Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please don't forget to review because it is your feedback that inspired me to write the next chapter!
Numair awoke to find sun streaming through the nearby window and shining brightly into his face. Opening his eyes for it was now painful to keep them closed, courtesy of the gods cursed sun. Blinking several times to clear his sleepy eyed vision and bringing up a hand to block the sun from his range of sight, Numair took in the room around him. Numair found himself in completely unfamiliar surroundings. He was not in his soft oak wood bed at the tower he and Daine called home. This was not by any means his bed chamber. He found himself lying sprawled in an unknown bed, one that was a bit too short for him as he now noticed the tips of his toes poking out of his blanket and hanging over the edge of the bed. He was clad only in a pair of tight breeches, obviously too small for his well over six foot frame. His long raven black hair hung loosely around his shoulders, cascading down his back.
The room around him looked to be a room in a healing ward, he mused not entirely sure that it was not just that. The walls were white washed to a clean cream color. The room was small, allowing it only one small window with a plainly painted oak frame and sill. The short pale blue curtains that surrounded the window had already been pulled back, thus urging Numair to wake. Beside him was a small, undecorated oak wood table. Atop it sat a plain white ceramic water pitcher and basin. Aside from the table and the window, the room was completely plain and free of any other decoration.
Numair groaned openly as he reached his hands up to rub the sleep out of his eyes. How long have I been asleep, he wondered to himself. He felt as though he had slept for days, though he hardly thought that to be likely. Even more apparent on his mind was how did he get here and where exactly was 'here'. He obviously had not brought himself here, so someone else had to have done so for him. In the back of his mind, it felt as though there was something vitally important that he ought to be remembering and worrying about, but he had not a single clue as to what that something might be. Whatever the case, it did not seem like an average morning to him and not simply because he now found himself in an unknown room.
Everything that ought to be current in Numair's mind seemed blurry. He could not remember going to bed the previous night nor could he remember anything he had done. He found himself lying in a bed that he had no idea how he got in and worse, he found himself extremely sore and tense. Worry seemed to lace the air, though he could not fathom why. He was breathing hard, as though under immediate stress and again he found no reason for it. His heart pounded mercilessly within his chest like one of the court drummers playing for the king.
Numair only had to question all of this one more time, for it was then that it struck him. Everything that had taken place before he lost consciousness came rushing back into his immediate memory in a whirl of images and sounds. He gasped at the feel of it, of the rush that it gave him and how it pushed his heart to beat impossibly fast. He saw himself leaping out of bed and rushing to Daine's side as she lay trembling on their bed chamber floor. He saw her jerking open the window and throwing herself mercilessly out into the night storm. He saw himself shifting into a large black hawk and going after her. He saw himself struggling through the waves and current of the Emerald Ocean, fighting just to stay afloat let alone find an unconscious form in. He saw himself pulling her to shore and mounting Spots with her tucked safely in his arms. And finally, he saw himself reaching the gates of Pirates Swoop, the home of his dearest friends Alanna and George. That was when all had gone black in his mind and he knew no more.
Finding himself in a sudden panic with countless questions rushing through his mind with a flurry of emotion, Numair jerked his head to the side so that he could see the door that led out of this room. Indeed he had been right. The oak wood bore the seal of Pirates Swoop carved intricately into its middle. It was a rearing lioness roaring fiercely in the center of a lavishly decorate circle. He realized now that he was indeed in a room of the hospital wing at the Swoop. The cuts on his chest and arms had been carefully bandaged and his bruises treated. The mud and grime that he was sure had been plastered on his body from his swim in the ocean had been scrubbed clean, leaving him smelling fresh and new.
The first and loudest idea that entered his mind was that he had to find Daine. He had to know if she was alright and if she had even made it through the night. He would kill himself he was sure if she had passed into the Black God's realm whilst he had been unconscious and sleeping. He could curse himself for allowing the sleep to overtake him. Cursing audibly, He threw his legs over the side of the bed, groaning at their stiffness. As he drew himself quickly to his feet, he noticed that someone, likely one of Alanna's fellow healers, had left a fresh white cotton shirt draped over the wooden chair that sat at his bedside.
Hurriedly, Numair groped for the shirt and tugged it unceremoniously over his head. Now fully dressed, Numair rushed to the door and threw it open. He found himself now in a familiar hallway, one that he knew well from all of his previous visits to the Swoop. He broke into a run down the hall, not knowing entirely where he should be going. All he knew was that he had to find Daine and that dead or alive, she would be in one of the many healing suits that lined this hall.
Seeing nothing that drew him to her location, Numair turned sharply around the next corner still running with all of the energy that he had. If truth be told, he was still almost completely drained from the tiring events of the previous night. As he turned the corner, he nearly ran right into a young healing girl as she stepped out of the first room on the new hallway. She had been carrying a tray with various healing supplies and upon impact, it flew from her hands and its contents spilled every which way onto the floor. She was young by the looks of her, and Numair whispered a hurried apology as he helped her to her feet. He found himself in shock as she recognized him.
"Master Numair, you ought't be about!" she squeaked shyly, her eyes wide with fright from having knocked a wounded black robe mage, a noble at that, to the ground. On top of that, he had helped her to her feet apologizing to her! "The baroness will have my hide if I do not send you back to bed!"
Numair frowned, trying to show her his panicked state. "I'm sorry miss, but this is no time for me to be lounging in bed," he spoke hurriedly, trying to soften his tone a bit so that the girl would not appear so frightened of him. The petrified reactions of those below him in rank never ceased to perplex him. "I've got to find my lover, the wild mage, Daine. She was injured and I must see to her!"
"The baroness mentioned you would react this way, but the wild mage is in no state for you to be seeing her," the girl voiced quietly, significantly less frightened and shy. The look she gave him now was no longer one of timid fear, but one of pity. His heart fell at the sight of her eyes, of those deep brown orbs as they gazed back at him with sadness for him.
"Miss, you don't understand…." he pressed, his voice soft from grief. He met her deep brown, almost cinnamon colored eyes, his own watering with unshed tears. "I have to see her. I couldn't stand it if she were to pass on without my being there. I'm certain the baroness will understand. Please, you must take me to her…" Numair pleaded, near to crying from frustration at not being able to see his Daine. Soon, she would not be his, but the Black God's. The mere idea of her being taken from him so soon tore at his heart, burning away at his very being.
Looking up at him, the girl shook with pity at the look of pure grief that she found in his eyes. This man was truly different than any noble she had ever encountered, or any mage for that matter. It was hard for her to believe that this emotional and soft tempered man could be the heroic black robe mage that had become the star of so many war stories. Looking at him now, she could not envision him fighting and killing, shedding the blood of enemies. The way he appeared now, he looked as if he could not harm a fly even if he had wanted to. He was not the intimidating and imposing figure of power she had often envisioned him as being. He was human.
"Al-alright…"she ventured, moved by what the black robe had said to her, what he had shown her in his eyes. She wished that there was more that she could do for him, for she felt certain that he would deserve it. He was a hero of Tortall, one that had helped to ensure safety to her future. She had heard countless tales of him, but not a single one of those tales could impress her as the one he told now deep within those sad deep brown orbs. "But you must promise to rest yourself later on. I agree with the baroness, you greatly need it."
Numair forced a small smile to show his gratitude to the young girl. He could see that she was no longer frightened of him, and that helped to encourage him to stay strong and pull through this. "Thank you, miss," he voiced softly, trying to burn the grief he felt from his tone, "You have no idea what it means to me…"
The young girl led Numair down the hall and to a room almost at the very end. She put a finger to her lips, signaling to him to keep quiet upon entering and then turned the brass knob, ushering both herself and Numair inside. Stepping into the room, Numair saw that it was very much like the one he had woke up in; plain fixtures and very little decoration, all the while cleanly white washed. There was a single bed, large enough for two people, pressed up against the back wall that he now faced upon entering. In that bed, a still, pale Daine lay. Her eyes were clamped tightly closed as she lay in her far from peaceful sleep. At her bedside, Alanna sat in an oak wood chair her eyes fixed worriedly on Daine. Two other healers stood at the foot of Daine's bed wearing similar expressions.
Looking to his side, the young healer that had led him here stood, her eyes fixed on Daine's unconscious form. As though she could feel his eyes on her, she looked up at him, her brows knitted together with worry. At this moment, Alanna noticed the new arrivals and spoke up.
"Goddess, Numair…." she voiced, her tone hardly readable. It was raspy from exhaustion and looking further at the Lioness's appearance, he could see that the healing she had performed on Daine had left her completely drained. He had not expected any less, for he knew how serious her condition had been.
Alanna leaped up from the chair in which she sat and made her way quickly to where he stood. "Alanna, she's not…." Numair could not finish the sentence; he could not voice that one terrible word. "…is she?"
"No….no…." Alanna voiced, clearly exhausted. She had not slept a single wink since that late hour of the night when she had been shook awake by George and he had told her about Daine and Numair. "She's alive, but I have no way of knowing how long that will last." She told him the truth, for she did not want to give him any sort of false hope. Though it would soothe him now, it would hurt him far worse in the end. As a friend and fellow mage, she had to be honest with Numair now.
Numair found himself lost in an oblivion of thoughts, none of them remotely pleasant. He could not believe that what had been a wonderful anniversary night had turned into the most terrible of nightmares. If he had not been so foolish about Daine's behavior these past months, then maybe she would not be on the verge of death now. Then, he could have fixed things. It was a simple enough spell, one that he could do in his sleep so long as she gave him her cooperation. Why did she keep such a secret from him? He could not imagine what would push her to do such a thing. If only she had told him or he had somehow interpreted things sooner, he would not be standing here now. He would be waking up from a night of lovely passion to find Daine curled up snuggly within his arms.
"Numair, what happened to the two of you?" Alanna finally asked, a sense of curiosity and urgency in her voice. She had wondered along similar lines countless times throughout the night as she put herself to the strenuous work of healing the wild mage. She had no idea how Daine had wound up in the state she was in, nor how Numair had. Everything had been a mystery to her up until this point, for the guards on duty the previous night that had found the two could tell them nothing.
"Alanna, I wish I entirely knew," he voiced gravely, his voice too showing exhaustion. He had been pushed beyond all decent physical limits last night as he dove into the raging waters of the Emerald Ocean. It was no wonder that he could hardly stand now. "I awoke to her crying out to me. She was sprawled on the floor, trembling like I've never seen her. After a great struggle, I realized that she was going mad. The barrier I put in her mind nearly eight years ago had finally broken." Numair painfully told Alanna of the terrible events of the previous night.
Eyes wide with shock, Alanna managed to point out, "However amazing that is, it doesn't explain how she got battered up so badly. I've never seen a victim exposed to this much damage live this long in my entire healing carrier, and I've been in this work for a long time, Numair…"
"She seemed to know something I didn't," he voiced, pained at the memory of what had happened next. "She was trying to kill me, Alanna, like she killed those bandits when she was only twelve. She was not the Daine we know, but some sort of wolf!"
"But-how? I don't understand…" she admitted, a look of pure confusion crossing her face and illuminating her violet eyes.
"The barrier in her mind, the one I made, is vital to keep her from going mad," Numair explained, a look of complete sadness rising up once more in his eyes. It hurt him more than Alanna could ever know to speak of these things, particularly that day just over eight years ago beside the undine pond when he had built that barrier for Daine. It was one of his fondest memories with her, for it was one of his first. "It keeps her true self separate from her magic. If her magic had its way, it would turn her into the very animals she speaks to."
He had no idea how he had remained so calm that he could talk so clearly with Alanna during a time like this. Inside, he had already crumpled to the ground sobbing, crying out to the gods of the unfairness of the entire situation. He wanted to yell, to scream at whoever had given Daine this fate, for they had handed it to him as well. He wanted to beat his fists into the wall, tear the entire room to shreds. He wanted to rush out of the room through the door that lay just behind him. He would run down the halls of the Swoop and let the room and all that was in it disappear behind him, vanishing from his mind. He would return him, to the tower, and all of this would have been some terrible nightmare Gainel sent to him.
After long moments of a thick, awkward silence, the air became heavy. Alanna gazed intently upon Numair, completely unsure of what she ought to say to him. She did not even know if she should say anything at all. It was obvious that he was distressed and that this calm air about him was nothing more than a forced act. She could see right through his mask the moment he stepped through the door. She only wished that there was something that she could do for him. She wished that the wound he had now was a physical one, for then she could heal him and treat him. It was something far more complicated than that though, and it frustrated Alanna. Emotional wounds were far worse than physical ones, for they often never healed. Never was there a common solution. Each case was completely different than the last.
"How long?" Numair asked, voice stiff and tense. Alanna could feel the fear that was laced in those words, the undeniable sense of terror that coursed through the black robe's veins. Gods how she did not want to answer him.
"How long what, Numair?" Alanna asked, hoping to prolong having to answer. She wished that he had spared her and refrained from asking. She knew that she was being selfish, but she could not help it. This was the one piece of information she never wanted to have to tell him. Ironically it was the most important.
"How long can she hold on?" He repeated, this time making himself clearer. He knew that Alanna was trying to avoid him. He could hardly blame her. He would definitely not want to be the one to tell her that her husband was dying. He did not think he had the courage to tell anyone that; not even a complete stranger. He felt so torn inside from all that had happened. Mithros how he wanted to wish it all away.
"I'm not sure, Numair…"Alanna replied finally, voice trembling with fear. She was not afraid of him. She was afraid of his reaction. She did not want to see him in the pain she knew he would be in at hearing her words. She wanted to be able to tell him that everything was going to be just fine, that in a few moments, Daine would wake and they could return to their tower in a matter of days. She could not lie to him like that, she knew. "I doubt if she'll make it through another night." At this her eyes welled up with tears that had threatened to fall since the very moment she set eyes on Daine the previous night.
Numair brought his hands up to surround his face, covering it as tears flowed down his cheeks. He could not believe where he stood just now, nor could he believe the circumstances. This could not have been what was meant to happen. The gods just could not let things end this way. Not after all they had made it through together; they just could not take her from him now. It was not fair. But again he remembered the voice of the Wave Walker in his mind and of her fated promise and he knew that Daine was his price to pay for surviving Carthak and making it to Tortall all those years ago. It was a price he was unwilling to pay.
A/N: I know, not up to my usual standard as far as length goes, but at least I got something posted for you guys. I'm just really running out of steam when it comes to writing lately. Don't forget to review!