Daine yawned and looked outside. The ground was covered with a soft, white batch of fresh snow. She snuggled out of her bed which, as usual, was covered with animals. Today there was the chef's cat, two hedgehogs, and one of the stable's cats surrounded by her kittens.

She groggily got out of bed and the cold air instantly woke her. She put on a fresh pair of breeches and a thick wool shirt. She needed all the warmth she could get. It was freezing.

'Ha,' she thought to herself. 'I'm used to this.' She was. Growing up in Snowsdale she had learned to deal with harsh weather like this.

But Numair was another story. He was from Carthak, a country to the south that she heard was warm all year round. "He's going to be very grumpy today." she announced to the animals. "He never did like cold weather." It was true too. Ever since it had started to get cold, he got grumpy. As if he missed the warm weather in Carthak, and the people there.

A loud bell interrupted her thoughts. Grabbing her coat. She let the animals stay in her room, and left the door open a crack like she normally did.

"Morning Onua." Daine said walking into the large mess hall that the riders used.

She mumbled something, Daine couldn't tell what, but she was always like that in the morning. Daine was used to that by now.

That day, she helped out with the riders as she normally did and then went off to see Numair, her teacher, for her lesson.

"Hi, Daine. Sit down." Numair gestured to one of the many chairs surrounding the table he was at. "How are you today. It's been a bit nippy all day."

'A bit nippy'? What was up with Numair today. No complaining about drafts? No asking how she could stand this cold?

The look on her face must have given her away. "No, I'm not grumpy. How can you be grumpy on a day like today?"

"What do you mean on a day like today?" Daine wondered. Today seemed like any other day to her.

"Come on, did you honestly forget that today was the first day in Midwinter?"

Wow, midwinter already. It seemed like only yesterday she had met Onua in Crîa. "It can't be midwinter already."

"Yes, it can, and in honor of that, and seeing as I haven't gotten all of my gifts yet, were going shopping."

"Good, I need to get all of my gifts. I completely forgot."

Daine went back to her room and got her money, then she and Numair went to the city.

The city was full of wonderful smells and bright colors. "I don't know where to start." Looking around, Daine saw all of the marvelous stores.

They spent about an hour there, when Numair announced he was done. "Anywhere else you would like to go?"

She thought for a minute. She had found a great gift for Miri, a large crystal with some sea coral in it. She would probably like something that reminded her of the sea and home. She had found a nice little practical joke for Evin, and she couldn't wait to see who he used it on. She only hoped he wouldn't get in trouble for it. And for Onua she had found a book that she thought fit her personality perfectly. But then there was Numair. Then she remembered a book he had been reading in one of the shops. She was going to get him that. "Numair, I just remembered something that I was going to buy, I'll be right back."

"Fine, don't take too long though, it's getting dark."

She found the book store, and after about 5 minutes found it. 'Simple Spells to Play With'. She looked inside. It had joke spells and cleaning spells and spells even people with a little gift could use. No wonder he didn't want to buy it. He didn't want anyone to think he was weak gifted. 'Well if that isn't the typical male.' she thought laughing.

She paid for the book and then went back to the café where they had agreed to meet. "Come on, let's get going before it gets too dark." Numair said as he lead their way back to the palace. "We don't want to be late for meditation."

Daine laughed, "Oh, darn." Numair started to say something, but Daine cut him off. "I know, I know, spring cleaning." She tapped her head.

She dropped her stuff off in her room, and seeing no animals in it, locked it. She didn't want to books ruined in any way by the animals. She would put them in a safer place later.

She made it to the mess hall, just before they started the meditation. She let the smooth rhythmic breathing lull her into nothingness.

With meditation over, Daine thankfully went to bed. She yawned, 'tomorrow'. And with that she fell asleep.