The Grey Tower

It had been a little while since Beron's return home to the Grey Tower, and Isla had been making the most of it.

Really, she had known that she missed him while he was gone, but she hadn't fully appreciated the emptiness around her while he was away. It was like being in the dark but now realizing just how dark it had been until there was light again. Everything just seemed...less dull with him home, and she hoped he wouldn't have any future assignment to take him away from her that long again. She knew it could happen, of course, as their lives were not truly their own but belonged to the Tower, to the Light and to the weaving of the Wheel.

Yet still, she would hope.

Now, though, Beron was preparing to set out again. Only this time, Isla was going with him. She had made sure all her shifts in the infirmary were covered by another Aes Sedai, an she also made sure that the two classes she was presently instructing had substitutes for the time she'd be away. As far as she could tell, everything was arranged and she was clear for their trip. For once, it would be a trip for pleasure rather than duty, and she was looking forward to that more than she cared to admit. Of course, it was mixed with some...trepidation, like any woman about to meet the mother of their lover...and a Saldaean mother, at that.

Isla was still looking forward to it, though. She knew how she felt, how Beron felt, and that she was no slouch to be part of a family. Her history may have been in darkness, but her future was bright. She walked in the Light more now than she ever had while living as a soldier of her father and the Whitecloaks.

So his mother couldn't dislike her too much...right?

As she walked to the stables to meet Beron and prepare to depart, she tried to not think too much about the possibilities of things.

Beron stood at the foot of the bed, a bed that would have been his if Isla had just been his bonded Aes Sedai, and he just her Warder. It amused him a little that they still kept the bed in the small room off their main quarters, especially when he considered how open their status as lovers was among the Tower.

It was hardly secret that he'd been sent to the Farm for a period of time, and the whispers still exaggerated the argument him and Ravak Gaidin had had un the Master of Arms office. That it had been a misunderstanding, and over a separate Novice did not seem to matter much, gossip was grist for the mill all the same. Added with the general love of romance and gossip that seemed common among the Novices, and he supposed it was unsurprising that the fact they'd found each other through the ranks was still whispered.

But that wasn't what he was considering as he stood at the bed, he was instead looking at his Warder's cloak. The cloth of which seemed to twist the eyes, sliding them off the cloak even as it just stood there. As much as an Aes Sedai's ring, it was a symbol of his own rank, and he was debating whether to bring it or not.

It seemed silly, normally he would have left it while "off duty", but he could not deny that this homecoming was something he was looking forward to. And part of him wanted his family to see him in the full regalia of a true Gaidin of the Grey Tower. Though that would draw even more attention to Isla, especially among the borderlanders where Aes Sedai were very well regarded.

In the end, he laughed and realized that bringing home a woman, someone as strong and beautiful as Isla, would weigh more with his mother than a cloak, and it was his strength and training that made him a Warder, not some cloth. That decided, he threw on his new coat and grabbed the last of their pack. He would not have been so eager to leave, not after having just come back from a long and ardous task; but Isla made it home wherever they were, and he was eager for her to see a place that was a big part of his heart.

A short while later, he met with Isla as she was making her way to the stables. Unlike her, he had not been here long enough to have been folded back into the teaching of Drin or Jivals, so he had finished packing while she organized her patients and students.

"Are you ready Isla? I know the stables have saddled and brushed our horses, and I have the last of our gear stowed now. The gateway will take us to Maradon, and a day's ride from there will see us at the farm. If the packhorse can keep up with our horses that is," Beron said with a smile, as he thought of the packages he had been asked to bring along.

He had wanted to make sure Isla did not have to travel lightly, though he knew she easily could. As a woman who had grown up with an army, she was as adept as he was at travelling with only the essentials. But he had received several letters from his sister while he'd been away, and her circle had hoped he would be willing to play peddler as it were, a chance to get goods directly from the Grey Tower something his keen minded sister had been quick to make advantage of.

And so they would be taking parcels of dresses, lace and some Sea Folk goods for his sister, as well as presents he had acquired for his family. Which had allowed Isla to pack anything she wanted, as the point of the trip was to relax and enjoy themselves. "You look beautiful this morning," he said as he took in her outfit, and kissed her softly.

Although it was nice to have options, Isla hadn't really packed all that much more for this trip than any other. Despite her many years in the Grey Tower, she still had much of the mindset of her youth when it came to pragmatic things: like luggage and traveling. She did have a few things in the saddlebags she might not have brought otherwise, but they were still all small things.

"Thank you," she said with a flying blush to his compliment. She turned back to her horse, checking its tack and that everything was secure. "I will admit, to you only of course, that I'm feeling some nervousness. I hope your family does not dislike me." She knew he'd be feeling it from her anyway, so might as well be upfront. "I hope I don't forget anyone's names..."