Punishment for the Punisher (attn Jasine and Kynwric)

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric waited until Jasine sat down, then took a seat where he could look at them both. He was a lot disappointed, he was a little bit angry and was still putting together things in his head from what he remembered from earlier scenes. He looked from one to the other, finally settling his deadpan gaze on Thera.  He had only one thing to ask right this moment, wanting to hear what came from them before he probed deeper.

 

"Well?"

 

It was a loaded one word question, one that asked for her to tell him everything and left it open for her to tell him nothing, the line of questioning now rested on her honor and willingness to be forthright.

[Eqwina]

Lies drifted to her lips, threatening to break through; only her clenched jaw kept them from spilling out. Breaking Kynwric’s gaze she gave Jasine a sad look and released his hand, folding them both on top of the table. The urge to reach for comfort and her sword burned in her stomach, but this battle would be fought in another way. It gave a small comfort to feel Jasine’s hand squeeze tight on her knee. Whatever came of this day, she would always have him. It was that thought that gave her the courage to speak the truth.

 

“I don’t think there is any real secret as to what has been going on between Jasine and myself, but just in case it is not clear. He and I are in love and intend to marry.” Whatever else she said, no words could be as hard to speak and those. “The opportunity for love is fleeting in the lives of men and women like us, surely you of all people understand that.” Thera’s eyes drifted to the table where Loraine Sedai sat. She did not need to see the woman’s eyes to know that disappointment floated in them. Burn them both! They will not flaunt their love and try to dissuade mine! An edge of anger entered Thera’s voice, but there was no way to change that now. “Better than anyone else I know the rules I have broken in coming here, but we have waited two years to be together and with the day fast approaching my will power broke.” It shamed Thera to admit her weakness in front of Jasine, but if they were going to be married he would soon learn all her secrets. “No matter how you ask I will not take back last night..” A slight flush entered Thera’s cheeks and thumbed the small silver ring with her finger. “Or the decision I made. I also understand your obligation Kynwric to do as you feel you must and I stand ready to accept whatever decision you make, but know this…There is nothing that will make me give up my love. Not after the long hard road I have lived to find it.”

 

Reaching down she pulled Jasine’s hand from her lap and placed it on the table, entwined with her own. There would be no more secrets from Kynwric, maybe from anyone, which meant no more reason to hide. A knot of fear tightened within her, the same that had formed at every great turning point in her life, but this the stakes were so much higher than just the loss of her life.

 

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric listened and nodded and finally smiled. "Good, I wouldn't want you to give it up. Nor would I really want to have a new Mistress of Trainees, you're good at your job." He really wasn't paying attention to Jasine as there was no rule against a trainee falling in love, there might be for being out of the tower without leave. "That being said Eqwina Gaidin, it cannot go unpunished. You know that. However, I really do not wish to involve the Master in this as it would necessitate your removal. So, I am in a bit of a quandry... and am trying to think my way out of it." He glanced at Loraine and sighed, "Light knows I am a romantic at heart..."he turned back to Thera "but that cannot change what must be." He hoped Loraine took the clue to come and join them, as he truly did not wish to have to revisit the whole conversation later.

[U4ea]

Loraine saw Kyn's glance, having been fighting the urge not to charge over there and tell him that they could ignore this. She'd known for a while, after all, and hadn't told a soul, yet. Why did she even have to say anything? She felt guilty for it, and vowed she'd make it up to them both...somehow.

 

She sighed deeply and moved to join them, unable to meet Thera's gaze as she sat down. She wasn't sure why Kyn wanted her here. Perhaps he needed the moral support, too? Light, how could she make this up to them?

[Quisalas Selene]

Jasine breathed a huge sigh of relief, letting out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding.  His three greatest fears, the only fears that he really had about being discovered, were that he would lose Thera, lose the Tower, or that she would lose her job.  Of the three, it was the middle he would first give up if he had the choice.

 

When Loraine Sedai came over to their table Jasine felt his cheeks flush and he dropped his gaze from Kynwric.  A man he could be angry at, he could defend himself with sharp words if need be, but he had never known anything but kindness and care from Loraine Sedai and she had become his ideal for a Sister, if not a very widely experienced one.  He did not know many of the Sisters, and none so well as she, but he could not make himself angry at her for being here the way he had been able to at Kynwric.

 

He found his voice but could only speak softly. "Hello, Loraine Sedai." After a pause, he added, "Kynwric."  He placed his other hand on the table, wrapping it around Thera's hands entwined with his first.  He cleared his throat softly and lifted his gaze to the Lady.  "You're only the second one to hear the news.  Thera and I are going to be wed."  He didn't expect himself to be able to smile in such a tense moment, but at the thought of Thera as his wife he couldn't have stopped it if forced to.  His gaze cut to Thera and the smile broadened before he was able to assume a properly serious and deferential tone as his gaze turned back to the two people who held his fate in their hands.

[Eqwina]

Having the fate of her life resting in another’s hands was not an unknown feeling to Thera, but having it rest in a fellows Gaidin’s was as foreign as a feeling could be. It would only take one word to destroy the life they had built, but the compassion flickering in Kynwrics and Loraine’s eyes said their fate would not be so harsh.

 

“Yes Loraine, I was in hopes that you and Kynwric would stand with us and bare witness.” Her tense words came from the heart, not a woman trying to buy her way free of pain. For a fleeting moment she forgot the two people that had evaded their privacy and smiled at her future husband. Even now, faced with adversity, he managed a calming demeanor that made Thera jealous. At her best she’d never be able to match his charms. At the same time her love for him grew; she was proud of every skill that set her husband to be above the rest.

 

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric nodded to Jasine and smiled. "Congratulations... and of course we will." he cocked his head over at Lor and saw her approval of the whole situation. "That does not change what must be though, and you are not going to like the first stipulation I have. Not at all... The two of you will not be alone together, not until Jasine is fully and properly Tower Guard." He saw the shock and indignation rise and he held his hand up to forstall it. "Wait, I'd prefer you not be seen together at all, for your own sakes. You can tell he's in love, but anyone would pass it off as a boyhood fancy. But you..." He looked at Thera "I don't think you can hide the fact that you are so completely obsessed with him... and that discovery cannot be allowed." He let all that sink in before continuing. "The rest I will discuss with each of you in private, later, as it is neither of yours business what tasks I set for you. Yes, you too Jasine... you are out of the Tower without permission, unless you'd like to explain why you were found in this tavern to the Master at Arms when we return?"

[Eqwina]

It was a relief to hear the genuine happiness in their voices; she had been in hopes it would come out that way.

 

Glancing down at the ring encircling her finger Thera sighed. Its presence alone would cause talk, but even more so if anyone suspected it had come from a trainee. “I can except your words Kynwric and I thank you for your understanding.” Thera did not need a bond to tell her that indignation and anger was rising in Jasine; she felt much the same herself, but she was too old to let hot blood make a bad situation worse. “We will live by your stipulation for the few weeks that are left in his training.” The words were as much for Jasine and for the Gaidin. “I think you may be right, for too long I have had to hide my feelings and now….with this” She raised her hand, causing the small gem to sparkle in the light. “I fear there will be no disguising my elation.”

 

Not all of her nerves had faded, especially after hearing that there would be more punishment that just keeping her from Jasine. Did he not understand that that alone might be the death of her? Stealing a look at her beloved Jasine, she had to fight back the urge for a kiss. Its only a few weeks my heart, and then we can be together always Her heart called out to him but she left the words unspoken. Now was not the time. 

 

[U4ea]

"You're only the second one to hear the news.  Thera and I are going to be wed." Jasine's voice cut through her self-recriminations and brought Lor's head up. She was completely unable to stop the happy grin that stretched across her face. It was great news, happy news. In this world of unhappy situations, SOMEONE was going to be happy.

 

“Yes Loraine, I was in hopes that you and Kynwric would stand with us and bare witness.” She blinked, unable to give voice to what was in her heart past the lump in her throat. She couldn't wrap her head around these people wanting her in their lives, especially once they figure out that it was her that caught them.

 

"Congratulations... and of course we will." Kyn answered after looking to her for approval. She bit her lip, realizing she must look quite the idiot sitting there speechless. She smiled again, though she tried to look serious. Kyn was not at all happy about this. Loraine eyed the ring on Thera's finger and felt a stab of envy. She shook it away, knowing it wouldn't lead anywhere pleasant.

 

"Punishments aside," Loraine said softly, pushing her smile back into place. "I am very happy for you both. We would be honored to stand with you. And perhaps the time apart will serve to heighten your sense of togetherness in the end. I spent months without Kynwric once and I don't believe I've ever been so happy to see him as when he returned. Even if he was spitting mad when he got there..." If she was trying to lighten the mood, it was only because she was genuinely happy for them. And it was only a few weeks... the punishments could wait. Nothing should dampen their happiness just yet. There was time enough for that once they'd crossed the gates into the Tower grounds again.

[Quisalas Selene]

Jasine's moment of protest when Kynwric suggested that he was not to be alone with Thera at all until his raising was quickly and remarkably easy to quash.  He resisted the urge to flash a cheeky smile and say that he was here at the orders of the Mistress of Trainees herself.  Funny though it may be, he didn't think it would do well to take Kynwric's words with anything less than sincere gravity.

 

"I understand, Master Kynwric.  I will do all that you ask of me.  And I will be forever grateful to you that you have enabled me to keep that which is most important to me.  My position in the Tower, my love for Thera,  and through them both, my happiness.  You are an honorable man and a true friend." He released Thera's hand long enough to touch his fingers to his lips and then to his heart, bowing his head to the man.  Any punishment he laid on Jasine could not be as hard as being away from Thera, but it was all worth it. 

 

He smiled warmly as Loraine spoke, touched by her words.  He felt endlessly blessed to have Thera's love and he would cherish her for the whole of his life.  "With any luck, it won't be months until I see her again."  He turned and looked to Thera and then pressed a kiss to her cheek, he didn't know if Kynwric would allow them to say goodbye properly and he needed one more touch, just one more kiss.

 

"Should we return to the Yards immediately?  Or did you want to speak to us each privately first?"

[_Kynwric_]

Kyn thought for a moment about the question posed. "I'll speak of yours now. When you return to the yards Jasine, you will ask the kitchens for a spoon, with that spoon and dig a hole big enough to stand erect in without your head above the level of the ground. When that is done, fill it in again one spoonful at a time. While you are doing so you can contemplate on whatever you wish. But I would include these things, the reasons for rules, the risks your Love has taken for you, the danger you have put her in and most of all what you will do when the choice comes, Aes Sedai or Wife? You will continue to dig and refill the hole until you have an answer to that last question." He knew that these were heavy things, but they needed to be thought of before hand. He too had eyed the ring on Thera's hand and felt the squashed emotion as it drifted through his head. He fought down the urge to turn and look at Loraine though, knowing it would do no good now. "Thera, you will meet with me just after supper the tomorrow night. Your penance will begin then, wear something comfortable." All kinds of things were running through his head, mostly about weddings and rings and love, but he would have time for examining those things tomorrow night when he sat his vigil. That is what that time is for, contemplation.

[Quisalas Selene]

Jasine nodded, accepting Kynwric's punishment as fair.  He's been thinking on that last question, modified to say love instead of wife, since his very first day at the yards and he came to his decision before he asked Thera to marry him.  He couldn't have asked her without making sure the decision was firm in his own mind, even if he hadn't had the courage to speak of it to Thera herself.  He knew a Warder's obligation was to his Aes Sedai, first and foremost, above even his own life.  And he knew that there could be a day when he made Thera his widow by dying to protect his Aes Sedai, but he would still protect her. 

 

Once he had taken an oath to a sister, he would have to choose that above all else, even her.  He knew it, and he hoped Thera would forgive him if that day ever came when he left her.

 

"As you say, Master Kynwric.  Thank you for protecting Thera from the consequences of the risks we've taken with this."

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric focused his gaze on Jase, letting the cold of a duel seep into his eyes. "You mistake me Jasine, I am not protecting her from anything. Thera will have a hard road ahead of her, I will make certain of it. But I think I would be doing the Tower a disservice by forcing her removal as the Mistress of Trainees. She is good at what she does and in my opinion good people are not turned out for minor indiscretions." He let the warmth seep back into his eyes and smiled.  "Besides, she's cuter than the last Mistress of Trainees."

[Elgee]

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