Moiraine and Lan have a talk.

If it had been possible for Moiraine to take two steps at once, she would have done it. Yet, she almost ran upstairs, having only one thing on her mind – getting to her room. She felt like she could barely breathe, and it wasn't because she had had another argument with Anvaere – she was used to that. No, Lan's words were the reason for her trembling hands and her racing heartbeat. I'm her Warder. How was that possible? What had happened in Tar Valon? Why did he come to Cairhien? It couldn't have been a coincidence, right?

The woman of the Blue Ajah pushed the door to her room open, then took a deep breath while crossing the room. Light, this was insane!

She heard Lan entering the room and placing his bags beside the door, so she turned around. Her eyes wandered over him, taking him in like he was an illusion. For nights, she cried herself to sleep because she wished he would return to her. She would have given anything to talk to him for one last time, and now… now he was there, standing right in front of her and looking as stunning as always.

When Lan closed the door, Moiraine closed the distance between them. "Is it just me, or is your sister extremely careful toward strangers?"

The uncrowned king of Malkier turned to his bondholder when she reached him, and she allowed her body to take over. Her hands cupped his face and pulled it down to her. At the same time, her lips aimed for his.

Since it was a surprise to Lan, he couldn't react in time. His eyes widened when Moiraine's lips touched his. It was only for a moment, then she pulled back and let go of him. "Forgive me." Her hands were still trembling, and so was her voice. "I didn't mean to… I know you… it's just… I missed you." A tear rolled over her cheek, which she wiped away quickly. She wouldn't cry!

Lan watched her for a moment in complete silence like he needed to sort his thoughts, then his hands cupped Moiraine's face, and his lips covered hers in a heated kiss.

The Aes Sedai's body melted against his, her hands moving to his back to hold onto him. Light, she didn't want to let go of him!

After what felt like an eternity – but probably had only been a minute – Lan ended the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers. They both were out of breath. "Good," he breathed.

"Good?" Moiraine was confused. "Do you mean the kiss or-?"

"You confirmed my assumption."

"Your assumption? And what would that have been?"

Lan smiled and stole another kiss from his bondholder. "You just proved that you sent me to the White Tower with Nynaeve and Egwene to punish yourself and not because you suddenly couldn't stand me anymore."

The memory brought the tears back to Moiraine's eyes, so she turned her head away, but Lan pulled her face back to him and kissed her, then wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her even closer.

"I missed you," the uncrowned king of Malkier whispered against her lips. "For weeks, I can't think about anything other than pulling you into my arms again."

Lan's confession was Moiraine's undoing. She couldn't hold back her tears anymore. They rolled over her cheek uncontrollably and wet his tunic.

Tenderly, the uncrowned king of Malkier pressed a kiss on the woman's forehead, then wrapped his arms around her and held her while she sobbed against his chest.

Moiraine didn't know how long she was crying, but she felt weak when her tears finally subsided. Lan hadn't let go of her – not once. His strong arms were wrapped around her, holding her upright. One of his hands stroked her hair in calming movements, and – light! – it felt so good. She was back in that safety bubble only Lan's embrace could create for her. Of course, she felt safe around Siuan too, but it was a different kind of bubble.

"I don't understand." Her voice sounded raw after all the crying, but she needed to know. "How can you be here? I gave you an order to go to Tar Valon. How can you be here?"

Lan smiled, then let go of her. For a moment, the Aes Sedai was sure her legs would give away, and she would sink to the ground, but her Warder – light, this one word warmed her even when she was only thinking it! – grabbed her hips to steady her.

At the same time, Moiraine grabbed his tunic and sighed when Lan leaned his forehead against hers. She needed the close contact. "Come," Lan whispered.

Gently, the strong man guided her to the bed, but when they reached it, he sat down and pulled her on his lap so she was straddling him.

"Lan-"

The uncrowned king of Malkier pressed a kiss as light as a feather on her lips which ended with Moiraine pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. Suddenly, she didn't mind sitting on his lap anymore.

They broke apart when they both needed air again, though their foreheads stayed connected. They both needed to feel each other after having been apart for such a long time.

"You didn't answer my question," Moiraine whispered. She was still confused and didn't like the feeling.

Again, Lan smiled, but this time, he did explain, "Well, as you may remember, you ordered me to bring Nynaeve and Egwene to the White Tower, which I did." Moiraine winced slightly at his words. She didn't want to remember that terrible day, but it was necessary. "Alanna was there and sent two Accepted for the Mistress of Novices, so she would know what to do with the girls."

Moiraine nodded. Sheriam Sedai, the current Mistress of Novices, belonged to the Blue Ajah and would take care of the two women from the Two Rivers.

"Next, you ordered me to talk to the Amyrlin and inform her about what had happened." Another stab. Did he always have to mention that it had been an order? "Alanna was so kind to bring me to the Amyrlin. I think she hoped I was there on your behalf to ask the Amyrlin for forgiveness, so your exile would be rescinded. She misses you."

The woman of the Blue Ajah bit her lip. She didn't have many friends, but Alanna was one of them. She was such an open-hearted, lovely, and joyful person. During her exile, Moiraine had tried not to look at her sister from the Green Ajah but had seen her devastated face from the corner of her eyes.

"Of course, Alanna didn't speak to me, but she squeezed my arm before she left me alone with Siuan, and the message in her eyes was clear – Don't mess this up."

Amused, Moiraine chuckled. Yes, Alanna was a really good friend.

"After she and Leane were gone, I told Siuan about the events in Fal Dara and what you had done by leaving us." Their eyes met, and Moiraine saw the reproach in them. Lan was still convinced she had made the wrong decision. "I don't think I need to tell you how pissed she was at you, do I?" Instead of an answer, Moiraine closed her eyes. Oh, she could imagine her lover's anger. She wondered how many fish metaphors Lan had endured during their talk. "She's not very fond of you for leaving without me."

The Aes Sedai turned her head aside. "It doesn't matter. It's not like we will see each other again in the near future. Probably never."

Gently, her Warder pulled her head back to him. "You will see her again."

Moiraine swallowed hard, then grabbed his hand and kissed it to distract herself from crying. "I still don't understand how you can be here."

"Right. So, I talked to Siuan as you wanted me to do, and I also informed her about your wish for your sisters to find a way to…" Lan took a deep breath, and she saw the grim line around his mouth when he continued, "… FREE me of our bond." Oh, he was still clearly pissed about that. "She didn't take it very well. She used so many different descriptions for you and mentioned many ways of how she would like to kill you that I stopped counting."

Moiraine sighed heavily. She could imagine the situation very well. She was glad she hadn't been there when Lan had told Siuan.

"Luckily, we both decided that I had fulfilled all your orders. Nynaeve and Egwene were in the White Tower. I had informed her about what she had missed and about your wish – which she declined with the words, That foolish turtle can not honestly believe that I'm asking our sisters to break her bond. So, we both agreed I had fulfilled all your orders, and there was nothing left to do for me than to get Aldieb and Mandarb and follow you to wherever you were running to."

Speechless, Moiraine couldn't move. Her thoughts were running. This couldn't be true, right? It had been true that she hadn't explicitly told him to stay put in Tar Valon, but that had been the clear message behind her words. She had told him they would go separate ways from now on because he should stay with Nynaeve and Egwene.

There was a glint in Lan's eyes while he watched her reaction. He had outsmarted her. He had found a way to obey and yet to disobey in a way. And all because she…

Suddenly, Moiraine remembered the moment she had let go of Lan - how he had begged her to stop. And then he had stopped begging all of a sudden and had told her it was a mistake before he had left her.

"You knew," Moiraine realized. Lan didn't answer. All he did was wait for her to put the pieces together. "That's why you stopped arguing with me back then. You noticed that I didn't order you to stay. You knew I would expect it of you, but since I didn't order it…." Her eyes widened. She had been blinded by her pain, or she would've seen it too. Light, she knew Lan and that he would never leave her willingly! "You bastard."

Smiling, Lan cupped her face and kissed her tenderly. "You see? I did everything you asked of me. And once this was over, I found my way back to you." Sighing, he leaned back. "But since I wasn't sure you were only punishing yourself and hadn't done it because you wanted to get rid of me, I decided to keep my distance."

The woman of the Blue Ajah furrowed her forehead. Was he implying what she thought he had done? "You didn't run into me in Cairhien by accident."

"No."

She swallowed. This couldn't be true. "Since when do you know I was with my sister?"

"I arrived shortly after you. I left Aldieb and Mandarb in the forest and sneaked up to the house. You and your sister were fighting because she wanted an explanation from you for staying here. After she agreed to let you stay, I returned to the horses and decided to watch you from a distance."

Moiraine's eyes widened. "All this time… you… I can't believe you've been out there for weeks!"

"I thought if you didn't want me close to you, I could still protect you from afar." Tenderly, her Warder brushed his knuckles over her cheek. There was a deep sadness in his eyes. "Why did you cry?" When he saw her confusion, he clarified, "Sometimes – when everyone was sleeping – I came to the house to look at you through the window by climbing up the tree. I needed to see you. And every time, you were crying, and I couldn't do anything about it. Why did you cry?"

Smiling sadly, the Aes Sedai cupped his cheek with one hand. "I was missing you. I thought I had lost you forever."

"Come here."

Lan wrapped his arms around Moiraine and pulled her close, one hand on the back of her head while she threw her arms around his neck and hid her face in the crook of his neck. Since her nose wasn't overwhelmed anymore by the spices, she could finally inhale Lan's unique smell again. Lan. The incredible man who had found a way back to her and had camped in the forest so that he could continue to protect her from afar.

"You will never lose me. You are my Aes Sedai, the other part of my soul. You belong to me as I belong to you – for the rest of my life."

Moiraine nodded. She couldn't speak since her throat felt tight again. Luckily, Lan didn't need an answer. He simply held her, creating her personal safety bubble.

An hour later, Moiraine and Lan sat at the table for dinner. Eliza had politely asked if they would join her and Anvaere. The Aes Sedai had wanted to decline. She was still pissed at her sister for shooting at Lan, even though she had missed on purpose. But Lan had convinced her to go downstairs. After all, this was Anvaere's house, and they were her guests – even though Lan hadn't been invited to stay. And because of his bad start with Moiraine's sister, the Warder wanted to give it a second try. Maybe this time, he could convince the lady of the house that he wasn't a bad guy. Light, had he been wrong.

The four of them sat around the table. Moiraine and Lan were on one side, while Anvaere and Eliza sat opposite them.

When they had still been in their room, Moiraine had informed Lan about living in this house. She had given him a short description of her sister, not using many friendly words – the nicest one had probably been 'hardhead' – and about her annoying rules. The list seemed to grow daily, so even Moiraine had thought about writing them down.

And then there was Eliza. She lived in the house for many years now, helping Anvaere to keep it clean, was responsible for the cooking, helped with the horses… others would call her a servant, but in truth, she was treated like a family member. She always ate with Moiraine and Anvaere, never called Anvaere 'My lady', and didn't shy away from telling both Moiraine and her sister when they acted like total fools – something a servant would never do.

None of them had mentioned the incident with Anvaere's arrow, but the cold silence in the room was palpable. Moiraine's older sister hadn't been happy to see Lan joining them, and her mood had gotten worse after Lan had handed Eliza the bag with the spices Moiraine had bought in Carihien.

The woman of the Blue Ajah had forgotten about it until her Warder had pulled it out of his bags. Smiling, she had told him what she had done in Cairhien about buying spices for Eliza and looking at books when the Whitecloak had found her. She hadn't been amused when her Warder mentioned he had followed her through the streets of Cairhien.

But Lan was also angry. Not with her, but with himself for not seeing the Whitecloak sooner and protecting her like he was supposed to do. When he had finally became aware of their enemy, the man had already grabbed Moiraine. At the same time, a group of children had surrounded Lan, all of them wanting to touch his sword, pulling at him, and blocking his way, so he hadn't been able to get to his Aes Sedai. When he had freed himself, Moiraine had already taken care of her attacker and ran away.

So, when Eliza invited them for dinner, the uncrowned king thought the bag of spices was an excellent way for Moiraine to calm down the situation. The Aes Sedai wasn't sure this would work. They could pull Eliza on their side, but Anvaere wasn't so easily soothed.

And she had been right. Eliza had been thrilled when Lan handed her the bag, already raving about all the meals she could prepare, and thanked Moiraine for thinking about her list. Anvaere had looked as if she wanted to strangle Lan just for presenting it. The woman of the Blue Ajah had dared her sister with her eyes to say something before they all had sat down.

Eliza had prepared a delicious roast with potatoes and vegetables and a dark brown sauce. She apologized to Lan since she initially prepared the food for just the three of them, so his plate wasn't as filled as the others – Anvaere had refused to split their food in even portions for someone she didn't even invite into her house. But Lan assured Eliza he didn't mind and thanked her for the food.

Anvaere's gaze became even colder when Moiraine switched her plate with Lan's and ordered her sister to switch it back. The Aes Sedai responded calmly that it was too much for her and she would give the rest to Lan anyway.

It had been the first loud argument between the two sisters for this evening. Lan and Eliza had sat quietly beside the two women until Lan switched back his plate with Moiraine's, hoping it would silence them.

Light, had he been wrong. The Aes Sedai looked like she would like to strangle him for stabbing her in the back, and her sister looked like she couldn't believe he had dared to do anything at all.

Lan had begged Moiraine with his eyes to see reason, so they could all eat something. Luckily, Eliza did her part on the other side of the table and urged Anvaere to finally start eating before the food got cold. Both sisters were obviously not happy about the outcome but turned silent and grabbed their forks.

After that, Lan and Eliza took over the talking. The old woman had obviously no problem with Lan being around and was glad to have someone who listened to her rambling about food and spices.

The next chapter will be uploaded on Sunday.

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