She recollected herself as quickly as possible and offered a small, polite smile to the older man. "And I am Andraste Sedai," she said. "We are grateful that you are willing to speak with us. We know it was a long time ago."
The magistrate nodded and gestured for them to follow him into a small sitting room with furniture upholstered in loud, bright green hues with a couple sky blue pillows in them. Andra was almost frightened to sit in them, like the colors might suck her inside and then she'd never escape again... Of course, that was ridiculous, and she shook her head slightly and took the offered seat.
"So, what brings all this up again?"
"Well, Magistrate Savely," Andra began, sitting back in her seat with the command-of-the-situation poise that one had to learn to be an Aes Sedai. This was going to be a delicate game, however, because she knew how grateful they were to the Aes Sedai that Andra was "investigating" and she didn't want to upset him. "There were some open questions that we wanted to clear up."
"Could you not ask Miss Nykkolaia Sedai?" Savely asked the pertinent question. He might have claimed a poor memory, but his mind was still on point.
"She is away for an extended period and on a mission that we cannot reach her, so I'm taking care of the matter myself," Andra said. She had chosen to not be bound by the Three Oaths, but told as much of the truth as she could as a practice. "Liaran Sedai," she went on, gesturing to her Sister, "is of the same Ajah as Nykkolaia and so is accompanying me."
His eyes moved from one to the other with a small nod. "She was a great help. She was able to recover almost all of our children."
Andra nodded. That brought the question of the ones who weren't. "Were the other children unable to be found, or were they..." Even she didn't want to say it.
"They weren't found," he said solemnly. "But thanks to her, we had more of them returned than we would have otherwise. And after she left, none more were taken." He settled his form into his own chair, folding his hands in his lap as his face took on a thoughtful expression and he sighed. "It was a terrible time."
"As I can well imagine, sir," Andra said with genuine sympathy.
- Spoiler: show