To earn a cloak and kiss (Attn: Bella)

[Lugh]

Beron

Beron had never felt the mix of restlessness and contentment that Isla’s nearness was giving him. She had knocked on his door in the middle of the night, but as he felt her curving hip under his hand, he felt wide awake. Isla felt strong and supple under his hands, and when she turned he shifted to give her room to lie down.

Lying together Beron moved so his arm was across her, propping himself up as Isla looked at him with her beautiful blue eyes. “Beron, promise me you will still be here in the morning,” she said softly, and Beron smiled as he leaned down to kiss her. Pulling back for a moment, he looked her deep in the eyes, “I will be here in the morning. I would be here for you any morning you need me Isla.”

With that he again kissed her, their mouths meeting in a kiss that was sweet and tender. Beron felt Isla shift beneath him, and he bent to kiss her collarbone as it peaked out from under the buttons she had missed. After kisses that left his lips feeling like embers, he felt her hands grab his arms, and he pulled up to look at her.

Unsure of the emotions he was seeing on her face, and knowing that he was feeling a hunger come over him that had little to do with comforting her and more with his own desires, Beron lay beside her and with a deep breath waited while she curled her head onto his chest. He stroked her hair and watched the flames dancing in the fireplace. “I will find it in the morning, I don’t feel like ever leaving this rug, but I want you to have the other key to my room Isla. My space is yours, and I would have felt terrible if I had missed your knocking tonight,” Beron said as he stroked his fingers through her curls.

[Bella]

Isla felt her cheeks flush and something in the center of her body shiver with that kiss, and then she sighed softly as her eyes opened again and she looked up at him.

She smiled softly when he offered to give her the key. It stirred gratitude deep in her spirit, and for a moment, she felt like she might just burst into a million pieces. Perhaps when she did, all those pieces would fly into the sky and she could stardust. But then she wouldn't be here, now, with Beron and this moment.

"Thank you," she whispered. Before she said more, an idea that had been whispering in the back of her mind came jumping to the forefront and she pressed her lips together thoughtfully. Staring up at him as the idea raced between considerations. "What... What if I suggested something...a...little more?" She bit her lip, almost nervously.

[Lugh]

Beron

“Thank you,” Isla said softly, lifting her head so that she could see his face. He moved his hand with her to prevent the lock of hair he was spinning around his fingers from pulling at her head, and he drank in the sight of her face framed by her curls and in the glowing fire.

“What... What if I suggested something...a...little more?" She bit her lip, as Isla finished her question.

Beron’s Heart skipped a beat and his hand paused in in it’s twirling. The crackle of the fire was the only noise as he felt his mind run down a hundred forking paths. His mind felt like a rabbits warren, cutting through the hills with worries and eagerness, the whole evening having become one of the most memorable of his life. Isla placed her hand on his chest, and in the moment he was still and calm. Looking at her, he answered, “You can suggest anything Isla. What were you thinking love?”

Beron continued to wait on bated breath, as the fire cracked and popped, the logs shifting as the two lovers cuddled on the rug in a tender embrace.

[Bella]

Her breath hitched and her heart jumped over a few beats. Of course, now that she had said it... Well. Her nerves were flaring like some sort of fire, even though it was cold. A chill had returned, although it was something else entirely now. Now it was self-doubt. She knew all that she felt, and all that they'd said...

...but what if it was different once she asked?

"I..." she began, hesitantly. "Well... I am Aes Sedai now, and you are Gaidin. "We...we have spoken of the future, more than once, and how we see each other in our lives as the present becomes it. So...to begin..." Her breath rushed out without being told to and she gasped softly before forcing herself to continue. "Maybe...you would be...my warder?"

[Lugh]

Beron

As Isla shifted her weight against his chest, and chewed at her lip. "I..." she began, hesitantly. "Well... I am Aes Sedai now, and you are Gaidin. "We...we have spoken of the future, more than once, and how we see each other in our lives as the present becomes it. So...to begin..." Her breath rushed out as Beron sat up in surprise and she gasped softly before forcing herself to continue. "Maybe...you would be...my warder?"

Beron felt time freeze for a moment, the question Isla asked a sudden realization of everything he had worked for since arriving at work. Unbidden Ravak’s words came to his mind, the pain and damage that could be caused by an ill thought pairing. But looking down at Isla in the firelight, he felt certain that none of the spectres Ravak had mentioned would trouble them. Isla was not some flightly young girl, she knew what true pain and suffering were. And Beron realized he trusted her to never order something that was not for a greater good.

With a strength born of the endless practices on the sands, he turned and pulled Isla under him. She let out a startled breath as he kissed her fiercely before he broke away with a grin. He knew the formal words of course, but here on the rug with the woman he loved asking him such a question, the words flew right out of his mind. Taking a knee, he helped her sit up and placed his hand on his chest. “Isla Sedai, from this night forward I walk with you. In the light, in the shadows I will be your rock and partner. My heart, my blade, are yours. I will share your path and I will share your burdens.”

[Bella]

Relief flooded her and washed away an anxiety that she knew she needn't have felt in the first place, and she felt herself caught between the heat of him and the heat of the fire beside them. It almost felt like she might melt away, vanish under the weight and amazement of the moment, but she didn't.

Isla stared up at him when he pulled away from the fierce kiss and met his grin with a brilliant smile of her own.

He made his vow to her, and she felt the truth of it sink into her bones in a way she'd never felt before. Even when she was growing up and thought she trusted her brothers with her life, she had never felt this toward any of them, singly or as a whole. Not even toward her own father...perhaps like some part of her had always known they could turn on her, or each other, in an instant.

That was the past, however. This was the present, and this was her future.

Pulling her hands up, she put them on either side of his and held his face gently as she looked into his eyes. She embraced Saidar as the words sprung to her lips.

"Beron Faim Gaidin," she whispered, "we shall forever walk the same paths, share the same fates, and be strength and comfort to one another from this day forward." As she spoke, she carefully formed the weave that she had been taught as an Accepted, bringing together the intricate knot and mesh of Spirit and laying the ropes between them that would bond them forever.

[Lugh]

Beron

Beron watched as Isla soaked in his words, her demeanour changing ever so slightly as she held her hands to either side of his face. Her touch was gentle and loving, and as he watched her eyes he could see her looking deep into his eyes.

"Beron Faim Gaidin," Isla whispered, "we shall forever walk the same paths, share the same fates, and be strength and comfort to one another from this day forward." As she spoke, Beron could see her eyes take on a look of concentration, and he knelt there with his heart pounding as he awaited something he had prepared for but had no idea of.

Suddenly he was no longer alone in his own mind. A presence blossomed with a brief sensation, and he realized he could almost feel Isla tugging at part of him deep inside. He felt her joy, and underneath a disquiet that was fading. After that it became hard to know where his feelings began and where hers began, but in the heady mix he felt joy, love and excitement. Laughing aloud in the wonder of if all, he kissed Isla and clasped her close as the bundle in his mind flooded him with all new emotions. “Isla, there are no words,” Beron said his feelings forming info a ball of steady devotion.

[Bella]

The blush in her pale cheeks deepened, sharply highlighted in the firelight.

It was like there was an entire new world right within her mind...yet, no, it was more that the world she was already in, already knew, had just become more. Never had she imagined that something like this was even possible. When she was younger, she thought she'd known everything...like all young people do.

Of course, it hadn't taken long for that illusion to be torn asunder, and yet there was even more than that to the world and to the things that it, and she, were capable of.

Isla wasn't alone anymore, and knew that she never would be.

"No words," she echoed with a small, almost shy smile. Her breath seemed to barely be in her body. "But now, there aren't any words needed."

[Lugh]

Beron

Beron couldn’t believe how amazing it felt to hold Isla close in his arms, and in his mind. This seemed incredible, although he could also see the potential for harm that both Riahana and Ravak had mentioned. Light but this was a cliff he could throw himself down headlong; and he was beginning to notice the sharper senses and energy he had often heard was a side effect of the bond.

A fierce protectiveness washed over him as some undefinable sensation came across from Isla, and he held her tightly. “Mine” he whispered softly, chuckling afterwards as he realized how his emotions had run ahead of him.

As they held each other, he could feel the long days fatigue pulling at him, even with the new vitality of the bond. Knowing Isla had been through a lot that day, he gently grasped her wrist and pulled her down to lay beside him. “Let’s sleep love, we will have the dawn to enjoy soon enough,” he said as he kissed her and Isla lay her head on his chest.

[Bella]

Her body curved against his, head upon that curve where chest met shoulder, and she marveled that it almost felt like they had each been built to fit this way. With that small bundle in the middle of her mind conveying his affection and stability, she felt assured that she would be able to sleep much better now.

Isla inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, letting her eyes drift shut as her lips curved in a smile. "Good night, Beron," she whispered, already feeling slumber pulling at the edges of her mind. "I love you..."