The Grey Tower

Johan simply watched the whole thing unfold, or, rather, he watched nothing happen. One moment she was unable to stand, and the next she was, her ankle Healed. It was one of the things that scared him about the Power; he couldn’t see it, couldn’t feel it, couldn’t even hear it. He wouldn’t even know if someone was using it on him, and that was far too unsettling a thought. Thankfully, the one and only time he had ever had to be Healed he had been unconscious for the whole thing. They’d told him afterwards that he’d been poisoned by the air and that he would have died if he hadn’t been seen to. It was also rather unnerving just how powerful the One Power was. He’d stand absolutely no chance if he ever had to defend himself against it.

The sound of the Novice’s voice made him jump, and he snapped out of his thoughts at the same time his cheeks coloured. He cursed under his breath, and straightened, his attention flicking back to her as he tried to keep his face and expression as blank as he could. He didn’t ever want to let anyone to know just how uncomfortable he was. There was a reason Aes Sedai were avoided in the Rahad, but being like that here would be a sign of weakness, and there was to be no weakness, not if he wanted to see this whole thing through to end. The Tower wouldn’t, he knew, waste time training someone afraid of the bloody Power, because how useless was that?

He made himself smile, and sketched yet another bow. “No problem. I wasn’t really doing anything. I was just… wasting time until my next lesson. I’m glad that you’re now all right, and that I could help. Is there anything more I can help with?”

It was the polite thing to say. He couldn’t just walk away.

She made it sound as if he really had done something great, and Johan couldn’t help but smile at that. If only it was true! He’d only done what anyone else would have done. He didn’t know of anyone who would have just carried on walking and left her to fend for herself, even with her initially spitting curses like some bloody sailor. But if she wanted to think that what he had done was out of the norm, then that was fine with him. He had absolutely no problem with that.

He stopped himself from bowing again, and simply nodded his head. The likelihood of them seeing each other again in order to repay the favour was, he thought, pretty slim, and, even if they did, he couldn’t ask that of someone. He hadn’t done it in order to gain himself favour and have someone in his debt. It had simply been the decent thing to do.

But, of course, he said none of that, only, “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.”

And with that, he finally dismissed himself and made his way from the gardens.