Post by Robert on Apr 19, 2004 19:35:30 GMT -5
The billowing sails of a Sea Folk vessel lurch into the harbor of Tear, piloted by a Tairen pilot. Drake grimaced. “Bloody arrogant, aren’t they? As if the Sea Folk couldn’t pilot it themselves.”
“They do claim the waterways are horrid,” Elisande said mildly. “Granted, I know nothing of this part of the world, save what I saw from incomplete maps a thousand years old.”
“A thousand?” Drake asked, strangled. Seanchan had more old things than he knew. A question came to mind that he had not asked before. “How old are you?”
Elisande’s eyes flashed at this question, then relaxed. “I suppose you have a right to know. A little under thirty.”
“Thirty?” Drake asked, still amazed. “No one is ever that old in our land. Always killed shortly after twenty.”
Elisande pursed her lips, not wanting to ask the question that came to mind. Perhaps it was better not to know. She turned her focus to the city ahead, and stared. A huge gray mountain rose out of the ground, seemingly a single stone. No, not a mountain. A fortress. But who could build a fortress out of one stone? Aes Sedai. Would she never get away from that word? From what she was? She had not thought about it in a long time, not since meeting Drake, but now it came back all in a rush.
“Elisande?” Drake asked, pulling her back to the real world. “Elisande, nice fortress up there, isn’t it?”
“Of course,” she said, absently. “But not a patch on the Tower of the Nine Moons for architecture.”
“Or the Golden City,” he said, also in thought. At this, she stared at him.
“It seems we both know a great many things the other does not. What is the Golden City?”
Drake answered quickly, “A city near an abandoned part of our land. Seemingly made out of gold. And quite pretty. I’ve been inside. That’s where I got this,” he said, pulling a figure of a man with sword drawn out of his pocket.
“An angreal,” Elisande said, breathless. “Quite rare, in any land. Can you use it?”
“It is hard to seize saidin through it, but yes, I can.”
“Fascinating,” she said, in a musing voice now. “Only the best and most obedient damane were given that.”
His head whipped back towards her, and she lowered her eyes automatically. It had been a long time indeed. “You haven’t told anything like that to me. What is a damane? Why were you one?” he asked, his voice growing deadly calm.
And she began to tell her life’s story to the man she knew she now loved. All of it.
“They do claim the waterways are horrid,” Elisande said mildly. “Granted, I know nothing of this part of the world, save what I saw from incomplete maps a thousand years old.”
“A thousand?” Drake asked, strangled. Seanchan had more old things than he knew. A question came to mind that he had not asked before. “How old are you?”
Elisande’s eyes flashed at this question, then relaxed. “I suppose you have a right to know. A little under thirty.”
“Thirty?” Drake asked, still amazed. “No one is ever that old in our land. Always killed shortly after twenty.”
Elisande pursed her lips, not wanting to ask the question that came to mind. Perhaps it was better not to know. She turned her focus to the city ahead, and stared. A huge gray mountain rose out of the ground, seemingly a single stone. No, not a mountain. A fortress. But who could build a fortress out of one stone? Aes Sedai. Would she never get away from that word? From what she was? She had not thought about it in a long time, not since meeting Drake, but now it came back all in a rush.
“Elisande?” Drake asked, pulling her back to the real world. “Elisande, nice fortress up there, isn’t it?”
“Of course,” she said, absently. “But not a patch on the Tower of the Nine Moons for architecture.”
“Or the Golden City,” he said, also in thought. At this, she stared at him.
“It seems we both know a great many things the other does not. What is the Golden City?”
Drake answered quickly, “A city near an abandoned part of our land. Seemingly made out of gold. And quite pretty. I’ve been inside. That’s where I got this,” he said, pulling a figure of a man with sword drawn out of his pocket.
“An angreal,” Elisande said, breathless. “Quite rare, in any land. Can you use it?”
“It is hard to seize saidin through it, but yes, I can.”
“Fascinating,” she said, in a musing voice now. “Only the best and most obedient damane were given that.”
His head whipped back towards her, and she lowered her eyes automatically. It had been a long time indeed. “You haven’t told anything like that to me. What is a damane? Why were you one?” he asked, his voice growing deadly calm.
And she began to tell her life’s story to the man she knew she now loved. All of it.
Awesome