Numair did his best to keep his hands from shaking as he gently wove his fingers through her smoky brown curls. He felt her shiver as his fingers grazed her scalp, and swallowed hard to steady himself. This was his own fault after all.

Daine shifted back into his hands, her small body placed between his long legs, and her back brushing up against the fallen red oak he was sitting on. What had he been thinking, asking her if she wanted him to do this? He had severely underestimated the effect this would have on his self-control.

He hadn't really been thinking...or he had, but only about her. Always only about her. Now, sitting here with her tucked so intimately in the circle of his body, he tried hard not to regret the decision he had made a week ago...


Numair smiled when he heard the light laughter coming from the stable isle outside Cloud's stall. He wondered what dry comment the mare had made now, to cause Daine to sound so amused. He rounded the corner, fully intending to wheedle the information out of her, only to stop dead, horrified at the site before him.

Daine sat on an overturned feed trough, her lean legs stretched out before her, and the ends of her breeches rolled up to expose her crossed ankles. Alanna stood behind the wild mage, her hands pulling the girl's hair back into a horse tail at the base of her neck, and a pair of shears held precariously between her teeth.

"What are you doing?!" His voice came out in a strained shriek, and Alanna looked up at him baffled.

"What does it look like she's doing Draper? The girl is getting a haircut." Buri's stoic voice broke through his panic. He turned to see her sitting against the stall across from Cloud's, methodically polishing a worn pair of riding boots.

"You're cutting your hair?" He met Daine's blue-grey eyes, and was ashamed to hear the dismay in his voice.

"I'm still dealing with a tangled nest from the last time we were out Numair." He was embarrassed to realize she was using the same tone she used with wounded animals. "It would just be easier to not have to mess with it" Daine said sensibly.

"You could pull it back..." Numair said weakly.

"I've never been very good at that," Daine frowned. "I don't even know how to braid, and hair ties and headscarves tend to fall off when I shift...it's just too much to deal with." She looked up at him almost pleadingly.

Numair swallowed. "Okay magelet," he whispered, despising himself for not being able to keep the disappointment and hesitancy from his voice.

Alanna rolled her eyes. "For Mithros' sake Numair, it's just hair!" she said, sounding exasperated.

He nodded, meeting Daine's gaze one more time, and trying to offer a reassuring smile, before wandering out of the stable. Alanna was right of course. Numair knew he was being ridiculous...but he loved Daine's hair.

Several candle marks later Numair was surprised to see Daine in the rider's mess, her hair exactly as it had always been, curling wildly around her face and refusing to be tamed by her head scarf. She met his gaze across the mess of rowdy riders, and gave him a sheepish smile. His eyes locked with hers, and he made a decision.

It took him a while to figure out who to ask. At first he considered Thayet, but he quickly determined that his queen was far too perceptive. He wasn't ready to have that discussion yet. Alanna was instantly discarded as an option. He doubted this would even be a skill she possessed.

So here he found himself, standing in the officer's quarters of the rider's barracks, trying to figure out how to ask this particular favor.

"Buri, can I talk to you?" he said, tilting his head towards the door in the hope she would get the hint that this was something he would prefer to discuss in a more discreet manner. He glanced warily at Sarge, wishing the giant of a man would stop grinning at him.

"Talk away Draper," Buri said, not even glancing up from the leather straps of the saddle she was repairing, and certainly not making a move to talk to the mage in private.

Numair shifted from foot to foot uneasily. Best to come straight out with it then. He would just have to deal with whatever mocking this brought on. "Buri, can you...can you teach me how to braid?"

He heard Sarge guffaw, but Buri's hands paused. She slowly raised her eyes to meet his own, her expression startled for a minute, before settling back into its impassive mask. Numair realized he had been mistaken in thinking Thayet was the perceptive one.

Buri set the saddle aside, and held his gaze, studying him. "Are you sure that is something you would like to do Numair?" Her voice was steady, but he saw something he couldn't quite recognize flash in her dark eyes.

He knew what she was asking...and he understood the importance of conveying the truth to the woman. He met her unwavering gaze with his own.

"No Buriram Tourakom... it is something I'd love to do," he said.

She scrutinized him for a few moments longer, then stood, wiping her palms on the front of her breeches. "Well, let's teach you the proper way to braid then."


So here he sat, his hands shaking, slowly weaving Daine's hair into the tight complex plait that Buri had spent three days teaching him. His fingers snagged on her hair a few times, and he whispered "sorry," his breathing becoming ragged.

It took him longer than it should have, but he reached the end of her hair, and slowly looped it to tie it in on itself the way Buri had shown him. He sighed, grazing his thumb across the nape of her neck, and laying a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently.

Daine didn't move, and all of the sudden he realized she was shaking. She turned towards him, and he was distressed to see her eyes were glistening with tears.

"Sweet, I'm so sorry..." he said, panicked. "I'm not very practiced at it yet...I didn't mean to pull so hard." Daine shook her head, even as a tear broke loose and rolled down her cheek. "Oh magelet...you should cut your hair if that's what you want" he choked. "I didn't mean to discourage you... I ..."

He was cut off when Daine threw her arms tightly around his neck. He froze, before gently wrapping his own arms around her, and holding her body close to his.

"You learned to braid for me...?" Her voice trembled, and he tightened his hold. She pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. "I don't deserve you Numair." Her voice caught, and she tilted her forehead down into his shoulder.

"I would do anything for you Daine." He said, brushing his lips against her hair. He felt her choke back another sob.

They sat there holding one another for a long time, the sun beginning to set behind the tops of the trees.

"I would do anything for you too Numair." Daine's voice had steadied. She kissed his forehead, stood, and walked to the center of the camp, bending to start their fire.

He watched her fiddle with the end of her braid, as the kindling sparked into a flame, lighting the little clearing they were camped in. That's what I'm afraid of magelet...