10-09-2017, 09:16 PM
The arches lining the corridor drew Jai's eye as they passed. The gallery framed a view of far stretched blue beyond in the daylight that now in darkness seemed to end abruptly as the curtain of night descended. If not for torch light caught in the sea winds it might have seemed as if the sky itself bound the manor with some blindfold. It felt isolated. A manor full of people, but in this last stretch, as isolated as the beach below. He stroked the hand cupped around his arm the whole length of their walk toward the light. For once with little to say. Having only lit a quiet smirk in response to Nythadri's proclamation about innocence.
The transition from dim solitude to rushed populace came fast. Warm flame momentarily seared his eyes with the sting of night-blindness, but the scent of spiced meats rumbled uncomfortably in his stomach. The court onto which they entered, usually calm and empty in quieter times was a nest of buzzing now. Almost immediately Jai scanned the shadowed roofline. An archer should be sitting ready on his hidden platform built into the tiles on either end, but though the Asha'man could not see them, he trusted they were there; unless Daryen reorganized security in the last week. He'd feel better if the hawks were a pair of Brothers, but any eyes were better than none at all.
Over the clatter of fork on plate the chatter of people cut the curtain of music. He murmured something about eating the first thing to land in front of him, slid his hand down her arm, and bid Nythadri farewell with a chivalrous kiss upon it. A message for the crowd. Not that he did not enjoy touching lips to her skin one last time. For her, he secreted a smirk and wink.
"Watch this,"
his lips lifted from her hand.
A parting nod and he fell into the crowd tugging his sleeves symmetrical as he went. There was no point disappointing the crowd of their expectations.
The lower tables were filled with notable men: acclaimed archers or generals dressed sharp in Domani uniform. Horse breeders and merchant traders were indistinguisable from the nobility. Among the lowborns at least. For the High every blue-blooded man and woman displayed the proud pins of their Houses, jeweled sigils otherwise missing on the merely wealthy persons. Around every Highborn was a bubble of matching color schemes: those of Lower Houses to whom they swore their service stayed close. The circles parted welcomes when Jai pressed their edges. From clapping one friendly shoulder to the gales of laughter erupting from others, he managed to borrow slivers of meat from nearly every plate, exclaim mountains of praise for the brave men that felled the beast on which they devoured, and moved on to the next campaign amid well wishes and calls that he return soon.
Strategy took him by those with the choicest smelling plates but the specific company mattered little. It was marketing as sure as he'd advise Jon to partake with Tar Valon's upper echelon. All a means to brighten his name on parting smiles of the influential and eventually snag some crystal brimming with effervescent promise on the other side. A goblet the Asha'man carried by hand rather than with his usual habit of the Power and deposited rather unceremoniously before the seated face of one Tamal Suaya.
The young Suaya brother was stretched out on a cushion of pillows and catered to his every need by three different women. So lounged, they draped sympathetic charms against the young Lord. Given the Domani their way, their attentions should distract quite well from the ache he imagined sloshing inside Tamal's rotund ankle.
Jai flashed the women an apologetic smile for interrupting, cast off their invitations to join in and nodded so deep for Tamal the gesture might have been a bow in sterner lands.
"Master Suaya. I'd hoped the sprain was not so bad as to deny gentle company your presence on the dance floor tonight."
Chagrined, Tamal flicked suspicious eyes onto the glass being gifted by the very man who half a day earlier meant to bury the two ends of his body in two separate graves. If Jai was so honorable a man as to care about digging graves. He wasn't. Birds needed to eat too.
Genuinely smiling, Jai left the gentle goblet in Tamal's tentative hands along with an explanation. "Don't worry, I came to offer apologies, not attempt a poisoning. You might have noticed..,"
the smile broadened for the sake of the three unfamilar but tempting, medicines surrounding the wounded warrior on all sides. "..I prefer something more flashy than mere poison in a wine goblet."
The ladies' anticipation glossed over with the humor to such an obvious joke, completely oblivious to the twist darkening Tamal's laughter.
"Another day perhaps. The vultures are well fed on this one. Apology accepted, friend."
Tamal dripped with taunting sarcasm, and bravely sipped a toast to their newfound truce.
Jai caught the first stage of a scowl thinning Tamal's lips sinister before he left the lordling's lounged off little kingdom. The show did not go unnoticed. Acceptance rippled many amenable faces his way from among those who'd witnessed the Asha'man's heartfelt gesture to smooth over the misunderstanding that Daryen so nobly broke up earlier that day. Jai wove welcomed back among them. So leaving the incapacitated Tamal behind, defenseless to undermine Jai's efforts with a campaign of his own. The walls of the dark gorge of mistrust he was stuck in widened a bit more. Neutralizing the apprehension born from sane men's fears by shining some heroic, and humble, light into the shadows. Rightful fears; not that he blamed them, but light was light. And every charming smile he tossed their way burned away another mistrusting emotion. He hoped it would be enough.
Sympathetic women swarmed in to inquire after his leg while chattering on about the dangerous pursuits of men foolishly playing at archery they ought not. Friendly jests from friends punched his sore shoulder for his lack of riding skill reminded them of the fall from a Razor.
""Flashiest horse that's ever thrown me."
He answered loud amid the bursts of laughter. They did not care it was not War Cry who slammed him to the dirt. Rolling his shoulder around in its sore socket added a much needed visual. The wince was genuine. Gentle hands gawked at the behavior of men and Jai found himself lassoed in a circle of women stroking his sleeves, smiling, and insisting he see a Wise Woman as soon as possible. And that he submit to nothing less than doing exactly what she said. His inquires after what they suggested he do here and now was met with ideas innumerable depending on who spoke up the loudest. Such was their babying he had to grab more than one pair of inebriated hands before they flung back his coat, untucked his shirt, and checked the damage for themselves. Not that he fought too hard.
He hated to snake out of their clutches, but the attention he purchased was worth the price. Tender fingers curled into the crook of his elbow. So like Nythadri had held his arm. And he turned toward it, only to swallow a speck of disappointment that it was not her who greeted him. "Jai,"
said the Lady Nisele's sultry voice, deep as the flavor of the sea roaring onto the far beach below. As ever her dark eyes were rimmed with the smokey mystery applied with kohl, blinking their sultry suggestions the long way up to his. Gone was the svelte, sinuous creature of that day parading around her tailor's exceptional skill to mold riding clothes into a work of art. Replaced now was a daughter of nighttime. She wore deep red silk from her neck and draped it fully covered to the ground beneath. Her loose hair curled full down to the base of her spine. His eyes fought the whole way down, but sheer opacity drew them against his better judgement. So suggestive was her dress clinging to her every curve that a blind man couldn't miss it. The crimson silk misting light as clouds over her skin was swirled with long streaks of darker, bloodred rivers suggesting the curl of a man's hands upon her hips to pull her closer. Her ears held bright aqua stones. Clear as the shallow sea at mid day. And set in enough diamonds to tempt nations toward war just to win them. She was slender and graceful. As much sun as Jai's skin had seen these last few years, her heart-shaped face was blessed with the kiss of a true born Domani tan. Her lips glistened with whatever she'd just sipped, inviting him for a taste.
"My Lady..."
His smile demonstrated his apparent appreciation for the Creator's skill in crafting such a creature. Doubly that he'd been the one to catch her eye. She came closer, and he glanced to see who was watching, but he did not step away. It grew to a full grin as he led her toward less crowded floorspace. The music had changed its tempo. So timed, he almost wondered if he'd snapped the musicians a few coins in his favor. "...Dance?"
"If you think you can keep up with me, my dear foreign Asha'man."
Any fear harbored since the hunt apparently dissolved, she accepted his courteous bow as fair warning and fell unresistant into his arms. She felt like the wind. As he led her through the swaying steps of a noble's dance perfect enough to make his mother proud, he felt her loosen as one who'd finally given herself over to the moment. The wealthiest veins in Tar Valon may not course with noble blood, but they knew how to throw an event to be remembered for years to come. The youngest, and most charming he liked to think, of the Kojima brothers won over many a matriarch shopping for new investment brokers with the same bait. Jai and Nisele were not alone, but between the turns and steps aside, they smoothly avoided those summoned from the low tables to join in. As for those honored hosts on the raised platform he managed to avoid finding any one pair of eyes. If Nisele had indeed fashioned her choice of attire after the woman residing in the seat of honor beside the King's, Jai had no desire to draw out whatever rivalry existed between them. Not until he was sure Nisele believed he was willing to play her game. He was busy enough watching Nisele watch Daryen. Let alone time out when to hold her too close when they knew the King would see the trick. All the while letting Nisele think Jai to be the fool caught between them. Blood and ashes, it was exhausting to keep track of it all.
They parted the closest of friends. He knew one dance would do it. Including the anticipation leading up to it. Such crescendos were vital for women. One dance and a few choice whispers afterward spread Nisele's lips with the promise she discover the identity of whichever foreign dancing master let such talent go wasted by the Black Tower. Parting Jai's was the promise to let her investigate anything she wished, much to her chagrin. Then to cast the real object of her desire a challenging look that he intervene. Daryen only looked at Nisele with that charming, slightly suggestive grin of his and bowed out. Jai flinched to think the gamble was lost. Until the king cast a look over his shoulder when perhaps Jai and Nisele should not have seen it. Flawlessly timed, his tension dissolved near to laughter as Nisele's dark eyes glinted with victory, thinking the King vindictive and jealous. Jai knew otherwise. Trust him; right. How long the man had known Nisele's plot was beyond him. How he knew Jai upped the stakes by staying in the game when he'd been acting as though he folded long ago, Light as his witness, he may never understand such brilliance. He watched the guy walk away until the gauzy shoulders and flashy grin was swallowed up by the shoulders of adoring subjects once more. Was that a circlet glinting power in his pale hair? Light.
Jai's shoulder meanwhile reminded him all too quietly it was too sore to let him join the races. Although his loud oaths proclaimed fairness for all that he remain excluded. He hated to ruin all their fun by turning good men into sore losers then walk away with their hard earned gold. Games of chance, though! Those he had no problem sweeping. And came away a few pounds richer. Chance was statistics, after all. And nobody counted equations faster than him. Not that he hurt for gold these days. Nor wanted to waste pocket space with the burden. So those coins always ended up as generous tips in the palms of servants bringing him new mounds of food and drink.
It was a man stumbling with the first touches of inebriation, constantly laughing at every bad joke, lingering friendly hands on the shoulders of his fellows, and beginning to lose the games which finally caught a grateful chair. Scraped clear across the raised platform by ropes of the Power. Planted armrest to armrest none too gently against another. The very seat harboring the mysterious guest everyone whispered about. He fell into it as the last of a tired chuckle escaped. He rolled his head back and found the stars dimmed by torchlight. The moon sunk smaller in the sky since it chaperoned his innocent walk on the beach. He ripped away from memory some moments later and turned toward Daryen's mystery woman.
Exhausting the wolves' attentions since the kiss on Nythadri's hand paid off. They seemed to pay no mind to the spotlight illuminating the stranger warming his seat. As some had whispered, she had a seanchan look about her: the raven black hair, eyes sanctified by death's caresses, skin pale as white sand, small as a kitten. She was striking enough to win any bed she sought. Jealousy aside, Jai hesitated to believe such whispers placed her in Daryen's. When Jai's all too sober eyes fell on her tiny red shape he could hardly blame the guy for not kicking her out of the sheets if she were in them. But the study was sequential and memorizing. Far from the display of appreciation he'd given Nisele. Word fluctuated as to whether the stranger or Nisele debuted first this evening in such a color, but clearly one was threatened by the presence of the other to be so matched. Nisele hardly wore a blade, but every wise man knew women didn't need steel to do some damage. He grinned to see so simple a weapon sitting dormant at the stranger lady's waist. After pushing the blood through every ache and bruise this evening, he had no desire to taste its business end tonight. He did, however, intend to learn which side of the field it defended.
"Evening. I don't know about you, but I am bloody exhausted."
His grin faded with intent, tame but waiting under the surface. "It's a good view up here. Your first time? It must be, I don't think I could forget someone like you."
Hearing it said that way, Jai couldn't help but laugh. That probably wasn't the wisest way to put it. But, despite the false show of inebriation, he actually was tired. And much effort had to be invested in a woman to not offend her. By now, he was well ready to get to the point. "What I mean is. Jai."
He waved a hand up and down himself. A sportive, albeit tired, presentation to match that conspicuous grin. "It's a pleasure. So, who the blazes are you?"
He pulled away from studying her cold expression to cast swift eyes toward the roofline. A few shadowy corners. And the crowd for anyone that might care about his proximity to so important a stranger. Which appeared to be nobody. Saidin, unchanneled but still held from wrenching the chair, swarmed with the threat of a building storm. Ready to be put to good use.
The transition from dim solitude to rushed populace came fast. Warm flame momentarily seared his eyes with the sting of night-blindness, but the scent of spiced meats rumbled uncomfortably in his stomach. The court onto which they entered, usually calm and empty in quieter times was a nest of buzzing now. Almost immediately Jai scanned the shadowed roofline. An archer should be sitting ready on his hidden platform built into the tiles on either end, but though the Asha'man could not see them, he trusted they were there; unless Daryen reorganized security in the last week. He'd feel better if the hawks were a pair of Brothers, but any eyes were better than none at all.
Over the clatter of fork on plate the chatter of people cut the curtain of music. He murmured something about eating the first thing to land in front of him, slid his hand down her arm, and bid Nythadri farewell with a chivalrous kiss upon it. A message for the crowd. Not that he did not enjoy touching lips to her skin one last time. For her, he secreted a smirk and wink.
"Watch this,"
his lips lifted from her hand.
A parting nod and he fell into the crowd tugging his sleeves symmetrical as he went. There was no point disappointing the crowd of their expectations.
The lower tables were filled with notable men: acclaimed archers or generals dressed sharp in Domani uniform. Horse breeders and merchant traders were indistinguisable from the nobility. Among the lowborns at least. For the High every blue-blooded man and woman displayed the proud pins of their Houses, jeweled sigils otherwise missing on the merely wealthy persons. Around every Highborn was a bubble of matching color schemes: those of Lower Houses to whom they swore their service stayed close. The circles parted welcomes when Jai pressed their edges. From clapping one friendly shoulder to the gales of laughter erupting from others, he managed to borrow slivers of meat from nearly every plate, exclaim mountains of praise for the brave men that felled the beast on which they devoured, and moved on to the next campaign amid well wishes and calls that he return soon.
Strategy took him by those with the choicest smelling plates but the specific company mattered little. It was marketing as sure as he'd advise Jon to partake with Tar Valon's upper echelon. All a means to brighten his name on parting smiles of the influential and eventually snag some crystal brimming with effervescent promise on the other side. A goblet the Asha'man carried by hand rather than with his usual habit of the Power and deposited rather unceremoniously before the seated face of one Tamal Suaya.
The young Suaya brother was stretched out on a cushion of pillows and catered to his every need by three different women. So lounged, they draped sympathetic charms against the young Lord. Given the Domani their way, their attentions should distract quite well from the ache he imagined sloshing inside Tamal's rotund ankle.
Jai flashed the women an apologetic smile for interrupting, cast off their invitations to join in and nodded so deep for Tamal the gesture might have been a bow in sterner lands.
"Master Suaya. I'd hoped the sprain was not so bad as to deny gentle company your presence on the dance floor tonight."
Chagrined, Tamal flicked suspicious eyes onto the glass being gifted by the very man who half a day earlier meant to bury the two ends of his body in two separate graves. If Jai was so honorable a man as to care about digging graves. He wasn't. Birds needed to eat too.
Genuinely smiling, Jai left the gentle goblet in Tamal's tentative hands along with an explanation. "Don't worry, I came to offer apologies, not attempt a poisoning. You might have noticed..,"
the smile broadened for the sake of the three unfamilar but tempting, medicines surrounding the wounded warrior on all sides. "..I prefer something more flashy than mere poison in a wine goblet."
The ladies' anticipation glossed over with the humor to such an obvious joke, completely oblivious to the twist darkening Tamal's laughter.
"Another day perhaps. The vultures are well fed on this one. Apology accepted, friend."
Tamal dripped with taunting sarcasm, and bravely sipped a toast to their newfound truce.
Jai caught the first stage of a scowl thinning Tamal's lips sinister before he left the lordling's lounged off little kingdom. The show did not go unnoticed. Acceptance rippled many amenable faces his way from among those who'd witnessed the Asha'man's heartfelt gesture to smooth over the misunderstanding that Daryen so nobly broke up earlier that day. Jai wove welcomed back among them. So leaving the incapacitated Tamal behind, defenseless to undermine Jai's efforts with a campaign of his own. The walls of the dark gorge of mistrust he was stuck in widened a bit more. Neutralizing the apprehension born from sane men's fears by shining some heroic, and humble, light into the shadows. Rightful fears; not that he blamed them, but light was light. And every charming smile he tossed their way burned away another mistrusting emotion. He hoped it would be enough.
Sympathetic women swarmed in to inquire after his leg while chattering on about the dangerous pursuits of men foolishly playing at archery they ought not. Friendly jests from friends punched his sore shoulder for his lack of riding skill reminded them of the fall from a Razor.
""Flashiest horse that's ever thrown me."
He answered loud amid the bursts of laughter. They did not care it was not War Cry who slammed him to the dirt. Rolling his shoulder around in its sore socket added a much needed visual. The wince was genuine. Gentle hands gawked at the behavior of men and Jai found himself lassoed in a circle of women stroking his sleeves, smiling, and insisting he see a Wise Woman as soon as possible. And that he submit to nothing less than doing exactly what she said. His inquires after what they suggested he do here and now was met with ideas innumerable depending on who spoke up the loudest. Such was their babying he had to grab more than one pair of inebriated hands before they flung back his coat, untucked his shirt, and checked the damage for themselves. Not that he fought too hard.
He hated to snake out of their clutches, but the attention he purchased was worth the price. Tender fingers curled into the crook of his elbow. So like Nythadri had held his arm. And he turned toward it, only to swallow a speck of disappointment that it was not her who greeted him. "Jai,"
said the Lady Nisele's sultry voice, deep as the flavor of the sea roaring onto the far beach below. As ever her dark eyes were rimmed with the smokey mystery applied with kohl, blinking their sultry suggestions the long way up to his. Gone was the svelte, sinuous creature of that day parading around her tailor's exceptional skill to mold riding clothes into a work of art. Replaced now was a daughter of nighttime. She wore deep red silk from her neck and draped it fully covered to the ground beneath. Her loose hair curled full down to the base of her spine. His eyes fought the whole way down, but sheer opacity drew them against his better judgement. So suggestive was her dress clinging to her every curve that a blind man couldn't miss it. The crimson silk misting light as clouds over her skin was swirled with long streaks of darker, bloodred rivers suggesting the curl of a man's hands upon her hips to pull her closer. Her ears held bright aqua stones. Clear as the shallow sea at mid day. And set in enough diamonds to tempt nations toward war just to win them. She was slender and graceful. As much sun as Jai's skin had seen these last few years, her heart-shaped face was blessed with the kiss of a true born Domani tan. Her lips glistened with whatever she'd just sipped, inviting him for a taste.
"My Lady..."
His smile demonstrated his apparent appreciation for the Creator's skill in crafting such a creature. Doubly that he'd been the one to catch her eye. She came closer, and he glanced to see who was watching, but he did not step away. It grew to a full grin as he led her toward less crowded floorspace. The music had changed its tempo. So timed, he almost wondered if he'd snapped the musicians a few coins in his favor. "...Dance?"
"If you think you can keep up with me, my dear foreign Asha'man."
Any fear harbored since the hunt apparently dissolved, she accepted his courteous bow as fair warning and fell unresistant into his arms. She felt like the wind. As he led her through the swaying steps of a noble's dance perfect enough to make his mother proud, he felt her loosen as one who'd finally given herself over to the moment. The wealthiest veins in Tar Valon may not course with noble blood, but they knew how to throw an event to be remembered for years to come. The youngest, and most charming he liked to think, of the Kojima brothers won over many a matriarch shopping for new investment brokers with the same bait. Jai and Nisele were not alone, but between the turns and steps aside, they smoothly avoided those summoned from the low tables to join in. As for those honored hosts on the raised platform he managed to avoid finding any one pair of eyes. If Nisele had indeed fashioned her choice of attire after the woman residing in the seat of honor beside the King's, Jai had no desire to draw out whatever rivalry existed between them. Not until he was sure Nisele believed he was willing to play her game. He was busy enough watching Nisele watch Daryen. Let alone time out when to hold her too close when they knew the King would see the trick. All the while letting Nisele think Jai to be the fool caught between them. Blood and ashes, it was exhausting to keep track of it all.
They parted the closest of friends. He knew one dance would do it. Including the anticipation leading up to it. Such crescendos were vital for women. One dance and a few choice whispers afterward spread Nisele's lips with the promise she discover the identity of whichever foreign dancing master let such talent go wasted by the Black Tower. Parting Jai's was the promise to let her investigate anything she wished, much to her chagrin. Then to cast the real object of her desire a challenging look that he intervene. Daryen only looked at Nisele with that charming, slightly suggestive grin of his and bowed out. Jai flinched to think the gamble was lost. Until the king cast a look over his shoulder when perhaps Jai and Nisele should not have seen it. Flawlessly timed, his tension dissolved near to laughter as Nisele's dark eyes glinted with victory, thinking the King vindictive and jealous. Jai knew otherwise. Trust him; right. How long the man had known Nisele's plot was beyond him. How he knew Jai upped the stakes by staying in the game when he'd been acting as though he folded long ago, Light as his witness, he may never understand such brilliance. He watched the guy walk away until the gauzy shoulders and flashy grin was swallowed up by the shoulders of adoring subjects once more. Was that a circlet glinting power in his pale hair? Light.
Jai's shoulder meanwhile reminded him all too quietly it was too sore to let him join the races. Although his loud oaths proclaimed fairness for all that he remain excluded. He hated to ruin all their fun by turning good men into sore losers then walk away with their hard earned gold. Games of chance, though! Those he had no problem sweeping. And came away a few pounds richer. Chance was statistics, after all. And nobody counted equations faster than him. Not that he hurt for gold these days. Nor wanted to waste pocket space with the burden. So those coins always ended up as generous tips in the palms of servants bringing him new mounds of food and drink.
It was a man stumbling with the first touches of inebriation, constantly laughing at every bad joke, lingering friendly hands on the shoulders of his fellows, and beginning to lose the games which finally caught a grateful chair. Scraped clear across the raised platform by ropes of the Power. Planted armrest to armrest none too gently against another. The very seat harboring the mysterious guest everyone whispered about. He fell into it as the last of a tired chuckle escaped. He rolled his head back and found the stars dimmed by torchlight. The moon sunk smaller in the sky since it chaperoned his innocent walk on the beach. He ripped away from memory some moments later and turned toward Daryen's mystery woman.
Exhausting the wolves' attentions since the kiss on Nythadri's hand paid off. They seemed to pay no mind to the spotlight illuminating the stranger warming his seat. As some had whispered, she had a seanchan look about her: the raven black hair, eyes sanctified by death's caresses, skin pale as white sand, small as a kitten. She was striking enough to win any bed she sought. Jealousy aside, Jai hesitated to believe such whispers placed her in Daryen's. When Jai's all too sober eyes fell on her tiny red shape he could hardly blame the guy for not kicking her out of the sheets if she were in them. But the study was sequential and memorizing. Far from the display of appreciation he'd given Nisele. Word fluctuated as to whether the stranger or Nisele debuted first this evening in such a color, but clearly one was threatened by the presence of the other to be so matched. Nisele hardly wore a blade, but every wise man knew women didn't need steel to do some damage. He grinned to see so simple a weapon sitting dormant at the stranger lady's waist. After pushing the blood through every ache and bruise this evening, he had no desire to taste its business end tonight. He did, however, intend to learn which side of the field it defended.
"Evening. I don't know about you, but I am bloody exhausted."
His grin faded with intent, tame but waiting under the surface. "It's a good view up here. Your first time? It must be, I don't think I could forget someone like you."
Hearing it said that way, Jai couldn't help but laugh. That probably wasn't the wisest way to put it. But, despite the false show of inebriation, he actually was tired. And much effort had to be invested in a woman to not offend her. By now, he was well ready to get to the point. "What I mean is. Jai."
He waved a hand up and down himself. A sportive, albeit tired, presentation to match that conspicuous grin. "It's a pleasure. So, who the blazes are you?"
He pulled away from studying her cold expression to cast swift eyes toward the roofline. A few shadowy corners. And the crowd for anyone that might care about his proximity to so important a stranger. Which appeared to be nobody. Saidin, unchanneled but still held from wrenching the chair, swarmed with the threat of a building storm. Ready to be put to good use.
Only darkness shows you the light.