Haeden had been spending more time than usual in the training yards.
There was much in his mind that he needed to work through, and he knew that it was better to bleed it out in training rather than in drinking. His self-control had become strong enough once again to overtake the urge for the second and pour it all into the first. As such, he was frequently missing mealtimes.
This fact brought him to the kitchens in between meals, and having grown up as a child of the Tower, the Mistress of the Kitchens--who had been there for decades and seemed as likely Aes Sedai as anyone else since she just kept going--took pity on him and would always sort out a meal for him.
He was only a little disheveled for this visit, having put his shirt back on after training but leaving it untucked. His long blond hair was hastily finger-combed and returned to its tie. With his stamina, he didn't look very winded although it was clear that he had been hard at work for some hours.
"Back to your irregular hours, I see," one of the kitchen servants said when they said him. The young woman smiled a little, and he smiled a little back.
"It is what it is," he said, taking a seat at one of the scattered stools before the large center counter. He watched the servant move off to fetch food for him and then looked around.
That was when he saw a face coming through the door that he had not expected. It had been a while--since the festival--that he had seen her at all, although she had been much in his thoughts. He hastily got to his feet, so hastily that another may have fallen but his Gaidin grace kept him upright.
"Aes Sedai," he said, bowing his head respectfully.
- Spoiler: show