This chapter is for everyone.

Proof read by Danaye

Chapter 9

"Quiet!" Numair commanded, furious over the intrusion.

Daine fumbled with the blanket as the eyes of the five guards turned to look at her. She tried in vain to get it draped up and around her body, but her fingers had gone numb. She was still naked and crying, and the royal healer seemed to be pleased by the sight of her as such. He was greedily taking everything in.

She wasn't the only one who was naked and as she turned her face away from the hungry eyes of the royal healer, Daine found her husband standing as nature had made him. Daine forced her eyes away when they reached a certain level. He didn't seem to take notice of his own nudity.

"Master Warren," Numair called, and the royal healer's head snapped away from where he had been looking at Daine. "I don't think that I ever gave you permission to enter my chambers," Numair said in an icy tone.

The royal healer smirked. "You knew the objectives of the agreement, Master Salmalin. The time is past midnight and His Majesty's request was simple..." Master Warren halted his words as his eyes came to rest on the sheet in Numair's hand. Lifting his eyebrows, the royal healer continued, "I clearly see that you did it," he held out his hand, "now, please hand that over."

Daine could finally feel her fingers again and she tucked the blanket up around her. The movement got the guards to look at her yet again. One of them lowered his weapon as his attention was fully turned towards her, lust entering his eyes. Daine growled low, an animalistic sound erupting from her throat.

The sound got everyone to look at her again, including Numair. He only lifted his eyebrows in a silent question before turning his attention away, the expression on his face perfectly blank. He had seen naked women before and knew exactly what she looked like — just the same as every other woman he had been with. So, he paid her no further attention until one of the guards forgot his place and took a step towards the bed, his sword dropped to his side.

Numair waved his hand out in a gesture he knew was unnecessary while an incantation lay on his lips.

The effect was immediate. The guard turned towards the Black Robed mage and raised his sword again. Daine's naked form had been covered by an illusion-spell. "Bring her back," the guard snapped.

"No," Numair replied with an eerie calmness. Inside, he was agitated over this strange encounter that took place in the middle of what should have been his wedding night. Numair looked calmly back to where the royal healer was glaring daggers at him.

"Bring her back," the royal healer demanded.

Numair crossed his arms. "No," he replied slowly.

The royal healer looked up at the tall man, only to be met with a face that was impenetrable. "Fine then," he said and held out his hand again, palm open, "hand over the sheet."

Numair shook his head. "The agreement was that this," he held up the bloody sheet, "should be collected by Astrid." Numair held the royal healer's gaze and jerked his head in the direction of where Daine sat with wide eyes, taking in the conversation between the two mages. "Astrid being her lady-in-waiting, not you."

Master Warren shifted back and forth, his eyes flickering nervously.

Numair smiled, revealing straight white teeth, "What is this? You don't have an answer ready?"

The royal healer lifted his chin, "Astrid told me she was ill, so I came instead."

Being so powerfully gifted only meant one thing for Numair. No one could ever lie to him. He shook his head while clicking his tongue in disapproval. He finally sighed low and gestured back to where his black robe hung. It lifted up from the hook only to sneak over the floor like a snake. Holding out a hand, he grasped the fabric and carefully wrapped his large body in it. "You're clearly ignorant of the fact that one can't lie to a black robe," Numair said while observing the royal healer.

Silence filled the room as the guards exchanged mixed glances. Some of them were clearly beginning to comprehend the seriousness of the situation they were in.

Numair buttoned the first button at his throat, "You come with guards in the middle of the night, tell me dear Master Warren, what game are you playing? And where does the wild-mage belong in this?"

"There's no game here, southerner," Master Warren growled low, glancing to where the guards were standing. "The king made this arrangement because he's weak. He can't see what lies beneath his own nose, and hasn't been able to for the past six years."

Numair's lips were pressed into a thin line, "Why is she so important to you?"

"That is none of your business," Master Warren growled.

Numair laughed, a baritone tone coming from his lungs. He stopped abruptly, looking sternly at the royal healer, "Oh, but it is." He was growing tired of this and he wanted it to end. It had been a long day and, glancing over to where his new wife sat with glimmering cheeks, it reminded him that he had hurt her.

His patience was used up. Rubbing a hand up and down over his face, Numair's voice became muffled. "Get out," he said, looking only at the guards standing beside the royal healer. Narrowing his eyes he repeated the words, this time louder, "Get out!" From the corner of his eye, Numair found that Daine had pressed herself up against the headboard of the bed.

He wasn't at all satisfied with the situation and, when the guards didn't move, Numair took a step forward. "Get out," he hissed once more, his voice low.

The five guards took a step back as the tall, tanned man took a step forth. Their uncertain movements resembled some kind of dance. Numair was infuriated by their laziness. An order coming from a superior should always be followed, but as he was a guest under a foreign king's roof, he could only try. Black sparks gathered inside his palms as he waited for the guards to leave.

As the last man stepped over and out of the threshold, the door to the chamber was slammed shut, blocking the escape route for the royal healer. Master Warren was too late to follow and, as the door closed shut, he hit his closed fists on the wood. Turning around, he looked up at Numair who only stood there, calm once again. "I command you to open that door," Master Warren said with a slight notion of fright in his voice.

Numair paused and turned to where Daine still sat in the bed, locking eyes with her. "Should I?" he questioned his new wife. He allowed her to become visible again.

Daine shook her head, not able to get one word past her dry lips.

Numair turned back to where the royal healer stood. He shrugged. "My wife says no," he told the other mage coldly, "and I find myself agreeing with her – surprisingly." He took a step towards the royal healer, looking down at the floor and giving the other mage time to compose himself. Numair then looked up so suddenly, his eyes ablaze with fire, that the other man flinched at the hate he saw in the black robed mage's eyes.

"You see," Numair said hesitantly, taking another step forward and forcing the other man to take a step back, "I do not allow anyone to threaten my family. I don't have a lot of people that I consider family, you see, but I tend to take really good care of those that I do. Incidentally, that includes her." He pointed at the young woman that was looking at them both, her blue-gray eyes large and frightened.

Numair's right hand suddenly shot out, grabbing the royal healer's neck. Using the door as leverage to lift him from his feet, Numair squeezed the man's throat. "You pursued her and looked at her in the hall. You told the king to have her examined, and now you've come to collect a useless, bloody sheet. Do you still insist that you're not playing any games?" Numair paused before continuing, "Tell me, dear Master Warren, is there anything about this I missed or are you going to tell me that I made it all up?"

The mage took hold of Numair's single hand and tried to pull it away from his throat. Master Warren tried to breathe, but found that his breath was ragged due to the pressure against his trachea. Pale blue light shimmered around his hands as he tried to get free.

Numair shook his head, the single word leaving his lips would be enough to make the blue shimmering disappear.

The royal healer gasped with surprise and spoke with a ragged voice, "What did you —" He didn't get to finish the sentence as Numair only squeezed his throat a little harder.

Shaking his head, Numair looked the man in the eyes, "I don't believe that you are in a position to be asking questions, not before you answer mine." He held up the bloody sheet, "Why is she so important to you?"

The ragged sound came again as the healer tried to speak and Numair loosened his grip a bit. From the other side of the door came the sound of the guards banging their fists on the wood, demanding to have the door opened again.

Numair leaned in closer, "Tell me, or maybe you should tell her?" He turned his head and saw only horror displayed in Daine's eyes. His current actions weren't any better than his earlier ones, but this was necessary, maybe even vital.

"She's...she's...," the healer tried to speak and Numair cut him some slack while raising his eyebrows in question. "She's cursed!"

Numair halted his breath, not turning his attention to where Daine sat on the bed. He could see, though, that her movements had frozen.

"Cursed, you say?"

The royal healer nodded, or tried to. He couldn't move his head much with Numair's hand sitting around his throat. Master Warren looked Numair straight in the eyes. "She can change," he whispered low, as if the two of them were best friends.

That got Numair to raise his eyebrows once again, "Change?"

"Yes, I saw it once. She was lying inside a stall, near a horse…but she wasn't in her human form," Master Warren glanced over to where Daine had pulled her knees up to her chest and covered her head with her arms, as if protecting herself. "She was something else entirely...something unnatural."

Numair was about to laugh with relief, but held his tongue. He had seen the uncontrolled copper-tentacles twisting and turning from Daine as if she was a plant that had suddenly been allowed to grow after years of confinement. If she hadn't had the right education in her magic it would be wild and untamed, making the royal healer right in his assumption that she was, indeed, cursed. "Is that so?" he said slowly, looking back to where Daine sat.

"Yes!" Master Warren nodded with obvious relief. "I worked for years to persuade King Angus to get rid of her and when your king, King Jonathan, wrote to us that he was looking for a match," a wicked glow entered the healer's eyes, "I convinced him that it should be her, not any of the other women that he had at his disposal."

So, King Angus had had other women to offer. Numair shook his head, snapping out of the thought that the royal healer had plotted against his king. The king was old and senile, and he wouldn't have discovered the truth before it was too late. "Then where does this fit into all this," Numair lifted the bloody sheet, holding the item under Master Warren's nose.

"Nothing," the royal healer croaked.

Narrowing his eyes, Numair squeezed the royal healer's neck harder, "That's not an answer, Master Warren. You owe me an answer to my question since it's your fault that she is hurt."

Pale fingers tried to force the tanned hand away, but Numair held on, shaking the healer. "Explain yourself!"

"Fine," the royal healer breathed, giving in. "I'll explain everything, just," he looked down at the large hand, "just let me go!"

Numair sighed. Usually he wasn't like this, a man who sought to use force to achieve his …goals. He released his hand and Master Warren slid down to the floor, rubbing his sore throat. Without looking up, the royal healer spoke, his voice shaking.

"I owe money...," Master Warren began, but stopped short as he met Numair's dark eyes.

Numair felt his anger begin to reignite and was about to reach down towards the man again.

"Wait," Master Warren lifted his hands up in front of himself in a sign of surrender. "Please wait," he breathed and Numair halted.

"I...there was a general who contacted me. He wanted her blood," he pointed to where Daine sat very still on the bed, listening to every word that was said, "and he said he would pay large amounts of money to – to get it."

Numair crossed his arms in front of himself. Now they were getting somewhere. "Who is he?" Numair asked, demanding to know everything.

Master Warren looked up with a pleading look in his eyes. "Do I have to? He'll kill me if he ever finds out that I..." the royal healer stopped as Numair shook his head.

"I'll kill you if you don't give me his name," he said with feigned politeness

The royal healer shuddered at the threat, "Sun Tzu. His name is Sun Tzu!"

Numair snorted, "Never heard of the man. Who is he?"

Master Warren looked down. "I don't know," he replied, his voice muffled, "he works through other men, powerful men. He is not someone you want to question."

Numair nodded. He knew of such a man. His best friend was married to him and, in his former life, he had had a tendency to take ears when someone crossed him or simply disobeyed his orders. His life was different now, but he still found it necessary to take an ear once in awhile. He lifted his hand, still clutching the sheet. "Why does he need this?" Numair asked, still serious.

The royal healer shook his head, "I don't know. The messenger he sent to me only said something about her blood being important because of her innocence. He said that she was a demon and I could only agree with him." Master Warren looked over at Daine as she growled low, "She brings nothing but trouble."

Numair had had enough. He dropped the sheet in front of the healer and the man scrambled towards it, only to find that when his own fingers touched the fabric it liquified. "No!" Master Warren screamed as the last patch of the sheet containing her blood vanished. He turned to look up at Numair, "What did you do?"

"What's necessary," Numair retorted and grabbed the man's shirt, forcing the royal healer to stand on his feet. The shouting on the other side of the door had been silent for awhile, but if he didn't open the door soon the guards would summon another mage to blast it open.

He corrected the man's shirt before he released him, "Now, Master Warren, if you will be so polite to give my wife a sincerely apology, I will in return not take your life." Numair pushed the royal healer towards the bed where Daine was rising to her feet while pressing her body hard against the headboard and the wall behind her back.

The royal healer glanced back only to find Numair standing poised in a posture that discouraged any disagreement. Master Warren looked back to where Daine stood on the bed. He bowed low, lower than he would for the king. She was nobility now by marriage, so the apology demanded such a bow. "I apologize for my actions Mistress Sarra...," he halted his words as Numair cleared his throat. The royal healer's eyes snapped back to where the black robe stood, "ehm...Mistress Salmalin."

There came no sound from her as Daine looked at the scene in front of her. She didn't move or blink. The royal healer waited for her acceptance, but there came none. She only flinched as the pounding on the door returned.

Numair smiled rudely. "Now Master Warren," he pulled at the man's collar only to drag him to the door yet again, "when I open the door, you will behave and tell them that everything is fine. You will say that my wife accidentally hurt herself and that I summoned you. Is that clear?"

Master Warren nodded and Numair patted the royal healers cheek roughly. "Good," he smiled roguishly, "oh, by the way, tell His Majesty that the lovemaking must have been quite gentle, because there were no proof to collect."

The royal healer nodded again.

Numair smiled once more, "Now, shall we proceed?" He loosened his grip on the mage's collar and turned to where Daine still stood, "Please, my dear, sit down." Daine did as she was told, half afraid of what would happen should she not comply.

He was sitting down on the edge of the bed with his back turned to her. Daine hadn't moved from the spot on the bed where she had sat before the door had been opened and the room had been filled with guards.

The royal healer had explained the situation and silenced the five guards' protests when they had opened their mouths.

After awhile, the situation had turned and now silence had descended in the chamber. She wasn't sure how long he had sat with his head resting in his hands, but she knew that whatever threat he had exposed was now gone.

Daine took in the large frame and the way his black hair hung loose over his neck and back. She watched the movement of his body, indicating that he was breathing deeply. He hadn't said a word to her after the door was closed and they were finally alone again. She wasn't sure if she was grateful for being alone with him or if it simply made her more nervous.

After some time of analyzing the huge amount of information, she suddenly moved without another thought. Maneuvering to the side of the bed, Daine rose to stand on shaky legs. With the blanket wrapped around her naked body, she walked slowly over to where he sat.

Numair had his face buried in his hands while he stared down at the floor. He was partly ashamed of the things he had done that night, but he was mostly ashamed that his first night of being married he had completely succeeded in harming a woman, something he had sworn never to do.

"I guess that we are even now," Daine said slowly as she stood in front of him, hesitant, while holding the blanket up around her fragile frame. She had hit him and he had sliced her palm open, but it had been for her protection. It had taken some time to summon up everything that had happened and she had found that she couldn't blame him for the things that had happened.

Numair wasn't sure that he had heard correctly. On the floor, between his own naked feet, small pale toes tried to hide themselves away. "Sorry?" he asked, lifting his head up as Daine took a step forward as if she wasn't afraid of him.

"I guess that we are even," she repeated, while stepping in between his parted knees. Daine continued slowly as if there was still some uncertainty inside her, "I hit you and you slit my palm." Her blue-gray eyes met his calmly, "so we're even now."

Numair laughed low, allowing the air from his lungs to escape. "That's one way to put it," he said and lifted his head, craning his neck up to see her properly. He frowned, "Why aren't you afraid of me?"

She shrugged. "Everyone deserves a second chance. You did what they wanted and I did what I was ordered to, so actually, it's not your fault or mine — it's theirs," She said while glancing at the door. "We can't begin to blame each other for something that is obviously out of our hands."

Numair looked up at her, flabbergasted. He opened his mouth several times only to conclude that what she was saying was logical. He grabbed her wounded hand instead, opening up her palm. The blood had stopped rather quickly and the wound was closing. Numair touched the delicate skin, "I am actually sorry about this – I didn't mean to..."

His words were cut short as Daine placed her finger over his lips. "Don't," she said slowly, only to lift his head again and look into his dark gaze. "We are even and that's the end of this discussion."

Numair rose and Daine backed away to give him space to stand. "Married for only half a day and you're already giving me orders?"

"Isn't that what a wife is supposed to do?" Daine asked with a cautious smile, glancing up at him.

His heart dropped deep into his stomach. This was something that Numair hadn't expected — to be so... He lost his line of thought as she smiled up at him, tilting her head so he could clearly see the sharp line of stubbornness that was a property of hers.

Daine was about to move away from him, but Numair grabbed her wrist. She looked down at a large tanned hand holding on to her. She gave him another one of her sweet smiles, her eyes dancing mischievously. "There's another perk to being a wife," she told him slowly.

Numair's eyebrows rose up, questioning, "And that is?"

She smiled broadly up to him, "I get the bed and you, my dear husband, get the floor."

Daine took her arm away from Numair as he slowly realized that his time being the only one making decisions about his own life was definitely over.

Numair turned and twisted as the blankets underneath him got tangled, forcing any source for sleep away from him. The floor was hard, unwelcoming and cold. This was absolutely the worse night he had ever experienced since leaving the streets of Corus and entering service under King Jonathan. Oh, how he was going to give his monarch a few more gray hairs in his short, black mane. Jonathan would pay for this and, as the hours dragged by, Numair came up with various ideas on how to do it.

He was about to scheme a way to get revenge for this trip when the cold suddenly became more intense. "What are you doing?" Numair asked, shivering as cold and soft limbs settled themselves beside his long frame.

"Freezing," Daine replied as she moved herself back against the warmth. The fire in the fireplace had gone out and she didn't want to start making a new one. She lowered her head down, "Now, don't try to do anything – not if you want to father children in the future."

Numair snorted, "Not a chance."

Daine pushed herself towards the warmth. "Good," she yawned.

Numair waited, listening to the sound of her breathing for the second time in his life, and he wondered again just how fortunate he had been. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. This thing, this change in his life, had been too easy and he had accepted the change almost without any complaints. He knew that someone, specifically a red haired lady knight, would kick him for leaving the castle too early without an escort and without her. Even lying on the hard floor, he could feel the Lioness from far away.

As Numair slowly drifted away into the land of dreams, he gently pulled Daine's frame inside his arms. She was sound asleep, exhausted by the days actions, but she managed to somehow place the softness of her lips against the skin of his neck. He really hoped that everything would work out, because lying here he knew that he could easily fall in love with the small animal-like young woman in his arms.

Numair fell asleep while something was tucking in the back of his mind, and it was only when he felt a sudden burst of energy that he jolted awake.

"Nightmare?" Daine questioned low, the warm moist air hitting his skin.

"Shh," Numair hushed her as he slowly untangled himself from her form. Something was wrong. Something very wrong. Sitting without moving, while holding a finger firmly against Daine's lips, he allowed his gift to float out from his body. As clearly as if he was standing beside the man who only seconds ago had assassinated the Gallan king, he could almost feel how the assassin turned his attention towards Numair.

He withdrew quickly and above them orbs of light floated. "Get up," he ordered Daine who blinked her eyes furiously, raising her hand so as to shield herself against the sudden light. They had to hurry. Numair grabbed hold of her hands and pulled her to a stand. The assassin was no ordinary man. Numair could feel the aura of the green gift that floated inside the man's veins as easily as he could see Daine's wild magic.

Daine stood. "If you are tired of sleeping on the floor, then you should have said so, without making night into day," she complained and glanced up to where the orbs were brightening.

Numair picked up some clothes that he hoped were hers, "Get dressed! We need to get out of here."

She looked down at the fabric in her arms. "Are we going to leave in the middle of the night?" She asked skeptically before she continued, "or are you afraid about how huge the gossip will be tomorrow?"

He shook his head as he pulled on his breeches. "There's not going to be any 'tomorrow' for us if we stay. The king is dead," he stopped as shock entered Daine's face, "assassinated by another mage and he's on his way here." That seemed to get her to move and, while Numair pulled on his boots, he heard Daine's faint, muttered reply.

"Why didn't you just say so?"

Numair halted in his movement to lift the unpacked saddlebags and looked back to see how far along she was with getting dressed. His mouth dropped in surprise. Being in the position of the royal pet-mage to the king of Tortall had left him prepared for anything that could possibly go wrong and therefore he hadn't unpacked his things, therefore he hadn't stopped his movements because he had missed something. He stopped because in front of him stood his wife, fully dressed. Allowing his dark gaze to slide down over her body, he stopped as his eyes reached her delicate slippers.

An apologetic smiled settled on Daine's face. "I can't find my boots," she said low, while lifting her right foot.

Numair smiled slowly while allowing the saddlebags to rest on his shoulders. Other than the wrong footwear, she was ready to go. "We don't have time to find them," he said and grabbed her hand. "He's on his way here." Numair cloaked himself with his gift, but he couldn't do the same for Daine. It would take time that they didn't have. Forcing the door open, he pulled her after him, leaving everything behind. Whoever the assassin was, he would hunt her like a deer.

Daine's ears picked up nothing but the sounds of the small animals roaming the castle. She frowned as they ran, hurrying down stairs. The castle was usually silenced, Daine thought. She only realized why it was so as they passed passed-out guards lying on the floor, where they should have been standing and looking out for trouble. She halted as she recognized one of the men, but Numair pulled at her hand.

"Daine, there is nothing we can do for them. It's best for them to sleep this over and wake when we and," he turned to look back to where sound of steps could be heard, "he is gone." He gestured to the ceiling and it fell down, leaving an empty hole where he and Daine had been sleeping. The debris would slow the assassin down, but not by much.

Numair halted as he realized that he didn't know where to turn to get out of the castle, but the hand he was holding desperately on to pulled him in the right direction.

Such as it was, they ended up out in the cold autumn night. With the soft sounds of feet hitting the stones of the courtyard, they reached the stables just as the assassin entered the now completely deserted bedchamber.

The castle was still asleep and the residents laid unaware of the man cloaked in black. The man stopped short when the floor underneath him gave away. The sound of the explosion would have been enough to wake the people of the castle if he hadn't taken a risk and added a little more sleeping-drugs into the barrel of wine used at the wedding.

The assassin coughed as dust slowly fell to the floor. Waving a hand in front of his face, something caught his attention. A dress suited for a wedding lay covered underneath bricks. Slowly, the assassin lifted the gray-white fabric up to his nose and sniffed, remembering the smell of the Black Robe's bride forever.