Kaira
They had only taken a few steps before Johan's arm went slack and his grip slipped from her shoulders and he fell to the snow-covered ground. Kaira bent to shake his shoulder.
"Johan!” she called again.
He did not awaken. She could hardly feel his pulse. His hands were cold. Kaira let out a stream of swears and looked around desperately for help. The day had been too long and their trials too arduous for him to die on her now! They were so close! But she saw nothing but the whiteness of snow. She was alone. A horrible swell of loneliness rose up inside her. She shook off the feeling. No, she was not alone! She had to get Johan back to the Tower. She took the blanket from around her shoulders. With a grunt and a heave, she rolled him onto its surface. Then she grabbed the cloth by the corners and began to pull.
One step. Then another. The snow surrounded them in swirling eddies and flurries. She walked on.
-----
The torchlight flickered against the walls of the gatehouse. Mordjen flung his cards down on the table and groaned. He leaned back and balanced his chair on two legs.
"You win again," he growled. "Light only knows how. Got the Dark One's own luck, you do."
Heb only grunted in reply. The cards shuffled skillfully between his hands.
Mordjen sighed. Movement from the window caught his attention. He stood and peered outside through the falling snow.
"Eh? Look Heb, there's someone out in this Light-forsaken weather. Looks to be a girl. Think it could be another wannabe Aes Sedai?"
Heb shrugged and began dealing the next hand. Mordjen watched the girl approach. His eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"She's dragging something wi' her," he said. Then he gasped. "It's the Gaidin Captain's daughter!"
The two guardsmen ran out. Between them, they hauled the young man back inside the gatehouse and laid him on a cot. The girl, half-frozen, toppled through the door. She fell to her knees before the fireplace and huddled there, shivering. Heb went to fetch help from the infirmary.
When she could speak, Kaira turned to Mordjen.
“Don’t tell my father,” she begged. “Or my aunt.”
Mordjen grimaced and glanced at the timemark on a candle. “I can give you ’til morning, girl. Best get going.”
-----
She stood by the door and watched as the Healers linked hands around Johan’s bedside. It was a small circle of two women and one man. The infirmary room was cozy and warm, with pale yellow walls, cheerful muslin curtains, and sparse decor. Kaira leaned against the frame of the door. She closed her eyes and prayed.
Some time later, a hand touched her arm. She startled awake and looked around blearily to see Patrice Sedai, a Yellow sister with kind brown eyes. Patrice was one of the Healers. Kaira rubbed at her eyes. Somehow she had dozed off and someone had lead her to sit in a rickety chair in the corner of the room.
“It is done,” said Patrice. “All he needs now is rest. You too, Kaira. I will be reporting this… incident to Vanya Sedai.”
Despite the warm sympathy in the Yellow sister's eyes, her mouth was set in a firm, hard line. She placed her hands on her hips.
Kaira’s hands clenched into fists. As a novice, she was in trouble for visiting Hama Valon without permission, of course. But beyond that? She had said nothing except that she and Johan had been trapped in the snowstorm in Hama Valon. What else was Patrice planning to tell the Mistress of Novices?
“Just a few more minutes, Patrice Sedai. Please!”
The Aes Sedai only shook her head and left. Kaira pulled herself out of the chair. She swayed unsteadily and took a few uncertain steps. Slowly, she lowered herself by the head of his bed and winced. Her muscles screamed in pain. Perhaps she, too, could ask for Healing...
A rooster crowed. Kaira sighed. She had no time if she wanted to be back in the novice quarters before sunrise. Gently, she brushed back the hair from his forehead. Would she see him again?
“Please wake up,” she whispered.
Then her father’s voice drifted through the door. Kaira turned her head to listen.
“Where is she?” Ravak demanded.
Bloody ashes! She did not want her father to find her here. Or worse, have some punishment befall the Drin. Her shock gave her the energy to move quickly. Kaira slipped out the door and into the long, busy hallway.
She did not notice Patrice’s gaze follow her as she left. Nor did she hear the quiet whispers exchanged between the Yellow sister and the red-haired Aes Sedai standing at Ravak’s elbow, who then took the Gaidin’s arm and guided him out of the infirmary. She did not see Johan open his eyes and turn to watch her leave.
There were a great many things that Kaira did not see, but perhaps those are details better left for another story. She ducked her head, crept out of the infirmary, and quietly snuck back into the novice quarters to begin a new day.
- Spoiler: show
- (OOC: Seems like a good place for an ending to me. You may post if you feel like it! Or perhaps we can simply start a new thread when Johan is officially Ji'val. Thank you for this thread(s), it was lots of fun!)
