(no subject)

[lastgunslinger]

Today Roland is reading fiction over at a table -- or trying. Somewhere he got a copy of The Canterbury Tales -- in Middle English.

Whan that Aprill with his showres soote
the droughte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veine in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flowr;
Whan Zephyrus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne,
And smale fowles maken melodye
That sleepen al the night with open yë-
So priketh hem Nature in hir corages-
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages...

From the look on his face, the book is shortly to be closed and ignored in favor of his tobacco pouch.

Comments

[blue_ajah]

Perhaps he will not mind being distracted, then. From across the room, Moiraine observes his expression, and recognizes it for what it is.

Very shortly afterward, she glides across the floor, approaching him.

"Good evening, Roland."

A wry glance to the book, and then,

"Anything of interest?"

[lastgunslinger]

Roland looks up.

Without a word, he turns the book around and slides it over.

"I can't tell." Dry as dust.

[blue_ajah]

Moiraine studies it in silence for several seconds.

"I believe it might be easier to read an untranslated prophecy in the Old Tongue," she says at last.

[lastgunslinger]

"That would no doubt have more value to it." Dismissively; and now he does fish out his tobacco pouch. "How are your tricks?"

[blue_ajah]

"As well as might be expected," Moiraine replies, but there is no immediate sense of strain about her.

She takes a seat across from him.

"And yours?"

[lastgunslinger]

"Well enough." Peaceably. "As it's been quiet."

[blue_ajah]

"Here," she agrees.

The single word has a faint hint of thoughtfulness to it.

[lastgunslinger]

Roland raises his eyebrows.

[blue_ajah]

"I have been considering things," the Aes Sedai tells him. "Among them, the situation in which we find ourselves now."

[lastgunslinger]

"Have you arrived at any conclusions?"

[blue_ajah]

"That there is need elsewhere, outside this place, as I think we both know."

Moiraine tilts her head, watching him.

"And that I have been too long away."

[lastgunslinger]

Roland sits back in his chair, and doesn't quite smile.

"Do you say so."

This very likely means that he'll get to leave Milliways for a time.

Roland is fine with this.

[blue_ajah]

"I do."

Expertly, she is assessing the flow of his emotion over the bond between them-- and is pleased with what she finds, in place of the reluctance she had feared might be possible.

The Aes Sedai does smile, very slightly.

"We should leave soon, I think."

[lastgunslinger]

"How soon? And for how long?"

Already he's thinking quickly -- what must be brought; what must stay; the notes he'll leave.

[blue_ajah]

"A few days, this time," she says. "Perhaps a week. It depends, to a degree, upon what we find."

"As for how soon... how soon can you be ready?"

[lastgunslinger]

A few days to a week -- well enough.

Very well, in fact. Roland likes that very well.

"An hour. Likely less."

[blue_ajah]

"An hour, then."

Moiraine rises, gracefully, and nods to him.

"I will see you back here at that time."

[lastgunslinger]

Eddie's tending. A quick word with him, and then Roland goes upstairs. (After leaving a brief note for River Tam. Eddie will tell; Roland wants to make sure.)

Each loop in his gunbelt has a shell. There's an extra box of them wrapped in a spare shirt, tucked neatly away in his gunna.

(Roland never unpacked. Why would he, when what he wants most is to leave?)

On goes his docker's clutch; on goes his duster over it. Roland picks up his hat from its accustomed place on the dresser and closes and locks Room 99.





When Moiraine appears again, Roland is not bouncing on the balls of his feet, chanting, we're going on a field trip, we're going on a field trip.

No; he's smoking at a table, looking serene.

Perhaps smug.

[blue_ajah]

For her part, she looks much as she ever does, save that she has a small pack of her own and a blue cloak over her wool riding dress.

Moiraine arches an eyebrow, and gives Roland a faint smile.

[lastgunslinger]

Roland leans forward, stubs out his cigarette, and rises.

"At your leisure, lady-sai."

He shoulders his gunna.

[blue_ajah]

"Very well."

Golden light appears around her, and silver threads lance forth from her fingertips into a bright line of light that widens into a Gateway.

"I do not know what lies on the other side," she adds. "Go quickly, and be wary; there may be creatures close enough to sense the weaving--"

[lastgunslinger]

He's on his way through before she's through speaking; the cold isn't what registers first, but it's there.

What registers first is the snow, and he feels the crunch of it under his boots, and his left hand is in his pocket and Roland's eyes are narrowed.

[blue_ajah]

She follows after him quickly, and the portal snaps shut behind her.

Moiraine does not release saidar immediately, but the glow around her vanishes, here.

She joins him in scanning the clearing and the nearby woods, looking for any sign of threat.

[lastgunslinger]

The air is crisp, and so are his senses -- sharpened, now, in a way that pleases him very well.

He'll have to walk softly -- literally and figuratively. This isn't his world, and he won't speak until Moiraine does.

[blue_ajah]

"Good."

She nods crisply, then allows her connection to the True Source to slip away, and turns to Roland.

"Be welcome to Andor. We are just north of Ghealdan, at present."

[lastgunslinger]

Roland inclines his head slightly. "A city, a region, a landmark -- ?"

[blue_ajah]

"Regions," she clarifies. "Andor and Ghealdan are lands-- kingdoms, if you will, although neither is ruled by a king."

"We are just south of the Two Rivers region; it is a small area, with a few villages scattered about. Once, it was known as Manetheren-- I believe I have told you their tale, have I not?"

A pause.

"Rand al'Thor, Mat Cauthon, and Perrin Aybara are all from the Two Rivers, as are Nynaeve al'Meara and Egwene al'Vere."

[lastgunslinger]

The pause before Roland nods is very short. "And how likely are we to meet someone who knows you?"

That, Roland is fairly certain, would be very inadvisable. Considering.

[blue_ajah]

"That is part of the reason why we are south of the Two Rivers," she says dryly. "It would not be well at all for me to be recognized there -- and although I was not there long, I suspect that I made a significant impression upon some."

Among them, Rand's father, Tam al'Thor.

"There is something that I can do to manage that, as it happens, but it will take me some few moments of time to work."

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