12-15-2021, 01:01 AM
Lythia alone knew more about saidin than most other living sisters, and Jay was hardly a serene channeler. His use of the power was brazen and apparent, but she made casual work of arranging a fresh cup of tea while he loitered over the weaponry. The smile of amusement that sprang up when he gasped was hidden by her attention elsewhere. Upon confronting his intrusion, only a raised brow was revealed.
She accepted no such apology, nor really made any effort to assuage him of his guilt. Instead, she embraced saidar.
Moments later, the sword came to Lythia’s grasp. She’d forgotten how heavy it was, and for a moment, the heartbreak of the past started to flicker her senses. What a waste it all was.
“Here, you can touch it.” She offered him the sword to hold and study. The one at his hip was not lost to her, and a tease of touching his in return flickered hot for a moment before she thought the better of herself. Seducing this poor boy would do nothing for her larger goal, and erode the tentative trust she worked hard to build in Nythadri. Of course, that was all initiated prior to her conversion, but Nythadri had to be useful somehow still.
That was when there was a knock at the door.
“Excuse me,” she said, leaving him with the sword, morbidly curious to know what he would do alone with the weapon.
The last person she expected in that moment was Kekura Sedai. The Red never roamed the Green halls, but a message was not unheard of. Kekura was a Sitter and stronger in the One Power, although not by a terrible amount. Tradition dictated their interaction be one of politeness. Besides, Lythia was instantly intrigued by receiving a message just at that very moment.
She opened the letter right there at her door; only to toss it in the fireplace as soon as she returned to Jai.
“Asha’man, I would be more than happy to tell my sister, Nythadri that you were here to see her, but she is not in the Tower. Nor in fact is she in Tar Valon at all.”
She paused for a reaction before drawing her fingertips down the flat of the blade. There was a dragon etched into the steel, done so by the Dragon Reborn himself as a gift for a friend and ally. “You know that the man who owned this sword was under immense pressure in the days before he was assassinated. I felt the despair in him and knew that he yearned to end it all. When he died, I was too late to heal him, poor as I was at the skill at the time, but in his last few moments that I held him, do you know what I felt? Sadness, yes; pain, yes. But also relief. He was glad the burden would pass from him,”* she said, finally looking up into Jai’s eyes.
“I am sorry for the loss of your brother. Syn-Jyn would have said that he lucky to have woken from the dream.”
Lythia was surprised that she felt some sincere measure of loss, small as it was, creep in among the anger over their premature deaths, but she pushed the feeling aside in favor of thinking of Kekura’s message.
Which was what led her to circle back to her chair and sip at the tea she’d made earlier. There was a cup for Jai also if he so chose to partake.
*That story is not entirely true. Wink-wink.
She accepted no such apology, nor really made any effort to assuage him of his guilt. Instead, she embraced saidar.
Moments later, the sword came to Lythia’s grasp. She’d forgotten how heavy it was, and for a moment, the heartbreak of the past started to flicker her senses. What a waste it all was.
“Here, you can touch it.” She offered him the sword to hold and study. The one at his hip was not lost to her, and a tease of touching his in return flickered hot for a moment before she thought the better of herself. Seducing this poor boy would do nothing for her larger goal, and erode the tentative trust she worked hard to build in Nythadri. Of course, that was all initiated prior to her conversion, but Nythadri had to be useful somehow still.
That was when there was a knock at the door.
“Excuse me,” she said, leaving him with the sword, morbidly curious to know what he would do alone with the weapon.
The last person she expected in that moment was Kekura Sedai. The Red never roamed the Green halls, but a message was not unheard of. Kekura was a Sitter and stronger in the One Power, although not by a terrible amount. Tradition dictated their interaction be one of politeness. Besides, Lythia was instantly intrigued by receiving a message just at that very moment.
She opened the letter right there at her door; only to toss it in the fireplace as soon as she returned to Jai.
“Asha’man, I would be more than happy to tell my sister, Nythadri that you were here to see her, but she is not in the Tower. Nor in fact is she in Tar Valon at all.”
She paused for a reaction before drawing her fingertips down the flat of the blade. There was a dragon etched into the steel, done so by the Dragon Reborn himself as a gift for a friend and ally. “You know that the man who owned this sword was under immense pressure in the days before he was assassinated. I felt the despair in him and knew that he yearned to end it all. When he died, I was too late to heal him, poor as I was at the skill at the time, but in his last few moments that I held him, do you know what I felt? Sadness, yes; pain, yes. But also relief. He was glad the burden would pass from him,”* she said, finally looking up into Jai’s eyes.
“I am sorry for the loss of your brother. Syn-Jyn would have said that he lucky to have woken from the dream.”
Lythia was surprised that she felt some sincere measure of loss, small as it was, creep in among the anger over their premature deaths, but she pushed the feeling aside in favor of thinking of Kekura’s message.
Which was what led her to circle back to her chair and sip at the tea she’d made earlier. There was a cup for Jai also if he so chose to partake.
*That story is not entirely true. Wink-wink.