This is it, the end. In the foreground this fic was about the Tyra stuff and all the intrigue, but it was also about Daine and Numair developing their relationship, while last chapter gave the Tyra thing its closure this concludes the DN story line. Enjoy.

Chapter 20- Epilogue

Aheam's acquisition of the throne brought a renewal of peace with Tortall, much to Scanra's chagrin. The outraged King of Scanra called off his daughter's engagement to Aheam. The young king tried his best to hide his joy at having the freedom to take Aralyn as his wife. The two were wed in a lovely ceremony attended by the newly formed court of King Aheam and the Tortall peace party.

Unfortunately, the peace and joy from the wedding was soon overwhelmed by war with Scanra. Daine, Numair, and Alanna were all needed to assist Tortall in the cause. It was two years before peace was secured completely. Daine dealt with sometimes months of separation from Numair, and Numair tried not to waste precious sleep worrying about her as she fought for Tortall on whatever front needed her at the time.

"I think I'm going to retire to my tower for the summer months." Numair spoke into Daine's thick curls as they united back at Corus for the official celebration of victory in Scanra. "You could come with me. We could have a lovely wedding at the Swoop and then lock ourselves away for weeks, completely undisturbed." He whispered huskily into her ear, making her want to melt against him. Instead however, she just grinned.

"Or, we could skip the wedding and just lock ourselves in your tower anyway." She gave him a wicked smile.

He, however, was all seriousness. "Daine…" he sighed.

"Numair, I know how you feel, but" she stuttered over her words, not sure how to verbalize what she felt. "I want us to be together forever."

"So do I, love. Why else would I ask you to marry me?" He shook his head. Sometimes he wondered if he would ever understand this woman. Of course, he realized that that was part of what he loved about her, her mystery. On certain matters though, it could be quite annoying.

"No, I mean I want us to want to be together forever."

"I'm afraid I'm not following, Magelet."

"Numair, when wolves choose a mate they do so because they know they have found a partner that they can be loyal to forever. They don't need rings or a ceremony. They stay together because they choose to, because they want to."

He smiled at her analogy. "Daine, you are my choice. There is no other for me, I promise that to you."

She looked at him sadly. "You say that now, but…"

"But what, love?"

"You could regret it. I couldn't bear to know that you stayed with me because you had to, and not because you wanted to."

"Daine, I–" He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Feeling a little lost at the acknowledgment that words could not solve this. "What can I do?" He cupped her face gently in his hands, piercing her stormy eyes with his.

She smiled. "Give it time, Numair." She met his gaze. "Someday."

He smiled back and slipped his fingers though her hair, brining her lips to his for a long moment. "Someday"

AN: I have another fic started, but I've decided not to publish it until it is complete. Then I will release one chapter a week. No more waiting weeks, months, whatever for me. It will be much more of a human-interest kind of thing than an action/adventure/deception piece like this was, and therefore it will be much shorter. So, don't look for me any time soon, but I'm not out of this yet.

Big thanks to all the reviewers who stuck with me throughout this whole crazy thing. Your feedback kept me going!

Thanks also to Tortall's Resident Wildchild for being my sounding board and getting me through the tricky stuff