The Grey Tower

Ravak Darrow

OOC: Light, poor Ravak. And poor me, trying to think of a way of getting him out of their with his skin intact. So glad I'm calling upon an ally to help out... *cue guest star*

Sounds of yelling drifted from a corner hidden in the recesses of the Library. The voices had been chatting quietly for a while now, which Mirin had ignored, but now it had escalated into shouts. She looked up from her papers on the philosophical essays of Daria Gahand and hissed in annoyance.

Abruptly, she stood and strode toward the noise. The voices became clearer. A man and a woman were having an argument about a key. Interesting.

In one chair sat a man who Mirin did not recognize. His clothing marked him as a Drin’far’ji training to be a Warder. In the other chair sat a familiar face: Aikaterine Riatin, her former pupil. The two quieted as she approached. At least they had some sense to be respectful of an Accepted.

“Excuse me,” said Mirin. Her Cairhienin accent was clipped and precise, each word pronounced in full. “I hope that I am not disturbing you. Your conversation has been absolutely…riveting.”

Her grey eyes moved to the Drin. “Surely you weren’t thinking of giving your spare room key to a novice. It is strictly forbidden for trainees to enter the living quarters of the opposite gender unless commanded on an errand there.”

Mirin felt a twinge of astonishment as the rule rolled smoothly word-for-word from her tongue. But she shouldn’t have been surprised. She had been quite a troublemaker as a novice - and she supposed that after writing out the rules a hundred times as punishment, well, something had to stick.

“And, Aikaterine,” she said, turning to the girl. “Do you find your course load to be too light? I’ll be sure to speak to Illyria Sedai the next time I see her. Well. Don’t mind the rest of us here quietly studying in the Library. Please, continue your conversation.”

Her lips curved into a thin, sardonic smile. Then, she spotted the book, A History of the High King, lying on the table.

Her eyebrows raised in surprise. She nodded approvingly and gestured. “That is a well-written book. One of you has good taste in literature.” She eyed the two of them, wondering which one was studying the rise of Artur Hawkwing. Hawkwing was a fascinating man, and political history was a particular passion of hers.

Hopefully her words would quiet them down. Mirin tossed her hair proudly and with one last pointed glare, she left. She returned to her desk. After all, she had too much work of her own to worry about others.

By the time Katrie recovered enough presence of mind to actually get up out of her chair to curtsey, Accepted Mirin had already moved off. The pretty Cairhienin had the grace to look abashed as she did her best not to look over at Ravak, not wanting him to see how wilted and mortified she was beneath the lingering sting of the admonishment.

Oh.

Yes, she was supposed to be angry with him. Dark eyes blinked. She tried calling him a few names in her head in the vain attempt to rekindle the level of indignation she had felt before, but Accepted Mirin's sudden appearance had effectively squelched whatever outrage there had been. Katrie's stronger emotions had always been ephemeral at best, shifting like quicksilver. This time proved no different as her anger ran like icy water between her fingers.

Of all the people in the Tower, it had to be Accepted Mirin that had found them and administered the reprimand! Light, but she hated it when others used her full name. Ravak shifted and Katrie flushed further. She hadn't meant to say that out loud... At least she had said it under her breath, somewhat.

“I hate having my full name used because it makes me feel... small, like I'm five years old again, and in trouble for climbing trees,” she spoke very quietly, still staring down at the table. “Well, in trouble for just about everything I did, actually...” She stared at her hands. The books. His hand. Anything but his face.

Reluctantly, she set the key down on the table before her, the metal clunking down heavily against the wood. She looked down to study her empty palm. She had gripped the metal object so tightly that there were red imprints from where the prongs had dug into the sensitive skin between her thumb and forefinger. She tried to summon what remained of her dignity, pulling it around her in cold comfort. Katrie addressed the key even though she spoke only just loudly enough for Ravak to hear her.

“I didn't mean to get us into trouble. I told you I wasn't very good at this.”

Feeling peculiar and inexplicably sad, she made herself look up from the key and into Ravak's eyes. There was probably no way he wanted to be her friend now... she could see by the way he looked at her that the way she had behaved wasn't something friends did. Well, she had warned him, hadn't she? He probably didn't believe her... and even if he did, that hardly mattered now. Still, she didn't want another explosive misunderstanding.

“Tell me you don't want to be friends and I'll give you your key back.” Katrie tried to smile, but she didn't think she was at all successful.

Ravak Darrow

Edit: Jenn gave me a better insult to use

"I meant for you to have this."

The smile that came to life on her face was both tentative and tremulous, in stark contrast to Ravak's wicked grin. She may have picked the plain metal key back up a little too quickly and deposited it into the relative safety of her belt pouch before anyone could stop her. Katrie didn't have to worry about appearing too eager as Ravak didn't notice any of what she did turned in his seat as he was, glowering fiercely in the direction that Accepted Mirin had gone.

He was upset. Dark eyes noted the clenched jaw, the way the muscles in his neck corded. At least, she thought he looked upset. His voice was heated, rough... and the very way he held himself had changed. She couldn't pinpoint how, only that his stance had. So that was what Ravak sounded like – what he looked like when he was actually upset. She felt a small tickle of comprehension.

"I'll not have anyone belittle my friends before me. I'll give her a piece of my mind if she does that again, Katrie."

“It's okay, Ravak,” she whispered, the rush of delight at the way that the way he said her name at complete odds with the acute awareness that Accepted Mirin was nearby. Katrie desperately did not want the other woman to overhear them again. “Ravak.” He didn't hear her. As embarrassing as that earful had been, they had escaped relatively unscathed. “Ravak.” If she had been closer, she would have jogged his elbow.

So she moved closer.

Katrie stood, the blinding white bodice of her dress that came into view drawing Ravak's attention. She rounded the table and slid into the seat next to him. He was staring at her strangely but she leaned in so that her whisper wouldn't carry far. “It's okay,” she repeated. “That's... well, that's just the way she is.”

His brows lifted and she guessed at his unasked question.

“She's... I guess she's kind of... sort of... still my mentor?” The pretty Cairhienin shrugged a little. “Every Novice is assigned one when we arrive, and she was the one who oversaw my first permitted touch of saidar here.”

Her eyes widened a little as he opened his mouth and she placed a finger against her lips, indicating silence. Ravak acquiesced, though he shot her a meaningful look. “Just... bear with me, please? Would you go and find some more books? Meet me back at this table.” Any trace of lingering doubt or negativity washed away, replaced instead by the telltale mischievous sparkle in almond shaped dark eyes that meant that Katrie had an idea. The playful wink she offered him only reinforced that.

A quarter of an hour later, she sat down again, taking the seat next to him. She brought with her an inkwell, two quills, and a stack of blank paper. She grinned at Ravak, picking up the nearest book and flipping it open to a random page. Taking up one of the quills in her hand, Katrie took two fresh sheets of paper and after dipping the point of her quill into the inkwell, made several random notations on the first piece of paper. Slowly, she moved the second sheet into place, making the transition between writing on the first one to the second one smoothly and seamlessly. She paused for a moment, reading over what she'd written carefully before nodding in satisfaction. She pushed the second sheet of paper in front of Ravak, staring intently down at the book in front of her like she was totally engrossed. Maybe it would be wise to learn the title of what she was supposedly reading. The Silk Road - A Bridge Through the Spine of the World. Wonderful.

The piece of paper in front of Ravak read: I still need you to clarify what you consider untoward.

Ravak Darrow

The sheet of paper that was pushed back at her held two very distinct sets of handwriting: hers – flowing, precise, evenly formed; his – large, rolling, widely spaced. It was more than legible however, and she smiled down at what he had written before remembering that she was supposed to look as if she was jotting down notes. One didn't just smile randomly.

Ravak really did want to be her friend! That thought made her strangely giddy and she gave the tiniest bounce in her chair. Katrie would do her best to be a good one to him... even if she had no real idea of what that entailed. She could learn though – she would.

She pursed her lips for a moment before writing back her response. I understand. The pretty Cairhienin paused part way through moving the paper back to him, hurriedly scribbling something else down before sliding it over to him. Thank you. had been hastily added.

Dark eyes lifted and glanced around as a flurry of activity interrupted the serene quiet of the Library. The bells chimed, signaling an end to her free time. Katrie felt no small amount of regret; that meant she had to get to yet another class, and then yet another chore. More importantly, that meant she couldn't just continue talking to Ravak.

Gathering up the sheets of blank paper, she left the one with their unspoken conversation on the table with him, trusting him to dispose of it without anyone else finding out. She turned her head to look at him, rising gracefully to her feet. Katrie hesitated just long enough to lean over and whisper into his ear. “I'll see you again soon. I promise!” Then she smiled, her expression one of perfect delight.

It was so very difficult to keep her face smooth and neutral as she exited the Library, not realizing that she had also taken with her the book on the Silk Road.

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((OOC: Thank you so much for writing with me! It was an absolute joy. On to the next one? ))