The black and the white.
Dulain's green eyes studied the black
haired woman who lay unconscious on the ground before him. She was
wounded, the fingers on her left hand were bent back at an unnatural
angle, broken, no doubt. Dulain sighed, as he knelt at the side of
her, lifting her her head up by the chin to study her face. She had
several lacerations running across her face, without care, they would
probably leave some serious scarring. Her lips and face were swollen,
she seemed to be in a lot of pain. Her breath was ragged, and weak.
She needed his help or she would probably die. He closed his hands
around of her face, as he reached for Saidin, shivering as the
essence of life and death filled him. His skill with healing was
limited, old man Flinn had tried to teach Dulain more of then the
basics of healing, but Dulain just didn't have it in him. When he
released Saidin, he gave a start as he removed his hands from the
young woman's face. She was far more beautiful than he had first
thought. Her curly dark hair went well with her pale, almost white
complexion. She had high cheekbones in a suitably round face, her
lips pouted in a way that under other circumstances would have seemed
challenging to Dulain. He had done all he could to help her as far as
his Healing ability went. However, he did know how to make a splint.
He needed something flat and about the size of her hand and a cloth
suitable to be wrapped around it, to keep it in place. He found that
a broken off table leg would suffice. He tore the dead woman's dress
where it was not bloodied, and quickly wrapped the cloth tightly
against her hand against the piece of wood, pausing for a moment when
whimpers rose from her.
When Dulain's eyes fell on her other hand,
he froze. He instantly recognized the great serpent ring. By the
light, she is an Aes Sedai. But he couldn't just leave her now,
it was too late for that, as he had saved her from certain death. He
couldn't just walk away, not anymore. He scooped her up in his arms
and propped her head against his shoulder, pausing a moment to look
at her. Light. she is beautiful. Dulain gave himself a shake,
and forced all those kinds of thoughts out of his head. After all,
she was an Aes Sedai. He reached for Saidin and fixed a place in his
head. He wove a gateway, and a shiver ran down his spine as he walked
through it...
All the while the shiver lingered along his spine...
Zaide woke up with a
jolt, instinctively pulling her hands to her face. She couldn't feel
any scar tissue, but a sharp pain surged through her left hand. She
could remember all too vividly how the bones in her hand sounded
while breaking. She winced at the thought, deciding to look around at
her surroundings to take her mind of the throbbing pain in her hand.
She could see a small village, with a harbor and thick woods spanning
in all other directions, save for the ocean. Due to groggyness she
hadn't noticed that someone was carrying her until that person
suddenly stopped. She turned her head slowly, a dark clad man was
looking down at her, the afternoon sun reflecting in his green eyes.
She tried to scream and thrash but the man hastily clasped a hand
over her mouth, she even reached for Saidar but she was too scared to
focus.
"I will not hurt you Aes Sedai" He said, neither
his voice or expression wavering an inch. "If I remove my hand,
will you promise me you won't make a fuss?" She slowly nodded in
response.
As he removed his hand and set her down on the ground,
Zaide could feel her legs almost giving way, and she ended up leaning
against the man for support despite her best efforts.
"Are
you alright, Aes Sedai?" She blinked at the title, giving
herself a shake.
"Yes... I'm fine." She managed a
suitably regal voice, despite her state.
"It's only a short
distance left, are you sure you don't want me to carry you there?"
His voice was filled with concern, but it scared Zaide how still his
face was, and those eyes. She felt like those eyes looked at her as
if he knew everything about her, it gave her chills.
"A short
distance left where?" She asked, failing at masking her
suprise.
The man offered her a thin smile, "To somewhere I've
not been in a long time..." She blinked, dumbfounded. He raised
his eyes towards the village, lowering his voice "I'm going
home."
