Saldaea

[Color Me Fubar]

"Was there anything else you needed to do before the procession?" Kiae asked, glancing at him curiously. "If Esole's brothers are going to help, perhaps finding a location for them to be near is in order."  

[Professor Inky]

"No. I already noted the two inns I wanted them to stand in front of," Ethin replied, cool and unfeeling. He wondered what was going through her mind but didn't let the thought bother him.  

[Color Me Fubar]

She nodded curtly, biting her lip. "I don't know why he's in the Void and I'm not going to drag him out again. He'll talk when he's ready," Kiae told herself, not sure what was wrong with Ethin. "I suppose we can head back to the inn and eat something. We still have some time left," she noted.  

[Professor Inky]

"Alright," Ethin responded, not really feeling hungry but he figured that if he wasn't in the Void he probably would be. He waited for Kiae to say something, to give him a reason to leave the Void, but she seemed determined not to as he was determined to stay in it. He apologized yet she still gave him a hard time. What was there outside of the Void for him right now? "Nothing," he muttered under his breath, not realizing he had spoken aloud.  

[Color Me Fubar]

"Nothing what?" Kiae asked, then huffed in exasperation. "You know, you going into the Void when you don't know how to deal with something is just as bad as when I play Aes Sedai games when I don't want to have to deal with something. Show me some respect as your Sister and snap out of it!" she ordered with a frown, turning to stare at him as she rested her hand on his arm.  

[Professor Inky]

"So is all we are just an Aes Sedai and her Warder?" Ethin responded coldly. Tired of her undue anger, Ethin stalked off in the other direction, snapping his arm out of her touch.  

[Color Me Fubar]

Kiae's eyes filled with tears as he strode further and further away from her, fisting her hands in her skirts. "Ethin..." She wondered if he would just ignore her if she went after him, then realized what direction he had gone and turned around.
"Fine, go back to Esole," she muttered through set teeth. "I don't need a bloody Warder anyway, they're just trouble," Kiae told herself, ignoring the pangs of hurt that told her she was lying as she slipped down a side street and out of sight.  

[Professor Inky]

Ethin turned a corner and walked into an alley. He found an overturned crate and sat on it, pondering what to do next. Tired of his unfeeling state, he released himself from the Void. He did not expect the onslaught of tumultuous feelings that came. His head felt as if it would explode. Ethin tried to hold his head in his hands but everything began to spin before he could. He tried to stand but he only fell to his knees. Everything went black as his head smacked against the ground.  

[Color Me Fubar]

Unaware of her Warder's own dilemma, Kiae continued to stalk down the back alleys, unheeding of anyone nearby. It was obvious she was an Aes Sedai at the moment and no one was foolhardy enough to risk her obvious anger.
"Poor Aes Sedai. You have such poor luck with your Warders. Maybe you should have been a Red?" a male voice suggested. She whirled around in a flurry of golden skirts to see a cloaked man lounging against the brick, face hidden in the growing shadows.
"Are you Erasmus?" Kiae demanded, frowning when he offered a curt nod.
"Who else? Perhaps you should Bind an Asha'man instead. A man who can channel is so much more reliable, you know where he stands. Of course, I may be biased," he remarked, the fading light catching his eyes and revealing the floating black specks that tainted him.  

[Professor Inky]

Ethin's eyes opened slowly. He found that a grungy looking man with a rusted sword was picking through his cloak and reaching for his sword. Ethin rose swiftly, startling the man who had previously thought he was unconscious, and grabbed his sword from its sheath. He smacked the flat side against the man's head, sending him crashing down into a heap of crates.
Ethin's knees threatened to give under him from his quick jump up from just being unconscious. He put a hand against the wall next to him to steady himself. "Do you need a hand, sir?" called a sultry voice from behind him. Ethin turned and found a woman standing behind him with a concerned expression. She wore her dark brown hair in curls that were pulled back and up, nestled in a circle on her head. Her dress was a beautiful shade of red that spoke of wealth with all of its frills and numerous petticoats. Her jewelry was all solid gold that accented her skin very well.
"No. But thank you, my Lady," Ethin responded with a deep bow. With that, his knees gave way and he fell to the ground with a thud. The woman scuttled over to him and helped him up.
"You do not look well, sir. And you may call me Rosalyn," she said, putting his arm around her waist. "I have a coach waiting around the corner. I noticed that scum picking over your body and had my men stop and let me out to shoo him away when you came to."
"Thank you very much, Rosalyn. But I must find my Aes Sedai. I left her alone and she could be in trouble without me," Ethin responded urgently. "I must find Esole Sedai and have her search with me. She will be able to find Kiae if she is channeling."
"I will take you wherever you need to go," she said with a beautiful smile that mesmerized Ethin.
"Thank you so much," he said as she helped him into her coach. He gave her directions to Esole's inn. Esole was outside speaking to Chel when they arrived.
Rosalyn called to Esole as per Ethin's orders and she walked into the coach. "I lost track of Kiae and I cannot find her. She has closed of the Bond to me. I was hoping you could help find her if she is channeling right now. Lady Rosalyn was kind enough to take me in," Ethin said in a rush.
"Whatever she gets will be too good for her. Why do you seek her so urgently after what she has done to you?" Esole said with great distaste.
"I love her," he responded.  

[Color Me Fubar]

"What do you care who I choose to Bond?" Kiae shot back, fists clenching her skirts in anger. Erasmus shrugged, the movement hiding his face from view once more.
"It would make it so much more interesting, dealing with two channelers instead of one," he replied calmly, straightening a bit and taking a few steps toward her. "You really are a simple fool, Sister. If you worked with us, I can assure you, no one would blame you."
"Except everyone I love," she spat. "I will never join the Black Ajah!" She had been prepared for an attack and was caught off-guard when he began to laugh.
"Black Ajah...ah, that's funny." Erasmus wiped his eye and chuckled for a few more moments before shaking himself. "No, the power we can offer is so much more than that measly excuse for an Ajah. But, that's your choice, I suppose."
"What do you want?" Kiae demanded. "Surely not just to chat."
"There are so few interesting people left in this world, it's a shame to waste one," he informed her. "I merely thought I'd give you a chance to consider your plight before you throw your life away. There shall be some fun at that silly procession, but nothing too serious." He shifted so she could see his eyes and winked rougishly before stepping back into the shadows and disappearing. Kiae became suddenly aware of her knees shaking and pressed them together to keep from falling, leaning against the brick with a shaky breath.  

[Professor Inky]

Esole shook her head in disappointment. "She has got you wrapped around her finger even with a child on the way," she said with disgust.
"Just tell me if she's bloody channeling, Esole!" Ethin demanded. Rosalyn laid a soothing hand on Ethin's arm. He looked down at it, confused, but did not move it.
"She is not channeling right now," Esole responded with a sigh.
Ethin's fists clenched into tight balls. He needed to find her but he didn't know how. She closed the Bond to him. She could be anywhere and he couldn't save her if she needed saving.
"How about this," Rosalyn began, gripping Ethin's arm tighter, trying to bring him back to a calm state, "We will ride around in my coach until we can find her. Do you remember the last place you saw her?"
"Yes. After we got into a fight, we walked in opposite directions. It isn't far from where you found me that we separated," he responded.
"Alright, we will go there," Rosalyn said soothingly. She told their driver where to go. When they got to the place Rosalyn found Ethin, they stopped. "Now which direction was it that Kiae walked?" she asked.
"That way," he said, pointing a shaky hand at the direction they just came from.
"Clearly she isn't on the main roads, otherwise we would have seen her. She must be in the alleys. Fool girl. We will have to continue on foot," said Esole.
The trio charged down the nearest alley in search of Kiae. After a short while they saw a woman leaning against the wall in the distance. Ethin called out to her. "Kiae?" he shouted hesitantly.  

[Color Me Fubar]

Kiae looked up, surprise and relief flashing in her eyes until she saw who her Warder was with. "Look, he's already found a replacement," a voice thought in disgust, a thought she tried to push aside. Straightening from the wall, she fixed her skirts as an excuse to avoid looking at any of them.
"Who's the hussy?" she longed to ask, coldly eying the woman next to Ethin. The Yellow didn't usually dislike people on sight, but it may have been the way the woman was clinging to his arm even now. It was irrational, but that hurt Kiae even more than the fact that it seemed Ethin had run right back to Esole and found a new woman on the way. "Yes? What is it?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking. The encounter with Erasmus was more frightening than she had realized at the time, and the realization he could have killed her with a flick of his finger was beginning to set in.  

[Professor Inky]

"What happened?" Ethin asked, leaving Rosalyn's grasp and running over to Kiae. "You're as pale as a ghost and you're shaking." He knew that if he had been with her instead of running off like a child, she wouldn't be in this state.  

[Color Me Fubar]

"Nothing. I'm fine," she replied through set teeth. There was no chance she wanted to discuss Erasmus in front of the strange woman. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to speak about him to Esole, since nothing he had said really pertained to the woman.