'~~~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~~~'

"Cloud, please, I really don't have time for this!"

Well excuse me, but that really itches, how would you like to live with an itch that you couldn't reach? The pony remarked smartly. Daine Sarrasri sighed peevishly and grabbed the currycomb again. After a few strokes (maybe harder than necessary) Cloud grunted in pleasure and gave her mistress leave to go.

"Well thank you very much, your highness," the young woman of twenty said under her breath, quickly letting herself out of the paddock near the Rider barracks. It was mid-evening and the trainees were all in with that nights lessons. Earlier, Daine had just finished dinner, which she sometimes took with Onua, Buri, and Sarge in the mess, and was making her way back to hers Numair's and rooms when her magical senses had alerted her to an immortal presence not far into the Royal Forest. The girl had quickly identified it as a solitary spidren. Not wanting to alarm anyone she decided to take care of the lone nasty herself. Grabbing the bow and arrows her father, the god Weiryn, had made for her in the Divine Realms, she threw a bridle on Cloud and took off on her mare to the point that echoed in her minds eye.

She had been in just the mood for a good fight. Things had been incredibly quiet with immortal goings on lately, and life with Numair stationed at the castle, wasn't too exciting. Unless you counted the countless antics of pages and squires. Numair had had his hands full with his magic class this year. She especially remembered one particular night a few years ago. Numair had come back to their rooms slightly dazed. At her questioning he had slowly told her of the scuffle between the girl page, Keladry (newly squired) and her 'entourage', as Numair described them, of friends, against the particularly rude pages of that year. Daine thought she would laugh so hard as to cry when she heard Numair's somewhat sheepish account of how he had forgotten to take off his dampening spell. That had certainly gotten her into her own good tumble fight with her former teacher. Daine had smiled at the thought of it again, even if things weren't always exciting, they were always fun.

But even though Daine was spoiling for a fight and excitement, the spidren had clearly not been. The thing had been long gone once she got to the spot she had felt was its entry over the wall.

And so that was why she had become the scratching post for Cloud so late at night, she guessed it was only right to do something for the mare, the Gods know Daine had put her through a lot in her lifetime.

She finally reached the castle and tiredly made her way up the many stairs to the corridor where Numair's rooms were, the rooms that were now hers also. She paused in front of the door, looking at the plaque that was nailed there for what had to be the hundredth time. It was engraved, "Numair Salmalin" and below that, "Veralidaine Sarrasri". And before she knew it her minds eye had changed the writing, "Numair and Daine Salmalin". She gasped and stepped back involuntarily. Shaking her head the engraving returned to its proper writing.

Daine blinked a couple of times, wondering where her mind was going. She must be more tired than she thought. Sure, it was possible that one day she might actually take up Numair's offer, but, she just didn't know when, or how, or where...or if.

Suddenly she heard a series of demanding croaks and the door swung open to reveal a small, light blue dragon chattering at her in irritation. Daine half-smiled and walked through the door, closing it behind her and scooping up the distressed dragon.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry I'm late, but I had important things to do too, you see-"

"Daine? Is that you?" she heard Numair's pleasant tenor call from the doorway to his workrooms.

"It's me all right, what are you into, oh great mage of Tortall?" she made her way to the doorway and peeked inside. Ever since that day when he had been working on a silence spell and she had startled him, causing him to cast it on her, she had been most careful to make certain she didn't interrupt anything.

"Don't you mean great mage of the world?" she laughed as he thrust the door open and captured her lips in a light kiss. Kitten chattered angrily at the close call of being smothered in the mans loose linen shirt and demanded to be put down. Daine obliged her as she smiled up at the tall mage. "Oh yes, how could I have forgotten."

He returned her smile warmly, white teeth flashing against swarthy skin. "How was your day, sweet? And Kitten is right, what did hold you up so long at the barracks, it was all I could do to keep her off the door. She undid quite a many of my locking spells...I was to one of the most complex when you appeared, thank the Gods. I don’t know how many more I could have come up with. I'll have to see just how many she can go through one of these days." he mused.

Daine nodded, smiling inwardly at her love's passion for learning. "As for your question, wait a moment, I've got to get out of these dirty clothes first." he voiced assent and she made her way back through the common room and to the bedroom on the opposite side, dodging various articles strewn in the middle of the floor, chairs out of place, shreds of the Gods-know-what and a number of other diddies. She supposed Numair had tried a number of things to keep her dragon preoccupied. Daine laughed silently at the mental picture and entered the bedroom. She opened a trunk at the foot of their bed and started shedding outer clothing. She heard Numair gasp and start mumbling to himself. He must have found the mess a certain young dragon had made.

After pulling on a clean, if old, blue shirt and black breeches, she ran a brush through her unruly brown curls and wiped a wash cloth over her face, catching a smudge of dirt under her smoky gray eyes. Satisfied she was at least presentable she once again entered the common room where she found Numair bent double trying to pick up the mess Kit had left.

He heard her enter and looked at her through the strands of his long black hair that had escaped from his horsetail. "Mithros, Daine! She must be worse than a child!" Daine looked at him quickly, trying to gauge his expression. But he had gone back to attempting to sweep up what she thought to be shreds of paper, with his large hand, and scolding Kitten, who seemed to enjoy seeing him picking up her mess, as he worked. Daine marveled at how the man could do tremendous things like turn someone into a tree, no less, and couldn't figure out he would be getting no where trying to scrape up paper out of cobblestone cracks.

And child? Would there ever be children in this room? At his tower near the ocean? What had made him bring up something like that? Was he getting impatient with her? Trying to drop hints? She mentally kicked herself, "Daine, you are starting to sound touched in the head! He was making a simple statement, and a valid one at that." She shook herself for the second time that night and joined Numair, telling him to set the furniture right while she, being much shorter, picked up the largest pieces off the floor and swept up those remaining.

Once things were looking marginally put back together, Numair grabbed her arm and dragged her onto the double seated chair set up on one side of the room. He stretched out his long legs in front of him, sighing tiredly. She echoed him, leaning into his wonderfully strong hold as she laid her head on his chest, breathing in his familiar smell.

"So, magelet, what was this event that kept you away from me for so long tonight, causing that whirlwind of yours to make a disaster of our room?" Kit gave a squeak from her curled up position on another chair that made them both smile.

"Well as you know, I stayed to eat with Onua, and when I was leaving I heard a spidren come over the forest wall and decided I could handle it easily myself. Though when I got-"

"What? Decided you could handle it yourself?" Numair cried springing into an upright position and causing her to fall behind his back.

"Numair! Horse Lords, if you’re goin' to do something like that, at least warn a girl!"

"When are you going to stop taking your life into your own hands?!" he jumped up from the couch and began pacing the length of the room with a fierce scowl. She watched him incredulously.

"It was only one! You don't think I can handle one measly spidren? I thought you had more confidence in me than that!"

He stopped pacing and without looking her way said in a voice that shook, "Daine, one spidren is worse than a pack of wolves in my perspective. You could have easily gotten out maneuvered or covered in the things web. Remember what happened the last time that occurred? You nearly died, Daine! Why didn't you simply take someone with you!"

Daine crossed her arms and looked away as he continued pacing and muttering to himself, angry and hurt. He would never stop overreacting about her safety. He would always be incredibly overprotective. She knew this. But it still hurt to know he didn't think enough of her skills and judgement to keep herself out of trouble. He wouldn't always be there, and she knew she would get herself into things that might get her killed. But that happened every day, in both of their lines of work. Didn't he realize that? After all they're time together? Didn't he know how much she feared for his safety as well? Every time he started a spell he could hurt himself, and every time she cringed inside, wondering what she would do without him...She had come to love him so very much...

"Daine, are you listening to me?"

The young woman startled and glanced up, seeing a face with dark eyes, a long nose, and a full mouth looking at her worriedly. Her scowl softened and dissapeared as she reached up and swept a lock of soft, black hair behind his ear. "I'm sorry, Numair, what were you saying?"

His eyes changed and he said softly, "This," he pulled her off the chair in a sweet kiss full of what he was really trying to say. That he couldn't bear the thought of her getting hurt without him there to help her.

"Daine, I, forgive me. You know how much I worry about you..." She nodded as he searched her face. "What's he searching for? He knows I love him..."

"I do, Numair, but you have to trust me, I would love if you would always be there to catch me when I fall, but it's not possible. And I wish just as much that I could be there every time you start some dangerous spell, every time you take a risk you don't have to. Numair, we both are taking such good care of each other, that we shouldn't have a thing to worry about!" Numair laughed heartily and grabbed her in a hug so tight it almost hurt. "I know, magelet, I know."

He let her go and pulled at his hair band irritably. "This dratted hair will be the death of me." Daine smiled at his way of moving past an intimate moment and forced him to sit down again and pushed his large hands way from his hair. She combed the wayward black locks with her hands and pulled it together again, securing it with the band. She leaned around him and smiled in his face. "Better?"

A warm, grateful smile was her answer. "Daine, I really do not know what I would do without you. You make my life complete." Daine blushed at the praise.

"You got along nicely without me for a very long time."

"Ah, but I was never as happy or content. Come, lets get out of the rooms, how does a walk in the garden sound?"

"The garden! Please, Numair, I am no court lady that has to be cosseted by pretty flowers. Let's go see the knights horses." Numair chuckled as he followed his exuberant young love out the door, making sure Kittens long form made it out before he spelled it shut and locked. No, he really did not know how he ever did without her...