fine. He had a scuffle with Makheen before he was spelled, so he had a few superficial wounds, but nothing serious," Alanna replied in the same quiet tone.

Numair nodded, his thoughts and eyes returning back to Daine. Alanna squeezed his shoulder once more, and then left the room, knowing that he needed to be alone.

Numair remained with Daine, the sun setting and the stars coming out of hiding without him either noticing or caring. She remained the same, neither worsening nor looking as if she was recovering. The mage was exhausted by his fight with Makheen. The fight had not been in the same league as Inar Hadensra, or Tristan Staghorn, but he had drained himself nevertheless. And now he was draining himself of emotion. Wearily, he let his head drop onto the pillows next to Daine and his eyelids began to close.

Numair wasn't going to be allowed to sleep as he would have liked, not yet anyway. Several months ago, Harailt had dug out some old volumes of books that had contained incantations untried and left alone for centuries. One had particularly caught Numair's attention, a prayer requesting assistance from Shakith, the blind goddess of seers. Numair had never possessed such a gift as to be able to see the future or even a glimpse of the near present, but he had always thought of Shakith as one of his gods, and had memorized the incantation, never thinking that he would use it, not being aware if its full power or the effect that it would have, since he knew that the translation he had made of the old language it had been written in was not entirely accurate.

He found himself standing above Corus, next to him a woman with thick, dark hair, shrouded in a dark cloak. Her face had an untouchable beauty about it, which made him feel gangly and awkward as he had done when he had been a teenager. Below him he saw himself walking towards the palace, two children beside him. In the distance he saw an older Daine, looking to be in her thirties now. One of the children, a girl, ran towards her and locked herself in her mother's arms.

"Do you like what you see?" The goddess asked him in a soft voice.

"I do," Numair replied. "But why are you showing this to me?"

"Because you still need to see what is yours," she replied, changing the vision to looking at himself sat next to Daine in the infirmary. It was morning and he was watching himself as he gripped her arm, Duke Baird standing over her with an odd look on his face. Daine was awake and speaking, although he couldn't hear the words that she said.

He turned to Shakith and looked at her. "This is about to happen, you're showing me that she will wake and be well."

"I'm showing you the rest of your life, Numair Salmalin. I showed you before, but you need to see further than the sublime," he realised she was referring to the dream about the girl on the beach.

"Have you shown these things to Daine?" he asked.

"Some," the goddess replied, her blind eyes an empty void as she turned to him. "She has her own choices to make, you made yours awhile ago, mage. She has only just learnt that she can make hers. But some gods like to play games, and people like you make good objects to play with," her voice became distant, as if she was fading. Yet she remained beside him, as he continued to watch the muted scene play out in front of him.

"You gave us both the dream about the explosion," he said, feeling a calmness that he didn't understand.

She nodded, not replying to his half-question.

"Why?" He pursued the topic.

"To remind you that some things are meant to be," she answered after a long pause. "It had to happen."

"Why?" Numair's question was short.

"Because with love comes pain. You have to have that balance," she responded, a smile almost shadowing her lips.

"There were other ways of showing that than having people die," Numair tried to keep the anger out of his voice. "I thought the gods didn't like to interfere in human problems."

"They don't. What happened was of human creation, not ours," her voice remained calm and unaffected by Numair's annoyance. "But you needed to be reminded of the balance. The dreams I intervened in should have opened your eyes to that."

She changed the scene again, this time to an image of Daine carrying a box into Numair's rooms, Numair following on behind her with Kitten.

"When is this?" He asked her, mesmerised by the image and its meaning.

"I cannot say. When you decide it will be. But I see it happening. Of course the future may change, that will be up to you," she carried on letting him watch Daine move the belongings from her room into his, looking at her smiling face as she filled up drawers and the chest in his bedchamber. He turned to the goddess and found her absent, only seeing the three beings that had surrounded Makheen watching him intently. They were almost shadows that blended into each other as they moved, the outline of them glowing with a light so bright it almost hurt Numair's eyes to look at it. Their shape was human, although no human features were visible. Numair knew from his study of myths that they were the three seers who had given their Sight to Shakith to make her stronger and enable her to look after others with the gift to scry into the future. Now their souls were supposed to aid favoured ones if they called for help from the Goddess, as Numair had done with his incantation.

"Thank you," he said quietly to them, bowing his head to show his respect. "I wish you could tell me whether you protected Daine as well?"

He heard the voice of Shakith calmly speak to him. "They did. They wouldn't protect you and leave her. They have seen what should be. Now, Three!" Her voice ordered. "Leave this man be,you are needed elsewhere!" Numair turned to see where her voice was coming from and found himself in darkness, beginning the easy dreams sent by Gainel.

Daine had fallen away from reality as soon as she had been struck by Makheen's blow, the lights of the inn diminishing as she drowned in unconsciousness. She had seen the green bolt emerge from the mage's hand and had automatically thrown herself into Numair and pushed him out of the way, knowing that he wouldn't have the strength to block the spell. Something had softened its impact, although she wasn't sure what, and now she found herself in a dimmed room, lying on a soft bed that was vaguely familiar.

"Ma!" She cried as she recognised the woman who came into the room. "What are you doing here?"

Sarra smiled down at her daughter. "You're in the room you stayed in when we pulled you into the divine realms."

"Have I died?" Daine began to panic.

Sarra shook her head. "You are simply dreaming, Daine. Gainel is merely opening a pathway for me into your dreams so we can talk."

Daine calmed. For a second the thought that she might never see Numair again had pulsated through her like poison. She looked at her mother's pretty face and felt immense guilt for not wanting to be back forever in her house with her and her da.

"Ma, I'm sorry for not wanting to come back with you," Daine began, feeling tears pricking at the backs of her eyes.

Sarra sat down besides Daine, gently moving back her hair. "It was the right thing to do, sweet. You would have been unhappy had you stayed."

Daine stayed silent, knowing her mother was right, but feeling terrible for it being true.

"Had you said you wanted to have stayed we would have been overjoyed to have you, but you have made your own life for yourself. Every child thinks that they will need their mother with them for all of their lives and every mother clings to the hope that their child will stay. But everyone has to eventually choose their own life, and they cannot be blamed for that or made to feel guilty," Sarra's words soothed her daughter.

Daine looked up at her, her blue-grey eyes wide open. "Then I made the right choice?" She questioned, knowing her mother would understand.

"Your da would have had him speared if it was the wrong one!" Sarra laughed, the sound like tiny bells peeling across the room.

"I dreamed a few days ago that a little girl was on a beach with me. You came into my dream and I told you about the girl and you said you'd noticed the charm around my neck. Who do you think the girl was, Ma?" Daine asked, her hand going to the pregnancy charm attached to the Badger's claw.

Again Sarra laughed. "Shakith has been playing games again, it seems. She and Gainel have become fair friendly these past few weeks."

"Shakith's the goddess of seers, isn't she?" Daine wondered out loud.

Sarra nodded. "Remember that what happens is your own choice."

"That was my daughter I saw in the dream, wasn't it?" Daine realised. "And the old woman I saw was me."

"It's likely it was Shakith showing you possibilities. A lot recently may have happened because of your choice," Sarra replied, showing Daine more knowledge than she had thought that her mother was capable of.

"You mean if Numair and I hadn't…" Daine stopped short. She was never embarrassed by sex, but confessing to her mother that she and Numair had slept together was not something she wished to do at present.

"No, I think it's more likely to be the other way round. If you hadn't," her mother eyed her knowingly, "Then would you have been where you were in time to block that spell?"

"I don't know. Maybe not," Daine considered.

Sarra smiled, standing up. "You would not choose differently, would you?" she asked Daine.

Daine shook her head. "No. I think I decided what I wanted to be when that green light hit me."

Her mother nodded. "I think you decided a while ago, it's just taken you this long to realise."

Daine's eyes widened as Sarra opened curtains, letting light into the room. She looked out of the window and saw Numair outside, in a field she recognised to be near his tower. She wondered at the image and then understood that she was still dreaming, and dreams didn't follow the ways of reality. She supposed that Gainel or Shakith or whoever was determining these dreams could show her what they wanted. Numair was reading a book, sat down under an old tree, his hair mussed with having passed his fingers through it as he concentrated. The little girl from her dream was sat besides him. She stood up and waved at Daine, pulling at Numair's sleeve to get his attention, her large brown eyes gazing adoringly at him. He immediately put his book down and looked toward where the girl was pointing and began to laugh, waving in the same direction.

"Is that the future?" Daine asked, not removing her eyes from Numair and the pretty child.

"If that's want you want," her mother said distantly, a tone Daine knew from years before when her mother needed to be getting on with something else. "You should be returning."

Daine nodded. "How do I get back?" She asked.

"Just wake up."

Daine awoke to find both Numair and Duke Baird stood around her bed. She looked up at Numair, his face creased with worry, and smiled at him.

"I'm fine, just having the most strangely wonderful dreams," she said, her mind still full of what she had seen. Looking into Numair's eyes she fell deeper into them than she had before, knowing what she had become.

Duke Baird watched the exchange between them, smiling inwardly at the look that passed between them. The magic that had absorbed into Daine's body when the spell hit her appeared to have simply gone, and he wondered which of the gods had worked on their behalf. She would make an easy recovery, of that he was certain. Quietly he got up, neither of them noticing as they were too engrossed in each other, discussing Shakith and various other names that his head was too full of practicalities to think about. He glanced back as he was about to leave the room, giving the couple on last look and wondering what else the gods had in store for them.

-----------------------------------------------Please review--------------------------------------------------------------