The Grey Tower

Terric began to sketch, occasionally asking for more detail. He occasionally turned the sketch pad towards Avyra asking if this a particular detail was correct. As he sketched, he took notes in the margins. At first, he copied down details that he wasn’t prepared to draw, but as he filled the picture in, the nature of the notes changed. He marked things he couldn’t convey with a simple pencil sketch a face, like coloration. He filled the sketch out he realized she was describing a girl, maybe in her early teens.

A niggling sensation of familiarity tugged at him as he filled in the sketch’s lips and nose. The cheeks were definitely a bit rounder, but the Avyra was describing bore a strong resemblance to Avyra herself. A relative maybe? She had told him about a younger sister before. Hadn’t she used jewelry from her parent’s shop to dress her sister up like a princess? He had read somewhere that Cairhienin noble women sometimes wore small gemstones hanging from thing chains on their heads. He might have been wrong but he believed they were called keseria. He added it to the picture. His own embellishment. His glimmer of pride was quickly replaced by trepidation. Adding an embellishment? He doubted that it would look right, but if he tried to erase it now, there would be a giant smudge. He left it and touched up a few lines before showing Avyra and hoping for the best.

Carefully so that he didn’t destroy the binding of his notebook, Terric tore out the picture and handed to his friend. “You really miss your sister don’t you?” he asked noting how much she seemed to cherish the picture. I miss my sister too sometimes. I wonder if she and her husband get the bulk of my letters, I write tem but it’s a long way to the Three-Fold Land and letters get lost.” Life in the Three-fold Land could be extremely dangerous. Some of his more recent letters hadn’t had replies. Was there some sort of trouble? He pushed the worry aside as an idea came to him, “Your sister is closer though, maybe she could come visit you on one of the family visit days.” That way at least one of them would be able to spend time with their sister.

“Carful,” Terric said, when he saw how she clutched the picture, “I don’t want the picture to smudge, I think the library has something I can brush on the picture to preserve it. Make sure I do that before we leave.”

Terric laughed out loud, and quickly flinched when he realized he might have just angered the browns again. “You’re training to be an Aes Sedai. Of course you’re going to need somebody to keep you out of trouble. That’s why they have us poor sops in gray.” He closed his notebook and tucked it back into his bag, “Truth be told, I really don’t think one Gaidin is enough to keep most Aes Sedai out of trouble.”

He was aghast at himself, back in the Three-fold Land, he would never have spoken so flippantly about Aes Sedai. Maybe these Wetlands were making him lose his mind. The Aiel had toh, he couldn’t forget that. There was something different though. Living at the Grey Tower, Aes Sedai weren’t creatures of myth. They were women of flesh and blood. Even though they tried to shroud themselves in a haughty veil of mystery, one could see the cracks if they knew where to look. Some of the mystique was gone. What did that mean for his oaths? Nothing, he was sworn to fight for them, and when he one day chose to be bonded, he’d fight for his bondmate before any of them. He wasn’t ready to consider what that would mean for his loyalty towards his spear brothers and his clan. Ji’e’toh sometimes made a horrible snarl of things, but what would he be without it?

Terric hadn’t really thought much about that aspect of being a Gaidin. The Bond was just another fact of becoming a Gaidin. He hadn’t really thought about it much since accepting that he would allow himself to be bonded one day. Every Drin knew the benefits a warrior with the Bond had but the emotional connection was rarely discussed. He had always thought of Warders as bodyguards and occasional elite shock troops. He would happily play those roles. He knew, though, he would didn’t understand the Bond enough to agree to be anybody’s Warder. Not that a Drin could anyway.

He looked down at Avyra, who seemed to have crept closer, “In the Warder Yards, we focus so much on becoming the most deadly fighters with our chosen weapons, but we don’t really talk much about the specifics of the Bond. Why would you want to be bonded to a particular Aes Sedai and why not another? We all know the benefits and we know our duty to obey, but at I at least, don’t know very much about life as a Warder. I’ve heard some Novices like to gossip about one day bonding a particular Drin or Soldier or whatever, but that’s usually because they have a crush on the poor man. What about the people who are serious? What are they even looking for in a Warder?”

Terric leaned back on the cushion and stared into the rafters. He hadn’t given that future much thought. Maybe he should start. He knew he was moving along in his training and one day he would be a full Gaidin. He didn’t have to accept a bond, but choosing not to accept the benefits of the bond, and not to give an Aes Sedai or Asha’man the benefits of a Warder would be selfish. In the Grey Tower’s never ending war with the Shadow, he had to do his part. What qualities did he want in a bond mate?

He idly studied the rafters, “Well, most people who have a gift for violence happen to be larger people. It’s an advantage. Not a must though. There’s a short Murandian Drin who seems to be doing fine. She probably shouldn’t try wrestling anybody though. We all can’t be as big as Danos al’Sheen though. That man is built like a mountain. He’s as hard to knock over as on too.” He let out a soft laugh remembering his sparing match with the large Ji’alantin. “We’ll figure out what they feed him and then you’d be as big as any Aielman. Carrying you would be a little awkward though. But seriously, Avrya, don’t worry. It’ll probably be years before either of us have to worry about bonding and all that. People do notice you though.”