With his cabin destroyed, Bastian had a choice to either rebuild and continue with life as he knew it, or take a wholly different path. His father had been a military man, teaching him how to handle two axes, a skill that saved his life with the bandits so bent on making his home their own, and destroying it in the process.
Ravak and Miahala told him of the Grey Tower, and an option he wouldn’t have considered had the Wheel not seen to it that their paths cross. With nothing tying him to Kandor, he decided to follow them to the Grey Tower and see whether he could make something of himself as part of the Warder Yards. The day after their arrival, Ravak escorted him to see the Mistress of Training, one Riahana Tomosan Gaidin.
Bastian couldn’t help but notice how much the female Gaidin looked similar to Miahala Sedai, wondering if they might be related, though he said nothing at the time. Instead, he signed his name, and was then taken to the Quartermaster where he was given his uniforms. Finally, he was shown to the room he’d share with another Drin, and told he had 2 days to adjust to his life in the Tower before he began training in earnest.
Two days was not enough time to get used to the uniform, or the collar of his shirt and jacket around his neck. The boots were also odd, but they were mostly comfortable. He just couldn’t help tugging on his sleeves and collar as he walked. He had one more free day before he’d truly start down the path to become a Gaidin.
Walking through the Yards, he came to an area where several people were watching a man and woman spar without weapons. The woman seemed to be getting the best of the man, and no one seemed surprised by this. Bastian was simply because most women he’d met had no affinity to fight. The woman in the ring seemed more than capable. “I’m not sure I’d want to meet her in a dark alley.”