A Patch of Grass (Attn: Cal)

[Craig]

Sabine

Twenty men. Sabine felt the blood drain from her already pale countenance. Guilt bristled up beyond the concern. Twenty men, or one man. What's the difference? Simple maths did not make her five percent of the murderer that Zuin was, nor did it undo what she had done. A man died by my hand, by intention.

She took a hold of herself, and physically shook her head to clear herself of the troubling thoughts. Bile wormed its way up from her stomach, but she forced it down with the same conviction that made her voice come out normal. She wanted to step away as much as she wanted to tell someone about her crime. A genuinely stupid thought, but there was a sliver of guilt that never went away. Instead she made a soft sounding apology. "I am sorry for asking."

Sabine leaned forward, offering her upturned palms for Zuin to hold onto. The Saldaean was not normally one for offering solace, but in this instance it seemed like they were kindred spirits of a sort.

Feeling more than a little awkward holding hands with a boy -- well, maybe not a boy; he was of courting age, if she was not older and already married -- her mind spun to the first thought she could latch onto. "Faera is a house in Andor, is it not?" Her family traded across all nine corners of the world, and her education had included noble houses and prominent merchant families. "Are you from House Faera?" She stopped before saying "there are too few nobleborn here". Part of being an Aes Sedai was letting go of her upbringing, or so she thought. Few of her teachers were nobles, yet she was learning all the same.

[Cal]

Zuin took her hands when offered. He tried to ignore how awkward it felt to hold hands with a girl. It was something he had never done before, he hadn't had much chance to hold hands with a girl. For some reason he got the feeling that this girl understood the feeling of killing somebody. Why else would she offer solace if she didn't understand. It could be she was simply trying to be kind but he didn't get that feeling from her. He didn't know how or why she had done it but he didn't ask.

She had seemed genuinely sorry for asking him about it so he said. "Don't worry about it. What I did is in the past. I don't intend to think on it any more." It was true. While he felt no regret or guilt at having killed those men he didn't want to ever have to do it again. Killing was a horrible waste of life and one which, in most situations, he didn't condone.

Trying to move the conversation away from killing he said "Yes, I am from House Faere. By the fact you know the name and don't sound Andoran your from a noble house as well?" He didn't mind that she had guessed his was noble born, he hadn't exactly been trying to hide it but he had hoped no one would realise it. He wasn't ashamed of his upbringing, he just didn't care much for it. And besides that, being a noble didn't mean anything here. Your weren't treated differently because of it so there was no point in pointing it out to people. If anything the other Soldiers and Novices seemed to dislike the noble born among them because of it although it wasn't always the case.

[Craig]

Sabine

Sabine nodded curtly. "I am the daughter of Lord Makari Hayadan and Lady Kariele Bashere." Then she added, "my mother is the Queen's great aunt," in case the connection was not clear. How much did Andorans care for the royal families of Saldaea? Highly likely they did not look north, for that led towards the Blight. Daes Dae'mar mostly not have a place in the Borderlands, and Saldaea certainly would not survive the sort of internal turmoil akin to the Andoran Wars of Succession.

"But I married into House Masin." A prominent house in Maradon, as Hayadan was in Irinjavar. She scratched behind her ear. Talking about her family was fine, but talking about her husband's family was where conversation started to sour.

"What do you plan to do, when you become an Asha'man? It is a topic I have given a lot of thought to." Sabine was aiming at lecturing, but it came off haughty instead. "I intend to travel. By the time I have been raised to the shawl, I would imagine the Grey Tower shall feel rather claustrophobic. And I think an Aes Sedai could learn more out in the world, instead of relying on scraps of information sent by pigeons. Assuming I learn how to Travel." Her black eyes seemed wistful, staring into the middle distance, before a fleeting smile crossed her face.

[Cal]

Zuin tensed slightly at the haughtiness in her voice but relaxed again almost immediately. He recognised it as the town most nobles used. It was one of the skills that all nobles seemed to have, at least all bar him. He had never been able to be haughty. Every time he tried he found that he became so embarrassed that it broke the illusion. He had since then given up on trying to be haughty and stuck to his books and study and that was what he intend to do for his life. Study and learn everything he could.

"I can see why you would want to travel around but for me I would rather just stay in the library and study. I might Travel to other cities to study but really I just intend to learn everything I can which should be quite a lot considering that we will probably live for hundreds of years." Zuin said. Even as he said it he realised that he might well live for hundreds of years. A strong channelers unbound by the oath rod could live for six or seven hundred years, more if they were really powerful. At his current strength he would live for two hundred years and that was if he didn't grow any more in strength. He hoped he would grow more, they had told him that he probably would although they couldn't be sure. It was apparently impossible to tell how strong a man would become until he stopped growing although even that was difficult to judge as they grew in fits and bursts rather than steadily. All they could do was tell how much power a man held at any one given moment.

[Craig]

Sabine

Sabine nodded in understanding. She saw the appeal in learning; to better one's self; to leverage advantage against ignorance or arrogance. She did not think it was to those ends that Zuin sought knowledge. That was just learning for learning's sake. Some people held too much stock in learning, but there had to be scholars in the world, and other people could use scholars. Was that how people saw Brown Asha'man and Aes Sedai, simply as resources to be mined? It was far too soon to be making any determinations about Ajahs, but maybe having better access to the combined information stored within the minds of the Browns would best serve her goals. It was that or make friends with some of them. The Saldaean's black gaze flickered across Zuin's face as she made calculations. Daes Dae'mar was not prevalent in Saldaea, but she knew enough. If he became Brown, maybe she could have access to that information without choosing the Brown Ajah herself.

"I am sure the Brown Ajah would be grateful to have you," she said kindly, leaving the rest of her thoughts unvoiced. With more levity, she added "With hundreds of years, you may be able to read the entire Grey Tower Library. That would be a feat for the Ages." Would even an Asha'man's lifetime be long enough to read every book, treatise and essay inside the glass monolith?

Continuing the topic from before, Sabine's voice gained strength. "As for myself, if I have hundreds of years to live, I intend to live them fully." Her dark eyes rose to look skywards. "You can explore your books whilst I explore the world, and I can collect tomes for you on my journeys if you like? There must be treasures in the wilderness, not just in the major cities." Otherwise someone would have found the Horn by now. A pleased look crossed her face as she looked back into Zuin's bluish-green eyes.

OOC: Sorry this took so long to reply to. If you want to wrap things up, I understand.