09-12-2016, 02:09 PM
Nythadri resisted the urge to reread the note Yui had given her, but her fingers still tested its folded edges as she stepped into heat and sunlight. At least she had physical proof of permission to be so far from the Tower, for as the Gate winked closed and foreign landscape stretched behind she realised the enormity of distance separating her from what had essentially become home…
And how dangerous a feeling to witness the snap of those chains and the freedom it beckoned.
A shiver touched her skin despite the strong heat, but she thought Fate would have anticipated that. Not only Aes Sedai, and a Sitter besides, the woman was renowned for taming the wildest of horses. And right now Nythadri wanted to run, despite the iron weight of the serpent ring and all the oaths she had made to the Tower. It would not be the first time she had run from duty, nor probably the last time she would feel the call of escape.
A touch on the arm brought her back, and the wistfulness of her expression receded to something dull and vacant. Ahead, the two men had already begun to walk the path to the house. They knew each other, clearly, a fact cemented further by the gold cast of Jai’s skin; he was familiar with these climes. So I am the stranger here. Faint feelings of ensnarement once more circled the blank of her mask, like waiting predators in the gloom. There was no fear, testament to her trust in the Tower, but if the Asha’man had been knowingly involved in the path that led her here she felt grieved to have misjudged what she had thought had been a spark of kinship.
Pale eyes refocused from the broad black back of the Asha’man, and whatever thoughts he inspired were for now banished. Yui’s manner did not demand compliance, but expected it in a firm and familiar way. With nothing to do but follow and use the time to organise her thoughts, it was easy to step within her Accepted role and simply soak in her surroundings and the explanations offered her. The woman spoke in a manner that appeared to impart little, but in fact told much - if one were listening properly, as one brought up in a den of daes dae’mar inevitably did.
Of course, the more interesting conversation continued ahead, snippets passed down on the faint appeasing breezes. As Yui’s instructions faded, and with little to say in return, she paid more apparent attention to her surroundings, and could not help but hear a little of what was said. Not that she would admit to it. She did not gape like a tourist, though she had never been this far south, but certainly showed more interest than she had shown in the austere beauty of the Tower. Sweat trickled a path between her shoulder blades, the thick raven hair curling down her back already feeling sticky and uncomfortable. Such oppressive heat.
As though tempered by the stifling warmth, Nythadri’s initial hostilities began to melt, if only because she recognised the value of an ally - and one who might have more to say of Jai than he would tell of himself, though those questions would take subtlety that could wait; Accepted were not supposed to pay undue attention to men. In the short walk from the Gate to the dark-wood door her intention to fight this diversion with every fibre of her being faded, and tension eased to curious acceptance.
Though Yui was again speaking, it was difficult not to watch Jai. The intensity of his expression she recognised immediately, so brief a time had passed since she had last seen its likeness. If nothing else, it assured her he was not complicit in whatever intentions Fate had in bringing Nythadri here; he was as cornered as she, and far less adept at hiding it. The way his eyes moved – not with the fear of a trapped animal, but with the intense and instinctive purpose of a soldier – incited both curiosity and concern. There was something wild in him that was beginning to form shape in her mind, like he spent his life teetered on a cliff-edge. When his gaze landed on her she felt an urge to appease his distress with a smile, but she did not. Ice-pale eyes simply watched to see what he would do.
The moment passed. She was not keen to intrude upon this reunion of friends, and her hand rested on the door handle. But not before noting Daryen’s look. Beyond the pleasantries of acknowledgement, since it was clearly his fellow Asha’man he was here to meet, he had paid little attention Nythadri – which was what she expected, given the chasm of their ranks. Now she felt distinctly like she had crossed his radar. But why? Her attention returned to Yui. A wry smile lifted her lips, the first lightening of her expression since setting foot on Domani soil.
“I’m boiling alive in his dress, if I might be excused.”
And how dangerous a feeling to witness the snap of those chains and the freedom it beckoned.
A shiver touched her skin despite the strong heat, but she thought Fate would have anticipated that. Not only Aes Sedai, and a Sitter besides, the woman was renowned for taming the wildest of horses. And right now Nythadri wanted to run, despite the iron weight of the serpent ring and all the oaths she had made to the Tower. It would not be the first time she had run from duty, nor probably the last time she would feel the call of escape.
A touch on the arm brought her back, and the wistfulness of her expression receded to something dull and vacant. Ahead, the two men had already begun to walk the path to the house. They knew each other, clearly, a fact cemented further by the gold cast of Jai’s skin; he was familiar with these climes. So I am the stranger here. Faint feelings of ensnarement once more circled the blank of her mask, like waiting predators in the gloom. There was no fear, testament to her trust in the Tower, but if the Asha’man had been knowingly involved in the path that led her here she felt grieved to have misjudged what she had thought had been a spark of kinship.
Pale eyes refocused from the broad black back of the Asha’man, and whatever thoughts he inspired were for now banished. Yui’s manner did not demand compliance, but expected it in a firm and familiar way. With nothing to do but follow and use the time to organise her thoughts, it was easy to step within her Accepted role and simply soak in her surroundings and the explanations offered her. The woman spoke in a manner that appeared to impart little, but in fact told much - if one were listening properly, as one brought up in a den of daes dae’mar inevitably did.
Of course, the more interesting conversation continued ahead, snippets passed down on the faint appeasing breezes. As Yui’s instructions faded, and with little to say in return, she paid more apparent attention to her surroundings, and could not help but hear a little of what was said. Not that she would admit to it. She did not gape like a tourist, though she had never been this far south, but certainly showed more interest than she had shown in the austere beauty of the Tower. Sweat trickled a path between her shoulder blades, the thick raven hair curling down her back already feeling sticky and uncomfortable. Such oppressive heat.
As though tempered by the stifling warmth, Nythadri’s initial hostilities began to melt, if only because she recognised the value of an ally - and one who might have more to say of Jai than he would tell of himself, though those questions would take subtlety that could wait; Accepted were not supposed to pay undue attention to men. In the short walk from the Gate to the dark-wood door her intention to fight this diversion with every fibre of her being faded, and tension eased to curious acceptance.
Though Yui was again speaking, it was difficult not to watch Jai. The intensity of his expression she recognised immediately, so brief a time had passed since she had last seen its likeness. If nothing else, it assured her he was not complicit in whatever intentions Fate had in bringing Nythadri here; he was as cornered as she, and far less adept at hiding it. The way his eyes moved – not with the fear of a trapped animal, but with the intense and instinctive purpose of a soldier – incited both curiosity and concern. There was something wild in him that was beginning to form shape in her mind, like he spent his life teetered on a cliff-edge. When his gaze landed on her she felt an urge to appease his distress with a smile, but she did not. Ice-pale eyes simply watched to see what he would do.
The moment passed. She was not keen to intrude upon this reunion of friends, and her hand rested on the door handle. But not before noting Daryen’s look. Beyond the pleasantries of acknowledgement, since it was clearly his fellow Asha’man he was here to meet, he had paid little attention Nythadri – which was what she expected, given the chasm of their ranks. Now she felt distinctly like she had crossed his radar. But why? Her attention returned to Yui. A wry smile lifted her lips, the first lightening of her expression since setting foot on Domani soil.
“I’m boiling alive in his dress, if I might be excused.”