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Sereina sighs audibly and forces herself to calm down, changing the subject. 'What was that talk of your sister?'
Samuel stumbles in surprise at the question, then stops and looks down at Sereina with a very sheepish expression on his face. He swallows hard and says,'Can we discuss family matters in the cabin? There is a good deal I need to tell you, and I think I need to sit down first.'
Sereina shrugs and nods. 'Suit yourself. I'd rather we were private anyway.' she steadies him with her arm. 'Don't fall to hard, I'd rather not be brought down with you.'
Samuel lets out an exasperated sigh and picks up his pace, practically dragging Sereina along with him as he makes his way to the cabin, seething inside, but saying not a word.
Sereina purses her lips and starts to run to catch up, trying in vain not to trip on her skirt.
Samuel fishes the key out of his coat pocket with his left hand, his right still firmly twined with Sereina's. A strong flash of irritation mixed with frustration passes through him before he gets the key into the lock. With a quick twist of his wrist, he unlocks the door and opens it, untangling himself from her and stepping back to make a flourishing bow. 'After you, my wife.'
Sereina curtseys deeply. 'Thank you, my husband' she says before stepping inside of the cabin and sitting on the bed. She crosses her arms and waits for him to enter, foot tapping almost impatiently.
Samuel closes the door slowy behind him, taking time to make sure it is securely closed. Then he slowly examines the key before slipping it into his pocket. No other avenues of stalling left, he turns around and faces Sereina. He leans back gainst the door and slowly slides down it until he is sitting on the floor. With a feeling of reluctance, as if the words are being dragged from him, he says,'Anibelle is here. She was involved in some fight or other with one of the patrols so they brought her here. Since she suspected I was here, she told them she was my sister..'
Sereina purses her lips slowly and nods, mind roiling with mixed emotions, foremost of them being jealousy of all things. 'I see...' she says slowly, foot tapping faster. 'And Anibelle is?'
Samuel lets out a long, slow sigh and then says in a resigned tone,'I do not wish to lie to you... which is good, I guess. I think you would be able to feel it if I did anyway.' He doesn't look up as he speaks, seemingly very interested in studying his fingernails,'Anibelle is an Aes Sedai, I suppose. She was a friend of mine. One of the few friends I had when I was with mother and those others that split off from the White Tower...' In a very small voice, barely above a whisper, he finishes,'I think I love her.'
The jealous emotion makes a dramatic spike through the bond yet Sereina's expression stays completely neutral, foot tapping furiously. 'And what are you going to tell her of this...situation?'
Samuel still does not look up, but he visibly flinches at Sereina's words. He shrugs, almost like a petulant child, and says,'I told her, already. When I heard she was injured and in Asha'man Karde's cabin, I had to go see her.' He shrugs again and begins picking at his fingernails while he talks,'It doesn't matter. She is Aes Sedai and I am.. well, you know what I am. And I have other duties, now.'
Sereina rolls her eyes and throws herself back against the bed, muttering beneath her breath. Something that sounds somewhat like 'It obviously matters..' but she doesn't finish the sentence. She leans on her side and braces herself on one arm, studying him. 'So you're just going to do nothing. Be stuck with your prisoner while your lover is another's prisoner, eh?'
Samuel's head snaps up and he says very defensively,'She is not my.. we have never..' He just shakes his head vehemently, seemingly unable to say the words. He lets out a frustrated growl and snaps,'And she will not be a prisoner long. At the most she will be shielded and stuffed in the Caemlyn jails for two weeks. That is more than what happened to the last one, and she attacked one of us with the Power.' Suddenly, he seems to realize that he is speaking a bit too loudly, and lowers his eyes to the ground again, muttering,'I am sorry. Didn't mean to shout.'
Sereina narrows her eyes to keep herself from reacting, fist clenching on the bed. Her palms now had dark red lines almost permanently marked on the skin, as if the order to not hurt Samuel made it more possible to hurt herself. 'At least one of us is freed, right?'
Samuel growls suddenly, fixing Sereina with a hard stare. The embarrassment and shame and other jumbled emotions slowly being pushed aside by anger. He crawls slowly to his feet and dusts off his pants as he takes a step towards the woman, his entire body tense as if a tightly coiled spring. Without warning the spring snaps. In one smooth, sudden, quick motion he pulls his sword from it's sheathe to the sound of metal scraping against leather. Just as suddenly, he reverses his grip and offers the hilt towards her, saying through clenched teeth,'You really want to harm me? You want me dead? Take it. You have my permission. Run me through if that is what you really want. We'll both be free of this bond, then.'
Sereina takes the sword and throws it to the side. 'Calm down. I hate you but I don't want to kill you.' she sighs and sits up, head lowered. 'It's just...who else am I to tell how I feel? I can't very well go home. My mother would probably beat me if she seen me again.' she turns pale at the mention of her mother. 'I mean...'
Samuel takes in a deep breath and slowly lets it out, allowing the tension to drain with the exhalation. He glances over at his discarded sword, then back to Sereina and says softly,'I know this is all entirely my fault. I am more sorry than you can possibly know, but I can't just undo it. I don't know how. I could just start messing with it until I figured it out, probably, but I don't have any idea what might happen to either of us. So until I figure out something, can you try, please, to not spend every waking moment making me feel that hate?'
Samuel sighs again and sits down on the bed beside Sereina. He says softly,'I really am sorry...' Suddenly something else seems to sink in and he turns an almost horrified stare on her and says,'Your mother would beat you? But it isn't your fault?!?'
Sereina flinches away, raising her arm defensively. 'It is my fault. If I hadn't have run away....I'd still be at home, and the cows would have still been alive...' she refuses to look at him, hands shaking.
Samuel sighs loudly and says in a soothing voice,'It is not your fault. Please, calm down.' Without thinking about it, he moves in an attempt to put a comforting arm around her.
Sereina lowers her arm slowly, the tears she has been fighting ever since she ran away starting to pour down her cheeks.
Samuel slips his arm around Sereina and rocks her slowly, muttering softly,'Please, don't cry. I'll figure out something soon. You won't be stuck with me forever.'
Sereina sniffed and wiped her cheek, sighing. 'It's not that. I.....I want to be able to go home, but I'm afraid.'
Samuel shakes his had as he keeps rocking her gently,'It is all right. No need to be afraid.' The familiar feeling of him channeling floods through the bond, and the lamps begin to wink on in the cabin. Softly, he says,'It will all work out. I will not let anything more happen to you.'
Sereina nods and closes her eyes, sighing deeply. 'Thank you,' she mumbles akwardly, rubbing her arms.
Suddenly embarrassment and awkwardness floods through the bond. Samuel slowly unwraps his arms from Sereina and says in a very apologetic tone,'I am sorry. I did not mean to get so familiar in private.' He turns his face away and slides a couple of feet away on the bed.
Sereina sighs and slumps against the bed. 'It's alright.' she said absentmindedly, emotions still frayed.
Samuel nods slowly and sighs again. A sense of resolve comes over him and he extends his hand towards Sereina. In a firm tone, a commanding tone, although it is asked instead of ordered,'May I see your hand, please?'
Samuel takes Sereina's hand in both of hers, gently uncurling the fingers. Saidin floods into him again, his lip curling in distaste from the taint. He spins out fine probes of spirit to explore the fingernail wounds in her palm and cause a tingling sensation, a frown on concentration on his face. Finally, he looks up and says softly, with a slight grin,'You are in luck. This much healing I can do.'
Sereina takes back her hand and opens them carefully, flexing them. 'Lucky me, I suppose. Pretty hard to explain something like that to just anyone.'
Samuel pushes away Saidin and lowers his hands to his lap, just looking at her for a long moment. Very softly, he asks,'Is it so terrible here? Is it not at least better than the abandoned building you were living in? I know you do not want to be here, and that you should not have to be. But I will be as good to you as I can. It is the least I can do.'
Sereina lays down on the bed and rolls onto her side, facing Samuel. She bites her lip before answering. 'It's not so much hating it here, it's more like....I don't know. Hard to explain. I want to say because I have never been in control of anything, but I have a feeling that I would not survive long if I was in control of everything in my life.' she shivers and shrugs. 'And perhaps, a part inside me is feeling like...' she shakes her head.
Bonded Sereina: *embarassment and the small spike of jealousy again*
Samuel gets a slightly confused expression on his face for a moment, then shakes it off. He chews on his bottom lip in thought, then says,'I hope we run into Mother again, soon. There is absolutely nothing that I can do to help you if you get channeling sickness.. and with you being a woman, I can't tell if you are past it or not, either. I don't suppose you know?' There is something evasive in his manner, as if he may be changing the subject to avoid thinking about something.
Sereina shakes her head. 'I have no idea what you are talking about. I've gotten sick a few times, but nothing impressive.' she raises herself on one elbow and looks at him. 'And why would you want to meet my mother?'
Sereina shakes her head furiously. 'No, I'd rather that she think I am dead than meet her again. Your mother seemed rather pleasant though.' she smiles faintly at the memory of that day. It was an almost pleasant memory for her.
Samuel nods slowly, expression still somber,'May be hard to find her again, though. She moves around a good bit. It is important, though.' He shrugs then and stands up, walking towards his discarded sword. As he picks it up and resheathes it, he says,'If I can arrange it, I'll go looking for her after Morning Directives. You want to come with me?'
Sereina nods. 'Yeah, that sounds like an idea. Unless you think it would be better that I stay at the farm and have a look around?'
Samuel unbuckles his swordbelt and hangs it on a peg on the wall, then begins taking off his coat. Suddenly he goes very still and slowly turns to give Sereina a strange look. He swallows hard and says,'You would not be looking for anyone in particular, would you?'
Sereina shakes her head. 'No. That's up to you to work out, not me. Besides, how would I know who she is and how would she know who I am?'
Samuel shrugs and he kicks off his boots,'I don't know. It was just an uncomfortable thought I had.' He glances around the room then, chewing his bottom lip in thought. Finally his gaze settles back upon Sereina and he says,'Well, several people saw us quarrelling in the square. I suppose I can sleep on the floor tonight and have a good excuse for it.'
Sereina shrugs and removes her dress, laying down in her shift and pulling the blanket over her. 'It's up to you. It's rather cold tonight and if you're okay with sleeping in the bed I'm okay with it.'
Samuel struggles with the decision for a long moment before comfort wins out over chivalry. Saidin floods into him, a torrent of fire, ice and filth. One by one the lanterns wink out, leaving the room in darkness. There are faint noises as he discards the rest of his clothes and then slips into bed. As he pulls his blanket over him, he lets out a tired sigh and says softly,'Sweet dreams, Mrs. Quinlen.'
Sereina snuggles inside her blankets and sighs in the darkness. 'And to you, Mr Quinlen.' she murmurs sleepily before dozing off.
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