A Rescue in Ebou Dar
A commotion woke him up. Someone was talking, but the words were muffled. He tried to open his eyes, but they were too heavy. His head felt full, as if he had wool stuffed in his ears. Trying to move produced a dull ache and a feeling of tightness in his midsection. He could feel that a heavy blanket was pulled up to his neck and tucked into the mattress. Beneath him, the bed was firm but not overly uncomfortable. He could smell just a hint of smoke, likely from a fireplace close by. His mind searched for answers but found only darkness. Vaguely he remembered pain, but nothing else.
Slowly, the voices in the room became clearer. A woman was speaking.
"…wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for him!" Frustration filled her voice. "He saved me!"
"It was we who saved his life!" A new voice spoke, another woman's and much harder than the first. "If you hadn't brought him here he would still be lying under that tree bleeding to death."
A tree…he remembered looking up through the branches as the sun broke through the clouds above, remembered how calm it had seemed. He had known there was something wrong with his body but that seemed so far away from the clearing sky overhead.
"Both of you be silent!" The shout brought him back to the present. The voice that spoke now had a commanding presence. A woman's voice as well, yet deep with age. "I will not have bickering at a time like this! Marella, it is because of you that this man is here. And because of us all that he is still alive."
Marella. An image came to him. A young woman, dressed in a plain green dress, kneeling in front of him as he lay beneath the tree. Her dark hair was falling into her face, but her green eyes were locked to his. Something was wrong. She was beautiful, yet sad.
"How do we know he'll even live?" The question washed away the image. It was the second voice again, still hard even after being chastised. "He's made little improvement since we Healed him."
"We have no Yellow among us. We did what we could for him." The older voice spoke, this time without the fury of before. "If he is to pull through, it will be by the will of the Creator."
With what seemed like all of the strength in his body, he slowly opened his eyes. At first all he could see was bright light, not a single beam, but a full glow that engulfed his entire vision. He blinked once, then again. Each time the brightness faded and objects began to appear. He saw a torch held in a metal bracket beside a small table, but quickly looked away as the dancing flame hurt his weak vision. He looked down at himself. The blanket covering him was of thick wool. He could see the mounds his hands and feet made through the snugness of the blanket. Another blink and three figures came into sight, standing at the foot of his bed.
The one closest to the bed had her back to him. She wore a deep blue dress, with an even deeper blue shawl around her shoulders. Her hair was grey and spilled down her back in long waves. Across from her stood a woman in a cream colored dress, the high neckline ending just below her chin. She absently twirled the end of the blood-red shawl that draped across her shoulders. Her face had a chiseled quality to it, her pronounced chin emphasized even more by her tightly pursed lips. Hair the color of gold ended just below her neck and was held in place by a red ribbon. The third woman stood to the side of the other two. She wore a green dress of simple cut with no shawl around her shoulders. Her head was down, dark hair hiding her face. He knew it was Marella.
"We cannot stay here," the woman in the red shawl began. "Once reports get back of what happened, they will scour all the local towns. People talk. It will not be long before they find this inn."
"And what would you have us do with him?" The older woman pointed absently to the bed. "Leave him to die?"
"You can't!" Marella's head came up instantly. "Please, Saerane Sedai!"
Leave him to die? The words hit him like a bucket of cold water. If he could just make some kind of sound, some movement to get their attention. With every bit of energy he tried to move his hands. Just lift them a tiny bit…
"Child, you will watch you tone when speaking to a Sister!" The red-shawled woman turned to face Marella. "It is regrettable, but he would only slow us down."
His hand twitched slightly. They had to have seen it. He tried again. It was as if his muscles were made of lead. So heavy, but he knew he could move them if he just tried.
"This man did save Marella." The woman in blue sounded tired, yet still commanding. "You Reds are so quick to despise any man, even those who risk their lives…"
With one hand free, he was trying to pull the blanket away from his body when the woman in blue had stopped. He had been too engaged in trying to move that he had not seen her turn to face the bed. She looked down at him, eyes wide with surprise. Her face seemed too young for her grey hair, but had a wizened quality about it. A small grin crept to her lips.
"I am certain he would love to hear your plan, Esenia." The woman in blue glared accusingly at Esenia. The Red looked confused for a moment before she too turned to face the bed.
He fixed his gaze on Esenia, looking her directly in the eyes. Immediately her cheeks crimsoned and she pursed her lips tight.
"This changes nothing." With that, the Red turned her chin up defiantly and walked to the door. "It appears the Creator is not without a sense of irony." She shut the door loudly as she left.
His eyes quickly found Marella. She stood at the foot of the bed beside the older woman. He could see her green eyes, beautiful just as he remembered them.
"This young man is quite remarkable. I am sure you would like to talk with him, child." With a light touch to Marella's shoulder, the older woman left the room.
It had taken most of his energy to get their attention. Now he lay panting on the bed, his head swimming from the exertion. Small specks of light danced across his vision and for a moment he thought he would lose consciousness. Then Marella was there. He didn't remember seeing her move, but she was sitting beside him on the bed, one hand smoothing his hair. He tried reaching up to touch her beautiful face but his arm fell back to the bed.
"Just be still, Jarik," Marella said with a smile. "You've been through so much. Esenia Sedai was sure you were…" She left the word unspoken. Dead.
He took a deep breath before speaking.
"Marella…what…happened?" It felt as if he hadn't said a word in some time. His throat was dry and his voice sounded like a croak.
"They said you might have some trouble remembering," Marella began. "Your wounds were so severe and we have no Yellow sister with us. The weave was sloppy, but it was the best Healing we could do. What do you remember?"
He closed his eyes and tried to think. "A tree…and you." That was all he could come up with. It was like trying to grasp something in the dark that was always just out of reach. He wanted to remember more, to know what had happened to him, and why these women had taken him in. Suddenly he felt something, like a string pulling in the back of his mind. It tugged, lightly at first, then with more force. A feeling of cold washed over him and slowly his mind opened.