Warning! There is a slight spoiler for WH here. And I am taking liberty with the timeline again. I don't think Mat ever met Logain, but this is my story and in my story he met him at the Tower. Oh, and those of you who don't like to see Nyneave with anyone else might want to wait till the next chapter.
Ending B
He spun around to see the healer standing in
the door. The moonlight fell on her face, and he could see that she
was scowling.
"Alright, you've seen her. Now get out!"
she whispered commandingly. "It is a wonder you didn't wake her up."
He allowed her to herd him out of the room,
understanding that she knew more about what Nyneave needed then he did.
He returned to the room across from hers to keep a silent vigil.
Lan had never been the praying type, but he found himself praying to the
Light that she would heal. He spent the night in that room praying
and begging for her health.
The others found him early that morning in
the spot he had occupied all night. One look at his troubled face
and Elayne and Rand's anger at him melted. No one could doubt his
grief. And so the companions passed the day. They were no longer
allowed to visit her, she was too weak. Besides, the healer had said.
She hasn't woken up yet.
The next day was no different. They
still weren't allowed to see her. The door was kept open so that
the healer could get to them that much quicker, but still there was no
change in her condition. The healer said that this was a good sign,
yes she wasn't any better, but she wasn't worse. She said that Nyneave
might even make it.
That evening as they were keeping watch they
heard footsteps approaching them. Thinking that it was the healer's
apprentices, they all stood up and waited. Much to their shock, it
was not the apprentices in the doorway, but Logain.
Lan reached for his sword, only to remember
that he was not wearing it. Mat, Birgitte, and Min each pulled a
belt knife or two out. Rand drew on saidin and shielded him.
Logain just smiled in amusement.
"I take it you are Rand al'Thor? So
I was right all those years ago in Caemlyn. You are ta'veren.
And the true Dragon Reborn." Try as he might Rand couldn't detect
any trace of resentment in his voice.
"Hello Logain." Said Min, putting away
her knife.
"Hello Min. How are you?"
"A good friend of mine is gravely injured.
We're not sure whether or not she'll live. I'm just great."
He voice was loaded with sarcasm. Logain's face grew grim.
He looked at Elayne.
"I heard through Black Tower gossip that The
Dragon Reborn hadn't been seen for days. I also heard that he was
at the sickbed of a friend. I thought that perhaps that it might
be Nyneave." His voice grew quiet and concerned. "Is it?"
Elayne nodded. "It is, but why do you
care? What is she to you.?" Lan watched this exchange with
morbid curiosity. This man seemed generally concerned about Nyneave.
What were his feelings for her. Most important, what were her feeling
for Logain. He noticed that everyone who had drawn a knife had sheathed
it. The channelers had relaxed, and he assumed had released the Power.
"She healed me. She gave me back my
life and reason for living. I owe her a bigger debt then I can ever
pay. I am here to pay my repects."
Rand opened his mouth to say something, but
was stopped by Min's hand on his arm. He looked at her and she shook
her head. Turning slightly so that Logain couldn't see her face,
she mouthed, aura. Rand nodded. Min said that a person's aura
was easier for her to see as a vision, and just as accurate.
Logain left with a servant they had flagged
down to find a room. When he was out of earshot, Rand turned on Min
and demanded to know what she had seen.
"Like I told you, I saw his aura. He
was sincere. He truly is here to see Nyneave. He means no harm.
You can trust him."
Before the others could say anything, one
of the healer's apprentices burst into the room. "Mistress al'Meara
is awake. She's going to be fine. left with a servant
they had flagged down to find a room. When he was out of earshot,
Rand turned on Min and demanded to know what she had seen.
"Like I told you, I saw his aura. He
was sincere. He truly is here to see Nyneave. He means no harm.
You can trust him."
Before the others could say anything, one
of the healer's apprentices burst into the room. "Mistress al'Meara
is awake. She's going to be fine. You can all see her."
15 Minutes Later:
Logain returned to the room the others had
all been gathered in. There was no one there, but the room across
the hall was full of voices and sounds of joy. He entered to find
them all clustered around the bed of Nyneave al'Meara. He cleared
his throat and the talking stopped. He walked over to her side and
knelt down.
"Hello Nyneave, how are you feeling?"
He smiled at her, but this smile held no amusement, only warmth.
"I've been better." She didn't smile
back at him, but her voice was warm.
Min barely restrained a gasp. Sometimes
all she had to do was look at two people to know that they would fall in
love and get married. And in their auras, she saw love and marriage.
They would be happy. Lan. He was going to be so crushed.
His aura was a blinding mixture of joy, love, and jealousy.
Lan watched Logain and Nyneave exchange hellos.
They were sitting very close. His fists clenched. He was starting
to see red. How dare that man flirt with his love. Suddenly,
he remembered his words from so long ago. "I will hate the man
you chose you chose because he is not me, and love him if he makes you
smile." He didn't know if he could keep that promise.
He knew that he wouldn't be able to watch.
He couldn't watch her be held by another man, be kissed by another man.
He wouldn't be able to stand the look of love in her eyes, knowing that
it wasn't him she dreamed of. He couldn't watch her have another
man's children.
That decided, he made to step forward.
To get this man away from Nyneave. But Min was standing in front
of him. He meant to step around her, but she moved to block his path.
She motioned to him to follow her and headed towards the hall. When
he didn't follow, she went back and grabbed his belt and tugged him out
into the hall and into the room across from Nyneave's.
Once they were in there, she shut the door.
"Lan, I think you should sit down. I have some bad news." Lan
sat down in the nearest chair. "It's about Nyneave. About Nyneave
and Logain. I know you still love her. I know that you want
to tell her and win her heart back. But it wouldn't do any good."
"What does that have to do with Logain?" Lan
asked, dreading the answer that he already suspected.
"They are falling in love." Lan dropped
his head in his hands. "Lan, I'm sorry, but they're going to get married."
His head snapped up at that.
"What?" He looked at her and saw the truth of it in her
eyes. "Is there any hope for her and I?" Min silently shook
her head.
Lan dropped his head back into his hands.
He rocked back and forth, silently. Min left him to his grief.
Alone, Lan rocked for a few minutes until anger took him. In a fit
of anger and dispare, he slammed his fists against the wall and broke
the chair he had been sitting in. He didn't cry. He was beyond
tears. Destroying the chair seemed to help him gain some control.
He crumpled on the floor, not moving, he just stayed there, trying to picture
life without her.
Later that night:
Min watched from the shadows as Lan snuck back into
Nyneave's room. He entered her bedroom and looked at her for a moment.
He whispered something to low for her to hear clearly, but it sounded like
Mashiara.
Lan left the palace that night. They didn't know
where he was for months. Myrelle told Egwene that he had come back.
That was the last time Nyneave ever saw him. Min saw him at Nyneave's
wedding a year later. Watching from the shadows, he wept when Nyneave
said "I do" and mouthed "I do" when Logain answered. She never
told anyone that he was there, they all just thought that she was crying
for happiness.
That wasn't the last time someone thought they saw
someone in the shadows. And later, when their Nyneave and Logain's
children went to the White Tower to be trained, their son spoke of a tall
man who would appear out of no when he was practicing the sword.
Their son told them that the man was always hooded, and he never got a
look at his face. This man would just appear, give him some advice
on sword forms, watch him until he got it write, then just melted back
into the shadows.
Their daughter once told her mother that when she
was in the city of Tar Valon on an errand, she was followed. She
didn't get a look at his face, but every time someone started to approach
her, she felt the man come closer and who ever bothered her would go away
in a hurry. She stopped several times, trying to see who was following
her, but she could never see him.
At her children's tales, Nyneave would close her
eyes and think of al'Lan Mandragoran and wonder if it was him. For
an instant, her heart would ache, and his ring in her belt purse would
seem to grow heavier. But then her husband would smile at her or
hug her, and all thoughts of him would vanish. But to her dying day,
his ring stayed in her belt purse.
What do you all think?