Yet another new dress, I see, Leane thought, eying the other woman appraisingly as she quietly entered Gareth Bryne's tent. Siuan sat on one of the brass chest, polishing a pair of boots. Oddly enough, she had a relatively pleasant expression on her face, despite her professed hatred of the chore and of the man who set the chore for her.
"Good morning, Siuan," Leane greeted the woman. The pleasant expression on Siuan's face morphed to a sulky scowl as quick as lightning. "Polishing the spare boots again?"
If they had been anywhere else but the privacy of the general's tent, Leane would have assumed the sudden change in Siuan's visage was nothing more than to keep in character with their purported dislike of each other. In a way, Leane was grateful the two of them had their oath to Bryne hanging over their heads—it provided them a place to talk and strategize. Of course, there was the worry that Bryne himself might catch onto their little game. However, Leane strongly suspected he already had and was quite willing to keep the secret to himself.
Siuan snorted. "Why is it he only makes you groom his horse? I get to wash his smallclothes, polish his saddle and boots and anything thing else the bloody man can think of!" She sat the boot down on the ground with the thud. "You and your Shadow-cursed Domani tricks! That's how you manage to get off with so little. You have him wrapped around your little finger."
Leane arched an eyebrow at her friend. Personally, she strongly suspected that someone else actually had Gareth Bryne twined around her little finger, whether she realized it or not. The man was quite good at hiding it. "I haven't tried any of my 'tricks' on him since I tried to convince him to let me bond him as my Warder. Which ended with you nearly knocking me unconscious with a bar of soap."
"I told you, I was aiming for Gareth bloody Bryne's bloody head!" Siuan's pink cheeks gave away the lie.
Leane smiled. "You could have waited until I was well away from him."
"How was I supposed to know you only gave him a…what was it? 'A kiss for luck'." Siuan muttered something unpleasant sounding under her breath that Leane couldn't quite make out. "For all I knew, he was about to carry you off to his tent so you could entertain him. A kiss for luck! Fish guts! Luck for what?"
Stifling laughter, Leane picked up the half polished boot and took the rag from Siuan. "Here, let me help you with those. And I don't entertain anyone, Siuan. As for luck…he needs luck with you as his maidservant." She began polishing the toe of the boot. "Is that a new dress?"
Siuan's blue eyes gave her a sidelong glance. "Yes," she replied, her posture suddenly as straight as a pole. One hand reached up to tug at the steep neckline. Well, steep for Siuan.
"I thought so." Leane ran a critical eye over Siuan. "I like it, but it's far too obvious on you."
"Obvious?"
Grinning, Leane gave the boot one last rub with the rag and sat it down. She reached for the unpolished boot. "If it were some other man, I might be worried. But he won't take advantage."
Siuan frowned at her deeply. "Take advantage? Who?" Suddenly, Siuan's eyes bulged. "What are you implying?" she demanded, her cheeks crimson.
Leane dipped the rag into a pot of blacking and sat the boot on the edge of the coffer she was sitting on. "Your taste in dresses has become quite a bit prettier since we arrived in Salidar. One would think since you now have to do laundry and polish boots that you would want something that wouldn't show stains as much." She glanced up at Siuan, a grin tugging at the corner of her lips. "If I didn't know better I would think you were trying to catch a man's attention."
Siuan's face darkened. "I assure you that I have no need to catch any man's attention," she replied coldly. "That is your source of amusement while I'm forced to wash Gareth bloody Bryne's smallclothes!"
It was impossible to keep the grin from spreading across her face. Siuan held to the First Oath whether she knew it or not, if only by a fingernail. "No, you don't," she agreed, watching Siuan's face carefully. "Because you already have it."
Something like hope flashed across Siuan's lovely features, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. She scowled. "Codswallop," Siuan growled, snatching the boot and rag back from Leane. "I don't need to hear anymore of your delusional ravings about Gareth bloody Bryne, Leane. If you're finished with your 'share' of Lord Bryne's chores, leave me to my misery!"
"I don't recall mentioning Gareth Bryne," Leane commented mildly. "What makes you think I was talking about him?"
The boot fell with a thud to the canvas floor out of Siuan's suddenly limp hand, and her expression had become a study in mortification. Leane couldn't suppress a giggle at how the other woman's lips opened and shut and at how her eyes had bugged out like two swollen blue blisters. "You look like one of those fish you're always talking about, Siuan. After it's been tossed into an ocean of red dye."
The former Amyrlin gathered herself visibly and suddenly her face was a mask of Aes Sedai tranquility. Well, except for the crimson cheeks. "Leane, I'm warning you—" The rustle of the tent flap cut her off mid-sentence. Both women turned to glance at the man who had just entered the tent.
Gareth Bryne had just stepped in and was removing his breastplate from over his coat. He glanced at Siuan, who had grabbed up the boot again upon seeing him and was now polishing it with an almost zealous amount of care. His eyes widened and he stood staring silently at Siuan for moment. Finally, he cleared his throat and spoke, his voice faintly breathless. "Good morning, Siuan. You look very nice this morning." Leane sniggered softly, hoping that Lord Bryne wouldn't hear.
Siuan's head shot up, but for a change it wasn't Lord Bryne whom she turned her glare upon, but Leane. "OUT!" she shrieked and Leane found that her head had suddenly become painfully acquainted with the heel of Lord Bryne's spare boot.
Dodging another attack, Leane scurried to her feet. Ducking out of the tent, she heard the boot crash through the canvas flap and Gareth Bryne's flabbergasted voice shouting from behind. "Siuan! What on earth?!" An indignant female screech followed, and Leane could only presume that Bryne had snatched up his temperamental maidservant, evidently to allow Leane time to escape and to turn Siuan over his knee.
Safely away from Siuan's wraith, Leane bent to pick up the boot and tossed it back into the tent, careful not to lay eyes upon Siuan's humiliating penance. Leane thought her ears might fall off at the sound of the vulgar insults and dire threats that floated from Siuan's mouth and out of the tent as the pretty Blue sister received the latest of Bryne's sharp discipline for her temper. Leane shook her head with a laugh. The Aes Sedai that had trained and taught them had not done nearly as good of job cleaning up Siuan's language as they had believed.
A passing soldier was eying both Leane and Bryne's tent with curiosity. She gave him an impish grin and eyed him up and down. Clean cut enough, if not exactly handsome. He would due to pass a few idle moments. "Do not worry about your general, good sir," she said placing her fingertips lightly on the man's arm. "She only thinks she means half of that."