Prompt 4 - Give me what I desire

The dying embers of the fire flickered slowly. Moiraine stared into the last flickering flames, unseeing and buried deep in thought.

Occasionally she would bite her lip as a thought came over her, then her face would straighten out again. Her expression was far from its usual blank state, though. Lan wondered what she was worried about; she didn't usually let anyone, even him, see her anxiety.

The common room of the inn in Baerlon emptied as the evening drew on, but Moiraine stayed staring into the fireplace long after the last flickering glow died away. The innkeeper approached, once, but Lan waved him away with a stony look that told the fat man that Moiraine – or Alys, as the innkeeper knew her – was not to be disturbed.

It must have been an hour past midnight when Moiraine finally looked up.

"What troubles you?" Lan asked. Moiraine shook her head, biting her lip for a moment before she schooled her face calm.

"I need a glass of wine," she said calmly. Lan pushed the half-empty bottle across the table to her along with a glass; she daintily poured herself a large glass of the red wine and sat sipping it.

Once she finished, she returned to staring into space. Then half an hour later, after a multitude of expressions had passed over her face and Lan thought she must have bitten her lip nearly into extinction, she stood up.

"I am going to bed," she informed him. Lan nodded and stood up himself, following her up the stairs to where he would guard the room while she slept.

When they reached Moiraine's room, she looked at Lan, again with that strange expression in her eyes.

"Lan…" she murmured.

"Yes?" he prompted when she trailed off, lost in thought again. Moiraine sighed and led him into the room.

"Everything is going to change tomorrow, isn't it," she said softly. "I've found out where the Dragon Reborn is, and tomorrow we go to take him away from his farm. I suppose it's the beginning of the end." Lan said nothing. Moiraine was outwardly philosophical infrequently, and when she was she never liked to be interrupted.

"Maybe the world will be saved. Maybe it won't. Maybe neither you nor I will live long enough to see what happens," Moiraine murmured, almost to herself.

"Don't say that," Lan objected. "You are not going to die. I won't let you." Moiraine looked back at him and smiled slightly.

"I'm glad of that," she replied. "But… however many plans I make, there may always be an unexpected element, one that could destroy everything." She looked pensive; suddenly she stepped close to Lan and wrapped her arms tight around him, resting her head on his shoulder. Lan embraced her gently, resting his head atop his. If anyone had looked into the room, they would have seen an intimate embrace between lovers, but they would have been wrong.

"Lan…" Moiraine said suddenly, raising her head. Lan saw the barriers she set up in her mind against any and all external emotion vanish, and for the first time he could truly look into her eyes and see what lay behind.

"What is it?" he asked. Moiraine looked at him consideringly for a moment, then stood on her toes and kissed him. Lan was shocked, but kissed her back anyway – until he remembered that she frowned upon amorous intimacy between Aes Sedai and their Warders. He drew back, expecting Moiraine to glare at him – although she had kissed him, not the other way round – but he wasn't fixed with a glare. She looked almost hurt, certainly confused; he expected that no man had ever pulled away from her before. He certainly didn't want to.

Moiraine looked questioningly at him. Lan shifted, uncomfortable under her intense gaze.

"What do you want, Moiraine?" he asked eventually. "You don't approve…" Moiraine sighed.

"No, not normally… but who knows what will happen when we reach the Two Rivers? The future is so uncertain…" she trailed off, then looked back into his eyes with renewed strength. "Lan, I want this, I want you," she said quietly, then waited for him to speak. An oddly submissive gesture from a usually dominant woman.

"Are you sure?" Lan asked. Moiraine nodded. Then the submissiveness faded away and she pulled his head down to hers, kissing him passionately.

"I assume that answers your question," she told him when they broke apart for air. Lan nodded and kissed her again.