Honey I'm home (attn: Telcia)

[Arette]

Bihara Sedai's recently mastered cool façade of an Aes Sedai was marred by her eyes popping when she came across the man walking determinedly on the floor tiles marked by the red tear drop - interpreted by some as the Dragon's fang rather than the Flame of Tar Valon. She recognised him, of course, like all the rest of her Ajah members, since they all had kept him company while he was being held by the Tower... and poked by the Yellows and Browns, she though wryly.

 

To the sadness of many among her Ajah it wasn't often that men trespassed here, even the male servants. Ingratitude was truly the only reward for their hard work in the world. And in this specific man's case it was especially surprising that he had dared to return. Not one of his kind ever had. But he had been a special case in many ways and Bihara knew quite well what had pulled him here. But why now? And was she going to leave with him again? Well, they would get the answers soon enough, but she thought it best to report to the Highest of this potential issue, so that Perine could prepare herself for what ever was to come.

 

Iussi didn't even notice passing anyone, so focused was he on finding the right room. He hadn't been to this part of the Tower very much on purpose, since he and Telcia had caused quite enough uproar among her Ajah sisters by getting married in the first place. And then quite soon after had come the discovery and Telcia had had to visit him in the cellars. Light, and it was over only now, almost two years after it had begun. Still, there were lots of unanswered questions, like how in the Pit of Doom Telcia hadn't known that he had been stranded to a "rehabilitation" farm, if it was true what Arette had claimed. Rehabilitation, indeed. Much help that had been, being isolated from the whole world in a dinky little house in the middle of nowhere seeing only six faces. Why hadn't he been sent to Far Madding like all the other Gentled men? But even there he would have been apart from his wife and the children, which had been the worst part of his confinement. Even more horrible than the gnawing melancholy he had tried to fight with all that he had. Alone. Why hadn't she come looking for him?

 

Thinking Jelane and Jamal sent again a spear of pain through his heart. He had last seen them when they had been infants. They were now toddlers already and wouldn't have even a memory of him, if they were even alive anymore. The rage, that had been gathering momentum for months and burning just under the surface, inflamed and like a true disciple of the Spring, he embraced it. He just had to let some of it loose, so he balled his fist and struck the pale stone wall once, twice… Finally the pain on his knuckles brought him to his senses and he looked guiltily at the stain on the wall, red on the white.

 

He didn't have time for this, he had come to see Telcia, to spend some precious moments with her before going on a wild goose chase in desperate search of their children. But it had been good to vent some long unspent frustrations on someone else than she. Not that their quarrels and the lovely making up afterwards weren't magnificent, he thought wistfully. And he anticipated that he was walking into a storm now. Telcia might even try to throw him out before giving him chance to explain or use the marriage dagger as was her right. It angered him that he was in this position, begging to be let back to his wife's life like some criminal. He was the one, who had been kept away and by the Light she would better understand that. She would have to, because Iussi just couldn't loose her. The thought of her was the only thing that had kept him going, her and the kids, who had been taken. He closed his eyes from the pain.

 

Speeding his steps, he counted that he had finally reached the right corridor. His heart was bounding madly and butterflies the size of stones fluttered in his belly, when he visioned her before him and tried to gauge her reaction. Iussi rapped the door urgently and while he pushed it open, he realised that he didn't even know if she was in. He sent ardent thanks to the Light when she looked up from some papers, those unforgettable icy blue eyes locking on his. He couldn't interpret her emotions, his eyes just drinking the whole of her and standing as if thunderstruck on the doorway. He didn't know how long they just were still, as if frozen, but he shook out of the reverie first.

 

"Telcia, I..." His voice was raw with emotion and his throat felt constricted with everything he wanted to say. He was bursting with desire to just hold her and loose himself on her. "I love you", he finally uttered simply, his fluency returning somewhat. "Will you please say or do something?

 

 

Iussi Dyfelle

Gentled Tower Guard

The prodigal husband of Telcia Sedai

Daddy of kidnapped Jelane and Jamal

[Arette]

Telcia sat silently mulling over the letters from today’s batch of pigeons. Lunch had been satisfying enough but somehow she found herself aching for dinner. She’d never found herself to be much of an over-eater, being tiny meant keeping an eye on such things as your figure. She’d learn that early from her mother. And while being Aes Sedai meant living a longer life it didn’t necessarily remove such mundane concerns from your life. Yet, somehow this past year seemed to be changing her as fast as any she could remember in her youth.

 

Already the signs of age were beginning to show upon her. While her face remained ageless, her once honey and flaxen hair was now hold tints of silver that matched her aunt Muirenn so well that it hurt to admit it. Like a goodwife of a nearby village complaining of the salt showing in her hair, she now bore the signs of age. In the Tower, that meant respect… but it also meant the nearness of an ending of a well-spent career… and life. She’d never been afraid of her age before but now, with so much in chaos in the world, she didn’t dare admit that some mornings she would just as soon stay in bed as get up. She suspected, even after her experience in the arches, that a mild depression held her from time to time.

 

A hand drifted up to the line of her bosom, larger now from having had the twins, and fished out the small archaic looking dagger that rested there. It’s claw like shape cupped at her breast, always cool to the touch, a constant reminder of what was missing from her life. A slender digit slid lovingly across the two stones that rested now where once open settings had been when her husband had given it to her. Looking down at the white sheath that she had placed the knife into after exiting the arches, she closed her eyes and sighed. It’s meaning to any Ebou Darian would be clear… she was a widow and she never intended to remarry. An announcement to the people of Iussi’s city and world… and most importantly to the Red Ajah. A symbol of her shame and her pain. An eternal epitaph which, since the rediscovery of her Ajah’s most sacred artifact, she had kept carefully hidden beneath the soft silk of her dresses. It would be easier for them to remember her recent successes and not her short comings, if she kept the dagger hidden. If only she could make the world forget what she could never let go of…

 

Touching the stones lightly she trembled slightly at the memories of cubby smiling faces. Wheat colored hair and eyes as blue as the aryith, looking up to her with utter adoration and love. One single white stone set in black for a son who has died of something other than a duel... and a red stone, so ironically fitting, set in black for a daughter who had died of something other than a duel. The entirety of her family… all that she’d had left in the world to prevent her from this Destiny she now sought... gone.

 

A frantic knock came and the door began to open. Quickly she released the thoughts of her family and the dagger from her grip, looking up expecting only Muirenn or Perine to enter with such lack of politeness... or maybe even the Amyrlin, she could do such if it took her to do so. Knowing the person had to be worthy of standing she put her hands on her desk to push herself to standing but instead stopped in mid motion. Her eyes locking on a ghost. Moisture left her lips and mouth and she began to feel faint. Instantly, fearing the black ajah had sent her past to put her off guard somehow, she reached out to life’s fire... it’s heat searing away the pain inside leaving a focused and clear mind that could all too keenly smell the cologne that her husband use to wear... ready to defend herself. I’ll burn you to ash where you stand for this… give me a reason… give me one reason and there will be no trial you wretched flipskirt! How dare even the shadow stoop to this, the lowest of all blows to a person before sending death for them!

 

"Telcia, I..." His voice was raw with emotion and his throat felt constricted with everything he wanted to say. He was bursting with desire to just hold her and loose himself on her. "I love you", he finally uttered simply, his fluency returning somewhat. "Will you please say or do something?

 

“You must have truly great courage to face me... or skill... I can’t even sense the power in you.†She whispered, narrowing her eyes. “Rest assured however, I am no push over for tricks of the mind or push over for fools!†She seethed the last word and quickly moved her hands, gripping the tight threads of spirit and forced them into place around the apparition of her dead husband in what was perhaps her best ever woven shield. It’s weave tight and intricate... carefully laid and...

 

It wouldn’t lie upon him. Her eyes widened slightly with fear. Light be merciful... There was nothing to shield. Whoever this was... either they were terrifyingly powerful or not a channeler at all. With hardly a thought she moved to defend herself the only other way she knew how, wrapping her hands around the dagger she pulled it free from the white sheath violently and pointed it at the man.

 

"Who... who are you? What do you want?"

 

 

Telcia Sedai

A Red Sister

Mother of Jelane and Jamal

[Arette]

Still trying to imprint all of her to his memory, so that her image would remain etched in his mind even if he closed his eyes, he began to notice slight changes. Her hair colour resembled a little bit that of Muirenn's now, they had whitened visibly. It made him feel quite young, but she was even more beautiful now. The more feminine bosom was not a new thing, but the marriage dagger didn't rest between her breasts anymore. Instead she held it in her hands with a much longer chain, something that would hide the dagger under the dress. Was she ashamed of it? It gave him hope, though, that she still wore it at all. But the sheath... his rushed out a breath when he caught the colour and the black circles around the gems marking their children. So she considered them all dead already, he thought angrily, his eyes smoldering. A year and no word and he might have done the same, but he would have at least given his utmost to find the grave. And he HAD sent letters, none of which the farm people had passed on. But for what purpose? Why had they wanted the world to believe he was dead, given in to the depression ailing all the Gentled male channelers?

 

The bouncing of his thoughts halted when she finally spoke. He flinched slightly at Telcia remarking his guts... or skill. The latter option obviously assumed that he had somehow planned this all like a player of the Daes Dae'mar. Light only knew that he didn't have the brains and patience for it whereas she was the master of the Game. And she couldn't sense the power in him anymore, thank the Light. He wondered why she would even mention such a self-obvious thing. Surely the Reds would have told him that he had been Gentled. But then he wasn't certain of anything anymore. They could have just assumed that she knew and be too tactful to bring the topic up.

 

Oh goodness, there came the being mad part. Of course, Iussi wasn't assuming that she was a push over. He thought he knew her quite well, but her next reaction completely baffled him. Not the drawing of the marriage dagger, that he had been expecting, but the clear look of fear on her face. How could she even think that he would harm her! And even stranger things, now she didn't even recognise him. She had to be serious. Telcia would never jest in a situation like this. She attacked or played the ice queen, but never showed her confusion. She worried him; maybe the losses had made her little addled with grief.

 

He spoke gently. "Telcia, you don't have to be afraid of me. I would never hurt you on purpose. Please put the marriage dagger down, before you hurt yourself." Whoops, he might land in trouble because of that remark, but he continued calmly as if talking to a child in need of assurance. "You can use it on me, as is your right, after you've heard where I've been the past months after the Gentling."

 

Remembering the first question made him frown. "Oh yes, the identity thing. Come on, Telc, you cannot honestly have forgotten me." The hurt in his voice was audible, he had never been able to hide his feelings or even seen the need why he should. "I'm Iussi Dyfelle, your husband and very much alive. Pinch me, if you have to." He looked pointedly at the dagger and continued. "I'm also the father of our still living children, Jelane and Jamal. Blood and bloody ashes, Telcia! How could you set their stones in black! They are NOT dead, you hear me! NOT DEAD! I'm going to go search for them and I'm going to find them despite that miss High and Mighty ex-Keeper's help."

 

"You asked me what I wanted, huh. I want my old Telcia back! You're mad at me for being gone a year and letting you to think that I was dead. So act on it, woman! Tirade or try to kick me out! But don't bloody stare at me and pretend that you don't even know, who I am. Demand some answers! Then we can hopefully be over with and, and be just like we were before it all started. A second honeymoon, Telc." His voice was more than just little wistful. "Before I have to go bring the twins home. Please..."

 

 

Iussi

Tower Guard

Telcia's man hose

[Telcia]

* in chat *

 

Telcia stands there for a moment, trembling, Aes Sedai broken and fear rolling into disbelief and then anger. The knife lowers but her knuckles turn white on the hilt. "How... why..." She shakes her head trying to make sense of it all. How could anyone be so cursed by the bloody wheel as she? This was what she wanted, wasn't it? The pill was bitter now. Her life out of order, disrupted by joy and hate alike. "I... I waited for you!" She spits out at him angrily. "I wrote, I cried... the children they..." She slams the knife, point down, deep into her desk putting a flustered hand into her hair. "All I had left... I came here... and they said you left months ago!" She shakes her head. "Do you know what I've... what we..." So many words and accusations none came clearly.

 

"Just try... try to make an excuse, explain this to me Iussi. Make it make sense to me how I ... gah!" No eloquence now, just rage and sadness and joy all fighting to be in control.

 

Iussi ached for her. It hurt him just as deep as her to see her in pain. He had missed her so hard that if she had felt even half of it... Light. His eyes became dagger sharp, though, when he heard her speaking of "them" telling her he had left.

 

"Who might you be referring to by that them? When I had been released by the Reds, who kindly informed me that you resided now in Fernhill, Andor, I was stopped at the gates of the Tower by a group of Tower Guards, who told me that they had been assigned to escort me to a rehabilitation farm. There I rotted for months and months. Light, I even tried to escape once." His voice was pained.

 

"I see that they didn't deliver any of the letters.... I wrote to you every day, Telcia, just like you had then once to me. Not a day passed when I didn't miss you. If they wouldn't have let me out when they did... I couldn't have taken it anymore without you. I was having... all kinds of desperate thoughts.... The Reds told me that I would, but that you would help me through it. Telcia, I.... I should have tried harder. I knew in my guts that something was wrong. Why would the Reds keep me after saying that I could go, pointing me to you? Why there were no Aes Sedai in the camp? I don't understand...."

 

Iussi's words poured over her and at first they slipped off of her like water on a oiled fish. Then, bit by bit, they stuck. Iussi had been taken, not released as Perine had stated and Muirenn. Iussi was held prisoner? Kept from her? Her letters not delivered and his not sent? A lump grew in her throat as big as the unfinished towers themselves. One terrible, horrible, truth could be the only answer but why? What did the Black Ajah care for one exhausted male channeler and her, a broken sister with little status of note then? A woman with children gone off to be alone on a farm and die... certainly she was no threat to them.

 

But yet, it was a shadow creature who took her babies and what other excuse could be made for this event with Iussi's whereabouts? A mistake? Something to protect her perhaps? The Reds meaning to let Iussi die and spare her the further pain of it? No. Her blood sisters would never! She wouldn't believe it now. Not after all she'd seen with them after the discovery. Telcia slumped into her chair rubbing the bridge of her nose, the horror of being back at the point of no return coming over her again. She would have to, again, decide for or against the White Tower... for or against the life she could have in this short time the world had left. How could she decide against Iussi but how could she ever decide against the Tower now?

 

"Sit down... husband... we have much to discuss." With that she wove the privacy weave that would hide her shame from them all as best as anything could. "Slowly now, start from the time we last saw each other, what happened?"

[Telcia]

* more in chat *

 

Iussi beamed at Telcia when she called her to sit and touched her cheek slightly as they passed, not daring for more contact until she took the initiative. He lowered himself routinely on the pillows. "When you and the babies had left, I missed you horribly of course. The Reds were there and they were kind, but they were not you. They assured me that the Hall would soon make the decision and I could be Gentled. They said it wouldn't hurt and well.... it kind of didn't. Still it was like a cut to my soul and it felt like loosing something I never even knew that I had. There is still constantly this kind of an itch on the back of my mind.... like a beckon or something. It is really annoying. And I... I've always been carefree but now I see nightmares often and wake up... broody. I just can't seem to shake it off sometimes. But I try." He sighed.

 

"Now I'm muddling it up, tho. They didn't Gentle me for months. I heard that there was an Amyrlin change and the Reds were happy about it. Karana wasn't obviously very popular among them." Quite an understatement. "But I read between the lines that it had caused some issues in the Hall, so my matter was delayed even further. I don't remember exactly how long it took before they finally reached the decision... it could have been three months since you left. And then... the farm. But that you already heard about. I... well, that's it. Is there anything else you want to know, Telc?"

 

She wet her lips, wishing to all the Light that there was some Accepted there now to order around and get a cup of tea from... "Do you... have you been told anything about the events of the world or the Tower since you left up til now?" (done)

 

Iussi nodded. "I have heard the stories flying around on my way here. As for the Tower..." He grinned wryly. "Not really. You're the second Aes Sedai I've talked to since like nine months. Well, beside Arette in Fernhill, but she just yelled at me and I at her and then she threw me out." He looked bewildered. "And she's a mother now too. I really pity her poor children." He saw the warning look on Telcia's face and knew that that wasn't a safe direction either. He grinned and changed topic. "As for the news... it seems that the Dragon has been Reborn. And everything is a mess and going to the Pit of Doom in a handbasket. But I'm sure that the Tower has everything under control, right? Advising him and all?"

 

Telcia just shook her head slowly to state that he was incorrect. She rose smoothly and went to a cabinet, now called for a snip of ale... tea was not going to be strong enough for this mess.

 

"The Last Battle, though. It scares me." He shivered unvoluntarily, but his brain pretty much turned off when she stood and his attention was focused on far more interesting things. Such as wonderful round bottom and buttocks and... she had gotten curvier since the children and she was even more beautiful to him. His mouth was too dry to get a word out, so he just feasted her with his eyes.

 

"Drink?" She offered politely. "It's stout stuff... turns out the Andorans know how to brew as well as complain." She shakes her head at her own joke. "I was never much for it before but after all that's happened... I now understand the charm to all the Tower Guards." She brings back the bottle with two glasses.

 

"... no... the tower does not have things well in hand, but we're trying. I've been trying. It's why I came back after losing my children and my husband to the Light only knew what. I had nothing but my oaths, which, if I'd been smart... I probably would have paid more attention to before both of us got into this place we're in here at the end of Time." She chuckles pouring herself and him a drink.

 

"All self-pity aside though, your return presents me with difficulties that I'd not anticipated having the joy of knowing in my life ever again. Certainly not now... not after I'd risked my life and the lives of others in order to rebuild my reputation and regain enough respect to lead these fools in the battle for all our very lives, souls, and creation itself." She takes a drink. "So please... excuse my, odd state." She sighs and drinks again.

[Telcia]

* even more in chat *

 

Iussi merely nodded when she offered her the glass and after a long sip, he was able to chuckle at her little joke. His gaze didn't leave her for a moment, though, and its intensity was a strange contrast to the bit of froth left to his trimmed narrow mustaches. It stabbed him to hear her speak of lost husband and children, but he was going to give them both back to her and make it all up to her.

 

If she would just let him to. Her next words seemed to take the bottom of his stomach off. He swallowed hard and his voice was hoarse when he spoke. "I apologize for the inconvenience of my presence, wife. But I couldn't stay away. You are my heart and when I am not with you, I am only half alive." He knelt to her feet and picked up the marriage dagger stuck on the table placing the blade to

 

his heart and the hilt to her hand. "If I ever displease you, wife, take my life. Or if it pleases you, just a word and I will go and never come back." It killed him to speak those words, but he would rather die than do her any harm he could prevent. If she would send him away, he still had the children to think about. He was determined that he would be the one to find them, not that cold-hearted bitch.

 

Telcia closed her eyes and swallowed hard. She could send him away, she was sure he'd go... a word, quick like putting down a lame horse. Quick was best, so her father use to say. The pain was done in an instant and they suffered no more. But men weren't like horses, and for all he was screwing up being here... she wanted him beside her almost as much as she needed Saidar. Putting a hand gently on his she prevented him from cutting himself. Leaning in closely, Telcia kissed his lips softly and chastely. She remembered the feel of this exquisite pleasure with the most intimate of detail, and she nearly shed tears for how much she missed it. Pulling away quickly she whispers softly, "It was never you Iussi... never you who caused me pain." She drew breathe slowly,

 

"You saved me when least of all I wanted to be saved. You ... you made me human, like my Sisters of the Crimson Banner before me. You made me ready for this fight. I just wish I knew how to reconcile one with the other so simply. I feel... Light, it's silly. Forget I said anything." she takes another deep draught of her ale and refills her glass. "What life can we have now?"

 

The lovely rose petal lips were moving and words were coming out, but Iussi didn't hear a thing because his blood roared so hard in his ears. He just to let out some of the immense emotion roiling inside him, so he let out such a whoop of utter joy that it would have been heard at the end of the whole corridor if Telcia hadn't warded them. She splashed ale over her in startlement, but Iussi ignored it, ignored everything but her before him. "You still love me!" His eyes were twin suns of passion. "And what kind of a peck was that? Are you a Domani or a milksop Andoran? Bring it on woman!"

 

Telcia reached across the way between them and slapped him for all she was worth, then in the same motion she thrust herself upward and pulled threads of air together to grab at his feet and pick him up by his ankles, hanging him in the air upside down. Her blue eyes blazing pools of icy rage.

 

"... you..." she seethed. "Wool-for-brains man!" She pointed a finger at him scolding. "Don't you have ANY clue what a pickle I'm in here... what mess we're up to our eyeballs in! The Dragon Reborn, our babies in the hands of the Light knows what monster, the Tower tearing itself apart at it's very seems, the known world full of male channelers who are now a BLOODY FLAMING force to be reckoned with a BURNING ARMY, and us... having tried to kidnap him... failed... the BLOODY FOOL FLAMING BURNING CHITS! AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF ENEMIES ALL AROUND US AND WITHIN!" She stormed up to him, dropping her voice pointing her finger into his chest hard.

 

"You ... I... we may be dead by dawn for this risk you've taken! Who will save them? If they are alive... if we're dead... WHO!?!" Tears filled her eyes. "I FINALLY find what it is I'm suppose to be doing only to find you alive, and... you bring this hope... make me feel this again..." She sobs. "And nothing is clear... in all this chaos... now nothing is right." she shakes her head, letting her hand fly dismissively, cutting the weave, turning from him.

 

"...and all you can think about is kisses. The world is burning Iussi... and us with it. We're at war. The last war Iussi. The last battle is here, now, and..." Her voice trailed to a bare whisper. "...we're losing."

[Telcia]

* yep you guessed it... done in chat *

 

Iussi's ears were positively ringing after the smack he received. It cleared his head quickly to find himself hanging upside. The view to his cleavage was quite nice from this angle, though. And NO! He wouldn't go there now. He would be respecting and listen to her and... Light, but he was in need. They hadn't been together for over a year, the last time had been right before she had left to give birth to the babies. It wasn't just sex; he yearned for her to be close to him. When they were together, it wasn't just their bodies commingling, but their souls too. I

 

t was clear from Telcia's urgent and desperate tone, though, that he would just have to hold his horses. The Dragon, the babies, Tower tearing itself apart, male channelers, kidnapping... someone, it wasn't quite clear who... such a burden on her slender shoulders. And he wasn't helping. He felt guilty, but he was still bloody flaming burning. The drop on his head disoriented him, but he heard he her last whisper and the tears she were holding at bay.

 

He scrambled to his feet and wound his arms around her tightly. He pressed her head to the familiar spot against his shoulder and stroke her hair. "Shhh, now dear. I'm here. You don't have to carry it alone anymore. We will survive, you will see. The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, no matter how we struggle. And the Dragon isn't going to give up without a fight."

 

She laughed a nervous chuckle, Light but it felt good to be held again. He seemed to steady, like a rock, unmoving but soft. "What do you know about the fool farm boy who's made such a mess of all the world? No... he's sick, dying... he needs his Sisters but he can't see it because these flaming burning..." she nearly growled inspite of herself, "women, they had to mess it all up. I doubt we'll ever make right what's been ruined now. He'll never trust us. He'll never work with us and who can blame him." She sighed. "I had such a plan too... it was worth a go, some would die..." she laughed. "Burn me if I hadn't meant to be one of the lambs to the slaughter on this hair brained plan... and now..." She sighs. "Plans must change."

 

Iussi still kept caressing her and it helped to control his urges to try to puzzle out what she meant by them, Aes Sedai obviously, messing up with him, the Dragon Reborn, he guessed. There had been some talk previously about... what was it, yes, kidap. They wouldn't have! "Whoa, Telc, slow down. You mean that you tried to kidnap him? Wouldn't like talking have been a better idea?"

 

"A lot has happened." She says with grave finality. "I don't even know where to start." She takes his hands and leads him over to her bed, without thinking about what he might think she meant to do. She sat on the bedside and kicked off her soft soled shoes only to lay down. "Hold me a while, and I'll try to explain while we rest... please Iussi?"

[Telcia]

* super chat mode go! *

 

Iussi nodded severely the her words and allowed her to lead him eagerly. The direction gave him a pause, though. Hope and well, lust, rose in him, but he was trying not to misinterpret here. Oh, he would hold her to the end of the world... gah, and even hear her explanation while they rested. Down boy, he commanded with resignation as he laid beside her on the soft mattress. She fit to him neatly and they were like two spoons cupped together. His crutch rested just finely to her shapely backside and he was starting to think she was torturing him. But no matter what, he was going to keep her plea and not disturb her with his antics.

 

Clearing his throat he managed a husky "I'm listening."

 

So Telcia began the terrible story. She told about how she had fulfilled her foretelling by saving Arette from the grief of her losses, of how she in turn helped her with the children and how together they'd made a happy home of a small farm in Andor. She told of her lonliness, of the children's first steps and meger words, she barely kept from crying at the mention that they'd managed words akin to dad.

 

She told about the terrible night the Trollocs came and ripped her world apart, and how they'd hunted for any sign with no avail... and then came word of Dumai's Wells. This she laid the whole terrible truth out for her husband to understand, of how the hall was rot with indecisions and conflicts among the ajahs and the amyrlin, of how they'd sent emissaries and failure pushed fear to become foolishness. Kidnapping was deemed the best course but somehow that had gone terribly awry. It was as if the Tower had even worked against itself for that. And when word reached her village of the Dragon and his mad male channeling army... why the place gave up on much more than just the hunt for her kids!

 

She told how she and Arette searched fruitlessly and then how her friend had the strength to send her home to the place she least wanted to be... but her friend wanted most to go home to. Both took up a path they never wanted and went their own ways. Arette to search for children who were believed dead and she to mourn while filling her oaths among those who she had been shamed in the eyes of by the secrecy she was forced to keep.

 

She told of how alienated she'd been, of how even her sisters felt distant from her and the whole tower would rather she hadn't come back at all. She told of the events that followed in those weeks and how one day she'd had enough of mourning and waiting and decided to take the world into her own hands again. She told him of the Arches, the secret no Sedai ever liked to share, and how she, Sira, and Elyssa had found their true use at risk of their own lives and so much more.

 

She told of how she'd regained enough status through that act to be allowed to research the greatest find of the age... the diaries of Bonwhin and a ter'angeral that held a message from the breaking... the purpose and reason for the reds existing... and how she'd rededicated herself to the cause in Iussi's memory knowing now that they'd met because it was the will of the pattern that she learn from him this most difficult lesson that was communicated in the Ter'Angreal.

 

BUT... if he wasn't dead then, what was she to do now? Not that she wanted him dead mind you... but where did he fit in all this now? Could she just forsake her oaths again and run off on a wild goose chase to find her babies who she'd all but buried now?

 

And worse, knowing the deepest darkest secret of all... could she leave knowing that (and she did hesitate and choke the words out to him more hard than she had wanted) the Black Ajah was real and they had killed Light Loyal Sisters in the Tower who were hunting them secretly. That if the world knew of them, especially now, then one of the greatest armies for the light might not be trusted by the world... but instead become suspect and hated. No... she wouldn't let that happen and she told Iussi as much. It was a long, long talk... mostly her speaking and him listening and when it was all done... Telcia felt as if she'd dropped the world on the floor and was weary from having held it far too long alone.

[Telcia]

* chat style *

 

It took a significant part of Iussi's almost non-existent self-control to ease down and to listen. Then it all was starting to overwhelm him. He was just a simple guy and this was so much. He didn't quite agree with Telcia's decision of leaving that woman in charge of the search, but she was right that with the networks of the Tower they might learn something. But it had gotten her tangled into all the webs here again, everything that she had wanted to get away from when they had gotten married. But duty was heavier than a mountain and death lighter than a feather, or so they said in the Borderlands. And whether she wanted it or not, Telcia was a woman of the White Tower to her core, even if she wanted to deny it and have some happiness just for herself. Light knew that she deserved it, and Iussi would make sure that he would. He would bring their children here. Other Aes Sedai had raised a family in the Tower too and even if her situation was quite special, so could they.

 

 

Hearing the confirmation to the resilient rumors of the existence of a darker Ajah shocked him. Light, even the Tower wasn't safe. Could that be the answer to all of this? Tower Guards did not work without command of the Sisters and unless the men had been imposters... and they weren't, because Iussi had recognized at least one of them as a real thing.... But why? Why would the Black Ajah be interested in ruining one Sister's life like this? Why had the Shadow wanted their children? Could it be just because their both parents were channelers? Finally Telcia was coming to an end and it was obvious that a huge boulder had been lifted off her. Iussi rained tiny kisses to her neck and just held her still for a moment longer before speaking.

 

"You are Aes Sedai, Telcia. I think that you knew deep inside what choice you were making when you returned here. After everything you have just told me, it is obvious that you worry about the events of the world AND you believe you can affect them. Leave or don't, and you will feel guilt. You are needed here, so it's quite simple really. Me and the kids will be returning here. The Dark Ajah.... would we be safe from them even in Fernhill or anywhere if they decided to do something? No, the Tower is still the safest place in the world." He quieted, silenced by a worrying thought he hadn't taken into account. "I don't know what that would do to your reputation, though... but I meant what I said, Telc. I will enjoy any moments we have together, but then I will leave and bring our babies to you. What happens then is up to you, but you will have time to think...."

 

She rolls over to look him in the eyes. "You bring our babies back and I'll follow you to the Dragon Reborn's side, to the Last Battle and back. There is no difficulty in that choice Iussi. I will serve humanity no matter where I am, I just don't want..." What was it she wanted? She nuzzled her face into his chest, kissing his neck softly.

 

"I don't want to be a fraud. For the first time since before the rape, I'm thinking clearly Iussi. I'm not sick any more... it's like a veil of darkness has been lifted from my eyes and even in all these terribly fearful events the world is better, even more so because you're here now to ease my heart and share this moment with me." She kisses his cheek innocently. "Where would we go Iussi, to find Con and Arette and travel with them? To my eyes and ears and across the land aimlessly? I've searched for rhyme or reason in this and I see none."

[Arette]

It was settled then. He would go and unite Jelane and Jamal with them and then they would be a family. And then Telcia started kissing him. Didn't she know what an effect she had on him? Was she doing this on purpose? He was quite doing the honour to her again. The mention of the rape always raised his hackles and the rage helped him to turn off... but only a little. His eyes glazed and he was summoning especially unerotic images to his mind, rotting fish, Muirenn Sedai standing beside them a disapproving frown on her face... Light, that was a scary one indeed. It had to be his hopelessly desire-clouded mind, but he thought that Telcia was contradicting herself at the end. Was she going with him or not? And now she was kissing his cheek...

 

"Telcia, what do you want?", he groaned. "Please make up your mind or you kill me."

 

"I just wanted to know if you had a plan or if you were going to charge out of here with a sword in hand with no real direction." She muttered as her lips made their way up to his ear lobe and her hand inside his shirt. LIGHT but she didn't realize just how much she missed touching him! "If there's no plan then you need me... I gave an oath to you too, remember?" She flicked his ear with her tongue and whispered. "Make me want to come with you husband... even if I can't... make me want to never let you leave my side again."

 

This was the sign he had been waiting for over a year. He grinned victoriously and laughed low in his throat at her innuendo about swords. His was definately off its scabbard. His hands were over her too, agonizingly slowly moving down her back, her sides and that perk bottom. Their mouths met and the room temperature got suddenly hotter as their tongues danced. Iussi begun to unbutton her silk dress, but lost his patience and simply ripped it. She attacked his gear with an equal zeal and soon nothing protected their trembling flesh from kisses and ardent caresses.

 

It was as if all sense had left her but she knew well what she was doing. In all her life she’d only laid with a man a number of times small enough to count on one hand and with no other willingly but her husband. Together their bodies rose and fell in a desperate dance of lust and longing. Like all other men and women of the world they shared their passion and need for companionship with each other without a thought or care to the outside world that would await them just as real and terrible as it had been before they begun. Here, in each other’s arms, nothing mattered; not the Dragon Reborn, not the Black Ajah or reputations and images, nor all the horrors the Shadow could spawn!

 

Fire-laced lips seared shut open and old wounds of misinterpreted abandonment and betrayal, calloused hands on silken well-cared for flesh rent away all the accusations of ruin or shame, and sweat covered flesh sliding across a mirror of itself in opposite sexual form compressed the true love of lifetimes innumerable from across the pattern and wheel of time from one into the other easing the rift of ages… two souls as one, a singular spirit at peace, two tortured halves to a whole that once lived at the start of time, reunited at long last.