The Return of Ravhala [Attn: Craig]

[Bella]

Although Miahala was fully aware that they were not alone in the room, the girl was asleep and so she allowed herself a little freedom with her husband. She had never been an exhibitionist, but she was also a woman who knew her place in the world and did as she wished. So as he sat, she let herself kneel in front of him.

She rested her hands on his knees and her head to follow, letting one of those rare moments of vulnerability show through. A long, weary sigh slipped from the lips of the woman normally ready to charge head-first into any fight.

"These are men who would willingly and happily flay the skin from my body for crimes I have not committed against the Light, for a trait I was born with through no fault of my own, and then call themselves righteous for it," she whispered, just loud enough for her husband to hear her. "And so many of the people in this town happily let them in through the front gates."

[Craig]

Ravak

"I know," Ravak sighed. He could feel his wife's disquietude. He found the situation in Nassad reprehensible, but the strength of that emotion was quelled by acceptance of reality. The Children of the Light were misguided to put it mildly, but their motives held wide appeal. They also represented stability in a world that had just seen the everpresent, everlasting White Tower crumble to dust.

Accepting reality didn't mean he liked it, but the path of resistance was dangerous. Fire and steel could repel the Whitecloaks from Nassad tomorrow, but the consequences from such defiance would need Foretelling to predict. Would the Whitecloaks return with twice the number next time? Would they advance to claim different lands? Or would the fact that the White Tower had been destroyed incense the Whitecloaks to attempt to bring the same fate to Hama Valon? Actions and consequences. Consequences and actions. Life had been simpler when there was a clear divide between good and evil, but he had ceased being a child long ago.

"All we can do is observe and report back, and keep Lyla safe. Consider it a small victory: saving at least one life from the hands of the Children." There was nothing in Ravak's heart to reflect that optimism. The situation was out-and-out miserable, but wisdom trumped a call to action.

[Bella]

Sighing deeply, she closed her eyes and let her head remain resting upon his leg. She drew strength, and stability, and peace within her spirit from his presence, his nearness. "I know," she said quietly. As much as she wanted to rush off and burn them all, and felt that with the right preparations she could, she knew he was right.

It didn't mean she liked it, but that was simply because there was nothing about this situation to be liked.
* * * Morning came, and the sun rose. Despite the dark cloud of foreboding among the little group inside that little room, the light shone bright and clear all throughout this misguided town. Who knew what would become of them all. Had they invited their doom in through the front door?

Mia rose after a very restless half-night's worth of sleep and prepared herself for the day. She was just brushing out her hair when she heard a faint sound, but one that drew her attention. Frowning, she moved to join Lyla--who was just waking--at the window. Then were able to look down the street and saw a blindingly white column moving toward them.

"They're already here," Mia said darkly.

[Craig]

Ravak

He'd spent the evening in the common room, keeping his ears, eyes, and nostrils open for any additional facts. There was a buzz and a tension, confirming only that the Whitecloaks were definitely on their way, but with no certainty as to the when. Just soon.

After life left the common room, Ravak returned to the room with Lyla and Mia. He dozed on the chair for two or three hours, leaving the bed to the two women. The benefits and disadvantages of being a bonded man were apparent when he awoke to pre-dawn darkness. He felt refreshed, but his body protested from his bedding arrangement.

Once the hour was social, Ravak left the sleeping women to get breakfast. He was midway through his bowl of oatmeal when a familiar elation triggered in his head. Morning, my love. He continued eating his cereal, knowing that he may have a full need for it depending on how things panned out.

Minutes later, Ravak dropped the spoon into the empty bowl, then placed a couple of copper from his purse onto the table. He stood just as the door from outside opened, and couldn't stop from glancing towards his fellow patron.

A tabard of snow-white was broken only where it was hidden underneath a sword belt, oh, and also from the golden sun emblazoned front and centre. Rav didn't see any more as he moved his gaze elsewhere, all the while casually getting up from the table and turning towards the stairs at the back.

"Hold there," the Whitecloak called. The door closed behind him.

"Just going back to my room," he said over his shoulder. The hairs on the back of his neck started to rise in anticipation, echoed by his wife's own concern. "I'll be back down when I'm decent."

"I said--

He didn't wait. Ravak foresaw what would happen once he got into a conversation with one of the Children, and he didn't like it. So he bolted up the stairs three at a time and covered the distance to the bedroom in the span of seven seconds.

The door slammed shut with a bang behind his back. He had drawn his longsword in the corridor. Holding the weapon in one hand, he used the other and a boot to secure the door.

He turned towards the woman without bed-hair. "Mia, my love, a Gateway if you please." The calm tone of his request was not at all shared by the concern and adrenaline that spiked through his mind and body. One Whitecloak wasn't the problem, but Light knew how many were standing outside.

[Bella]

"On your feet, girl!"

Miahala had felt her husband-warder's alarm and knew what it meant. She was no idiot, after all, and could easily put two and two together. There were bloody, flaming Whitecloaks just outside the door, and what she felt from Ravak quite easily told her that there were bloody, flaming Whitecloaks inside the door as well.

"W-what's happening?" Lyla asked with large, terrified eyes.

"It feels like my warder has just met some of your town's guests," she said, grabbing up the small bag they'd brought with them even as she embraced Saidar.

The girl stood looking on the verge of tears. "How will we escape?"

Mia sighed. "You have a lot to learn."

Right then, the door burst open and then slammed shut just as fast with Ravak hard against it. "Mia, my love, a Gateway if you please."

But she was already turning to face the one place with the most floor space in this small room. Gateways were not her speciality, but she was too strong and too old a channeler to not know how to make one. The silver slash appeared in the air and then opened to the familiar sight of the Traveling Yard.

"Lyla! Through!" Her voice was strong with command, brooking no refusal.

In that moment, there was loud, hard banging on the door. Enough to move Ravak a little each time by sheer force, and Mia know there was more than one body--or one really big one--hitting that door. She held one hand out toward the door, using a column of air to help hold it shut while she glared at Lyla. The little thing was petrified in the moment.

"MOVE!" Mia shouted at her, which seemed to spur her into action and she ran through the Gateway.

"My love?" Mia said next. She knew a warder would never wish to go through ahead of their ward, but they needed to time this to suit the needs of the warder and the needs of the Gateway. Namely, when it would close. But she could hold the door with her Air until that last moment... "I've got the door for the moment, so let's go."

[Craig]

Ravak

Rav was more than happy to move away from the thin piece of wood that separated him from a thousand honed blades to step into the familiar surroundings of his home, especially when Mia asked so politely. Of course, he didn't relax until she was standing beside him in the Travelling Yards and the Gateway had rotated shut.

"Well now, I guess we can say they're quite serious about expanding their claims." Ravak frowned at the empty space where the Gateway had been a moment prior. "Their reaction would have been overreaching their authority in other places." Sighing, he moved to stand before Miahala. "Are you alright?" A needless question when he could sense her mood, but it showed he cared because he did.

With both of them safe, it was time to move onto Lyla. Technically she was all Miahala's responsibility, but being a good husband and Warder meant shouldering some of the load himself. "Welcome to the Grey Tower. We'll get you some breakfast before you need to worry about anything else, but you're safe here. No need to worry about the Whitecloaks any longer."

Whether Lyla reacted to that positively or negatively Ravak couldn't say. Something popped into his head, and with it, a feeling of loss. "The horses..." He faced his wife. "We forgot the horses. Impala and Seren are still in Nassad."

[Bella]

A stream of curses that would have made the most hard-hearted, filthy-mouthed brigand in all the world and in all the ages past or yet to come blush rushed through the Green's mind in that moment. How could she have forgotten her horse!? She ought to just go to Saldea (yeah, I did it) and renounce her claim to her heritage that instant.

Well, there was the semi-excuse of lots of Whitecloaks outside her door...

Miahala blew out a harsh breath. "Well, we can't leave them there," she declared. "We could Gateway back, get them, and hurry to Gateway out. The Whitecloaks didn't see me, only you..." she went on thoughtfully, mind racing.

[Craig]

Ravak

The force of Mia's emotions hit him like a gale force wind, but training and sanity prevented the Gaidin from being swept away.

"We can't leave them there," he repeated, "but we also can't go back. Not just now, not with a hundred Whitecloaks walking down the streets of Nassad." He could feel words forming in his wife's head that would censure him. He returned a glare that wasn't unkind, but it was just as forceful. "We'll have to wait until later, after nightfall. At the very least, the Whitecloaks will have dispersed. There will be less resistance." Mia was unconvinced. "It'll mean less danger to the horses," he added.

[Bella]

Miahala just hated it when people logic'd her.

She pressed her lips together, then gritted her back teeth as she looked away. Not at anything in particular, just...away so she could calm her riled temper. Her emotions were always passionate, but she had learned how to control them. When she was around her husband, though, they tended to lean towards running loose.

"Wise," she said simply, forcing a sigh.