Fanfic:Things Foretold/Chapter II
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Written by Caden Ives and Miahala Ives.
When the two had again met that evening in their quarters to pack for the journey to come, Miahala had been certain to inform Caden of one simple fact, as she chose a dress and accessories - in the event Lady Catvinya found her. The fact was this: She was an Aes Sedai of high standing from the Grey Tower. While she did not care to flaunt her rank, she was known to this woman's family and respected for that fact, as well as for herself. She could wear a tablecloth and be honored all the same, and not kicked out.
The calm recitation of this fact had been accompanied by a sound thump to the side of his head with a thick cord of air, before she pulled a green silk dress and green accessories from her closet to be packed.
Come the morrow, they fetched their horses from the stables and then met her friend, Zakuri Asha'man of the Blue Ajah, and he kindly wove a gateway for the two of them and before long, the pair was riding in to the city of Marston, Andor. While Marston was not as large as some Andoran cities, it was a far cry from a village or even a town, really. It was home to a few noble houses which all played their games, like any other nobles.
Once upon city streets, Miahala led the way, for she was familiar with this town. She had visited here several times with Tower envoys to certain nobles, and she had been here for particular tasks or to find new Eyes and Ears, or to meet with current ones. This was not her first occasion to any town to investigate one gone quiet, however, but she liked it no more now than then.
Within a few minutes, they rode up to The Bronze Star. It was a modest sized Inn, by the standards of most, but the Innkeeper both kind and understanding, which was a trait she sought out. She knew many Innkeepers and their children now, in many cities, because it was vital to her survival very often to have such knowledge. If it ever seemed that most the Innkeepers she knew were warm and welcoming, it was because those were the best kinds to know, and she treated them well for it and their help.
The stables were in the back, and they brought their steeds there and settled them before heading inside. It was still morning, so the early meal was ongoing and the room was filled with noise, although it was toned down since everyone was still waking up. The common room smelled very good, but Mia was familiar with that. The Bronze Star was popular for its meals because Master Nairre was a very good cook.
Hearing the door, he bustled out and was surprised to see Mia. "Ah! My lady, why did you not send word first? How very unkind to just appear like this without giving me a chance to prepare things for you!" His words were almost the scolding tone of a father to daughter, but they were warm and he was smiling. She offered her hand and he shook it affectionately.
He glanced to Caden and paused for a moment, but not for the reasons most did, but because he did not know this man. Mia had not had reason to come here during the first time she had bonded with Caden. Nairre had run this Inn since he took over for his father a very long time ago, so he had met Toseth once but otherwise had always seen her alone.
"Master Nairre, I am sorry I could not give you word, but our departure was of haste," she explained, the porcelain of her face warming in a small, kind smile. "May I introduce you to my warder, Caden Ives Gaidin," she said, gesturing economically with her other hand towards her Bondmate and lover, who made an imposing presence anyway.
Nairre smiled and gave a bow. "An honor, Gaidin," he said. "Any friend of hers is a friend of mine," he added. He turned back to Miahala. "Your usual room is empty, if you wish to take it????" he asked her then.
She smiled. "That would be wonderful," she replied. "You are most kind to me, as always."
The man, who was somewhat over-weight and mostly bald but gave off an affectionate air, just waved away the compliment. He started leading her through the room. A young boy sharing his features stepped out and then stopped short, staring at the two of them until he father waved him back in to the kitchen with some muttered words.
Master Nairre led them through the common room and to a hall way behind it. The first door on the left that they reached, he turned towards and opened for them. He did not follow them in, but bowed to them both and she gave him a warm smile, pressing some coins to his hand to cover the start of their stay. He assured them they had the room for as long as they needed it.
Once the door closed, Mia turned back towards Caden. "We are fortunate this time around. This is the room I usually stay in, for its tactical advantage," she commented with a small smile. "I figure that we can start by the easiest route of investigation: we'll go to his home and see if he's there. He has a back door we can go to without drawing attention to ourselves in doing so."
Another tactical consideration in finding Eyes and Ears, by her method: being able to access them without others knowing.
"Sounds like the most prudent thing to do," he rasped and settled their saddlebags upon the table inside the room, "And there is no reason to wait."
Wearing his scaled black amour underneath a deep green cloak of rich wool ??? because the melted fan-cloak would draw too much attention in the common streets ??? Caden was ready for whatever might occur once they reached the informants home. His longsabre's silver-engraved scabbard was wrapped in black cloth and as he and Miahala left the Inn, he pulled up the hood of the cloak to conceal his scarred face. They were not wholly inconspicuous, but at least they might escape most notice since many noblewomen were escorted by guards.
In a way, it was not too far from the actual truth.
The path Miahala chose led them to an alleyway behind a larger street. The oak door that awaited their arrival seemed intact, stout and locked. Stepping forward, Caden flipped away the fold of his cloak and knocked with a gauntleted fist. He stepped back and waited next to his Aes Sedai.
The door did not open, and all that could be heard was the rising morning din of the streets.
"Nothing," he said after a while, "Now our worries are merited."
Caden glanced over at Miahala in askance ??? his round white eye shining from the darkness underneath the hood. Finding the next action inevitable, and no objection from Miahala, he stepped forward and raised his armored leg in a brutal frontal kick that made the door creak and shudder in its hinges. He kicked again, and again. By the third kick, the hinges gave away first and the door danced a quarter turn before it slammed down upon the floor. The splinters from the doorframe spilled across the floor inside like gravel across the street.
Before the dust settled, Caden had his dagger in hand and stepped through the opening.
Miahala stood back to allow Caden to do the warder-like and classically male task of breaking down the door. (If anyone were to ask, she wouldn't be able to lie and thus would have to admit that, although it was rather ill-timed and inappropriate to the situation, it was rather an attractive thing to watch him do.)
Only a slight quirking upward of the brow and slightly amused turning upwards at the corner of her mouth revealed anything. "Very nice," she said softly.
Embracing the One Power, Mia pulled one of her knives and stepped through the door a few moments after Caden - allowing him to have a head start and if anything were to be encountered, he'd have the first hit but not without his Aes Sedai close behind.
The small house was quiet, and things were still. There was a sense of things not being right, but it was a sense so over-whelming and general that it could not be defined.
No noises from within, no movement, nothing but the normal noises that came from a city surrounding, although the house was far enough back that those noises were quiet, and by equal turns, the sound of the door coming off its hinges as it had would not be noticed...
And neither would it have been noticed if anything had happened here.
The room the door had opened in to seemed to serve as kitchen, sitting, dining and living room all in one. This man had not been a wealthy man, Mia knew that much. The small amount she paid him from time to time for assisting her went to subsidize the income he made from assisting one of the farms that lay in the out-lying land just past the city's borders. His wife, who's stitchwork was still on the table, worked for a tailor further in the center of the city. They had been trying to have a child, but it seemed his wife was not able.
What no one but the three of them knew, actually, was that it had been Mia and her ability in the talent of Healing (which was above average for a non-Yellow) that had delivered them that news.
The Captain General tried to know, committing to memory but not to paper, things about her Eyes and Ears. It helped both sides when dealing with one another, although it made moments like this very difficult. Still, she would rather bear the brunt of that pain than to do things any other way. These small pieces of information flowed through her mind as she turned a keen eye towards the details and surroundings of the room.
Mia's fingers hovered just over the stitchwork, still bound in its ring, that rested on the tabletop and then wandered over to the fireplace, where a pot was hanging to cook. Something was inside it, although it had gone cold and congealed now and the fire long burnt out.
"I think," she said softly. "That they were forced to leave in a hurry... for whatever reason, although I'm not seeing any direct signs of foul play, as of yet. No blood or weapon marks, but the stitchwork left with the needle still in a stitch and the food left on the fire..." She sighed softly. "Though nothing yet rules out that there was an emergency of a friend. I know they had no family in town."
Idly, she smoothed her dress over her abdomen, her mind whirling quietly in thought as she looked around. There was a small closet with a door of a curtain hung from the ceiling, but otherwise this one room took up the downstairs. "There's two rooms upstairs, bedrooms," Mia said then.
There was truth in Miahala's observations, and Caden nodded in agreement.
Following the indication of the upper floor, he climbed the stairs one step at a time. His dagger remained an extension of his arm ??? adamant in a grip by his side. His longsabre would do little good in these close quarters, so he chose to wield a more mobile weapon should the need for such arise. When he reached the upper floor, he would find that his attention had been needless.
However???
The hallway was empty at first glance. Yet Caden's eye focused on a bloody hand-print at the doorframe on the left side ??? the smears of fingers stretching across the wall. The blood was dark and coagulated, but the long rug that was rolled out along the narrow hallway was disheveled, as if tripped upon in a hurry.
He stepped forward and looked into the room where the hand-print indicated. Inside, the furniture had been knocked over as if there had been some sort of struggle. There was some blood smeared across the back of an armchair ??? lying on its side below a window. A table had been knocked over too, and a desk containing parchments had been emptied ??? leaving a myriad of notes stirring subtly in the wind from the open window.
Stepping inside Caden scanned the interior of the room. "I think we can rule out the possibility of a peaceful circumstance to your informant's lack of reports."
Having completed her circuit of the downstairs, Miahala headed up to the second floor where Caden was investigating and it did not take long for her to be directed to and see the same evidence that Caden had noticed. It caused a small pit to form in the base of her stomach, which she ignored, pushing it to another portion of her mind to think and deal with later.
Always later, she thought to herself, feeling numb.
"I don't like this," she commented softly to her Warder. For a flash of an instant, like the blinking of her eyes, she felt a desire to be comforted and pushed it from her mind in to the ice of necessity. It was probably just a hold over from the Dream, as it still unsettled her. She re-took her focus and began to assist Caden in the searching of this level.
He was in one of the bedrooms, so she took a cursory expression of the other one, but to no avail. It was empty, for the most part, having been intended for a nursery that would never be. It seemed that they hadn't done anything else with it, except to hold some storage boxes. She checked the boxes briefly, as well as around the furniture, but it seems that things had not taken place in this room.
Mia crossed the hall to the other room and gave a shake of her head, to indicate that she hadn't found anything in there, so she was helping to assist in a more in depth exploration of this room. Something felt to be crawling along her spine, as sometimes happened when she found a place where something violent had seemingly occurred.
It was like there were echoing sensations and emotions from what had taken place. It was, undoubtedly, all in her mind, but still...
Circling the bend, she found that one of its four posts had been broken. It was the one on the far side, so initially it had been obscured from view by the other posts until she got closer and saw the jagged edge. "Something hard or heavy must have hit this," she said quietly, then saw a strip of fabric hanging from it, caught on the splinters. She followed it down, lifting it.
There was a badge, a crest, design embroidered on the bottom edge of the torn strip. She arched a cool brow, removing it from the post and holding it up for Caden to see, but without saying anything.
Frowning, Caden took the strip of cloth from Miahala's hand.
A noble insignia.
Even though Caden had made it an undertaking to know the banners of all greater and lesser Houses in the nation, he could not decipher to which one this belonged. There were too many to keep in memory, and he sorely regretted that all his tomes on Andoran nobility was still in Arafel, with Niga. The old man would probably have known this insignia right away, and scolded me for my ignorance.
"I do not know which house this belongs to," he rasped, and handed it back to Miahala, "but I am certain we can find out somehow, since we are in the Andorian highseat of noble houses. Even a commoner in the streets might help us, given how they love the gossip of their superior class."
He crouched down and ran his fingers across the wooden floor. What kind of interest does an Andorian noble have with Miahala's informant? What could he have stumbled upon that gave merit to such reckless action?
He proceeded to ask Miahala these questions as he examined the room more closely. "Have you enemies in these parts of the nation, my love? Could you have made a noble House upset by assisting another in a venture somewhere along the line? Either that, or your informant found out something which he shouldn't have." He stood and walked to the bedpost, examining this too. "The vigilance to his task as an informant of yours has been repaid by bitter retribution, and we are left unaware."
Such force had been applied to the bedpost that Caden frowned. He turned his good eye to the rest of the room, seeing evidence of over-excessive violence to a task as simple as capturing someone. Strange...
He lifted his eyes...
And saw something that they had missed as of yet. "There are faint rifts in the roof, as of someone lashed it with steel." And it was not a common pattern either. It looked like an iron whip had cross the surface, leaving furrows as long his own arm. "No common weapon makes such marks."
It was very clear now that something violent had occurred here, and if this tied in to her Dream... She had a sense of what had happened to her informant, although not as to what happened to his wife. Still, this was enough. The scene playing out in her mind's eye was affording her a very grim image and from behind the cold walls she'd erected, a deepening well of guilt was forming.
It's not likely that something happened to him for any motive other than me, she thought to herself. To some, that might've seemed like ego, but it wasn't. It was reality. This man had lived a simple life. She knew much about him, most of it committed to memory rather than paper, but she had to know that her Eyes and Ears were trustworthy.
This was not the first time a member of her information network had been slain because of her, but the feelings associated with it never changed. In fact, it only seemed to be worse now...
"At first thought, I do not know of any noble's house I have offended in this area. Generally speaking, I think I've done well to not offend," she replied, a wry smile attending that last part. The mental addition was that she'd rarely offended anyone who was left alive to be offended... The dangers of life in the Green Ajah, such as it was. "My instinct would say that he knew something... or..."
She trailed off, eyes drifting. Only a soft nudge over the bond brought her back around. "Or someone thought he knew something about me. Someone found out who he was attached to, so to speak, and tried to gather information from him. It wouldn't be the first time that had happened," she said, her voice as level and without emotion as years of experience had allowed her to make it.
There was another option, the thought lurking in the dark recesses of her mind, but she did not want to give voice to it, though she knew she should. "Or someone found that out, and wanted me here..." she finally said. "I realize we have little evidence to support any of the possibilities, but we should be on our guard, as always. Just in case." She took in a slow breath.
Moving closer to Caden, she told herself that it wasn't because she was unsettled in any way but that she wanted to examine the marks from a closer angle. "Who ever did this is no amateur in the ways of violence," she continued after several moments.
"It would be hard to say who or what from this alone, but this was not an impulse by a lesser criminal. The excess force might speak to almost... emotional ties to the crime, but to someone who was prepared for violence."
Dropping his eyes from the marks in the roof, Caden looked over at Miahala. He suspected that she meant that her informant was not a martial man ??? known in the ways of violence. The undertaking of dealing with this peaceful man had been too excessive, so the marks left no explanation other than cold malice; bloodlust.
"We can only speculate from what we have seen here," he rasped and felt her subtle need for support. He placed his gauntlet on the small of her back. "Maybe we should leave this place and make discreet inquiries with the neighbors as to when this could have happened."
He understood her somewhat in regard to the emotions of having a liegeman suffering because of his allegiance to her. Guilt, tinged with helplessness in the face of this situation, where nothing is certain ??? but for a Dream that could mean anything.
"What say you? I think it might be better if you asked the questions. People generally don't feel compelled to speak with me unless they have to, unless I make them talk." He gave her his special smile, showing teeth ??? trying to encourage her and not dwell too much on darker thoughts.
"We'll find out, love" he said finally, "don't you worry."
Breaking down the barriers for a brief moment, Mia turned her gaze to Caden and afforded him a small, soft smile - her eyes effuse with emotion for that instant. "Too late for that," she said ruefully. "We will find out, though." As quickly as the warmth had come, it faded again as all the walls were immediately reconstructed. She could not face this with them down for too long.
As she did this, she pulled herself back in to herself, taking a breath and straightening a little. "You keep investigating in here and see if there's anything else to be found," she said, and then gave herself a small shake, like slipping in to another skin.
Mia smiled, although would be able to tell that it was a bit forced, and the muscles of her face became more active. With occasional little turns and tilts of her head and movement of her eyes, the porcelain of Aes Sedai agelessness melted away and she almost looked like a real woman. Being an Aes Sedai for so long was almost enough to make her feel like the stone she thought she looked like.
"I'll go talk to the neighbors," she said, her voice feeling with more emotion added to it, making it less even and less smooth. "I'll be back shortly."
Before leaving the house, Mia had sheathed her knife - being openly armed wasn't a good way to stay under the scope of others and get people to talk out of their free will. She wasn't looking to threaten people in to speaking with her - she was just planning to find what was open to be found, although she wasn't feeling confident that there would be a great wealth to tap in to.
Mia reached the house nearest her informant's, on the left hand side of it, and she walked up to the front door. She knocked and after a few moments, a woman answered the door. Her full, round face was flushed and she had flour covering her apron. She eyed Mia suspiciously.
"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt whatever you're doing," Mia said, smiling apologetically. "I'm a friend of the man who lives next door to you," she went on, pointing at the house. "I've not heard from him for a while, though, and I came to see him. I knocked, but it seems that no one is home... Do you know if he had to journey somewhere?"
The woman dusted her hands on her apron and then folded her arms across her chest, looking thoughtful. "I can't say that I know anything on that score," she replied, cautiously. Mia could appreciate that, although too much caution wouldn't help her much to get information. "But his wife did leave, just a couple nights ago. She's got family in a near by town, and she goes out to see them now and again. I didn't see him leave, though. Maybe he's just at work. You tried there yet?"
Mia gave a shake of her head. "Not yet, but it's on my list," she said, giving a grateful smile. "Thank you for your time," she added. She wanted to ask more, but asking too questions would arouse suspicion.
The woman gave a nod and then disappeared back inside her house, Mia turned and walked back down the street, heading to the house closest on the right side. The small homes were not quite side by side, as can happen in cities, but they weren't far from one another either. At the next house, she went through the same opening.
It was an elderly man this time and he squinted at Mia as he spoke. He didn't repeat the story about the wife's departure, as he said his eyes weren't as good as they used to be, but he did add something to things.
"They might have headed off, sure, catch up some time to themselves. I heard them arguing, just couple nights ago as I think it, which was odd. Those two almost never thought and certainly not in yellin', but they were the other night. Don't know what they were saying," he went on, scratching a hand through wisps of grey hair. His expression was thoughtful.
Mia frowned, like she was close to the family (and was, in a way) and that she was concerned. "How long ago was this?" she asked fretfully.
The elderly man frowned. "Maybe five days ago?"
There were a few houses on the other side of the street. Two of them were empty and no one answered when she knocked. The third house, though, a young woman answered. She had a child on her hip and looked frayed, but was obviously trying to not be rude while Mia asked about the couple who lived in the house across the street. Small children were loud and rowdy in the house behind her.
"Yeah, I saw her go off a few nights ago," the young woman replied, leaning to one side to keep the baby up while using the other hand to brush strands of blonde hair away from her face. "I couldn't say for sure, maybe four or five. I was at the window, re-tying the herbs for hanging, and I could see them come out the front door. She had a bag over her shoulder and he brought the horse out from the stable in the back. Neither of them looked too happy, but I didn't hear nothing said."
Mia nodded slowly, chewing on her lip with concern - this wasn't entirely feigned, either, as she was getting concerned. It was just the allowing to show it. "Do you know where he went?" she asked next.
The woman sighed, bouncing the baby as it began to fuss. "No, but I know he's got some friends with a farm, and then his employer. We all had a terrible storm just a couple nights ago - the night before last - and it wreaked some trouble. He's probably busy cleaning up on that," she answered just as the baby began to wail. She made a hasty apology and Mia only had a moment to insert her thanks before the woman disappeared in the house again.
The mention of the storm set a terrible feeling in the bottom of Miahala's stomach as her mind raced through the Dream. The lightning and the thunder were suddenly loud crashes and flashes of light in her mind's eye and it made her a little ill, for that instant it hit. She paused near the house, closing her eyes for a moment, then she made it look as though she were just checking things out.
In case any of the neighbors were watching now...
She walked away then, to return by the usual means that would cover her entrance by the back door that Caden had kicked down. She was surprised to see him there, at the door, but only at first - before she realized that he must have picked up on the moment the knowledge of the storm hit her.
She gave him a small smile and wondered at herself. Either she was having a harder time controlling her emotions, or he was getting better at picking up the subtle ones... or both.
After assuring her that she was fine as they walked back inside, she then gave him the summary of the information to him. She finished the report and then let out a long breath. "The mention of the storm anchors the Dream in my mind... that the Dream happened at the same time as the storm, and thus I would imagine that whatever happened in the Dream, what the Dream told me of, happened that night as well," she went on.
Mia paused thoughtfully. "What I cannot figure is this... The old man next door heard the fight - their raised voices, but no one claims to have heard anything from this house after this, but the evidence up stairs shows something violent, thus something loud, taking place upstairs... I would guess that some of these people, particularly the old man and the young mother would be around most the time... So why didn't anyone hear it?"
Pondering these facts, Caden rested his frame against the table ??? arms folded before his chest. A fair harvest. Now its time to sow. In deep silence, he tried to sort things out logically, one at the time. His strategic mind rolled the factors over and tried to bring order among them, excluding things that they might have taken for granted until that point.
"There are but a few explanations, and only one that adds up with the marks we saw in the roof upstairs," he rasped finally.
Looking up again at Miahala, he gave the answer. "The One Power."
He explained his conclusion after brief thought on how to summarize. "The neighbors should have heard, but did not. The sounds from the struggle upstairs - must - have been silenced somehow. Only the One Power can silence such commotion. Furthermore, the marks in the roof ??? which no ordinary means of weapons can leave ??? as well as the excessive violence could equally have been achieved with the One Power. The marks that were caused on the roof might have been overlooked afterwards if they took care to wipe out Residues lingering there in the room, since we didn't saw them right away either."
The implications of this was plain. It hung like an executioner's axe over their heads.
"You might not have caused grief to a noble house here in the area, but neither of us are loved by the Black Ajah."
Before they jumped to conclusions, Caden gave a half-hearted shrug. "On the other hand, we should not make a bon-fire of a candle. The neighbors could have slept. The marks can be old. The captors could have been few, so your informant put up a fair fight. What I find most likely though, is that your man knew what was coming, and sent his wife away."
Raising a finger, he pointed out the real vital element to this lesser fact. "And if he knew, he should have written letters to you and stored them somewhere safe before he got to send them away. If they are here, we can find them ??? unless the captors found them too."
Looking down upon the floor, he nodded. "That's as much as I can conclude at this point. But I do not like the prospect of having the Black Ajah attack an informant of yours ??? if that is indeed the case ??? for we have thus played in its hands," he rasped and locked eyes with her again ??? a scowl creasing his brow, "by coming here. Alone. Without the Tower's support behind our backs. The shadowsworn has lured us out into the open and no one knows we are here but for the Asha'man who helped us Travel to this location."
"And Zafiri Sedai," Mia added, her tone distracted. "She's a young Aes Sedai who assists me, and if I have any time to prepare for a departure, I leave word of it with her..." She met his gaze with a rueful smile. "Just in case anything happens," she added.
It felt as though there were a small shiver slowly crawling up her spine, one bone at a time. She tried to ignore it, but the thought of the Black Ajah had a poor affect on her.
"I think that we have learned what we can from the house, and neighbors, for the time being. Perhaps we should depart and see what else we can find out about things in the general area lately. There might be some clues to be found there, to judge one way or the other..."
Caden nodded solemnly.
The possibility of the Black Ajah involvement did not sit well with him. It was their most dangerous foe, and one they had battled numerous times. And all the times they had faced their lot, Caden or Mia had been walking on rotten ice - with Death waiting below.
"I reckon you are right," he rasped and folded up the hood of his cloak. "There might still be more to learn."
Leading the way outside, Caden stepped into the alleyway through the open doorway and looked down both directions before making their way to the main street.
Following Miahala's directions from there, Caden remained an imminent and reassuring shadow behind her shoulder - acting the personal guard for Miahala so that the guise of her being a noblewoman would fool casual notice made by the commoners. Some time progressed this way as she made their inquiries - but without much to gain.
Suddenly, Caden placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded down the busy street.
A woman was coming their way, with a small entourage following her wake...
Mia's gaze followed the direction of Caden's nod, looking down the street to see the small crowds of people parting for a woman and her entourage who was moving towards them. She was obviously a noblewoman of her late middle years. Her hair was a reddish brown hue and threaded with silver. Her stance resolute, and her gaze... directly on Mia.
"Oh, blood and bloody ashes," Mia cursed through her teeth. For the briefest of moments, she analyzed the tactical situation and the possibility of escape and cringed inside when she realized that it wasn't possible. There was no avoiding it, either in graceful exit or not. "Lady Catvinya Masseroy," she supplied, although she was sure Caden would have figured that out by her reaction.
Within moments, Catvinya was upon them.
"Shame on you, Aes Sedai," the noblewoman said warmly. "Here you are in my very town and you didn't even send me a note. No, no, no excuses. What's done is done, but I'm not offended. I heard a rumor that you were in town and I just had to come find out and insist that you come to my house for dinner tonight. It will be wonderful. It's been years since you were here last," she went on.
Miahala didn't even attempt to break a word in, because she knew she wouldn't. She just put on a blank expression with a very faint smile and let the woman talk.
"Do you remember my daughter, Alassia? Oh, she was just a little thing the last time that you saw her. Would you believe it? She's already a lovely young woman, seventeen winters, and engaged to a lovely young man. We're having a nice little dinner tonight and you must come, you simply must! I will not take no for an answer and will send someone to track you down if you do not show up."
At some point, she'd breathe... Mia reflected. The Aes Sedai also knew, from experience, that ???nice little dinner' did not mean to Catvinya what it would mean to someone of Mia's birth...
"You have such lovely dresses, I've seen some of them, and they'll do just fine. I'm sure that you must've brought one, because you always dine with me whenever you're in town. I know, I know, mostly at my insistence, but I just can't let an opportunity like this pass!" It was at this point that her attention finally found Caden.
"Oh! And who is this? Well, I can tell by his stance that he's with you. How protective! How lovely. You take too many chances and need someone to take care of you, I know that much for sure. He must come along, too - not that you'll need protecting from my dinner party, of course! But I would not exclude anyone who should travel in your wonderful company."
Mia nodded slowly, still not trying to break in. She could, but it wasn't worth the effort. The idea of Catvinya trying to stop Caden from attending was amusing, but she knew Lady Masseroy's heart was too warm and too full to exclude anyone, except certain other Andorian nobles.
"So, you must be there tonight, certainly, and my lovely assistant here, she's such a doll, will be able to give you any details that you need. So you just be there tonight and we'll talk more then. We'll have a delightful evening, I'm sure of it. I'll see you then. Oh, it's so wonderful that you're in town."
Now that all that had been said, without breathing - Mia was sure - the Lady of the House Masseroy swept around and wandered off back down the street in the way that she came. Mia turned her head in the direction of Caden, her expression dry. "Well, I think I handle that well," she dead-panned, a faint smirk forming on her full lips and her eyes showing the rest.
The noblewoman appeared as formidable a persuader as Miahala had given her credit for, and Caden Ives was bereft of the given opportunity for reply; finding himself also deeply amused by his bondmate's equal lack of answer.
"As well as it could be handled," he concurred and his green eye glinted underneath his hood, "Overall, I'm most impressed by her spies, who managed to pin-point us during the course of an hour. The matter of persuading you into attending her event seemed much inferior."
Miahala had predicted this element of their trip so they had no reason to dwell on it. At least Caden did not have to, but he could not speak for Miahala ??? whom he watched out of the corner of his eye while they resumed their inquiries. The prospect of a civil dinner with the noble-class must truly be agitating... I wonder what she would like to attend one with my relatives ??? who'd pick her apart piece by piece, till the point where would find herself forcibly promised to marry me for the sake of an heir without even leaving the table.
Maybe it was time they should make a trip to the borderlands...
Until noon, their investigation rendered nothing, and they decided to withdraw to the Inn in order to get a meal into their bellies and clear their heads. They supped in their room, Miahala going through the reports that she had brought from the Tower while she ate. Caden ate in silence, watching the people entering and leaving the Inn through the curtains of a nearby window. He had removed his amour and rested his shoulders by leaning against the windowsill. Once in a while, he stole a glance at Miahala, just to admire her while she concentrated on the parchments littering the table around her meal, or to analyze bits and pieces which she read aloud.
When her worries swelled across their Bond, probably for the sake of the wife of her probably demised spy, he would walk over and rub her shoulders ??? whispering small reassurances. Hours passed this way, quite comfortably even though the fact of the mission at hand. Quite early, they ordered a bath to cleanse themselves for the event that were due in a few hours at the Lady Catvinya's manor. They lingered there, as they had done before at the Proud Custodian months past ??? cleansing their minds and souls in scolding passion. All worries and thoughts blissfully gone for a time, they were eventually drawn from the bath because the water had gone cold, and they set about making themselves ready for the dinner.
Since Caden did not require that much time of preparation, since.. well, he was a man and even though is appearance was expected to be impeccable, there was naught else he could do to appear less barbaric than to don one of his masks ??? concealing the scars of his face.
Reclined bare-chested upon the bed, thoughtfully turning over the mask of choice in his hands, he suddenly looked up as Miahala started about the long process of making herself ready for court. The ghost of a smile hinted at his lips. "Need any help?"
The day had come and gone, far too quickly if you asked her. Mainly, she just wanted more time before having to deal with the pomp that was a dinner of Lady Catvinya's, but the annoyance that attended that fact was mingled with frustration over a distinct lack of progress in the investigation about what the hell was going on here.
It was all interwoven with moments where she was able to forget it, thanks to Caden's ministrations to that affect, but it still lingered in her mind.
Now, it all remained hiding in the recesses of her spirit, but she was forced to belay it all by this silly event and that was precisely how she viewed it. She did not view the necessity to eat or even the celebration of an engagement to be so - just the way that it went about it. She had been to several dinners of this nature, more than several, over the course of a rather long life and she didn't like any of them, truth be told, but usually it was among an envoy from the Tower. There was some comfort in that.
But now? Now it was just Caden and her, though she praised the Light for Caden in this situation. Not only was he shield, but he was better at such things... and she had no shame in admitting that. She might just survive the evening after all... if she could survive getting dressed for her.
"No," she replied to his query, giving him a dry look over her shoulder. "I am perfectly capable of dressing myself."
This was one of those moments where being an Aes Sedai was very advantageous. There were actually a fair few of those, but this was the one that she was currently looking at. It meant that she was not bound by the adherence to trends or fashion. She could wear what she chose, within taste, and it could be in any color she wished. Which, of course, always meant green.
It was with the various thoughts and feelings of the moment and the day that she set about the task of preparing for the evening's dinner. Forgoing the usual high-necked shift, she donned an under-bodice that laced up the front, pulling it tight - though not as tight as most fashion dictated - just enough to emphasize figure with cutting off air. The full underskirt pulled on after that.
Before going about the dress itself, she took several moments to brush through her hair, which was mostly dry by now. She pulled it back above her ears, holding it back with small silver combs which were delicately engraved. The rest hung loose, but it kept it out of her face.
The dress she had brought was made of silk, like all formal dresses. It rose in to a high neck in the back, like her other dresses, to cover the scars, but unlike her normal day to day dresses, it dipped lower in front to where it laced. The skirt was slashed with a single emphasis of dark blue and the sleeves were of the Saldean style.
Lastly came the green shoes - it felt odd to not be in boots - and the simple silver beaded choker and earrings, which were interspersed with green.
The whole event took many times longer than it took her any other morning to get ready and she was relieved when it was finally done, although she felt somewhat like a child's doll that had been dressed up for some special event. If she thought about it, though, that wasn't that far from the truth, it seemed...
With a sigh, she turned to find Caden and held her hands out. "I think I'm mostly presentable," she commented with a half smile. "What do you think?"
While Miahala had dressed, Caden had donned his garments at a leisurely pace.
He had a three-part outfit ??? coat, breeches and waistcoat ??? all in white and the latter embroidered with extensive silver avendesora patterns. The coat had more discreet embroidery in black thread, on the cuffs and wide collar. Underneath the white waistcoat he wore a black shirt, plain but in lustrous silk. He had brought high boots that reached to his knees even though worn folded down ??? polished to a dull gloss. Over his startlingly bright, white coat he wore the mantle of his title ??? the one which all High Seats of the House f Ives had worn before him. He draped it around his shoulders and fastened it at the left side of his chest with a heavy badge depicting the family weapon ??? a shield displaying a saltire cross, dressed in ivy leaves, silver upon black. Behind the diagonal cross, a silver sword stood point down in herald to yore military achievements. The same weapon was depicted upon the mantle ??? yet with more details and with the silver ivy running as embroidery along the hems.
What took Caden the longest time was his long wheaten hair, which he braided in the Arafellin manner ??? two thick braids that fell down across his back; all the way down to his waist. For last, he attached the silver bells, both heirlooms of the House and studded with diamonds.
Then he held the silken mask once more in his hands, turning it over and debating whether he would wear it or not. It was then Miahala raised her voice, and he looked up to where she was standing ??? finding himself at the loss of words for several seconds. And it was not because of his previous ponderings.
"My love, you look breathtaking," he rasped with emotion, looking her over. The influence of court-life took hold and he began to look over the details, unknowingly. "I would not have you any other way personally, but the fashion here in Andor is to wear the hair in intricate styles that climbs above the head. I believe that bracelets and large earrings are preferable too, as well as more slashes around the dress. Maybe if you use a few more combs in the hair and..."
He was brutally interrupted.
In the initial first glances, mutual appreciation for the appearance of the other traveled back and forth across the bond, as Mia also well appreciated that Caden looked very good in formal attire, although she would have to say she preferred the less formal wear - but that could be the intrusion of preferring non-formality over all.
When the critique began, however, her face slowly blended in to ivory. The only view of emotions was the climbing skyward of one brow and the violent fire that flashed through her eyes as she stared at him in disbelief.
She was suddenly before him, leaning against him on her toes, before he could finish and not in any manner that would be considered pleasing. She had her hand over his mouth, nails touching his skin. "One more word..." she said, her voice low, "and I promise you will not like the outcome." She was a creature of passions, for better and... not so much better.
"I will wear what I wish," she then said, stepping back and smoothing her dress over her abdomen. She straightened up, lifting her head. "I am Miahala Sha'hal Machera Jolstraer Aes Sedai, Captain General of the Green Ajah. No one will question my attire, or me... and not even Lord Caden of the House Ives can do so." The corner of her mouth quirked upwards. "Understood, my love?"
Turning then, she walked over to another portion of the room where a mirror hung and checked her hair, which would remain precisely as it was. She glanced back over her should. "And you look quite good yourself," she added.
With his words caught in his damaged throat, Caden's remaining eyebrow raised in what an ordinary man would have felt for shock. Nevertheless, that was the only visible reaction, as his body stood perfectly still. With her last acerbic comment, and with the nails removed from his already ruined features, he answered blandly, like nothing had happened. "Understood, Captain General. Naturally. And thank you."
Is it her frustration over this ???predicament', or is it something else that stirred her? he thought as he picked up the white silken cravat from the bed. I can't remember ever seeing her this agitated over something so small as constructive advise. Shrugging inwardly, he tied the cravat behind the collar of his black shirt ??? making it prominent underneath his sharp jaw-line.
Again, the white silken mask reminded itself by its presence on the bed, where he had put it a few seconds ago.
He picked it up and turned it over in his calloused hands. Since I met Miahala, I have not worn these as often as I used to, he thought, remembering how he had even forgotten it in the clearing where they had met a few months ago ??? resulting in disastrous consequences. Yet it might be appropriate to wear since it was made for this attire. It also had subtle black threads embroidered upon the cheek and brow ??? reflecting those on the collar and sleeves of his white coat.
He looked at Miahala from the corner of his good eye; judging if it was safe to talk. The violent seizure seemed to have passed, so he held up the mask by his side. "With or without?"
It might have been mistaken for a simple question, yet when on the topic of this matter, nothing was simple. The question was a heavy one.
Miahala felt the weight of the question before she even turned around to see Caden holding the mask. Her expression and her stance softened as she lowered her hands and turned fully around, walking towards him. She looked at the mask, resting her hand lightly upon it, upon his hand and looked up at him with a tender smile.
"That depends on why you would or would not choose to," she said gently. "If you would wear it for fear of what people might think or of shame, then do not wear it. There is no reason to feel shame or the need to hide such things. It is a part of you, and the only opinion that matters is mine." The smile deepened a little and a light, a gentler one than the last, flickered in her eyes. "If you were to wish to wear it for fashion, or simply to draw a little less attention, then wear it. If it would make you more comfortable."
Her other hand lifted and rest very gently on his chest, feeling the smooth texture of the cloth beneath her fingertips, but not enough to cause it any alteration. "The choice has to be yours, ultimately, and should be determined based on your motivations for it." She leaned up on her toes again, this time in a nicer manner, kissing his unburned cheek, and then the burned one.
As she lowered to her heels again, she favored him with another smile, although this one was almost... sheepish. "And on a side note, I apologize for my outburst earlier. I'm just not comfortable with these sorts of things. They feel against my nature."
Shed in the light of reason that Miahala provided, Caden's choice was made easy.
In the beginning, he thought, shame ruled my actions. But I'm older now, accustomed to my maimed mien. He lifted his hand to stroke Miahala's cheek before donning his mask over the scarred side of his face. Not that I am inconspicuous while wearing it, but at least people are more comfortable in being told what is hidden beneath instead of having the horror slapped into their faces at first glance. Thus, I am more comfortable ??? without despising everyone for their weak-heartedness.
"Now I won't ruin the future bride's appetite," he rasped to Miahala and hinted a smile, saying that he was content with his choice for the evening, "or have the groom pissing his pants."
Picking up a new swordbelt with ornamental scabbards fasted for his sabre and dagger, he buckled it around his waist underneath the white coat and black mantle. The dagger was in front of his right hip, and the scabbard hung on his left side. Despite the scabbards, the weapons themselves were the ones he carried and sharpened all the time. The real difference was that the new scabbard for the sabre actually had a small silver heron depicted near the hilt, where his regular one would not tell his enemies just how an accomplished swordsman he was.
Pausing by the door, Caden looked over at Miahala to see whether she was finished or not. "Speaking of brides and grooms," he scraped as he opened the door for her, and followed her through the common areas of the Inn, "What about..."
He paused while he was pulling on his black leather gloves, but did not stall his stride. He looked at her back as she walked before him in the corridor ??? realized that he was speaking aloud of things he had dwelt upon in silence, and proceeded more reverently because of the subject. He pulled on the gloves, trying to figure out how to proceed.
Once outside in the evening air, he continued. "Well... what about this that we share?" he said, gesturing to the air between them ??? indicating the bond as well as the attachment they shared for each other. His lop-sided smile showed how hard he found it to be sentimental, but it died since the topic was rather serious to discuss. "We... should address the matter at some point. What are your feelings towards the future? Are they??? marred by the feeling of the past?"
Before they had departed, Mia had slipped on more item in to her ensemble, although this one was not to be seen. Lady Catvinya found it distasteful for ladies to be armed at dinner parties - though she allowed the men - so Mia made some concessions, namely because she herself was a weapon... and then there was one that could be concealed in the seam pocket of her skirt. Once that was attended to, she had departed the rooms and Inn alongside Caden.
When he broached the topic, she found herself surprised and not surprised in the same instant. She was surprised for the obvious reasons, but not surprised because it was a normal progression of events for what had occurred between the two of them... but it was a complicated and conflicting issue for the woman. She did not answer right away.
"To be honest," she began, after their steps and silence had carried them a little ways forward. "I have not given that particular question much thought. I..." Words were not coming easily, for she was trying to frame very complex emotions in to rather simple words. All words were simple in the face of such feelings.
"I have been married twice before, and widowed twice before... yet those I did not wed, did not pass during our time together." She smiled wryly. "Were I prone to superstition, I would say it was a bad omen to wed me." Her expression grew blank, sadness behind it.
"Yet I, at times, find myself keenly pulled by a past earlier than that. You saw where I was born, and met some of my family. We are contained to traditions, and sometimes I feel that deeper inside and do not realize it for some time.
"Such feelings as that would wish to push away the rest, to take precedence," she continued, pulling thoughts apart to draw out the basic meaning and try to frame sort of understanding, both to answer his question and now answer the question arisen inside of her.
Mia stopped walking for a moment and turned to face him. "If you ask me what I think of what we have, I can say in no plainer words that I feel in my soul that only death shall rend it, us, apart. I have found this in you, in us, and I shall not let it go without a fight," she said, speaking so evenly that it might belie the emotion behind it, were one to not pay close enough attention. "Yet ask me on the other, and I would have to confess to being somewhat scared that such a thing is a curse... to me, and he who enters it."
Digesting her answer in silence, they started walking again, and Caden surveyed the street that they walked along. Even though his mind was much distracted at that given moment, he could not let them fall into an ambush.
Two husbands dead, he reflected, understanding her trepidation at the mention of a new one. Miahala was a complex person to love, since she had experience that doubled his own in this thread of the Pattern ??? but was it not for her complexity, he would not love her the same way either. What use does she have for another ring? She has one that outshines any other in terms of importance for the Battle; for the continuation of mankind. The significance of emotions does not really pale next that brilliance, but the beholder was prone to see the greater things.
Yet to them ??? the two of them who were to carry out the duty that the serpent ring signified ??? to them the other ring did hold signification. Should it not then be granted; forgiven? The world, even the Tower itself, was prone to prejudice regarding Aes Sedai and their Warders, and especially when speaking of the Green Ajah. Should they confirm what was taken for granted, or should they proceed to keep it subtle in the view of their peers and subjects?
"The difference," he rasped finally, "still only lies within the use of a wedding-band, in comparison to the life we currently lead. I'm not prone to superstition either ??? being a tactician and a man of the sword. There is little to gain by the??? act, from those points of view. Nothing would really change but the outward sign of commitment between us both ??? heralded by a ceremony that in itself is purely winds and words if one choose to speak frankly. That is the dull answer of the strategist. Yet speaking as a reborn nobleman, I'd say marriage would benefit us both."
He proceeded to tell her about the significance for her and her family to be tied to a noble House, of the inheritances and the influence. "However," he said shortly, "from the point of a ugly boy in love with a pretty girl, you must know how much I would like you to be my wife, should we discuss the matter further. The love I hold for you outdistance all other factors by far. But time is ours, so we need not speak of it further since, well, we have not considered it thoroughly."
Time was theirs, but soon, they would not have opportunity to speak of it, since they were closing the distance to the manor.
Suddenly, Miahala's mind was filled with thoughts and emotions that were going to take a while to untangle. She realized that they were getting close to the manor house and that this conversation was going to have to stop, but she did want to voice one more thing. "To consider such a thing," she said softly, "it cannot be about aligning families. My family does not care about noble houses or being linked to one."
She paused, looking at him sidelong. "I understand that it is something you must keep in mind, but in making such a decision... it cannot be a factor. There are only two things which can matter: you, and I."
Her eyes spoke the rest of the words that her mouth could not. She offered him a faint smile and then looked ahead to their path again, silently delving in to the recesses of her mind.
Miahala was barely aware of the steps that her feet were taken, so distracted by this sudden conversation as she was. Her heart, spirit and mind were twisted in to a single unit. Images of her years before came to mind - the love, the joy, the heartbreak, the unspeakable pain... Images of her life now, as it was unique on to itself and in the ways that it was molded by her past experiences and the related emotions.
Safely ensconced in a box in their rooms with the rest of her belongings were two rings. They were both gold, plain and too large for any of her fingers. The golden eagle signet had long ago been removed and given to Sadira, but she kept these two: the wedding bands of both past husbands. It was not an inability to let go of the past, but that she took it as her duty to keep their memories, as except for her and their children - there had been no one else.
Somewhere amongst the turmoil was the heart wrenching fear of adding another one...
Yet, part of that line had already been crossed in falling in love in the first place, so what difference did the oath and ring make in that? If she lost Caden now, her soul would be split just as strongly as if they were man and wife or not. There was no escaping that no, so unless she truly believe that being wed to her was a curse - and she didn't, honestly - then wedding would not matter.
It would be something she would not done in the eyes of the Tower, however... During these years of her life, she'd gotten more private in relation to her personal life and professional life, but that didn't mean she was willing to stop living her life. She had always firmly believed that if she did not live her life, there was no use in fighting for it.
With all that being acknowledged in her mind, however, she was a still a tangle of emotions and it would take time, and quiet (which she would not get any time soon) to sort it all out. It could be sorted, just not now... but somewhere in the quiet places of her mind, she realized in her heart that it was something she wanted... but was just too afraid to admit it. And there was no time now to think about it.
They had arrived.
