Saldaea

[Color Me Fubar]

"Elayne is also from Andor, not Saldaea, is an Aes Sedai to boot, and can do as she pleases. Here, no one does something without an end in mind," Kiae said shortly. She had no love for Elayne for personal reasons and for some reason disliked the woman in red being likened to her.  

[Professor Inky]

"And you think that Andor is free of all hidden agendas? No, you cannot tell me you truly believe that. Good people exist, Kiae. And we need all the help we can get. She is a good resource," Ethin replied heatedly. He did not like Kiae's take on the woman who helped him.  

[Color Me Fubar]

"Just because she is a good resource does not mean I have to trust her. There are very, very few people I trust," she told him flatly. She didn't understand why Ethin was defending a strange woman to her in such a manner to her and it only irked her more.  

[Professor Inky]

"I am not asking you to trust her. I am asking you to give her a chance. I think she deserves at the least a chance after what she has done for me," Ethin responded dejectedly, knowing that there was no use arguing with Kiae.  

[Color Me Fubar]

"Why do I always get Warders who think they know better than I and lecture me constantly about how I conduct business?" Kiae wondered in exasperation, beginning to get thoroughly fed up by the entire thing. "Giving someone a chance is the same as trusting them, in my opinion," she muttered.
"And what about me? Do I not get a chance, or have I done nothing?" a voice added in her head.  

[Professor Inky]

"Okay, that is understandable. Then don't give her a chance. But I will. And I truly believe that I am doing the right thing," Ethin said sternly. "Kiae.. Are you jealous?"  

[Color Me Fubar]

Kiae gave him a dirty look, her own mind unsettled on the matter. "As long as you think you're doing the right thing," she said through set teeth, barely managing not to sneer as she did so.
"And as long as you still behave as my Warder when I need you to," she thought, afraid Ethin's concepts of loyalty and right and wrong would take him away from her in the end.  

[Professor Inky]

"You are!" Ethin exclaimed, completely bewildered. "Why would Kiae be jealous? Unless... She thinks I am going to end up with Rosalyn!" he thought, thoroughly confused. "Why are you jealous, Kiae? I love you. Nobody else and nothing will change that," Ethin said sincerely.  

[Color Me Fubar]

Kiae softened a bit at his words, allowing herself a small smile. "I love you as well, Ethin. I suppose more than I act sometimes. I just don't understand why you question everything I do. I do have reasons for my actions, I'm not stupid," she chided him, a small laugh softening her words.  

[Professor Inky]

"I'm sorry I question you so much. It's just what I've been doing for a great number of years because of Esole," Ethin reponded, giving Kiae a knowing look.  

[Color Me Fubar]

Kiae took a breath, knowing how Ethin meant his words were not how she heard them. "But I am not Esole," she reminded him softly. "Please learn to trust me, Ethin. I promise that I will try as well," she added, knowing that Andurael had been her only Warder for so many years and her trust in Warders had been shattered when he left her so abruptly.  

[Professor Inky]

"No, no no. I did not mean you were her. It's just.. When you are trained to have to be a certain way, it takes a while to untrain yourself. I'm sorry that it is taking so long for me to adjust but trust that it will happen," Ethin said as comfortingly as he could.  

[Color Me Fubar]

"I do." Kiae nodded and laced her arm through his, sidling close to him as she resumed walking. "As strange as it may seem, I trust Erasmus when he said nothing serious would happen," she admitted. "Although his idea of serious is different than ours, their objective is Aes Sedai, or at least Esole or I. Or both. I wish I knew why they speak to me." She frowned at this, wondering what it meant.  

[Professor Inky]

Ethin took comfort in Kiae's closeness to him but was disconcerted by the Erasmus ordeal that was going on and how it was endangering Kiae. "Those that dabble in darkness like to torment those that walk in the Light. I think that is what they are doing with you. And I have an inkling of a feeling they are using you in some way," he said, brows furrowed in deep thought.  

[Color Me Fubar]

Kiae frowned at this, the idea not having occurred to her. "The only thing I can think of is to get rid of the New Order, but they don't seem to care about them enough," she mused, gripping his arm a bit tighter. "I don't know what they would think I could do for them, if that's not the case."
"Do I have darkness inside me and I don't know?" She shivered as the thought crossed her mind and set her jaw. "No. I'm not near perfect, but I am not evil."