A/N: I think this is the quickest update I've ever done! Thank you so much for the reviews -please do the same on this chapter! Thank you!
"I can't believe you have to leave again so soon" Tayend complained, pouting. Dannyl laughed at the expression on his face.
"I'm sorry, I know it's not ideal. But I told you what Rothen said – they need me back straight away. Apparently there's going to be a lot of important Meets this month that I'll need to be involved in"
"This month?" Tayend groaned, "That's ages. I'm going to miss you"
"I'm going to miss you, too" Dannyl leaned forward to briefly kiss Tayend, "I'll keep in touch, though. I'll write"
"A lot" Tayend supplied, "You'll write a lot"
"Yes, I promise" Dannyl pushed his luggage into the cart, "See you soon, Tayend"
"Bye!" Tayend stood waving after him long after Dannyl had departed. Something had struck him as odd this past month or so, and he wasn't entirely sure what it could be...only that he didn't like it.
Aurelia, Rothen and Sonea were sitting in a small circle on the floor in their main room, playing with Lorkin, when a knock came at the door. Rothen, knowing who it must be, leapt up at once to answer it, a smile on his face. Aurelia looked at Sonea, who had Lorkin climbing over her and trying to sit on top of her head.
"Why did Rothen look so happy? He must know who it is"
Sonea shrugged – Rothen had not told her or Aurelia of Dannyl's impending arrival, "Maybe he invited Yaldin and Ezrille here for a chat"
Aurelia looked worried. She didn't much like Yaldin and Ezrille - they had always adored Rothen, and they liked Dannyl and Sonea very much, but neither of them seemed to have taken to Aurelia. Consequently, they sort of scared her.
They heard voices – male voices – talking jovially, and then Rothen re-entered, with Dannyl at his side. Dannyl, who hugged Sonea in greeting, and picked up little Lorkin, but did not even look at Aurelia.
"Dannyl!" Aurelia gasped, her whole body trembling and her face turning pale at once. Dannyl was determined not to look at her, because he knew that the second he did, the something he felt whenever he was near her would come over him again, and he wouldn't be able to stop it.
Aurelia rose elegantly from the floor and met his eyes with an attempt at iciness that actually came off as pathetic and longing. Dannyl met her eyes with a resolution to remain unaffected by those warm brown orbs, which actually turned into him falling under her spell all over again.
"Hello, Aurelia" he said stiffly. She gulped, loudly.
"Hi" she mumbled. Rothen laughed loudly.
"Come on, Dannyl! I asked you back to cheer her up, not make her more miserable!" he joked. Dannyl reddened, but Aurelia smiled.
"You came back for me?" she asked, her face brightening. Dannyl's eyes widened in horror as he realised what she thought.
"No! I mean – no – I came back because...because Rothen said he thought me being here might...make you happier. I didn't – I didn't come back FOR you!"
"Oh" Aurelia turned away slightly. Rothen was frowning at the atmosphere between them that he didn't understand, and Sonea was just itching to comfort Aurelia.
"I'd better go and unpack" said Dannyl at last, "I'll see you all tomorrow"
"There's a Meet tomorrow" said Rothen, as he led Dannyl to the door, "Will you be going?"
"Not tomorrow night. Maybe to the next one, though" he hesitated, "Bye Sonea, Lorkin. Aurelia"
"Bye Dannyl" Aurelia whispered, and promptly fled to her room.
"You'll be alright looking after Lorkin, yes? The Meet should only last an hour or so" Sonea promised, smiling at Aurelia and her giggling son.
"Hopefully less than that" Rothen put in, pulling a face, "Come on, it'll start even later if you're late"
"Why me?" Sonea frowned as they left the room, "It doesn't matter how late I get there, surely? I'm a Black Magician, for goodness sake" she gestured to the black robes that had been given to her after the war. Rothen chuckled.
"Exactly. Therefore, you are possibly the most powerful person in the Guild. Therefore, the Higher Magicians feel that they can't do anything without your approval"
Sonea laughed, "I'd have thought that I'm the last person whose approval matters! A Black Magician, a former slum girl, the lover of the most powerful (not to mention the most lying) magician there ever was, and a mother at only twenty, with unfinished Healing qualifications"
Rothen grinned, "You always think of the negative things. Now, you must tell me – what's the situation with Aurelia and Dannyl? I can't help feeling that I'm missing something vital"
Sonea sighed, "Fine, I'll tell you. But we're definitely going to be late"
Rothen looked worried, "Oh dear. I have a feeling I'm not going to like this story"
Aurelia looked at the clock. Sonea and Rothen had only just left, they'd be ages yet. And she simply had to talk to Dannyl.
"Come on, Lorkin. We're going to see Dannyl. You like Dannyl" she scooped him up and he gurgled, prodding her happily in the cheek. She sighed and cuddled him tight.
"I think I'm going to need all the comfort I can get" she mumbled, carrying him on the way to Dannyl's rooms.
"Aurelia!" Dannyl looked surprised, and not too happy, to see her. She smiled nonetheless.
"Can we come in? I think we need to have a little talk" she looked at him pleadingly over Lorkin's dark curly head. Dannyl opened the door and let her in, watching as she placed Lorkin on the floor to allow him to roam.
"I don't think that you should keep coming in here, Aurelia. I left to get away from all this"
"And then you came back" Aurelia pointed out. She was looking at him with penetrating eyes, trying to figure him out.
"I came back because Rothen asked me to, and he's done so much for me. I didn't come back to see ..you" even to his ears, the words sounded harsh. Aurelia visibly flinched.
"Don't' soften the blow any, will you?" she muttered crossly. Dannyl moved towards her.
"I'm sorry, it came out badly. But I'm not going to keep dancing around you all the time. I'm with Tayend, Aurelia, I love Tayend"
"So you're telling me that you didn't think about me at all?" she asked, disbelief written all over her face. He had a sudden recollection of what she looked like without her robes on, and had to take a couple of paces backwards.
"I'm not saying that I didn't think about you - "
"So you did come back for me?" Aurelia interrupted eagerly, "I knew it! I told you, Dannyl, you're not a lad, I was always so sure of it – "
"Aurelia, be quiet! You're wrong, I can't believe you haven't realised that yet. Would I have gone back to Tayend if I didn't love him?"
"You went back to Tayend because you were scared of what happened between us. You were scared of what you were feeling, and what you felt while it happened" Aurelia snapped. Dannyl lost his temper at the truth in her words.
"You don't know what you're talking about! You're just a child!"
Aurelia glared at him, "Don't you dare call me a child. I've never been a child, I never had the chance. Don't you dare even think that you can tell me what I am"
Dannyl also recalled what Sonea's letter had said, and he understood what Aurelia was saying. She had turned slightly away from him, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears, though she was red with rage.
"This is your fault" she hissed, "You did this to me. I've been miserable since you went away – I told you I love you, and you just leave? That's not what's supposed to happen, Dannyl. Even if you don't love me back – which you do – you could at least have the decency to tell me to my face. You don't just leave. You're not a coward!"
"Fine then" Dannyl retorted furiously, "I don't love you!"
Dannyl's yell reduced Lorkin to tears. Aurelia scooped up the baby to soothe him, burying her face in his dark hair to hide her own tears. She stood there, sobbing silently, trembling all over, for a few moments. Dannyl regretted his actions at once. He shouldn't have told her like that – it had sounded so cruel even to his ears.
He moved hesitantly towards her, reaching out to pat her on the shoulder. As he went to do so, he felt desire for her all over again, so that it almost overwhelmed him. He flinched away from her once again, and she looked up at him with fierce anger in her eyes.
"Goodbye, Ambassador" she growled, storming out of the room, leaving Dannyl standing there in extreme confusion about his own emotions.