Measure of Worth (Attn: Riahana)

[Jack]

Sojin Majere Gaidin An audible CRACK sounded in the air as the bundle of lathes broke and the wiry Tairen Gaidin fell to the ground. His nose was bloodied from where he had been punched in the face not two seconds before.

The red strip of flesh where the sword had hit him was already starting to swell, and it was a fair indication the man likely suffered from at least one broken rib.

The silver-haired Gaidin, standing over him, stripped to the waist, spat in the dirt and threw aside the broken practice weapon. His sapphire eyes were hard and cold as he looked at his sparring partner, who blinked in surprise at what had not two minutes ago been a amicable spar.

The sun beat down on them, an abnormally warm day for the season.

“What in the Light what was that for …” the younger Gaidin, a man by the name of Tolan, asked indignantly.

Sojin cut him off with a sharp chopping motion of his hand.

“If you EVER bandy about the words you just spoke where I can here them again, it won't be your nose that's broken,” Sojin swore.

The man blinked and growled, as if prepared to launch at Sojin. A murderous look from the seasoned Gaidin and obvious pain prevented him from doing so.

“I was just making light conversation, I didn't mean …”

Sojin almost decided to go in for the kill, all but oblivious to the fact they had a few onlookers, thankfully all of them other Warders. It wouldn't do to have trainees see two Gaidin feuding, even if Sojin thought the younger one showed no more maturity than a new recruit.

“You meant every flaming word, you jackdawed ninny,” he said quietly. “You speak of yourself as some cock-of-the-walk, and any Aes Sedai who doesn't impress you isn't worth your time, or that you would discard one for another. You disgrace the fancloak, Tolan. Worse, you disgrace yourself.”

Sojin turned then, prepared to forget the lad. His scar-covered body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat, albeit without a mark to show for it from the recent spar. Tolan had never landed a blow.

Returning to a nearby bench, the Gaidin retrieved a white shirt, which he he donned, followed by the slender jian not too far out of reach. Belting the sword around his waist, he was about to walk away when he heard Tolan's laugh, who had been helped up by two fellow Gaidin.

“The great Sojin Majere, lecturing all on the bond,” the man said, a little too loudly. “How many Aes Sedai were you bonded to? Two? First, a First Sitter of the Green Ajah and then a Keeper of the Chronicles, wasn't it? And then you just up and left? And you have had five people chase after you for bonds? Light, but you shame the fancloak, Majere. Oh wait ...”

Sojin turned, hand tight on his sword hilt. One straw too many broke the ox's back …

A familiar face interrupted him, actually almost blocking his view of the Tairen he was about to skewer. It took the form of a fairly attractive Gaidar, short, stocky and fingering a long knife as if she knew how to handle it. The fancloak she wore distorted the background about her, almost making her seem part of the sparring yards.

“Problem, sir,” the Murandian woman, Sebrina Calin, asked casually. Well, more an order than anything else. Before Sojin could utter another word, or stop the two Gaidin from hauling the wretch away despite his protests, the younger woman politely took his arm and pulled him the other direction.

“You could have walked away, sir,” she said with a respectful familiarity. Brina was a recent addition to the Yards, though she progressed quite quickly. Before that, she had been captain of House Walker's armsmen, and Sojin the High Seat.

“Brina, don't call me …” Sojin's mouth snapped shut the second the firm hand smacked him upside his head.

“Sir, with respect, you're an idiot because you knew he knew all the right levers to pull,” the small Gaidar said. “And he's right, you've had five offers since you were back, five who pursued you and courted you, and you said no. And those weren't baby-faced Aes Sedai, either.”

Sojin almost growled but he knew better. He might be senior to the younger Gaidar and more experienced, but she was a both a friend and painfully on the mark.

“You wouldn't understand, Brina …” Another smack.

“You loved and lost, you were released from your bond, this happened, that happened, blah, blah, blah,” she said, stopping both of them. “Grow up, sir, or stop lecturing others on the importance of a bond. And start wearing that flaming cloak of yours instead of letting it gather dust. Not once in five years have I seen you wear it...”

Sojin smiled faintly, shook his head and murmured, “It's not that easy, Sebrina Calin. Good day.”

He didn't even look back as he walked away.

The small Gaidar's dark eyes as she sighed. “Bloody flaming fool. All the makings of a fine Warder, and wasted on flaming male pride,” she muttered. Her eyes went to the left, aware of a second person watching, and more than likely having overheard some things. Light, the flaming Mistress of Arms. “Ma'am, with respect, someone needs to put a foot up his rear lest I kill him because of his stupidity.”

* * *

Sojin sat in the moonlit court outside the Warder barracks, puffing away on a pipe full of Two Rivers tabac. It was a vice he seldom indulged in these days, but tonight was perhaps an exception.

Word had spread of the spar today and most took great pains to avoid the silver-haired Gaidin. His reputation as a trainee still lingered in these Yards, knew he was not one to poke or irritate when he was in a foul mood. In the old days, it meant a match on the sparring mat and a trip to the Infirmary.

He sat, dressed in simple hunter's clothes, wearing a light green cloak to keep at bay the evening chill. His sword was within reach, but his mind was mostly elsewhere.

It flashed back nearly twenty years.

Trollocs swarmed around them. Sojin cut through one after another with his sabre, trying to clear a path to the Gateway. A heavily swollen Saphire was not one step away when one mace-bearing goat-headed Trolloc sprang came in from the left.

Sojin swung around, the catching the mace with sabre guard. The blow left a dent, but did nothing to diminish the blade's lethality. The Trolloc fell like butchered life stock, but even as he swung to cover a second assault against Saphire, a Trolloc's club found the pregnant Aes Sedai. Pain swept through the bond, even as Saphire managed a brief burst of the One Power that sent the Shadowspawn flying.

Seconds passed as he pulled his Aes Sedai and love through a sudden opening and through the gateway back, across nations and into the safety of the Grey Tower. The gateway snapped shut as Yellows began approaching, both to tend refuges of a Kandori village and to the Greens who led the exodous.

Saphire bent over then, suddenly grasping her belly in pain. Sojin knew before he Yellows ever laid a hand on her what happened. Their unborn twins were gone …

Sojin's find flashed back to the present and he shook his head. The memory was still too fresh in his mind. And the events that followed.

It was hard to forget, as much as he tried. And it was something he really didn't share with anyone else.

He shuddered and not from the chill. And then he realized he wasn't alone. His free hand slowly reached for his sword as he muttered around his pipe, “It's not polite to sneak up on people.”

[Roan]

There were those in the Yards who were known to be heavy handed during a spar, and it was not something the Mistress of Arms would change. No, she did not like those training in the Yards to become badly injured, though it was better to be hurt in the Yards than in the midst of combat. Training was meant to be hard, and push people to their limits, though it was also supposed to be disciplined. The exchange between Sojin Majere and Tolan was far from disciplined. Sojin lost his temper and thought to teach the younger Gaidin a lesson.

Sebrina Gaidar knew Sojin well enough to know his buttons had been thoroughly pushed by Tolan, and she called him on it. All of this, Riahana had witnessed, and none of it left her feeling particularly pleased with the conversation she was about to have with Sojin. Ever since the conversation with Jerid Walker Asha'man on the battlements of the Tower, she considered what the best course of action would be with Sojin. She could not force him to bond, and, even if she could, would not. The bond was a personal matter between Channeler and Warder. Both parties needed to be happy with it, else it would weigh heavy.

When she was just Gaidar Captain, Ria watched as Sojin stepped up to Miahala's side during the ambush in the Blight during their border patrol. He would have made Caden Ives proud, to be sure. She would never suggest he bond her Great Grandmother. . .she wasn't one to meddle in her Matriarch's affairs, and it wasn't really something she preferred to give too much thought to, to be honest. Though...they did work well together.

Stepping around the corner, Ria cold smell the tabbac as she approached Sojin. She wasn't tying to be particularly quiet, as it was not her desire to sneak up on him.

"It is not polite to sneak up on people," came his words as his and moved to the hilt of his sword.

Ria snorted as she sat herself on the bench next to him, not waiting for an invitation, "And if you hadn't been so bloody distracted by the events of this afternoon, and today, even the great Lord Caden Ives would not have gotten as close to you as I. For one who has earned the fancloak, Sojin Gaidin, you certainly haven't shown the qualities I would expect, especially given you were a pupil of Master Ives, as I was.

"You've let your emotions cloud your judgement, and reacted on emotion . . .out of anger. Tolan needed his arse handed to him, I will give you that, but I do not think he earned the sharp end of your wrath that you delivered him today. No doubt, he was out of line, but so, Sojin Gaidin, were you," Ria replied in a blunt and honest manner.

Turning her head to look at him, she carried on, "Though it might not seem it, I am actually not here to lecture you about what happened with Tolan. . .not directly, at least. I am here to ask you why he cut through you as if you were a Drin first learning to hold the Void?"

[Jack]

Sojin's mouth twisted in a slight frown around his pipe as he continued to puff. It wasn't directed toward the Mistress of Arms but more one of self-irritation.

Riahana was right about one thing. Had this been any other day and he not been so preoccupied with his own thoughts, the Gaidar would have been facing the tip of a sword if she were an enemy. Or being greeted by the silver-haired Gaidin with polite respect customary of the Yard's general.

Aye, Caden Ives would be handing your arse to you and demanding you run a hundred laps around the battlements for your sloppiness, he thought to himself.

Sojin relaxed his grip on the sword hilt and removed the pipe from his mouth.

Of course, he wasn't in the mood to accept company tonight, especially from someone he might regret saying to at some point.

And then she continued speaking and his frown returned. His sapphire eyes went to the younger Warder. From the way she spoke, it was obvious Riahana had observed the spar with Tolan and the fallout that ensued.

Word had come from the Infirmary not too long after Sojin walked away to find some balance. Three broken ribs, a mild concussion and a broken nose. It wasn't the worst the Gaidin had ever inflicted on an opponent during a spar (Light alone knew he dealt much worse when he was a trainee), but it was still brutal and sloppy in its finesse.

“You're mostly right, Mistress,” he murmured. He lifted a finger from around his pipe. “Mostly right. “If I hadn't handed him that blow, I'm sure others would have … and they would not have been so merciful.”

One or two others might have seen to it that Tolan would have to had been carried out on a stretcher. Where he erred was the fallout nearly drawing steel on the Tairen.

“But you are correct, that we were both out of hand,” Sojin murmured. “If it were any other subject he broached, I would have spoken with him in private or referred to that matter to the Gaidar Captain.”

He took another puff of his pipe, exhaling some smoke away from the Gaidar.

“He hit a nerve that I thought had been covered up long ago,” Sojin murmured, looking at Riahana. “I've met young Warders who were confident, but they had a humility to them when it came to matters of the bond. Then there are one or two in every generation, like Tolan, who see Aes Sedai or Asha'man as livestock, bragging that they can pick and choose as they would, and if they don't like that channeler, they can 'trade up.'”

His sapphire eyes hardened, “Speaking from some outside observation, Riahana Gaidar, those Warders either end up dead within five years if they're not bonded, or worse, come close to getting their Ward killed.”

That was the first button Tolan hit, causing the younger man to end up bruised, bloodied and angry on the ground.

What made him nearly draw steel was what the man said after.

“He spoke the truth when I do shame to the fancloak,” he murmured. “A day came nearly two decades ago when Saphire Sedai and myself were helping refugees from a Borderland village. Shadowspawn had overrun the defenses, and before we knew it, we were surrounded. She was pregnant with our twins, and well … you can never argue a Green down from doing her duty, pregnant or not, especially an en'Damier. She was injured and by the time we got to safety … the twins were lost.”

He paused, taking another puff of his pipe. It was empty, so he set it aside.

“I asked to be released from the bond shortly after that, and she, like the rest of the en'Damier clan, left shortly after,” Sojin murmured. “Before long, I was bonded briefly to Zarishka Ghiraise Sedai, Keeper of the Chronicles, but it turned out to be an ill match and that soon ended.”

To this day, he didn't know what why he turned from the bond with Saphire. To end their relationship was one thing, but to run from the bond was another thing entirely. With Zarishka, it was a logical step.

“I've been a soldier for more years than I have anything else,” he said. “The first thing you learn, whether as a cavalryman or as a Warder, is to stand your ground. I ran, and for that reason, I've not worn the fancloak since then.”

He smirked. “Tolan knew this, somehow, and he managed to slip that insult in like a rusty knife between the ribs,” Sojin said simply. “I've run from bond proposals since I returned, because I'm frankly not worthy, and he spouted those words out.”

[Roan]

The Mistress of Arms leaned back on the bench, resting her back on the wall as she stretched out her legs and crossed them at her ankles. She cast a side-long glance Sojin's way as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Gaidin, one of the things I learned long ago is that nearly everyone who lives within these walls has some story to tell. . .some event or series of events that thrust them on the path their lives now follow. More often than not, the events of which I speak are often traumatic in some capacity.

"I've also learned that what is traumatic for some might be a walk in the park for others, and understanding compassion for those here in the Yards and throughout the Tower is, while not necessary, important. You have told me your story, and while it is not what brought you here originally, it is a part of your pattern," Riahana spoke in an even, soft-spoken manner.

Pausing for just a moment, the Gaidar took in a slow breath and let it out, "You say you are not worthy, yet you returned to the Tower. If you are not worthy to wear your Fancloak, why, then, are you here?

"Is it at the behest of your father? A sense of obligation to him and his family? He has his Gaidar wife who, I might add, is more than capable of protecting him and their family. Your father sees your worth as a Gaidin, Sojin, even if you cannot," the Mistress of Arms continued.

"Your experience is welcome in the Yards, but the self-pity you hold tight around you is unbecoming of you. I do not mean to belittle your experience, but what happened between you and Saphire Sedai happened long ago. At the time, you felt you failed her, and the grief you must have felt. . .I can't imagine what it must have been like. Do I think ill of you asking to be released from the bond?"

Riahana let the question hang between them for several long seconds, then answered firmly, "No, I do not, and aside from jackasses like Tolan who know nothing of grief, or losing someone or something so near and dear it burns hotter than any flame possible, I do not think anyone here would question your reasons.

"The saying is 'Time heals all wounds,' but that is not exactly true. Time gives one distance and allows reflection. You have a choice, Sojin Gaidin. . .you can continue to wallow in your self-pity and claim you are not worthy, or you can pick yourself up, and act like the Gaidin you really are underneath the regret you seem to cling to so dearly. If you hold on too tightly to the events of the past, those events will become shackles and prevent you from moving on," she kept her soft spoken tone, though there was a measure of authority about her in how she delivered her message.

After pausing for a breath, Ria changed the course of the conversation slightly, "During the border patrol ambush, Miahala Sedai stepped through the gate without hesitation, and before I could blink, you were by her side. It was a choice you made to step up and fight along side the woman who was married to the man responsible for molding us into the Warders we are. If you do not think you are worthy for a bond, then why were you worthy enough to fight along side of her? You deem yourself unworthy, but there are those of us here at the Tower who say you are full of steaming manure."

[Jack]

Sojin nearly frowned when Riahana launched on her attempt to impart wisdom in the older Gaidin. Like most soldiers who lived this long, he was open to some advice.

And then there were certain impulses that a younger Sojin might have taken. Twenty years ago, the Mistress of Arms might have found herself on the ground, halfway across the courtyard.

Something she said made him chuckle. The mention that his father was one who beckoned him was enough to laugh at, given the circumstances of father and son's return.

“Given that Jerid Walker was up until a little more than a year ago considered dead by this Tower following the fall of Walker Manor at the Caralain, it would he hard to answer a ghost's request, no?” he asked. “My father and his family have nothing to do with my return, and his only request to me is to watch over my brother given his parents' … concerns with the Black Ajah. And Lysira Gaidar has my utmost respect as a Warder; I nearly hung him from his ankles when his bond ended with her the first time almost thirty years ago.”

Granted, the bond ended in unusual circumstances — the man had been insane to tackle a Portal Stone alone, and without protection of his Warder, no mater how irreconcilable their marriage might have been at the time.

He was joyed they were together once more.

Sojin cast a look at Riahana and raised an eyebrow. “Self-pity, eh? You realize a remark like that could be construed as a challenge, and in this arena, you would lose,” he murmured. He spoke with all the certainty of a trained soldier.

But she was right, and it was a stark reminder of what Miahala had told him in the Gardens shortly before their unfortunate encounter with more darker elements.

The Green had said he was not one to remain attached to the past, but that was exactly what he was doing. The truth was he was rare among Warders. Most who were bonded either died in service, lived and died of old age, or waged war until they died if they lost a bond. Two of his bonds were dissolved and Lysira … Light knew that she was strong enough to preserver after a a bond that strong snapped.

One would think Sojin could move on, take on a new bond. But the simple truth was he failed his responsibility when he ran.

And in all her talk, Riahana made one simple mistake.

“Aye, I made the decision to step into the fray to protect the Amyrlin Seat,” Sojin murmured. “Miahala is a Green and Greens can be dreadfully passionate about taking the fight to the Shadow to protect their enemy without a Warder.”

The words were spoken in admiration and no short measure of reverence. Sojin might have grown up around the Red Ajah who looked after him and his brother in Tar Valon, but he was a soldier, and he had a healthy respect for the Green Ajah. And since his original arrival here, apparently the Indigo as well.

“I returned because I was tired of acting as House Walker's High Seat, because I was a soldier who needed a battle to be fought, and because the Yards needed experienced Warders,” Sojin murmured.

He raised a finger before Riahana could speak. It was a silent order to shut up, unbecoming a Warder to an officer yes, but one he gave nonetheless.

“I stepped through that Gateway because I knew Miahala Aes Sedai was in need of a Warder to watch her backside,” he murmured. “The alternative was facing a defrocking because I struck an Indigo Asha'man who was persistent to go into combat without his Warder, especially when he was the only senior Healer on scene at the time.”

He paused, his sapphire eyes ahead at the Yards.

“And I followed because a Green like Miahala needs a Warder,” he murmured. “She's the oldest in this Tower, aside from Jerid Walker and Durent Asha'man, and she is … determined in her duty to protect against the Shadow. That is to be admired and I will not see she dies a second time.”

He spoke with passion, more than justified in a unbonded Warder protecting a senior Aes Sedai. Miahala deserved Warders who could protect her at all times, more than he could offer.

“With respect, you're full of mule dung for not seeing beyond the obvious, Mistress,” Sojin murmured. “Miahala needed a Warder, and I was there, fighting to keep her fine arse from being skewered.”

“I'm a soldier, Riahana, and a Warder. Of that honor, I'm worthy, but of the bond, I'm not,” he said sharply. “I never said I was unworthy of being a Warder, only of being bonded to a channeler.”

He smirked. “For a Mistress of Arms, you still need to distinguish between those who desire the bond and those who are … more apt to watch all channelers.”

[Roan]

Riahana arched a brow as Sojin spoke to her as if she was a wet-behind the ears-not long out of the womb Drin’ who needed their ego handed to them in tatters. Not one to let her anger show outwardly, the Mistress of Arms kept her breathing slow and steady, but with each statement given to lecture her about what she should know as Mistress of Arms, Ria felt heat rising deep within her.

Who did he think he was relative to her to speak to her as if she were nothing more than a child? Did he have such little respect for her that he thought it appropriate? Was he so cock-sure of himself?

Looking towards him with her brow still arched, she gave a short, breathy snort and shook her head, “It is no secret, Sojin Gaidin, that you and I do not know each other well, and that our paths may not have often crossed, but I do not know who you think you are to talk down to me as if I were a raw recruit just recently joined the yards.

“We are closer than you might think in years, else for me to have twins old enough to join the Yards themselves would be quite the achievement. I do not blindly demand respect from those who walk the Yards, but nor will I tolerate such dismissive behavior,” the Mistress of Arms replied.

She spoke in an even, but curt tone, though it was enough to show a hint of the anger she felt flare within, “Many of my formative years were spent here, and prior to wearing the mantle I now bear, I was Gaidar Captain, or have you forgotten?

“Do not lecture me on what I must know as Mistress of Arms. You think I miss the mark and do not know the difference between those who would rather watch over all channelers than those who wish to bond, but you are sorely mistaken. You can sit there and claim that I do not understand, yet I understand more than you could possibly know,” she continued as she looked away from him and shook her head.

“An Aes Sedai of Miahala Sedai’s level does not need a Warder, as she has the strength to watch her own rear and take care of herself. Anyone who thinks otherwise underestimates her, and it is unwise to underestimate any Sha’hal woman, especially her. More than having someone watch her back, she needs someone close to her she can trust that will have her back in those rare situations where she, for whatever unknown reason, needs the assistance. Prior to this conversation, I thought perhaps you might be one to provide her with such companionship, but it seems I am mistaken,” her nostrils flared as she pushed herself from the bench and turned to face him.

There were a number of thoughts went unsaid as she narrowed her eyes at Sojin, as her Memme’s private life was not something Ria felt comfortable contemplating at any length. Resting her hands on her sword belt, Ria twitched her nose, “She doesn’t need some mule-headed jackass who doesn’t realize how far up his own arse his head happens to be. How many people in your corner have tried to tell you you are worthy despite what you might think?
“I thought you were worthy, but given your little lecture to me tonight?” She snorted, “Perhaps I was wrong. You don’t see it because you are too close to it, but you are wallowing in self-pity, and what I said earlier stands. If you hold on so tightly to the past, you will never move forward. The past defines us, sure, but only to a point. If we let it, it will hold us back, and we won’t realize our full potential. You are letting regret hold you back, and you can sit there and claim I’m wet behind the ears and unworthy to follow in the footsteps of Master Ives, but that has nothing to do with you ignoring the truth in what I, and from what I’ve heard, many others have tried to tell you.

“If others see the worth you do not, and tell you repeatedly, yet you refuse to listen, it is not you being noble to you or anything else, but it is you being afraid to move forward. Your past will swallow you whole if you allow it, Sojin Gaidin. Your father, and friends are trying to keep it at bay, yet you keep pushing them away. Keep at it and one day, they’ll stay away. Then where will you be?”

((Ooc: sorry for the very delayed reply...real life got in the way for a bit.))

[Jack]

If there was one thing Sojin Majere was good at, it was certainly pissing off certain people in high positions.

He had done so with Amora en'Damier the day she requested an audience with him regarding her daughter, and he was doing so now with the Amyrlin Seat's great-granddaughter.

Granted, the then once and future Amyrlin Seat had been angered after he challenged the level of control in Saphire's life and questioned certain discretions. Riahana was a different scenario, but it was the same result.

It was evident from the second she spoke, from the second he could feel the heat blistering underneath the polite facade she at first presented.

It appears you gained all your father's ability to confront and none of his tact, he thought to himself.

“You're a flaming fool,” he muttered to himself, albeit a little too loud to his liking. He lifted his eyes toward Riahana after she had finished her barrage.

What hit home the most were her last words. That he appeared to live in the past rather than move forward.

The comment he uttered was more for himself than anything else. But he stood nonetheless and met her gaze measure for measure.

“I led men into battle before I was a trainee here, Mistress, and before you were even old enough to pick up a sword in these very Yards, and if the Creator wills it, I will be fortunate enough to be half the commander you are now,” he said stubbornly. “I won't for one heartbeat allow you to insinuate that I don't think you worthy to lead these Yards, or I'll be wearing your rear as a boot for the next month whilst you try to extract my foot from it.”

As far as apologies went, it was rather … well, not so refined and probably as insulting as his previous attitude.

What was it Jerid Walker told you after the Amora incident? he thought to himself.

“You're on very thin ice over a very deep lake, Sojin Majere, and it's cracking,” Sojin murmured. He smiled wistfully. “Something my father told me after a not so successful meeting with Amora Sedai.”

When did Jerid Walker become the expert on bonds and he become the fool who ran from them, and he the one who ran or made excuses?

“Where will I be after I push everyone away? Alone and buried in a hole so deep that I won't be able to climb out, and plenty of people with shovels happy to fill it in,” he answered her last question.

He raised a finger. “You are mistaken about one thing, though,” he murmured. His eyes were hard ice now. “Miahala Sedai is someone I don't underestimate, and her actions in the Blightborder and her own would-be assassination attempt in the Gardens are proof of that. She calls and I will serve. If she seeks advice, I will offer or point her to the person I believe has the best answer … which might as well be that blasted Indigo.”

He smiled politely and murmured, “And I do apologize for assuming to question your experience. However, and with respect, if you should accuse me of thinking you not worthy of following in Lord Ives' footsteps again, as I said, your rear as my boot. It would make both our lives awkward.”

OOC: I'll trade you. A month vanishing and work will be more intense this time next year. But yeah, Sojin's a prick, but a well-meaning one. He likes Riahana given the compliments, but yeah, he's a prick.

[Roan]

Sojin was. . .Sojin was an arse. A pig-headed arse with an ego bigger than the Tower. Riahana thought she was good at reading people, but the man before her suggested otherwise. In one sentence, he paid her perhaps the highest compliment while at the same time insulting her by talking down to her as if she were a child. His father said knock sense into him, and she understood, on some level, why the Indigo Asha'man asked it of her, though she had no idea how to get through to the bloody oaf who stood before her.

Riahana was not Caden Ives, nor did she strive to be, as the man was a Legend in the Yards. The best she could hope to do is forge her own path, and she thought she'd been doing it. The man before her. . .was contrary, and she was exacerbated with how to best get through to him. Given his own hackles seemed lowered, Ria softened her tone as she spoke again, "Your father spoke true words to you when he said you were on very thin ice over very deep water, Sojin Gaidin. Take what I say to heart, or ignore it. . .ultimately, it affects me very little outside of this conversation. For stepping up and standing shoulder to shoulder with Memma. . .Miahala Sedai, you have my personal gratitude.”

“I do not at all appreciate you speaking down to me or scolding me as if I were a child, especially, when as I mentioned, we are the same age. In my time in the Yards, the only person who might have such perfew would have been Master Ives. You and I do not know each other well enough for me to allow such. . .familiarity,” Ria continued, though she wore a bit of a smirk and her tone lacked the edge it had only moments earlier. “In other words, there is no need for you to even contemplate your boot up my arse,” she raised both brows as she nodded towards him, “Understand?”