Chapter Two
Daine drifted up out of sleep, feeling the gentle vibrations of the cats' purrs on her arms. She blinked and looked around the room with blurry eyes. Numair was a blanket-covered lump next to her. For a moment she couldn't remember why that was strange, but finally it came to her.
So he did come back last night, she thought sleepily, But where was he? She resolved to question him when he woke up.
Daine placed a hand on Numair's shoulder and shook it. "Numair," she whispered, "Numair, wake up!"
But Numair didn't stir. Daine tried several more times to wake him, without success. Finally, she decided to go down and get some breakfast, then come back up to their rooms and see if he was awake. With some difficulty, she managed to boost herself into a sitting position despite the child in her belly.
Daine got to her feet and changed into the special dress that woman in the palace wore when they were pregnant. She would have much preferred to wear breeches and a shirt, but certain conditions with her pregnancy had made her decide that maybe a dress was better.
She started walking toward the door, but suddenly she felt one of those certain conditions starting. Daine quickly dropped to the floor in the middle of the chamber, making sure that she had plenty of room for whatever the baby dished out.
The child in her wound shifted, changing into a baby elephant inside her uterus. Daine quickly shape shifted her body from the waist down into an elephant's back legs and giant gray behind. The floorboards groaned under her weight, and her maternal dress was tearing at the seams.
The baby shape shifted into a baby dolphin, and Daine quickly changed to a mother dolphin, again from the waist down. This was the condition that caused her to wear a dress which kept her legs free to change, instead of the breeches that she normally was garbed in. Daine had no control over when the baby shifted or what it changed into. She was thankful enough that she could sense when the baby was about to change, even if it was only a few seconds before.
The baby, then Daine, changed from dolphin, to giraffe, to okapi, to horse, to porcupine. Animal after animal after animal, Daine shifted less than a second after the baby did. Her maternal dress was beginning to rip as quills punched through it and it was stretched almost beyond its limits.
Finally, it was over. Daine stayed on the floor for a moment longer, to make sure that her child was done. When the baby didn't shift again, Daine grabbed onto the end of her and Numair's bed and hauled herself to her feet. She glanced down at his still form. He was fast asleep.
Daine stared at her love and husband with concern furrowing her brow. Whenever the baby started shape shifting, and Daine was incapacitated, Numair was always at her side, holding her sweaty hand and struggling to stay out of the way of her flailing lower body. But now he hadn't even twitched. What was wrong with him?
Daine stared at him for a while longer. She finally turned away and pulled the tattered remains of her maternal dress over her head. She threw it into the pile of similarly shredded, frayed maternal dresses. After pulling another one over her head and slipping into soft leather slippers, Daine went out the door, three multi-colored cats trailing after her.
Daine made her way through the hallways of the castle. The giant fortress was just waking up, and sleepy servants smiled at Daine as she walked by them. A small group of new pages ran by on their way to the mess hall. As they passed Daine, they stopped, turned, and stared openly at her. She smiled gently at them, used to the awe of the new pages, being the pregnant wife of the greatest mage in all of Tortall.
One page, who looked no older than eight years old, stepped forward and wiped his runny nose on his sleeve. "'R you Daine? Th' one married t' Numair?"
Daine nodded, and the little boy's eyes grew wide. Whispers ran through the small group. The first little boy turned and said something to one of his neighbors.
A wave of nausea suddenly overtook Daine, and she swayed on her feet. She always felt sick after her baby shape shifted, but usually Numair was there by her side, holding her in his arms, helping her work through the waves of sickness.
A small girl with hair chopped off at her shoulders stepped forward. She looked just like Lady Sir Keladry of Mindelin, the second lady knight after Lady Alanna. The girl page looked up at Daine with shining eyes. "D' you know the Lioness? An' Lady Kel?"
Daine smiled queasily down at the youngster. She was used to questions like this, and she answered, "Yes."
The girl's eyes widened. "What's the Lioness like? Does Kel-"
"Daine!" A girl's bright voice echoed along the corridor. Daine looked up to see a girl a few years younger than she hurrying along the corridor. The girl's eyes were brown and shining, and she was dressed in a simple blue dress.
"Hello, Lalasa," Daine said weakly to Kel's former servant.
Lalasa came abreast of them. Apparently seeing Daine's exhaustion, she scolded the pages, "Aren't you supposed to be at breakfast instead of bothering Daine? Get on with you!" She fluttered their hands at them, and the pages scattered, still whispering and throwing glances back over their shoulders at Daine.
As the pages scampered off down the hall, Lalasa turned and put an arm around Daine's shoulders. "You all right?" the girl said cheerfully, "How's the baby? Have you had anymore accidents?"
Lalasa was referring to the time that Daine had been in the loft of the stables tending to a raven with a broken wing, and her baby had decided to shape shift into an elephant. The floorboards had broken under her immense weight, and she had crashed down to the floor below. Only by shape shifting into a pregnant hawk and swooping down to the ground had Daine managed to save her own life. But it hadn't come without a price. The change had just encouraged her baby to shape shift even more, and Numair had banished her from not just the hayloft, but all of the stables. The only reason that she hadn't argued was because he looked so tired.
Daine sighed as Lalasa led her along the corridor on the way to the Rider's mess hall. "No, thank the gods," she answered, "But Numair-" She cut herself off. Though she trusted Lalasa, she didn't want news of Numair's fatigue to be spread all over Corus.
"Numair what?" Lalasa looked at Daine with bright eyes. She didn't give the older girl a chance to answer. "Is he worrying about you and the baby? Men. You can't live with them."
Daine sagged in relief. "Yes," she agreed, arguing with her guilty conscience, Well, it's true!
They came to the door that would let them out of the castle. Lalasa took her arm away from Daine's shoulders. "I'll have to leave you here. Dresses for the queen and all. Can you make it from here?"
Daine nodded. "Yes, thanks."
Lalasa smiled, then trotted off along the hallway in the direction that they had come. Daine opened the door and stepped into the sunshine. As the light poured down upon her like a rich cloak, she walked along the beaten pathway and up to the two story barracks that housed the Queen's Riders. Daine had been Assistant Horsemistress under Onua, her first friend in Tortall, before she had become Numair's student and for a little bit of time after that.
Daine pushed open the door to the mess and was greeted by a rolling wave of noisy chatter from the trainees and the two Rider groups home on a few days of vacation. Onua caught sight of her former assistant and long time friend and came over. "Hello, Daine," she greeted the tired girl, smiling, "What brings you here? I thought Numair would have balked at the thought of you actually leaving the castle!"
Despite her fatigue, Daine had to smile. "Do you know where Alanna is? I have to talk to her—alone."
"Lucky for you, she's actually here. Jon had to tear her away from George for once to play the court butterfly for a while. You can imagine what reaction he got." Daine grinned. The Lioness's hot temper was famous. "But she's here. You can talk in Buri's office. I'll bring you something to eat."
Daine nodded her thanks and sank into a cushioned chair in Buriram Tourakam's office. She wanted to ask Alanna why Numair might be acting so strangely. A fellow mage and one of Daine and Numair's closest friends, Alanna may know something that Daine didn't. Though why Numair would have told Alanna and not her was beyond Daine.
A few moments later, a Rider came into the office, a tray laden with food in her hands. Daine looked drearily up into the beaming face, and suddenly smiled. The Rider put the tray on Buri's desk and rushed over to Daine, embracing her.
"Miri!" Daine gasped when the female Rider had let go of her. "What are you doing here? I thought you were out roughing up bandits with Evin." Daine had named another one of their Rider friends.
"No, Buri decided that Evin's group could handle the bandits well enough on their own, so she brought us back here. It's so good to see you! How's the baby?"
Daine and Miri chatted as they waited for Alanna, catching up on the news in one another's lives. Finally, the door swung open and the famed Lioness walked in, dressed in a simple shirt and breeches, her customary sword belt slung around her waist.
"Hello, Miri," she nodded to the Rider. "Daine, you wanted to speak with me?"
Miri hastily bowed and excused herself, shutting the door on her way out. Alanna plopped down into a chair and grabbed an apple from the tray of food. She leaned back, tossing the apple from one hand to the other. Smiling at Daine, she asked, "What is it? Is there something wrong with the baby? You wouldn't have wanted to talk with me in here just to say hello."
Hesitantly, Daine explained, "It . . . it's Numair. He's been acting strange lately. It's not just the fact that he confined me to the castle. He leaves in the middle of the night sometimes, and he's always very tired. He won't tell me anything. I was wondering if you might know what's going on."
Alanna took a bite of the apple, looking at Daine out of her sometimes unnerving purple eyes. "I've only been back for two days, but already I've noticed that he's seemed more tired lately. You're sure he hasn't taken on any new projects lately?"
"I'm sure. It's not only that he seems tired, he seems . . . afraid, almost. And not just for me and the baby. I have no idea what's going on."
"Hmm." Alanna swallowed the apple and rested her chin on her hand. "Have you tried talking to him about it?"
"I tried last night, but he brushed me off and left again. He was back this morning, but . . . I couldn't wake him up, and then my baby decided to start shifting again." Alanna grinned wryly; she had been in the stable when the loft incident had occurred. "I was going to go back and try again after I talked to you."
"Sorry I can't help you any. I'll keep an eye out for anything strange going on. Here." Alanna pushed the tray of food closer to Daine. "Eat, then I'll back with you when you try to talk to him. Maybe I can pry it out of him." Alanna grinned wolfishly.
Daine smiled back, then started eating. They dropped the subject of Numair for a while, talking about Alanna's horse, SilverMoon, the daughter of Darkmoon, her former stallion who was now retired. They also spoke of Alanna's children, Daine's latest exploits with the animals of the castle, and Daine's strange and unique pregnancy.
Finally, the tray was picked clean and Daine was full. Alanna helped her out of the chair, and the two friends went out of the office, through the barracks and the corridors of the castle and back up to Daine and Numair's rooms.
Alanna waited a few feet away, leaning casually against the wall, while Daine tentatively knocked on her door. "Numair?" she called.
No answer.
Daine called again, and when there was no answering shout, she opened the door and walked into the room, afraid of what she would find.
The bed was empty. Numair was gone.
A/N: oooh, another cliffy! Sorry guys, they're just so much fine to write! I'll try to update with the next chapter soon . . . thanks to everyone who reviewed!