Our companions have an encounter with an old enemy.
Lan spent a lot of time with the horses while the night swallowed the light. He brushed Mandarb's skin and did the same for Aldieb. It was a calming movement, though it allowed his thoughts to drift.
Moiraine and Nynaeve. Two strong and beautiful women who held his heart in their hands. Nynaeve will be furious when she finds out about my feelings for Moiraine. All this time, I have promised her there wasn't anything romantically between Moiraine and me, and now… I mean, I loved Moiraine with all my heart before I kissed her, but now I know I want more. I want to kiss these soft lips of hers. I want to feel her warm body against mine. I want-
The black stallion snorted at him, and Lan stroked softly over his fury forehead. "You're right. I need to stop, or I will never be able to get some rest tonight." Sighing, he threw the brush back in his bag. His feelings were a mess.
Aldieb started to nibble at the front of his tunic, then snorted. She could smell Moiraine on him, and it sounded like the mare wouldn't approve. "I don't want to hurt her, Aldieb. You know that."
The white mare nudged her head against his chest – above his heart – and released a quiet neigh.
"Yes, I love her – always have, but now it's different." Lan stroked her jaw and sighed. "It's not just the two of us anymore." This time, he received a nudge from both Aldieb and Mandarb, which made him stumble. "I apologize deeply. I meant the four of us."
He chuckled when he received an approving snort. Then he fished two carrots from his bag and gave them to the horses. They deserved it after the long hours of carrying them through the land. Tiredly, Lan grabbed his bags and cursed when pain shot through his body. This stupid injury! Well, he would ask Moiraine to heal him in the morning. One more night shouldn't kill him.
The Warder returned to the camp. Without the fire, it wasn't easy to find his companions – especially with the moon and the stars hiding behind the clouds. It was Loial's big shape that told him where he could find them. Rand sat on a stone, watching the horizon motionlessly while the others were asleep. Lan found his Aes Sedai shivering under her blanket. The days around here were warm, while the nights were freezing cold.
"You took your bloody time." A small red light appeared in the dark beside Moiraine's sleeping form, coming from the direction of Thom's whispering voice. Then the smell of a burning pipe reached Lan's nose. Apparently, Rand wasn't the only one who was awake. "She's been shivering for quite a while now."
The gleeman sat awfully close to the Aes Sedai. In the dark, the Warder had thought of him as another stone. Why was he sitting there? "You're very attentive in what she is doing," Lan said warily. He didn't like this attention. Moiraine belonged to him! "Do you care to tell me why?"
"I like to observe people, Warder."
"People or her?"
"Would you rather see her freeze?" Thom grumbled.
Carefully, Lan sat down behind Moiraine – his injury protested, but he ignored it – then reached for her shoulder. This wasn't just her blanket around her but a cloak. "You gave her your cloak."
"Her teeth were chattering. What would you have wanted me to do?"
The Warder pulled the gleeman's cloak off his Aes Sedai and handed it back to Thom. "Thank you for watching over her. I'll take it from here."
"I'll keep an eye on the boy," Thom said while getting back on his feet.
"Lan?" Moiraine's sleepy voice interrupted the conversation. "Is something wrong?" She turned toward her Warder, who quickly placed his hand on top of her head.
"Sleep, Moiraine."
"You're in pain." He felt how she fought the fatigue to clear her tired mind. Even now, she wanted to help him.
Lan regulated his breathing, pushing the pain as far away as possible until it was only a dull throb. Meanwhile, Moiraine seemed confused when she couldn't feel the pain anymore. "What-?"
"You need to rest." Her next shiver shook her whole body, and the uncrowned king of Malkier remembered he had removed the gleeman's cloak. Lan Mandragoran, you are a fool! Cursing himself, he pulled out more blankets from one of his bags and tucked them around his Aes Sedai. "There you go."
Moiraine released a satisfied sigh, and her trembling faded slowly. Lan's hand found her cheek, and he hissed. "Come here." He lifted her head and pulled the hood of her cloak up. She needed all the warmth she could get.
A content hum came from Moiraine. "Lan?"
"Didn't I tell you to sleep?"
"You sleep too."
Lan smiled. His Aes Sedai – always looking out for him even when she was barely awake. "Yes, Aes Sedai." He pulled his cloak tighter around him before he lay down behind her, his arm lying protectively around her. Then he closed his eyes and allowed sleep to take over.
In the morning, Moiraine woke when she heard the angry voices of Rand and Thom. For a moment, she thought about closing her eyes again and ignoring them, but they seemed to become louder by the second, and they fought about her. Besides, it was extremely hot under the blankets.
"We need to get to Falme!"
"It's early in the morning, lad! Wait until she wakes up, and then we'll leave!"
"I already agreed to stop here for the night! I won't wait any longer! Egwene needs me!"
Groaning, the woman of the Blue Ajah pushed the blankets off her – Lan had put two more blankets above the one she already had wrapped around herself! – and sat upright. The sun was slowly rising in the East, though she was pretty certain Rand had been up on his feet since the first beam of sunlight had appeared at the horizon. Loial stared at one of his books while Perrin tried to act as a peacemaker. But where was Lan?
The bond told her he was awake but not here, and… he was in pain! She closed her eyes and reached for him through the bond. She needed more information. Although he was in terrible pain, he was as calm as a pond – waiting, observing. He obviously hadn't been attacked while she had been asleep.
Then the Aes Sedai remembered him telling her about the injury that he had received in Cairhien. Last night, he had refused to let her heal him, and over night, it must have gotten worse.
Angrily, she got to her feet and almost sank back on her knees. Lan wasn't in good condition. The pain made his head hazy, and she felt it too. She needed to heal him! The woman followed the direction in which the bond was pulling her – not caring about Rand and the others. Why had this stubborn man left the camp? He should have waited until she was awake to heal him. Or at least wake her!
She found her Warder standing behind a tree, watching the camp of the Whitecloaks. Not one muscle moved, but she felt how his body fought against the pain. He couldn't ignore it any longer.
Moiraine sent Lan all of her anger through the bond and stepped in front of him. Calmly, he turned his face as if she wasn't close to exploding. "I've survived worse."
Oh, she wanted to strangle him. How could this stupid man not see how important he was? How important he was to her? She wanted to scream but not with all those Whitecloaks close by. Instead, she opened herself to Saidar, her hands reaching for his head. First, she would delve him, and then…
Suddenly, Lan grabbed her wrists, breaking her concentration. "Don't!" he hissed.
"You promised!" Moiraine snarled. "You would allow me to heal you if I would rest! Well, I did! Now let go and-!"
"Move!" The uncrowned king of Malkier didn't let her finish. Without an explanation, he pulled her with him through the accumulation of trees back to the camp. His leg was on fire, and Moiraine felt the phantom pain. Finally, she knew where she could find his injury.
"Lan! Let me heal you!"
"No time!"
"Stop! That's an order, Gaidin!" Relieved, she watched how he stopped, though she saw his gnashed teeth. He didn't like when she gave him orders.
But before she could even think about touching Saidar, he made her face the camp of the Whitecloaks and pointed at their enemy.
"They send out troops to scan the area. I don't want to fight them. We have to leave now!"
The woman of the Blue Ajah opened her mouth, but no words came out. Lan was right. There was no time. Her Warder saw her reaction and moved on, making her follow him. They had to reach the others!
Rand was pissed when the Aes Sedai and the Warder returned. Perrin had informed him about Moiraine's departure since he had been too occupied fighting with Thom. "Where have you been?!"
"Grab everything you can!" Lan shouted at him, ignoring the mood and tone of the young man. "We need to leave! The Whitecloaks send their men to scan the area!"
Immediately, everyone went into action. They had packed their bedrolls and bags within minutes and tied them on their horses' backs. Rand and Perrin were the first ones who sat in the saddle, waiting impatiently for their companions.
Moiraine checked if they had forgotten anything then she walked to Aldieb. Lan stood beside Mandarb, tieing up his bedroll, but his injured leg gave away when he moved to mount the stallion. The Aes Sedai felt the burning pain in her own leg and was immediately by his side. "Lan!"
"Get in the saddle," Lan said through gritted teeth while trying to breathe through the pain. It almost brought Moiraine to her knees too.
Growling, Moiraine opened herself to Saidar. They had no time, but Lan couldn't ride like this. She needed to heal him.
"No!" It was a deep growl filled with anger. They had no time for this! Sweat ran down Lan's face when he pushed himself up and grabbed Moiraine to help her mount Aldieb. He felt Saidar slipping from her, but his leg gave away a second time when he tried to lift her on Aldieb's back. He couldn't put pressure on it.
Moiraine used the moment to face him. "Let me heal you."
"No time." Aching, he pushed himself back on his feet. The woman of the Blue Ajah grabbed his arms to help him.
"You can't ride like this."
"Get in the saddle."
"Please, let me heal you."
But Lan shook his head. "When we reach Falme and are out of sight from the Whitecloaks."
"Your leg won't get better if you keep finding excuses for why I can't heal you." Lan growled again, then made her face Aldieb. He made sure to rest his weight on his healthy leg and placed his hands on her hips. "Lan, this is-"
"Stop, in the name of the light!" This time, it was harder for the uncrowned king of Malkier to calm himself. He was so tired of these guys. Why did they keep appearing everywhere? Lately, they seemed to be constantly out of luck.
"Stay out of sight," Lan whispered in Moiraine's ear, then dug under Aldieb's head and faced their enemy – a group of six Whitecloaks. "May the light illumine you, Sir. We are travelers and just wanted to move on."
"Travelers?" the man in the front asked and eyed Loial suspiciously. "You're traveling with an Ogier?"
"We met him on our journey in Cairhien, and he wanted to join us."
Moiraine stood as still as possible, listening to Lan's gentle voice. He did his best to sound harmless, though she felt his inner anxiety. He wasn't used to calming people. Usually, it was Moiraine who did the talking while he observed and appraised the situation, ready to defend her with his sword if it should be necessary. But with his injury, Lan knew he couldn't risk a fight with the Whitecloaks. Light, he could barely stand!
"Where are you heading?"
"Falme, Sir. We want to visit a friend."
"Falme? And what is the name of-?"
The crack of branches made Moiraine turn her head to the trees. Two Whitecloaks stood there with one hand on the hilt of their swords, letting their eyes wander over the little group. As soon as the eyes of one of the men found Moiraine, they automatically moved to her hands. Her hands which she had pressed against Aldieb's flanks to suppress the tremble. Her hands – with the golden serpent ring clearly visible.
"They have an Aes Sedai!" The sound of drawn swords lay in the air. The two Whitecloaks moved in on Moiraine, who slowly walked backward. Why hadn't she taken off the ring? Because I just have gotten it back. I don't want to hide it again. And now they all had to pay for her being selfish. Lan should have kept it, as I'm keeping his. It would've been safer.
"In the name of the light, we-" Moiraine would never know what the Whitecloak had wanted to tell her. Lan appeared behind them like a shadow, wrapping one arm around the throat of the Whitecloak while knocking out the other by using the hilt of his sword.
The man gasped for air. His fingers scraped over Lan's arm, but it was useless. The blade fell out of hand, and the man hung lifeless in Lan's arms.
The Warder's eyes focused on something in Moiraine's back. "Perrin, take her and get her to the city!" The body of the Whitecloak sank to the ground when Lan released his grip.
Gentle hands touched Moiraine's back and moved under her armpits. Suddenly, the meaning of Lan's words moved past Moiraine's blurry thoughts. "No!"
Perrin released a surprised gasp when she stepped out of his reach – the blacksmith was sitting on his horse and had tried to pull her up – but the eyes of the Aes Sedai lay on her Warder. He wasn't doing well. Usually, it took a while before he broke into a sweat. But now, his face was covered with sweat – his body fighting against the pain. How long would he be able to keep up this fight without her help?
Lan growled when Moiraine ran to him, but she didn't care. This was her fault. She should've thought about the stupid ring as soon as the Whitecloaks had arrived. He had said he couldn't fight against the Children of the Light in his condition, yet he did it to protect her. If he would only allow her to heal him!
But when she reached him, he shook his head before she could even open her mouth. "No." Like before, he tried to make her mount Aldieb. At least this time, he didn't try to lift her. He knew he couldn't do it. "Get in the saddle."
"I could've healed you by now if you wouldn't stop me constantly."
"It is your decision. Ride on Aldieb or go with Perrin."
"Lan, let me help you."
"You want to help me, Moiraine? Then get in the saddle, take the boys, and ride. Ride until you reach Falme, and then hide."
Moiraine's eyes widened when she realized what he was suggesting. "No." Lan sighed. This stubborn woman! "Please, don't ask me to do this."
"You must protect them."
"Lan, please. I can't-"
"Rand is the Dragon Reborn, and he'll need you. He'll need your guidance."
Desperately, the woman of the Blue Ajah grabbed the tunic of her Warder. He felt warm. Warmer than usual. This wasn't good. "And I need you. Please, we can fight them…." But Lan shook his head.
"I could use some help here!" Thom shouted.
"Go," Lan told Moiraine. She hesitated before she reluctantly mounted Aldieb.
Their eyes were locked, and the uncrowned king of Malkier saw tears building up in her eyes. Tears, she refused to let fall. The thought of leaving him behind – the thought of losing him - tore at her heart and nearly ripped it apart.
"You come back to me, Gaidin. That's an order."
A sad smile appeared on Lan's lips. His stubborn Aes Sedai, not accepting his certain death – refusing to let him die. "As you wish, Aes Sedai," he responded with warmth and love in his voice.
She nodded and pulled Aldieb around. She had to save the Dragon Reborn and his friend. "Ride!"
The blacksmith was shocked. "We can't leave them. We have to help them."
"And how do you plan on helping them? You have no weapon. Do you want to talk them down?"
Ashamed, Perrin lowered his head. It was true. He had no weapon. Since he had met the Tuatha'an and the Way of the Leaf, touching a weapon didn't feel right.
The Aes Sedai nodded when she saw his reaction. "Ride. Rand! Loial! Follow me!" She heard Rand protesting but didn't care. A light pressure of her thighs and Aldieb began to move – quickly leaving Mandarb and Lan behind.
The next chapter will be uploaded on Wednesday.
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