h1 style="line-height: normal;"a name="_Toc171706277"/aspan lang="EN-GB"#*#24 HONEYCAKES/span/h1
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"WoTtober 2023 #24 HONEYCAKES/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom woke just after sunrise, expecting the cold that awaited him lately, but something groaned beside him, when he stretched./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Moraine?" his groggy mind refused to understand. "Not that I am not happy, but what are you still doing…?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Yesterday was my last day in the kitchens, remember? I'm allowed to sleep longer today."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"How had he gotten used to waking alone so fast? Was it this place? This Tower that distorted any relationship so? He turned onto his back and stretched. However bad the Tower and the Aes Sedai in general, the sisters' beds were exquisite and he was going to miss this one dearly when they finally went on the road. He just wished they stayed here long enough for Moiraine to rest. She has been tired all the time since her penance started and he missed such an opportunity to use such luxurious setting yet to be used to make.../span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Get your mind out of that gutter, my dearest," Moraine's light reproach stopped his mind from conjuring any more pleasant images. "I can't believe your thoughts can still go that way in here, despite how you despise this place."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""What can I say? My wife blinds me enough to miss some inconveniences."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"She kissed him softly and shortly before getting out of bed. It was easy to feel how even small praise like that made Moiraine swell with good feelings, even if she herself didn't recognize it. She moved to the fireplace to throw some more logs in and weaved to stoke the fire, still wearing nothing and he couldn't take his eyes off her body. Light, how did he even manage to get that lucky.../span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"A triple knock on the door interrupted both of their silent musings. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""I will take that," she said before he could move a muscle. She crossed the room gracefully to grab and put on her blue silk robe before opening the door. "I will take that."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom waited until the door closed before laughing. "You didn't want to scandalize the poor novice, did you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"He groaned, but got up and reached for his own gown, an old woollen one, well-worn and patched in places. Moraine sat down at the small table and reached to lift the dome. His nose recognized sweets first, then thick, aromatic tea./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""You seem to have made a friend in the kitchens." Moraine was happily teasing him and he smiled. "I would only get the basic breakfast whenever I visited the Tower in the past. And," she pre-empted his protests about her now almost hero status, "these are my favourites," she said, pointing to stuffed and glazed buns. Then she pointed to a full plate of honey calves beside it. "Those are certainly yours. And I know for a fact Laras doesn't usually bake them this early in a day."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom took one and bit into it. Yes, he liked those. And this batch, they were opulent. He ate one after another, all the while watching Moiraine biting into another bun. He never saw her eat anything with that much pleasure. He would have to go down and thank Laras. It seemed more honey cakes for him meant more food in his wife. Well worth all the light flirting he engaged in./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"WoTtober 2023 #24 HONEYCAKES/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom woke just after sunrise, expecting the cold that awaited him lately, but something groaned beside him, when he stretched./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Moraine?" his groggy mind refused to understand. "Not that I am not happy, but what are you still doing…?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Yesterday was my last day in the kitchens, remember? I'm allowed to sleep longer today."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"How had he gotten used to waking alone so fast? Was it this place? This Tower that distorted any relationship so? He turned onto his back and stretched. However bad the Tower and the Aes Sedai in general, the sisters' beds were exquisite and he was going to miss this one dearly when they finally went on the road. He just wished they stayed here long enough for Moiraine to rest. She has been tired all the time since her penance started and he missed such an opportunity to use such luxurious setting yet to be used to make.../span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""Get your mind out of that gutter, my dearest," Moraine's light reproach stopped his mind from conjuring any more pleasant images. "I can't believe your thoughts can still go that way in here, despite how you despise this place."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""What can I say? My wife blinds me enough to miss some inconveniences."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"She kissed him softly and shortly before getting out of bed. It was easy to feel how even small praise like that made Moiraine swell with good feelings, even if she herself didn't recognize it. She moved to the fireplace to throw some more logs in and weaved to stoke the fire, still wearing nothing and he couldn't take his eyes off her body. Light, how did he even manage to get that lucky.../span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"A triple knock on the door interrupted both of their silent musings. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""I will take that," she said before he could move a muscle. She crossed the room gracefully to grab and put on her blue silk robe before opening the door. "I will take that."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom waited until the door closed before laughing. "You didn't want to scandalize the poor novice, did you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"He groaned, but got up and reached for his own gown, an old woollen one, well-worn and patched in places. Moraine sat down at the small table and reached to lift the dome. His nose recognized sweets first, then thick, aromatic tea./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB""You seem to have made a friend in the kitchens." Moraine was happily teasing him and he smiled. "I would only get the basic breakfast whenever I visited the Tower in the past. And," she pre-empted his protests about her now almost hero status, "these are my favourites," she said, pointing to stuffed and glazed buns. Then she pointed to a full plate of honey calves beside it. "Those are certainly yours. And I know for a fact Laras doesn't usually bake them this early in a day."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"span lang="EN-GB"Thom took one and bit into it. Yes, he liked those. And this batch, they were opulent. He ate one after another, all the while watching Moiraine biting into another bun. He never saw her eat anything with that much pleasure. He would have to go down and thank Laras. It seemed more honey cakes for him meant more food in his wife. Well worth all the light flirting he engaged in./span/p