h1 style="line-height: normal;"a name="_Toc171706264"/aspan lang="EN-GB"#*#12 PROPHECY/span/h1
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"WoTtober #12 PROPHECY (11 cont. Here be some angst /spanspan lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI Emoji',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Segoe UI Emoji'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Segoe UI Emoji';"😉/spanspan lang="EN-GB")/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom had to admit his voice was not what he remembered from before... well, before the whole thing with Rand. Before the Last Battle. He was frustrated, but Moiraine's support and her enjoyment soothed his nerves through a performance./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""You will be back to your old self before you know it," Moraine said calmly while she disrobed to get into bed. She was tired enough to forego her usual evening routine. "Staying mad at something you cannot control is not productive. Your voice just needs to see some more use."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"He started. How could she know exactly what he was thinking about? He felt Moraine smile sleepily and it reminded him of the bond. Right, she was much more experienced with that./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""What would I do without you?" He made this comment in jest and cuddled to her before covering them both with a heavy blanket. "I'm still amazed that you thought of shackling yourself to me." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""I was surprised when Min saw that" she mumbled, almost asleep, "But it worked out, didn't it."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Moiraine?" He was suddenly cold. The oath still bound her. This was all true, even if she was barely conscious. He felt her react to his alarm and waited until he knew she was fully awake and alert before asking what bugged him. "What did Min saw?" 'Why did you marry me?' was the question that bugged him, but he was too scared to ask it. "When?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Moraine was quiet and tense. By now he learned to recognize the strange feeling of looking for the right words. The first thing he felt after was warmth and some constriction in heart. It was not unpleasant, however, rather similar to what he felt every time he came back to her after being separated for any length of time. Love, this she couldn't fake. She was sending her love. For such a cultured and educated woman words still evaded her in many personal areas./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"He knew to not seek words from Moiraine in some regards, feelings especially, but it seemed they needed to clarify some facts. There was fear growing inside her, so he pulled her tighter against himself and kissed her hair. "Moiraine?" he whispered. "The sooner I know the sooner we can go back to being just us." He hoped those were the right words, but focused on the love he felt nonetheless./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""The stay in Baerlon..." she started and he nodded. "I went to Min to ask what she could see about the kids. Turned out she saw something for me as well. And for you." He had an idea, but let her talk. "She saw us married. She couldn't say when or how. It seemed strange at the time, but I have never known her to be wrong."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Was it unwelcome? The thought of us married?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""It was no-"she couldn't finish, the words caught in her throat./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""It's a fine to say you didn't like me that way then." He tried to sound light, but it suddenly weighed heavily on his chest. Did Moiraine marry him to fulfil a prophecy? Had their union been forced by the pattern on her?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Moiraine turned in his arms and took his face into his arms. It was already dark and her face was barely illuminated by the fireplace glow. "The thought of us marrying was unwelcome, I guess. I had my purpose, I had those children to protect, I had Lan by my side..." The last part almost made her choke with tears. "It was not the right moment. The only possibility I could see of that future coming to fruition for was a tactical match and it reeked of politics. This hurt. But I wasn't opposed to you, my dearest Thom. Even then I felt us... capable of... being a team. Lan was more than amused that night by my feelings."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"The wording and her hesitation made him happy. Then there was warmth in her and he couldn't help himself. "Did you start lusting over an old gleeman, mistress Alys? Right then in Baerlon?" He could feel her heating up, but it ended soon with a yawn. "Sleep," he said, remaking the blanket so it covered her fully again. "Rest now. We will talk about your lust in the morning."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Moraine giggled a little before succumbing to sleep, but he stayed awake for longer. He wanted to watch her sleep in peace after another veil fell from between them. He didn't doubt their feelings for each other in the present. He just wished they didn't have to wonder about how and why that came to be./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"WoTtober #12 PROPHECY (11 cont. Here be some angst /spanspan lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Segoe UI Emoji',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Segoe UI Emoji'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Segoe UI Emoji';"😉/spanspan lang="EN-GB")/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom had to admit his voice was not what he remembered from before... well, before the whole thing with Rand. Before the Last Battle. He was frustrated, but Moiraine's support and her enjoyment soothed his nerves through a performance./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""You will be back to your old self before you know it," Moraine said calmly while she disrobed to get into bed. She was tired enough to forego her usual evening routine. "Staying mad at something you cannot control is not productive. Your voice just needs to see some more use."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"He started. How could she know exactly what he was thinking about? He felt Moraine smile sleepily and it reminded him of the bond. Right, she was much more experienced with that./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""What would I do without you?" He made this comment in jest and cuddled to her before covering them both with a heavy blanket. "I'm still amazed that you thought of shackling yourself to me." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""I was surprised when Min saw that" she mumbled, almost asleep, "But it worked out, didn't it."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Moiraine?" He was suddenly cold. The oath still bound her. This was all true, even if she was barely conscious. He felt her react to his alarm and waited until he knew she was fully awake and alert before asking what bugged him. "What did Min saw?" 'Why did you marry me?' was the question that bugged him, but he was too scared to ask it. "When?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Moraine was quiet and tense. By now he learned to recognize the strange feeling of looking for the right words. The first thing he felt after was warmth and some constriction in heart. It was not unpleasant, however, rather similar to what he felt every time he came back to her after being separated for any length of time. Love, this she couldn't fake. She was sending her love. For such a cultured and educated woman words still evaded her in many personal areas./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"He knew to not seek words from Moiraine in some regards, feelings especially, but it seemed they needed to clarify some facts. There was fear growing inside her, so he pulled her tighter against himself and kissed her hair. "Moiraine?" he whispered. "The sooner I know the sooner we can go back to being just us." He hoped those were the right words, but focused on the love he felt nonetheless./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""The stay in Baerlon..." she started and he nodded. "I went to Min to ask what she could see about the kids. Turned out she saw something for me as well. And for you." He had an idea, but let her talk. "She saw us married. She couldn't say when or how. It seemed strange at the time, but I have never known her to be wrong."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Was it unwelcome? The thought of us married?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""It was no-"she couldn't finish, the words caught in her throat./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""It's a fine to say you didn't like me that way then." He tried to sound light, but it suddenly weighed heavily on his chest. Did Moiraine marry him to fulfil a prophecy? Had their union been forced by the pattern on her?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Moiraine turned in his arms and took his face into his arms. It was already dark and her face was barely illuminated by the fireplace glow. "The thought of us marrying was unwelcome, I guess. I had my purpose, I had those children to protect, I had Lan by my side..." The last part almost made her choke with tears. "It was not the right moment. The only possibility I could see of that future coming to fruition for was a tactical match and it reeked of politics. This hurt. But I wasn't opposed to you, my dearest Thom. Even then I felt us... capable of... being a team. Lan was more than amused that night by my feelings."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"The wording and her hesitation made him happy. Then there was warmth in her and he couldn't help himself. "Did you start lusting over an old gleeman, mistress Alys? Right then in Baerlon?" He could feel her heating up, but it ended soon with a yawn. "Sleep," he said, remaking the blanket so it covered her fully again. "Rest now. We will talk about your lust in the morning."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Moraine giggled a little before succumbing to sleep, but he stayed awake for longer. He wanted to watch her sleep in peace after another veil fell from between them. He didn't doubt their feelings for each other in the present. He just wished they didn't have to wonder about how and why that came to be./span/p