NealsChick: Hope you're enjoying yourself in Tahoe. Brothers are there to annoy you, that's why they were made! Calisto Mae: Thank you, I'm glad you are enjoying this, it's nice to know that people like it – it gives me hope for when I start my own stuff. Bitterosemary: I've enjoyed writing these last two chapters, particularly this one. The previous chapter will lead on to the next big story (probably my last for a while) as I am currently having a fascination with caves and I think it will provide a good setting. Thank you for reviewing Away – I've now put more up on fictionpress hint hint! Lime63: I couldn't decide if Numy's speech was corny or sweet, sop I'm glad you liked it! Twilight Shades: If I find any photos of underground waterfalls while I'm researching the next story I'll email you them. I'm glad the waterfall sounded good, that was what I was aiming for. Daine's Daughter: Thank you! Feyrey: I am trying to keep the action part simple now – see what you think of this. I had a look at Sara Douglass's home page, the story of how she started writing the axis trilogy was really interesting. I will give the books ago once I find some time. I have a pile of books a mile high that I want to read at the moment! Silverlake: Thank you. I like writing fluff. It makes me smile and I go all warm inside.The world needs more fluff! Mage's Whisper: Thank you! Sonnet Lacewing: I've said before, I hate technology! Thank you. I imagine she did reward him! DolphinDreamer: Your reviews are nearly as long as my chapters! Not that I'm complaining! Thank you, you always bring up so many useful things, I think you should do this professionally. Aravilui: At one point I was going to have George fall off his chair, but I thought that would be too much. I would like to do something George/Alanna focused – possibly for the Lughnasadh festival. I really like them as a couple. (Jon and Alanna would never have worked!) Jade-Viper08: Thank you! I like how you said it was fluffier than a chinchilla! That made me laugh. I think it needs to have a balance of fluff/peril. Peril leads to fluff anyway, usually, and too much of one can be boring. I hope I can maintain that balance. Celuna Cirrus: Thank you, I enjoyed writing that chapter! Jess: I think I will do more little standalone chapters like this, it was fun. Thank you.
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Ostara Part I
Chapter 1 – Dunlath
The sweet scent of spring danced on the air, all traces of cold and darkness now evaporated by the gently warming sun. The trees bore blossoms and some fruit was beginning to appear already, a sure sign that winter had been overcome and the heat of summer was on its way. The bright sun hung high in the sky, tomorrow it would appear there for the same duration as the moon, as it was the vernal equinox; from thereon in the days would become longer than the nights, until midsummer when the night would begin to slowly catch up, and their lengths would then become even once more at the autumn equinox; Mabon, thus continuing the wheel of the year.
Daine had not been to Dunlath for over two years and hadn't seen Maura or any of the Long Lake Pack since then. She and Numair were now returning to Dunlath, sent by Jonathan to look into complaints from both Maura and the animals in the area about pollutants being dumped into the river, causing problems for those who had to live near to it and used it for their water source.
It was getting toward evening, and they were still some way off the castle, having stopped in the afternoon so Daine could heal a deer that had been injured by an arrow. It was becoming one of her pet hates; these hunters who had never learnt how to use their bows properly and left injured animals in pain, rather than managing a clean shot. She had no qualms about hunting; she was after all the daughter of the Hunt-god, Weiryn. But she disliked finding animals injured at the hand of an unskilled archer.
The healing had taken some time, and they knew that it would be useless to hope that they would reach Maura by sundown. Instead, Numair hoped to be able to reach the inn where they had stayed the last time they came to Dunlath, as it would be easier to disturb the innkeeper there than wake Maura, who would feel obligated to welcome them formally.
Daine had been happy with the idea, amused at staying in rooms again that had a locked door between them, although she doubted that this time she would be staying in one and Numair in the other. Glancing at him as they rode she smiled, content and thrilled in the knowledge that he was now much more than her teacher as he had been then; although she sometimes wondered if it had been whilst they were in Dunlath that her feelings for him had begun to be woken.
They were riding at speed, with little chance to take in the surroundings. Daine had sent silent calls to animals and birds as she heard them in her mind, but came to a sudden halt when she heard one particular voice.
This had better be good! Her irate mount warned her. Can you not give me more warning when you want me to stop, and all because of those terrifying creatures you call friends!
Daine laughed slightly, dismounting. Numair looked at her, wishing for the millionth time that he could hear more of these conversations. He had long since given up any paranoia and had adjusted himself in the knowledge that a good portion of Cloud's comments were insults about him. He looked in the direction of Daine's gaze, and realised that this time Cloud hadn't been discussing him. Three wolves were running towards them. He felt his horse, Spots, tense under him, fear of the wolves apparent.
Daine rushed forward to meet them, speaking her words out loud, in her enthusiasm forgetting that she could speak mind to mind.
"Brokefang! Battle!" She exclaimed, falling to her knees to greet them, being washed by wet tongues and occasionally tapped by a wagging tail. Numair, who had dismounted Spots by now, was secretly pleased to see that he was also being reacquainted by three of the other wolves who had now appeared, one whom he recognised to be Berry, a wolf who had been a small pup when they had last been there, and Frolic and Short Snout.
Their hellos were interrupted by an unhappy cry that came from the carry bag that Kitten rode in when they travelled. She had been asleep for most of the early evening, having exhausted herself in being playfully mischievous all afternoon by making the stones that Numair wore glow and vibrate, and occasionally give off smoke, which had distracted the mage endlessly as he rode and had made poor Spots a quivering wreck. Now she had heard the commotion going on around her and she wanted to be a part of it, piping impatiently for someone to fetch her down. Numair stood up from the wolves that had gathered around him and went to get the dragonet, wondering if this was practise for having children.
Once she was down on the ground she was immediately surrounded by the four wolves that she had played with when they had last been here. Back then, the wolves had been pups, and had been rather scared of the dragon, causing Kitten to sulk and be quite unhappy. By the time they left, they had become good friends, and they were now reliving some of that relationship by tormenting each other mercilessly. Numair laughed as he saw Kitten have her tail pulled and then retaliate by chasing Silly into a nearby puddle.
Daine was sat beside Brokefang, the pack's leader, who she realised was becoming an older wolf now, and he was no longer the young, inexperienced wolf as she had first known him.
I see you have your pack leader with you? Brokefang said in his wise manner. You see, you do need a pack, Daine, and I always thought he would make a good mate for you.
Daine blushed slightly, sneaking a glance at Numair who was engaged in a game with some of the younger wolves, his usually neat horse tail now lose about his shoulders. For a second she felt swamped with the strong emotion he erupted in her, and she felt an unbelievable longing to be held by him, and carted off to a cave somewhere where they could be alone.
See, Brokefang said to her, a look in his eyes that was too wise to be a wolf's. That's how I would look at Rattail.
Daine sadly remembered Rattail, Brokefang's mate who was killed because of her in Snowsdale. He had since taken another mate, Frostfur, Rattail's sister and a wolf that Daine had never gotten along with. She now realised that Frostfur was absent, having not yet heard any of her sly jibes aimed at Daine.
Where is Frostfur? She asked Brokefang.
She has been affected by the bad magic that has been put into the water. She drank from it a few days ago and is now sick, he explained.
Take me to her, I will probably be able to help, she replied. However much she and Frostfur did not get along, she was not going to allow their feud to stop her from helping Brokefang's mate.
He gathered up the rest of the pack while Numair and Daine remounted, with Kitten being put safely back in her carry bag on Cloud. Her horse was in a mood, Daine could tell. Even though Numair had placed a spell years ago to stop Daine being overcome with her wild magic and leaving her human self to run with the pack, Cloud could still remember those days well when she was with the pack. Daine tried to console her, put Cloud pretended that she couldn't hear.
I will sell you to that man who makes dumplings! She shouted at the mare. You are being silly. I am not going to leave you, Kitten or Numair to run with the pack. I don't have the urge to do that anymore.
So the stork-man has done you some good then, she heard the mare reply. At least he keeps your feet on the ground, rather than your paws.
Daine couldn't help but laugh, and then found herself having to relay the conversation to Numair.
They reached the place which the wolves were using as a den. It was as small cave, well away from the main pathways where they could be discovered, although that was unlikely, seeing as Tait, the huntsman of the castle, would not track the wolves after their alliance in bringing down Yolane, Maura's half sister.
Daine found Frostfur curled up near the back of the cave, her eyes opening slightly to show an unnatural yellow hue. Numair crouched down next to Daine as she tenderly begun to examine Brokefang's mate.
"This could give some indication of how the lake is being poisoned," Numair said softly. "And hopefully it will tell us how to heal any other animal that is suffering as well."
Daine pulled a twist of copper fire from inside her and began to seek out the damage done by what she had drunk. Inside the wolf's stomach she discovered a grey liquid like substance, touching it with her magic she found that it burnt, a little like being scalded with hot water. She imagined her magic to be cooling and started to poor it onto the poison, feeling relief as it began to subside into a smaller mass.
Is that any better? She asked Frostfur when she had done.
Yes, the wolf replied. It doesn't feel as hot. I felt like I had drunk fire. The wolf resumed her sleep, her breathing easier and less strained.
Was she the only one affected? She asked Brokefang. The pack leader affirmed.
"Daine," she heard Numair call to her. "If there's no more you can do, then we really need to be heading to the inn. It's still half an hour's ride away and it's now dark. We can return tomorrow to check on her, and find out some more about what might have happened to the water."
She stood up, knowing the sense in what he said. Although her magic was never drained like his could be, she now felt exhausted with the combination of riding all day and having to concentrate carefully on two rather complicated healings.
We'll be back in the morning, she told Brokefang. I think she will live; the poison that was in her seems to have gone smaller. Hopefully tomorrow I will get rid of it all.
Thank you, the wolf responded. I do not want to lose another mate.
Daine and Numair set off toward the inn run by Parlan, Tait's brother. The half hour ride that Numair had promised felt like it was taking an eternity to Daine, who was now overcome with fatigue. Night creatures told her of the lake and the water, complaining that it was nearly the mating season and the polluted water would affect their young.
"Where has this pollution come from, do you think? Is it like when Karrum Makheen used the stones?" Daine asked half sleepily as they rode close to each other.
"I don't think so. From everything we've been told, it seems as if it's an accident. It doesn't add up to be deliberate. What bothers me is that we are fairly close to the City of Gods here," he said, she could just about make out the thoughtful look on his face in the moonlight.
"What makes you think it's not an act of terror?" She queried, although she much preferred the idea that it was an accident.
"Dunlath is such small, quiet place; there really is very little to gain by attacking it. Maura doesn't draw her water source from the lake or rivers, she uses the specially made lakes further in the mountains, so it won't really hurt her physically, but it does damage the crops and animals that do use that water. I think that this is the result of someone's carelessness," he added as they approached the inn.
There were no hostlers around to take their horses, so they led them into the inn's stables themselves. Master Parlen came out to greet them, recognition in his eyes.
"Good evening, sir, mistress," he bowed slightly. "Would ye be wantin' rooms?"
Numair laughed. "As quickly as possible if you have any spare. We've had a long journey and are most tired."
The inn-keeper nodded, and led them inside, his eyes opening wide as he saw Kitten's head pop out of her carry-bag. The last time they had been here she had stayed hidden, as Daine and Numair had not wanted to alert attention to her. This time, foul play wasn't suspected, so she was able to look around curiously and draw some curiosity herself.
"Will ye be wantin' separate rooms again?" Parlen asked, a note of amusement in his voice.
Numair saw Daine colour. He knew that it would be now crossing her mind that Parlen thought her a loose woman, and that Numair had taken advantage of her, but that wasn't a good reason to hide their relationship. He knew that she was proud of it, as he was, and he wasn't about to let her think that he wanted to keep it hidden.
"No, we'll just need one, preferably one with a small adjoining room for our charge, here," he gestured to Kitten.
Master Parlan nodded and took at set of keys from a cupboard, beckoning for them to follow him. He led them up three flights of stairs and then down a long, uneven corridor. At the bottom of it he stooped and unlocked the door.
"This is where we've 'ad several members of court stay," he told them in a proud voice. "This inn 'as been in my family for nigh on 300 years an' we've 'ad many a royal stay the night in this room. It's not exactly what ye asked for, but it's all we've got available."
Daine and Numair entered and Numair smiled as he looked around. There was a large four poster bed, elaborately draped with red material. Comfortable chairs were placed at the bottom of the room over looking the stables and there was a large bath chamber and a small separate room that would be big enough for Kitten to sleep in.
As they had found the last time they had stayed, it was immaculately clean. Even the drapes over the bed looked as if they had been recently washed, and they were obviously of good quality.
"Thank you, Master Parlen," Numair said graciously. "If it is possible, do you think a hot bath could be filled and maybe a light snack prepared, as it is some time since we have eaten."
The inn keeper nodded and Daine noticed Numair slip a couple of gold coins into Parlen's hand. Two minutes after he had left a maid arrived, obviously sent to fill the large bath so they could bathe.
"Will ye be wantin' me to come an' refill it after one of ye 'as bathed?" She asked shyly, addressing Daine rather than Numair.
"I think so. It would be nicer for the other person to have clean water," Daine replied, also shyly. She had still not gotten used to maids speaking to her as if she was a noble, or at least of a higher ranking than them. She knew it amused Numair, the way she would go out of her way to be a nice to the people who waited on them as she could. Not that he didn't, he had had a sense of politeness instilled into him also, but Daine felt as if she should be the one offering to do things and being ordered about, rather than the one giving the instructions.
"Are you ready for Ostara?" She asked the girl, who couldn't have been much older than the girl they were going to see.
The maid nodded her head enthusiastically. "We've got wooden eggs to paint this year. Lady Maura gave them to all 'er staff, a big box of 'em. My brother works at the castle, so 'e got them. We'll throw some painted hard boiled ones in the river. Will you be doin' that too, Mistress?"
Daine smiled, partly at the girl's enthusiasm for Ostara and partly at Maura's generosity. "I think we will be making some krahanky, yes."
The girl continued to chat as she filled up the bath with warm water, and Daine saw Numair slip outside. Glancing quickly out if the window she saw him head outside, and she wondered where he was heading to at this hour.
She bathed first, enjoying the hot water soothing her tired muscles and relaxing in the deep water. She was just about to fall asleep, when she heard the door click open and Numair's voice letting her know that he was back.
"Where have you been?" She called, puzzled as to why he hadn't let her know.
He wandered into the bathroom and passed her a towel as she stood up to get out of the bath. "I walked down to one of the small streams that flows from River Dunlath and took a sample of the water," he told her, holding up a small vial. "After I've eaten I'm going to check to see what is in it that shouldn't be."
She smiled as his gaze moved from the vial to her, obviously finding a little more interest there than in the water.
"Do the animals know not to drink from the water sources?" He asked, concernedly.
Daine nodded, dropping the towel and pulling on clean clothes. "I passed on the message as soon as I found out, though most of them knew all ready. The worst case of anyone being affected was Frostfur. I've not heard of any animal actually die from this, it just makes them sick for a few days and then they seem to recover well enough."
Numair nodded, pulling her toward him in a hefty hug, her wet hair dampening his shirt. He picked her up and carried her to the large bed where Kitten had fallen asleep as soon as she had laid down. His kissing and light petting were interrupted by a knock at the door, causing Numair to groan, sit up and pull a pillow over his lap, leaving Daine to straighten up her clothes and answer it.
It was the well-meaning maid who had returned to refill the bath and brought them light snacks of a bowl of thick broth and chunky bread. They took the food to the table near the large window and looked up at the clear night sky, Numair pointing out constellations in between mouthfuls, even though he knew Daine could recognise most of them herself by now.
In the distance, she spotted two rabbits hopping in a field. They were white ones, the ones associated with the maiden goddess, particularly at Ostara. They were seen as a sign of fertility, and this was the festival associated with fertility and rebirth, as the maiden goddess was courted by the sun god and they conceived a child, who would be born at the next Midwinter.
Numair noticed what she was looking at. "The part of the reason rabbits re associated with Ostara is that there is a story that she found a bird dying of the cold and changed it into a rabbit. It then survived the cold and lived, so in essence the bird was reborn."
Daine looked at him smiling, taking his hand from across the table. "I know another reason too," he looked at her with curious eyes and she squashed a laugh. "Rabbits mate a lot, and this is the festival of fertility."
Numair smiled. "You have practical thoughts," he said quietly into his soup.
"One of us needs to," she retorted, tearing a piece of bread and dunking it in the bowl.
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After he had eaten and bathed, Numair settled down to examine the water he had taken from the stream. He could tell almost instinctively that there was some kind of magic within the water, but what he didn't know was what sort of magic.
He took out some instruments from one the bags and set them out on the table and split a third of the water into two pots. Into one he dropped something from a vial he carried; the other he began to heat gentle with a flame from the candle. The water in the first pot changed colour automatically, creating almost a rainbow in the pot. He took a gem from a pouch and placed that in the water, studying the reaction. It was as he suspected. He looked at the second pot where all of the liquid had now evaporated, leaving grains of what looked like red and blue salt.
He sat back in the chair and looked toward Daine who was talking to a bat that she had let in through the window. She felt Numair's stare and turned to him.
"Wisewing – he's the bat who let me fly with him – has seen some people in the City of Gods working near the river there. He wonders if that has something to do with the state of the water," she said, the bat hovering as best it could near to her.
Numair nodded politely at the small creature. "Thank you Wisewing, that helps to confirm what I have just discovered. It seems someone has been performing spells that are intended to wash away waste – ablutum quisquiliae – and then the result of the spell, which the mage probably thinks is harmless, is tainting the water."
"So what do we do?" Daine asked. "This needs to be dealt with."
The bat flew out of the open window, which Daine then closed.
"Well first, we sleep. Then we will wake up and go to the morning ceremony for Ostara and then see Maura and let her know our theory. And I'll probably look for a way to counteract the wastage from the spell and you can check on the pack and Frostfur. Then the day after tomorrow we will probably go to the City of Gods," he explained, his arms folded across his chest as he did when he was being assertive and feeling in charge.
"What is the matter, Magelet?" He asked her, seeing her face fall slightly.
"I'm not sure about the first thing," she murmured into his ear.
"Why, we need to sleep?" He sounded a little worried.
"We do, but isn't there something we need to finish before we sleep?" she said.
Numair grinned.
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As Daine was falling asleep in his arms she heard the sound of soft footsteps walk to their room and put something on the floor outside the door. Managing to untangle herself from Numair she flung his robe around her and opened the door a tad, finding purple candle left with a scrap of paper, a note scrawled in unpractised handwriting.
"Miss Daine," it read. "This is to help you celebrate Ostara, hope you don't think I'm being impertinent giving to you. Heleani."
Daine smiled at the girl's kindness. She glanced down the long corridor to see if she could see where the girl was to thank her. She spotted her right at the end of it, standing over a cluster of the same purple candles. In the still night air, Daine could hear her words clearly.
"Fare ye well to wintry spirits and friends. On ye morrow we shall greet the spirits of spring. Our blessings we give as on your way we wend, and merry we'll meet next winter again," then Daine saw her blow out the candles, pausing slightly after each one. "Merry meet, merry part and merry meet again," she whispered.
Daine crept back into the room, knowing that Heleani's ritual had been a solitary one and she would have been embarrassed to know that she had been watched. The wildmage lit the purple candle she had been given and quietly muttered the last of Heleani's words as she blew the small flame out, before crawling back in to bed and curling up next to Numair.
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