Description: Numair is ordered to attack the Tortallans but the humans aren't the only one's making plans.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. Everything belongs to Tamora Pierce.

Author's Note: This was an insanely difficult chapter to write, and I'd like to thank Sylvanius and AZDesertRose for their help on brainstorming a few ideas.

Chapter 40

Flanked by mages on either side with a contingent of soldiers at his back, Numair stood on the banks of the Vassa River while two adepts wove the spells to hold the log bridge in place so the army could cross. Ozorne had been in a delightfully foul mood that morning, screaming and raging at his commanders while Numair had surreptitiously listened in. It was a simple bit of magic to enhance his hearing and subtle enough not to be noticed by anyone. He wasn't betraying his master; he was merely listening.

Apparently, in the early hours of the morning his resourceful and brilliant Wildmage had asked all the animals to either raid or soil the food supplies and untether the horses. There were reports of missing weaponry and every piece of leather had been damaged from boots to straps to bags. It had lifted Numair's spirits significantly until the emperor had given the order to attack Fort Mastiff. He'd been commanded to capture the queen and kill all those who stood in his way, a sickening prospect but not a hopeless one. It had been so long since Ozorne had needed to rely solely on the focus, he'd forgotten how specific a command needed to be. Perhaps the emperor believed his pet was broken and malleable, which Numair might have been had Daine not visited him.

Their crossing of the Vassa River wasn't contested in any way even with the Stormwings watching from the sky. Numair thought he recognised Rikash hovering in the distance, but he couldn't be sure. Fort Mastiff was in a worse condition than he remembered with one of the outer walls little more than a pile of rubble. He could see the evidence of his blasting damage while the Carthaki archers set up position in three lines behind him.

"You first, slave. Clear a path for our troops," the commander ordered.

"Yes, Nobility." Numair bowed.

Looking out over the field, the mage adjusted his sight so he could better see the concealed traps he'd felt beneath the ground. It wasn't betraying Ozorne specifically or his latest command if he neglected to tell the army about those…

Treading carefully, Numair advanced on the fort, confused that he couldn't sense a single mage behind the walls. Their archers should have fired on him already. He'd crossed over half the field when he heard the order for the army to advance, smiling grimly when the sound of explosions and panicked shouts reached his ears. The red robes had been too busy trying to locate the Tortallan mages while the adepts created fires for the archers that none of them had thought to check for traps. Idiots!

With a quick glance over his shoulder, it appeared that at least a quarter of the soldiers had been injured or killed. Had Ozorne foolishly dismissed the stories about the Queen's Riders, believing them to be nothing but an honour guard and ignoring how great a tactician Queen Thayet was rumoured to be?

Numair had almost cleared the trenches with no resistance and no sign of anyone inside the fort. Where were the Tortallans? As if summoned by his question, they emerged from out of the treeline to his right, their archers firing two volleys of arrows before melting back under cover, presumably to reload. Spreading his arms wide and closing his eyes, Numair waited to be struck down. After all, Ozorne hadn't commanded him to protect himself from enemy fire.

The sound of screaming reached his ears and Numair opened his eyes to discover that not a single arrow had been fired in his direction. Orders were shouted as the Carthaki archers prepared to open fire while the mages prepared fire spells. Chaos ensued when every bow string snapped, and another two volleys from the Tortallans struck, with more soldiers falling to the floor dead. The Carthaki adepts finally made themselves useful by weaving a protection spell over the remaining soldiers while the masters exchanged blasts of fire with the Tortallan mages.

With the command to capture the queen at the forefront of his mind, Numair ignored the fighting and advanced towards the treeline. He wasn't sure if he was praying for the Tortallans to kill him or retreat, but under no circumstances did he want to kill any more of them. His heart turned to ice when Daine dashed out from cover, heading in his direction. Aiming carefully, he shot a blast of power at her feet which had her skidding to a halt, frowning at him in confusion.

Holding up a hand, Numair wove a speech spell near her ear. "I am here for the queen. If no one stands in my way, I won't be forced to kill them, sweetling."

He'd chosen his words very deliberately, ignoring the addition of the endearment of course. The words themselves could easily be interpreted as a demand for Thayet's surrender therefore not a betrayal of his master or of his order, but informative of his presence in any case. Either way, Daine nodded in understanding catching some, if not all, of his meaning before shouting at Onua.

The Tortallans disappeared undercover once again when tree roots erupted from the ground, tangling around his legs and feet, dragging him into the earth. Behind him brambles ensnared the Carthaki soldiers, the sharp thorns ripping cloth and flesh while the red robes fought both the brambles and the magical onslaught from the Tortallan mages.

Don't think! Don't over-analyse, Numair repeated to himself.

Kill all those standing in your way, those had been Ozorne's exact words, but these were tree roots not a person, not someone he could kill. But the dominion jewel was a power wielded by… No! Don't think. Don't over-analyse!

Numair could barely contain his fascination as he chanted his mantra over and over while the roots tightened around his torso, wrapping around his neck. If he didn't overthink then he didn't have to defend himself. The mage was slowly being swallowed by the earth, to suffocate and die if he could – just – stop – thinking!

Return to me, now! Ozorne's voice commanded in his mind.

Numair let out a string of curses as his black sparkling Gift exploded out of him turning the roots to ash. Climbing out of the crater he'd made, the mage marched towards the river after what remained of the retreating army. One more minute! One more minute and those roots would have strangled him and put a stop to him forever!

It had been excruciating to wait until nightfall as Daine took hawk-shape, launching herself into the sky with Zek held carefully in her claws. She mentally scolded herself for not learning the shape of an owl or nightjar while she flew. Hawk's eyes weren't as effective at night. There were several owls hunting and harassing the enemy nearby, she could link her mind with one of them and take their shape…

Please don't, Zek piped up nervously. I don't want to fall from this height.

Daine soothed him, promising not to shapeshift mid-air or drop him. Zek had insisted on joining her for this visit to the enemy camp. Miraculously, the Tortallans hadn't lost a single person in today's raid with only a few burn wounds to show for it, but she was frustrated that their plan to capture Numair had failed.

Once she'd crossed the river, Daine landed releasing Zek gently before taking wolf shape. That was better, not only could she see in the dark, but her hearing and sense of smell heightened dramatically so she wouldn't risk bumping into an enemy. Crouching low, Daine allowed Zek to climb onto her back before trotting towards the camp.

Her army of helpers were hard at work again, damaging anything that had been repaired during the day while continuing to steal food and weapons. The wolves and deer were true to their word, calling to each other with the occasional screech of an owl added to make the sentries jump.

Brash greeted her eagerly with a mouth full of dried meat strips, offering to escort the Wildmage to her mate. Daine was fairly certain she could hunt out Numair's scent by herself but accepted the offer of a guide knowing it would be faster.

They slunk through the camp, pausing occasionally so she could hear the complaints of the enemy soldiers. Their plan was working; many hadn't eaten today and were getting irritable now that they couldn't sleep.

Brash led her to a small tent situated beside the emperor's command tent, keeping a wary eye on the restless guards stationed nearby. Wishing the fox a goodnight, the Wildmage used her nose to lift the edge of the canvas before wriggling inside. In the middle of the tent she found Numair sat tailor-style, meditating.

His eyes flew open immediately. "Daine?" he hissed.

She didn't care how angry he looked as she bounded over to him, nuzzling and licking her lover all over. It was incredibly tempting to shapeshift, but it seemed cruel to tempt him with her naked body.

"This is dangerous! I warned you not to come yourself…" His scolding would have sounded more genuine if his fingers weren't stroking through her fur while his arms wrapped around her wonderfully tight.

Daine nuzzled him happily with only half an ear to his lecture while she focused on changing her throat and mouth. They needed to talk and while she'd been learning to shift part of herself, she'd only experimented with giving her human body animal features. She hadn't tried to form something two-legger onto an animal shape before.

"I'm worried about you too by the way," Daine teased after two minutes.

Numair froze, moving back to take her face in his hands. "How…?"

"I just figured out how to form a human voice box in wolf-shape." She grinned.

"You are truly the most incredible mage I have ever met." He beamed, caressing the sides of her face while Daine's fur puffed out at the compliment. "Your friends have been very industrious I hear." His eyes sparkled with mirth.

"The queen and her commanders had the idea to cause trouble. I just told the People what to do." Her ears flicked back in embarrassment.

"But you selected the correct animals for each task which makes you equally brilliant." His dark eyes shone with pride.

Zek squeaked from his position on the floor, forgotten about in Daine's elation at seeing her lover again. Scampering forward, the marmoset climbed up Numair's arm to his shoulder and began to groom his matted hair.

"Hello Zek." The mage smiled warmly. "What brings you here?" He reached up to stroke the marmoset with one long finger.

Daine took a step back to inspect her lover while the marmoset chattered away, seeing fresh welts and bruises on his skin. "They beat you." It wasn't a question.

Numair avoided her gaze, wetting his lips. "I was blamed for our defeat today – rightly so – and I am very pleased to have failed quite so spectacularly. Nothing's broken." He chuckled in an attempt to lighten the mood which Daine didn't find amusing in the slightest. "Your trap was almost perfect, my darling, but next time you should have your archers eliminate me first."

"We're not trying to kill you, we're trying to save you!" she growled, baring her teeth.

Numair swallowed, his soulful eyes pleading with her. "You have to kill me, sweetling. I'm too big a threat to ignore. If Ozorne discovers that your people won't attack me, he'll send me on my own straight into your camps and have me slaughter everyone," his voice quavered. "I cannot be used like that again. Killing me is the only way –"

"Shut up!" she snarled viscously and a little too loudly as shouts of alarm came from outside.

"Hide!" Numair whispered in fear.

Daine reacted instinctively, linking her mind with the closest animal and changing into a pygmy marmoset. Numair scooped her up quickly to deposit her behind his back when two guards burst through the tent flaps with spears raised.

"What was that noise?" one asked, his eyes darting around the tent.

"I thought it came from outside," Numair responded mildly.

There was a loud crack as one of the guards hit him around the face with his spear sending the mage crashing to the floor. "Do not speak to your betters that way, slave."

Numair spat out a mouthful of blood, raising hateful eyes at the guard. "Yes, 'Nobility'."

The guard raised his spear to strike him again when the other guard shook his head, giving the order to search the tent. They made a show of lifting the flaps, but the tent was tiny and empty, so the search didn't take long while Daine and Zek huddled at the small of the mage's back.

Frustrated when they couldn't find anything, one of the guards gave Numair a hard kick in the stomach before exiting the tent to search outside. Daine stayed where she was trembling with rage while Zek clutched her hands as they waited for the guards to move away. She'd almost lost her hold on this shape with her desire to rip out the guard's throat but that wouldn't help her lover. It would only raise more questions and probably earn him another beating at best.

Painfully slowly, Numair pushed himself back up, holding out his hand to the pair. Daine chirped an apology when he lifted them close to his face, tears filling her eyes as she touched his swollen cheek with one hand.

"It's all right, my love," he whispered, kissing her tiny head.

It was too much. Daine lost control, turning instantly human to fling her arms around his neck ignoring Zek's squeaks of protest. "I'm sorry."

Numair wrapped his arms around her, stroking her back, murmuring gentle words of reassurance. She stayed in his arms longer than she should, relishing the feel of his bare skin against hers. Moving back, Daine was about to offer another apology when his mouth descended on hers and any sensibility she had remaining left her head. They kissed for several minutes, ravenous, until the need for air drove them apart.

"We're going to free you, but you have to help us," she panted, clinging to him.

"Daine..." he murmured dejectedly, resting his forehead against hers.

"What if we get you far enough away so the emperor can't use the focus?" she asked.

Tilting his head, Numair pointed to his earlobe which was torn and covered in dried blood. "Ozorne destroyed the earring when he captured me. He can take control of me no matter where I go."

"What's the collar for then?" Daine frowned, leaning back to get a better look at it.

He sighed. "Mostly a symbol of my incarceration and to degrade my self-worth, but if Ozorne is feeling particularly nasty he can explode the collar and my head along with it."

Bile rose in her throat. "That's got to come off for a start! If we could get Kit close enough to –"

"Do not put her life at risk!" Numair snapped in a hushed voice. "Ozorne would still love to have a dragon for his collection."

"We could try and get you to her instead," she suggested, chewing on her tongue in thought.

He squeezed his eyes shut for several seconds before shaking his head. "I can't, Daine, I'm sorry."

She frowned, folding her arms under her breasts. "You outsmarted the collar in Carthak. Why is now any –"

"Ask me questions," he interrupted.

"What?"

"I'm not allowed to think about escaping, but I can answer questions," Numair emphasised, the corner of his mouth twitching in a smile.

Daine sat back going over that piece of information in her mind. "What's the range on that?" She tapped his collar gently.

He ran his fingers over the runes engraved on the surface of the metal. "There isn't one." He scowled. "This is Scanran in design rather than Carthaki. Ozorne can send me into combat without having to follow too closely behind, unlike Siraj."

Harailt of Aili might know more about Scanran slave collars, but he was at Fort Steadfast with the king who had should have returned there already. "Where's the emperor keeping the focus?"

Numair opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He tried several more times before shaking his head. "I think that's a little too close to betraying him. Ask another."

Daine clicked her tongue in irritation but the last she knew the emperor kept it on his person. Hopefully that was still true. "Is killing Ozorne the only way to free you?"

Numair tried to answer, choking and gasping while he struggled for air.

"Never mind. Forget that one," she panicked, stroking his chest until his breathing returned to normal. "What commands has he placed on you?"

Closing his eyes, Numair tilted his head back reciting carefully. "My body and Gift are Ozorne's to command, I must serve him to the best of my ability, and I may not betray him again, nor am I allowed to think about escaping."

Daine sat in silence for several minutes giving herself time to think before an idea occurred to her. "How much power can you access?"

"All of it." He held up his bare wrists. Either the emperor had forgotten to shackle him, or they weren't so easy to replace. "But I cannot use my Gift without Ozorne's permission. Well, that's not entirely true. Small, passive spells often escape his notice, however through the focus he can stop me from being able to draw on my magic or wield it himself."

Like at the fort. "So, whatever we do, the emperor has to be the one to tell you to do it." She smiled as the start of a plan began forming in her mind until her eyes fell on a plate of uneaten cheese and stale bread. "You haven't eaten."

"I'm not hungry," Numair mumbled, averting his gaze.

Daine grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. "How long has that been there?" When he didn't answer she felt her temper rising. "When did you last eat?"

"It's a way to resist him – making myself weak," he admitted softly.

She held his face in both hands looking deep into his shadowed eyes. "We're going to free you! You're not being abandoned. I've saved you afore and I can do it again. Believe in me! Please?"

Numair searched her face before nodding slowly. "I do."

Daine let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders sagging. "I should best be getting back afore I'm discovered." She caressed his cheek tenderly. "Eat your food and stay alive!" She kissed him deeply one last time before retaking wolf-shape.

"I love you, my darling. Stay safe," he whispered.

Zek, are you coming? The Wildmage crouched near the edge of the tent, waiting for him.

No, the marmoset shook his tiny head. I'm staying with Numair.

Daine didn't want to leave Zek in such a dangerous place, but he was very hard to spot, and she preferred knowing Numair had some company. Giving her thanks and warning the marmoset to stay out of sight, she lifted the canvas and disappeared into the night.

Zek watched Daine leave, chirping a farewell before turning back to look up at Numair. The mage's owner had hurt him badly, marking his skin so he almost looked like a marmoset in colouring. Crawling over to the plate of food, Zek selected a chunk of cheese before hopping over to offer it to Daine's mate.

He smiled, taking it gently. "I didn't realise you were staying to keep me company."

Zek squeaked in response, even though he knew the man couldn't understand him. He'd slowly begun learning the hand gestures and head movements that humans understood. It was very basic communication, but it was better than nothing. Numair had offered to teach him something called sign language and Zek regretted not taking him up on the offer. Once the mage had finished his mouthful of cheese, he offered him another.

"Did Daine ask you to stay to ensure I look after myself?" Numair chuckled.

Zek shook his head and chattered in annoyance.

"You were worried about me?" Numair's soft voice cracked with emotion, reaching out to stroke the marmoset with his finger. Despite his enormous size this human had always been surprisingly gentle. "Thank you. While I appreciate having a friend, it really isn't safe here."

Handing him the last of the cheese, Zek climbed up to the mage's shoulder to tug on his hair before pointing to himself and squeaking then pointing to the tent flap.

Numair swallowed and paled. "Daine asked you to go after the focus?"

Zek shook his head furiously and thumped his chest with his fists. Why did all humans think only Daine could make plans? The People were not solely dependent on her. To be fair, this was Kitten's scheme not his, but he'd been involved in the planning along with Cloud and Spots.

Numair covered his face with his hands. "No! I won't have you put yourself in that sort of danger."

Huffing out a breath, Zek leaped to the ground and raced towards the edge of the tent satisfied that Daine's mate had eaten something. It was time to get to work on his own mission.

"Zek, where are you going?" Numair hissed. "Get back here!"

The marmoset turned and shook his hand, pointing towards the bread and then to the man before wriggling under the material wall. It was cold outside, far colder than Zek liked, and the humans kept telling him this was the Long Heat! Guards stood warming themselves by the fire a short distance away (by human standards).

An enormous tent towered in front of him where the emperor slept and where the focus would be stored. Zek didn't entirely understand about the focus, but he did understand cages and keys. However this focus worked, it was the key for freeing Numair and returning him back to safety.

Creeping through the darkness, the marmoset kept one eye on the sky watching out for owls. He'd had more than one terrifying encounter with them since coming to this land and would have been eaten several times over if it hadn't been for Daine. Zek missed the Wildmage's protection and wished he could have told her about the plan, but Kitten had been quite insistent that her mama be kept in the dark in case she tried to stop them.

Inside the tent it was far warmer and very spacious by comparison to Numair's cloth dwelling. There were large sheets of material – curtains – separating the tent into three 'rooms'. The first room had a low table with a map spread upon it and little carved human figures of different colours placed on top. The Tortallans had something similar although they used coloured stones.

Zek searched the room thoroughly, going through bags and belt pouches finding nothing. The furless humans, the ones Daine had called slaves, slept in the next room on woven mats with nothing but a dish of water and a foul-smelling pan where the humans excreted their waste. Why couldn't they do that outside like any sensible creature?

The last room was where the emperor slept and the room the marmoset most feared to go. His Monsterboy and been cruel but this owner was vicious. Zek had no desire to be on the receiving end of his emerald lighting.

The emperor was snoring softly in a large bed with plush pillows and warm blankets while the marmoset quietly searched his belongings. He was beginning to lose hope when he spotted a green glow on a chest beside the bed.

Forcing himself to be brave, Zek slowly climbed up the chest where he finally located strands of hair contained in glass vials and braids of horsehair. Kitten had warned him that the emperor had more than just Numair's hair. He didn't have her magic, but the marmoset hoped he'd be able to identify the one they were looking for by scent.

Zek reached for the first vial when an emerald light flashed. Pain seared through his body as he was thrown to the other side of the tent, his fur slightly singed. He froze when the emperor rolled over and muttered something in his sleep but thankfully didn't wake. This was going to be a problem. Kitten hadn't said anything about the focus having magical protections or traps on them. What was he going to do now?

The pygmy marmoset sat in thought assessing his surroundings. From his time spent with Numair, Zek guessed that the emperor would need to remove these protections before he could use the focus and that would be his chance to steal it. Until then he needed to stay close to the emperor, somewhere out of sight.