A Calling [Attn: Lugh]

[Bella]

The fire may have his his blush, but the bond revealed all.

Isla looked sidelong at him, watching the light and shadows dance over his face. She knew her feelings, or at least, she was pretty sure that she did... So many of these feelings were things that she didn't fully understand since she had never really felt them before. The feeling of him within her mind didn't help to make things clearer, though she wouldn't trade it for the world.

"Beron..." she began softly, almost timidly. She felt the emotions that washed over him in that moment, and it stirred those thoughts within her that she knew were not proper to worry about now and yet she couldn't help it...

On an impulse--appropriate for their relationship and yet inappropriate, perhaps, for the timing--she leaned forward, covering the space between the in a moment. She pressed her lips against his with no small amount of intention, feeling the familiar burst of heat and electricity that blossomed between them every time they did this.

[Lugh]

Beron

The bond was a mix of emotions as the pair sat in front of the fire, sidelong glances fueling the thoughts in his heart and head.

"Beron..." Isla said softly, and before the feeling of her inside his head registered, she leaned forward, covering the space between them in a moment. She pressed her lips against his, her kiss no longer tentative or unsure, but filled with heat. Electricity passed between them, a tension that had been building with each kiss they had shared, the moments of comfort and connection they had shared within their quarters; tinder to the flame Beron felt when Isla pressed her lips against his.

A moment of concern passed through Beron as he worried about the timing of it all, but as he tasted her sweet lips the concern evaporated quickly. The nights they had slept on the couch, holding each other, walks in the garden with conversation; there had still been the customs and decorum of the Grey Tower in their courting.

Here they were alone, truly themselves and as Isla continued to lean into another kiss; Beron realized they were not just Gaidin and Aes Sedai, they were man and woman. Strong hands clasped Isla gently and lifted her into his lap, the difference in their height allowing her to turn her face upwards while he held her. He felt her surprise through the bond, but he also felt her desire, and he kissed her.

Flushed, his breathe heavy in his chest as his heart raced, Beron ran his hands along her back, her neck and into her hair when he felt the braid. Wishing her hair was free, for he loved to toy with her curls he did not trust himself to undo the braid. Instead he ran his fingers along her ears, stroking her neck as they kissed.

“Isla...” he began before she silenced him with another kiss, and as he surrendered to the heat filling him, he took shaky hands and pulled the laces of her blouse loose. Feeling her through the bond, he felt awash in sensation and as the lace came loose, he kissed further down her neck, onto the soft skin of her shoulder. Her skin was soft and supple beneath his lips, and even after a days ride she still smelled sweet to him.

Beron was suddenly unsure, he had never before been farther than a stolen kiss with anyone; and he knew Isla would be feeling his desire, and nervousness, along with the feelings racing in her own mind. And so the crackling fire filled the air with shadows and light, while Beron drank in the sight of Isla.

[Bella]

Certainty and uncertainty blended together in nearly every corner of Isla's existence: the mental, emotional, spiritual, physical... The truth was that she didn't have any more actual experience in...these matters than Beron did, but she felt some sort of instinct that made her understand something about herself.

She felt like the thoughts and emotions she had been sinking beneath the weight of now lightened, at least for these few stolen moments.

Other thoughts and feelings, dim concerns that she had fought away from her conscious awareness, were soothed for the time being as well as she sat with him like this, and as she felt his skin against her bare shoulder. He looked at her, and she looked back as a soft sigh escaped her lips and she shuddered.

Then her fingers were tangling within his laces now as she leaned forward to kiss him again.

[Lugh]

Beron

Beron couldn’t stop looking at the fire’s light as it played over Isla’s bare shoulder. Her eyes were filled with a hunger that matched his own, and he couldn’t help the smile that broke over his face when a soft sigh escaped her lips and she shuddered.

The bond let him know the shudder was from arousal, and he knew she would feel a spike of his own as her fingers were tangling within his laces as she leaned forward to kiss him again.

A soft growl escaped his lips as her soft, sweet mouth met his and he enjoyed Isla’s advance. Their kiss was full of fire and passion, her hand making his skin feel like he was once again in front of the stoves as she loosened the laces around his tunic.

As he felt her hand touch his chest, he broke away from Isla’s kiss, and impatiently pulled his shirt over his head. As his skin pebbled from the cool
stone behind him, he felt Isla run her fingers over the scars that his calling had already given him. A thrill went through him as he saw Isla eye him, and he kissed her once more before he pulled the pair of them down onto the blanket. Beron felt an instinct take over, and he held his weight above her so that she was not pinned. He could feel her excitement through the blouse, and with a sudden boldness he moved his hands and mouth onto
the swell of her bosom and bared it to the cold night air. Light she is beautiful, he thought with a surge of desire.

Beron could feel her body rise to meet his lips, and he knew there was nothing he wouldn’t give Isla in this moment.

[Bella]

Everything in that moment coalesced into the narrow focus of the bond between them, not just the one woven by Saidar, but the one born of pure emotion and of the entangling of their physical bodies. The three things came together, and suddenly, that seemed to be all that there was...
* * * Some time later, the heat of their bodies alone stopped being sufficient. Neither one wanted to leave the other to stoke the fire, and the hour was growing late anyway. So the alternative they pursued instead was to burrow themselves beneath their blankets--the second of which was added atop the first, since they were together now--and press against each other.

Isla felt like there were so many things she wanted to say, and yet no words would broach her lips. Nothing seemed good enough to suit this moment, she thought. She pressed her cheek against his chest, rolling her shoulder deeper under the blanket. "Oh, Beron," she whispered lovingly, overwhelmed by all her emotions.

[Lugh]

Beron
Everything in that moment coalesced into the narrow focus of the bond between them, not just the one woven by Isla when he’d said his vow, but the one born of pure emotion and of the entangling of their physical bodies. The three things came together, overwhelming him as Isla accepted him in a way he couldn’t have imagined, and suddenly, that seemed to be all that there was...

* * *
Some time later, the heat of their bodies alone stopped being sufficient. As he lay with Isla, there was no way he wanted to leave to stoke the fire, and so they instead burrowed themselves beneath their blankets--the second of which was added atop the first, since they were together now--after which he moved so they could press against each other.

She pressed her cheek against his chest, rolling her shoulder deeper under the blanket, chasing away the chill off her skin. "Oh, Beron," she whispered lovingly, and he could feel her breath on his skin.

Now I know what the gleemen were singing about. Light, I had no idea, the passion, that she would be ready to give that to me, thought Beron to himself as he caught his breath, and revelled in the feeling of Isla resting against him.

“Isla. I love you,” he said, the words so few but all that felt right to say at the moment. Gently tracing his fingers against her back, he could feel sleep threatening to claim him. Lost in the bond, the emotions of sharing his first time with Isla, he murmured, “That was incredible love, I had no idea. I wish I’d shared myself with you sooner.”

***

Beron awoke the next morning, stirring softly before the weight of Isla against him made him pause. He didn’t want to disturb her, the feeling of her breathing slow and even in sleep.

Feeling her against him, their skin warm from where they had lay together all night; Beron smiled as he recalled the night before. Flashes of the two of them entwined filled his mind, and he realized his hands were kneading her softly as he awoke. Seeing her there, her naked beauty clear in the morning dawn, Beron drank in the sight of her. He could close his eyes and feel where he’d kissed her, and in the light she seemed both more real and more beautiful to him.

They would need to ride out this morning he knew, but as the bond slowly let him know she was awake, he could feel her responding to his touch, his caresses less hesitant, more sure after sharing what they had before. “Morning love,” he said to Isla as she moved to meet his kiss, the bond full of her surprise but elation at him taking the advance, as he put his newfound knowledge to use.

***

After they had dressed, Beron laughed as he realized how much joy he was feeling that morning. Cooking a simple breakfast of porridge and some eggs he had spied while checking the horses, he realized there was nowhere he would rather be.

Looking over at Isla, he smiled and kissed her once more before beginning the task of clearing the camp. “I think we will have to remember this spot, I know I’d like to visit again,” he said with a teasing nip of her neck. He knew he was acting giddy, just as he knew he was reluctant to truly turn his attention to the mission at hand.

[Bella]

The night previous had certainly gone nothing like Isla had expected, but amid all the stress and emotion that had attended and would attend this mission before them, it was a night she could still be grateful for. Would forever be grateful for. While many a weight still rested upon her shoulders, one weight had been lifted that she'd not even realized weighed so heavily.

She blushed at him while she helped break down the camp and pack things up. She knew she was a fully-grown woman, and an Aes Sedai at that, but she felt suddenly much younger again. She felt something new about herself.

"I think I would too," she agreed in a shy voice.

Once the horses were tacked up and the saddlebags packed and attached, Isla Sedai knew that it was time to focus on something other than her bondmate...although there was so much emotion passing between them, that they might as well have both been lit up like an Illuminator's festival show.

She took a steadying breath and shook her hair back, looking over at him. "How much longer do we have on the road?" she asked, forcing herself to now look ahead to the task at hand.

[Lugh]

Beron Beron was finding the morning slow going, as the bond practically sizzled with a variety of emotions, that would make him pause and smile or recollect a moment from the night before.

Still they eventually got the camp packed up, all their gear stored away for the remainder of the trip. “How much time on the road do we have left?” Isla asked as they finished the last of the straps, and Beron made sure the fire was well and truly out.

Right, back to business then. Probably for the best love thought a Beron to himself as he considered what he had seen of the terrain ahead of them, and what he could recall from the maps back at the Grey Tower.

“Well we made a late start of it this morning,” Beron said with a pause, “Although if the weather holds, I’m thinking we will make it there before the evening markets close. With luck we’ll arrive in the press of people trying to make the city before dark.”

The guards would be the busiest then, checking carts and wagons for goods; making sure the merchants were paid up with the town, and Beron hoped two travellers, road stained after two days of travel would blend in.

With that, he took one last look around the camp, ensuring they had left nothing behind and then rode to check the tree line. Once he was satisfied they were unnoticed, Beron rose with Isla down the road.

[Bella]

Isla found it hard to focus.

If she thought her mind had been crowded with thoughts and feelings before, it was nothing at all compared to what her mind was like as they moved along the road. Fortunately, there weren't all that many other travelers on the road that day, which was a good thing for her scattered thoughts.

As more time passed, however, it did get easier to rein them all in. She knew they were drawing closer to their target village, and being distracted could get one of them killed.

She would not allow that to happen.

Beron was right on target. There was just a hint of sunset as the roads began to crowd a little more, and the gates of the city came into view up ahead. Looking surreptitiously at the other travelers, Isla evaluated that they did, in fact, look just like like most everyone else around them. That would work in their favor.

[Lugh]

Beron
Beron could tell that Isla was busy with thoughts of the night before, and with the bond buzzing in his mind it was hard to avoid turning his own thoughts towards the same. Still, it was extremely pleasant to think on it, especially as the road was quiet for most of the day.

Fortunately though, they neared the city and Beron began to notice other travellers were starting to join from other roads and villages as their destination approached. It was easy enough to chat with some of the wagoneers, although getting true information was harder to do without arousing suspicion. Many were bringing goods to market, and several spoke of the Children of Light with cautious optimism. At first that jarred Beron, but as he thought about it; he supposed that many of them were hoping for an end to the banditry and chaos caused be the White Tower’s fall.

Beron was glad that he had been right, the last lights of sunset falling on the city as they arrived at the town gates. “Come along bumpkins! We don’t have all night for you sheepherders to get organized. You over there, get your goods uncovered so w don’t have to wait all evening for you to do it,” barked the voice of the guard captain, and Beron could tell from his voice that the man had suffered through a long day.

As the two of them approached the front of the line, he caught the eye of the guard and was glad when the man waved them forward. “We don’t put up with any trouble sellsword, and the Children of Light will keep an eye on you as well.”

“Peace favour you sir, just looking for a chance to wash the road off my face and get something cool down my throat tonight,” Beron, playing into his Saldaean appearance to help sell the sellsword idea.

“Well, get through and find your way out of this mess sellsword,” groused the guard but Beron was glad to see his expression seemed more tired and busy than suspicious. So far so good, Beron thought to himself as he waited for Isla to ride past him before he thanked the guard and headed for the most likely inn.

After a few minutes of exploring the main road, they quickly came upon an inn that seemed to be the right balance of respectable and welcoming. It would not have looked amiss in Hama Valon he thought to himself, as he stood in the saddle to stretch his legs. “Well Isla, should we see about a room, or should we se what we can find in town before dark truly sets in?” Beron asked softly.