Fanfic:Broken Servants
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The sun rose high overhead signaling the hour of the day. Beneath the canopy of Tower-grown trees the tiresome heat was less dominating, but sweat liberally dampened Val's collar. Breaking away from the men hadn't been difficult—even with their newfound respect for him most had little time for awkward silences or unfounded questions about their previous lives. It was a thing that Valadin quickly noticed: once one became accustomed to Grey Tower life, they rarely wished to revisit the memories of their old one.
This suited him just fine. Other than honing their ability to channel most men committed themselves to relaxing in the spare time they had between duties. Few ever indulged in Stones and fewer still found solace amongst vast maze of fauna that faced the Mountains of the Mist.
Even from so far a distance the dull roar of a waterfall echoed mightily through Tower din. The sound momentarily diverted thoughts to a meeting that took place not long ago. I wonder how Asha'man Durent and Maegan Sedai are doing, Val thought as he thumbed the soft violet petal of a blooming lilac.
Such plants had no place in Andor; especially not with the Shadow's touch cooking everything beneath the sun. Not for the first time Val marveled at the One Power's utility. Many recalled the time when it had been used to dominate battlefields of the past—the Breaking of the World had been such an age. To have lived through the wanton destruction of mad men rending earth and flesh with impunity shook the core of hearts of men. That fear ingrained in the survivors of that time still burned strong in the simple folk...Rightly so if the rumors ‘bout that battle near Tar Valon awhile back are true. Creator...
In his anxiety his hand twitched slightly. The harsh treatment of the plant was enough to pull away its petal. Sadness at the defilement of the flower clouded Val's expression and a moment of weakness found him as he considered trying to channel it back to its original form before thinking better on it. Ask Nykk. She'll know what to do.
Dressed in the drab grey tunic Tower tunic and black cow hide breeches he felt overwhelmingly underdressed to entertain an Aes Sedai. Didn't help any that his collar was soaked from the warmth of the day. Nearby the heavy black Asha'man coat hung upon a shrub was a constant reminder of who he was and who he'd always be. Pacing impatiently as he awaited the arrival of his guest and his attention fell on his rugged boots with the earth crusted soles. More bloody property of the Tower, he griped to himself. Blight take me if I get somethin' decent to wear for a Lady!
No sooner had the thought passed his mind shame filled him.
Duty was why he was here. Of the lessons he'd learned since reluctantly being recruited to the Grey Tower; that was the most dominating theme. As a man who could channel, it was his responsibility to fight against the Shadow, to always protect the Light including his Brothers and Sisters. All worldly distractions were to be forsaken to that end—that was the lesson burned into every Novice, Soldier, and Drin'far'ji when they passed through gateway from Hama Valon. It was an oath Valadin had come to draw strength from when facing the impossible. He hoped he'd never question his duty and as of yet nothing had tested him.
Well, nuthin' ‘cept her...
Again his thoughts drifted back to the Aes Sedai he'd met only nights before: Nykkolaia Zeran Sedai.
That evening, even looking back now, was like something from a fever dream. Running an anxious hand through his hair, Val shook the wetness away in disgust and cursed the sun above for its incessant beaming. Nerves. They rumbled in the pit of his stomach and encased his chest in ice. The subsequent nights after their first meeting had been pleasant, but when he'd sent an anonymous missive seeking her company a fortnight ago and heard nothing, the stab of rejection nearly drove him into a frenzy. For a week he foolishly tested Dedicated and Asha'man alike with the headstrongness of an unbroken stallion. The Master of Soldiers had seen him more times in that period than all the previous Tower months combined; and Val had paid dearly for every visit. The Healed strips of flesh that had been taken from him still tingled whenever he moved too quickly.
Finally a three-word reply found him during lunch the previous day: "Tomorrow at High."
Naturally no name was ascribed to the note, but Val's heart soared at the words. The rest of the evening had been an indiscernible blur and the better part of the day lacked anything of note; only this meeting held any real place in his thoughts. Pacing more quickly, he spared transitioning glances between the sun he couldn't see through branches overhead to the soft, fertile soil of the Garden.
Had she forgotten?
No, Nykk ain't a bloody fool. She knows what she's about. The assurance served as paltry relief for uneasiness welling up within him. Perhaps he'd been a fool to risk so much for a Sister...maybe she didn't...[b]No[/b]. Just bloody wait, burn you!
A rustle from a nearby bush whirled him around on the balls of his feet, the fluid movement an effortless result of hard hours training in the Yards. Instinctively Val's hand reached for a sword that wasn't there,
"Nykk—Nykkolaia Sedai?" he called out uncertainly.
"Yes," the voice of the Blue called back with its usual edge, soft-spoken verging on flat.
Although it would seem otherwise to others, the time of an Aes Sedai was not necessarily always her own. There had been tasks and obligations that had filled her moments before she was able to reply to the unsigned but not unknown missive. Once she had a moment that was clear and "safe," also matching up with a time he would be able to achieve, she sent her reply.
It had been quite a secluded area, though, which she was grateful for but it also reminded her of the...illicit feeling of the meeting as well. A part of her continued to tell her that she shouldn't be here at all, but the greater part of her would not listen to the very idea of being anywhere else. Not when she was this close to having...someone, anyone, who could understand her.
Brushing back the foliage, she slipped through. "Valadin?" she called quietly and then her pale eyes fell on him and that faint smile curved at the edges of her mouth. "I'm glad I was able to find you."
Nykk emerged from the shrubbery, calling Val's name as well as greeting him. Her clear water eyes took him in smoothly while her lips curved at some secret joke. For a time her form and presence in the Garden dominated everything else. Smells that hadn't been noticeable before filled him, their sweet aroma pulling him toward her. Valadin tried to return the greeting, but only managed a hoarse croak as emotion choked the words back down his throat. Instead he bowed stiffly, a weak smile to answer her own while he struggled to collect himself. Light, she smells good. Or maybe it's the flowers, but look at her! Focus. Focus.
Taking up the Void, Val found solidarity. The discordant notes of his racing heart and bated breath finally settled. By the time he straightened to full height once more, he'd managed to regain control of himself. "Apologies," he said, taking careful steps towards her. "Hadn't thought much about where n' how to meet. Didn't think it'd be hard to find—reckon that was the point though."
While he spoke he looked everywhere except at her. Even in the Void, any thought towards Nykk trembled the objective serenity that it granted him; it seemed in all things she was too vivid to simply ignore. Having nothing else to say, Valadin turned fully towards her. He hadn't noticed when he'd gotten so close to her. Now both of them stood less than an arm's length from the other's side. It felt like there was a gentle force that pulled at them, inexplicably drawing them close without their notice; it had been the same that evening. An urge would rise to hold Nykk as he knew he couldn't and suddenly she'd be within his grasp, her face close enough to brush his fingers along the scars left by her past.
A willow's limber branch hung down and swiped at them with a limb of healthy green leaves. Val swatted the foliage away absently, his concentration on the Sister before him. No, the woman. She's a woman just like any other...better'n most too.
Without meaning to, he found himself openly studying the rest of her. There was nothing overtly dazzling about Nykk. In many ways she was muted, controlled as if to avoid too much attention from others. Yet a fine gown would do well to accentuate her womanhood. Fleeting memories of smooth skin against his touch roused desires left unsated.
Warmth rushed to his cheeks that and this time he couldn't blame the blighted heat. Lifting his head sharply in hopes no offense had been given, Val found a place for them to sit. With a gesture he ushered the Aes Sedai in that direction while they spoke.
"I hope you've been well. I...I..." Burn you, just say it! "I missed you!" Val finally blurted out and felt his jaw spasm when he clamped his mouth shut.
He said no more while offering a hand to help Nykk into her seat. The spot was a carpet of lush grass that seemed to lay down flat in case a body needed to set down upon it. Not far off, the songs of larks rang, their voices carrying notes of happiness and excitement as falling leaves gave away the position of the singers.
Nykk was a woman of contrast, in many ways. Both striking and plain. In the light of the sun, rather than the dim candlelight of her chambers, her skin shone as clearly pale. Not luminescent like some women, but not sallow either. It did make for a startling comparison between the angry, deep shade of pink that would never fade from the vines crawling around her face. Blue eyes. Nondescript blonde hair. Not beautiful. Not ugly. Slender and feminine in shape, yet not a shining example of femininity either.
No one would ever remember Nykkolaia Zeran, except for the fact that no one could ever really forget her.
It felt...strange to be out with him like this; out with anyone like this. She moved along side him, finding herself again feeling rather small. She thought she had grown used to it, when around others, but it seemed to surge again in her when she was with him. His words, so clearly leaping from his tongue against expectation, had her looking at him with the same surprise she felt so often that evening a fortnight ago.
She slipped her scale-scarred hand into his and used his balance to help lower herself to a seat, all the while her eyes remaining up on him.
Her dress was, again, blue. It seemed to hold to no country's fashion, and it's neckline--square, lightly embroidered, and very modest--hid the scars on her chest. Her hair was braided and hung over that shoulder, hiding the ones on her neck. But since there was nothing for her face, she didn't bother doing anything with that.
"I..." she began and then hesitated, laughing softly. "I missed you too, I think. I don't know. It's been so very long since I missed anyone, I'm not sure I rightly recall what it feels like. But it was very nice to start getting to know someone. I wish I had been freer with my time before now." Her words were plain, like her, and earnestly spoken.
Setting down with an audible grunt, Valadin nodded knowingly at her words. It was no easy task letting people back in when the heart had been sealed shut for ages. Years as a slave had left him skeptical of people and uncomfortable with conversation. Time at the Grey Tower had dented the barrier that stood between him and others, but even the men that trained alongside him daily were held at a distance. No one had gotten as close as Nykkolaia Sedai. She was in his skin when he undressed at night. She was behind his eyelids when he closed them to sleep. Her scent was in the air wherever he went during the day, her touch in every flower that he stopped to appreciate. Often Val would lie awake in the night, his worry that the dream of a woman he'd been enchanted by was just that: a dream.
Beneath them the grass was soft and warm, the sun's heat absorbed with none of its severity. Overhead movement along the branches signaled that more than the larks were present for the innocuous meeting. Casting sidelong glances Val watched Nykk. The way she purported herself spoke to the trials she endured and as her pale eyes took in the scenery or perhaps simply avoided meeting his stare he longed to penetrate the darkness of her past.
"Don't worry. Everyone knows Aes Sedai have plenty to do without tendin' to secret meetings an' the like," he answered softly. "What matters is that yer here now and I'll not ruin a good time with talk of anythin', but you...and me...and us."
Fighting back the desire to wince, he quickly schooled his face to stillness in order to back up his bold declaration; Master had said that winning a woman over was a matter of knowing when to act confident. If his words angered her, Val couldn't tell. Blood and ashes, he couldn't tell if she thought anything about what he'd said! Is that the Aes Sedai in her? Or is that just how she is? he wondered casually before settling back on his hands and enjoying the placid ambiance of the nature around them.
To compare Nykk to anything would be like saying she was the undisturbed surface of a lake; unreadable even if the depths were clearly visible. Gentle bars of sunlight broke momentarily through the canopy, bathing the Gardens in a golden hue. Voices far off exclaimed in pleasure, but their sound set Val on edge. Without meaning to, he readied to spring to his feet and inadvertently placed his hand over Nykkolaia's. "Ah, sorry about that...I weren't, I mean, that is I don't mind—you know I don't—just..." he stammered before giving up and falling silent again.
Wrapping his arms about his knees as he'd done as a child back in the Four Kings, Valadin lifted his gaze towards the sky that couldn't be seen beyond the ceiling of green.
"You told me yer da was a good man last time..." he murmured. "What sorta things did you do with him? I mean did you go ‘round town hawkin' wares with ‘im or was he just one of those fellows that came home to shower his little girl with gifts from the market at day's end?"
The edge that had come to his voice at the end of the question surprised him. Something dark rose up in his chest whenever the subject of fathers or family of any sort came up. Usually it was a conversation that excluded him, but even now with Nykk he found part of himself...jealous of her. For all her scars, she possessed something he could never have. Shame made him lower his face a moment. Ain't her fault nobody bloody wanted you. C'mon get yourself together or you'll blow it. "Sorry ‘bout that. Old wounds an' all that," he explained clumsily before craning his neck back again.
"So yer Da...tell me about ‘im..."
She felt heat resonating off her skin where his hand had been a moment before. It was still such a foreign sensation, and yet she began to feel like she might...like it. She might, in fact, want to feel it again. That was a forbidden wish, she knew, and a wish that was as alien to her as the sensation itself. She remembered when she was young, touch had been comforting. Her parents. That one boy on the hill...
That had all changed. Too long, where touch had been something of pain. Too long, where there had been none at all. It had changed.
Or had she simply forgotten?
And then he asked about her father, and it seemed so strangely of the Wheel's odd turns. Old wounds, she reflected. Those are something I know something about.
"My father..." she began thoughtfully. Her tone was oddly formal, even to her own ears, but it helped distance her. "I don't know if it is better to have known something and lost it, than to never have known it." She looked up and met his eyes, allowing him to glimpse but a moment into what she felt: the pain, the distance, the uncertainty and being just worn out from life. "My father was a good man. There was rarely enough coin for gifts, but he loved me. He listened to me. I was a..."
Here, she paused again and looked off at the trees, smiling wryly. "I was a talkative child. I was imaginative and active. He did not let me get away with much that I shouldn't, but he indulged my talking and imagination. I'd sit near him in the evenings, working on sewing with my mother, and just talk and talk. You couldn't shut me up." Now she looked back at him again, that wry smile still there. "Odd to imagine, seeing me now, isn't it?"
Nykk's voice washed over Val as she spoke tenderly about her girlhood days. Her question struck true in Val's thoughts, but he didn't answer her immediately.
He'd been trying to piece together what having a father of his own would be like from her words. They would share in secret delights and when Valadin would get into scraps with the village boys, his imagined Da would knock him over the head after giving the other lads a good hollering. Somewhere in heart he had hoped the image would bring a reflection of contentment, but these were false dreams; they held no meaning or relevance to the life he'd lived until now. "Father" brought to mind Samhl, the innkeeper of the Dancing Cartman with his crooked smiles and harsh moods when the stables weren't tended to just right. It brought to mind the village men whose daughters he would make time with during lulls in the inn's business, their faces twisted with dislike for him whenever their little girls shot looks his way.
Most of all, "Father" meant Master.
The heavy smell of Murandian wine and tabac in the air were still fresh in the memories of the man who'd dominated most of his youth. Tightening the hold around his knees Val broke his gaze from Nykk's and stared ahead into the nothingness.
Too much hurt resided in her pale, blue eyes and he felt them reflecting on the wounds of his soul. He couldn't shoulder the burden for them both. The pieces of their humanity lost with the removal of an adequate father figure were irreparable now; they would have to make do with what remained.
"Can't say that I agree," Val croaked after an oppressive stretch of silence. He embraced the Void and the stifling longing in his heart lessened somewhat. Now relaxed, his body stretching its length upon the grassy bed as he lay on his side facing Nykk. "I think with a bit o' ale in you, you'd giggle like any little girl—maybe even louder than most," he chuckled.
As it was whenever he let his eyes rest on her too long, Val felt a longing stir inside. It wasn't the looming sadness from earlier instead a primitive yearning to snatch the Aes Sedai by her waist and taste her lips until there were two no more. Heart racing at the thought, he cleared his throat and rolled onto his stomach.
"Yer Da woulda been proud of ya sounds like. Yer a good sort, Nykkolaia Zeran Sedai. Any father could take pride in a daughter like you." The heat at his cheeks persisted as he tried to avoid her stare. Those pales eyes seemed to suck him into their depths without any warning; he didn't like that feeling. That part of her scared him; like something lurked beneath the placid lake of serenity. Something dark. "What I don't think he would've cared for is wearing a dress like that for a peasant like me." Val teased, though he felt there was a hint of truth in that last statement.
Remembering that it was to an Aes Sedai he spoke, caution sobered him from the euphoria of his feelings for her; good woman or no, he needed to tread lightly when talking to his betters. Bawdy jokes weren't likely to be a favorite pastime of hers.
"Ah, my apologies. I...I didn't mean...well it's just you...that dress...it...suits you. The blue ‘an all—it's yer color. Well, yea, your Ajah color, but I meant...never mind," Val stammered hopelessly before giving up on small talk.
Courting a Sister was like trying to lure a wild stallion into the corral for the first time. Just when you'd get it to the gates the burned beast would buck madly and give you a hoof to the chest for your troubles.
"I've...I've been with loads o' women, Nykk. Not of my choosing ceptin' for Lieta, but..."
Flashes of the first girl who'd saved him for a short time from the darkness of his existence quieted him for a moment. In the past days when he would think of how much he wanted to see Nykk, Lieta's face would appear at front of his mind. Her lips would be puckered in a hurt frown and Val knew he should feel guilty, but he didn't—he couldn't. Sometimes he felt like a monster for that.
"I guess I mean to say, what sorta blokes have asked after ya in the past? I know you said none on account of..." Yet another time when the gift of a glib tongue might've made things easier. "...well it don't matter any, but you never shared yerself with any lad before comin' to the Tower or since?" he probed shamelessly. Burn it, I might as well. Made a big enough mess as things were.
Besides old Samhl always said that a woman's chastity was only as good as how well she told her tale.
A faint trace of color filled her cheeks at his questions. It was not the first time, but she'd had the cloak of dim candlelight before. Now in the stark light of the day, it was impossible to hide.
She could do as Aes Sedai do and obfuscate, be vague and indirect. She could skirt around truth and lies with the best of any Aes Sedai or Asha'man in the Tower, should she wish...but the question was: did she wish to with him? Yes, the truth was a little embarrassing, on a very personal scale, but then again, it was what it was. Like the scars on her face, and other parts of her body, why bother hiding it?
Nykkolaia Zeran was damaged, and she always would be. Lying wouldn't change it.
"A boy kissed me once, before Master took me off the street," she said softly, plainly. Her blue eyes drifted off to the tree line, wondering why in the Light she wanted to be so flaming honest with him. Who would ever want to reveal these things to someone they had only known once before? Yet she did... Only the Creator could possibly understand why. "And then when I was an Accepted, a young Dedicated tried to kiss me... He almost convinced me, but lost out when I learned it was only on a bet."
Her face had taken on its impassive quality, shielding the pain of the confession from the sight of him. They were so alike and yet so different. He had been with many, not of his choice. She had been with none, not exactly of her choice either... "So what sort of men, you ask? Apparently those paid to, once my life was written on my face." She paused and glanced at him, suspecting a question that was likely to linger in his mind...given his own history. "And no, Master never touched me as a man does a woman."
Hearing of Nykk's purity incited an unbidden sense of relief in Val. His feelings wouldn't have changed—he'd already admitted to being well "educated" in matters of pleasure.
The Aes Sedai's lack of experience was an unexpected boon. "Shame fer them I guess. If they'd taken the time to get to know you, it might've changed their lives for the better—not that I can feel too sorry for them," he retorted. "Sides this way you get to choose whom you love first; I'd wager that ain't sumthin' everyone can say."
Pulling at an errant blade of grass, the only brown in a sea of green, Valadin noted her silence. Others might've felt the compulsion to say something, but to him the quietness provided a safe haven from the emotional storm they found themselves in. Around them nature tranquilly sung its sweet melody. The wordless chorus brightening the already sunny day.
"Did you ever want to hunt down yer Master an' kill ‘em?" Val asked suddenly.
Where the question had come from, Val wasn't sure, but when the inquiry had been given life he found that it was an thought that he struggled to resolve himself. Lifting himself onto his knees he stretched the stiffness from his muscles. The cloth of his tunic scratched at the skin making him long to run shirtless through the Garden. Only Nykk's presence and a vague notion of good manners kept him clothed; more that Nykk might frown upon than anything else. With a breath, he dropped down on his rear beside the Sister, sitting close enough that their shoulders grazed against each other with every move.
Again the smell of her came to him, this time mixing with the scent of foxtail and segades creating a titillating aroma that stirred Val's passion again. Reaching slowly he stroked Nykk's unblemished cheek before letting his hand fall and rest on top of hers. A dull, pulsing warmth traveled up the length of his arm where their skin met. The tempest raged on, warring urges to run away from the spot and another bidding Val to remain in the Garden with Nykk forever left no room for other thoughts. Either one proved to be a frightening prospect. The knowledge that she could break him with a word weakened his resolve, but he folded the fear and discarded it into the Void leaving only the raw determination to fight for this woman's love in his heart.
"I don't mean to pry..." he breathed, eyes meeting her gaze squarely. "It's just something I thought about before too...didn't know if it made me evil to think it or not. Never could come up with an answer. Figured you might've...found yer own answer."
This question shocked her, but in a far different way than any other question he'd asked.
This was different.
This was worse.
Every drop of blood flowing through her body went cold and her muscles tensed, but then she forced them to relax so she didn't seem as tense as she wanted to feel. She took in a long, slow breath and looked away for several long moments without speaking. Then she turned back to him, her face as impassive as ever. Her pale eyes more like ice than living orbs.
"I don't think it makes you evil," she said softly. "It just makes you human. It's natural to want to lash out at people who have hurt us." She paused and then looked away again, eyes trying to lose focus. "They told me that Master had been killed when I was rescued," she added, to answer his first question. Somewhat.
Before he could stop himself Valadin was choking back a laugh.
At first it was a snorting chuckle that forced its way up from his stomach with such strength that he had to turn away from Nykk. When he had thought the fit passed he braved a look at his Aes Sedai's face and this time the amusement rang free as a booming laughter lifted into the Garden canopy above them before gliding upon the wings of robins who'd been startled by the noise. Bittersweet pain tugged at his ribs as he tumbled onto his back and let joyful convulsions rumble through every fiber of his being. Whenever it seemed that sense had reclaimed him, Val would sigh in relief only to be consumed by the uncontrolled mirth once more. It was foolish beyond measure—even an ox-brain like him knew that. She hadn't said anything funny and Sisters could be a fickle sort if they didn't have control of the situation. Women were little better in that respect; most people didn't take kindly to being laughed at when it came down to it.
Still Val roared. Tears jumped from his eyes as the mad glee left his lungs squeezed dry and curled him into a ball. At some point his head found its way into Nykkolaia's lap. By then he'd sobered some, only plagued by smaller quakes at unexpected junctures of silence. Finally the last gasp of a giggle left him and he lay there, head resting in the soft blue folds of an Aes Sedai's dress feeling something he'd never experienced before with another person.
Content.
After some time passed and Val was certain another fit wasn't on the way he thought about what he should say. He didn't turn to look at her right away. He guessed her face would be sternly looking down on him. Probably slightly frowning in that way she does...the one where her lips are in a straight line, but her eyes are pinning up by my trousers against the wall. Light, I might like that...
In that instant he realized where his head rested. Expecting a rush of blood to fill his cheeks he tensed, readying to spring to his feet and apologize awkwardly for the offense. The feeling never came. The uncomfortable stiffness imposed partially by Tower formality and in part due to the nature of their character no longer served as a barrier that separated them. Somehow with her answer, Nykk had accomplished what no one in his twenty-something winters had ever accomplished.
His heart swelled with emotion; some he understood and others he couldn't acknowledge at the moment. Before they would have to break away, before their shyness would separate them again, Val wanted to savor this unsullied moment. Letting the Void go, he imagined he could hear the dull drumming of Nykk's heart. It hardly mattered whether hate or love fueled the reaction, but just knowing it beat for him was enough.
Finally he turned about, the dress's cloth rumpling with his movement as he turned his face up to her. What sunlight managed to break through the canopy formed a halo about her head. The image was reminded him of that time when the candlelight shimmered beauteously around her and Val felt his unworthiness more keenly than any other time in his life.
"Sorry about all that," he spoke. Throat raw, Val's voice was barely above a whisper. "Just odd bein' called human after first bein' someone's ware and then becomin' a servant of the Light. Not much room fer bein' human. And you...yer wrong."
He didn't move or explain. She probably wanted him to get up; Light knew how heavy he must've been on her legs. It was the smallness of the space separating them that rooted him stubbornly to the spot. They were touching...not like with the village girls or the Master's buyers. They were really touching each other. As people...as people who cared about one another.
"You might pass fer human, but without you at my side, I'll never be nuthin' more'n half a man. A broken one at that."
At some point in time, Valadin would stop doing things that shocked her. She was sure of it, because it just had to be. No one could keep this rate up forever, right?
That's assuming there is that much time to go... the more cynical voice in her head reminded her.
First, it was the laughter. She didn't think that anything she had said had been funny, and then it was where his head had ended up. She had never sat like this before, with anyone, and she could do nothing but stare down at him and wonder what in the name of the Light he was laughing so bloody much about! She was beginning to feel a little hurt, and nearly got up and walked away.
But she didn't. She just sat, feeling frozen in place, watching and waiting through his mirth. (If his head was heavy upon her legs, she didn't even think of it. Her shock took precedence.) When he finally did stop, and explained, the explanation struck a chord very deep in her. No room for being human... Yes. She knew that feeling. She knew that existence.
In the decades since she had been freed from Master's basement, had she ever truly felt human again? Maybe... There were moments...
When he had slid back in his gales of laughter and ended up with his head on her legs, she had raised her hands just out of instinct. Even as he spoke, they were still lifted. But she looked down at him. His words rolled around in her head.
Broken...
...might pass for human...
...half.
She slowly lowered her hands. One fell to the ground, pressing into the soft grass as if to hold herself up. The other, she lowered hesitantly to touch his face. Almost like she didn't believe there was a person there and she wanted to prove or disprove the reality. Her hand curved around his cheek, barely touching but touching none the less as she held his gaze.
"As am I," she whispered. "I've been broken for a long time. Perhaps together, there could be a whole person after all."
The tentative touch consecrated what they meant to each other even without words. In the slightly surprised manner of speaking Valadin had come to expect of her, Nykk mimicked his admission. A flash of deep understanding passed between them as Val saw his reflection in her eyes. It wasn't the sad duplicate he'd been dreading to see earlier. This time there was a light in the Sister's gaze that could only be acknowledged with a small nod. Such moments were ruined by superfluous grandstanding; he'd seen exchanges between the town fletcher and the woodsman back in the Four Kings.
Pressing Nykk's small hand onto his cheek, Val inhaled and released her before letting his limbs slacken. Not far off a Garden path played host to a gaggle of Novices. Their voices grew as they drew near the hiding place and passed without the least bit of suspicion. All the while, Val lay limply across Nykkolaia's lap, his thoughts dithering between complete peace and an unshakable concern that the Pattern would find a way to take this tidbit of happiness later on. Nothing good ever lasted...much less so for a slave; not even the care of an Aes Sedai could change that. Disliking the vein his thoughts continued in, he spoke to ward away the clouded worries that threatened his happiness.
"Nykk, how is it I've never seen you giving any lessons?" He asked.
His curiosity though insincere at first began to wonder at the truth in the question. Even the stoniest of Sister and Guardians took part in educating the lower ranks; even if that edification covered the subjects of pain and humiliation. With all that it didn't seem likely that only some Aes Sedai and Asha'man were to take part in the lesson giving, yet Val hadn't been to one of Nykk's classes; not a single one since starting at the Tower.
Comfortable where he lay, Val observed Nykk carefully while waiting for an answer he already knew. Teaching would mean talking to room of strangers that could never comprehend your wants or fears. Val remembered how he would be ostracized by the villagers without them saying anything. The more people around him, the more pronounced the isolation became. Most times he was off by himself trying to avoid the pointed silence of civilization. A pang of homesickness surprised him, but he overcame the feeling with more talking.
That seemed to be a habit these days...at least around Nykk it was.
"What I mean to ask is...what does a Sister do in her spare time aside from plottin' the doom of men?" A chuckle threatened to rumble through him at the jest, but the fresh soreness of his torso smothered the bout of laughter.
He could stand not to laugh for a stretch.
Again, his off-hand chosen words struck closer to her core than she cared to contemplate.
There didn't seem to exist much of an outside world at that moment, like all of existence had encapsulated into that moment and just that one pair of people. The thoughts that each became lost in were very much their own, and yet if only they knew how very similar they were at times. Then again, they had already determined the similarities between them and it was those that had brought them to this moment.
Although the ice wanted to creep back into her muscles at his statement, she resisted. She didn't want to be icy now. Her heart felt like it hadn't beat in decades and had just started now, she wasn't ready to let it stop again.
"I was away from the Tower for a long time," she replied. "It has not been so long since I returned, and there is not yet a class suitable for me to teach." That was the truth, although the further truth was she wasn't very good at it. "Not every member of the Tower teaches, though, as some are just not suited to it and spend more time out of the Tower than in it."
Usually the details of a person escaped Val. Humans were so complex and contradictory that it was difficult to get a lasting impression about any individual for long. Most often people changed when you least expected them to—not always for the better. Horses were much simpler to deal with and their loyalty shifted hesitantly; most of all the creatures were magnificent.
When Nykk spoke though, Val could see the years of isolation that lay behind every word. Being Aes Sedai he was certain there was much that he didn't know about her...some of it he was even afraid to learn. Nevertheless as they sat wrapped in the awkward embrace of one another, both virgin to the closeness they shared in the moment, he could sense the struggles that she felt like with no one else. Immediately he felt poorly for being indelicate. Light, he'd have balked at any of the questions he'd asked her and she actually had the authority to demand answers from him.
Sitting up with a grunt he craned his neck upward to mark the time, instead found a solid of wall of leaves overhead. "Burn me," he swore, rubbing the sleeve of his tunic across his face. "I don't really know what to make of ya, Nykkolaia Sedai."
Turning to her fully, his eyes searched her face for something though what it could be he didn't have the slightest idea. As always the Sister's countenance was a portrait of harmonious perfection and imperfection. The notion of touching her unbidden would've frozen him with fear the last time they met, but now after knowing days could pass before he could see her again he confidently took her scarred cheek in his hand and drew her face to his. Their foreheads touched and Val felt the resplendent ache to touch her lips to his...to know that she loved him the same way he did her. Not yet. The thought lacked explanation and depth, but it was enough to keep Valadin from acting any further on instinct. Still, the Void escaped him with her being so close. A sweet scent of rose petals filled his nose and the warmth of her breath on his face made it all the harder to resist the earlier impulse.
"Never had nothin' or nobody I felt so strongly for. It's like I can't breathe sometimes...then others it's like I can only breathe when I'm around ya. You...you seem to manage it just fine. Sure, I surprise ya every now and again, but most times yer cool as spring water. Can't tell if it bothers me or if I'm impressed by it."
Just when the reason for the nagging dread that haunted him had been given voice, another nightmare unfolded.
A rustle of leaves drew his attention away from Nykk. There, watching the pair with an inquisitive arch of the brow, was a Sister. A blue shawl draped across her shoulders marked her as a fellow member of Nykkolaia's Ajah, yet the triumph that even Valadin could see on the woman's face, was not the expression of a friend looking favorably upon her peer. Carefully the Sister dipped her head in greeting, eyes never leaving the sight of Valadin and Nykkolaia together. It seemed she refused to blink for fear of missing even the smallest detail to use to her advantage.
"Greetings Sister, so sorry to disturb you. I was looking for a dear token I'd lost here the other day. My regrets for intruding on...a tender moment," the woman dissembled, but gooseflesh rose on the back of Valadin's neck as he scrambled to embrace the Void and mask his panic.
Too late.
"Oh, don't fret young man. I am Sister Somin Tera of the Blue. Same as Nykkolaia. You are?" she asked smoothly, hands clasped together in front of her.
Val breathed unsteadily and spared a look in Nykk's direction as he slowly pulled away from her. They were in it now.
The Aes Sedai wore a simple blue blouse with the only embellishment being the gold filigree laced along underside of the sleeves. A modest neckline hid her shape well though wide hips and the rather broad cut of her shoulders gave enough impression to know that feminine was not an apt description for the woman. Still the agelessness of those who used the One Power was obvious, the only sign of years advanced was how calmly the woman gloated over her find. "M-m-my-I...I mean, I'm Val, er, Valadin Manelle. P-pl-pl-pleasure to meet ya, Somin Sedai," Val answered.
Another victory must have been won for the Sister's smile deepened as she looked directly at Nykkolaia this time. "Sister, is this your bondmate?"
The question itself seemed innocent, but Val had no head for Aes Sedai games. Wanting nothing more than to melt from the spot, he watched Nykk from the corner of his eye.
Nykkolaia Zeran didn't like surprises.
She used to, once upon a time. When she was a girl, she found the idea of a surprise to be rather thrilling and had often sought to "surprise" her parents with innocuous amusements, to which they never seemed very surprised at all. They tried to look it, but she was an intelligent little girl and was rarely fooled. Still, she did appreciate their efforts to appease her.
Now, however, it was one of the many ways that she had been changed. She didn't like them anymore, and most especially not in moments where she was already tense. It released her adrenaline. When the sound had first been heard and then she had seen her fellow Blue, the spike had come. First, it made her wish for flight. That quickly turned to fight when she saw the other woman's eyes.
Think you have one up on me, do you? Her startle turned to anger. This was, actually, a situation she understood better. She was used to people expecting little good of her, or at least perceiving they did.
"There are no items here," Nykk said coolly. "So I would not wish to detain you in your search, Sister." Her face remained impassive and her eyes, ice. The bond mate question pricked at her. She had no desire to get Valadin in trouble, but then again, he did know that their meeting today came with some risk...
Her mind raced as she held the other woman's gaze. At least this woman had no power over Nykkolaia. She was a Blue just as she. "Not yet, but he will be," she replied evenly and the Oaths allowed it, because to her mind, she realized, she had all intention of it. The Wheel might change, but her intentions were true. "Now, unless we are the dear token you seek, good day to you."
The tension snapped as one Sister's salvo opened room for a counter strike. To someone like Val, only the intent of the play was comprehensible; even that gathered from what little expression each woman let touch their faces. He'd been waiting to see Nykk's response. Should the need arise he would've foolishly jumped in harm's way to spare her any harmful consequence. Already he worked on a story saying it was he that had attempted to act lewdly with an Aes Sedai. In some ways he thought it true, but the chance to say anything never came.
"Not yet, but he will be."
Five simple words and Valadin felt his heart ready to burst free from his chest. By the Light...ain't a woman like her anywhere. A wave of love filled him with strength and the confidence to match the other woman's gaze came easily.
To her credit the Sister eyed them coolly. "Of course, Sister. As I said I didn't mean to intrude."
On the surface, the answer seemed without subterfuge. Val nodded, relaxing somewhat at the averted crisis. He waited patiently to be alone with Nykk again. This time he would bloody kiss his woman whether he got flayed by the One Power or not. Somin Sedai made no move to leave instead deliberately smoothing out her skirt. "Sorry to you and your intended. He looks...competent. I'm sure he's a wonderful Asha'man. Aren't you, boy?"
Again the feeling of being held at swordpoint closed in on Val. He flushed at the question, not certain if he should answer. Hoping for guidance he tried to steal another look at Nykk, "I see. She's the brains and courage while you're...the good looks and the youth? Even babes have their uses," the Sister cut in sweetly.
Val burned at the remark. "Hey I'm no babe! I've reached my manhood seven summers ago! Asha'man or no, yer not going to have laughs at my expense fer no reason!"
"Oh dear. Forgive me...I wasn't aware you hadn't earned your Dragon pin yet. Being so young it only makes sense. Why, Nykkolaia, dear, did you know of this?!"
The outrage in her voice cooled Val's anger in an instant. Suddenly he felt like he'd made a mistake. Light, he hated Aes Sedai and their bloody games.
Men and their egos, Nykk reflected with an inward sigh. Nothing showed on her face, either at the other Blue's words or Valadin's outburst. While with him, she too often had been Nykk. Now, she was Nykkolaia Sedai, Sister of the Blue, and her Aes Sedai was shining clearly through her bearing. There was someone other than the broken woman inside, but this creature was even less human than the other.
"Little escapes my notice, Sister," she said pointedly with a faint curl at the corners of her mouth while she kept her eyes focused on the other woman. This was an intruder. A threat. And she'd called her 'dear' when she had no right. Nykk hated that. Another woman might jump in with words of self-defense, but she had nothing to defend herself over with this woman.
The only power she may have is the power you grant her.
"Were you waiting for me to offer to help you look for your lost trinket, Somin Sedai?" she asked with her own pointed propriety.
Of the catfights Val had seen there was a good deal of hissing and sometimes even clawing that passed between the combatants. Most men liked that sort of thing, but Valadin avoided heated exchanges of all kinds as best he could.
The words that snapped in quick, biting statements between these two women were cold...devoid of emotion...though any wool-head could taste the animosity in the air.
Nykk was especially menacing. Despite not moving an inch the transformation that had come over the woman was noticeable. Her neck and back were straight, chin angled slightly upward as she met her Sister levelly at each comment. Val remained fixed to the spot out of sheer confusion of what to do next. Rank wasn't the only thing that set Somin...and Nykk on a different level than he. Their presence was formidable without machismo or need of a sword, neither looking ready to concede victory. These are the wills that shape the world, Val's mind told him.
It was then that he realized confusion wasn't the only thing that held him in his seat. The earlier confidence in being able to kiss Nykkolaia withered inside him.
"Very well." Somin Sedai's words held all of winter's chill as she dipped into a curtsy. "Forgive my intrusion. Obviously what I'm looking for isn't here. I bid you both a fine evening."
That said she glided out of sight with all the air of the Queen herself. Exhaling after a long spell of silence, Val flopped onto his back. He wasn't even ashamed of the moisture darkening his collar. "Mother's milk in a cup!" He swore loudly.
All he wanted was to be away from the Tower. Everyone was bloody mad! You might soon be too the voice in his head mocked and Saidin's insistent sweetness beckoned to be seized.
Not knowing what else to do, Val put a hand over his face and as he lay on his back and tried to collect his wits. Was there anywhere in this new world that he was safe?
The tension in her posture lasted long enough for Nykk to feel assured that the woman was really gone. The Blue was tempted to form a ward around them, as she had some minor skill in it, but she didn't want that woman or some other Aes Sedai to "see" it and think she was up to no good, much as Somin Sedai already had.
Once she felt 'safe,' as as safe as she ever felt, she let out a long breath and covered her eyes with her hand. The ice melted, and fast, leaving the anxiety that would have taken its place had her inward defenses not kicked in so quickly.
She heard his curse, and shared the feeling...although she felt other things now, too. Things that hadn't been allowed to permeate her emotional shielding before. Would he hate her now, for anything said or seen? The moments had felt too right to last long, she knew, since such things were no longer hers to possess and she knew it was only a matter of time.
After a cluster of shuddering breaths, she lowered her hand and looked at him. "I am...sorry for any trouble that might come to you because of me, of this," she said, her voice soft and returned to the woman she had been just minutes before.
Lost in his own troubles, Valadin missed Nykk's reaction to the near-miss. When she next spoke her words lacked the biting Aes Sedai chill that had been present in the battle of wits. Starting as if from a dream Val sat up quickly, eyes scanning Nykk's flushed cheeks and wanted to offer comfort, but couldn't.
Part of him was still shaken.
Studying her now, only the demure woman who bore her scars in silent suffering remained before him. That woman was the one that understood him and had sampled the bitter elixir of past pains as he had; that woman knew him. What didja expect? You've done plenty to survive that yer not proud about. So what she might be a Aes Sedai witch? Ya gunna run? Ya gunna be alone again? If his head wasn't sure of the answer his heart most certainly was.
Within moments a strong hand gripped Nykkolaia Sedai's wrist—a little more firmly than he'd meant to. The other hand reached up to the unmarred side of her face, stroking tenderly once before falling back to the grass. There were many things he wanted to ask—to say—but a lump in his throat prevented anything intelligent from coming out. Feet clattered by on the cobblestone paths just beyond the clearing and the Void was the only thing that kept Valadin from fleeing back to his quarters.
He didn't take risks; especially not for love. The lesson had been taught very early in his life that such things were temporal and not worth the hurt that came with them. Yet...
"I love you."
In that instant the world faded away. Tarmon Gai'don, the Shadow, the Aes Sedai and Asha'man—nothing mattered except the words that suddenly loomed between he and her. Flashes of Lieta's image flooded his mind. She was the first person he'd dared to take a chance with. Sweat dotted Val's palms while his fingers dug into the dirt at her memory. He could see her smiling face, hear the musical lilt of her Murandy accent, and remembered the smell of her as they lay together deep into the evening. Then there were blood stains and viscera everywhere. The sheets, crimson and soaking as he lay on it, had given off a metallic odor that had plagued even his dreams that night. Like a nightmare the gory aftermath of Master's threat interposed itself on Nykk. A mad panic nearly took over him as Saidin roared into his grasp without beckoning though he fought not seize it immediately.
Now Valadin understood what it was like for male channelers who were mad with the Power.
The desire to lay about with ribbons of fire and gouges of earth gripped him so strongly it ached him to not fully take the One Power into his control. If not for the duty he knew he had to the Light...to Nykk, he would've given in. He would've become one of those men who broke the world.
Gasping as control returned jerkily to him, he felt the tautness drain from his muscles nearly collapsing him face-first onto Nykk. Somehow he managed to remain upright as he lifted his eyes to her again. "I...I love you, Nykkolaia Sedai," he said again, though this time with more gravity.
There was hunger to his words, a penetrating need to have her that surpassed reason. Quickly embraced the Void which had fallen away at the thought of Lieta, he settled the storm within. Having admitted his love in earnest to the Aes Sedai Val knew the former woman of his life would not bother him again. He would never forget her, but she had no place among the living and would never be a source of guilt again. Perhaps in death, songbird, he pondered, feeling no remorse at invoking his pet name for her while seeking the heart of another woman.
Let the Creator do what he would. A wretch like him had no need for salvation in the afterlife. Only the here and now mattered to his sort.
"Nothing...Nothing," he panted, squeezing the wrist he held to impart his desperation, "...will ever make you unworthy of whatever trouble comes my way because of us."
Nykkolaia Zeran actually felt her heart stop.
It only skipped one or two beats, but she felt the hard clutching in her chest and then the single hard hit against the inside of her sternum that told her it had skipped a beat; that it had stopped. Her breathing didn't recover quite as quickly, and when it did, it was an uneven shudder of air that rattled around in her lungs and tried to swell in her throat.
She only stared at him while she waited for her body to begin again with its basic autonomic functions. Inwardly, however, there was a Nykk who was shrieking.
Love...me... You don't even know me! You'll regret that thought and those words when you do. You'll cast me aside like everyone else did when they knew me too long... It's only a matter of time, and now that you've said this, it will hurt all the worst... We don't know each other, do we? Or don't we...
She nearly ran away.
The cascade of thoughts, emotion and confusion that shattered in the center of her brain and sent its shards into every corner of her spirit was too much; she wanted to bolt. She wanted to run away and find wherever the air had gone to. If she ran far enough, she would be able to think again and breathe again, she was sure.
But then, she didn't want to run away from him. No one would ever say they loved her again. Even if he was wrong, even if he was a fool, and even if he changed his mind... She was sure that no one would ever say those words while looking into her eyes again.
"I..." she began, and then faltered for a lack of air. Closing her eyes, she inhaled slowly through her nose and pushed as much air into her body as she could. Her eyes again opened but she glanced away, feeling almost ashamed. A thoroughly inappropriate emotion for an Aes Sedai, but then she wasn't like most, was she? "I don't even know how to love," she whispered.
Swallowing hard, she looked up at him through her pale lashes. She could feel her scars burning and she just barely resisted the urge to scratch her face off to remove them. "I'm broken, Valadin, and it's been too long that no one taught me how." Her eyes glimmered with emotion. No one will ever say this to you again. Never. Her next words were so soft as to be just barely audible. "Maybe you can teach me."
"Maybe you can teach me."
At her request Valadin remained silent. Midday's light briefly touched the Garden floor of their small pocket of nature. Above a robin had taken flight, exposing the canopy to the open sky in its wake. With that single, brilliant ray of golden sun, Nykk glowed in his eyes.
Broken she'd said. Aye, there were many things about her that seemed...fragile. Lieta had been strong. As a Murandian woman serving as a tavern maid, men had seen a pretty girl to slake their thirsts and be forgotten shortly after. She had established with firm defiance that she wouldn't ornament anyone's knee regardless of her lot in life. Val remembered the first time he'd seen her. A table of craftsman laughed comfortably with her, their eyes looking full in the face of this small girl rather than eyeing her bosom or nicking at her bottom. There was a respect in the room that every patron seemed to pay her for all she seemed pleasant and meek. Looking back now he knew that beneath the smiles and musical whistle of her words was an iron resolve to be appreciated.
Did he see that in Nykk?
The earlier events replayed in his mind. Nykk's cold regard and the venomous sting of her words. Val had seen Aes Sedai dominate others, yet never with such a menacing mien. Not for the first time the many layers of the woman he loved seeded doubt in his heart. As the sunlight faded from her unreadable face with its pale, marred sort of beauty he wondered at his worthiness of her. She's Aes Sedai. She's above you and you ain't nuthin', but a no-good-stablehand out o' the Four Kings. What right do you have to happiness after what you done? Save'er the trouble an' walk away right now. It'd be best for both of ya. The truth of his misgivings were like barbs and harboring them while staring into her eyes seemed a sin. Honest eyes. Eyes that held pleading, demand, and an expectation for the worst. Would he lie to her? Even if it was to save her?
"I..." His lips parted, but words failed to take form.
Every sinew of his being tingled with an anticipation. Part of him had expected an outright rejection, even wanted her to throw him away. At least that way the choice was out of his hands. The risk they would've taken no longer mattering. Releasing his grip of her arm, he pulled away, turning his body to face her fully. His gaze searched her face though what he looked for he didn't know.
Then he saw it. Her heart.
Like no one else Valadin knew Nykkolaia Zeran. Much of her was in him and him in her. There in the quiet of the Gardens their scars were bared to one another in absolute rawness. Even as her ageless face, the unblemished parts smooth as winter snow, gave away nothing he could see her fears. The confusion and self-doubt threatening to swallow her; warning her to flee from this. He saw them because the same sentiments assailed his thoughts as well. After a time of only watching her, taking in the small details that denoted hints of the storm within, Val rested his hand on hers. For all she was Aes Sedai, the feel of her hand in his felt very human.
"I'm ent a man to be givin' lessons, Nykk," he said slowly. "Light, I ain't much of a learned man at all. Spent much of my youth doin' things that I hated myself fer. Hated myself an' hated people too. Couldn't breathe sometimes I hated ‘em so much. Sure enough I stopped breathin'...stopped livin'."
He paused again. Uncertain of what he wanted to convey to her. His heart trembled with panic and turmoil. The beads of moisture on his brow weren't from the heat of day.
"I...I dunno that I can teach ya how to love," he admitted. "I loved only once an' I was too weak to keep that love alive. I...I've never been strong. Hated myself fer that. Only doin' what it took to survive without takin' the time to figure out what was right an' wrong." A familiar shame pulled at old scars as tears welled at the corners of his eyes, too stubborn to fall to the ground, but strong to be ignored they remained blurring his vision.
"I'll can't promise anythin' to you. Jus' stay by my side, Nykk. Ent got nuthin else that's mine in the world if you ain't. I swear by the Light I'll stick with you until you can learn how to love. Then do what ya want with me. I'm yers."
"Sometimes just surviving takes more strength than most people would possess," she whispered, but there was intensity to it; the sort of intensity that came from painful experience. "I think maybe the things we just survived might have killed other people." Her eyes roamed his face and then settled her gaze onto his, her own one that was so piercing it might as well have pulled him apart piece by piece.
...but she didn't. She didn't want to do that. She wanted him whole, because she felt that maybe with each other, they had a better chance of being whole than either had had for a long time.
May well be the only chance you ever get, woman. Don't mess this up.
Across the gardens, a bell rang out. Nykk's head jerked in its direction, although she was obviously not going to see the bell. The time was changing, and they would be due to other tasks. She sighed. She wanted to spend more time looking into his eyes and learning herself as much as she learned him...but time was not to be on their side.
Turning back to him, she blinked once. "We need to go," she said with obvious reluctance. "But we'll see one another again. Soon." Her body trembled with the impulse that sang through her. Leaning forward, she kissed him. She'd never really done it before and it was a very quick thing before she pulled back and pushed herself to her feet, looking startled even at herself. She stared just a moment longer before turning and hurrying out of the gardens in a swish of blue skirts, blonde hair, and tentative promises.
Valadin shivered at the touch of Nykk's lips to his. His mind swam at first, lost in the depths of an ecstasy that could only be conjured with the gentle coaxing only a woman could manage. The act itself had been unexpected, but welcome. It had been something he'd yearned for since their first meeting though never dared for fear of being blown away in the ruthless storm he found himself in. Fire and ice roared beneath his skin just as he gathered himself enough to return the favor. His hands sought purchase around the supple waist which he'd eyed surreptitiously when could; now it would be his—now she would be his.
Only he was too late.
By the time his senses allowed him to enjoy the sweet tingles and scents that always surrounded the Blue Sister, she withdrew from him, eyes ablaze with desire, yet her face was smooth with restraint. At the flip of a coin she was like marble given life. Again he blinked and time moved on again. Nykk disappeared from the clearing, the last remnants of the woman he loved slipping from sight like a silent night wind. In the end, ya managed to get a kiss...from an Aes Sedai no less! Not bad fer an ox-brain, his inner mind consoled him.
Part of him accepted the conciliatory congratulations with masculine pride that any man would feel at succeeding in romantic adventures, however more of Val was displeased with the void left behind each time Nykkolaia Sedai departed from him. Touching his lips once as he rose slowly to his feet, he willed himself to focus on the day's remaining duties while slipping into the heavy, collared Asha'man's coat. Nowadays the coat sleeves no longer devoured his hands whole, instead fitting securely at his wrists. More than a year of training and hard labor had crafted him into an image for his peers to be jealous of and most Gaidin to evaluate with wary respect. Not that he posed much challenge to them in the Yards...
Yet.
Poking his head from the shrubs which had hidden them for the better part of Midday, Val was relieved to find the path clear. Voices could be heard in all directions, but not a soul ambled down the cobblestone pathway as he exited the Gardens. With a straight back he returned to the Tower grounds, a serious light in his eyes as he minded his obligations. As usual he was tested by equals and superiors alike—the Grey Tower was nothing if it did not chisel away the meek and develop the strong. Most days he faced his daily trials with difficulty, however on this day, with a strength that seemed to emanate from his chest, Valadin Manelle triumphed in all respects without pause.
