Hey, I am SO SORRY!! I don't know what got into me, I reached a block, I forgot, I started school. But here it is, the penultimate installment in my Daine/Numair semi-saga. Hope you enjoy, it was so much fun to write. And hope it makes up for the looooooooong break. I hope to get the last chapter out within a week or so. Ok, go to it!

WC

When Daine woke up, the blinding haze of happiness in her mind was almost enough to make her cry. She registered warmth, both physically and inside herself, a pleasure, a satisfaction, and then the arms tight around her body. Eyes still closed, she savored the feeling of a body conformed to her own. She lay on her side, Numair's aura encasing her even as his arms held her tightly against him. Her head was tucked neatly under his chin, and feeling her stir slightly, he brought his lips to her hair.

And then the happiness dimmed, as if a cloud had crossed over her internal sun - he was leaving today. He was leaving her to fight a battle he might not win, to take a trip from which he might never return. All of a sudden, she was crying, shaking uncontrollably in his arms. Numair sat up quickly, unnerved at the sudden change. "Daine, love, what's wrong?" She didn't answer, just tried to calm the shudders wracking her body. She rolled in the bed to face him. Through a film of tears, she saw his outline, the beloved profile. The dark smooth hair, strong forehead and hawkish nose, full lips whose softness was rivaled only by his deep brown eyes. To lose all this... she tilted her face towards his, kissing him hungrily. Their lips stuck for a brief moment as she pulled away. The taste of him, crushed mint, cinnamon. She couldn't help herself leaning back in for more, and he in turn tilted into her touch, rubbing a gentle thumb along the line of her jaw.

The next hour was spent in a replay of the night's passion, though this time with more desperation, as if the Black God stood just outside the door of the room. Eventually, Numair pulled himself from the bed. He rifled through his drawers briefly, though he was determined to take nothing but necessities with him. He gestured to the untouched honey rolls on the little end table, not expecting an answer.

Numair stuffed the last of his provisions in a rucksack, and turned back toward the bed. Daine sat up with the sheets clutched against her chest. Her eyes met his, and he crossed to the bed in three steps. Their lips touched once softly, parted, were drawn back together again. He wiped a tear away from her cheek with a soft thumb, whisperd against her lips "I love you, magelet. Be safe. I love you," and then he was gone and she was left alone, the taste of him lingering cruelly on her lips. She laid down, her head buried in his pillow. She cried herself back to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Numair takes the Great Road South towards the Southern Wall. He doesn't know where he's going exactly, but he expects to meet Thaqib Ladhami before he reaches Persopolis in a few week's time. He knows Thaqib will have been watching Corus, and that he will not be able to pass up an opportunity to attack Numair alone. And so he walks, trudging along the side of the broad and well-travelled road, every step taking him farther away from her. He carries a curl of her hair in a locket around his neck. At night, he dreams of her beside him. He wakes up, and walks again.

In a little under a month, he trudges through the black gates of Persopolis, hair lightened by dust, nose full of the scent of spices as Bazir clamor all around him in their native tongue. A small inn on one side of the main lane into the city promises a drink for his thirsty lips. He goes in, his unshaven appearance drawing looks from other customers, and orders a cool glass of Gods-know-what. Halfway through it, a dark Bazir sits down next to him. "Are you master... ah... Samulin?" he asks in heavily accented Common. Numair nods yes. The Bazir pushes a folded sheet of parchment at him, then stands up quickly and leaves the inn. Numair unfolds the letter.

Arram,

I warned you, did I not? I told you what I planned to do to you, and I acted upon my intentions. But your young lover was saved. She did not die as I intended. Nonetheless, perhaps this was for the best. The Gods have smiled on me, and soon I will have avenged my emperor at last.

You see, you have failed. I don't know what you expected, leaving her alone like that. Your amulets were ineffective, they served only to direct me to those you most wished to protect. You think I didn't anticipate your pointless efforts? I have found every single person you wished to keep from me, and one by one, they will pay. I began with young Kaddar, of course. He will be dead soon enough. The king and queen of Tortall will not be so easy, but I have found a way to dispose of them as well. The King's Champion has already been taken care of, as has the royal horse mistress, a Ms. Chamtong. The Lords of Naxen and Goldenlake will die soon enough.

Oh, and the girl? Your student, your perverse human ego boost, Daine Sarrasri? When I last spoke with her, she was quite near to joining her friends. She put up quite the fight, told me you would never submit to me, and that I would be made to regret my actions. I made her regret that, didn't I? Oh, but she didn't make a sound, did she?

Hurry back, Master Salmalín, or you may not recognize her when you see her.

Thaqib

The glass shattered in Numair's hand as he read the last sentence. With a shout, he threw down the broken shards, stuffed the letter into his tunic, and ran from the inn. As soon as he was out of the door he started to strip off his shoes and rucksack. He jumped into the air, shrinking rapidly into a black-eyed peregrine. And then he was off, mounting into the air with ease, streaking north to Corus. If only it was not too late. If only if he could save the only thing in his life worth living for. Falcon Numair spread his wings to their full width, and pushed on.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

In a stone room deep in the bowels of the Royal Palace, Daine licks a drop of blood from her bruised lip. She can not move, she can barely think over the pain. She closes her eyes as another fleeting wave of consciousness recedes from the wet sands of her mind. "Numair," she whispers before she blacks out again...