The Grey Tower

It took much effort not to flinch, every time thunder crashed she could hear a woman or a child scream in fear. Thunder did not worry her much, but people screaming? That brought bad memories. It also battled against her training. A Gaidar was meant to protect. What if such a scream was not from the loud crashes in the distance?

She shivered as she walked through the muddy streets of Hama Valon. Teaching her pupils about herbs and medicines was always a pleasure, but when the Yellow Ajah's First Sitter asked her to purchase specific seeds for the herb garden, a storm was no valid excuse to decline the request. Then again, one did not deny a Sitter anything.

"Thank you, Aes Sedai." She muttered. "Oh how i do appreciate the privilege of walking in a cold thunder storm, with ankle deep mud." Growling softly, she pulled hard at her leg, trying to remove it from the mud. Bad enough her calf felt stiff if this weather, she had to get that leg stuck.

Using her free leg, she tried digging her foot out. The balancing act very much improved her mood. Rare was it that the Mayener swore under her breath.

"Really?" She snarled, looking up towards the black skies. She felt something cold slide down her back. The cloak was losing it's thin wax coating. Feeling a strong gust of wind coming, she braced herself against it. That did nothing for the clay shingle that broke off the roof, and slammed in the back of her head.

What felt like an eternity, or perhaps mere seconds later, she could taste much. She also felt tingly all over, and her ankle felt quite wrong. The hood of the cloak had blown off her head, causing her red hair to be thick with mud, and blood.

Whatever possessed Seth to walk out of the Tower and make a trip to Hama Valon was beyond any scope of comprehension. But, he was, trudging through the mud, his black trousers tucked into his high-topped leather boots, so as not to get mud on the fabric. Mud was much easier to clean off leather.

He held a weave above his head, it repelled the water, keeping him dry and he walked through the muddy streets. He also had a small ball of light, which in the gloom of the storm would tell people there was a channeler. No lantern could produce pure white light.

He heard a clay tile crack somewhere nearby, but it sounded muffled, but not enough for it to have been broken by hitting mud. Seth moved toward the source of the sound, and as he rounded the corner, he found a woman laying in the street. Blood flowing was from a wound on her head, and her foot was twisted at an odd angle. Seth rushed to her side, positioning his weave so as to cover them both.

He moved hair away from the woman's face, and realized who he was standing over. It was difficult to forget the person that had given you forkroot tea, all in the name of teaching.

Seth felt for pulse and breathing, and when she came to he asked her, "Can you tell me your name."

While he knew Elisha Alehdren's name, it was a check to make sure she wasn't concussed, by making sure she knew her name.

"That voice…" Elisha said, from cold trembling lips. She knew that voice, even liked it for some strange reason! She could feel his touch, his hands soft, and steady. Opening her eyes, she had difficulty seeing. Her face felt both warm, and cold. She could feel the rain upon her face, but something felt thick in her hair. "Mud…" She muttered.

She blindly tried pushing herself to a sitting position, using her hands to shift herself. When she shifted her legs, agony greeted her with open arms. She screamed, and slipped back into the mud as her hands lost their grip upon the wet and slick earth. She rolled to her side, trying to feel her leg, but the effort was in vayne.

Opening her eyes, she could see lightning in the distance, but not much else. She felt soaked to her bones, felt covered in mud, felt strange, yet gentle hands upon her. "Seth" She asked softly, her voice cracking. She recognized the scent of his breath, of all strange things. She closed her eyes, as she let out a shaky breath.

The world was spinning, but she decided that it must be some sort of bad dream. Her leg hurt, much like it did when those guards had found her, with a shard of metal imbedded in her leg. Why would her leg hurt? If she was dreaming, why would she feel this way? Feeling uncomfortable, she tried shifting position, but her eyes shot wide open with a strangely familiar pulse of pain!

She screamed, shifted her gaze, and saw Seth looking upon her with concern. She felt warm tears cutting through the cold rain upon her face.

She was delirious, or was she? The minor inflection when she said his name rather than her own made it a sound like a question rather than a statement. The rain continued to pour over the top of his weave. The fire twisted with the air and strands of water repelling the rain as it fell.

Seth pursed his lips, and his brow furrowed. He couldn't nod, or answer, lest she believe her name was Seth, if she was asking if it was hers, or was she asking if it was indeed him? Months of working in the infirmary had taught him not to take such chances as to assume that when asking someone for their name, that if they answered with a question, not to give them a 'yes' or 'no' until they changed their answer to a statement of believed fact.

Instead of answering, he continued with the treatment, meaning to return to the question once he told her what he was about to do.

"I am about to delve you, to determine the full extent of your injuries. Can you tell me your name?"

He moved to her head, and tied his rain repelling weave, and his ball of light. What he was about to do required his full concentration, and if he needed to move, he could easily untie them and move them.

He threw together the net of spirit, the delving weave coming easily as it was the mostly commonly used weave, beside basic healing. He lowered the weave to Elisha's head, pushing it into her body to find all the injuries.

Beginning at her head, he found a break in the skull, along with several lacerations where fragments of tiles likely scattered and cut her skin as they fell to the mud after hitting her head. He found several bruises on her ribs, but none of them could've been caused by the falling tile, they were likely from sparring during the week, and hadn't quite fully healed.

The last thing he found was the broken ankle, twisted at an odd ankle, due to the way she fell, and how it had stuck in the mud that squelched and splashed around them.

Seth directed a twist of earth and water at the mud, hoping to release Elisha's trapped foot. The mud squished around for a bit, before finally releasing the trapped foot.

Seth threaded bars of air through the mud under Elisha, forming a make shift stretcher. Seth "pulled" up on the stretcher, pulling Elisha out of the mud. Holding too many weaves would put a strain on him, So Seth pulled his cloak off, so that he could sacrifice his rain repelling weave. Seth looked around through the gloom, and spied the inn, not too far away.

"I am going to move you to the inn, so that you are out of the rain while I heal your injuries. Brace yourself, I will try to move slowly, and please, don't struggle or move, or you may injure yourself further."

With saidin in his grasp, he may have sounded cold and distant, but his message was clear and sincere.

Seth loosened and dropped the rain repelling weave, the immediate effect was that he was almost instantly drenched, and chilled to the bone. He slowly began to move them toward the inn, careful to keep his weave level.

"Relax, Seth." The Ji'dar said firmly. "The more you fight it, the more your heart races. And the more your heart races, the tighter grip the tea has on you. Now sit still, and breath. Even breaths…" She lectured, hoping he would listen. Just in case, she stepped behind him, and placed a steadying hand on his shoulder.

"You're Seth." She said. She tried looking at him, but she groaned as she tried turning her head. She closed her eyes against the rain. Where did the pain go. she wondered. She began shivering, realizing that she was cold. Exhaling a shaky breath, she thought she had heard him say something.

"Here, have some water." She offered, handing him a water skin. She guessed that he must be getting over the worst of it, his hands were not pale white from gripping the countertop. "The Keeper wanted you ready, in case something ever happened. Forkroot will take it's toll from you, but if you remain calm, and understand what is going on… "

"So cold…" She said as she shivered. The dream vivid in her mind, she took the advice she had given Seth. She breathed, inhaling slowly, and exhaling. She inhaled, and coughed as rain water went down the wrong passageway. Coughing made her head spin, made the world appear upside down. She felt her arm slip, and hang down from the side. She felt confused, by the sensation. But the world grew dark, before she could understand.

"While the Keeper of Archives may wish for you to join the Blue Ajah, you must do what feels right for you."

Lightning crackled overhead, bringing with it brief spates of light where Seth could see more than beyond the glow of his small ball of light that he dragged with him. His concentration was firmly on the stretcher of air that he held in front of him, fueled by saidin, which he held with firm determination. The inn came in and out of focus as the rain blurred his vision. Seth had forgone wearing his hat with the wind tearing through the streets like it was; he wasn't about to lose one of his trademarks.

Elisha's arm draped over the side of the stretcher, as she dreamed in her unconscious, or perhaps semi-conscious state. What she dreamed about was beyond Seth, but he knew she must be, for she was muttering incomprehensibly at random intervals.

Seth's cloak was draped over her body, trying to trap minimal warmth, but not foreseeing such an event as not having his rain repelling weave, Seth had opted not to use one of his waxed cloaks, and as such, the dark wool had become saturated. Seth was chilled to the bone, but the void separated him from such physical trifles.

Seth stepped into the doorway of the inn, just as another lightning strike arced across the dark sky behind him. His blonde hair was plastered to his face, and his coat was dripping water on the perfectly dry wood floors.

His sword pin glimmered in the light of the candles and the fireplace, and as soon as he spoke, everyone started to do as he asked.

"I need a table next to the hearth to place this woman. She needs dry blankets, clothes, anything."

The staff jumped as though he was the M'Hael himself, the patrons evacuated the table closest to the fire, and hugged the walls, waiting to see what Seth did next.

Seth put Elisha down carefully on the cleared table that one of the serving girls had laid a blanket out on. Once she was down, Seth released saidin and sat down, while the staff bustled around to get both he and Elisha dry and warm.

Through fluttering eyes, The Ji'dar began to suspect the atmosphere had changed. Gone was the gloom of the storm, gone was the cold chill of the wind cutting through her. She could now see a soft glow flickering upon the walls, born of the fire crackling within the hearth. She could also smell some chicken broth.

Many of the voices she could not recognize, but Seth's, and his unique voice,. The Amadician Asha'man, with a hint of an accent in his voice. That, she knew well enough. There was a comfort to be had, knowing he was close. He had trusted her during a difficult time, when she had been charged in teaching him a difficult and dangerous lesson. She owed him the same in return.

She could not recall being placed on a hard surface, but something felt solid, and study against her back. Her hands and feet felt so very cold, but she could feel herself being wrapped up in something tightly. It was tucked tightly against her torso, enough that she could feel pressure upon her breasts. But she could breathe. And soon, she could feel the chill slowly seep away.

"Seth." She said softly, knowing he was near. She turned her neck to face his voice, but it made the room spin. Even closing her eyes, the sensation would not go away. She held her eyes closed tightly, and focused on breathing. Eventually, the room stilled.

"It should be my job to protect you, you know." She joked, her lips softly curving into a smile. The smile slipped, as she felt more aware of herself, and her surroundings. She could feel something was missing. "Why am i…" She began to ask, as she could feel the wool against her stomach.

Opening her eyes, she slowly looked towards the glow of the flames. She could see her clothes hanging upon a hastily hung cord.

She shut her eyes tightly, and frowned in embarrassment.

Seth had a blanket draped over him, but unlike Elisha, who lay on the table before him, he was sitting on a bench, with his back to the crowd of patrons he had disturbed when he brought his unconscious patient through the door. The staff were hurriedly trying to keep the patrons occupied with other things, like ale and spiced wines, or fresh broth, but none of these kept the room of people from watching, waiting.

Seth had been forced by the innkeepers wife to remove his clothes so that they could dry beside Elisha's - which they had removed while she was covered to protect her modesty from the men in the room. Seth complied while covered by his blanket, removing his coat, shirt, boots and trousers. When he got down his small-clothes, he took them off, seized saidin and wrung them dry with the drying weave he had learned when he was a Soldier. The innkeepers wife glared at him as he returned them to their place, and Seth said naught in return. Seth wasn't about to get into an argument over him choosing to dry his clothes, when the woman had told him to let them dry by the fire.

Seth got up and moved to where Elisha's head was, the blanket falling from his shoulders as he stood. He was thankful for the small covering he had, not that it mattered. What did matter was the fact that Elisha's skull had been cracked by the falling roof-tile. Seth still had saidin in his grasp as he approached Elisha. The staff stopped moving, and the whole room went completely still; it was almost unnerving, and although Seth was used to having people watch him, they were usually a lot louder.

Seth threw together a net of spirit, and once again delved Elisha. She was definitely warmer, thanks to the fire and blankets, and not being drenched. The crack in her skull, and her broken ankle hadn't worsened since he had moved her. Seth had been careful not to jostle her as they moved.

Seth withdrew his weave, and looked at Elisha's broken ankle. Moving quickly, he grabbed the blanket he had dropped, and wrapped the ankle, setting it into a position that would mean it would heal properly. Seth knew exactly how to set the ankle, but working with something as large as the blanket, was difficult and unwieldy, but it was effective.

Under normal circumstances in the Infirmary, that would be about as far as Seth would be allowed to go without an Asha'man present. But Seth didn't have an Asha'man present, nor did he have time to retrieve one. He didn't have time to weave a gateway to get one. He couldn't write a note requesting the ability to weave a gateway directly into the Infirmary. Seth had to heal Elisha without an Asha'man to make sure he didn't make her any worse. Of course, Seth had already healed and set bones before, without issue, so he was confident that there wouldn't be any complications.

Seth needed to make his next move, and heal Elisha's injuries soon. Seth took several deep breaths, and quickly ran through his checklist. He didn't want to mess up, he wouldn't hear the end of the fact that he didn't request an Asha'man's presence, or assistance in such an emergency situation. He would be worse off if he didn't heal her correctly, not only from the Yellow Ajah, but Elisha herself.

Seth was about to start weaving again when Elisha spoke. Seth could just barely make out what she said, but what he heard made him smile broadly.

"But if you were the only one offering protection, what would I be able to do in return?"

Seth laughed, almost whisper-like, but just loud enough that Elisha could have easily heard it.

Seth began his work, carefully piecing together his weave as he though about what he needed. The weave formed as he hummed along to the odd song that floated through his mind whenever it turned to healing. Spirit, Fire, and plenty of Earth to set the bone. He refined the weave until he thought it looked right, and then put the weave into Elisha. The first break he encountered was the skull, which quickly closed, the skin on the scalp knitting over the top, leaving a barely visible scar. Seth's weave delved deeper, repairing bruises along the way. Seth was done before he even realized he had set Elisha's ankle.

He dropped the weave, released saidin, and stepped back. Moving at a slower pace, Seth went and removed the blanket from Elisha's ankle. The swelling on the ankle, and the bruising was gone, as was expected. The only thing that worried Seth now was whether or not he'd taken too long, and if Elisha would wake quickly, after her ordeal with a broken skull.

"Elisha?"

"I'm hungry," she admitted, the confession making her want to chuckle. Here she was, naked, under a thin, yet warm blanket, yet her mind had to wonder towards the idea of food. At least she felt warm, felt safe. She looked at the Dedicated through weary eyes. "I really am," she said, when the man met her gave, "but i doubt i could handle even chicken broth." She knew of a tea that would be perfect for her current… situation, but she could not recall what kind it was.

She took a deep breath, and as she exhaled, her lips curved into a soft smile. She looked upon Seth, saw many traits the man shared with another man, an Asha'man who had once saved her life. Seth reminded her a bit of Daric, the man who saved her leg, and her life. The smile slipped, as worry crept into her heart. He and his sister had disappeared not long after she had gained the rank of Ji'dar. The sad curve of her lips turned into a yawn. As tired as she felt, she did not even realize she forgot to cover her mouth. Another embarrassing moment to add to the day's list. Her mother would have thrown a fit!

"It was not long ago when our roles were reversed." She said, when she noted the look of concern within the Amadician's eyes. "You handled the Keeper's test admirably." She forced another smile, to try and hide her own situation. She did not want Seth to realize how nervous she felt, about being weakened, naked, and vulnerable. She trusted him, but a lady needed to make a noble appearance towards those around her.

"You trusted me, and trusted his judgement. I don't understand how you, and Jenna Sedai trust him so deeply. He must be quite the man, the Keeper of Archives." So many trusted him, yet she got the impression that not all loved him. "Who is he to you?" She asked.

As she waited for her savior's response, she hesitantly turned her ankle, and felt relieved that it did not hurt. Felt weak, the sensation similar to when you hit your elbow against the corner of a table. She wanted to turn her neck, but did not want to risk a dizzy spell.

Seth breathed a sigh of relief hearing Elisha say anything, even if it was a confession of hunger. He still wished that the Matron of the inn would let him dry his clothes himself so that he could be wearing something, instead he had to go back to having a blanket draped over his shoulders. Once he had set himself on the bench again, his back to the patrons of the inn, the inn-keeper's wife started getting things organized to move Elisha out of the common room. Before long they were settled into one of the bedrooms, and Seth sat by the window watching the rain and occasional streaks of lightning.

During their move, Seth had mulled Elisha's question. Who was Riven Trimak to Seth? He trusted the man, but that was only because he had taken the initiative to help Seth settle into the Tower. There wasn't much else. The man hadn't been the one to help him touch saidin, but he had made Seth teach the Appearances classes.

A maid came in eventually, and set some trays on the table. Seth didn't move from his armchair by the window. He knew he would eventually get hungry, but he wanted to let Elisha have first pick, because the basic healing weave took a lot of its power from the one being healed.

"Seth, are you alright?" Elisha asked softly, noticing that the man had not even bothered to acknowledge the maid. She sat up, holding the blanket to her breasts, trying to keep some of the dignity that was left to her. "You seem distant, distracted. Did i say something wrong?"

She swung her legs, and let them hang on the side of the bed. She soon regretted doing so, feeling a bit light headed, and noticing that her one leg was more exposed than she was comfortable with. With her left leg, she moved the blanket, covering herself. She felt silly, the man had saved her life! So what, if he saw a bit of skin. But at the same time, she liked the man, and she did not want to appear like some sort of loose skirt.

She shifted further back on the bed, and covered herself a bit more with the blanket. It was pretty comfortable, considering it was simple wool. She looked at the food, and was tempted to have a nibble. But her stomach was in knots, and she was not sure if she could hold any of it down, regardless of how hungry she was.

"I'm sorry." She said softly, apologizing for this night, for the rain, for the inconvenience of having carried her under this storm, and for everything! Yet, she was not quite sure what exactly she should be sorry for. The man was a healer, and he was a good one at that. He had taken care of her, made her better. He had done his duty, and had asked for nothing in return.

She looked at the man, and smiled nervously. Thunder struck, and illuminated his face.