Coming to a Resolution

[Natalie Grey]

Yui & Nythadri

Royal Palace, Bandar Eban

She stepped out into thick heat.

The wide pillars of the Travelling Grounds surrounded her like sentinels, their carved sides slanted with shadow and light from the open roof. Red and purple streaked the glowing sky above. No more than a few hours, she had promised Eleanore. Reassurances that tonight Bandar Eban would probably be the most secure city on the continent had placated somewhat, but if Elly had been unhappy with the decision, ultimately she had stiffly bowed her obedience when Nythadri explained it. The woman reached for the shield of formality when she was displeased, Nythadri was coming to notice. Just as well she had not shared the Amyrlin’s decree then. Though technically the Mother had only forbade them from the ceremony itself. A justification she was quite sure would save very little of her skin if she was caught here.

The Gate closed to a silver line behind her, and saidar fled her grasp. She couldn’t imagine Daryen didn’t have wards to notify his household of arrivals, so for now she only waited for inevitable discovery. Heat prickled the back of her neck already. Light, it had no business being this hot when the sun was fast falling. Though Nythadri wasn’t dressed for it either. She was still in the gown Talin had provided her back in Illian, dark and iridescent as a magpie’s wing. The collar curved up her neck before descending in a narrow plunge, embroidered either side with curling vines and leaves. White blossoms intermingled the green details, pale as winter moonflower, and the same patterns banded the cuffs circling her wrists. In the temperate midlands it had been comfortable.

Here it felt as cloying and close as a death shroud.

She should have thought to ask Ellomai about the trick to ignore it, but in the pleasant palace gardens of Caemlyn it had seemed irrelevant at the time.

The guard who soon appeared from his post to meet her was copper skinned, with a thick beard so neatly groomed it shone like spilled ink in the light. His eyes flared with surprise that was quickly wrestled into submission. Accents of green and blue looped the high polish of ceremonial armour, but the short cloak over his shoulder was in Daimon colours. A coterie of two more men stood a little behind, between the nearest pillars, both attentive and stern-faced. She stepped forward to meet the man at their lead.

“My name is Nythadri Sedai,” she said. The honorific felt strange on her tongue for the first time, but her expression was cool, her stare ice-pale; perhaps a little haughty. Not that she anticipated difficulty, exactly, but she was achingly aware of time and how little of it she had to use for this. The pomp of protocol easily threatened delay. Better to speak and act like she could not be denied. “And I am here to speak with Asha’man Kojima.”

“Aes Sedai,” he said, bowing neatly at the waist. His lips pursed. “Forgive us. We were not expecting you.”

He met her gaze but did not hold it. Then he bid she follow.

From the Travelling Grounds they took distinctly deserted paths, and not very far. The ceiling domed high above, and one wall was carved of arches leading to an outside space beyond; though from what she could see at a glance it all faced inland, or perhaps a closed courtyard. The palace itself seemed to slip in and out of open air. But the wide corridor here was quiet, bereft of even servants, who were likely all commandeered for the treaty’s celebratory banquet. Nonetheless she had the distinct feeling of being sequestered.

A latticed worked door in a pattern of overlapping circles led to a lightly furnished room. The floor clicked underfoot, marble maybe, and it felt marginally cooler inside. The far wall was open air, banked by an arrangement of chairs and cushions that might have made a pleasant perch had there been an actual breeze. At least it did not feel like a cage.

Only one of the soldiers stayed, and he offered repeated apologies with the kind of furrow at his brow that suggested genuine discomfort with the deviance from usual etiquette. She might have found it amusing but for the frustration it lodged in her chest. If he begged for pardon, it was because her arrival had created a schism he was unsure how to fix. Curious. Or maybe concerning. It seemed unlikely the other guards had peeled away to actually find Jai, which meant the chain of command really was perplexed with what to do with her.

“Are you going to check me for weapons next?” She glanced back at him after her brief assessment of her new surroundings. Given the way he refused to meet her eye it was probably a little wicked. She was clearly teasing him. But by his carefully bland expression he did not realise, else he chose to ignore it. They said Domani men were quite inured to flirtation, which was perhaps the entire appeal of her sly smile.

“Thank you, Captain.”

Nythadri’s attention turned to the familiar voice as someone entered the room behind her.

Yui was dressed from throat to ankle in a shimmering russet that skimmed the svelte lines of her willowy form. The gauntlet and sword shone proudly at her breast, glinting from chains across her opposite shoulder; formal sign of her office in the King’s household. Small earrings glinted in her lobes, her only concession to the festivities. She still wore her hair in her habitual steel grey bun at the back of her head though, highlighting the sweep of strong cheekbones. Shrewd eyes met Nythadri’s.

“No longer indecisive, I see,” she said after the guard had bowed and left. Her eyes were not unkind, but her expression was as serene as any woman who might have called the Tower home. “But perhaps still petulant.”

Nythadri laughed a little. “Still utterly unfair, Yui.”

“Is it? You have picked a very poor time for a visit, Nythadri Sedai,” the woman said.

“Fortunately I’m still not fond of parties,” she assured, and blood and bloody ashes but she had very little incentive to infiltrate this one in particular. It wasn’t why she’d come. But it did give her pause. Yui’s composure gave little away; she was statuesque, commanding, and for now quite silent in thoughtfulness. But the visit could only be poor if it was both unexpected and unwelcome. Which must mean Daryen was aware he’d receive no White Tower envoys for his ceremony, and had continued with his plans anyhow – or had not wanted any Aes Sedai as witnesses. She considered that carefully.

“I came to see Jai,” she added after a moment. Yui was too astute to have misunderstood the inference, but sometimes it paid to simply be blunt. She’d been missing for half the entire festivities after the hunt, and for the very same reason. Still, it made Nythadri feel foolish to say aloud. Else it was just down to the way her heart stirred inside her chest. Sentimentality was not something she usually wore on her sleeve; it made her feel vulnerable. She thought of Ellomai’s warning then. Even the gravest duty loosened its hold when she realised Jai might be in trouble. Of course, she hadn’t anticipated Yui would know how she broke rules for him. Again.

“I know,” was all she said in response. The woman's tone was so masterfully composed that for a moment Nythadri wondered at what it might hide. Was it possible it wasn't her presence here that was the problem, but who she had asked for? Something braced inside at the possibility.

“Yui, he didn’t do anything stupid today, did he?” It seemed a question Nythadri was doomed to repeat endlessly, so much so that for a moment she considered she might morbidly jest it for his epitaph at Moridrosin. If he had, she did not think even an inch of the palace would be as quiet as it was here now. Small solace. But she did not imagine he had found it easy either. Memories threatened to pinch her expression, and she tucked them away neatly. She ought to have been here, whatever Kaydrienne's directive. There were always ways around orders like that. At the very least she ought to have known. The mask of her expression was moonlight pale. She held herself carefully still.

She was afraid that when she saw him she would not want to leave.

“Everything has adhered to plan. Apart from the discrepancy before me.” A brow arched, though Yui did not seem accusatory so much as thoughtful. Her hands were laced at her front, the picture of majestic demurity. But whatever thoughts dwelt within, she appeared to reach a decision. “Don’t wander, Aes Sedai. It would not be wise tonight. Wait here, if you please.”

After she left Nythadri closed her eyes. 

Light. She ran a finger under the edge of her collar, wishing it did not rise quite so high. Not a bit of her skin seemed able to breathe in this heat. She pulled her dark curls over one shoulder, not that it offered much in the way of relief, and stood by one of the open arches leading to a veranda. Gauzy fabric in myriad colours draped each portal to the outside, but not a single essence of it stirred in the air. The sky darkened now, still blushed with fire, but the first stars were glistening in the deep.

No more than a few hours, she had promised Elly. She wasn’t sure how long they would make her wait. How long she could afford to wait. Light send the bloody man arrived quickly.