Conor Palfrey & Cody Thorton
Talk on the Fire's Side
It didn't take long for the fire to build to a good heat. Cody returned from his collection of traps with just a rabbit. Conor raised an eyebrow at his friend who then held up a leather sack. "Eggs." They grinned at each other as Conor moved to his bag and pulled out a well used cast iron pan large enough to cook eggs and rabbit meat with ease. It was practically a weapon in case he found himself without. The weight of it didn't even phase him.
A few mushrooms, some stalks of green that tasted like onion found its way into the rabbit omelettes, and the two of them were eating full meals but void of conversation. With all the banter of their day there was a certain serenity in the silence of the woods around them. Even Nava had returned with a full belly and simply curled up on Conor’s shoulder. Or, at least Conor hoped it was Nava and not some strange squirrel. This one was quiet and Nava really wasn’t. He was nipped in the ear for his poking at the tail. Cody cleaned up as Conor did the cooking, a balance in their chores. Pulling out his flask, Conor tossed it to Cody for a drink before taking some for himself, sharing a capful with Nava at his insistence.
They both stared at the fire as it burned away the kindling and moss and now warmed perfect for heating up sweets. Cody poked at it with a long stick to keep it to temperature. Conor closed his eyes, not from the weariness of the day, but of calm and happiness. It had been a long time since he felt this good. A very long time.
“Was the White Tower really that bad?” Cody asked, curious but calm. There wasn’t much malice or harm in his voice, almost a casual conversation topic like the weather or shoes.
“Some days.” Conor answered honestly. “Training was hard, they were very hard on all of us, but there seemed to be a little less structure in the mentors. More Disciplines and Paths. It is strange to be here and have the Void only mentioned on rarity as opposed to a comparison between it and The Spring. There seemed to be more duals than spars; which there is a difference. People sorted things through sword fights.” He paused a moment, “There were more sword there. There are more weapon types here, it seems. Archery was always a secondary weapon. You couldn’t be a Blademaster in Archery, which would only make sense since Blademaster has ‘blade’ in it.”
“Yeah, it is kinda silly. Maybe they should change it to, like, Bowmaster. Or Grandmaster. That fits all of them.”
“But it’s not ‘Blademaster’.”
“True.”
They grew back into silence.
“So, why did you leave?”
“Seriously, man.”
“Sorry! I’ll back off. I’m just.. Not many people abandon a Tower let alone come to a new one.”
Conor gave a slight shrug and stared at the flames. “Hard to stay where you weren’t wanted.”
Cody looked at his friend with unreadable eyes, but somehow this was a different Conor then he had grown to know well. So he sat in silence. Conor would talk about it or he wouldn’t.
Thing was, Conor kept a lot to his heart in a way that he avoided keeping his heart sleeve from being broken apart. She hurt him, but they all sort of did. “I didn’t really want to leave. I wanted to stay and earn my Tower Guard cloak. I don’t know if I want to be a Warder, bonded and all, but Gaidin. That means something. But my friends... They all had different lives. All of them had things they wanted to do, to become, and none of it really included me. I couldn’t fault them, not really.”
“If an Aes Sedai walks up and asks you, would you be her Warder?”
“Depends, is she pretty?” A rock directed at Conor’s head flew past his ear, and he chuckled. “I don’t know. I had my heart broken in Tar Valon, and a bond. That’s scary stuff. Did you know that you can feel their emotions? Not that I have been bonded before but the Warders talk.”
“Yeah, I knew that.”
“And what if you fall in love with her, and she doesn’t? Or even worse, she does and then she dies? You think break ups are bad…” Conor hid the shiver that tickled the edges of his shoulders. “perhaps, perhaps it could be amazing. Wonderful. But, she’d have to not only put up with me, I’d have to put up with her. And.. no matter what, I don’t want to be an Aes Sedai puppet. Because sometimes they do stupid things.” Conor couldn’t help the frown, “I do stupid things all the time, but something keeps me alive. Aes Sedai.. They do stupid things and they die. Not only that, if I were to get pulled into something and the balance shifts and I cause their death?”
“Then why didn’t you just go join a Royal Guard instead of the Towers? If you are so scared to be bonded to it.” The tone wasn’t accusatory, never from Cody. He was more fascinated by the depth of Conor. Something never shared within Tower Walls.
“The White Tower, the Gray Tower. They serve the world. Royalty just serves themselves.”
They were in the wilderness that day, lurking about like boys did in the underbrush of the surrounding area of the Grey Tower and Hama Valon. They were not far from the busy city life but at least a day's walk away to get away from the light, sounds and smells. They had packed lightly, with swords, stave's and a pack with a bedroll and some tools for traps. Then there was a oilcloth that kept their breads and cheese. Game was not difficult to find, and where one excelled in fishing the other excelled in trap making. They would eat like kings in their little trove in the forest. 
