The Wheel Weaves A Chance Meeting

[Faith]

Faedre Sedai, Blue Ajah

When Kira took her hands she felt warmth. The sound of her own name on the other’s lips was as intimate as an embrace – something neither of them could indulge in public, privacy shield or not. And the words - those words - settled into a corner of her heart that had been kept hollow and bare. Her fingers squeezed back. She didn't say anything, mostly because she was clearly basking in the moment. Her eyes were soft as she looked back.

The affection stilled her like a flower focused only on the sun. It always did. The Tower had been difficult for Faedre for a variety of reasons, most of which Kira could never know. But the friendship which fought through adversity to form and finally blossomed into comfort had been sustaining over the years. Its memory still was, for Faedre. They were supposed to let those things go, of course; what was acknowledged as youthful dalliance as a trainee was not so acceptable once the weight of the shawl was on their shoulders. Aes Sedai formed no attachments, even to each other. Officially anyway. The brief touches between them spoke a different language.

But it wasn't a reunion entirely without sting, either. Which was the other reason she said nothing. Because Kira had left.

She was an Aes Sedai, and Faedre had still been an Accepted, so of course natural hierarchy forbade her from having any opinion on a sister's decision to travel. That was beyond Kira’s control. But thinking about it still sharpened the blade in her gut, and in its pain she relived the moment she'd realised she had been left in the Tower utterly alone. The very first thing Kira had done once she could was flee in order to resolve the lingering loose threads of her old life, and while Faedre knew without being told exactly why she had, she also knew Kira could have waited. They hadn't even been permitted to talk about it.

To deepen the injury, it seemed Kira had not even come back alone. It did not take a mind of Faedre’s sharpness to suspect the man who had sparred with Shiro was Kira’s Warder.

“A lot has changed here. How much has Aranea told you?”

Yellows were typically lax with knowledge outside of their craft. She didn't know if it would even matter to them that a Red had taken the Amyrlin Seat in such a way as Kekura had, for while Kaydrienne’s execution was certainly unusual, the coup itself had been bloodless. None of the Yellow Sitters had changed either, aside from Nyrekell’s recent retirement, so they must have been among the Ajahs to support it in the Hall. In fact, among the less common gossip Faedre had gleaned was that Esenya Sedai herself had spoken against Kaydrienne. Though the most salacious rumour by far was that Kekura’s entire machination had centred around a man. An Asha’man too.

“Some things haven't, though.” Her fingers caressed where they were held, and she shifted to cradle Kira’s hand in both of her own. She accepted the apology; knew the words came from the heart, and felt them. In response Faedre wore forgiveness like a mask, and it was seamless. Empathy was perhaps the most important of the tools Audrek had honed in her. There was nothing duplicitous in her now, just the fact it was second nature to her: a desire to be pleasing. Kira had hurt her, but she was also back now.