Heartburn (Attn Edana)

[U4ea]

Edana nodded and picked at the few bits of food that remained on her plate. She'd thought of all those coincidences before. In fact, Sandre had pointed them out once.

 

When Dante had finished, she looked up at him. Her face was expressionless. "What if those are just coincidences, Dante? Things aren't wonderful when we're together. We fight far too much. He doesn't trust me." She paused there and swiped at him with her hand. "I'm not arguing about that, either. Sure, he ignored the rumors, but he truly expected me to tell him that someone jumped me as if I needed saving. When I didn't, he assumed I was guilty of what he'd put together in his mind and made his decision to leave. The last time he left, was another disaster. He was actually assigned to leave that time, but..." She shook her head and sighed. "What if we're not meant to be together and this is Fate pulling us apart?"

 

It had been something she'd been considering quite a bit over the last few weeks. What if what appeared to be 'meant to be,' really wasn't?

 

~Edana

[Sangreal]

"Its a pretty large leap to go from these are just coincidences to what if we are supposed to be apart." He said. He knew she was stubborn but this... "If you were being pulled apart he wouldnt have made that deal with the Aes Sedai and would be in Caemlyn while you were here... or perhaps your father would have lived and you would be in Caemlyn and he would have made his deal and would still be here..."

 

He knew how he could put this to rest... though Sandre would kill him for ever mentioning it... "This stays between us... Sandre when he was fourteen made that deal with that Aes Sedai... a couple months after getting home he left... He took only his horse and the clothes on his back... he wandered the world... begged for food since he had no survival skills... stole when he couldnt find an open hand. Found out first hand what it was like to be beaten and robbed and serve time in prison and labor camps. Watched good people die there. You have told him a noble would never understand. We have heard it down the halls when you argue. But half his life was spent poorer than you can imagine. It should not be such a huge surprise that he came out of that and found someone he values more than his own life and be absolutely terrified hes going to lose it and assume the worse when he has it because until he met you thats the way the world treated him."

 

He didnt bother to look at her to see the effect this was having on her. Dante had a hard time explaining this to their father and eldest after Sandre told him. It tore him up inside to picture his brother as he is now. A total change came of it all. Sandre didnt deserve what had happened to him. He hoped it was enough for Edana to understand. She would have to make her choices based on that.

[U4ea]

Edana sighed and set her fork down. Sandre would kill him for mentioning it, he had that right. It didn't make the urge to hit him any less... there. "Sandre is lucky he has a brother like you," she said softly, her eyes not leaving her plate. Was it wrong for her to add this to the list of reasons why it was so obvious Sandre didn't trust her? She'd told him the worst about herself and yet he could keep something like that to himself? He would've kept the dueling to himself, too, if she hadn't brought it up for him.

 

She raised her eyes to Dante again. She didn't have to tell him she didn't know about those things. It was a lot to think about. She propped her elbows on the table and steepled her fingers, laying her index fingers against her chin. "I don't know what to do, Dante. One one hand, I want to find him, kiss him senseless and then tie him to my side so he never leaves me again. One the other hand, I have to keep asking myself if this is what the rest of my life will be like. When things don't go his way, is he going to leave? If the day ever comes when there are children involved, will he hate me for tying him down so he can't get away without complications? I can't do that, Dante. I love him more..." she stopped and shook her head, turning to look out the window a moment until she could speak past the lump in her throat. "I love him more than anything. I just don't want to spend the rest of my life waiting on him to leave again."

 

~Edana

[Sangreal]

"Leave again?" he asked as he started on another plate. "He sleeps with a lock of your hair on his pillow. He never really left and the only reason he walked out that door was because he found you in the arms of another man" The look she gave him made him quickly correct himself "Yes I know what the situation was but he didnt. He wanted you to be happy even if it wasnt with him." He tried not to let frustration he was going through show as he cut the chicken... "He would go back with you even with what he thinks you did if you took him back and promised not to do 'it' again."

 

He took a bite mostly to think on it a moment but partially not to clench his teeth together. When his teeth had showed that piece of chicken whos boss he was ready to speak again. "Your angry with him fine walk up to him deck him a good one with that mean right you have and call him an idiot for thinking you would ever cheat on him then kiss him and tell him hes not allowed to leave again without you. He would listen... I thought you didnt want kids? You know he told father there wouldnt be any kids from you and him because you had said you didnt want them right?... random tangent sorry." He waved it away.

 

"He didnt tell you about that part of his life because he felt you would love him anyways so it wasnt important. Ask him one day. Expect to see him in pain when he tells you but he will tell you."

[U4ea]

Edana shook her head again, fighting to keep from getting irritated. Some day, a woman was going to have HIM tied in these knots and she'd be happy to turn the table on him when she does. Then he'd understand. She dropped a hand into her lap and curled the fist until she felt the bite of her nails in her palm. The pain would keep her thinking.

 

"It doesn't change the fact that he left without saying anything to me. He didn't even give me a chance to..." she sighed and waved her free hand, dismissing the topic. "Nevermind. If the Fates put us together again, so be it. If not..." she shrugged. "So be it."

 

"Either way, it's not going to stop us from being on cart duty for the next year or so." She tried to change the subject, reminding herself that he was far from an impartial party to discuss his brother with. It wasn't the first time she wished she had someone she could vent to who wouldn't shout right back at her for being an idiot.

 

~Edana

[Sangreal]

Dante nodded. "Yeah there is cart duty... I dont think it will be more than a few months... though carting the collective garbage of Tar Valon wont be much different than what we currently do. Except this time we get to burn it once its far enough away from Tar Valon to not be a bother." He smiled... he was talking about some of the strange people that showed up here thinking they could pick a fight with the Tower Guards. Drunks, Bandits, almost every sort of trouble maker you could imagine for some reason had it in their minds to tour the White Tower.

 

"Im sure we will come to respect the river a lot more since we will be too dirty to be allowed in the bath house I think. Will be like old times for you eh Edana?" He was referring to when she first came here and used to bathe in the river like Sandre did. Both of then eventually broke that habit but they had to be together to overcome that obstacle.

[U4ea]

Edana smiled and shook her head. "That River is cold," she said, glad he took the turn she moved the conversation to. "I don't know how your brother managed to take a bath in it every day! He only managed to talk me into it when we had time..." she let that sentence end itself, a smile hovering on her lips. Those few bits of time hadn't ended with a bath in the river, usually. "I used to pick on him mercilessly for being afraid of showering with other people."

 

She thought for a moment and grinned. "Do you suppose we could use that fire to warm the water up? I mean, if it's going to be burning, anyway, couldn't we make it useful?" Her mind was already devising how to arrange a tub near enough to the flames to heat the water...

 

~Edana

[Sangreal]

Dante had to laugh. Already she was used to the bath house. "Yeah well... there was more than one time a trainee or Guard had to do a one eighty turn when they stumbled across your extra bathing activities in the bath house too... the only the thing that changed was that you no longer had a cold river as your excuse to warm up."

 

Dante shook his head. Not everyone would turn around and leave either... He sat back with just his drink feeling thoroughly stuffed. Now that he had time to think about the job ahead he put his mind on how to get it done quickly.

 

"We could get a tub by it but would you want to get out in front of the other workers right in the middle of the smoke of burning garbage? Just bring a soap since we have to take it a day or two out of town. I dont think anyone will try to sneak a peak at you... want to maybe but try to... doubtful."

[U4ea]

Edana shook her head, letting his remarks about the bath house go. He was right about the water not being as cold, though.

 

"I doubt anyone would take to take a peek at a woman who is covered in grime and smells worse than the refuse behind their house! I'm pretty sure we can create a nice hideaway for the tub, too. Sure, the surrounding ambiance wouldn't be as sweet smelling as, say, a field of heather in spring, but... I have a good imagination." She grinned and raised her eyebrows. "How about you?"

 

~Edana

[Sangreal]

"Well considering we will be carting away the refuse behind someones house and working with fire... a cold jump in the river will feel good to me." The Tavern Maid came to clear away plates. He didnt see any change and for the first time he wondered how much he gave her. The eyes she gave him said he would get something back for it though...

 

"Well... we better get some sleep before we have to work tonight. I think I may just get a room here... meet you outside the gates tonight with our fellow trouble makers?"

[U4ea]

Edana nodded, dropping coins on the table to pay for her meal and drinks. "I think I'll head back to the Barracks. The walk will do me good. I'll see you in the morning, Dante," she said, saluting him rather sloppily as she moved towards the door. She had no doubt where Dante was spending his night and she had no interest in trying to distract herself from the noise. The thought made her smile all the way back to the barracks, though.

 

*********

Morning light broke across the Yards, but Ed had been up for a while. She pulled on the clothes she cared the least about and joined the gathering of people who were on the Captain's hit list. She groaned inwardly, recognizing one of the Guards she'd punched two days before. He knew her instantly and the look in his eye said he'd be more than happy for a rematch to even the stakes. Lovely, trash AND an enemy. Doesn't get much better than that...

 

~Edana

[Sangreal]

Dante didnt grab more than a couple hours sleep before it was time to leave to start the trash carts. He gently and quietly put on his clothes. He rubbed his wrists where the manacles had dug in and tip toed out of the room. Talia, the tavern maid, slept quietly unmoving, with a slight smile. He crept out the back door and to the bridge where he was to meet Edana. He was not in the mood to work today but it wouldnt give him a day off if he reported in as ill.

 

"Morning Edana." He said as he fell in next to her and rubbed his eyes. Nothing short of a dip in a river and maybe being half drowned was going to wake him up. He smiled when he saw that they werent the only ones from that fight he smiled. (Rematch!) came to his mind.

[U4ea]

Edana saw the exhaustion in Dante's eyes get replaced by the light of... a fight? She almost groaned. "I won't call it good, Dante, but morning is accurate enough. What do you say we try to make it through the day without burying someone in the rubbage?"

 

Gauging the look in the Guard's eye the next time her eyes happened to catch them let her know that, if they managed to be successful today, it was only a matter of time before they were pressed about it tomorrow. She eyed Dante a moment as she loaded a cart in a particularly smelly area of town. "He's not going to wait until tomorrow," she said softly. "Are you rested enough not to be what gets hidden in the dump site?"

 

~Edana

[Sangreal]

Dante shrugged as he tossed a large sack of rotted meat from behind a butchery into a cart. "What a shame... this would have made good if put in an empty field... you would have a good harvest if you used it for such the year after."

 

Edana however was waiting for an answer about the guard. "I dont think he will be stupid enough. He couldnt take either of us much less both and they would notice a couple guards missing. He wants a rematch thats fine but it needs to be done within the rules of Tower Law which is under the supervision of rank and a master."

 

Dante continued staying wary of the Guard until their cart was filled and they were able to retrieve another one. There were quite a few Guards with hidden pasts. Some were coming out with it if it was an unresolved past and some were content not to risk their necks for their past deeds. This guard was no exception though he couldnt hold his tongue when he drank. He was good at covering his tracks but Dante had encountered him once before while tracking down the source of the rumors that came from the Blacksmith apprentice. If Dante mentioned now that the guard had a reason to be mad at her for beating his friend the apprentice to a pulp, even if he had it coming, he was afraid Edana would not wait to attack him. It wouldnt hurt to hint though.

 

"Edana... his eyes are on you not me... be careful. I will watch your back but he is not mad at you over the fight... hes mad about what you did to his friend Bryiam."

[U4ea]

Edana flinched at the mention of the apprentice of the smith's shop and couldn't stop her eyes from finding that Guard's again. "Is that so?" she asked cooly. She'd learned her lesson from attacking Master Kynwric. She wasn't allowing her anger to get the best of her. She paused and eyed Dante a moment. Well, with that one notable exception, anyway. She smirked and nearly started humming as she reached for an empty cart to continue down the alley they'd been assigned. At least now she didn't have a reason to hold back if he chose to light into them.

 

"Perhaps he should've learned something," she said in an almost sing-song voice. She lifted a large box off the back stoop of a townhouse and dropped it in the cart. "His little friend should've warned him about red heads who've handed their hearts to other men."

 

She hummed a bit more, which seemed to irritate the Guardsman. It was a rather ugly grimace that stretched across his face as he pushed his cart to meet them. "It's your fault I've got this penance," he said, not bothering to hide his malice. "You will pay for that, wench."

 

Edana smiled at him and that seemed to make him more angry. She smiled wider when she noticed it. "Oh, that's just too bad," she said, pouting up her lips. She'd learned something from watching the nobles Sandre had been introducing her to. "I was so hoping we could be friends and you'd show me a thing or two about..."

 

She paused and tilted her head, then turned her head towards Dante. "Was it losing that he did? He didn't do it well, either, if I remember correctly." She pretended to think for a few seconds more and turned back to the Guard. "On second thought, there's not really much of anything you could teach me, so I think I'll pass on being friends, after all." She shrugged and reached for another box.

 

It was enough to goad him into pushing the cart forward and attacking, though. He really should've thought before he attacked someone lifting a box from the back of a blacksmith's shop, though. The metal scraps showered over his head and shoulders as the box connected with his head. "Oh, my! I don't believe that box was trash, after all..."

 

 

~Edana

[Sangreal]

Dante shook his head and rubbed his temples as soon as the box left Edana's hands. He had only been at this a few hours and already he hated the job and at this rate they would never get out of it... it was pretty funny though...

 

The Guard came at Edana as fast as he could to tackle her but Dante was between the two. Grabbing the back of the man's head and dropping his body weight sent the guard to the ground. Dante pinned him there with the hand on the back of the man's neck and a knee on the man' shoulder. The man thrashed about as Dante looked back. "Enough!... there is a time and a place. Edana there is no glory in beating him here. Let the entire yard see you do it and I assure you that will teach them not to spread rumors about you." The Guards around him were laughing and even Edana looked amused. The Guard however kept thrashing. "Whats so funny?" he said becoming more irate that they were laughing at him. One of them pointed down to the Guard and Dante realized he was holding him face down in the center of the alley in a puddle of chamber pot refuse. The Guard was thrashing because Dante was drowning him.

 

Standing up again the Guard started spitting and gasping for breath. He was still being laughed at though only Dante and Edana were not laughing. Dante didnt exactly feel bad about what he did as much as foolish that he did it without realizing it. Dante turned to go back to work as the Guard caught his breath some went with him but couldnt hold in the snickers. There wasnt any more trouble with him for the rest of the morning.

 

As the train of carts left Tar Valon the story quickly spread. Every time he caught pieces of it he frowned in anger a they made it sound like he intentionally tried to drown the Guard in refuse. Edana however they avoided... probably for the best.

[U4ea]

Edana noticed the averted eyes and heard the whispers about Dante's near incident in the alleyway. She chewed the corner of her lip and watched the Guard in question as he pushed his cart out of the city. She muttered under her breath. She hadn't wanted to feel sorry for the guy. Now, though, he wasn't just aiming for her with his revenge. She had an awful hunch that he wouldn't be happy with a showing in the Yard, either. They'd both have to watch their backs with that one.

 

She sighed as they made camp, intentionally unrolling her bedroll close to Dante's. It might backfire, creating more rumors and ugliness, but she'd rather live to see morning and that was much more likely if there were two of them on edge all night. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I didn't mean for you to get involved like that."

 

~Edana

[Sangreal]

Dante was happy to wash the smell of garbage off his body and put on clean clothes as they settled for the night. He, like everyone else, moved his bed roll far away from the carts and upwind. When Edana laid her bed roll out next to his he shot everyone watching a sharp look. He had names and faces this time.

 

As he laid there and stared at the stars he heard Edana apologize.

 

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I didn't mean for you to get involved like that." she said

 

He didnt look at her but instead just quietly responded. "You just beat me to it is all. No need to be sorry."

 

His mind was on Rasheta. As it was every night he slept alone. He wasnt the type to sleep around. Or he wasnt until he met her and realized it was her he wanted to sleep next to. It was a dream. One that caused pain and happiness.

 

He also worried about his brother. Somewhere in the Borderlands he was fighting to protect lives and here Dante was... moving trash.

 

[U4ea]

Edana shrugged and let her eyes linger on the fire dancing a few feet away. "He's not going to let it drop and I'm afraid for you." It was the closest she'd come to admitting she'd come to love him like a brother, too. It was the closest he was likely to get for a while. She didn't trust brothers, as a general rule.

 

She looked at him and sighed. "What are you thinking about so hard? You can't tell me the trash or that guard are all that terribly important to you?"

 

~Edana

[Sangreal]

Dante shrugged. "I am not afraid of him." He laid there and reached into his pocket and clutched the  cloak pin with his family crest on it. His father would be ashamed of him for this. Eldest wouldnt like it but would get over it and likely give him a hard time about it after. "I was thinking of an Aes Sedai I met once... she was... beautiful but not meant for me. I was also thinking about Sandre... hes out there making a difference... sleeping on the hard ground. Planning battles and having to hold inside the pain every time someone dies in his plans. Hes awake right now you know? Laying on his bed roll and clutching that..." He stopped and rolled over. He wasnt trying to make Edana feel guilty and he had almost let slip that Sandre was likely clutching the lock of her hair to his chest. He had to envy him even that. Dante would have given anything for a lock of Rasheta's hair or a length of cloth with her scent.

 

"Should we envy someone who may die tonight? He may already be gone, he may have died a hero this very day and look at the extent of our accomplishments today. If the Aes Sedai ever found out about this I doubt she would ever send a novice to try and deliver a letter to me to meet her again."

 

 

[U4ea]

Edana laid down and stared above them, glad the night was clear and the stars were shining. "Some days, I envy quite a lot of dead people," she said softly. She tried hard not to think of Sandre, especially not a dead Sandre. He haunted her dreams enough. "It's nice to have someone to look up to. It keeps things in perspective, I guess."

 

She turned her head and looked at him, then looked back up at the stars. "Aes Sedai are just people," she said softly. "They all make mistakes, they all live through some horrific things. They all pull their skirts on, the same way I would..." she smirked and looked at him again. "You know, if I wore skirts."

 

She shrugged and waved her hand. "If she's any kind of woman, she will understand this and accept it. If she doesn't, then she probably doesn't warrant this level of devotion, anyway. I would think surviving this would be about equal to leading an army through enemy territory. You should consider this a training exercise so that you may better serve her someday. We have a duty, a delivery, a known enemy who may be creating still more unknown enemies and there's a very real possibility we won't live to get back home. If that's not an adventure, I don't know what is!" She stopped and smirked again. "Now, if only it smelled like the woods and not like garbage..."

 

~Edana

[Sangreal]

Dante rolled over and gave her a bar of the pine based soap that Sandre had made for the both of them to clean wounds. "Put it by your pillow... will remind you of a forest." he hoped it didnt remind her of Sandre who always smelled heavily of the stuff. Perhaps it had been long enough for her to forget that fact.

 

"Theres no devotion involved... at least not like you think there is. I think shes beautiful. I look at her and think I will never see or meet another woman who will ever come close to being more attractive than her to me. Its a grim feeling... like forgetting the words to your favorite song or losing a memento you can not replace."

 

He lightly pulled a dagger from his leather bracer and held it so it was still concealed in the bracer... in case the guard did try something and rolled over again.

 

"I cant keep my eyes open any more. Good night Sis."

[U4ea]

Edana's mind wandered the minute her hands took the soap from Dante's hands. She barely heard his words, but he laid back and went to sleep before she could clear her thoughts. The camp settled down, but Edana was awake. The pine was a heady scent that woke her senses.

 

She crossed her legs under her and stared into the fire, the gentle caress of the scent tingling her nose as memories tickled her thoughts. She let her thoughts wander in a way they hadn't in a long, long time. She pictured the Spring and felt the flow of the water moving through her thoughts. The gentle bend of the landscape urging the water ever downhill. The memories danced on that water. Not all of them were particularly good memories, but her mind picked out the good pieces and linked them together.

 

The day she'd met Sandre... his soft smile... the rigid set of his jaw when he thought he was right... the glitter in his eye when he was up to mischief... the night of their date... the dance of the candle's flame in his deep blue eyes... the pride in the set of his shoulders... the gentle guidance of his hands as they danced... their argument before he left for the borderlands... the angry set of his features that nearly made her shiver... the tight hug he'd wrapped around her before she'd had to leave... the day he'd come back to her... the mist surrounding him in the Glade... the hesitancy in his voice, as if he thought she wouldn't want him, anymore... the days on guard duty... the laughter in his eyes as they made jokes to pass the day... the easy gait of his walk as he patrolled the wall... their last argument, when he'd left her for good... the way the tears made his eyes shine like sapphires... the raw, painful slant of his shoulders that made him look so vulnerable...

 

She sighed, seeing dawn creeping up ahead of her. The cool dampness that signaled the morning called others from their sleep. She felt oddly rested, though she hadn't slept a wink. She heard Dante stirring and smiled down at him, offering him the soap back. "Good morning, brother. Would you care for coffee?"

 

~Edana

 

 

[Sangreal]

Dante groggily shook himself awake and sat up. For one who valued his bodies health so much he still took a good hour to wake up enough to think clearly. Coffee did awful things to his stomach though. "No thank you... I just need to dive into the river and I will be awake."

 

The rumble of his stomach came as a surprise but he recalled there really wasnt too much time to eat the day before. He would need to eat a good mean since they would be burning garbage all day today and he wasnt sure he would want to eat when that was done. Looking at Edana he wasnt sure he wanted to chance her cooking. He wasnt sure he wanted to show her that he could cook either though. A second rumble of his stomach convinced him it was ok to let this one slip.

 

Taking supplies from a burlap sack he carried he looked over to Edana. "How much did you get used to Sandre's love of spicy food?... and would you like to learn to cook?"

[U4ea]

Edana smirked, debating whether to tell him that she could cook a decent meal or not. Having been the only girl in the house growing up, it had naturally fallen to her to handle meals in the middle of her training. She shook her head and laughed. "Is spicy what you'd call Sandre's cooking? I don't mind spices as long as they're not battling each other and setting my mouth on fire. What did you have in mind?"

 

She didn't mention whether she wanted to learn how to cook, she just arranged herself close enough to watch him. Whether he was good at it or not, she was at least going to be able to watch him make it. She'd know just how much to feed the refuse pyre later. She grinned at the thought. Surely someone in Sandre's family could cook!

 

~Edana