h1 style="line-height: normal;"a name="_Toc171706262"/aspan lang="EN-GB"#*#11 TAVERN/span/h1
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""What do you think of this one? "he asked and Moraine sighed. "I just want you to be comfortable."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""I've spent the better part of the last two decades in establishments like that. Most of them looked much worse. As long as they have a decent bed, the rest doesn't matter."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"It was sweet of Thom to care about her comfort this much, now that they actually had the time. It was, however, unnecessary. He acted as if she was royalty. Well, technically she had been, at one point, but no more. She's been just an Aes Sendai for a number of years, trying to remain mostly incognito./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Moiraine?" he asked, touching her hand and breaking her out of her thoughts. "Have you heard me?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"She wanted to say that of course she did, but she knew better and the oath cut her off. She shook her head./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Do you want to use your other name? Should I introduce you as Alys?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"She would have said 'yes' even a month ago. Now she had another idea that made her a little uneasy. He looked at her, surprised, but she was sure. She's been mulling over it for some time and wanted to change this aspect of her life at least./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""You should introduce me as me. As Moiraine Merrilin."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"She dropped this bomb and waited while her words sank. She could feel him smile gradually and was happy to feel his pride when he openly drew her closer and kissed her on the check. This amazing feeling lasted to the counter, and then only intensified when he had to give their names to the woman taking their money./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""I remember you, Merrilin," she said, pointing to him with a gnarled finger. "You sing good. I will add you a proper bath for you and missus, if you do sing today."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom didn't waste time. Moraine found a strange fascination with the flourish with which his multicoloured cloak moved. This was what they came here for – to perform, to tell the tale of Dragon Reborn so that people would know./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"What's wrong?" Thom was fast to check on her as soon as they were out of earshot. "Is it a...?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""It's not a flashback, my dearest, no." Those have been a problem ever since there was enough time to acknowledge them, but not now. "I'm just tired and emotional…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom looked at her closely for a time, watching. She got irritated at this, but she was getting better at allowing it now. He was only trying to help. She took a deep breath and smiled at him. He would know it was forced, but also that she wanted the matter to drop without a fight./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"They rested in their room for an hour before going down. Thom played and sang and Moiraine chose to rest by his side. Close to keep him calm and relaxed during a performance. This was also for her – this was it, the rest of their lives finally beginning./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""What do you think of this one? "he asked and Moraine sighed. "I just want you to be comfortable."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""I've spent the better part of the last two decades in establishments like that. Most of them looked much worse. As long as they have a decent bed, the rest doesn't matter."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"It was sweet of Thom to care about her comfort this much, now that they actually had the time. It was, however, unnecessary. He acted as if she was royalty. Well, technically she had been, at one point, but no more. She's been just an Aes Sendai for a number of years, trying to remain mostly incognito./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Moiraine?" he asked, touching her hand and breaking her out of her thoughts. "Have you heard me?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"She wanted to say that of course she did, but she knew better and the oath cut her off. She shook her head./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Do you want to use your other name? Should I introduce you as Alys?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"She would have said 'yes' even a month ago. Now she had another idea that made her a little uneasy. He looked at her, surprised, but she was sure. She's been mulling over it for some time and wanted to change this aspect of her life at least./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""You should introduce me as me. As Moiraine Merrilin."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"She dropped this bomb and waited while her words sank. She could feel him smile gradually and was happy to feel his pride when he openly drew her closer and kissed her on the check. This amazing feeling lasted to the counter, and then only intensified when he had to give their names to the woman taking their money./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""I remember you, Merrilin," she said, pointing to him with a gnarled finger. "You sing good. I will add you a proper bath for you and missus, if you do sing today."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom didn't waste time. Moraine found a strange fascination with the flourish with which his multicoloured cloak moved. This was what they came here for – to perform, to tell the tale of Dragon Reborn so that people would know./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"What's wrong?" Thom was fast to check on her as soon as they were out of earshot. "Is it a...?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""It's not a flashback, my dearest, no." Those have been a problem ever since there was enough time to acknowledge them, but not now. "I'm just tired and emotional…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom looked at her closely for a time, watching. She got irritated at this, but she was getting better at allowing it now. He was only trying to help. She took a deep breath and smiled at him. He would know it was forced, but also that she wanted the matter to drop without a fight./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"They rested in their room for an hour before going down. Thom played and sang and Moiraine chose to rest by his side. Close to keep him calm and relaxed during a performance. This was also for her – this was it, the rest of their lives finally beginning./span/p