Disclaimer: Numair, Daine and the rest belong to the glorious Tamora Pierce. I tried to coax Numair away, but he didn't bite...
Numair smiled through his conversation with King Jonathan and Raoul of Goldenlake, but his attention wasn't really on them. His eyes were scanning the large hall, looking for a familiar head of smoky-brown curls.
Belatedly, he realized Jon had been asking a question. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked.
Raoul laughed, clapping the other man on the shoulder. "Sorry, Jon, but I just don't think Numair has much interest in talking page training curriculums, right now. His mind on something else." He took a swig of his drink. "Or some*one* else."
Numair accepted the good-natured ribbing with a smile. "I wasn't paying attention, Jon, I'm sorry. I just realized I don't see Daine anywhere."
"She's with Thayet and the ladies, isn't she?" the king said, looking toward the corner where the queen, Alanna, and others stood gathered.
"No, she isn't," Numair said. "I saw her earlier, when I was juggling. She was talking to an old man and went off somewhere with him. I haven't seen her since."
"Probably in stables or the kennels," Raoul said. "Or talking to a nest full of starling fledglings. You know what she's like, Numair."
He did know, but he had a strange, unsettled feeling. He wanted to find Daine. He needed to find Daine, reassure himself that she was fine. He knew he was being ridiculous, but something deep inside him told him to find Daine.
"I'm just going to go find her," he said. He flagged down a passing page, a dark-haired boy. "Can you run to the stables and see if Daine is there?"
"Check the kennels as well," Jon instructed. "Relax, Numair. She's around her somewhere. What do you think, a Stormwing swooped down and flew off with her?"
Numair couldn't say what he was thinking or why he felt so uneasy. He had waited so long for this, for her, to finally be able to say she was his. Was he just being overprotective? He strode across the hall to the group of women gathered in the corner.
"Excuse me," he said shortly, entering their midst. "Have any of you seen Daine?"
"Can't keep your hands off her?" Alanna quipped with a smile.
"Alanna, please," he said. "Have you seen her?"
The short redhead frowned at the uncharacteristically serious expression on Numair's face. "She went to get a drink a little while ago and didn't come back. I assumed she'd found another group to chat with. Numair, what's wrong?" She stood and crossed to where he was standing.
"I don't know," he said shortly. "Probably nothing. I just..." He took a deep breath. "I just need to know where she is." The dark-haired page returned. "Well?" he asked quickly.
"I couldn't find her in the stable or kennels, Master Numair," the boy answered. "Cloud is still there, but she's not. And I didn't see her anywhere else."
Thayet stood now. "Don't worry, Numair. I'm sure she hasn't gone far. We'll get the kids to help look. They'll know the hiding places." She headed off to find her children and Alanna's.
Alanna rested a quiet hand on his arm. "Numair, what is it? What aren't you saying?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing... nothing concrete. I don't know anything, I have no reason to think she hasn't just gone for a walk. But..." He struggled to find the words. "I just... something's wrong, Alanna. She would have told me if she was going to wander off, I'm sure of it."
Purple eyes met his dark ones and held them. After several long moments, Alanna nodded. "Let's get Jon. We'll find her, Numair."
XxXxXxXx
Daine's head swum and her stomach threatened to betray her. She was cold and damp and laying on something hard. With effort, she lifted her head and looked around.
The room she was in was dark and windowless. She laid on a bare wooden bench, and the walls were equally bare. It was a plain, stone room with no ornament or decoration. It was cold, too, but not the usual damp chill of a dungeon cell. It was a different cold, one that seemed to seep into her very being. And the quiet was nearly suffocating, the way it pressed in on her.
Before she could contemplate why the room seemed so abnormally cold and oppressively quiet, a door she hadn't before noticed crashed open. Two large men in black uniforms entered, followed by a lean man with shaggy dark blond hair. Something about his face was familiar, though Daine couldn't force her muddled mind to make any connections.
"Ah, so you've decided to join us, Wildmage," said the blond man in a sneering voice. "About time. I'd hate to have gone to all this trouble and you not even get to enjoy it."
She blinked at him. "Who are you?" she asked stupidly, stumbling to her feet.
His face twisted. "Of course. You and that traitor go around, ruining lives, don't even bother to find out who has been left to pick up the pieces. You sicken me."
Ruining lives? What lives? Who was this man? And what traitor?
"I don't know who you are," Daine said firmly, fighting through her confusion. "I don't know what I'm supposed to have done, or who I'm supposed to have done it with. And I don't associate with traitors."
The man laughed, a short, harsh bark. "You married one," he spat.
Realization dawned over her. "Numair?" she said softly.
"Numair," he repeated, still sneering. "Filthy traitor. He was so disgraced he tried to run and hide. And then he acts like he's so noble." He stepped close to Daine. "He's a traitor. And a murderer."
"He is NOT!" Daine said hotly, and the man sharply back-handed her. She could feel blood trickling down from her lip.
"Murderer," he repeated harshly, his face close to hers. He pulled back. "My name is Julian Staghorn," he said coldly. "Bringing back any memories now?"
Daine stared in horror. "Tristan Staghorn," she whispered.
"He was my brother," Julian said. "He was the most brilliant of all of us. Gifted. Trained. And the traitor killed him."
Strictly speaking, Numair hadn't killed him. He had turned him into an apple tree after Tristan tried to help overthrow King Jonathan at Fief Dunlath. And after Tristan had tried to attack her..
"Tristan Staghorn was a murderer," Daine said slowly. "He deserved what he got."
This time the blow was even harder, knocking Daine to the floor. She hit her head on the side of the bench.
"I won't listen to your lies," Julian hissed. "Arram Draper is a murderer. He took the thing I loved most from me. And now I'm going to take the thing he loves most from him. And once I have seen him suffer and hurt the way I've hurt, I'm going to kill him."
He turned for the door as Daine sat on the ground, holding her head. As he reached it, he turned back. "Oh, and don't even think of trying to call for any of your little friends, Wildmage. I know all about you. It won't work."
The door slammed shut behind him.
Daine stayed on the floor, holding her head. Slowly, carefully, she raised herself back onto the bench. Her head was throbbing.
She tried to make sense of everything that had just happened. Julian Staghorn. Now? After all this time? She had nearly forgotten about the man-turned-tree she and Numair had battled so long ago. Tristan had been terrifying, brewing a dangerous batch of bloodrain to poison the water supply in Fief Dunlath and kill the approaching members of the King's Own, not to mention every animal in the area.
And what did he mean about not calling her friends? Was he waiting to kill any animal who acted strangely? Slowly, she settled back onto the bench and dropped into herself, trying to find her magic and reach out to any People who might be close enough to hear. Her range was good - she could surely find some wayward cat or sparrow.
She stilled her breathing and tried to listen with her magic. Nothing. Was she too far underground? She should at least hear rats, but there was... nothing. It was as if she simply... had no connection.
Cold ran down her spine. She remembered Numair talking about rooms at the university in Carthak that dampened magic. Some that suppressed it completely. She reached out again, shouting with her magic to any People, but it was as if her cry bounced off the stone walls. Is that what this was? And if she couldn't reach out... could Numair find a way in?.
She laid down again, resting her throbbing head against her arms. She needed to stay calm and think of a plan. Numair would be looking for her. She needed to get a message to him. She just needed to reach a People. But she needed her head to stop aching. She would just close her eyes, just for a minute. Just to make her head stop aching.