Chapter 2: Paaran Disen
Gentle shaking woke Kiara from a deep, dreamless sleep. The sho-wing had landed. The sun shone brightly outside. It was morning.
"We're in Paaran Disen," Joar Addam said a little sleepily.
The fifteen channelers from Shorelle were hustled from the sho-wing and into three separate jo-cars. They arrived at the school for Aes Sedai trainees at around noon. The men and women were separated and taken to their respective quarters.
Kiara followed a Da'shain Aiel into a small room with a bed, a dressing table, small dining table with four chairs around it, a wardrobe and an attached bathroom. Her bags lay on the bed and lunch on the table in the form of a covered tray. "Please be in the main ballroom by sunset to attend the welcoming dinner," the motherly Aiel woman said. "The initiates from the other cities and towns should have arrived by then." She curtsied and left.
Joar Addam followed the plainly dressed Aiel man to his room, a simple affair. A bed, a wardrobe, a small dining table with a covered tray on it, and a bathroom attached. His bags waited on the bed. "If it pleases you, the welcoming dinner will take place in the main ballroom at sunset, when all the initiates have arrived. Until then please rest well and enjoy your lunch." With a bow and a polite gesture towards the tray on the table the Aiel backed out of the door and shut it.
When the sun began to set Joar Addam left for the main ballroom dressed in a white silk shirt, red velvet coat with a little gold embroidery and black silk breeches. No lace, though. That would be a little too presumptuous.
He ran into Kiara at the entrance. She had on a silvery-white dress with layered, pleated skirts and a narrow, plunging neckline. An elaborate silver belt emphasised her willowy figure. Her hair hung in four slim braids with silver chains decorated with snowflakes woven into them. A small sapphire set in a gracefully twisted frame of silver hung on a silver chain around her neck.
"Joar Addam," she said with a smile.
"Kiara," he returned the greeting with a matching smile.
A tall, extremely good-looking man dressed in silk and fancloth swaggered around the corner. He flashed a smile at Kiara that made Joar Addam bristle. "Good evening," he said to both of them, though a flicker of his eyes at Joar Addam made clear that the greeting was for Kiara alone, "I am called Eval Ramman."
"Good evening," Kiara replied. "My name is Kiara Eronaile."
"Joar Addam Nessosin," Joar Addam offered his name, placing slight emphasis on his third name.
"Why, what talent to have a third name at such a young age," Eval remarked, managing to sound impressed and mocking at the same time.
"It is nothing, just a slight inclination towards music," Joar Addam answered with frosty politeness.
"A musician," Eval said, a slight sneer in his voice telling what he thought of that. "A musical prodigy, then."
Kiara appeared irritated by the verbal sparring. "Shall we go in, Joar Addam?" she asked. He started and turned away from Eval Ramman, nodding. They entered the ballroom side by side, with Eval a step behind.
They seated themselves and had dinner. After dessert had been finished, Eval Ramman appeared again. "Would you like to dance, Kiara?" he asked, holding a hand out to her. Couples were already out on the dance floor, stepping in time to the music. Eval had given Kiara's name a caressing quality when he said it – Joar Addam did not like it one bit.
"All right," Kiara agreed. Joar Addam bristled. He took a goblet of wine from a Da'shain Aiel carrying a tray of them and sipped, keeping his eyes on Kiara. Eval was making eyes at every pretty woman within sight even while dancing with her. The nerve of the man!
Eval danced the next dance with Kiara, and the next. And the next after that. Joar Addam kept taking wine from the Aiel, not quite aware of how much he was drinking.
He was raising what had to be the ninth goblet to his lips when someone snatched it from him. "You've drunk quite enough," Kiara told him, holding the goblet out of his reach. Her face was rosy, and a thin layer of perspiration coated her forehead. She sipped from his goblet. Her eyes widened and she drained it. "I didn't realise how thirsty I was," she said when she had drunk every drop. "Come on. Let's go for a walk in the gardens."
It was not as if Joar Addam had any choice in the matter. Kiara practically dragged him out of the ballroom. The gardens were far from deserted. Couples and groups of friends explored the lush grounds. Wine and the fact that Kiara had danced so many dances with Eval Ramman made Joar Addam grumpy. He simply stalked along in a stormy silence.
"In the name of the Light, Joar Addam Nessosin," Kiara snapped, "what is wrong with you? You're simmering. And about to explode." She stopped and grabbed his arm to make him stop. She pulled him into the shade of a chora tree. "This should do you good. Talk."
"Eval Ramman," he spat in disgust.
To his surprise, Kiara laughed. "Oh, Joar Addam Nessosin, you fool! Do you think I'm blind? The man is a womaniser and I can see it very well. Do you think I would take up with a man like that? Besides, I already have someone in mind."
That made his bristle more, chora tree or no chora tree. "Who?" he demanded.
"You fool," Kiara repeated. She took his head between her hands and pulled his face down for a kiss. Her arms went around his neck and she stood on her toes. His arms slipped around her waist. They shifted against each other as the kiss deepened and intensified. "I love you," she said against his lips, the words muffled. But he heard them just fine.