h1 style="line-height: normal;"a name="_Toc171706276"/aspan lang="EN-GB"#*#22 UNBREAKABLE/span/h1
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"'Shoo! "Thom barely avoided getting hit by a large ladle. That hefty woman was definitely not one to annoy, but he couldn't stay away. "You! I see you here one more time," Laras said, pointing one fat finger at him, "I will make sure you get your stomach in knots for at least a week and your sister will need to weave her healing and fast." She scoffed and followed, making sure he was out of the kitchen. "Do not worry" she said, showing a bit of an indulgent smile, "she will not be harmed. And her penance will soon be over. Now shoo!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom made sure to add extra flourish to his bow before starting to walk away. They've been through this dance every day since Moiraine got her sentence from the sitters. He suspected the Mistress of Kitchens had a soft spot for them by now with how Moiraine came to their room every night with a tray of yummy things./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Now, as he walked the White Tower corridors he needed to make a decision what to do for the rest of the day. Had he been a traditional warder, he would have probably came back to the training grounds, but he was not. He was also old and tired after his morning session. He could keep up with most of the others, but an hour or two was more than enough for him. The library was an amusing place, but today he was somewhat not in the mood./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"He came up to the Blue Ajah wing, making sure to avoid any sister. They were pestering him for any ballad since they heard his playing harp the first night. Moraine advised him not to play if he didn't want to need her interference too frequently. And so he stopped and vowed to keep from playing until they left. Today, however, he couldn't keep away./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"It took him some time to find his harp in one of the big chests. There was something weird about the casing though – it was scratched on the side./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Burn it!" Maybe he shouldn't put so much stock into such an unimportant thing when he had Moiraine coming back to him at the end of the day. He couldn't, though, and his anger boiled over and he kicked the chest. He would need to explain both his outburst and a damaged chest later. She surely felt it. A deep breath helped him send a feeling of calm through the bond. Then something caught his eye. "And what are you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"The package, wrapped in dark blue velvet, was nothing he put in there while unpacking the first day. It had a familiar size and shape, but was more lightweight than he suspected. He couldn't help but to open it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Moiraine found him on the chaise lounge by the window, when she came back in the late evening. Maybe a little earlier than before, so Thom was unprepared./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Are you all right?" Moraine deposited the laden tray on the table and kneeled by him. "What is wrong?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom looked her in the eyes and kissed her hard. It was nice when it was reciprocated, even despite her tiredness. "When did you get this?" He put his hand on the intricate white stone case inlaid with several colourful patches. "It is cuendillar, isn't it?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"She nodded. "The time of Bel Time is close. I just wanted to get you something for the anniversary of our meeting. At least the first official one." She was rambling now and he could feel her getting agitated. "Thom, what did I do wrong? Just tell me and I would try to make this right."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Wrong?" Was she mad? "Why do you think you did anything wrong?" She just reached to wipe a tear from his cheek. "This... Try to feel me," he said, when he knew words would ultimately fail him. He felt Moiraine reach into the bond and slowly absorb his gratefulness. Thom waited until her feelings calmed and kissed her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""How? When did you find that?" he asked, when they finally moved to the table where, for once, Moraine actually dug into the food. Well, Laras promised him she would make it happen by the end of the week. "I don't think it's something readily available in every store, even in Tar Valon."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""There is a novice in the Tower, one strong in a talent for making it. That is to say, that I have my ways." She smiled and he was now happy with her giddiness. "Now you will never again fear for your precious instrument, seeing as it is unbreakable."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Never."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom grabbed her hand across the table, grateful for how she was progressing./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Unbreakable indeed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"'Shoo! "Thom barely avoided getting hit by a large ladle. That hefty woman was definitely not one to annoy, but he couldn't stay away. "You! I see you here one more time," Laras said, pointing one fat finger at him, "I will make sure you get your stomach in knots for at least a week and your sister will need to weave her healing and fast." She scoffed and followed, making sure he was out of the kitchen. "Do not worry" she said, showing a bit of an indulgent smile, "she will not be harmed. And her penance will soon be over. Now shoo!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom made sure to add extra flourish to his bow before starting to walk away. They've been through this dance every day since Moiraine got her sentence from the sitters. He suspected the Mistress of Kitchens had a soft spot for them by now with how Moiraine came to their room every night with a tray of yummy things./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Now, as he walked the White Tower corridors he needed to make a decision what to do for the rest of the day. Had he been a traditional warder, he would have probably came back to the training grounds, but he was not. He was also old and tired after his morning session. He could keep up with most of the others, but an hour or two was more than enough for him. The library was an amusing place, but today he was somewhat not in the mood./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"He came up to the Blue Ajah wing, making sure to avoid any sister. They were pestering him for any ballad since they heard his playing harp the first night. Moraine advised him not to play if he didn't want to need her interference too frequently. And so he stopped and vowed to keep from playing until they left. Today, however, he couldn't keep away./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"It took him some time to find his harp in one of the big chests. There was something weird about the casing though – it was scratched on the side./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Burn it!" Maybe he shouldn't put so much stock into such an unimportant thing when he had Moiraine coming back to him at the end of the day. He couldn't, though, and his anger boiled over and he kicked the chest. He would need to explain both his outburst and a damaged chest later. She surely felt it. A deep breath helped him send a feeling of calm through the bond. Then something caught his eye. "And what are you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"The package, wrapped in dark blue velvet, was nothing he put in there while unpacking the first day. It had a familiar size and shape, but was more lightweight than he suspected. He couldn't help but to open it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Moiraine found him on the chaise lounge by the window, when she came back in the late evening. Maybe a little earlier than before, so Thom was unprepared./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Are you all right?" Moraine deposited the laden tray on the table and kneeled by him. "What is wrong?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom looked her in the eyes and kissed her hard. It was nice when it was reciprocated, even despite her tiredness. "When did you get this?" He put his hand on the intricate white stone case inlaid with several colourful patches. "It is cuendillar, isn't it?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"She nodded. "The time of Bel Time is close. I just wanted to get you something for the anniversary of our meeting. At least the first official one." She was rambling now and he could feel her getting agitated. "Thom, what did I do wrong? Just tell me and I would try to make this right."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Wrong?" Was she mad? "Why do you think you did anything wrong?" She just reached to wipe a tear from his cheek. "This... Try to feel me," he said, when he knew words would ultimately fail him. He felt Moiraine reach into the bond and slowly absorb his gratefulness. Thom waited until her feelings calmed and kissed her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""How? When did you find that?" he asked, when they finally moved to the table where, for once, Moraine actually dug into the food. Well, Laras promised him she would make it happen by the end of the week. "I don't think it's something readily available in every store, even in Tar Valon."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""There is a novice in the Tower, one strong in a talent for making it. That is to say, that I have my ways." She smiled and he was now happy with her giddiness. "Now you will never again fear for your precious instrument, seeing as it is unbreakable."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Never."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom grabbed her hand across the table, grateful for how she was progressing./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Unbreakable indeed./span/p