h1 style="line-height: normal;"a name="_Toc171706267"/aspan lang="EN-GB"#*#15 CLOAK/span/h1
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom had every confidence in Moraine and her ability to read people. Really, he would trust his life into her hands. Her life, however, seemed less important to her, usually./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Stand down, Gaidin" she said, sending him urgent need for calm in this moment. He could tell she was no more relaxed than him, really. This was far from a standard situation. He watched her like a hawk, never moving his hands far from his knives, hidden on his body as always. "If you do not do as I say, I would have you leave the room."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""I'm not offended," the young man's voice was clear and as calm as that of Moiraine. "Dragon's Peace signed ensures legally me attacking would be wrong, but there are still people not adhering to it. Your Warder is in his right to feel threatened."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""My husband," his heart still swelled when she said that, "has seen too much in his life, but hasn't met you. He doesn't know how trustworthy your word is." Moraine came to him and took his hands into hers. "You should treat him as if he swore an oath, my dearest. Stand down." She waited until he dropped heavily onto the nearby chair, then moved to the small table in the middle of the sumptuous room he splurged on for that night. "Tea?" she was asking their guest, while she put the kettle on the small grate by the fire./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Yes, please" the young man nodded, then followed Moiraine's example and sat down waiting for the water to boil./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""So, what brings you here?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom huffed and felt instantly empty, when Moiraine wasted no time flicking her wrist (a move their guest never noticed, he was sure) and masked the Bond. Well, if she played that way, he could at least give into all the thoughts and feelings he tried to keep at bay for her sake./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"He looked again at the pristine white cloak hanging on a peg by the door. But even without it Galadedrid bloody Damodred was still a Whitecloak and Thom would watch him like hawk. Moiraine might trust her nephew, but that was why Aes Sedai sometimes needed Warders – to protect where no protection seemed to be needed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom had every confidence in Moraine and her ability to read people. Really, he would trust his life into her hands. Her life, however, seemed less important to her, usually./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Stand down, Gaidin" she said, sending him urgent need for calm in this moment. He could tell she was no more relaxed than him, really. This was far from a standard situation. He watched her like a hawk, never moving his hands far from his knives, hidden on his body as always. "If you do not do as I say, I would have you leave the room."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""I'm not offended," the young man's voice was clear and as calm as that of Moiraine. "Dragon's Peace signed ensures legally me attacking would be wrong, but there are still people not adhering to it. Your Warder is in his right to feel threatened."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""My husband," his heart still swelled when she said that, "has seen too much in his life, but hasn't met you. He doesn't know how trustworthy your word is." Moraine came to him and took his hands into hers. "You should treat him as if he swore an oath, my dearest. Stand down." She waited until he dropped heavily onto the nearby chair, then moved to the small table in the middle of the sumptuous room he splurged on for that night. "Tea?" she was asking their guest, while she put the kettle on the small grate by the fire./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Yes, please" the young man nodded, then followed Moiraine's example and sat down waiting for the water to boil./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""So, what brings you here?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom huffed and felt instantly empty, when Moiraine wasted no time flicking her wrist (a move their guest never noticed, he was sure) and masked the Bond. Well, if she played that way, he could at least give into all the thoughts and feelings he tried to keep at bay for her sake./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"He looked again at the pristine white cloak hanging on a peg by the door. But even without it Galadedrid bloody Damodred was still a Whitecloak and Thom would watch him like hawk. Moiraine might trust her nephew, but that was why Aes Sedai sometimes needed Warders – to protect where no protection seemed to be needed./span/p