author's note:
Sorry to the good ideas everybody gave me, but I'm trying to get this fic over with to start a new one...I made a simple conflict...really simple
A week slowly passed. Daine refused to talk to anybody, including Alanna, Numair stayed locked in his rooms for days at a time, And Alanna remained furiously angry with him.
One evening, when the ground was white with snow, Daine gave up and walked outside. The cool air felt wonderful on her skin. Finding her self at the archery yards, she grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows. She shot arrows until she thought her fingers would fall off. Then she shot some more.
A crunch of a branch behind her caused her to turn abruptly and get ready to shoot an arrow. She almost laughed when she aw a very shocked Numair covered in snow. A branch above him had broken from the weight of the snow. She almost laughed, but didn't.
Sobering up, she turned and walked away quickly in the opposite direction. She didn't want to see him now. If she talked to him, she would lose the little control she had gained over her emotions in the past week.
"Daine, wait!" He was following her.
"No! I don't want to talk to you!" She began to run, not paying any attention to where she was going.
"Daine, please?" It was a whisper, but she heard it all the same.
She turned, eyes filled with tears. "Why should I?" she whispered, "Tell me. Why should I wait for someone who doesn't care?" Her eyes filled with pain. She began to walk away again.
"Daine, look at me." She looked up and their eyes met. The amount of sorrow and pain in his eyes almost caused her to forgive him. But her past week had been horrible, and she would make him pay for that.
He looked away, backing down from her glare. "Daine...I really am sorry. What I did the other day...it was wrong. I was only scared that you didn't really love me." Now he met her gaze. "I love you, and I want to marry you...if you're willing to give me another chance."
Daine couldn't believe it! He broke her heart and was now asking to marry her? Where did this come from? Wait, she told herself, he just said he loved you. Numair loved her. He loved her! She felt her eyes fill. He didn't notice. "I...ah... guess I'll go now. But first..." He walked up to her and lightly pressed his lips to hers. As he slowly pulled away, Daine felt her anger leak away, taking all doubt with it.
"You...you love me?" she croaked. "Really?" Numair nodded slowly, not understanding if this was a good sign or not. "Then why did you say all those things? Why did you try to break it off?" Numair came forward and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I told you. I was scared. I wasn't sure if you loved me."
"Then what changed your mind?" Numair wished we could read her thoughts. This seemed to be going in a bad direction.
"I'm not sure. Being without you for the past week has been horrible. Worse than when I went away for a month. You were always right there, but I couldn't go to you. I couldn't hold you in my arms and tell you how much I missed you. I wasn't sure that I could stand being hurt. But now, talking to you again, I feel that I can really trust you, that you really are the person for me." His eyes were pleading. "Please say you understand." She said nothing, just stared, and his hopes faltered. "But...if you...don't love me back...I'll just stay away."
"No." Daine was confused, more than ever before. Did she love him? Did she want to spend her life with this man? Yes, she thought to herself, yes I do. I love him with every fiver of my being.
At her silence, he began to turn away. "Wait," she said. She looked up into his black eyes. "I love you too." She watched as a tear slowly rolled down his cheek and reached to wipe it off. Numair took hold of her wrist. "Magelet..."He whispered, voice cracking.
They stood there, looking into each other's eyes as their bodies filled with heat. He cursed and pulled her closer as his lips forsook hers in a searing kiss, fueled by a week of longing, a week of thinking of her every minute. She returned the passion, basking in the glory of his touch.
Daine felt her arms go around his neck and his arms tighten around her waist possessively, making her feel giddy.
The kiss ended, leaving Daine and Numair panting for breath. She rested her forehead on his chest and they stood there finding missed comfort in each other's embrace.
Alanna smiled, having watched the exchange from her bedroom window. She shook her head and congratulated herself for a job well done. Numair always needs a little pep talk, she thought to herself, I guess I'd better go tell Jon...
Jonathan of Conte sat in the mess hall when the doors opened. Numair and Daine, arm in arm, walked up to get trays of food. They were whispering in each other's ears and giggling hopelessly. Sitting down at a table in the far corner, they sat and talked, ignoring their food.
Jon was amazed. He thought that Alanna had been joking when she explained what she had seen. But now, he understood. They were in love.