Black Pawn to White Knight [Attn: Ravak Darrow Gaidin]

[Bella]

Mia watched as Ravak rode through the Gateway and felt that strange sensation of the bond being within eyesight and yet so very far away at the same time. It was something she had felt many times, but it never ceased to be utterly bizarre to feel all the same. She waited the appropriate amount of time to be assured that it was safe, and then she followed.

Within her mind, his presence snapped back to fullness with a feeling akin to relief. She surveyed their surroundings for herself now, taking note of the village and the lack of visible Tuatha'an caravan.

As he rode up beside her, she looked at him with a smile afforded more emotion while they were alone again. "I shall still be Miahala Sedai, cautiously," she said. "This is Seira's family and they were well aware of her life and where she was. So to identify myself as having known her, they will be aware of what I am."

Pausing, she let out a quiet breath. "This will not be a fun meeting, however. They are not likely to be pleased to see us in the first place and I get to tell them that their kin is dead. Not just dead, but quite gruesomely murdered." Of course, the details she intended to keep to herself.

[Craig]

[font=Bubblegum+Sans name=Bubblegum Sans] Ravak [/font]

"I'm here for you." A needless statement after the last few months, but Ravak wanted to say it. Whether that meant being a shoulder to cry on after all this was said and done or a pair of blades against an incensed group of Tuatha'an. Neither of those scenarios seemed likely, but those were just the extremes. Less experienced Warders may have thought they were here just to ensure Mia's physical wellbeing, but that was the lesser part of the equation.

Stretching over the distance between the two horses, Rav took a brief hold onto his bondmate's hand and squeezed. "If you prefer, I can do the talking. They're not going to like me at any rate with these strapped to my waist." He patted his scabbards as he straightened in the saddle.

His face and thoughts grew serious just before he next spoke. "I don't want you putting yourself through any more undue grief."

[Bella]

His offer was unexpected. Not because of him, but simply because she wasn't used to others offering to take on her tasks. Despite the years and previous warders and husbands long gone now, she had spent much of her time alone. Even when bonded and married, she had very often ended up alone. So, she was used to being independent. Tasks, good and bad, were hers and remained hers.

Thus his asking surprised her, but it also touched her. And since they were still out of sight of anyone else, she lifted his hand when he took hers and kissed his palm. Then she let him have his hand back.

"I appreciate it, dearheart," she said sincerely, "but I will be fine. It will be unpleasant, but I can manage. Even with how they may feel about my kind, hearing the news from a woman may still be easier on them and I would worry more for them than myself. They are the ones who are about to hear they lost a loved one, even if they may have considered that loved one lost already."

[Craig]

[font=Bubblegum+Sans name=Bubblegum Sans] Ravak [/font]

Ravak accepted his love's reasoning even though it didn't sit happily on his conscience. Mia would never agree to being swaddled and protected like some newborn babe, but that was all Rav wanted to do. His role was to protect her after all. But then Ravak also respected Miahala. Her role was to protect, but in a different way, and that way didn't fit with the notion of sitting pretty in the Grey Tower and directing other people to do her bidding. I just wish it didn't have to be us. But it did, and moreover, it had to be her who delivered the news.

He wasn't even certain what he was afraid of. Tinkers? On a scale of one to the Dark One, Tinkers were the one when it came to being a threat. They believed in a way of the leaf, which meant doing no harm. There would be nothing approaching sabre-rattling; nothing like dealing with a den of Cairhienin nobles. The worst that could happen was anything Miahala did to herself.

Rav briefly closed his eyes. He couldn't say where this bout of anxiety had spawned from, but he knew it wasn't healthily. Resigning himself to his fate, he encouraged Impala toward the village aside of Mia. Even if he didn't know his own mind, he still could be a good Warder.

[Bella]

They rode along the road just like any other pair of travelers would. Ravak's swords might draw an eye or two, but that was nothing compared to the looks she would have gotten while still bound by the Oaths and she looked like a statue in motion. Now she could just look like any somewhat well-to-do woman and her personal guard.

It made traveling and blending in so much easier. Even without the Oaths, she held to honesty as a simple way of life, but she did not at all miss the agelessness.

Entering the village, there were some looks and some nods, a few enterprising folks waved or bid them a good day and a pair of children playing in front of a shop looked up and the little squealed when she saw the horses. Seren and Impala were well-sized steeds, finely kept and clearly not made for farm-work. Seren ducked his head and snorted softly, almost in acknowledgement. Mia smiled at the girl.

Ravak's watchfulness and wariness of everyone and everything was a bundle of comforting paranoia in the back of her mind as they moved into a section of the lane with more merchants.

It had been her experience that male merchants were more receptive to a pretty face. Although the stony one along with her might hinder that slightly, she decided to work the advantage. She pulled Seren up beside a merchant stall that had a young man tending it. She offered a small, polite smile. "Good day," she greeted. "I was wondering if you might help me."

His dark eyes took in her and Ravak warily, then settled on her. "What is it that I could help a fine lady such as yourself with?" he asked cautiously.

"I was told there was a Tinkers caravan here recently, selling some of their wares in your lovely town," she said smoothly, holding his gaze just enough to unsettle him and loosen his thoughts but not drive him away. "I am aggrieved to realize that I've missed them and was wondering if you could tell me where they were headed to next."

"Oh, yeah, them," he said, nodding and seeming pleased he was in possession of the knowledge. "Yeah, they were camped outside of town and selling their stuff in the square for a while. Just left yester-afternoon but moving slow. A lot of old ones with them. I wouldn't imagine they've gotten too far by now." He paused. "They was headed north." He pointed to the road back out of town.

Mia bowed her head slightly, although she did not drop her gaze. That was a gesture of deference she gave to almost no one. "Thank you for your time, and good luck to you." She produced a coin from a pocket seemingly hidden among her clothes. "For that time," she said and then nodded to Ravak and they moved onward.

Once they had walked on a time, heading north, she shook her head with a faint laugh. "Just left yesterday, of course. Always with the timing," she commented idly.

And like that, they had ridden into and back out of the little village without even knowing its name. That did seem to be something of her lot in life as an Aes Sedai, especially a Green. It worked for her, though. She often at least tried to know the names of the places she went, but on the whole, she didn't like to be kept too long in one spot.

"A caravan with wagons and many elders leaving less than a full day ago," she said. "Comparative to the quicker traveling speed of us, I would imagine we could probably catch up with them by evening."

[Craig]

Ravak

When Mia had said this would be a short trip, he had hoped that meant they would be back in the Grey Tower come supper. The chances of such an event occurring slipped away by the mention of the caravan having left. Even if Rav didn't know the precise speed of a Tinker's caravan, he had already made a decent guess when Miahala produced him with a more precise answer. "...by evening." Inwardly he gave a small sigh.

On the plus side, he was with Mia. This was a day they could spend together, which bested a day in his office whilst the Captain-General was in hers. Of course, they had their evenings together, but this was different. And better. This 'more than' relationship they had begun on a journey together. This trip felt quite comfortably familiar.

Despite his hopes being dashed, the Gaidin was not unprepared. Impala had trail rations on him. Rav pulled out a small piece of pemmican out from one of the saddlebags at they rode along. The stuff was foul enough to make anyone wish for the Mistress of the Kitchens' worst cooking. He chewed it without enthusiasm, all the while keeping a watch out.

"I've never met Tinkers before," commented the Gaidin Captain. "Not a caravan of them at least. Just the ones at the Tower. The Way of the Leaf doesn't really sit well with training in the Yards." He glanced down at the gold ring on his shorn finger. "You said..." He shook his head, but of course, he had started to ask a question, and Ravak could feel the prickle of curiosity across the bond. The Shienaran sighed, then continued. "You said they considered Seira lost. Does leaving the caravans mark a person out somehow?" That wasn't quite the right phrasing, but that was how the words came out of his mouth. He rubbed the end of his ring finger thoughtfully as distant memories starting coming to the fore.

[Bella]

As they rode on, Mia listened to his question begin and stop and begin again. She didn't press, but she knew that he would know she was curious and she was patient. A brief side-glance caught her eyes on his rubbing his finger as he finished. Mia was quiet for a moment, contemplating both the question and him.

"I don't know that they are marked, so to speak," she finally answered. "I don't have a lot of experience with her people either, since neither my calling nor my attitude suit the Way." She smiled wryly.

After a moment, she went on, "But she channeled and then pursued a life of violence when that ended, so they must have considered that she would not be coming back. She was lost to the Way of the Leaf and so their lives, but clearly not so much that they did not accept her back if she left that all behind. Because she did...but then returned to the Tower.

"I imagine they did not think she would be back again and was truly lost then, and in the end, they would have been right."

[Craig]

Ravak

Rav scowled. It was directed at the Tinkers rather than Mia. There was nothing more important than family so far as Ravak was concerned. Even if the rest of the Tinkers took issue with someone channelling -- or was it the fighting that bothered them? -- her family shouldn't have disowned her. "Disgraceful," he muttered.

A foul mood was capable of forming in that moment, but Rav kept it at bay. After all, he wasn't here due to some loyalty owed to the Tinkers. This was something Mia needed to do for her own conscience, at least in part. Maybe they wouldn't be back for the evening meal, but the best they could do was get in and out as swiftly as possible. No point giving time to a people who turned their back on battle and won't even help themselves in the Last Battle.

Rav pushed the building disgruntlement away. He gave Miahala a long stare, reminding himself that even with this upcoming encounter, he was still in a far happier place than he'd been in previously. The Tinkers were a price worth paying.

[Bella]

Miahala warmly appreciated his views on family, since they were of a kind with hers. After all, given how many she had spread throughout the Blightborder--both descendants of hers and those of her long-passed brothers and sisters--that she still kept track of and in touch with, well, family was obviously important to her as well.

She felt the minor war over the bond, and was quiet to let him move through it before she spoke again.

"It is needful to deliver the news to them, as regardless of what happened she was kin, though I will admit that I wouldn't be making this effort were it not for the details of her death beyond just the fact of it. I want to know what they can tell me about her in between her times at the Tower and hope for some hint about what led to her ending up as she did.

"If she left the Tower once to return to her family and they accepted her, then why did she come back? What would place a Ji'val in the line of sight of such dark things to reach such a terrible end?" These questions she knew he didn't have the answers to, of course, but she hoped that talking to Seira's family and caravan might shed some light on the issue that she could bring back with her to the puzzle they worked on.

[Craig]

Ravak

Ravak knew little about Ji'val Siera's fate. He hadn't been in the Great Hall, and his concerns had been elsewhere in the aftermath of those events. Rumours and gossip had planted a bleak picture, however. Regardless of who Siera had or had not been, she did not deserve such a fate.

He felt brazen. Or maybe Ravak simply felt the freedom of being outwith the Tower. Either way, he let out an uncommon thought. "How does the Black Ajah operate so freely within the Grey Tower? How does one even join the Black Ajah?" They were the insidious virus that plagued Hama Valon; more deadly than the Whitecloaks and Seanchan combined. "I'm surprised someone hasn't come up with a ward or weave to root them out."

"I'm sorry," he said after a flash of self-awareness. "I'm not helping matters. I'll... I'll see what I can dig up when we get there."