Daine slowed, pausing as she reached the open doorway to take in the sight of Numair. Standing at his bed with his back to her, he was occupied with the task of unpacking his saddlebags from the journey. She crept slowly and silently over the floor between them, and standing on her toes, quickly slipped her hands over his eyes. She suppressed a giggle as he froze and straightened, frowning as he twisted around. Slowly realization dawned over his face. "Magelet!" he cried, and she took her hands off his face, grinning. He caught her in his arms, lifting her up and twirling her around, a broad grin breaking over his handsome but tired face at her squeals of delight.
He held her close, his strong hands on her back, while he kissed the top of her head. She ran her fingers lightly over his body, delighting in the fact that he was there as she checked him over for any signs of injuries.
"I'm still in one piece, you know," he chuckled, guessing what she was up to. "I thought Spots would have told you anyway if I wasn't."
Caught out, she grinned. "He told me you were fine, but I couldn't believe him until I made sure for myself." Confident that he was indeed still in one piece, she buried her face in his shoulder, breathing in his unique scent of spices and clean clothes. Who else could possibly still have clothes that smell clean after weeks on the road? Smiling wryly at the thought, she whispered into his shirt "I missed you."
Frowning slightly at his lack of response, she looked up into his eyes, meeting his tender gaze.
"I know, Magelet," he whispered, wiping her suddenly-teary eyes. "I missed you too."
Sensing movement behind them, she twisted around in his arms, trying to see who was there.
"Daine?" questioned Numair, "What's wrong?"
Although she strained her eyes looking for signs of a person by the door, she saw nothing in the moving shadows that the flickering lights cast into the hallway. Distracted by a blur of colour at her feet, she glanced down, to see one of the kitchen cats limping, favouring her front left paw.
She wriggled out of Numair's grasp, silently asking the cat what was wrong.
I am Longleap, the cat replied. My paw was caught in a door as I was chasing a rat in the kitchen, and the other cats told me to come to you.
Daine inspected the injured paw, seeing that one of the bones had been crushed, and another two broken. "Urgent business to attend to," she told Numair. "You know where to find me." He bent down and gave her a quick peck on the lips, before she bundled up her patient and headed back to her rooms, erasing all thoughts of shadows in doorways from her mind.