Daine shakes her head and makes herself take a few deep breaths. There's every reason to cry, but of course Alanna doesn't know it. Daine isn't sure how much she should even say. The last thing she ought to want is for the Rift to take interest in the Lioness (or Numair, or the Badger, or anyone else from back home who might be strong enough to tackle it). But Alanna's a powerful mage, and she could bring word to Numair. If they just knew what had happened to her, maybe they could help.

Or maybe they couldn't. Maybe Alanna would wake up and find that her realm's Daine is safe and sound, and brush all of this off as a weird dream.

"You don't understand," Daine says. She lifts her face and peers blearily at their new surroundings. They're in a living room, now, normal enough by Manhattan's standards but plenty strange by Tortall's. She's sitting on a couch instead of the ground, which she supposes is an improvement, though she wishes the elephants hadn't gone. "I'm stuck in another realm. I've been there for months. Seasons." She almost adds that Aly was there for a time, but decides against it. This is hard enough to explain as it is.