Disclaimer: All thanks to the glorious Mistress Pierce for her world. I'm just playing in it.

Daine fought against the tight grip of unconsciousness. Her head swam with the mere effort of opening her eyes. She was still laying on the floor of that cold, dark room.

She remembered Alanna once talking about a squire who had been injured when he hit his head. They'd thought it was nothing, but hours later, he had died. He had been bleeding inside his brain. Is that what was going on? Was she slowly dying?

"Numair," she whispered to the quiet, still room.

She remembered how it had felt to wake up in his arms that morning. Had it only been that morning? How much time had passed since he had held her, laughing and giggling and then breathless with the intensity of his kiss?

They'd had only one night together. Was that all she would ever have?

She remembered the anger in Numair's face when he had turned Tristan Staghorn into a tree. She remembered the way he had lashed out against Emperor Ozorne for suggesting that he was teaching her only because he wanted her in his bed. She remembered the haggard expression on his face when he thought she'd been killed in the Divine Realms.

She wondered about Cloud. Would Onua take the temperamental gray mare? How would Cloud do, without anyone to talk to? She wasn't like a normal horse anymore.

And Kitten. Numair would care for her, Daine was sure. But she'd already lost one ma. Would she understand when Daine didn't come home?

She wanted to see Numair, just one last time. Please, Black God, if you're going to take me, just let me say goodbye to Numair.

XxXxXxXx

Raoul looked furious. "I'm sure he's hiding something, but we can't get anything out of him."

Numair looked on, equally furious. It had been a hard ride from Pirate's Swoop, but they had reached the edge of Tameran. Julian Staghorn was there, hiding away in a small cottage. "I don't need him to tell me anything. Just let me search the land."

Alanna shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea, Numair. We don't know what kind of traps he has set up. If we go rushing in, we could be in a worse spot than we are now."

"Are you finding anything that might suggest one of those rooms?" Jonathan asked. "If we have some idea of where to go, we could send a smaller group in, scout the area out."

Numair shook his head. "No. But I don't even know if what I'm looking for actually exists or if this is how it would actually act," he snapped impatiently. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Jon. I didn't mean to snap. I'm just worried." He looked down at the dragon riding with him. "Kitten? Is there anything hiding?"

The dragonet gave a small, sad whistle.

Jon brought his horse alongside Spots and reached to pat the other man's shoulder. "I understand, Numair. We're all worried." He looked over at Raoul. "What about his servants, or slaves, or whatever they are? Could we get information from them?"

Raoul shook his head. "Everyone in the house is a mute. I'm sure they're slaves. Only ones we could talk to were the big men by the gate, and they might as well have been mutes, for all they'd say." He looked over. "Numair, are you picking up your wife's talents with the wildlife?"

There was a brightly-coloured bird flitting about Numair's face, chattering excitedly. "I don't know," he said. "Unfortunately, unlike Daine, I don't speak songbird."

Kitten sat up suddenly, trilling and whistling, and the bird suddenly swooped to flit about her face.

"That bird is not acting normally," Alanna said tightly. "Numair?"

He was watching the bird and Kitten. "Kitten?" he said softly.

The small dragon looked up at him and chattered, her scales shimmering between blue and pink and red. She looked expectantly between Numair and the bird, who had landed on Numair's saddlehorn.

"Kitten, if he knows where we can find Daine, then lead the way."

Kitten sat up straight and gave an excited chirp. Spots moved forward as the dragon stared into the distance.

XxXxXxXx

Daine could hardly lift her head when she heard the door open again.

"Well, Wildmage, looks like we're ahead of schedule," Staghorn sneered. "The traitor already traced you back to me. Not that he can prove anything. Just sitting out there with the King's lapdogs, waiting for me to make a mistake."

"Numair's here?" she asked weakly. She tried to reach through the gap in the door with her magic, but it flitted away from her.

"Yes, Numair's here," he said snidely. "Which means I can kill him now. And I don't need you anymore."

He was going to kill her, Daine thought. Or probably have one of his henchmen do it. She closed her eyes again, waiting for whatever blow was about to fall.

Suddenly, there was a shout and a crash. Daine opened her eyes to see Staghorn and his cronies laying on the ground, and a tall, lanky figure walking toward her. This was it. She must have died. This was the Black God coming to get her.

The figure stooped and lifted her, cradling her against his chest. Daine marveled at how the Black God smelled exactly like sandalwood and spice and... Numair. She lifted her head and looked into familiar dark eyes.

"Numair?" she said weakly.

"I'm here, magelet," came the deep, reassuring voice. "I'm here."