A/N: This is…weird. That is all I can really say. It is really weird, and just, kind of sad and confusing. I dreamed this one up, so sorry if it is like any other story that is already up. I think it might be, but I am not very sure. This is different from what I usually write (it still has to do with death and destruction, but in a different way.) Well, I don't know if I will keep it up or take it down, I seriously don't know if I should post it, but I am going to, at least for a little bit. So, review, tell me what you think. Please, enjoy.
Emily—
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. I do own some things in this however.
UNKNOWN TOWER: 10 YEARS AFTER LADY KNIGHT
"What do you want?" He looked down. The woman was turned, her gaze directed towards the small window. He could not see her features, apart from her hair, which fell in tangled curls down her back. Streaks of gray decorated it, mixed in with the smoky brown color. Marcis Trinle was dressed in the servants' outfit of the lord who owned the mini palace. In reality, of course, he was a spy, sent by Tortall, trying to find out information on the Lord Whitensburg. He had not expected to find a human up here, in the tall tower.
"I am sorry to have disturbed you. I thought I heard noises coming from here…" She turned and looked at him. Her face was marred with scars and wrinkles, giving her a distorted image. Pain had aged her, for all that she was in her thirties she carried the appearance of one of a much greater age. The only striking things about her were her eyes, a deep blue grey, though time had dulled those as well. She saw his expression.
"I am younger than you think, at least I think I am. I have been here so long it seems that the days just melt together. I lost track of time a few months after he took me." He looked at her, confused. "I remember. I remember very well how it happened. How I came to this place, how this all came to be." She said. He gulped nervously and shifted his weight. He had not said a word, but she answered his silent question all the same.
"I didn't say anything, m'lady." her laughter was bitter.
"Ah, but you were wondering." There was something familiar about the woman. He searched his memory. She looked him over. "Sit, I am quite sure you are wondering who I am." He did as she said.
"Thank you m'lady."
"You are a spy, from Tortall, are you not?" She smiled softly at his horrified expression. "Your secret is safe with me. I would love nothing more than to see this man go down. He killed my husband; he took everything I ever loved away from me. Every thing I cherished, gone." Anger hardened her face. "It happened so long ago, so many years ago. I was only twenty-five, newly married. I lived in Tortall you see. I worked for the king as well. Me and my husband."
"Excuse me, but what is your name?" He asked.
"Veralidaine Sarrasri." He gasped. Surely it couldn't be. She was famous, her and her husband. "You have heard of me. Not surprising. I was quite famous, being the wild mage. But things change, as you can see. I am sure you are wondering what keeps me here, why I couldn't use my magic to get out of this. But there are reasons. I shall tell you them. But let us start from the beginning. It was about ten years ago…"
TEN YEARS AGO: TORTALL
Daine smiled as a pair of arms snaked around her, pulling her close. "Hello love." A soft voice whispered in her ear. She turned, giving Numair a kiss.
"No orders from the king today?" She asked.
"Nope. So far so good. Seems even bad guys have to take a break." She frowned.
"I just hope he isn't coming up with more plans. This man is smart and evil." Her husband shrugged.
"But he doesn't have a wild mage or a black robed mage." He answered.
"I know…I still can't shake off this feeling that something is wrong." She answered.
"Why? Did one of the animals see something?" She shook her head.
"No. They say everything is quiet. I think I am just over reacting. I haven't been feeling well anyways lately." She smiled and then grimaced.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing. Just feel a little sick."
"Have you seen a healer?" She had to grin at his concern.
"No."
"You need to. Come on, we are going to see someone." She groaned but obeyed. Years with him had taught her when it was a waste of time to argue with him.
"Congratulations…you are pregnant!" announced the healer as Daine looked at her. It was an hour after Numair had convinced her to go to the healer. She looked at the healer in surprise.
"What?"
"You are pregnant. Now, The baby seems healthy, it is about a month along. You need to take it easy. Shape shifting probably wouldn't be the greatest idea until the baby is born." Daine just nodded mutely; she was still trying to comprehend that she was going to have a child. She thanked the woman again and made her way back to where she had left Cloud. She mounted the pony and urged her towards the small home she and Numair shared.
: So what did the healer say: asked the pony. Daine grinned.
: She said I am pregnant:
:I Thought you wanted to wait to foal: the mare answered. She shrugged.
: Well, I though so too, but apparently the Gods had different plans:
: What about your magic? How are you supposed to shape shift while carrying a foal:
: The healer said I shouldn't, but I don't know. I will ask Alanna: the mare snorted as she walked up the path to the barn of her home. Daine rubbed the pony down, and then went in to tell Numair the news. He was sitting on a couch when she found him. He immediately jumped up to see her.
"What did she say? Are you okay?" She laughed.
"I'm fine. I think."
"What do you mean 'I think'" She had to giggle. The poor man was going crazy.
"Numair, I am not sick. I am pregnant." He stopped pacing and stared at her. A wide grin made its way across his face.
"We are having a baby?" She nodded, yelping as he pulled her into a tight embrace.
"I take it this is good?" She asked. He kissed her in response. She jumped slightly as a warm body rubbed against her leg, before realizing it was her rather large dog, Annie, a mutt she had found about a month ago and had adopted. She wished that Kit was with them, but she knew that she was learning much with Tkaa, who had taken her to the dragon lands. Sitting on the couch, with her husband's arm around her, Daine wondered what could possibly go wrong.
The day passed quickly, and soon the sun had faded and the moon had risen. Daine and Numair had spent the day kissing and relaxing, celebrating Daine's pregnancy.
"We will have to tell everyone soon." Numair commented as they sat in front of the fireplace.
"I know. This will affect my work." She answered, cuddling closer to him. She leaned in for a kiss when the blast went off, shattering the window. The couch flew back as glass shards flew everywhere. Daine lifted her arms, shielding her face from the blast. Numair jumped to his feet, Daine right behind him as they went to see what had happened. A man stood among the ruins, his arm raised as he chanted a spell. Numair blasted a burst of black magic towards the man, only to have it reflected. The other man threw a ball at him and it exploded. Numair tried to counter the spell, but failed.
"Run!" He screamed to Daine, who shook her head. She called for the people, screaming both with her magic and her voice. But there was silence. 'Its not working!' she thought, panicking. The dog leapt for the man, but was thrown off into a wall. His focus turned back to Numair. Numair whispered something. The man laughed.
"My magic isn't affecting anything!"
"Your magic doesn't work." The man exclaimed. "I win. You lose. Tortall's finest mages, brought down so swiftly." He raised his hands and with that, a final blast rocked the house, Daine screamed as more glass fell around her, cutting up her mouth and filling it with blood. She looked around and ran towards her fallen husband. He was motionless on the ground. With a sinking heart, she realized that he was dead. She turned towards the man. She turned and vomited, the bloody liquid falling at her knees. She slipped in his blood as she felt around, ripping off the focus on his wrist. Tucking it in her breeches, she turned towards the man.
"Numair!" She screamed in panic.
"You monster!" She cried, her voice hoarse. A horrible cry sounded above her as two phantom claws carried her up. She kicked out, trying to escape the grasp of the monster that she could not see, but it was of no use. The phantom took her higher and higher, climbing up in the sky as she finally blacked out, her body bloody and bruised.
TOWER: TEN YEARS LATER:
The man looked at the woman, intrigued by the story. No one had ever figured out what happened that night. They had found the body of the great black mage, but never did they find his wife. It was assumed that the same thing that killed Numair killed Daine as well, though it had never been proven. Daine wiped a tear that leaked from her eye.
"After I arrived, I woke up to find blood. I had miscarried the baby. It was gone. He was gone. And I was stuck. Oh, I tried to get out; I tried as hard as I could. But finally, I just gave up. I never knew what happened. I still don't. But everything I loved is gone."
"I can get you out. I can tell the king. We will save you." He said.
"And take me back to what? My home? My home is gone. Everything I loved is gone." She answered, turning her gaze back to the window.
"I must go. M'lord will start worrying. I am going to get you out. I promise." She shook her head.
"Promises are no good. Please, go. Do what you want. Life out there will be no different. It wont bring anything I love back." The man nodded and left.
A month later, an army sent from Tortall found her in the tower. They told her what had happened that night, why everything had gone so bad. The mage was another black robed mage, and they had spent years cooking up a spell that would dampen all forms of magic, even wild magic. They had sent that spell, spelling the home, which allowed them to destroy the Daine's life. They never did tie the attacks to Lord Whitensburg, who they were fighting at the time. They never thought he could get a black robed mage to help him, and by the time they figured out the extent of his powers, it was too late. Numair was dead and Daine was gone, hidden from the world. No amount of scrying could find her, nor could the Gods. They had been forced to believe her dead, though no body was ever found.
Now she walked among the graves of some of Tortall's greatest heroes, the place where Numair was buried. She sat on a bench that was positioned next to the tomb, fingering the dagger she had brought with her. In the tower, once she had given up hope of getting out, she had tried to end her life. The mages had put a spell on it, so any attempt she made would fail. Now there was no spell. She looked at the focus she wore around her wrist, the one thing of her husbands she had managed to keep, the item still stained with blood from that night.
"I love you." She whispered as she lifted up the dagger and thrust it into her chest. She fell, her body landing next to his grave.
As Marcis Trinle lay in his cot taking a rest, a vision danced across his eyes. A young woman running into the arms of a tall man, a small child holding his hand. They embraced, and then she reached down and hugged the little girl. The family walked away, still holding hands. As they left, the woman turned and gazed back with blue-grey eyes. She smiled and turned her attention back in front of her. In his sleep, Marcis smiled.
The woman from the tower had lost everything, but now, in death, she had regained everything she loved.
A/N: See, very…strange. Sorry if it stunk, but as I said, I dreamed it up. Putting things from a dream onto paper is very difficult! I tried to make the events as clear as possible, but I don't know if I accomplished that. And if you didn't get it, the end was Daine meeting back up with Numair and her unborn child in death. So, please, review!
Emily--