Wild Mage Lioness: Thank you. I enjoyed writing about Weiryn. I have a oneshot about how him and Sarra get together called From the Embers to a Flame if you want more Weiryn fics! Dolphindreamer: I'm sad about it ending as well. I've really enjoyed writing this. Anyhow – new story starts tomorrow! Please read and review, I really appreciate your comments. Aikia Riyen: Thank you. I think I've done more research for these stories than all my university essays put together! Esmerelda 01: Sorry, no more Cloud at present, but she will make an appearance in my new series of stories which will start tomorrow. Goldeneyedwildmage: Sonnet will find that funny! She generally gets my chapters in advance and highlights any typos. She's currently writing her own book which is amazing. Please read my new story that's starting, it's called FESTIVAL SEQUENCE: SAMHAIN, and it should be up tomorrow. I love your reviews! Celuna Cirrus: I am, I've mentioned the title above – it'll be up tomorrow, please continue to r&r! Thank you for all your reviews! Bitterosemary: I'm planning to do a sequence which focuses on each of the eight festivals in the first year of Daine and Numair's relationship, with each short story being about 2/3 chapters in length. I am anxious about this working. I have really enjoyed writing about Mabon and Beltane, and wanted to do something with the others, involving other characters (Kalasin and Roald have a part to play in Samhain) with a sprinkling of fluff and maybe a couple of cliffies. I thought it would be a bit different and allow me to play around and research something I'm interested in but know nothing about. I really do hope it works. After that I'll probably do one last long fic, then start my own! Please continue to review – your reviews often sound like poetry (By the way, some of my poems will be going up tomorrow, finally.) Silverlake: Thank you! Lime 63: They stop watching when Daine and Numair start taking each others' clothes off! Aravilui: Thank you for all your reviews – please carry on reading my writing! Daine's Daughter: Thank you for your reviews – I hope you enjoy this last chapter! Keep R & Ring! Sonnet Lacewing: Thank you for checking over my writing, and helping to keep me sane. Your comments are always useful and long may they continue. I posted those recipe books, btw. I'm very slow sometimes…

Disclaimer: Charaters, Tamora, Belong, Pierce, To.

A/N: Well, here is the last chapter. Many thanks to those of you who have reviewed, I have appreciated all of your comments and you have made me type faster. If you review this last time, let me know if you have a favourite part then I can endeavour to include more things like that in my new fic FESTIVAL SEQUENCE, of which the first chapter of the first part will be up tomorrow!

Chapter 22 – Moving

Three days after Mabon, Daine carried the last of her boxes of belongings down the corridor to Numair's rooms. The mage followed behind her, his arms full of one last lot of dresses and the shawls and wraps that went with them. Kitten walked next to him, showing off her new skill of being able to open a door just by trilling a soft, gentle note. Unfortunately, she hadn't yet mastered the art of keeping it open, so Numair had had one or two doors dropped on him, during the several trips he had made to and from Daine's old room.

He hung the dresses up in the large wardrobe that was too big for even him to fill and passed Daine the other bits to put away in the drawers that were now hers. He watched as she neatly organised her items, Kitten trying to help as much as she could by using her neatening trick to straighten up any clothes that had been mussed up in transit.

"I can't believe how much stuff I own!" Daine cried, squeezing some more bits into a drawer that was already full to bursting. "When I first came to Tortall I had nothing." She looked up at Numair, her astonishment showing in her eyes.

"Daine, why don't you put something in the drawer above?" Numair suggested, nodding his head towards the aforementioned area. "Remember, you'll need to take some things to the tower as well, when we go in a few weeks."

Daine looked up at him as she opened the drawer, piling up pairs of breeches inside. "But I won't need to take much," she replied. "We're only going for a few days, aren't we?"

"But wouldn't it make more sense to take more, so then you can start to leave some of your things there?" Numair asked. "Whatever you need duplicating I can buy for you when we're next in town." Numair offered earnestly.

Daine looked at him quizzically. "The Tower…" she began, absent-mindedly taking another pile of shirts from Kitten.

Numair shrugged. "Well, that's your home," he realised that when they had discussed moving in that she had been referring to his rooms at the palace, not his tower as well. "If you want it to be?" His tone changed to one of nerves and apprehension.

Daine laughed a little at her mage's expression. "If that's all right with you, and it's what you want as well? When we talked I thought we were just talking about me moving into your rooms here?"

Numair shook his head, for some reason feeling slightly awkward. "I thought you knew that I meant the Tower also. If you're going to be living here with me when we're at the palace, then surely you'll be living with me when we go to the Tower?"

Daine left the pile of clothing on the floor, which Kitten then jumped into, happily burying herself under a pile of shirts. She went to sit down next to the mage, who was on the edge of the bed, leaning slightly over him and twisting her body so she could lever round and kiss him. "This is serious, isn't it," she said, more of a statement than a question.

Numair nodded, moving her closer to him. Daine pulled his hair tie from his hair, letting his mane go free. Kitten stuck her head from out of under the shirts, chortled an amused noise and scuttled into the little dressing room that had become hers, a place filled with gemstones and other odd trinkets that she played with. Daine giggled, her eyes shining as they fell back onto the bed, and she wondered if they would ever have a chance to get anything else done while they shared the same bed.

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Alanna had finished storming back to her rooms after yet another fight with Jonathan about not letting her support the first female page for some stupid amount of years. She thanked the goddess once more for giving her the sense to not have married Jonathan and fallen for George instead. George was in their rooms, packing a few items for their journey back to Pirates' Swoop. Alanna accosted George in large bear hug, making him drop the piece of paper he was holding and devote his attention to her.

"Ye know, lass, if that'd been anyone else, I'd've murdered 'em for makin' me drop those papers," he returned the hug, kissing her with passion that had never dwindled in all their years of marriage. "Did Jon say if you could have a break back at home for a bit?" He asked, pulling away from her to ask the question.

"He agreed that I could go home until something necessary came up. I'll be needed to go and sort out some of the Rider groups and possibly the Own, but just the ones local to the Swoop," she told him.

"An' what else were ye discussin'? I saw the look upon yer' face when ye came through that door."

"I, we, had a chat about Keladry of Mindelan and her post as a page again," Alanna answered, rather shamefacedly.

"I thought ye' had said ye' weren't goin' ta' dwell on that no more?" George continued to hold her gently in his arms.

"I know, but I'm so mad at him and that idiotic training master. I could have helped her out and supported her."

"But then, lass, people would've said that she only became a knight because of you an' not on her own merit," George reasoned.

Alanna felt reasonably pacified in the arms of her husband. She snuggled in closer, forgetting about Jonathan and Keladry, and breathed in the scent of the soaps he used. "Maybe, but they would have been small minded, like the ones who suggested that it was my magic that got me through the Chamber of Ordeal," Alana puffed up again, her annoyance at the people who suggested such things apparent.

George smiled wryly over his wife's shoulder, knowing that now would be a good time to change the subject. "Daine's moved into Numair's rooms," he said, hoping that it would have the desired effect.

"Finally!" Alanna looked up at George. "They said at Mabon that Daine was going to live with him. I thought that they would maybe leave it for a few weeks, maybe towards Midwinter."

George laughed softly. "I don't think they could manage to keep their hands off each other enough to even consider delaying it, lass. She's been living there since they got back from Legann, only her belongings weren't in the same room."

Alanna smiled back, her mind taken of Jonathan and his unreasonable decisions for the time being. "Think they'll last?" She asked her husband, sure of the answer he was about to give.

"I don't doubt it. I expect that they'll one day be little people running round with either wild magic or very strong gift," George prophesized.

Alanna raised her eyebrows at the notion. "That could be quite scary, actually."

George grinned. "The Lioness finds something scary?" He mocked.

Alanna laughed. "Scary but endearing. I think that will be quite some time off anyway."

"I would imagine so," George agreed. "I'm sure they'll have plenty of fun in the meantime."

"Why don't you remind me of what that fun is like?" Alanna teased, moving her hands over George's torso.

"It would be my pleasure," he replied.

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Thayet slipped into her daughter's bed chamber that morning, sitting down next to the covered lump on the bed that she took to be Kalasin, still upset by her father's decision to not let her start as a page. Gently, she moved back the covers and gathered her girl into her arms. Thayet had been mad with her husband for not letting Kally choose what she wanted to be, but somewhere deep in her heart she was glad that the girl who had once been her tiny baby would not have to fight in battle, or even in training. Still, Thayet wanted to ensure that before she set out for pastures new in a few years time she would have a good knowledge of how to look after herself and her people.

Kally stirred from her sleep, the disappointed look on her face still there. Given time it would fade, but for now she was unhappy, and particularly cross with her father. It would take her some time to forgive him.

"Mama," she said drowsily. "I keep dreaming about being a knight like Aunt 'Lanna," she reverted back to the baby name once used for the Lioness.

"I know, sweet," Thayet stroked back the hair from her daughter's face. "It is a disappointment. But your father does have his reasons, and you have always been taught that as a princess, your first duty will be to your country. It's a price you pay for having such a privileged life."

Kally nodded. "I'm beginning to understand. But Roald is allowed to train, he'll be a squire next. I don't see why I can't just do a little bit."

"Because not all countries are like ours and have lady knights. Some people here still disapprove of Alanna being a knight, let alone the King's Champion!" Thayet said softly.

Kally's face sunk back into its morose expression. Thayet saw it and understood what her daughter was thinking.

"Look, Kalasin. If you become queen somewhere, which is what is planned, then you will have the authority and the power to allow girls to train as knights one day. You would need to have the respect of your subjects to do that, and if you are already a knight they will automatically disapprove of you," Thayet said rather firmly.

"I do understand, Mama. I'm still disappointed, though," Kalasin looked up at her mother with large eyes, causing Thayet's heart to feel as if it was melting and breaking at the same time.

"Good, Kalasin of Conté, because that is how it will be," Thayet's words were harsh, but her tone was soft. She had one more task to do before she could begin to feel at ease with herself, knowing that she had not helped matters in this particular debate between Jonathan and their eldest daughter.

"Kally," she began, choosing her words carefully before she spoke. "Your father is very upset by all of this. He is unhappy that he has made you sad, for no parent wants to do that. But he has had to; he has to think of his country as well. He is hurt by the way you have spoken to him, and how now you are ignoring him. Please, Kalasin, he loves you very much. Make up with him. You're breaking his heart." She saw her daughter's lips quiver and the large eyes fill with tears, soundlessly beginning to roll down her cheeks.

Thayet left her daughter alone, knowing that the sadness she had provoked would lead to things being solved. Although she had wanted Kally to follow her dreams, she understood Jonathan's position. Jon had been deeply upset by Kally's treatment of him, for he doted on his children, and Thayet knew that there was a particular soft spot for Kalasin, being his first daughter. She walked swiftly back to the rooms that she shared with him, and found him sitting on one of the large comfy chairs, his nose buried in a book about Shakith and the Three, a volume she assumed he had been asked by Numair to read.

She sat on the arm of the chair next to him and moved the book away. She doubted he had been engrossed by it anyhow.

"Go and talk to Kalasin," she told him gently. He looked at her puzzled, a sadness in his eyes that she had never seen before. "Go," she gave him a gentle push.

Ten minutes later she peered silently into Kalasin's room and saw her husband sat down on his daughter's bed, Kalasin's head resting on his chest in a way that she would only ever have with her father. Thayet smiled softly as she studied the scene; their differences resolved and any crumbling bridges strengthened to last a lifetime.

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Onua Chamtong of the K'Miri Raadeh saddled up her mount and looked about her, almost certain that another person was nearby. It was mid-afternoon, all of her tasks were done for the present and she was looking forward to having some time in peace to herself. The noise sounded again; echoes of footsteps somewhere close. She felt two hands grab her shoulders gently enough that she could recognise instinctively whose they were. She turned round to face the owner of the hands, laughing softly.

"I could quite easily have thrown you then, you know," she told the man known as Sarge.

"And then you would have felt guilty all day," he said back, pulling her to his chest, their public displays of affection becoming more frequent since Thayet had informed most of the palace of their status.

"You would have deserved it," she uttered, nuzzling his chest, too happy being near him to add any authority into her voice.

"Daine's moved into Numair's rooms today," Sarge said, reminding Onua.

Onua looked up at him. "I'm aware of that," she grinned. "We have that little package for them later, don't we?" Sarge grinned back.

"There may be one or two other surprises as well for them," the tall man added. "When are you going to come live with me?" he asked, taking her by surprise. "It'll be winter soon, and if I know you're going to be around all the time then I won't buy any more blankets."

Onua laughed hysterically at his reasoning behind his suggestion, knowing full well that he was simply making light of something that had probably been difficult to ask.

He stepped back from her, a smile playing at his lips and his eyes filled with tenderness that Onua had never had directed at her before from any other man.

"So?" he asked simply.

Onua nodded. "But let's keep it quiet until after tonight."

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Daine had just finished unpacking the rest of her belongings when a knock came at the door of their room. Sighing heavily she got up to answer it, as Numair was seemingly lost to the world in a book whose title she would never want to comprehend in a million years. One of Jonathan's messengers stood there, a bored look upon his face.

"The king would like to see Master Salmalin and Miss Sarrasri in his study in an hour," he announced, before walking off abruptly without waiting for a reply or to see if they wanted to send a message back.

"Jon needs to change his staff," Daine muttered to the long mage. Numair looked up from his book and raised his eyebrows. It often took him a few seconds to transfer from book land to reality, and that transfer often hindered his speech, as Daine had learnt over the past few years.

"We have to see Jon in an hour," she told him.

Numair nodded. "Did the messenger say where?" He said once the power of speech had returned.

Daine shook her head. "He walked off before I could say anything to him."

"Jonathan really needs to get some new staff," Numair muttered, before losing himself again in his book. Daine cast him a glare before finishing unpacking.

As Daine and Numair left their abode a group of people began to surround the door to their chambers. Twenty minutes later, after a different messenger had been sent to call the couple back with the message that Jonathan was waiting for them at their door, they returned, gazing open-mouthed as they saw their friends gather around the door, which was now ajar after Alanna had become determined to unlock Numair's spell and succeeded.

Adorning the door, just below Numair's name, was now a brass plaque, Veralidaine Sarrasri engraved upon it. Daine stopped and looked at the plaque and the meaning that it had.

"Who's done this?" Numair asked, touched by the gesture.

"Onua and Sarge," Thayet answered.

"It was Onua's idea," Sarge interjected. "You didn't have your name on your old room, so she thought you should have it on this one."

"Do you like it?" Onua finally spoke, looking from Daine's face to Numair's.

"It's wonderful," Numair replied, putting an arm around Daine. "It shows that you approve of us."

Onua laughed briefly. "Well, I did once try to tell her of your faults, Master Mage, but plainly she quite likes them!"

Daine blushed, recalling Onua's tales of Numair taking longer than any female to get ready, and then dirtying his clothes while he sat outside watching a meteor shower. He certainly had his faults, but even those she adored. She looked up at her lover and he bent down to kiss her softly on the lips.

"Well?" Alanna interrupted. "Are you going to invite us in? We've brought some drinks to help you have a house warming."

"Any excuse," George comically apologised for his wife. "There are gifts as well, if the wine ain't to yer' taste."

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Later that evening, once everyone had departed managing to not leave a great deal of mess, Daine suggested to Numair that they take a walk to get some fresh air before they settled down for the night. They had both spent the day indoors as moving all of Daine and kitten's belonging had been a bigger task that either had anticipated. Kitten had settled down for the night in her new room and was contently snoozing away, so the couple slipped out, grateful for some time alone after the hoard of people they had had snuggled into their rooms.

The night was beginning to show the touches of autumn; the gentle breeze came with a slight chill to it that had not been there a week ago and the lack of clouds in the clear sky ceased any insulation of the day's warmth.

The night was still and calm, the scent and smell of autumn permeating the air. Daine could smell the damp leaves that had fallen from the trees and the change in the season seemed palpable. She could hear various night time creatures bustling about, one badger snuffling about in red-gold leaves for his supper. A barn owl flew by, offering his greetings as he passed, Daine wishing him luck in his nightly hunt. The bats too, had come out of roosting and were flying overhead, looking for the flies and insects that they would feast on.

Numair watched as his love became aware of all the goings on that he was oblivious to. Although he could feel the change in seasons as most other people could, he did not have the ability and the special sight that she possessed. He looked on her in admiration, realising for the thousandth time why he was in love with this woman.

"What is it?" she laughed, becoming aware of his gaze.

He shrugged and smiled embarrassedly, looking away and then down at the floor.

"Tell me," she demanded, "Or I'll beat it out of you!"

He laughed at the threat and gave in to her request. "I was thinking of how perfect you are."

Daine laughed again. "There are not many men who'd say that once they'd spent a night in a bed with two hedgehogs!" she exclaimed, referring to their visitors the night before.

"And for that I am glad. Otherwise, you may never have picked me," he said simply.

"I would always have chosen you, Numair," she reassured. "How many other women would have taken that green spell for you?" She joked.

Numair smiled. "If you had died, I would never have forgiven myself," he said quietly, his voice full of emotion.

"I knew that I would be alright," Daine told him, matter-of-factly. "The visions I had seen of our daughter were enough to make me know that I would be okay. And if that spell had hit you…" she left the rest of the sentence unsaid. Numair pulled her into his chest, her warmth continuing into him.

They were silent, as they walked back toward their room, very little was left to be said. The night was quieter, only the sounds of the light rustling breeze now remained along with the gentle calling of the owl. The palace was still as they entered, everyone had departed for bed a while ago and the corridors echoed emptily as they walked down them.

They stopped as they approached the door to their room, standing for a moment to take in the sight of the plaque that Onua had given them. Numair looked at Daine, remembering all that they had gone through in the last few months to be able to get here now. She returned his look with a smile, running her fingers across the two brass plates, announcing who lived there.

"Are you happy, Daine?" Numair asked, pointing to the sign.

Daine nodded emphatically. "Are you?" She asked in return. The broad smile on Numair's face gave his answer.

She opened the door, looking in at her new home in the palace, realising what she had become, with the bandits in Snowsdale, with moving to Tortall and finally, with falling in love with the man beside her.

Daine turned round briefly, looking to see if anyone was about. In the distance, at the end of the hallway she saw the old woman from her dreams, her face no longer wrinkled and her hair no longer greying. Beside her was the little girl that Daine knew would be somewhere in their future. She smiled at the woman and the child as they waved at her, before disappearing back into the magic of the seer Goddess.

And then she and Numair stepped into their new room, a new beginning.

Finis

------------------And for the final time in this story, please review! REMEMBER, NEW FIC UP TOMORROW----------------------