There was a struggle between whether to put this in Hold You Tight or in a separate one shot of it's own. But I decided I like it here best.

Enjoy!

Numair looked up, in mild alarm, as his student slammed the door closed behind her, having barged into his rooms. He had been finally begun unpacking from their trip to Dunlath, despite having been home for weeks. He had gotten distracted.

He hadn't planned on having lessons with her that evening, although that didn't mean she wouldn't come visit; she often did. The shock largely came from the mood she appeared to be in. At least, as far as he could tell anyways, she wasn't angry with him. That was a relief. Daine's anger was a frightening thing, and he felt sorry for whoever was the cause of it.

"Everything okay?" He asked, slowly, when she didn't seem inclined to explain herself.

She plopped unceremoniously in a chair in his bedroom, and vaguely he considered the fact that he knew no one else who he'd feel comfortable with being there. "Can we go hunt immortals or something? I'm sick of being surrounded by petty court gossips who pull the most ridiculous things out of-"

"Goddess bless," Numair interrupted with a laugh. He knew Daine hated gossips, with good reason for the sorts of things they tended to say about her, but this was stronger than he was used to. "What did they say about us this time?" He would have thought he'd have remembered if anything new had been circulating. Truthfully, he'd been hoping the rumors were dying down – for all her outbursts to him, Daine dealt with them well publicly, not allowing gossips any extra fuel for their fires. No particular rumor stayed in circulation for very long.

She scowled at him in a way that still managed to suggest that it wasn't him who was upsetting her, but she needed to vent the anger somehow. "It wasn't about 'us'," she said.

That surprised him. It wasn't that there wasn't gossip about Daine that didn't involve him. There were plenty of insults about the 'wild' girl that had nothing to do with where she may have slept, but those weren't the ones that upset her, much to his initial surprise. Daine didn't seem to care what people said about her – it was only when they insulted those around her that she reacted; the reason the rumors of their supposed relationship got to her was that it implied that Numair anything less than the honorable man she had befriended. He guessed what was angering her.

"What did they say about me, then?"

Her scowl deepened and Numair knew he'd guessed right. She was silent for a moment and he returned to packing. Finally she said, "I don't think you'll like it."

He rolled his eyes. "You forget, I've been at court for years before you came. There is quite literally nothing that can be said about me that hasn't been said already, trust me."

Daine stayed quiet for a moment, apparently trying to figure this fact into whatever rumor she had heard. At last; "Apparently you and Alanna are having an affair."

Numair turned to her in surprise and then, unable to help himself, he broke out laughing.

As always, this was not the reaction the girl had in mind. He remembered laughing the first time she had told him what people were saying about their relationship. It actually hadn't been the first time he had heard it, and he had laughed then, less out of real humor, but more to make sure Daine knew to never take the gossip seriously. That no one else did. But now, now he laughed in genuine delight.

"Mithros" he said, when he could breathe again. "Are we, really? I haven't heard that one in ages."

Daine blinked. "You mean… you've heard this before?"

"Not for, oh, years now. Gossips really must have run out of things to use against us if they decided to recycle that one." Seeing his young friend still looked thoroughly confused he decided he might as well explain. "That rumor started when I first came to Tortall, and it really had nothing to do with me. No one at court knew who I was. Of course, Alanna hadn't been champion for very long and the court didn't much like that she was messing with their idea of what a noble women could do." He scoffed. "And then she was the one who found me in Corus and, for a while, she was the only person I trusted in Tortall. That plus being reasonably paranoid I, I didn't like to let her out of my sight, and some of the gossips latched on to it," he chuckled at the memory.

Daine still looked a bit baffled. "And Alanna was okay with those kind of rumors?"

"Well, I wouldn't say okay." He grinned, sitting on the bed. "Still, I wasn't the first time gossips tried to add scandal to her personal life. Besides, it was actually better that way; people were too busy with rumors to actually care who I was. I had already been well adjusted and set up before people realized that their radical new king had a rather powerful mage serving him now. Besides," he added, "Everyone who knew her knew there wasn't any truth to it. She did tell me once, in no uncertain terms, that she'd never be attracted to a gangly lad like me anyways."

"I can see that." She looked at him for a moment then said, "You still don't deserve it."

"No more do you, but you've never let that get to you, I've noticed." She made a face at him. "Don't worry about what they say about me, or Alanna, or anyone. If this is a lesson in anything, it's that gossips are the most unimaginative lot there is."

Daine was silent for a moment. "I still don't like it."

"No one does, but it's the way of the world and nothing we do will stop it. Thank you for the defense, though." He stood. "Now, why don't you grab Kitten; we can have some lessons outside before the light goes."

Gotta love Court Gossip. I like the image of tall lanky 20 year old Numair trailing this 5'3" knight like a lost, somewhat scared puppy (with a mountain of trust issues) and the image that would present to the court.

Anyways, I hope you liked it!