The scene opens about halfway between Almoria village and the compound known as the Black Tower. Sereina has stopped in her trip to speak with a stranger she met along the road.
<--Previous Log | Back to Main | Next Log-->
His voice suddenly quiet and a bit embarassed, Lothor leans forwards to ask quietly, "I always wondered.. with warder and all.... what does it do when the two of you are.. well, you know.."
Sereina blushes. "It........well..." she shrugs. "Well...you can feel what the other is feeling...." she stammers, blushing even more.
Lothor leans forwards a bit on the rock, burning curiousity on his face, though from his expression he can't quite seem to believe he asked. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to," he hurries out as she blushes, "it was just something I always thought had to be wierd... what with Sedai.. and their warders, and some of the stories you hear."
Sereina raises her head, looking around expectantly. She fans her face to get the extra red out of her cheeks. "Yeah...the stories are a bit....true, but they're also not all fact, either. But you get used to it."
Lothor glances around also, though he seems a bit uncertain of what she is looking for. In the heat, his face is wreathed in a puzzled frown, skin still flushed with embarassment. He absently starts to work on another sectional piece of the orange, "Get used to what?"
Sereina focuses towards the right, squinting as if she is trying to see something. "You get used to feeling another. Always having them in your head, no matter how far away...knowing what they are going through without knowing what they are thinking..." say says softly, almost distractedly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm drifting."
A bit of a concerned frown touches Lothor's face, "Umm.. sorry, are you feeling sick or something?" He wipes a bit of the sweat off his body with a brush of the fingers, "It is pretty hot up here, but I like the view.. do you need to get down?"
Sereina shakes her head, eyes not wavering at all. "No,no..it's just fine up here. Just that....well, you'll see what's coming."
Lothor shrugs slightly and leans back into the outcropping that serves as his seat on the rock face. "Well, if your sure..." Still puzzled, he follows her eyes briefly, scratching along the side of his jaw. "Anyway, getting off the odder subjects... aren't you... afraid.. I mean," he swallows heavily, not quite sure how to continue.
Sereina shrugs. "Well, we all have our demons, some just show them more obviously than others. And he's a good man once you get to know him....He's just a bit on the..arrogant side when you first meet him."
Lothor frowns in slight perplexity, "I'm assuming you mean your husband..? I mean, what with.. you know, aren't you afraid that some day he will simply just start killing people?" He continues to dangle his legs over the side of the rock while finishing off the last of the orange and pitching it once again over his shoulder.
A distant voice calls out,'Sereina? Are you all right?' A moment later it is repeated, much, much louder, seeming to ring out from all directions. Sereina shakes her head slightly and says,'There he is now.' Then she raises her voice and calls out,'Up here on the rocks, Sam.'
Lothor licks suddenly dry feeling lips with his tongue, eyes hesitantly heading downwards along the pathway towards where the voice seems to be the strongest. He casts a quick glance upwards towards Sereina, mouthing questioningly, "Husband?"
Sereina just nods slowly, a distant look coming over her face. The tall, black-coated form of Samuel comes into view below, bells on the ends of his braids jingling as he picks his way through the rocks and begins to ascend.
Lothor is seating along the top of the rock, legs laying splayed towards other side of the rockface. He is currently topless in the heat, and the beads of sweat that darken his flesh seem to say he's been that way for quite some time. Tucked into his belt as a small flask, situated right inside of where his smaller dagger resides. Sereina is seated across from him on the rock top, though her legs are more curled up underneath of her. Lothor follows Samuel's approach carefully, his eyes narrowed in study.
Samuel's head peeks over the edge of the rock as he nears the end of his climb. He pauses to shoot a warm smile in Sereina's direction, then he catches sight of the stranger. His smile fades totally away as he turns towards the man, slowly looking him up and down. When he speaks, the politeness of his tone is in no way mirrored on his face,'Light Illumine, neighbor. I see you have already met my wife.' For some reason he seems to stress the word "wife".
Lothor carefully let's his eyes move across Samuel's face, at first his face tightens and he seems to almost pull away. There is a very brief flash of fear in his eyes at the first sighting, "Yes.. we crossed paths and she decided to enjoy the view up here with me." He speaks rather carefully, shooting an awkward glance towards Sereina, "Actually, we were just talking about you.."
The tension in Samuel's face slowly fades away to be replaced by a look of embarrassment and perhaps a little confusion. He seems to purposely avoid looking at Sereina as he pulls himself the rest of the way up onto the rock to the jangling of the bells on his braids. Samuel moves over to sit next to her, cross-legged on the rock. As he settles himself, he says,'About me? Must have been a short conversation. There is just not that much to tell of me.'
Sereina raises her hand towards Samuel, patting the spot next to her with the other. 'Sit over here, Sam..' she says softly. 'And yes, we were just talking about you. Lothor here was asking about how the bond works.' She carefully didn't mention any of the questions that he did ask, though her cheeks were still a bit flushed.
A matching embarassed flush touches Lothor's cheeks, though he sternly tries to hide it behind a hint of bravado. "Yes, I had heard quite a lot .. in stories and such. But nothing in a married couple of course, except for certain songs I'm sure the White Tower would not approve of." A hint of mischief twinkles in his eyes and he shift a bit in his rather awkward seat.
Samuel scoots just a little closer to Sereina, his face flushing for a moment, then his jaw tenses. In a civil tone that sounds a bit forced, he says,'I doubt the White Tower would approve of any of this. They do have an entire Ajah whose members live for nothing else but to actively disapprove of the very existance of people like me.'
Sereina looks up and sighs, shaking her head at the audacity of the other man. 'Aaaanyway, that's basically all that we talked about, and then I felt that you were coming and I pretty much got preocuppied when I had felt you come nearer.' she takes Samuel's hand and squeezes it.
Lothor flicks a bit of sweat off of his brow with a flip of his fingers, "True.. but then who completely trusts them anyway." Scanning Samuel's face carefully, he offers a slight shrug of the shoulders, "Personally, while I would not care to spend great deal of time, with... well, you know, as long as your loyalty is sworn to the Dragon Reborn, who am I to gainsay."
Samuel squeezes Sereina's hand in return and nods at Lothor. He seems to sit up a little straighter and his voice holds a tone of reverence as he says,'Loyalty to the Lord Dragon is very important. Even some Aes Sedai are beginning to realize this.'
Sereina uses her free hand to dig out an apple for Samuel and places it in his lap. She says nothing, since she wasn't too interested in the Dragon Reborn or any of the stories that followed him. Brushing back the hair that had fallen from her ribbon, she glances around, looking at the scenery.
Lothor scratches his neck, fingers digging into the flesh. "I had heard rumors about that," he muses quietly, though his expression brings doubt to him believing it. He flicks his head backwards, clearing strands of hair that bellow in the word to shroud his expression. Now almost uncomfortably, he glances between the two of them.
Samuel smiles at Sereina and picks up the apple. He nods solemnly to Lothor and says,'It is not rumor. I have seen one of the Aes Sedai in the palace. I have heard another say that she is going to swear fealty...' Suddenly his voice trails off and he very pointedly avoids looking at his wife, lifting his apple to his mouth and taking a bite to cover the silence.
Sereina purses her lips but keeps her expression calm, legs shifting beneath her skirt. 'Be that as it may.....the ...Aes Sedai are following the Dragon Reborn, and the Black Tower is doing its part in the scheme of things..' she says rather lamely.
Lothor turns his eyes to Sereina, then noticing her discomforted pose, "Yes, I can't say I trust people all that much sometimes.." Brushing it off, he offers her a bright smile, then reminds her teasingly, "If you need a hit of brandy, I still have a few swallows."
Samuel tenses suddenly, eyes flicking to Lothor. Then, just as suddenly, he relaxes again and turns his head to look out over the edge of the rock, as if enjoying the view, slowly chewing on the bite of apple.
Sereina clears her throat. 'No, I'd rather not. The memory of the first sip is enough to keep me from drinking for a long time...' she chuckles and shakes her head, fingers stroking Samuel's as they hold hands.
Lothor suddenly throws back his head and lets loose a loud even gale of laughter, glancing back down he brushes an amused tear from the side of his eye. "Aye, you should have seen me a few night ago, I heard from a girl working at the Inn that a young girl ended up dumping a pitcher of ale over me. Needless to say, I don't remember much of the night myself."
Samuel swallows the bit of apple he is chewing on and turns back to Lothor,'I take it you are not married, then?' His tone almost seems as if he is just making conversation.. almost. There is a bit too much curiosity in his expression, though, as he squeezes Sereina's hand.
Lothor continues to trail off in laughing memory of his own mishap. Abruptly he seems to sober up a bit at Samuel's question, and he casts and uneasy look around, "Nay, not married... actually when the subject was brought up, I managed to find an excuse to leave the city."
Sereina raises her eyebrows and nods. She glances up at the sun and mutters something to herself. 'I'm terribly sorry to break up the conversation, but I really must head back to the farm and straighten out the cabin before dark. That is, of course, unless you want to stay, Samuel?'
Samuel raises an eyebrow questioningly at Sereina then says,'Hmm? Oh, no. I just came to see what was taking you so long. I can get us back to the farm right now if you like, dear?' Without waiting for her answer, he climbs to his feet and nods a slight bow towards Lothor. 'Good day to you, neighbor. I do apologize for our abrupt departure..'
Lothor waves languidly and shifts a bit in his seat, "Not at all, I think I will just sit here and wait for the sunset, then I get to go back and probably get into a fight with some female." He rolls his eyes and grins mischieviously, giving the impression he does not seem to bothered by the idea, "Fare well to you both."
Sereina smiles faintly and lets her basket fall down the rock before scooting down the rock slowly. After she reaches the bottom she puts all of the contents back into the basket. 'Perhaps we shall meet again. If we do not, however, it was nice talking to you.' she says, tilting her head up to look at Lothor.
Samuel nods and mutters,'Er.. good luck?' Then he begins to clamber down the rock after his wife, bells jingling discordantly with his movements, drowning out the muttering he does under his breath.
<--Previous Log | Back to Main | Next Log-->