Disclaimer: I almost forgot the disclaimer on this one. You know what it should say.

"Everyone out!" Alanna barked.

"I'm not going anywhere," Numair snapped back.

"When I say everyone, I mean everyone!"

"She is my wife," he snarled in response.

"And she is my patient!"

Duke Baird quickly stepped between them. The palace's chief healer had been at Pirate's Swoop for the wedding; Alanna had called for him as soon as she saw Daine. He took the taller man's shoulders and turned him away from the bed where Daine was laying.

"Numair, her injuries are serious," Baird said quietly. "You understand magic better than anyone in this room. If you're standing here, hovering over us, you're only going to be a distraction. Go. We'll come to you as soon as we can."

Onua and Jonathan each took an arm, leading the mage out of the room.

Numair turned and stared at the closed door, then sank slowly onto the floor. Onua sat beside him. Kitten, who had followed them out of the room, leaned against his other side.

"She'll be okay," Onua said. "She has Alanna and Baird. She'll be okay."

"Why didn't I get there sooner?" Numair said weakly. "Why did I even give him to opportunity to hurt her?"

Jonathan crouched to speak to him. "We got her back, Numair. Staghorn is in the dungeons now, under heavy guard. We'll take him back to Corus to stand trial."

Numair put his head in his hands. "But this was my fault. He attacked Daine to get back at me."

"He attacked Daine because he's a madman," Onua said firmly. "His brother was a madman. You did nothing wrong. Except maybe not turning him into a pear tree when you had a chance."

Numair chuckled weakly. "Probably would have produced sour fruit," he said wryly. He laid his head back against the stone wall.

Jonathan patted his arms. "Get some rest, Numair. She's in good hands now."

He didn't know how long he had sat there. Kitten had fallen asleep, her head again resting in his lap. He was exhausted. When he had suddenly became aware of Daine's presence, following the little brightly coloured bird, he had used nearly all of his Gift to take himself to her. But he couldn't sleep. He just kept seeing Daine, laying on the cold floor of that room, bruised and bleeding.

When Alanna and Baird finally came out, he could only stare up at them from his place on the floor. Alanna knelt beside him, brushing his hair back from his face in a mothering gesture. She looked exhausted as well.

"She's going to be okay, Numair," Alanna said. "She needs rest, and time, but she'll be okay."

He covered his face with his hands, stifling a choked sob. Alanna grasped his shoulder reassuringly. Kitten, who had woken when the door opened, gave a soft trill.

Baird put out his hand to help the lanky mage off the floor. "She's awake. You can go see her now. And then you need to get some rest. You're going to collapse, Numair."

"Not too long," Alanna cautioned. "She needs sleep."

Numair shook Duke Baird's hand and gave a thankful hug to Alanna before he pushed open the door and quietly slipped in, Kitten close behind him.

He could see Daine laying on the bed. She was still very pale, with dark rings under her eyes. Alanna had healed her split lip and the dark bruise which had marred her face, but the strain of the past days was still etched on her features. He crossed to the bed and leaned over her, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Her blue-gray eyes fluttered open. "Numair," she breathed. "You found me."

"I will always find you," he said. He felt his eyes fill with tears. "I thought I had lost you, magelet."

She smiled weakly. "You're not getting rid of me that easily." She coughed, cringing, and Numair lifted a cup of water to her lips, helping her take a drink.

He settled her back against the pillows. "You should get some rest, my love," he said, not really wanting to leave her.

She grasped his hand. "Will you stay with me?"

"I'm not sure Alanna would approve," he said carefully, but she squeezed his hand, her eyes pleading.

"Please don't leave me, Numair. Please, just stay."

He gazed down at her, then nodded. Drawing his hand back, he quickly stripped off his tunic and boots, then climbed onto the bed beside her. He gathered her into his arms, her face nuzzling his chest.

"I love you, magelet. I love you."

"I love you too, Numair." She took a deep breath, and Numair felt her start to relax in his arms, drifting back to sleep. Numair pressed his lips to the top of her head again and closed his eyes, letting the sweet smell of her hair wash over him.

Alanna and Baird entered the room a little while later. Alanna's lips narrowed and her hands fisted on her hips when she looked at the scene.

Numair lay stretched out on the bed, Daine cradled in his long arms. Her head rested against his chest, and his cheek laid against her hair. Neither had stirred when the door opened. Kitten had climbed up on the chair next to the bed and was curled in a ball, sound asleep as well.

Baird put a hand on her arm as she started forward. "He's exhausted," he said quietly. "He won't get any rest sitting on the floor outside this room. And she's sleeping."

She scowled as she looked at him, then over at the scene on the bed. She could see the dark shadows painted under Numair's eyes, where his long lashes laid against his cheek. Weariness was etched in his face. With another scowl at Baird, she walked over to the bed, lightly touching Numair's forehead, a flash of her purple magic coming from her fingers. Her expression softened slightly. She lifted a blanket from the foot of the bed and carefully spread it over her friend.

"Men," she grumbled as she walked back by Baird and left the room.

XxXxXxXx

Daine awoke slowly. Her head still felt foggy, but it was the fog of fatigue, not pain. And she was acutely aware that she was no longer laying on a cold, stone floor, but rather was wrapped in a pair of very warm arms, whose hands were stroking methodically along her back.

She lifted her head to see familiar dark eyes gazing down at her. She was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion, tears filling her eyes.

"It's okay," Numair crooned reassuringly as the tears spilled out onto her cheeks, one large hand cupping her face. "You're safe now, Daine."

"I thought I'd never see you again," she gasped, her tears making her breathless.

He grinned. "You're not getting rid of me that easily," he quipped.

Daine laughed through her tears to hear her own teasing words said back to her, and Numair lowered his face to press a kiss to her lips. She reveled in the warm sweetness of his lips moving against hers, until the bristles of his chin scraped along her sensitive skin.

"Ugh," she grimaced, pulling away.

"Ugh?" Numair repeated, incredulously. "I tear the countryside apart looking for you, and ask only a kiss in return, and you say ugh?"

"Don't be dramatic," Daine told him. "You're scratchy. When did you last shave?" She ran her hand over the stubble of his jaw.

Nuair raised a hand to his own face, looking sheepish. "The day after our wedding," he admitted. "So, five days ago? To be fair, I was a little distracted."

"It's been five days?" she asked incredulously.

"It felt like an eternity," Numair admitted. "It took us two days to figure out Staghorn had taken you, and another day to find you." He stroked her hair. "You've been asleep for more than a day and a half."

"I still feel like a bag of wet noodles," Daine admitted.

"That's because you need more rest, and not to be carousing with your husband," came a new voice. Both turned to see Alanna entering the room. "Surely the two of you can keep your hands off one another long enough to let her heal," she added wryly.

"We were hardly 'carousing', Alanna," Numair answered drily. "I awoke a few hours ago and was simply lying here. Daine just woke in the past few minutes."

"Where are we?" Daine suddenly asked.

"Fief Tameran," Alanna answered. "They're pretty eager to get back into the King's favour after letting that madman house on their land." She sighed. "Not that they had any way of knowing who Staghorn was or what he'd done. Dungeons that can suppress magic." She shuddered. "I don't fancy spending any time in one of those." She dropped into the chair beside the bed, which Kitten had vacated when she arrived.

"I don't recommend it," Daine said. "But how could he not realize the door created a gap? Isn't that the first thing you'd check?" She felt a little awkward, laying in bed with Numair while they chatted casually with Alanna.

"Tristan could be frighteningly over-confident as well," Numair said. "I, for one, am terribly thankful it runs in the family." He shifted so that he could converse more easily with Alanna while still holding Daine. "We should go back, try to take apart the spells."

"Jon called more mages from the university. They're working on it right now," Alanna said.

"And Staghorn?" Daine asked.

"On his way to the palace with the King's Own," Alanna answered. "He's not going to be bothering anyone for a very long time."

Numair frowned. "We should re-examine the protections on the keep. If Staghorn could build that dungeon, he might have powers we haven't anticipated."

Alanna sighed. "We're on it, Numair. We did capture enemy mages before you came around to turn them into trees." She shoved her chair back and stood, ignoring his dirty look. "They're going to bring some food up to the two of you. If you're feeling better this afternoon, we can probably move everyone back to Pirate's Swoop."

"If we can move back to Pirate's Swoop, surely Daine and I can return to my home," Numair said carefully.

Alanna frowned at him. "I'd rather you be at Pirate's Swoop, where I can keep an eye on her," she said. "That was a nasty head injury. Plus multiple broken ribs, internal bleeding..."

"I have it on authority that she had a very good healer," Numair said with a grin.

"We are only a few minutes' ride away," Daine countered. Numair grinned even more broadly at Alanna.

Alanna looked back and forth between the two of them. "Fine. But I swear, if either of you ignore my instructions just so you can act like lovesick newlyweds and totally undo all the healing I've done, Numair, I will geld you."

Numair started. "Why am I getting all the blame?" he asked indignantly.

"Because I know what men are like!" she shot back. With that, she turned on her heel and stalked from the room.