Non-trivial pursuit (attn: Telcia)

[Arette]

The sun was at its zenith over Tar Valon and peaked through the windows of a magnificent apartment in the White Tower to illuminate two lovers enjoying their late breakfast. The olive-skinned mustached man and the pale haired icy blue-eyed woman lay on their sides in the mightily trussled bed and fed each others romantically, feasting on each others' lips occasionally too. They were loathe to speak and spoil the tender mood. It had been so long since they had last been together and they both knew that they had to depart soon. But not yet, right now they would just savour the moment. Not many words were exchanged, but their bodies spoke a common language in kisses, caresses and dance. Telcia had a musical-box playing the waltz on which tune she had given him private lessons for the dancing class in what seemed like ages ago. Those had been carefee days and they had been at the sweet stage of getting to know each others.

 

Finally it was Telcia, who pulled apart from Iussi with a deep sigh and a final kiss. "It is time, love."

 

"No, not yet, there IS still time, Telc", he protested fiercely. "Please give me just this one more day."

 

"Iussi, please, you are making this harder on both of us. We agreed about this. Don't make me to command you. You and I have... duties as you so deftly reminded me last night." And preparations to make, she thought with a secret rebellious smile. "And you're not safe here."

 

His shoulders slumped in resignation, but he hadn't admitted defeat yet. "Nowhere is safe anymore. And if they wanted to harm me, they would have done it already. They don't care about me anymore or they wouldn't have released me. And..." She quieted him by a finger to his lips and quick kiss that left him longing for more.

 

"Go. You have to go now."

 

He met her lips with his own for one last smoldering time and snatched the packed saddlebags. He couldn't look back anymore or he couldn't leave her. Ever. To disperse the image of his wife, he summoned to his mind the vision of Jelane and Jamal like the single cherished occasion when he had got to hold them. Telcia persisted though, and every stride on the red flame tiled floors that took him further from her felt like a step toward the sentence of loneliness he had experienced in the rehabilitation farm. At least now he knew that he would see her in few months and could present her with their toddlers.

 

 

****

 

 

Bye bye baby.

Don't be long.

I'll worry about you while you're gone.

 

I'll think of you in my dreams.

You'll never know just what you mean to me.....

 

- "Worry About You" by Ivy

http://www.last.fm/music/Ivy/_/Worry+About+You

 

 

The dark corner table of an inn was a good place to sit if you wanted to be left alone and brood. Iussi, dressed in his usual garish and almost eye-hurtingly coloured garb had chosen that location for himself. He and the horse were both tired after the day's ride and him driving the poor animal as if the Dark One itself was behind him. He would head to bed soon alone and missing Telcia desperately, but first he was going to finish his ale. As he was taking the last sips and wiping the froth off his mustaches, another one was landed in front of him. As he lifted his gaze, he encountered a very nice bosom generously offered over the table. A welcoming pair of eyes met his and the red headed bar wench smiled.

 

"That one is on me, good master. Should you feel yourself lonely tonight, my room is the third on right on the second floor."

 

Unpleasent memory of a certain woman named Mada came to Iussi and with it the wave of shame, but this wasn't at all same. She was a so-called paid woman and this lady here was using her Creator given right to spend her time with who ever happened to please her. He would have definately been interested two years ago and the encounter was even now a pleasent shake out his dark reverie.

 

He rose and gave her an immaculate bow his left hand with the wedding ring dramatically poised in front of him. Her eyes caught the golden glint on his ring-finger and then popped in shock when she realized that it depicted a serpent eating its own tail. No man was supposed to wear that thing. Iussi had quite known the reaction he would get as Telcia's choice of a ring had caused as much disapproval among the Sisters as their marriage in the first place.

 

"Thank you for the ale and the offer of company, good mistress. I must decline the latter though, no matter how tempting it is." He flashed her a charming smile that was most likely lost on her in her current state. "My wife would stab me with the marriage knife as is her right, or even worse. I'm certain that you understand."

 

Her mouth worked soundlessly and she retreated rushing into the kitchen. Iussi was almost sorry for that extra flare, but then it also tingled his sense of humour. He settled to finish this second ale too with a slight chuckle. The beer was doing him good, it relaxed and lightened his mood a bit. When he retired for the night, he opened the window of his small room breathing the brisk night air. The stars shone brightly and he wondered if Telcia was watching them right now too. And if Jelane and Jamal were sleeping peacefully. Light, please shelter them on your palm and make sure no harm comes to them, he prayed ardently. That was all he could do for them right now, other than tormenting himself with guilt or go to bed and be fresh tomorrow to continue the pursuit. Merciful sleep didn't come right away as it was difficult to disperse his worries and longing, but eventually it claimed him.

 

 

Iussi Dyfelle

Gentled Tower Guard

Telcia Sedai's husband

Father of Jelane and Jamal

[Telcia]

 

It's down to this

I've got to make this life make sense

Can anyone tell what I've done

I miss the life

I miss the colours of the world

Can anyone tell where I am

 

His kisses were so sweet, his touch like fire. She'd barely been with her husband at all since she'd married him. Their whole marriage revolving slowly around the White Tower to which they swore. The problem was, had the Tower ever returned the favor of their blood and tears? Had it ever really done it for any one in the world... or was it the people inside who mattered, their deeds the real good or evil?

 

 

'Cause now again I've found myself

So far down, away from the sun

That shines into the darkest place

I'm so far down, away from the sun again

Away from the sun again

 

Watching Iussi ride away from the Tower in the ever brightening day made her choke with pain inside. The memory of his body and his laughter were already fading from her mind. With ever instant, her resolve grew stronger.

 

She had to keep her oath.

 

 

I'm over this

I'm tired of living in the dark

Can anyone see me down here

The feeling's gone

There's nothing left to lift me up

Back into the world I know

 

She'd pulled her hair up into a tight bun to her head and put on a large dark floppy hat to hide her femine features, breeches, long coat and gloves to hide the ring on her hand. She'd keep it on, for as long as she could. To the pitt of doom if she must. This was just a detour. She'd find her babies, or bury them... and then it was back to work.

 

Mounting Sundancer, her tiny silver bells on the reigns jingling softly, she clicked her tounge twice and kneed the stout mare. At break neck speed she tore out of the gates of the White Tower. Memories flashing through her mind both good and bad... but unusally, mostly good.

 

This was home. She was leaving home in the hands of hidden enemies. Light help you Sira... Perine... Muirenn. Find the shadow. End this madness.

 

 

And now again I've found myself

So far down, away from the sun

That shines into the darkest place

I'm so far down, away from the sun

That shines to light the way for me

To find my way back into the arms

That care about the ones like me

I'm so far down, away from the sun again

 

The ride was long, coming across villages he'd been at before her... he'd been keeping a devilish pace, as if somehow the light told him where he was going. She couldn't understand it. How could he seem to have such a sense of things? Was he just riding away to leave her further behind, to ease the pain? She had let him think she wasn't coming after all.

 

Light, but the road was a lonely place. Now, not for the first time ever, she began to see the charm of a warder.

 

 

It's down to this

I've got to make this life make sense...

 

The moon's journey across the sky was nearly done when she pulled reign in the small town and went into the inn. It was the only one for miles. She was so tired she barely had the sense to notice Iussi's horse stabled just down from Sundancer.

 

Entering she found only the barkeep and a young woman up and talking. Tapping her boot she removed the dust from them and walked calmly towards the man behind the bar who was washing down some glasses. Both he and the attractive young girl seemed to be watching her with express interest, but with her head tipped as it was she was certain they took her for a man from Cairhien, an assumption confirmed with a firm, "Good eve to you sir. How may we help you?"

 

Without a word, Telcia reached into her pocket and tossed more than enough coin on the counter for the room. She'd barely spent any of her allowance yet, on the road she'd been sleeping mostly in the sadle and on the cold earth. It would be good to get a bath, the Light only knew what she smelled of.

 

"A room sir?" The attractive woman pipped up much too quickly. She gave only the barest hint of a nod. "And some food too... perhaps a bath? I can accomidate you one if you like?" The girl, she decided this one seemed too young to be anything but a girl, was showing her cards fast. It must have been a slow month in the area for her to seem so excited about offering herself so easily to a stranger.

 

Again Telcia nodded and as soon as the barkeep said which room, she moved swiftly up the stairs too it. The girl fetched a bowl of stew (which had likely been on the fire all night) and raced up the stairs after her so quickly that Telcia was amazed she didn't trip.

 

Entering the large room she looked around as the girl lit a lamp. A bed, a copper tub, a dresser... clearly this was the Inn's best room. Perhaps, she was already far too use to Tar Valon's prices again. She'd clearly over paid the man down stairs for him to simply give her this room.

 

"The stew is hot," the girl warned setting it on the table taking off her simple hand made shawl. "... but I'm sure you use to handling things that get a little hot from time to time."

 

Telcia cringed. That had to be the most desperate, terrible line she'd EVER heard... and she was familar with a few. Walking over to the door she locked it, a giggle was the response behind her. Silently she wove a privacy weave, all without the girl noticing, and then took off her hat letting her long golden and silver locks fall around her face.

 

The girl leapt onto the bed gasping in shock and shame. "Wha... wa..." she stammered.

 

"Pull it together child and put that shawl back on." She commanded and, as expected, the child did just that. Telcia clicked her tongue in disapproval.

"Such a shame. Draw my bath now girl... and not a word, do you understand."

 

The girl nodded meekly and moved as if her life depended upon it. Out the door, down the stairs, and back up with water... again and again. Telcia removed her boots as the girl worked and when she was done, she begged to return to her room for the night.

 

Telcia produced a coin and offered it to the girl. Her eyes went wide and she reached for it. Quickly Telcia shut her hand around it. "There is a man here. Black hair... hair on his lip perhaps. Daggers on him and a thin sword. Ebou Dari, perhaps wearing an odd ring?"

 

The girl swallowed very hard, as if she suddenly wanted to fall to her knees. Telcia knew then that the girl had seen him... and now suspected she knew the truth of who she was. Blood and ashes..

 

"You will go to his room," she gave the coin. "and you will find some way to bring him to me. You will not attract attention our say out loud any strange ideas you may have in your head now. Once you've brought him to me... I shall double this for your troubles. Go now." Telcia dismissed the girl who broke into a terribly sloppy curtsey and then all but ran out the door.

 

Light but she had missed this sort of thing... the thrill of it... the risk... the danger... the respect. In the Tower even the most lowly of novice seemed to know her and her deeds, and even though they gave the motions, their eyes held little of true fear and respect that they should have. Out here, in the real world, she was still an Aes Sedai.

 

Here she still Served All, whether the White Tower like that or not mattered very little... out here, in the Light blessed Real World.

[Arette]

A timid but insistent rap on the door rouse the mustached Ebou Dari from sleep. He was groggy and slightly disoriented, but tried to alert himself. It had to be something important at this hour. He grabbed his pants, slipped his feet in and fumbled them close hastily before opening the door. The ajar doorway revealed the girl from the downstairs, the bar wench. She had a somehow bewildered look on her eyes and it woke Iussi up a bit. Maybe someone had harrassed her and she needed protection, it was the first explanation that came to mind. She did cast an admiring look on his wiry upper body, but then visibly shook herself and seemed scared again.

 

"Please good master, let me in. It is really important", she whispered looking left and right in the corridor. Iussi blinked, but then stepped aside and let her inside, closing the door behind them.

 

"You're safe now", he assured her. "Just tell me what is wrong and I will do my best to aid you?"

 

She drew a deep breath. "It is... it is a woman. She just came and..." Blush crept to her fair cheeks, but she pressed on. "She wants to see you. I think that she is..." The girl, whose name Iussi still hadn't learned, gave an emphatetic look on his ring. "... well, you know who."

 

Iussi just stared at her for a moment until the possibility really dawned on him. Telcia here? Light, would she really have followed him? After all that show in the Tower, sending him away. But then she knew that Iussi would have protested her leaving. She had chosen to return to the Tower and had been there but a month. What would going away again do to her reputation that she had been so worried about? Aes Sedai were secretive beings, though, and Telcia had told him that it was considered unacceptable to put one's nose into another Sister's affairs. Yet all women gossipped and Aes Sedai no less so...

 

Still, he was happy. Telcia was in the lead and he but followed. And it wasn't in him to plan or worry overly much anyway. Surely she had considered all the angles and possibilities and.... She was here now! That was all that mattered to him.

 

"Where is she?", he demanded eagerly.

 

"Room 6. But she told...", the girl started. "...not to cause any fuss." She finished her sentence to empty walls and open door. Men! This one was pretty enough to catch even an Aes Sedai's eye, but he wasn't too smart. He had to have some other... talents to compensate for it. Jenna sighed wistfully and was mentally preparing to head to her lonely bed. She doubted that the lady would be thinking her again tonight.

 

Meanwhile Iussi was navigating eagerly and trying to find the right room. Room 6 had to be on the same floor... aha, at the end of the corridor. The inn's best room it seemed, maybe a suite even, though he didn't really expect it in a place like this. He knocked the door lightly, but minded his manners and waited for her call despite his eagerness to be with her again.

 

"Enter", her sweet voice said and a delightful sight greeted him. She was sitting in a copper bath tub and their eyes met and held like two magnets even as he shut the door behind him firmly. His mouth felt dry, but his tongue was ever quicker than his mind.

 

"Ebou Dari bather at your service, my lady. Your wish is my commandment."

 

 

iussi

Tower Guard

Telcia's hubby

[Telcia]

Telcia rolled her eyes at her overly eager husband. Telcia sighed and put a soapy hand to her face, instinctively weaving a circle of silence. "So much for not being known..." she half chuckled and shook her head.

 

"I've half a mind to bond you where you stand just so you can know better when you're levity is appropriate and when it is not, that is if I knew they wouldn't hunt me down for the sheer audacity of it..." she moved her hand and gave him a smile to let him know she wasn't really all that mad with him.

 

"Get some tea going on that fire would you, I have some of Arie's famous Cairhienen Mint Brew in that sack over there. I haven't had a good cup in days." she clicked her tongue in spite of herself. "To think I use to hate that stuff." Again she shook her head and put the crude bar of soap, not at all her milk and herbs kind from the Tower, to cloth for some serious scrubbing.

[Telcia]

Iussi merely shrugged at her chastisement about not keeping his head down better. It was late hours and this inn wasn't at all crowded. Also she should know by now that low profile was so not his forte. His eyes did pop slightly at the tossed comment about bonding. It was a new thing. She was a Red after all and couldn't bond anyone. Earlier she hadn't even brought it up really even as a joke.

 

The smile convinced him that she was indeed jesting and he relaxed. Obediently he set the tea pot on fire. Since she wasn't going to cheat this time, it would take a while before the tea would be ready. Meanwhile he could use the time productively and wash her back and maybe some other places too. The soap didn't smell the same than the one she usually used when he took the cloth it was in from

 

Telcia's hands. He pushed her forward gently to reach her backside better and begun to scrub gently kissing and nibbling her ear lobe at the same time. "Not that I am not happy to see you, but this was quite a suprise, Telc", he whispered between pecks. "I must have done you some really good things since you just had to follow me. But seriously, what made you to change your mind?"

 

She closed her eyes, soaking up how wonderful his touch and kisses felt, the warm water lapping at her sides as he circled the cloth around her back. "An Aes Sedai is bound by her word. You know that." she made the statement as if that should explain it all but she knew, her smile growing bigger as she anticipated her husband's next question, Iussi would miss the mark.

 

"Oh uh... sure, I guess. But I just don't remember you promising to go is all. But I know that your decision was well thought of and you took all the things into consideration, so it's not like you have to justify anything to me. I was just surprised. And did I say already how happy I was to see you?" Iussi demonstrated it by moving his lips and tongue by her ear just the way he knew she liked it.

 

Telcia broke into a laugh as he touched her ears, her amusement no longer able to be kept in. Pushing herself to her knees she turned, taking his face into her hands, and kissed him for a long moment getting him all wet. Pulling back her lips she put her forehead to his, stared him in the eyes and whispered; "Our wedding vows... I realized they bond me as surely as any other word I've given. I am your wife, your family, your partner... our bond is the strongest that the Creator made Iussi. It is sacred." She stressed the last word.

 

"To think that I could really call myself Aes Sedai or a Guardian and not follow you, not find our children, well..." She shook her head. "I'd shame both words if I let you leave me to face the world alone, ever again."

 

The kiss made Iussi's brain sizzle and he didn't even notice getting wet by her embrace. He gazed lovingly at her icy blue eyes that were so warm right then and so close to his. Her words brought emotional tears to his eyes with their beauty. He knelt beside the bath tub and pulled her close to him again for a deep, passionate kiss. It left him breathless, but he managed to croak "I love you, Telcia. And I will never leave you again, never."

 

She kissed him again and again until at last she put a hand to his lips to end the torrent. "I have more news... good news... about the kids." She stressed firmly. "My eyes and ears have finally turned up something. It could be a dead end, they may be wrong, but we do have a lead which is much more than we had months ago." The smile threatened to split her face.

 

Blood pounced on Iussi's veins and her kisses had him on fire. It took him a moment to refocus on the world and cool a bit the furnace of emotions she had lighted inside him, but then the full meaning of her words dawned to him. Light, she knew where the children were! "Where are they, Telcia? Where? We have to ride there immediately and get them back."

 

Iussi's immediate demands to know where made her laugh again. She was enrapt with seeing him so very happy and re-energized. "The message got to me just before I left Tar Valon, it arrived from a city named Katar. We're suppose to go there, meet up with Arette and Con, and check to see if we've got another message there with a man who I have been having work for me for some time now. Hopefully whoever has them, made the error of letting it be know where they were heading next. There are sketches of them done by a theif catcher I hired, waiting in the town also. We can see their faces and confirm if it's them. The man is charging me a a small fortune but Light, if it's them Iussi..."

 

Telcia laughed at him, he was certain and he realised that he had been a little bit over enthusiastic. She explained what she knew and he tried to count the distance to Katar. It would be maybe three week's journey if they didn't ride the horses dead. He wanted to keep a good pace, though even if they would have to wait on Con.

 

"It IS them, it just has to be. How many times do you see men traveling with two small children? It can't be a coincidence. It might be only a month away while we hold them again, if Katar was their final destination." There was a murderous glare in his eyes. He wanted the blood of the men, who could do something like this, kidnap babies.

 

"A month and we'll be in Katar." She nods firmly and leans back into the water again. "I just keep telling myself that they would have killed the children already if that was the goal." She shakes her head, her smile fading.

 

"I don't know why anyone would do this Iussi. It doesn't make a witt of sense. None of it. If this was about money or randsome, certainly we would have gotten word weeks and weeks ago." Her gaze unfocuses a little and she whispers.

 

"I hope they're okay... Jelane is forever getting into mischief and Jamal had the sniffles, if not watched closely they'd be breaking bones or falling ill so easily. It's just they're both so... small." A hand raises her her lips in an effort to contain any overly sad emotion from showing. She knows that is the last thing either of them needed at the moment. Still, it ate at her desperately whenever she had to focus on it for very long.

[Telcia]

"We will get our answers when we get those bastards", Iussi said firmly. "I will wring the answers out of them myself. And baby, they ARE alright. Your Eyes and Ears told you that the men had been seen with two children, right? And I'm certain that where ever they are being taken, they are wanted alive and in good condition. Light only knows why, but we will intercept those Light-forsaken filths and get Jelene and Jamal back hale."

 

Telcia was about to give in to the sadness, but he wouldn't allow it. Good spirits were essential for being able to keep up the speed they would need within the next month. Unceremoniously he lifted her from the bath and wrapped her into a huge towel. He kissed her gently and tickled her from the spots he knew were her undoing. He just loved to hear her giggle and see... and oh Light, feel her squirm against him.

 

"Ahem, maybe we want to stop this, if you want to talk with me some more and not do something else." He winked. "The tea is ready to be served, love, but my offer for all kinds of desires still stands."

 

She nodded, drying herself and pulling a night shift from her bag, put it on. Also, she produced her brush and night combs so that Iussi could make himself useful at a task she know he adored greatly. Sitting down she used a weave of air to pour herself a cup of tea, frivilous but with Iussi eager to brush out her hair, she didn't want to tie him up with the task.

 

"Yes, there is more to be discussed... much more. The plan right now is that we'll arrive in Katar, retrieve the latest news from my contact as well as the picture. We'll then take residence in an Inn there, assuming the children aren't in town ... because if they are I'm waiting for no one to get them back... but if they aren't then we'll await Con and Arette who are expecting to be meeting with just you. From there we'll move where-ever the clues lead us. If the sighting is a bust..." She sighs. "I'm not sure just what we'll do next."

 

She goes silent then, thoughtful but not quite grim... clearly considering something else. "Sweetling..." she began in a tone that sounded more fit to a goodwife of her old Andoran Farm Village than to an Aes Sedai. Quickly she cleared her throat getting rid of the odd tone. "I need to ask you something very important and I hope it doesn't anger you. You won't be angry with me... will you?"

 

Telcia changing into her night gown held Iussi's interest raptly. He admired her lusher curves motherhood had brought with it. The thin dress would come out soon, he hoped, but right now it was useful for keeping her from catching a cold. His eyes lighted when she handed him the comb and brushes. He loved touching her hair and running his hands and brush through it. He listened to her quietly until she mentioned them not waiting if the kids were there. "Exactly! We'll storm the place ourselves if the kids are still in Katar. And Con follows the trail from the start and they were coming north too. So I really doubt that it's a wrong lead."

 

"And love, I can't promise that I won't be angry since I don't know what you're going to ask. But I could never keep it up for long. I promise to listen and consider it and try to not get too mad no matter what it is."

 

She manages a small nod at his excited words. "Alright then, I've been thinking a lot about what I saw in the Ter'Angreal I told you about... the one with the man from the Age of Legends. I've been thinking about my mission and what I've sworn myself to do, to build a future for our children... both of them... because, you should know, there is good reason to believe they will both channel."

 

She let that sink in a moment and wait to see if there would be a reply from her husband.

 

As Iussi nodded she continued. "Well, I guess the long and short of it is this... would you be overly jealous and angry if I bonded someone." There, she said it. Light knew she probably wouldn't but so much of the world was changing now, who could say what might happen? So, she had to know.

 

For a moment Iussi just stared at her. What was all this bonding talk? The Red Sisters did not bond. Unless this was some really radical change in the policy of the whole Ajah... No, he just couldn't believe it. "I... yes, I would be. At least in the beginning. In the first, oh about ten twenty years or so. Why Telcia? Why all this bonding talk all of the sudden now? And why would you bond someone else than me if you are going to do it?" He was definately starting to get riled up here, but he tried to keep it under the lid to his best ability.

 

Turning her head to look at him very seriously she whispers, "Are you willing to be healed?" She lets the idea of healed of 'what' exactly hang between them. She didn't know if she could even bring herself to say it. She didn't want that. She wanted him to live, to survive this dark time and raise their children even if she was doomed to die at the Pitt fighting the Dark One hand to hand at the side of the Dragon himself.

[Telcia]

Iussi was so confused. He just couldn't piece this puzzle together. Telcia seemed to be changing topic with her every reply. He had been deeply shocked when Telcia had told him that some Yellow Sister had found a way to Heal Stilling and Gentling. The Tower would of course never offer such to him and he didn't want it. Saidin scared him witless and he didn't want to go mad and rot and die.

 

He took Telcia's hands to his and kissed her palm and closed her fingers around the kiss partially to show that he wasn't angry and to have a physical connection. He needed it right then. "No, I don't want to be Healed while Saidin is tainted. And I doubt that that will ever change, not without a direct intervention from the Creator. And even if it happened - and it never will... I don't know. It would still be a scary prospect, to wield such a power. Why do you ask, Telc? Why now? What does that have to do with all this bonding talk?"

 

She wet her lips. "It's not something that matters at the moment but there are many things changing. The Reds... we will have to change, if my and several of the Sister's theories are correct. What use will the world have for Red Sisters if the Wheel turns as surely as we all claim? What will the world need of us when the mission is done?" Clearly the topic is a troubling one to her.

 

"They won't need us unless there is some other purpose we make for ourselves and there are some of us who think we know what that purpose is... a purpose I'm very suited to with my power. Power is not usually spoke of between Sisters because we can feel each other's strength and it's rude to point out that someone is weaker than you... but the truth is,"

 

She speaks softer as she says the next part, "I am *very* strong... there are few stronger. Our children, if theories on rights of birth are true, will be powerful too. There are few ways that a strong channeler can be stronger, and one of those, is by joining her power with another. In the Age of Legends, the greatest powers were done between men and women working together to create grand miracles the world doesn't dare dream of now."

 

She looks deep into her husband's eyes, a frankness there to let him know how serious this really is of a topic. "The Shadow will not hesitate to use Black Sisters and Male Channelers together, I am certain of it... even without the fear of Forsaken or other such, we have to know that the horrors of Tarmon Gaidon will be as dark as the Age of Legends was Light. The Light needs that power fighting for it too Iussi. The bond has advantages... things that could help me help a man who uses the power, to keep him mentally strong. He and I could be a team that no shadow sworn fool would ever want to tangle with. If the Reds decide to embrace such ideals Iussi... I'm not sure I can reject that. The shadow has claimed so much of my joy in this life, I am sworn to fight it, and if there is going to be a future for our children to grow old in... shouldn't we all try to do our best to fight the Shadow with all resources we have?"

 

She stopped her speech then. She had to know what he'd thought of all this insanity she'd been thinking on this whole trip from the White Tower to here.

 

Listening keenly, Iussi tried to make sense of it. He disagreed her about Red Ajah needing to change so radically so soon. Saidin would be clean when the First Age would come again, if he knew anything, but that wasn't something Telcia and he were going to see in their life time. But he was no philosopher and he wasn't going to argue it with Telcia, who was much more knowledgeable about these things. But she spoke on and the last bit made him draw breath sharply.

 

The Red Ajah must have been talking about this. Were they insane? He could understand the need to possibly link with the male channelers to counter what the Shadow did, but it was too big risk to be actually bonded to those rabid dogs. But if he understood it correctly and the Reds made this fateful error, Telcia would bond other madman if he wouldn't get Healed.

 

His voice was sharp when he spoke. "I thought that I was the one risking loosing my sanity here. This can't be just your idea, Telcia, with the way you are speaking of this. I was of belief that the Reds were reasonable women. You will absolutely not do such a fool-hardily risky thing. The bond connects the people to body and soul. Light only knows what else would come through if you bonded one of THEM! There must be other ways to control them than the bond. I'm sure that that was tried by the early Reds and it did not work. There is life after the Last Battle and if all our Reds end up dead or mad and dead, who the hell is going to deal with those crazy men after the Battle!?"

 

He had a bloody good point. Still, who could think of any life after the last battle... that's why it was called The Last Battle. "There are things that Sisters do not tell Warders about the nature of the bond until after they are bonded Iussi. It's terrible... but it's true. You must understand I'm not saying I can save a man this way, but I can help him remain strong through the fight."

 

"AND, I'm not saying I'm running off to do this today for Light's sake... it's, well, it's just been on my mind and I need to know what you would think of such things before the 'what if' ever happened. Try to understand sweetling, this isn't an insult to you, it's a matter of my own duty to the world and our family. This, my oath, is part of who I am. I thought once how wonderful it would be to be just a woman but in this time I've learned how blessed I am to have this duty... not cursed."

 

"I am the Red Shawl, Iussi, it is who you married. It is my banner and my breath as surely as my love for you and the kids are. Somehow I have to find a way to reconcile the two into one life, that is the challenge *I* accepted in making my vows to you. Let's not worry about this now, okay? I shouldn't have troubled you with my own worries and concerns." She shakes her head and faces forward again so he can comb her hair.

 

"Perhaps I should have just told you I'd considered bonding Con, perhaps that would have been easier to swallow." She wondered he would laugh at that or be angry. She hoped he'd tell her that would have been fine, truth be told she *had* considered such if the Reds ended up lifting the banon bonding... with Arette's consent of course. She knew her Sister would give it though. After all, she knew the woman's stance on bonding for Love and she agreed firmly with it (not that she'd tell him that.) Besides, who else would she trust Con's care to if not her?

[Arette]

It took considerable patience from Iussi to let Telc finish, especially since he vehemently disagreed with her about some of the points. When she turned her face away from her to let him continue running the brush through the wonderful cascade of her fair hair, he picked up the task again with pleasure. "You have some misconceptions about marriage, love, if you think that you should shut up about things that are in your mind around me. We might argue about them and never come to resolution and then you'll just do what you bloody will, but you must always share. Promise me that. It's hard enough to know what women are thinking even without them keeping things secret. And I'd really hope that we are more than spouses, Telc. We are friends. Friends tell each others everything and double the joys and half the burdens."

 

"As for bonding Con... that might have been a more moderate start for this discussion and prepared me a bit for this goose-brained later development. I think that it's a quite good plan really. Con has a strong arm and he really knows how to wield his weapons and above all, he's a loyal and trustworthy friend. Only now when he's serving the Whitecloaks and if he and that woman really have returned together like you planned... his loyalties might be too split. Could he really be there for you all the time when you'd need a Warder? A Warder is of no use after all if he doesn't stick to your side. But I think that for you he might leave the Cloaks even." Iussi shrugged.

 

"And... despite all this grand talk, Telc, I wouldn't let you bond me anyway. Not like this. I'm... I'm too unstable. I try not to give it no power over me, but the Gentling has its effects. Depression... on some days even getting up from the bed is too much. But thinking you always helps. I don't want you have to put up with that... Gah, how did I end up talking of me, when we're talking of you now and this addled plan of the Reds!" He needed to divert her from his issues and getting back to the controversial topic was always good ruse.

 

"I can't stop you, but I will not bloody give you my flaming blessing either. Not when you do something so dangerous and risky with Light only knows how little chances of succeeding in keeping the rabid dog sane and functioning. If the Reds really go on with this insanity, I will be the man, Telcia. I will get myself Healed and learn to use the... the..." He couldn't say it. The mere thought frightened him to his core. He had hurt Ragan. He couldn't control it and it was so alien, so different from the Spring. "If you're going to let someone drive you insane through the bond or otherwise, it's better be me."

 

Iussi Dyfelle

Tower Guard

Husband of Telcia Sedai

Father of Jelene and Jamal

[Telcia]

Telcia could have smiled like a cat who caught a big fat mouse. Her husband, the Light love him, was like ever man she'd ever learned about ... except playing with him hurt her sometimes. She didn't like to make him make choices he had no sense of why he was really making. And, well, that wasn't fair; like he said they were friends and friends didn't use Domani tricks or Aes Sedai word games on each other.

 

"I promise to talk to you Iussi and ... I promise not to let you go into this blindly and unprepared. When we find the babies I'll ask Con to let me bond him so he can help protect the children when we seek out the Dragon's school for male channelers. I'll ask my brother Skechid to teach you how to do it and we'll remain with you until you know enough that you can be safely healed to learn more. This way I can continue my Ajah's work and continue to prepare for Tarmon Gaidon. And, who knows, perhaps I'll get some time with this farm boy and can talk some sense into him regarding sending his armies all over the blasted countryside." She shakes her head.

 

"If the poor tainted fools need to have practice with their power they'd be doing the world much better if they did their training along the blight border." She nodded slightly, her hair getting snagged as she did, she winced.

 

"Yes, that sounds like just the plan. A way for us all to be together and still keep to our duties. You really are brilliant husband. I never would have thought of such a plan without you." She turned her head and kissed his hand, the one not holding the brush but resting on her shoulder.

 

"Mmmm... your hands feel so... good. Light but I've missed those hands..." She whispered in a husky bedroom voice. Okay... so maybe just this once some Domani tricks won't hurt.

[Arette]

The first three sentences had him nodding in accord, but then Telcia dropped the bomb. Iussi couldn't believe what he was hearing and the brush nearly dropped from his numb fingers. She couldn't be seriously thinking of going to the Black Tower that was full of rabid male channelers. Her, a Red Sister! They would butcher her. Light, Con and the entire number of soldiers in the Fortress of Light couldn't keep her and their children safe if she decided to go there. Iussi was fine with Telcia's brother teaching him, but would they really have to go to the Black Tower and stay there for it? Surely Skechid could come and meet them somewhere else and then they could find some other option. They'd have to.

 

He couldn't find a flaw in Telcia's plan of sending the rabid dogs to kill Shadowwrought in the Blight border. There they could do the least harm and maybe even something good, taking some of those foul creatures with them when they went insane or got themselves killed in a fancy display of the One Power. But still, to think that he would let her go to the Black Tower. His hand tightened in her hair, yanking them and he released his grip instantly when he realized what he was doing.

 

Ohoy, boy. He knew the trick she was trying next. She was trying to get him think that it had been his idea in the first place and that pat pat, he was so clever and... Light, coating it with seduction. Suddenly his brain was jelly and other places definately were not, quite the opposite in fact.

 

"Telcia...", he groaned in protest or was it really a plea? Stab his liver if he knew. Sticking to the last meagre vestiges of his self-control, he cupped her chin with his both palms and made her look up to him. "I love you and I've missed you too. I will beg you soon and promise to do anything you want if you'll just let me to... but I will not take you to the Black Tower. I will not even if I'll have to tie you to a bed. That would be a suicide! We can send a word to Skechid and I will gladly accept his help, but he will meet us somewhere else. Not the Black Tower. Understood?"

 

Frustrated, he ravaged her mouth angrily. Their lips parted and the tongues danced. They nipped with teeth and took and give until both were breathless and panting. With a painful effort, he finally pulled apart. Her scent was all around him and he could see nothing but her and wanted nothing but to be with her. Still, the lead was hers and she might have some arguments left about this matter. He wasn't up to it anymore as desire had long since clouded his senses, but he would have to protect her somehow, even from herself. Especially from herself.

 

"More talk or bed?", he managed to gasp wishing very much that she'd pick the latter.

 

 

Iussi Dyfelle

Eager target for Domani tricks :)

[Telcia]

Leaping from her chair so fast that it knocked over, and was promptly kicked aside by her back swinging foot, Telcia grabbed her husband and kissed him back with equal agression.

 

"An Aes Sedai..." She growled and then pulled on his bottom lip as she kissed him, pulling his clothing off him as she moved him backwards. "...takes orders from *no* man."

 

A ripping sound and a button flying across the room exposed some of his chest which she put her fingers into so hard it made red marks there. Her lips and tongue followed down to the places she'd cause him pain and played at kissing him in the ways that she'd been taught that men liked kisses ...elsewhere. It had been a secret that, oddly, Melanie had shown her on a piece of fruit once late at night in her Novice years. She'd laughed then about how she might try it on a certain Tower Guard she thought had a fine turn of a calf (if he pleased her enough) but she'd never considered it with seriousness...

 

Until that first night of wedded bliss with Iussi. She'd been tired but she was eager to show him (once she'd gotten past the ackwardness of it all) just how much he meant to her. That for him, all the discomfort in the world meant nothing.

 

But there was only so many points on which she would bend. In this family she wore the pants, weilded the knife, and SHE (not him) made the choices of what they'd be doing in the future.

 

"You can't think that I'd honestly take the children into a situation I didn't think I could control... do you? Are you saying I'm a bad mother?" Before he could anwser she'd pushed him down onto his back on the bed and had straddled him.

 

He didn't seem interested in talking but, to his credit, he did stammer a bit incoherantly. "I didn't think so." She bent down and kissed him again... almost in a feral sort of way, grinding just 'ever so' to let him know just how serious she was about this night possibly going VERY well for him.

 

"You married a Red. A soilder of the Crimson Banner..." She breathed hotly in his ear. "You married the Tower when you gave oath to me. Bonded to me or not Iussi Dyfelle... you are MINE." She bit his ear lobe just hard enough to get him to let out a noise and then, the coup de grace, she took hold of the One Power to begin manipulating other things on him while her hands and lips kept busy right where they were. Tying off the weave in such a slow and simple motion took almost no thought at all.

 

Iussi was putty, at first flustered putty... but putty none the less.

 

"I will cut you with my knife before I let you tell me what we WILL or WILL NOT do or how and where I will raise my babies." She managed to scold him, and for the first time EVER threaten him with the knife and cutting bit he always talked about, while kissing his neck and face and lips every time he looked fit to voice an opinion of his own.

 

"Yeild this to me Iussi... acknowledge that I am your Sedai as much as I am your wife... or I will find another who will." She meant it. He knew she couldn't lie. If Iussi wouldn't be a loyal warder she'd find one who would be. If the Reds meant to take on men she wouldn't be known as 'that sister who not only married a male channeler but is controled by one too!'

 

Slowly she backed off of him and released the weave, standing a few steps away from the bed she held out her hand to stop him coming towards her.

 

"Make your oath to me Iussi... I'll take you at your word and then... you may take me to our bed." She wet her lips so they glistened in the candle light.

 

"Or... tell me you can not serve me faithfully and follow as my Warder, because you wish to be my equal... and I will come to your bed husband, loving you just the same but knowing that I must seek out a bond with another who can make that promise. I can not be disobeyed... or ordered... this is how it MUST be." Her breasts rose and fell with each labored breath she took. Her hair wet and amess lay wavey about her face and shoulders now. Her eyes told no lies, she wanted to be in that bed with him now but the truth was a bitter pill. No man was an Aes Sedai's equal. Love him though she did she needed loyalty and respect unquestioning out of a warder. Even a Red knew that. She knew well her oaths. If the Reds changed policies... she would follow suit, with our without Iussi; and oddly she understood completely if he could not make that choice.

 

Still... he knew well who he had married.

He knew what she'd given her oath to first.

The war to end all wars was on and now there was no time for uncertainty. Like it or not her children did not change the truth of that. Somehow she would find a way to be a wife, a mother, and a servant... at least she hoped she could.

[Arette]

Light but Telcia was driving him insane with lust. By the time she had backed him in the bed and was sitting on top of him right on the most pleasurable spot, his brain was jelly and his vision and thinking had narrowed to encompass nothing but her. He wanted to loose himself in her forever and bring her with him on the brink of ecstasy. She was speaking, growling, as she tried to drive her point home. Yes, he had been too forceful with her, a mistake no wise Ebou Dari man made with his wife. It was her who called the shots, but he had just been worried and let his temper get the better of him - again. And her plans were quite risky. She rubbed herself against his groin again and demanded something. Uncertain of what she had said, he just murmured something that would hopefully appease her.

 

The next words were impossible to miss since they were breathed into his ear in a most arousing way. To emphasize the message, she bit his ear hard and he whimpered with pain and rapture. And the she... Light, it had to be something to do with the One Power since her hands were in hundred places over him elsewhere but still he was being caressed there. If it was possible to get even more excited, Telcia did it by finally behaving like a proper Ebou Dari wife and bringing out the marriage dagger. She was insisting him to tell her that he would never again try to tell her what to do and he tried but was drowned every time in a fiery kiss.

 

Then suddenly she moved away and all contact ended. He blinked disorientedly trying to gather his wits. She was giving him an ultimatum the second time. It did shock him a bit that she would require his submission as a price of getting to take her to bed. Not that he wouldn't give it, but that she would use sex as a threat to get it. Then came the amendment, she wouldn't deny her the husbandly rights even if he refused her: she would only bond someone else.

 

Iussi pushed himself up and walked with unsteady legs to the bath tub and dunked his head in a few times. The water was warm, but it still cleared his head. It was necessary for his answer was too important to be given in haze. He didn't bother to press the water off his hair so his clothes got quite soaked as he walked to her. He met her solemnly eye to eye, only a hand width taller than she.

 

"Telcia Nalemar Alainin Dyfelle Aes Sedai, I acknowledge your right to command and lead. I am not your equal and I can but offer my advice on matters of security. If it pleases you, you can take that advice or discard it. Where ever you go, I will follow. Your safety and well-being come always foremost."

 

He fell on his knees in front of her and looked up at her reverently. "It is my honour to serve and protect, Telcia Sedai. Please accept my oath and my sword in your service."

 

Iussi Dyfelle

Tower Guard

Gentled male channeler

Husband to Telcia Sedai

Father to Jelene and Jamal

[Telcia]

Telcia was a stone while Iussi swore his oath. It was the second time she'd heard such words cross a man's lips and it was no less a solomn moment despite her state.

 

When he finished she walked towards him and put her hand on his head. For a moment, only a moment, she took hold of saidar again. The motions of the weave easily seen in her mind's eye, but no. She was a Red and they had not allowed for that just yet... and command as she liked... she didn't want to compel Iussi on any topic ever. Not in that way.

 

Her hand slid from the top of his head down the side of his face forcing him to look up at her rather than bend his head in submission. As she did Saidar slipped away.

 

"As you are given to me... I to you." she whispers. "I will exercise caution except in the circumstances where danger can not be avoided and I will seek to guide us along smooth courses always. I will with fervor Serve All under the Light, and accept you as my Gaidin on that path. May the Creator shelter us upon our course now and always." Unlike most Sedai might, Telcia knelt to look him in the eyes.

 

"I would have loved you without it." She says sadly as she innocently kisses him and pulls back to speak again. "You are not less to me than the last man who knealt before me to speak that same oath... and now, as you learn of it, you shall never fear that fact." She smiles softly.

 

"It seems I have more in common with my Mentor's ajah than I first thought." She chuckles drily, trying to gauge her husband's emtional state and respond appropriately.

 

Answering his likely unspoken question she takes his hand and rises. "Con. No one knows but... there was a night after we first failed to petition the Hall to release you when I'd all but given up hope. The Tower was become more and more intollerate of my desires and Con comisserated with that fact. I told him how afraid I was to go out into the world alone, to raise children who would ..." Emotion grows in her voice.

 

"...never know you except by my stories. I told him my fears, things I've only told you before, about the shadow and my war with in inside and out here int he world. I told him that he was a fool not think he was worthy of being a Sister's Gaidin but so many long years with no offers of bonding had left him feeling less than equal to the men he trained."

 

"Before the conversation ended we both had admitted how much the other really meant to us." Telcia walks him over to the bed, clearly remember the night in her mind. "That once, maybe, there might have been something more between us but that now his heart was Arette's and mine yours even if both of you were lost to us forever. That even in our sorrow we... we weren't seeking that out."

 

"So there we were, not wanting be lovers... hurt... afraid... and knowing Tarmon Gaidon was yet on the horizon among other complications. He said that I'd saved him and vice versa, too many times for it not to be so. The oath, even without the bond, would be sacred to us both. I agreed with him and so he knealt and swore. We never told anyone, but when I came back to the Tower after the children were kidnapped... I knew I had to find him." She forces a smile and looks her husband in the eyes.

 

"I knew he'd find you and never give up on my children, even after I'd learned he'd joined the white cloaks. His words to me, left in a letter in my room before he'd left the White Tower the last time, promised that his parting of ways was with an institution and that he still believed in all he'd said to me that night. His war, our war, wasn't done. That if I ever needed him, like a true Brother to Battle, he would come without question no matter the risk."

 

For a moment she's silent. "You and Con... you're oath brothers now. Sworn to protect me... and through my our children." She chuckles a bit more true now.

 

"But you must not say anything to Arette yet. I must be the one to tell her. And yes, I would release Con from his oath to me if she wanted to bond him but I know how she feels on those who bond those they love." She closes her eyes. "She calls them fools." She looks to Iussi.

 

"So... Gaidin, Husband... I keep my word to you. Here in this bed, I follow you. Have I eased any fears you've had or only set you in ill spirits on this most joyous of nights?"

[Arette]

Iussi echoed murmuringly Telcia's prayer that the Creator would always shelter them. They would need every blessing if she would really take them to Black Tower. He returned her kiss eagerly and thought that he couldn't have loved himself anymore if he had not saved her from the madness that would come if she bonded a male channeler. She pulled back, though, and kept on talking. Someone else had sworn to her in the same way? It must have been Esteban. Jealousy peaked, but was quickly replaced by the smug assurance that he had won after all. Telcia was with him, Iussi, and not with Esteban.

 

Telcia continued and managed to confuse Iussi. Her mentor Arie had been a Green, no? What did that have to do with anything? Her next words were a shock. Con? But then why was he so surprised. The man had accompanied Telcia away from the Tower and guarded her and their children. But did she mean that she had actually... no, she couldn't have. Iussi looked down when Telcia's voice shrilled and she reminesced how she had thought him as good as dead already. Light, he would have given anything if he had not started channeling and could have been with his children. He probably wouldn't even recognize them anymore. He couldn't imagine a worse father... except maybe his own. Such an irony if in Iussi's case it hadn't been by his own choice.

 

He looked at Telcia sharply from his self-pitying thoughts. He had actually told him to find someone else and move on since he had thought himself dead too, but Con? He was a good man and like a big brother who had tolerated Iussi's stunts with exasperation. Yes, he was a good choice indeed. Still, it was a relief to hear that they actually hadn't comforted each others: but it heightened his suspicions that he might actually already be her Warder. Not even that.... but he had sworn this same thing. It explained why he would risk so much to come to their aid despite his new allegiance.

 

Iussi merely shrugged when Telcia stated that he and Con were oath brothers now. They had been that ever since he became a Tower Guard, as unlikely as that had been. Con had always been there for him and he hadn't repaid the man quite in the kind. He owed him for everything he had done in the past and now this. And somehow he would pay it back. Iussi openly chortled when she brought up Arette.

 

"Oh, I bet that she wouldn't like that at all. She's a jealous one. But even if it would be nice to make her shake in her skirts, I rather just stay away from her and I'm sure that she returns the sentiment." Telcia's eyes narrowed and Iussi tried to look innocent and respectful. Iussi thought the woman to be a fool herself, but he was wise enough to not say it out loud. Telcia was still fond of the elder Sister despite her not helping them out when they would have really needed it.

 

But then Telcia moved to a topic that was more to his liking, the bed. He did pout a bit at him having to take a lead for he much prefered it the other way around. But if she was refering to just this bed and not other beds, he would be happy. Change was refreshing. There had been something further he had wanted to say to her, something important about her Tower idea.

"I am in best of spirits, Telc, you always have that kind of an effect on me. And I might even feel better soon, if that's possible, and hopefully you too." He waggled his eyebrows. "But before that, I did have something on my mind... about the Black Tower."

 

"This is of course not a command, just a recommendation or a humble suggestion", he hastily added. "Could we maybe go visit your brother Skechid and hear his counsel about how to best approach the place before charging there weapons drawn? I mean, not that you would do that, you are always very diplomatic. But who knows how those nutsos will take a Red Sister coming to their midst? They might see the colour of your shawl as a threat even if you had no intentions of harming them."

 

He lifted his hands appeasingly. "That was it, really. Please consider it. No need to decide now or anything."

 

"Bed?"

 

Iussi Dyfelle

"He is like a puppy dog. Adorable, but not entirely house-trained."

[Telcia]

"We're going to Ebou Dar." She said flatly, as if there had never been any question of it. "I'll send word to my brother from our home there."

 

She smiled warmly then and touched his cheek. "Yes... bed, I think that might be a nice end to a very long day."

[Arette]

Iussi beamed at Telcia surprised and delighted when she declared that they would be going to Ebou Dar. Livia would see him, his wife and their babies after all before this all escalated into the Last Battle and things went to Pit of Doom in a handbasket. It would be good to see the city itself too, he had missed it. "Thank you, Telcia", he said softly moving her hand that caressed his cheek to his lips and pressing a kiss on the palm. Then he closed her fingers gently around it. "It means alot to me."

 

"In fact..." He breathed into her ear, nicking her earlobe gently. "I'm going to show you just how much I appreciate it and you. I promise that you won't regret letting me to lead tonight." With that he scooped her to his arms and carried her to the bed.

 

OOC: *sniffles* Now we've ended almost all our threads. So sad. But after the boys post, we might be able to wrap the Climax up and start new threads :) Can't wait to chat with you on your Sunday or even earlier if you'll let me know when.