A Matter of Urgency [Attn: Valadin & Riahana]

[Bella]

Miahala Ives While everyone else was off about their own business, Miahala and Gareth made their way to the healer's hut. It wasn't hard to find, as the town was not large and there was a small stream of people leading up to the door. She gauged that not one among them was less than forty or fifty years old, and more than one had worried children hovering near them.

The Green didn't say anything, but exchanged a look of concern and uncertainty with her Yellow kin as they made their way nearer. They had to cut through the line and earned a few angry comments until Mia turned and looked at them. She didn't need to say a word but the perfect ivory of her face made it obvious just what she was and no one said another word, or even uttered a sound.

As they were granted entrance past an older gentleman in the doorway, they immediately felt the crush of people. The house, such as it was, granted space for several people in the open floor plan of this bottom level but there were four Aes Sedai within it already and then a variety of ill persons either standing or sitting or laying, according to the available space.

Their entrance was immediately noticed by two of the Tar Valon sisters nearest the door. They were old enough to attain their agelessness, but Mia could sense that they were not as strong in the power as she as they both held Saidar. Another Sister was hunched over a woman lying on a mat on the floor and Mia could just make out the weaves she used.

"I don't know you," one of the Sisters, wearing a dark grey dress in the current Andoran fashion, said. She looked Mia over up and down, cloaking her thoughts in Aes Sedai serenity but Mia could see the faint twitch of distaste in her lips.

You know where I must be from, woman, Mia thought, having no love for the White Tower. "I am Miahala Sedai, of the Grey Tower," she said, better at this game than the other. There was absolutely no hint of emotion in her porcelain features, or even in the normally fiery look of her blue-green eyes. "We have come to lend our aid." She gestured to the ill around them, moaning softly. "It seems that help would be welcome, with so many."

The other woman looked like she wanted to argue that Tar Valon did not need the help of anyone from the Grey Tower, but she knew it would be poor form. "Yes," she said. "Your assistance--" Her eyes traveled to the giant hulk of man beside the Green. "--would be useful." Mia didn't miss that the woman didn't say 'welcome.'

Well, Mia didn't care if she was welcome or not. She would not let anyone suffer for her pride or anyone else's, and she could see Gareth's fingers practically twitching with his healer's instinct to help. The woman who had been aiding one victim was now tending to another, but keeping her body positioned so that Mia could not clearly see her efforts. Mia's Green instinct instantly kicked in, but she said nothing.

"Time to go to work, Brother," she said to Gareth. He met her gaze and nodded. Sub-text abounded, but they seemed to understand one another as he turned back to the Sisters.

"What can you tell me about the illness plaguing these people?" he rumbled, evenly but politely. He was too young to have developed the distaste for the White Tower that early denizens of the Grey had.

[Roan]

Riahana stepped inside the room and lowered the hood of her fancloak as she looked from Valadin, to the boy, and finally to Nykkolaia. The Gaidar Captain waited until the door was once again closed before she spoke, not wanting to give someone else's eyes and ears anything to glean from her conversation with those in her party. The boy gave her slight pause, but he'd come to them for help. She hoped he was trustworthy.

"Trouble may be afoot," Ria began, looking back to Nykk and Valadin. "The third guard of our welcoming party spent the better part of an hour circling about, making sure he wasn't tailed. He failed, needless to say, but he met with someone just outside of town. There is a band of men, probably mercenaries, camped outside of town. He was given a mount and directions to the camp, and will be informing the party of our presence."

Ria paused for a moment and scratched her cheek, "The temptation to follow him further was there, but with him on horseback, and a band of men searching his tail for any followers suggested it more prudent to return with what news I do have. I am not sure who the man answers to, but he has loyalties to someone outside of the town watch he serves. . . a 'lady' of some ilk. Sadly, I know nothing more."

[Sean]

“Never doubt the wisdom of sound paranoia.”

The knock at the door announced the arrival of yet another intrusion upon what should have been a quiet evening with Nykk. Though he moved to welcome the Warder without hesitation Val slowly realized that the prospects of any sweet embraces were dwindling to nothing. With the stealth of a shadow the female Gaidar swept into the room. The severe lines of her face seemed at home in the doorway’s darkness where she tarried a moment before stepping into the candlelight. For any unused to the ways of the Gaidin and Gaidar the drawn-out silence might’ve been dismissed, but Val knew the woman was carefully considering her surroundings—and whether everyone in the room was trustworthy.

Learning that the Tower contingent’s arrival had been marked was troubling enough, but these mercenaries possibly having a connection to a noble spelled difficulties in the travels ahead.

“Any Ladies in yer town, boy?” Val asked, brow furrowed reproachfully. Mistrust lay heavy in his bearing towards the child; whether out of petty annoyance or genuine suspicion was another matter.

“No, ser. We ent never had nobles come by without a festival.”

“Perhaps there’s someone named ‘Lady’ that they answer to…”

Before his statement could be finished the boy shook his head, “Ent nobody that’d take a name like that. Most folk stick to their farmin’ an’ let the wellborn play their Game; least that’s what Ma used to say…”

At the mention of his deceased parents, the child wilted. Though Val shared his pain briefly it took effort to resist the compulsion to point out that at least the lad had known his parents. One day maybe it’ll make ‘im stronger. After all ya can only cry yer eyes out fer so long.

Great peals of laughter sounded from the common room as the farmers and tradesmen of the town came to the inn for a few end-of-the-day pints. Shortly after a knock at the door resulted in several platters of food being brought in for dinner by two serving girls who met their somber reception with tittering curtsies. One of them, a raven-haired girl with a crooked nose and full lips, batted her eyes at Val before leaving all in attendance with the reminder that if anything else was needed they only had to ask Maggie to send for someone. As the door shut behind the girls, their laughter filled the corridor outside as they skipped down the hall.

Throughout the affair, Val had kept his eyes trained on the knots of wood swirling in the planks of the floor. Not daring to look at Nykk for fear that she might see the ugly hunger that burned for something other than dinner. Slipping into the Void like a second skin helped to master the urges, but just a little.

“Perhaps inform Lady Ives and…the Asha’man?” Valadin asked looking towards the Gaidar. Part of him wanted the woman to go so that he and Nykk might have a chance to talk while the boy ate, but the other part was craven at the thought of being close to the Aes Sedai.

“I’m hungry,” the child whined through tear-shined eyes. His hands tugged at Nykkolaia’s skirts with a familiarity that made Val flinch despite his best efforts to mask the movement.

Already the room was filling with the aroma of the meal set out on the long table. Aside from the dishes brought earlier, meals of roasted lamb chops, peas, squash, and bread rolls joined the collection. Set not far off was bowl of fig sauce made from dried figs. Honey-bread, cheese and fruit rounded out the feast that did not include the pitcher of a rich velvet wine that glowed with the tiny flickers of candlelight. In all it was more food that Valadin had seen at once in his entire lifetime. Even at the Grey Tower he didn’t eat so grandly.

To think not a copper piece would be spent on their part. How his world had come to change so much was something that bemused Val at every turn.

OOC: So I’m sorry for this coming so late. I’ve only the use of one of my hands currently—not even strong hand—so everything thing takes forever to do. It will be this way for a couple of weeks, but I’ll be better; at least with this thread. Prompts coming both your ways.

[Roan]

Riahana, as a Gaidar, learned to observe situations and people in said situations. It was clear the boy felt safe in the presence of the Blue Aes Sedai, though she sensed a bit of tension from Valadin, and was unsure of the source. His suggestion to inform Miahala and Gareth, though, was a sound one, and could allow the group to determine what their next move might be. Either way, she suspected she would not be getting much sleep tonight, as she had no intention of letting some mercenary perhaps catch the group unaware.

The Gaidar Captain ate her dinner, washing it down with a pint of ale as she watched and listened to the exchange between Valadin and the child. She turned her attention to Val as he suggested informing the others, "I think it a wise call. Perhaps we can discuss what our options are as they take their evening meal." She pushed herself up from the table and nodded towards Nykk, "If you might excuse me, Nykkolaia Sedai." She then looked to Val and gave a similar nod, "Be on your guard. Despite what our 'host' said this afternoon, I do not feel at ease here."

Pulling the hood of her Fancloak up, Ria took her leave of the trio and the inn as she made her way to where she suspected Mia and Gareth might still be working. With luck, the pair might be on a bit of a break and she could give them the same update she gave the others.

[Bella]

Nykkolaia Zeran Sedai The...discord that Valadin so clearly felt towards the child continued to be a complete mystery to her, and she determined within herself to ask him about it when they had the opportunity to be alone later. (Although the idea of being alone with him here, away from the Tower, caused another strange reaction in her that she resolved to ignore while it was a bad time to figure it out.)

She could not puzzle about his feelings on the matter too much, however, because the puzzle of what the Gaidar had to report was a far more pressing matter. Combined with what the boy had already been telling them, it was certainly enough to cause a great deal of discomfiture and she did not feel at all easy about this place, either.

...then again, she had not felt at ease about matter since that first encounter on the road.

Nykk was glad that the warder had gone to inform the others, because she knew that this was something they should discuss and determine what level of concern to place upon it. She was far from being a novice, of course, but she knew that the Green and Yellow were both even more experienced than she. (Miahala Sedai being far, far, far more experienced than all of them combined.)

Pulling herself from her reverie, she saw that the boy had already set himself upon the meal. That was good. She supposed that she should eat something herself, but was not feeling particularly hungry. With the boy distracted and the warder gone, she did afford a moment to look at Valadin and reveal a trace of her uncertainty about the evolving situation around them.

[Bella]

Gareth Tomason Asha'man It had been a long day, Gareth determined as he stood outside the healer's house with Miahala.

After the traveling here and their adrenaline-spiking greeting, all the time that Mia and he had spent helping out with the healers had taken its toll. And it felt like they hadn't helped at all, as the place was still full of the sick and weary. The White Tower sisters had continued to build ice around themselves and didn't speak more than two words to either member of the Grey Tower if they could help it.

If it bothered Miahala, she did not show it...but then, she showed very little.

Now it was past the late day meal hour and they stood outside to take in the air. Gareth stared up at the sky. Neither of them had much to say. Gareth was a strong healer, but even his reserves had been taxed. It was something...strange at work here, but he couldn't put his finger on what precisely it was. He was about to say something to Mia about the feeling when he felt the bond swell.

Dropping his head from his stargazing, his eyes turned in the direction of his wife as she drew near...

[Roan]

Approaching the healer's house, the Gaidar Captain was inwardly relieved to see Gareth and Mia standing outside, as it meant she wouldn't have to add yet another body to the already crowded building. She'd been considering what she thought their next course of action should be, though she was fully aware it wasn't up to her. She was also aware that, as a Warder, her approach might lack finesse that could potentially be warranted, given what little they knew.

Ria offered the pair of them a greeting, but hesitated before giving them an update of how her afternoon and evening progressed. She waited until a pair of people who exited the healer's house moved out of earshot, and still spoke softly, "I was right to follow the third party of our welcoming committee." She then explained what she heard and witnessed before making her way back to the village. After a moment to let her report sink in, she said, "Someone will be expecting us, but we have no idea who. We know there is a group of mercenaries camped outside of the village somewhere, but we have no idea what their intentions are.

"I think it would be wise if we get together with the others to discuss what our next steps should be. From a defensive perspective, it would be good if we took stock of our set-up at the Inn, and set watch tonight," Ria finished. She had a tendency to be concise and to the point when it came anything tactical. She wondered what her Memma and Gareth would make of her report.

[Bella]

Miahala Ives Sedai The entire day had set Mia's nerves on edge, which was something that it generally took a great deal to do.

Today had done it.

The Green had been raised to distrust the White Tower, and nothing that those Sisters in there had done today had done anything to change her mind about that. She was older than any of them and had earned a place of respect, but you wouldn't know it from the sideways glances they afforded her. Entirely without subtlty as well, which from Aes Sedai was rather appalling.

Forgot to pack your serenity when you left Tar Valon? she had thought more than once.

Now she enjoyed the quiet and the cool night air, until the Yellow tensed beside her and she looked along his line of sight to see the approach of her great-granddaughter. Mia nodded to Ria, but said nothing as she let the younger woman speak her peace. And it was not comforting news, to say the least.

And so the webs weave tighter, the Green mused inwardly. "I would agree with you," she said simply. "Let us return to the others so that we may better discuss this matter." She spoke no more on it, not trusting the street or the Aes Sedai still behind them in the healer's hut. She could weave a ward of privacy, but that would only alert those others.

"Agreed," Gareth rumbled laconically beside her and then they returned to the inn.

[Sean]

"Remember that all worlds draw to an end and that noble death is a treasure which no one is too poor to buy."

As the boy pulled at the meal with the unruly appetite of a street urchin Valadin's dislike for the stray subsided. Locks of dirtied hair fought their way into every bite only to be ignored in favor of the all-consuming hunger that resulted in a crass display of table manners.

A girl from another life had once told him that people could be more than their instinct for self-preservation. Cradled the arms of this dreamer, a slave boy had dared to fantasize about such a life, one where she and he could be the people they chose to be— not what the world dictated. Now that slave boy stood watching a young child struggle to survive and the girl along with her dreams had joined the Pattern, waiting to be reborn. Anythin' to survive, Valadin thought bitterly.

Turning to catch Nykk's eye he was surprised by the uneasiness that lay in the twin pools of clear blue. The instant desire to comfort her, to fold her into his arms forced a step in the Aes Sedai's direction, but a knock at the door summoned the Void's return and with it the disregard for befuddling emotion.

"It's Gamal, a word is all I ask," said the Under Lieutenant through the door. Valadin's tension eased though the Oneness kept him aware of any signs of danger as he allowed their guest in.

The sight of the boy brought a curl to officer's lip though he made no comment of it when he addressed Nykkolaia. "I came to inform you that I will not be joining you tomorrow...other duties demand I leave for the capital tonight.”

Valadin's eyes narrowed. "Other duties?"

Gamal turned to him, face devoid of expression as if it were cut from stone. The man would have made a fine Aes Sedai.

"Yes, it appears that..."

The door to the room opened again, this time admitting the female Gaidar followed by Sister Ives and the giant. Valadin kept close watch of Gamal as the new entries settled in. The man waited patiently until the room grew still and all eyes were on him. "Good evening to all, I was just giving my farewell to the Sister here and...the young man. It seems I'll be going to Cairhien ahead of you to address some delicate matters. My officers will see you safely into city and if need be they'll be given authority to conscript Commander Assur's men."

Here he stopped, turning to where the child hid. Moving from where he'd been eating to clutching at Nykk's skirt with greasy hands in the time it had taken to be noticed. Even through the Void a jealous anger tried to take root, but found no purchase ; there were bigger things happening here.

"You'd do me a great service if you ensured the child went to the new city orphanage. A parentless life is not one that is advisable for anyone."

Even through the Void the statement stabbed at an old wound. Valadin had to focus to keep from grinding his teeth. "He'll get there. By the Light, he will," Val said firmly drawing a few glances in his direction from around the room.

When the boy whimpered a question of how many of those glances darkened entered Valadin's mind. Thankfully Gamal began speaking once again drawing attention his way, "...are dark times. One can't underestimate the lengths to which evil will go to succeed. Tread in the Light when you can and I pray we'll meet again."

Pulling the deep blue cloak about his shoulders the man cast a final look into the faces of all in attendance. Usually stoic in his mien, Valadin thought he saw hesitation for the first time, but if it was there Gamal expertly snuffed it out as he turned to go. At door another pause. There the soldier stood, face hidden in the folds of the drawn up hood.

"Be wary,” came the words, soft and almost drowned out by the merriment of the common room. “Assur and his scoundrels are more dangerous than you think. I...I think something terrible will happen to me for telling you this, but there is trouble in the court and if you're going to..." Gamal stopped and let out a slow exhale. "There was never a question of who you were. From the beginning you've been expected. All of you. You're where they want you to be."

Saying nothing more he was gone in a flurry of cloth. Valadin had a mind to go after him, but the Void gave him clarity to see that such action would be rash and ultimately fruitless; more importantly he wouldn’t be at Nykk’s side.

When the room was left to those of the Grey Tower and the boy again, no one spoke for what seemed ages. Each person seemed to take their time absorbing the implications of the Under Lieutenant's visit. Again the boy whimpered eyes flashing with fear as he hid trembling behind Nykk's skirt. Valadin pointedly kept himself from staring in that direction. As it were he was the first one to move.

Pouring himself a glass from the pitcher he sampled the wine though found its sweet vintage too fine for his humble tastes. A canteen of something stronger, more barbaric would've better suited the mood. No longer caring for propriety he threw the rest of the goblet down his throat and immediately began filling his cup again. The Void kept his hand steady, but it couldn't keeping the shrieking panic building in his soul from eventually driving him mad. Oh, how he wished to take his sword to the first man that looked at either he or Nykk improperly. These invisible enemies and their supporters shattered any fantasy of gallantly protecting the woman he loved with weapon whirling about. As his third round was choked down a numbness began to nibble at restlessness of the mind; not enough, but anything would have to do...

Oh, Light. Light. Light. Light. Light. Light. Light. Light…

[Roan]

"There was never a question of who you were. From the beginning you've been expected. All of you. You're where they want you to be."

The one statement from the Under Lieutenant seemed to echo through the room and reverberate within Riahana's mind. She looked to each member of her party as she considered their options. Each and every one of them seemed to be held in thought, though Valadin broke the silence and stillness as he poured and consumed a glass of wine before pouring another. If she had to guess, she'd say he was on edge and perhaps fighting for control, but she would not point it out in front of everyone.

Absentmindedly scratching her neck, Ria looked from Val to the others, "Needless to say, this is not welcome news, and will likely change our decision regarding our next course of action." Casting a glance to Gareth, she added, "I dislike feeling as if we are walking into a trap. We know there are a group of mercenaries who are aware of our presence, but to know we've been expected? To what end?"

Reaching for her own glass, she poured a bit of wine for herself and took a small sip, "More importantly, what next? We can stay the night, of course, and carry on in the morning, though I wonder what we will meet along the way."