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Elyiandrys strides briskly towards the office.. accompanied by her usual troupe of guards, the two Maidens and one of the blackcoats. She looks less the Lady today - wearing a dress of plain blue silk, the skirts split for riding and lacking the lace and pearls of her usual clothing. The skirts alow for a wider step, and she strides along the corridoor with a slight scowl, slowing only as she reaches the doorway to the War Room. Her scowl fades slightly as she tries a smile, asking the Maiden's by the door, 'I seek.. an audiance, with the Lord Dragon.'
The Maiden in charge smirks slightly and waves the girl inside, not bothering to even notify the Lord Dragon first. Then she turns a cold glare on the rest of the assemblage.
Elyiandrys grins wolfishly, offering a low, 'My thanks.' in the Maiden's direction. She sweeps into the room in a flourish of blue skirts and offers a low, deep curtsey, her eyes lingering on the ground for the length of one steading breath, before she straightens. The trailing guard's seem to consider, then the blackcoat shrugs slightly and they take up idle-appearing positions in the hallway.
The Maiden watches for a moment, until the guards make it clear they are not going to attempt to follow, then she takes up a relaxed position near the door, idly chatting with the other Maiden via hand signals. Inside the room, Rand looks up from his book with a slight frown on his face as Elyiandrys curtseys to him. With a complete disregard for pleasantries or proprieties, he says,'What is the purpose of this.. visit?'
Elyiandrys's jaw drops in surprise, whatever polite greeting she'd arranged quite suddenly pointless. For a second or two she just stares, then one dark brow lifts, her lips purse slightly, and she replies openly, 'I'd like permission to leave the palace grounds, and the city, for the day. Or two, at the most. The blackcoat won't allow it without your permission...' only a tiny pause taken, before she finishes, 'My Lord.'
Rand closes the book around his right index finger and slides it into his lap, resting his left hand on the cover. He stares up at the woman for a long moment, eyes hard and cold as ice. Finally, he says one simple word,'Why?'
Elyiandrys swallows dryly, her jaw tightening noticably, her brow creasing. For a moment she seems slightly contemplative, considering, before slender shoulders shrug and she admits softly, 'Koltur.. has found the cabin. Where I was held. It's just outside the City, in the forrest to the north, and..' her eyes narrowing just a little, hardening, 'I'd like to burn it to the ground.'
A goblet rises off the map table and floats across the room, going right past Elyiandrys, to hover above the arm of Rand's chair. The entire time, Rand's gaze never leaves the young woman in front of him, eyes peering at her with no discernable emotion at all. A light sheen of frost appears on the goblet right before he raises his left hand to pluck it from the air. Finally, he lowers his gaze to take a sip of the dark purple wine, then absently swirls it in his hand as he looks back up. With no inflection in his voice at all, he asks,'The cabin where you were tortured by the darkfriend?'
Elyiandrys flinches at the words, her jaw stiffening and her hands clenching slightly on her skirts. A low breath hisses between her teeth before she quite deliberately relaxes, her palms smoothing the creased material slowly as she speaks. 'Yes. That Cabin. I don't wish to go to Salidar, or become Aes Sedai.. so I can't learn to form the gateways, or take you to the.. other place. But the Cabin is within only a few hours journey.'
Rand takes another sip of the wine, and contemplates the young Lady over the rim of the goblet. He takes another sip which turns into a long drink which empties the goblet. As he looks back up at her, he places the empty container on the floor beside the chair and says,'Take two of the Asha'man and Travel immediately back to the palace when you are through.' The words oddly carry throughout both rooms with equal volume. With a sharp snap of his wrist, he flips open his book again and turns his attention to the old, yellowed pages.
Elyiandrys swallows, nodding slightly. She curtsies deeply once more, her head dipping as she murmers softly, 'My thanks..' before she straightens. Even though the dismissal is obvious, she doesn't make any motion to move towards the doorway.. staring for a second, before she nervously dampens her lips with the tip of her tongue, and asks tentatively, 'My Lord.. if I could.. ask a question?'
Rand glances up from his book and blinks curiously at Elyiandrys as if surprised that she is still there. He closes the book around his index finger again, the flexing of his hand causing the scales of the dragon on the back of it to glitter metallically. 'Yes?'
Elyiandrys hurries on quickly, as if she realises she's pushing it, 'Are there any of your.. men, the blackcoats, who know about dreams? Not just normal dreams.. I.. the kind of dreams where you..where..' she frowns, obviously strugging to find the words, before finally shrugging and going on, 'Where you wake with the same injuries you recieved while you were asleep.'
Rand arches a cool eyebrow at the question. Unconsciously, the thumb of his right hand begins to rub the brand in his palm. With a slight shake of his head, he says,'I do not know. I can have word sent to the farm to find out. I take it that this is not a question of idle curiousity?'
Elyiandrys shakes her head slightly, her eyes darting away and around the room for a moment then back to the man before her, her brow creasing a little in a frown. 'No..' she admits stiffly, her tone turning slightly harder, a slight hint of irritation entering her tone, 'No, not idle. I won't.. be sleeping again, not until I'm so exhausted I can't help it.'
Rand shakes his head and says,'No need to send to the farm, then. Even if they know, we cannot do anything about your dreams. If there are any that know anything, I doubt they could guard you every sleeping moment.' He shakes his head more vigorously, but a smile begins to spread on his face. He opens his mouth as if about to speak with some enthusiasm.. then stops himself. His face smooths and he says softly,'You can be taught to ward your own dreams. Moiraine Damodred spoke of it once. All Aes Sedai are taught how, so Etaine would be able to show you.'
Elyiandrys blinks, her head tilting a little to the side at the words, her eyes narrowing a fraction. Only at the mention of Etaine does her expression really change, the momentary hint of a smile lost as she scowls darkly. Real emotion finally seems to show as she snaps, as if she'd totally forgotten who she were talking to, 'Etaine Sedai would probably rather you'd Stilled me on the day I was brought here.'
Rand's voice goes ice cold, his entire body tensing, as he says,'Do you not recall her complaining harshly when Dedicated Cypher said you were to be stilled?' He shakes his head sharply and adds with a voice that would frost glass,'She is an Aes Sedai and as such should not be trusted far, but you wrong her if you think she wishes you any harm.'
Elyiandrys stiffens, dark eyes flashing with sudden, uncontrollable emotion. Her expression hardens, her voice turning slightly accusing as she snaps, 'The Aes Sedai as much told me the last time we met that I'd be better off Stilled.' She swallows, quickly offering a short curtsey, hurrying on much more softly, 'I.. I mean, I'd hoped to ask her for help before, and I was only given lectures.'
Rand moves with sudden, explosive violence, chunking his book across the room with such force that it bounces off one wall to hit another before falling to the ground. He surges to his feet and towers menacingly over the young woman for a very brief moment before he turns and moves to the table in one long stride. Before his hand reaches the writing set, the lid pops open as if of its own accord. He snatches a piece of fine, ivory vellum from it, along with a bottle of ink and a pen. The stopper on the inkwell pops out and bounces across the room, then he stabs the pen into it and fills it with ink. To the accompaniment of a loud scritching sound, he writes out a quick note, then turns around and thrusts it out towards Elyiandrys, the ink already dry.
Elyiandrys takes a frantic half-step back, dark eyes darting towards the doorway then back, her stance shifting as if she were just about to bolt. Dark eyes flick to the note, back to his face, then hurriedly she reaches for it, pale fingers quite noticably shaking. One eyebrow arc's just slightly in curiosity, then falls as she murmurs softly, rather cautiously, 'My.. my apologies, my Lord..'
Rand leaves the note in Elyiandrys' hand and turns back to the table. He tosses the pen roughly back into the writing set before turning to face the young woman again. Voice and posture evidence of barely contained rage, he spits out,'Give that note to Etaine Sedai. Do this before you leave to torch the cabin. She will see to it that you are no longer troubled by dreams or I will know the reason why.'
Elyiandrys swallows dryly, hurriedly tucking the note away about her person without even glancing at it. 'I.. yes, my Lord, thank you, ' she offers quickly, her voice strained. She offers another low curtsey, her eyes falling to the floor, and takes another step backwards towards the door - obviously trying to make it look like she weren't actually cowering, but failing badly.
Rand stares coldly at the young woman for a long moment, then turns back to the table, resting his hands on the edge and looking down as if he is studying the maps. There is nothing at all relaxed about his posture. In fact, he seems to be trembling slightly. There is, however, no doubt that he considers the woman dismissed.
Elyiandrys watches the man's back for a moment, blinking slightly curiously, before whirling in a flourish of blue skirts and making her way from the room. Outside, she doesn't even glance at any of the Maidens or the blackcoat, simply assuming that they'll fall in behind her as she strides hurriedly down the coridoor, in the direction of Etaine Sedai's rooms.
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