Things Fall Apart; The Centre Cannot Hold [Attn: Sojin Majere Gaidin]

[Bella]

...and you return to the Tower.

Those words echoed in a way she didn't like, which was a way she had never experienced before. The stole weighed around her neck like it was made of stones, and when she did return, there was no one to lighten it. There, she was alone now. Here, she was not. She valued that most of all in his company. For this time with him, she had felt not so isolated.

Mia had felt better with a companion, one she could talk to and who could understand many things about her past and her life that she knew not everyone could. She could relax here, and she had. It was precious tp her, and his words made something melancholy inside her at the thought of losing it again.

Light send, it will not be too soon, she thought. She held his gaze for a long, silent moment before she laid her head down against him with a slow release of her breath.
* * * Morning came, as it always did. Somewhere in the night, they had shifted but she still remained pressed close to him. They woke and got back on the road with no great speed, although no dawdling either. The horses seemed most ready to be moving again, given that their nights had been far less interesting than those that they bore.

As they drew nearer, she determined a little further explanation would be of use. "The house we travel to is now owned by Aeden and Tifia Col, they are cousins to the Mistress of Arms. Last news I heard was that their daughter, Jura, also lives with them. She is newly married and the husband is there. They will take over the farm when her parents are unable to do so."

Away from the Tower and over the journey, she had taken to letting her hair loose more often. The closer to Saldea, the more relaxed she became. Now she brushed some auburn and grey strands back off her forehead. "Most of the family farms are all fairly close to one another, however, so it would not be unusual to see other family.

"We are..." She paused and considered her words. "We are a close family, even at a distance. Also a lowborn one. Those of my bloodline have been mixed so much that we rather make our own way of things. My kin can be rather loud and occasionally boisterous, but are friendly." Mia gave him a side long smile. "I'll try to make sure you emerge with your hearing intact. Worse case, I'm not entirely an unskilled Healer."

[Jack]

Sojin was quiet during their morning ride, his eyes as much observing the countryside as they were reflecting back to last night.

The memories were still freshly seared into his mind, unlikely to fade anytime soon. But so too were the words he had last spoken to Miahala before they succumbed to sleep's tight embrace.

Somewhere between then and now, he had made up his mind. There was nothing left inside the Tower Walls keeping him there, aside from the prospect of more time with Miahala or his father's family.

He would be departing when they eventually reached the boundaries of Hama Valon and she was safely within reach of the entrance she had departed from.

It was a melancholy thought, but his place wasn't there anymore. It was perhaps as ominous a feeling as when Miahala had felt when she was raised to the Amyrlin Seat. He knew not where he would go, but it would be somewhere.

You always did run from things in the end, and always into problems that needed your attention, he thought.

Miahala's description of the family history intrigued him and he murmured, “If they are anything like you or Mistress Riahana, then I am sure they are fine people.”

As the Mistress of Arms had so plainly told him, it was unwise to underestimate those with Sha'hal blood, especially the women.

“It's good to have connections in place, and family to lean back on,” Sojin murmured. His mother's side of the family was small, and he and Solin were the last of their immediate line. House Walker was far flung, with too many cousins to count and a mercantile presence unchallenged even after the fall of the ancestral lands. And now that marriage into a Seanchan noble line bolstered their strength, things were all the more complicated.

It was easy to say Sojin felt no solid connection to either side of the family, outside of his brother Cade and occasionally their father.

The mention of a lowborn family made things easier. “So I would expect upfront honesty and less of the Game of Houses in Cairhien, Tear or Andor?” he asked teasingly. “And if they are as loud and boisterous as you say, I can see why you are so passionate and fun to be around.”

[Bella]

She flashed him another smile, but her affection and warmth was clear. She loved her family, even those she no longer knew that well. If you were of the Sha'hal blood, you were loved and you were welcomed. Anyone you brought with you was welcomed too. It was simply the way her family worked, and she enjoyed it.

It was somewhat ironic that so much of the bloodline descending from Doran and Miashala Sha'hal had been as such, considering that Miashala had been... Well. Mia wasn't one to speak ill of her deceased mother, but it was obvious that the jocularity of her family had come from her father and the blood of her mother--who was not born a Sha'hal, after all--had bled out.

"Oh no, no Great Games here, except the occasional foot race, human or horse foot," she replied easily, and with pride. Her ancestral line had been built on breeding horses, after all.
* * * It was well before of midday that the pair rode up.

The path was long and well worn, leading up to a broad two-story home, rustically and modestly constructed yet well-maintained and sturdy. Beyond was a healthy sized stables and the rest of the estate surrounded by fenced-in pastures. Yearlings pranced in the warm weather breeze and the older horses grazed contentedly in scattered patches.

Just from looking at it, one would never guess that this country was a Blight Border Nation.

Walking up from the stable was a statuesque young woman with slanted, dark eyes and a dark braid trailing over her shoulder. The curling tip of her hair brushed over the top of her very pregnant stomach. "Memma!" the woman called as she spotted the two riders, holding up her skirts to hurry over as quickly as she could.

Mia smiled brightly as she rode the last few steps and then dismounted, holding Seren's reins but stepping away enough to embrace the woman as she reached them. "Jura!" she exclaimed. "No one told me you were already expecting." The girl immediately blushed and had wedding night written all over her. "Relax, child."

As Jura's eyes shifted to the second horse and rider, her expression turned from embarrassed to sheepish and shy. "Jura, this is Sojin Gaidin. He accompanied me from the Tower," she introduced.

Before either of them could say anything, a pair of childish squeals came from the door. A little dark-haired girl of perhaps four and dark-haired boy of maybe two came toddling, running, tumbling out. Mia laughed. "Eloa, you were barely walking when last I saw you. Is this Ginir? I only know him from letters." She knelt down to greet them.

Now the center of attention, the pair stopped and just giggled then ran off.

"We're watching them while their parents are on the road," Jura explained.

Mia nodded and stood. Jura excused herself to keep the little ones from crawling into the pasture with the horse. Shaking her head, the Green looked back at Sojin. "I don't suppose I mentioned the Sha'hal line has also been...a fertile one. I was one of six and bore five, and I'm not unusual in this ancestry."

[Jack]

Sojin's eyes took in the old house. It was not as glorious as the spired towers or grand elegance of Tar Valon buildings, nor as ancient as the Walker Manor, but it appeared appeasing to the eye.

With Walker Manor, even the ruins that came after still spoke of strength and power. Before the Seanchan, it could withstand a siege of thousands with only a hundred soldiers. Of all Andor's mighty armies and powerful houses, it was House Walker that held the line against threats from the north, and its relationship with Tar Valon ensured a strong bulwark.

But this house, this home and hearth spoke of family and warmth. It whispered love and a soulful, boisterous sense of life that Sojin had only ever experienced once, when he had been a father and husband to a wife that by all rights was contradictory to his very lifestyle as a soldier.

And the fields and stables were so much like what he had experienced in that brief time of happiness.

When the first of Miahala's family came to greet them, Sojin's hands strayed to one of his saddlebags. In any other place and time, it would have reached for the sword at his side, but he doubted the Aes Sedai's family would be of threat to anyone but him.

Like his father, he appeared to have the ability to evoke love and hate and every emotion in between, especially when it came to certain families.

So when he dismounted and Miahala introduced him to her kin, Sojin only bowed politely.

“Sojin Majere Gaidin,” he said, bowing slightly and kissing Jura's hand in proper Tar Valon etiquette. “May Light and Grace bless you and yours, and your family find a healthy harvest and many welcome returns.”

The last was a Tuatha'an blessing, one very old and so obscure most didn't bother to recite any more. If it was one thing he inherited from his father, it was also a respect for a strong female-dominated family.

He watched as Miahala engaged with what might be assumed to be her grandchildren. Channelers lived so long that it was perhaps fitting they thought of a long-lived relative as such. Most called Jerid by the familiar title “Uncle Walker” simply because of his age and the prosperity he brought when he was High Seat.

Observing Miahala, she hardly seemed the person bogged down by the duties her role as Amyrlin Seat forced upon her. He had ever only met one other Amyrlin Seat in personal meeting, and Jerid could tell the weight was immense.

But then that woman had been noble-born and a skilled manipulator in the Game of Houses. Where most feared her, Sojin challenged her over the right to let her daughter be free.

Miahala was strong-willed and yet more in touch with the Tower's pulse than most he knew about. She was kind and fiery, merciless and yet full of mercy. She was the Amyrlin Seat the Tower deserved, but wondered if the Hall would conform to her needs instead of trying to bend her to its will.

The Hall of Sitters is a bureaucratic nightmare full of good people turned into pompous idiots when it convenes. Those were the words of the First Seeker.

To see her interact so with children was … heartening and yet heart-wrenching. It reminded him of his own time with his son Gideon, and with his little brother before he left the Tower.

When the children had scampered away and Jura followed suit, Sojin nearly blinked at Miahala's rather blunt explanation.

He grinned and inclined his head. “Aye, Walkers are pretty much the same. My oldest sister, as I recall, had six children … before ...”

Before the Fiery Serpent and the massacre at House Walker. He put it behind him. “Coincidentally, they are wide spread and with many branches spread across Andor, and the southland.”

He tilted his head and moved closer, nipping her lips before he smiled. “But one would wonder, Miahala Sedai, if you were making a domestic inquiry or simply bragging.”

[Bella]

Knowing his history, having learned so much of it on their journey here, she knew that seeing her family and its young ones would likely bring some bittersweet (at best) feelings. In truth, some of that stirred deep in her mind as well, seeing as three of her five children were long gone and the descendants she visited here were generations removed from them.

"Must one choose?" she returned in a light, teasing tone. "Given another generation or two, my family may rule Saldea simply by sheer numbers. Why not brag?"

She turned her head back when she heard Jura all but dragging the smaller boy into the house. Her mind flowed back to the days when that had been her. Oh, when Rynny had been born, she had been so young... Inhaling deeply, that very breath escaped her in a wistful sound but her smile touched her lips and warmed her eyes.

Once Jura had vanished inside, the door opened again for Aeden and Tifia--the kin who owned the house--to come out. More warm greetings, more introductions, and then Mia and Sojin were ushered into the house. As they walked, she leaned nearer to him and said in a low voice, "If you're curious, Jura is my great-great-granddaughter. And the little ones? Are the great-great-great-great-grandchildren of my eldest brother. Dorant, the one who brought me to the Tower after my mother threw me out."

[Jack]

Sojin tilted his head and grinned. “It's not uncommon for a noble house to rise from the people,” he murmured. “Is it not Davram Bashere, the Lord Dragon's general, who said that all noble families came from that very spot because men and women trusted them to lead and protect.”

Before they moved any farther, he unhooked one of his saddlebags from Tsyn, patted the mare and begged her to be polite.

His eyes flashed with a brief seriousness. “I think sometimes those of noble blood forget that. I'm thankful at least the Borderlands and my father's immediate kin never forgot that.”

The days where Sojin could be a father were long past him. Yes, he could still father children, but he was a soldier. He learned very painfully over two different times that that life could be perilous for a family. His first love and their son were dead; Saphire had lost their unborn children because he was not quick enough.

“Okay, now you're just showing off,” Sojin teased as she informed him of the lineage of each individual. Beneath the humor was a deep appreciation for the knowledge and trust of information that she bestowed on him.

Most Aes Sedai were closed, especially the older they became. She was … different in so many flaming ways.

He was courteous when they greeted Aeden and Tifia with the same honorific he had greeted Jura with. He was a soldier whom they were taking in, and he did only what he could with what he could offer. His sword was Miahala's and that extended to her family.

From the saddlebag he carried, he also produced a few house gifts. A bottle of fine Andoran brandy from the Two Rivers, a knife of exquisite craftsmanship from House Walker's blacksmith for the lady of the House, and gifts for the children. They were all meant for the Tower, but in this instance, it was much more suiting to fit them to a family who would host them.

In his mind, these were people who stood above nobility and were more deserving of his respect than some distant lord who cared little for the people under his protection. To house a soldier was a great risk.

“You have a long and storied family, Aes Sedai, and it is good to see them thrive so near the Blight,” he said. “Our children are the best of us and this is proof especially of your noble bloodline.”

[Bella]

In truth, Miahala's word made it no risk to house anyone. All of her lineage knew that if anyone at all, no matter who they were, posed any threat to her family, she would peel their skin from their muscles and then carve those from their bones and light the bones on fire, using the charred ends to write the story so all would know.

Even if they killed her, she would crawl back from the grave (again) and see it done.

Thus, they had no worries to welcome Sojin, so unknown as he was, into their home. Although the gifts were certainly appreciated, as who did not appreciate a man who was a good house guest?

The antechamber was a small affair for dirty boots and bulky cloaks. As the weather was warm, neither was a concern. They were both led into the kitchen, which was the largest room of the downstairs. The fire burned with a large cast iron pot hanging over it, wonderful aromas rising from it and filling the house. On the hot stones of the hearth rose two loaves of bread.

Sitting at the table, polite conversation ensued while the children ran at the far end of the room. They were playing some game of their own invention, using a language equally of their own invention, laughing and tumbling. Most of the conversation involved Mia, of course, she was their kin and known to them, but a share of (polite) questions made their way to Sojin as well.

When Jura rose and brought up a basket from the sideboard, beginning to slice the vegetables there in, Mia shooed her away to sit her heavily pregnant self back down and took over. It had been a while since she'd done any proper cooking, but the woman's hands knew how to handle a knife, regardless of what the blade was going into.

"When will I get to meet this husband of yours?" she asked, still cutting while her eyes lifted briefly to the young woman.

"It depends on how long you'll be staying," Jura replied. "He won't be home until tomorrow, as he had a long journey for some supplies for the stable. A few recent storms broke in parts of the roof, and we don't have everything here to fix it."

Mia smiled. "I suppose that is one benefit of living in buildings made of stones. It takes storms considerably larger than ones here to form holes," she commented. "Have you heard from your cousins of late? Riahana's daughter is now an Accepted." She did not, of course, tell them about the conversation she'd had with her young kin about the Arches.

Everyone expressed their admiration for yet another of the blood ascending to the ranks of the Tower. "So, how long will we enjoy the pleasure of your company?"

"How long do you think you can stand me?" she replied easily.

Aeden laughed. "I imagine our stubbornness could see us through and let us endure," he replied with the same humor.

OOC: Okay, gonna stop myself before I run off into a fic. If you want to gloss over the meal at all, I think I'll have the Next Part start in my next post.

[Jack]

Sojin was not accustomed to the family table, at least not at this intimate of a level. When he led men into combat, he shared fire and meal with them as any good officer would do, both most were Cairhienin, unaccustomed to more than polite conversation with a noble.

In House Walker's situation, his meals were spent alone, reading over reports, or with distinguished guests working an angle.

As such, it was perhaps a little awkward for him as Miahala and her family conversed among themselves. He offered a few words here and there, and answered questions about his role and responsibilities at the Tower.

No he had no family other than those of his immediate family. Yes, he had been a plain ordinary soldier before he came to the Yards so long ago. Yes, he knew what it was to combat Shadowspawn. He seemed to earn brownie points when he mentioned killing a Fade what seemed a lifetime ago.

So when Miahala stood and shooed her granddaughter away to prepare the meal, he begged off and moved to help the Aes Sedai. His skills as a chef were notoriously bad but his preparation skills were second to none. He sliced with her and murmured, “I should have mentioned I'm not so well versed in this type of thing anymore. I … would rather face a horde of Trollocs in some ways.”

There was a pang of guilt in Sojin's voice. Miahala's family was lovely and generous. In many ways he was trying to be a good guest, but there was a longing of when that had been him at the table with his kin.

He continued to chop food in silence and returned when Miahala all but booted him from the sideboard.

So he returned and politely listened as Miahala made conversation with her kin. Perhaps, more than anything in his time, this was the life he would have wanted to lead. A part of him could accept lying down his sword and resort to a life of farming and living from the land.

He looked at Miahala and smiled softly. Such a life would not be entirely unpleasant.

When the meal was properly served, the interrogation of Sojin Majere began again in earnest. He was a soldier, a former High Seat of one of Andor's oldest Houses, a Warder bound to the Grey Tower despite his origins in Tar Valon.

What were his intentions toward their esteemed matriarch?

Sojin nearly bit his tongue at that question. “I thought Miahala Sedai could use some company and I had no need to be back at the Tower,” he murmured. “My intentions are ones of the heart and what duty requires, not because she is Aes Sedai, but the person she is in her soul. I've never met a more fearless or loving woman in my years of service in Hama Valon.”

[Bella]

Her kin were less schooled, and less naturally inclined, in hiding their thoughts. They showed their surprise, and yet earnest appreciation, for his words clear in their expression. Mia looked at him, but her expression was far more guarded. Not unkind, and not wholly returned to a veneer of well crafted white porcelain, but none could read what she felt.

Whatever they may have wanted to say, whatever accolades on their tongues or maybe approbation on hers may have been released, there was not a moment to offer it. For, just on the other side of the door, the sound of galloping hooves came to their attention. The sound came not from the pasture, but from the well-trod path to the house.

Miahala immediately embraced saidar, but she did not move. A threat usually would not announce themselves so noisily, and this was not her home.

A firm knocked sounded on the door. Curious, but not precisely worried, looks were exchanged. Mia keenly watched the door, but she kept her seat as Aeden rose. On the other side stood a man geared most obviously as a guard, though his traveling gear was splattered with pale, dried mud. "I have a message for Miahala Sedai," he said.

How in the Light was I bloody found out so fast? The words echoed through her mind as she tried to figure out the puzzle. It should have been logistically impossible, to her thoughts, but the Wheel weaves...

The young guard saw her and inclined his head with an almost guilty expression. "You are a not a woman unknown in your homeland, Lady Sedai," he said, bowing slightly. "You were spotted when you crossed the border and the commander of my garrison, who is known to you, was made aware. He dispatched me with great haste to meet you, though I could not make it in time before you arrived here."

"Who is your commander?" she asked curiously. To say that she knew many of the military men of the borderlands would be an understatement. The outposts, particularly of Saldea and Shienar, knew her well.

"Keter Alnar, my lady," he said with some pride.

His name was instantly familiar. He commanded an outpost on the edge of Saldea and the Blight, one of the stalwart bastions of defense that these countries were known for. The Green nodded to acknowledge that recognition. "What message does the good commander have for me that would be so urgent?" she asked without recrimination.

Looking askance at Aeden, who nodded, the young guard stepped in and handed her a letter. She took it and examined the details. It looked like a man riding hard had carried it, and looking at the seal pressed into the dark wax, she recognized it. Nothing suggested that this man, and thus this message, were not in earnest.

"My commander bids me gain an answer from you about the message contained therein," he said.

"Give me a moment, then," she said. "Please wait outside. I shall attend shortly."

He nodded, pressing his fist over his chest and bowing again before turning and returning to his horse. Aeden shut the door and returned to the table, where all eyes were curious on the Aes Sedai. She smiled ruefully. "Once never can truly escape, apparently," she said. She almost added, "Even in death," but wasn't sure how well that joke would do. Her gaze brushed over Sojin before turning to the letter.

Pulling apart the seal, she unfolded the parchment and read the hastily scrawled message. As she had expected, it was a call for aid. An Aes Sedai of her power and reputation being so close to a border post in need...

"Duty calls," she said softly. "The Blight has been restless of late, and the outposts not so well supplied in men and items as it should have been. Commander Alnar has asked for my help." She folded the letter back up and tapped it against her palm. Her expression was apologetic as she turned to her family. "I cannot turn him down, but Light willing, I'll return to see you soon."

They were clearly disappointed and concerned, but they understood. Duty. It weighed heavily upon them all. Mia looked at Sojin and inclined her head to him. "If I still have your sword, Gaidin..." At his nod, she rose. "I will make him aware and we will prepare to depart. It will take one night's camp and arrive on the morrow."

Disappointment weighed heavily upon her as she strode out of the house. She founded the soldier patiently waiting beside his steed, standing straighter as she approached. "Tell Commander Alnar that I will, of course, assist him. Ride on ahead to inform him, and we shall follow. I know the weigh to his outpost."

Again, the soldier saluted and then mounted without another word. She watched his horse's hooves kick dirt up into the evening air before turning and heading back into the house. Sojin already had their things gathered, and she quickly said her farewells to her family with the promise that she would return.

Mia walked out with the Gaidin, finding their horses were one of the hired hands had taken them to the stable and tacking them up again for the journey. "This was not how I meant for this trip to go," she admitted with an almost sorrowful smile. "If we ride until after sunset and make a short camp for the night, we can be to the outpost shortly after midday tomorrow."

[Jack]

Sojin's casually drifted toward his sword hilt as he saw Miahala's body shift slightly at the sound. He was skilled enough to know when an Aes Sedai might perceive a threat, however small it might be.

Of course, an attack on this particular household would be a mistake that a person would not live to regret. Between his sword and her ability to pretty much skewer the threat, there wouldn't be enough to tell the tale.

He watched as Aeden rose from his seat at the table and answer the door. When his sapphire eyes fell on the soldier on the outside, he relaxed only slightly. It was his experience that even a seemingly familiar face or uniform could hide dangers all their own.

As the guard noted the message he had for Miahala, the Gaidin couldn't help but smile wryly at the Aes Sedai.

It was true then that the Green Ajah seemed to attract soldiers and trouble wherever they traveled within the Borderlands. He stood as Miahala conversed with the soldier, hand quietly tapping the hilt of his broadsword.

It would seem their stay with Miahala's family would be shortlived, especially in light of a run by Shadowspawn against Saldaea's border.

“Your popularity in the Borderland at least appears to equal or exceed what you face at the Grey Tower, Aes Sedai,” he said with some amusement. At least Sojin felt Miahala could take some of her frustration out on the enemy.

Her question needed no answer but a nod of affirmation before he moved to gather the gear that had only just recently been unloaded. Sojin murmured his thanks to Miahala's family for shelter under their roof before heading to stables, a half-step ahead of the Green.

Sojin patted Tsyn on the neck after he mounted her and murmured, “Once more unto the breach, old friend.”

He nodded his head slightly at Miahala's comment and murmured, “We'll be back before you know it, Miahala, driving them crazy with questions. One look at you and the Shadowspawn may just shrug, give up and run to terrorize some flock of Blight beasts instead.”

His thoughts turned inward for a bit as his eyes scanned the road ahead of them, part of him wondering whether the next day would provide the proper setting to inform Miahala of his decision to leave the Grey Tower Warder Yards.

The fancloak he hadn't worn in ages still remained in a satchel, perhaps ready to be returned to the Gaidin Captain for good.

“Onwards until dusk and camp,” Sojin said with a small smile.