Numair
Numair watched as the dawn light presses upon, the curtains, but couldn't get up out of the bed. He felt as if he was living a nightmare, because without Daine life seemed hellish and empty. He pondered to himself, if he had asked too much of Daine, that if he had pushed Daine too much, and if he had pushed their love apart.
Last night, Alanna held him as he cried, trying to comfort her tall friend, but he was inconsolable. She held him as he wept bits of his broken heart onto her body. He wept because without Daine, he was only half of what he wanted to be.
Daine
Daine woke to swaying planks. Her head rolled left then right as she lay on the firm planks, which held no comfort, no warmth or light. She didn't have the energy even to lift her head up and see where she was, or to see where she was going; she was in too much pain.
Slowly after what seemed hours, Daine coaxed her tired arm to feel the damage that her head was in, her fingers came away with blood, tacky and half-dry. This made her realise that she must have been out for days.
Trying to sit up she found that her wrists were bound tighter with thick tope, and bringing her hands up to her neck, she felt to her horror, a smooth metal slave collar, trapping her magic, leaving her truly alone for the first time ever. It slowly dawned on her where she was going. Daine had feared commitment with Numair, believing marriage would cage her like a bird. But in escaping one cage she had, just flown straight into an even smaller cage with no way out.
King Jon
"Numair" said the King of Tortall, with worried eyes, "you know that I have everyone I can spare looking for Daine. Earlier this morning, a group of the 5th riders stumbled upon, a half destroyed camp, about 2 miles away from the coast."
The king looked down at the report in his hands, and saw that the paper was quivering. The king didn't want to look Numair in the eyes; he didn't meet Numair worried eyes with his own.
'They found, clouds body lying dead in the camp…' Jon mumbled
'And Daine?' Jon could hear the fragile break in his friends voice as he said the words.
' There was no body found, but there was considerable damage to the camp, and a lot of blood…' Jon couldn't carry on speaking. Daine was like a daughter to him, and to think anything bad had happened to her, it broke his heart.
A king is meant to protect his people, but too late Jon saw that he had failed.
Numair
The meeting with Jon hadn't put Numair is a better mood. It had been days, nearly a week since Daine had been in their tower yet, it still smelt of her. With each intake of breath, it created a small tear within his heart.
As soon as Numair had arrived home, he had promptly locked himself into his tower, stretching his gift to the limit trying to find her. But it wasn't enough. Whatever he tried it didn't work. The focus, that had lead him to her in the past; the locket, painting and curl, had no effect in finding her. A thought jumped into his head; was she even alive?
Numair couldn't give up, he'd let her slip away, and this was his punishment. He had always believed, if someone had truly wanted out, then you should let them be free, you couldn't hold water in you hands forever, but Numair needed her, she was the air he breathed, without her he would die.
Numair stayed in his workroom, till his skin turn faintly yellow from lack of sunlight, till he was exhausted from no food or sleep, till he passes out. Even in his dreams, he saw Daine walking further and further away from him and for all the power in him; he was powerless to stop it.