(Sorry about the delays in the updates, I've been busy lately. Hope you guys don't kill me after this chpater!! Please review, though! Stuff belongs to Tamora Pierce)

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Daine opened hr eyes. On the pillow next to her was a very small kitten that had somehow found her way into the bedroom and next to Daine. It had slept there all night long. Therefore there was a very fluffy small animal lying next to her, but…no Numair. She sat up, looking around the room although she could already tell he was not there.

It had been like this for a week or more, since Daine had first introduced Pieter to Numair. Every morning Numair was up at the crack of dawn, excited and pumped, ready for another day working with Pieter.

"We've discovered that he can actually make plants grow at an extremely rapid rate!" he would exclaim. Or,

"We've finally named the kind of magic he's got. We're calling it Green Magic!" he would cry as he pulled on a fresh tunic. Then he would be gone, out the door, and Daine would not see him again that day until supper when they dined with Lord Yorin, who continued to ask non-stop questions, and then Numair would leap into bed and fall asleep without any thought, apparently, for Daine. Not that she begrudged him his new findings, but she had not expected to be so lonely all the time. Kitten wasn't quite good enough company, and it seemed that today Numair had gone without even a goodbye.

Feeling great annoyance at the world in general, she raised herself out of bed and redressed herself into proper, everyday clothing while wondering what she would do with herself. The time was past when she could roam around the estate for a day and still be entertained. Finally she had an idea.

"Kit! We're going down to the village!" she announced. Only silence greeted her statement. Glancing around the room, she realized for the first time that Kitten was not even in the room. Daine was alone.

Cursing under her breath in grumbles that would have made her friend Alanna the Lioness very proud, Diane pulled on her boots and laced them up savagely, perhaps tighter than she really would have liked. She then proceeded to storm out of the household and halfway down the road before she realized that she had left without breakfast. Shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders, she continued down the path anyway. It was too late to go back now.

Daine had not yet actually explored the village. She had ridden through it her first day here, but being weary, she had not bothered to look around. It was tiny, and in a rather shabby condition. Houses were ramshackle, with dirty dogs lying on the thresholds, wagging their tails feeling as Daine passed, and small farm plots that looked as if they yielded nothing but mud.

Three small children ran past Daine, jabbing at each other with sticks. One young boy smacked a girl in the side, declaring, "Be gone, Scanran filth!" The small girl fell into a mud puddle, but rose shrieking with laughter and covered with grime.

"Ima swamp monster!" she called, racing after the other children who fled, leaving laughter drifting behind them. Daine smiled as she watched them, and continued down the main road of the village.

"Move, you stupid beast!" she heard a woman's voice call down the lane, followed by the distressed bray of a donkey. Daine's ears perked and she headed in that direction. A small woman was attempting to coax an ass into movement, slapping its rump and shouting at it. The ass was carrying two large buckets of water, and was not budging an inch. Immediately Daine could tell that both the woman and the donkey were very distressed.

"Stop that!" she said severely to the woman as she approached. The woman paused, staring at Daine.

"It won't move." She said, stating the obvious. "I don't know why! I have to get this water home, though, because Lorene is in bed with a fever and we've got to have fresh water so we can give her a bath and also for cooking—" Daine cut her off by raising a hand and placing it on the donkey's forehead. "Hey…what are you doing?"

"This guy has something stuck in his hoof." Daine informed her after a moment. She knelt down onto the path and tapped the donkey's foreleg until he lifted it reluctantly. There was a minute but sharp stick jammed into the donkey's foot. Daine pulled it out quickly while dulling the pain for the ass' sake. She stood up and showed the stick to the woman. "See?"

In the end, Daine offered to carry one bucket of water while the woman carried the other, and they made their way with the donkey eagerly following Daine behind them. Once they arrived at their destination Daine found herself offering to stay and help with the feverish child, using the knowledge her mother had passed on to her. It wasn't long before Daine was helping various villagers with their animals, and before she knew it, it was about noon, and her stomach was growling loud enough to scare birds away.

It was obvious that the villagers did not have much food to spare for an outsider, so before she could be invited to stay, Daine excused herself and started to make her way up to the castle. She had not been on the path for very long when she heard the thunder of horse hooves behind her and turned to see who was coming. It was Daron, waving his hand above his head as he came upon her. He slowed down, to a slow walk as he reached her.

"Hello!" he called, "Going up to the castle?"

"Yes, I was thinking of having some lunch." Daine responded, wondering where he had come riding from.

"Well, I was just out for a leisurely ride and was thinking of eating something myself," he told her, as if he had read her mind. "Want to hop up?" He patted the rump of the saddle behind him. Daine stared.

"I'd rather not, actually," she answered.

"Well then." Daron hopped down from his mount and walked it along side of her. "I'll just have to walk down here, won't I?" This made Daine smile.

Before she knew it, she was eating lunch with him. They talked of Corus and of Daine's work, of her hometown and of the Riders. One thing that was never mentioned, however, was Numair. Daine wondered if he had yet discovered about Numair's relationship with Daine.

"There aren't any others my age around here," Daron commented as they strolled through the gardens after their meal. "It gets pretty lonely. I was so glad when you came. I thought, 'Finally, some companionship.'" He smiled at her warmly, and Daine felt a blush creep up her neck. How was it that Daron seemed to be mirroring her thoughts? Daine also was comfortable, glad to finally have someone to talk to after being bored for almost five days straight.

They found themselves suddenly in a secluded nook behind a hedge of bushes. "You're very beautiful, you know." Daron remarked, staring straight at her. Daine fidgeted uncomfortably. Her mind was in turmoil. It had been fairly apparent to her that it might come to this once they had started on their walk together. The thing was…she hadn't tried to avoid it at all, and she wasn't sure what she wanted. Before she could respond, Daron made the decision for her. He leaned in and placed a hand on her cheek, then kissed her. At first she was scared, and thoughts started running through her head impossibly fast. Suddenly she remembered the past four nights, Numair fast asleep beside her, completely having forgotten to kiss her goodnight. And Daine kissed Daron back.