Proof read by Danaye.

Chapter 3

With a shock, she woke from the dream she was having. Lying in utter darkness, the hardness of the floor cut into her back and Daine rolled over, unsure of where she was and why she had awoken.

She couldn't remember, since coming to the castle, the last time she had slept on a floor or something this hard. Raising herself up on strong arms, she looked around.

Cursing under her breath, she realized she could not see. She had blown out the candle last night before going to sleep. While trying to light it, she could hear the faint sound of another person near her, and as the light took hold of the wick the person suddenly began to speak in a language she didn't recognize.

The muttering was low at first as the person turned in the bed, but when Daine raised the candle up to place it on the dresser the muttering changed into a frantic plea, making her jump. Her fingers lost hold of the candle and it crashed to the floor, spilling wax on the floor.

Everything was black yet again and the man, the one she had helped, began to scream in horror. Suddenly, she could understand some of the words as he had shifted into the use of Common.

With searching hands, she tried in vain to find the match as words such as "dungeon" and "captivity" reached her ears. Was he pleading for his life? She began to think as she heard how the man tossed and turned in her bed.

Maybe it had been a bad idea to give this man shelter for the night, Daine thought, but any other thoughts became drowned out by another of his screams. She had to react and, leaving her reflections behind, she rose to her knees and tried to catch one of his waving arms before it hit her.

"Calm down," she whispered to him as her hand caught one of his wrists.

He was a strong man and was swinging his arms about, caught in his nightmare. She ducked quickly when his other arm swung at her, but missed.

"Calm down!" she told him with a firm voice and tried to catch his other hand before he succeeded in hitting her.

"You are safe!" she breathed, trying to keep his two hands at bay.

He was fighting her with everything he had, and yet again strange words filled the air — she felt it more than she heard it. The hair on her neck stood up and she reacted instinctively. Pulling one of his arms firmly against the bed, she placed her knee on it, holding it down so he could use it. With her one hand free she covered his mouth, not strangling him, but keeping him from using any of the magic she had detected.

"I said, 'you are safe!' Please try to listen to me." He fought her for some time after that, but she continued to hold on to him the best she could.

A few minutes or so after she had repeated those words again, a peculiar thing happened. He settled calmly underneath her and by doing so she slowly, almost hesitantly let go of him.

About to lean back and return to her own makeshift bed on the floor, she was startled when he spoke again. His voice was hoarse as he hissed unrecognizable words.

Daine was about to stand, but when she shifted her place on the bed a large hand gripped her and pulled her down fiercely. She almost pressed a knee into his stomach, but luckily she didn't.

"What are you doing?" she began to ask with a slight note of panic in her voice as another hand was laid on her shoulder, forcing her down.

Underneath her the man shifted and a horrible thought beat against her in realization that, in that almost naked state of his, he could easily do some serious damage to her body…and mind for that matter. Frightened, she tried to pull herself away when words, spoken again in Common, filled her tiny room.

With both the hardness and the tenderness she had observed during the undressing, the man spoke, "I'm not going to hurt you."

With her body frozen in shock she forced what she hoped was a calm question out between her lips. Nonetheless, she could hear the panic in her voice.

"Then what are you doing?" she asked as the hand on her shoulder suddenly disappeared. Beside her and underneath her at the same time, she could clearly feel him move. Without any sort of reply given to her, she was grabbed yet again, only to be lowered down beside him onto the mattress.

"Just stay with me," he told her.

Daine could hear him whisper the words down into her hair. Her body was still stiff from the sheer fright that he would force himself on her.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" The last sentence sounded like a half promising and half sleep-talking. "Just need..." And then his voice was gone, only to be replaced by a loud snoring. He was sound asleep yet again.

Breathing deeply to calm herself down, Daine listened to his breathing for some time. When she was sure that he was indeed asleep, she tried to pull herself away. Immediately the hold around her tightened and the muscles in his arm flexed, giving her no opportunity to get free.

She was lying in the arms of a man she didn't even know the name of. With her head rested on the tip of his shoulder and her front pressed against his torso, she wasn't comfortable. If only she could turn herself around and — the arm that held her so tightly was softly lifted, but only two centimeters. It was lifted enough that Daine decided to turn around quickly before the opportunity passed.

As soon she was halfway settled, a voice brought her movements to a halt and with acknowledgment the man spoke again, his voice still heavy with sleep.

"Much better," it sounded from behind her, and yet again his arm tightened around her frame, pulling her further against him.

With eyes wide open, she couldn't do anything but smile a little — wasn't this what she had thought about before finding her spare blankets and lying down on the floor? Wasn't this what she had dreamed about during the long winters lying alone in her tiny room with the horses resting on the other side of the wall?

Granted the opportunity, could she not just enjoy the feeling of being held by strong arms that belonged to a man — even an unknown man?

Daine was biting her lip as mixed feelings filled her body and mind. This was so absolutely wrong! She was on the very brink of being engaged to a man from Tortall and here she was almost content with this situation. A situation where a warm body was wrapped around her own. "It's just one time," a voice in her mind said, "it won't happen ever again."

And who was going to tell her future husband that she had lain like this? Only one other person knew and he was sound asleep behind her. Well, he was going to be gone in the morning anyhow, so it didn't matter at all…or did it? A thought hit her hard. What if her future husband was a player of some sort and he was a notorious among other women? What if she couldn't measure up to them in experience? What if... Daine let out a loud sigh and the man behind her grumbled in his sleep.

"You are thinking too much," he told her simply and she froze.

How could he know what she had been speculating about? As if to answer her question, he spoke again.

"If you would just lie still with your feet, it would be easier to get some sleep. You need it too."

"Ahh, that was how you knew…" she tried to stop herself from giggling, but did it anyway. She could feel the man smile behind her.

"Sleep," he almost commanded, with his deep voice muffled against her hair, an unexpected thrill rushed through her body. She settled further back against him, which got him to sort of press his body towards her in return. Breathing deep, sleep overcame her easily as she let her many speculations go.

Numair woke with a warm body pressed against his own.

The wonderful feeling of being somehow safe didn't get his mind to wake up just yet, but he still released a breath of tension when he noticed the feel of soft blankets around his almost naked body.

The woman's frame was covered by cloth and he frowned as he turned to investigate the warm, clothed body beside him. Lying as such would mean that he had reached his destination, didn't it? He thought about this as he carefully drew the body closer.

He could faintly remember something about a woman undressing him, but for what occasion he didn't know. Before he could figure that out, sleep slowly overtook him again.

Such waking wasn't uncommon for him and some time after he woke yet again from the pictures of being held in dungeons. The current darkness of the room he was in didn't help him at all. The only thing that kept his thoughts clear and prevented him from screaming again was the distraction she gave to him — her presence and her warmth.

In the lazy haze of sleep he was content, so he didn't ponder over the fact that he didn't know the woman at all. He was somehow in his right to be free one more night, before meeting his future wife, and suddenly his companion shifted in her sleep, giving him room and access to the nook between her shoulder and neck.

Lying in a one person bed, there wasn't much room, but he could manage with much less space. Without opening his eyes, he breathed in her scent. The smell of horses and clean dirt intrigued his mind. Something of importance seemed to linger on the edge of his mind, but it was gone the instant he touched it with his mental hands.

Still with sleep hanging heavily over him, he twisted himself below the blankets closer to her, feeling the crush of his naked skin on the material where he met her body.

He had glanced down at her when she had helped him, only doing so when she wouldn't notice it, but what he had found pleased him more than he had expected.

And when he had awoken during his nightmare, she had come to him, not afraid of him like some of his other bed companions. The feel of her presence lingering over him had made him pull her down towards him. She might have fought him or mistaken his intentions for being ill-minded, but she had listened to his pleading voice.

Thus she had lain down next to him, not that he had given her any other option in the matter. He had held her firmly, not wanting to let go of the one thing that seemed to ease one of his many nightmares. Now, lying here in the middle of the dark, he breathed again letting his hand find the soft skin of her face and thus her parted lips.

With his breath caught in his throat, he let his calloused fingers caress her lower lip and she immediately twisted under his hand, only to decrease the distance between them. He could now feel her warm breath warming his cheek, only mere centimeters from his own lips.