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Leane´s heart was pounding hard. Stupid idea to sneak into the kitchen at night, but she had been so occupied with her book that she had entirely missed dinner. She had found it in a box with the label ‘confiscated’ when she had been waiting in Sheriam Sedai´s room the previous day to receive her last punishment for accidentally setting the stables on fire, and somehow it had slipped into her bag. “The domani´s way to dance the mating” Delicious read. Well, now, two hours later all she was able to think of was the delicious chicken soup she had smelled when the others had come up from the dining hall and her hunger was killing her. So she had sneaked out of the dorms. Against better judgement. It was Friday night. Elaida was on watch duty and she loved nothing more than to spank innocent hungry novices out of bed.
All was going surprisingly well. Maybe even suspiciously so. She had seen only a glimpse of her red teacher´s robe disappearing behind a corner towards the warder´s quarters, always one of her favorite catch zones. The corridor to the kitchen was completely empty and the soup was even still warm. Heating up liquids was one of the few things she managed by now, half a year into her training and she was proud of it, but channeling always amplified the risk of being detected. It was like the Aes Sedai were pulled towards it. Like this it was much less dangerous.
She poured herself a big bowl and dug in without hesitation. The next day she would want to punch herself for not taking it to her room but it had just smelled so good. Half an hour and three more bowls later she felt like she would burst any second but why stop if there was so much left. Leane had grown up with strictly rationed food servings and still had to get used to having more food than she could eat. Her body always went into hoarding mode, eating as much as she could, but normally she was limited by the need to chat with her fellow novices and then by the end of dinnertime. Alone at night. There was no stopping her. Except…
“Yes, I am sure I have blown out the candles. Did you really have to wake me for that?!”
An annoyed voice all but ripped her out of her food-trance. Footsteps coming down the hallway, two pairs. Blood and Ashes!
“I am sure I saw it glimmering through the window from the other side of the courtyard.”
Elaida. Shit. Shit. Shit! Frantically Leane looked around to the one candle she had put on to prevent spilling the soup in the darkness. What a traitor!
There was no time to put everything away, to hide her intrusion, she had to flee!
There was only one way she could take without running directly into Elaida´s waiting arms, the door to the herb-garden and then through the bathhouses. She could only pray that no Aes Sedai had decided to use them this late.
It was her long white Novice dress that betrayed her. Light how she hated this thing. At home the young domani had worn armor, leather pants and tight fitting corsets. Well up to the point where her mother had found out she could channel and had sent her to Tar Valon before anyone would find out and make her a Damane. Sometimes she felt like one in those impractical sacks the novices were given. She got stuck everywhere, currently on a shelf stuck with bowls of nuts and spices. They all fell to the floor behind her, probably waking the whole castle and definitely clearly revealing her escape route. Run, domani!!!
And she did. As fast as she could, jumping over the little fences of garden beds and dodging the berriebushes behind them. “I will catch you, thief!” She heard Elaida behind her. Dangerously close. Light how could she be so fast in all her skirts?! The door to the private part of the bathhouse was open, thank the creator, but the corridors behind it were dimly lit. No hiding in the shadows. She had to stay out of her teacher´s sight or it was over, but the corridor was long, Elaida would reach the entrance before she would be through. No, no no!
Panicking, she tried to open the doors leading to the private pools of the different Ajahs. The doors wouldn't move. Of course not, stupid girl, they are closed with special weaves only the Ajah members know. What to do? What to do? She was close to tears. Elaida would beat her bloody and she was only five steps away from the door now. Hopelessly she leaned against the last door she had tried, but instead of sinking down on it, she suddenly fell backwards. She would have cried out in shock but a small but strong hand had closed over her mouth.
“In here. Fast!” a whisper came from behind, and more arms pulled her into a dark room.
She fell on the tiles in the room behind, momentarily blinded by the sudden darkness. A quiet thud told her the door had been closed, followed by another silent whisper. Just in time. “What? Where are you little beast?!”” Elaida´s voice was close, searching, sniffing her out. She sounded surprised to find an empty corridor. Her prey couldn't possibly be that fast. But then she must be…”I´ll find you, little vermin!” The Aes Sedai was searching the Corridor, trying to open the doors exactly as she had done earlier. “Come out!”
Slowly her eyes adjusted to her surroundings but she only saw two small figures shining in the pale moonlight coming through the window, one pearly white, the other slightly darker. Pressing against the door, they seemed to be fuddling, like they were fighting who could look through the keyhole. ‘It seemed dumb to put such a thing on a door sealed with the One Power’, she thought amazed, but suddenly all her thoughts stopped as all three of them froze. The footsteps had stopped in front of their door. For ten long seconds all of them seemed to listen. Leane thought the sound of her pounding heart would give her away and then the doorhandle slowly turned. The domani´s overfull stomach seemed to sink two feet into her guts. It was over. A push against the wood and… The door didn't budge. A second push. The same result. Then a disappointed groan outside. Footsteps moved down the corridor, hastily now, as if Elaida had decided the thief had made it out and she had to catch up now.
Like they had rehearsed it, all three inside the small bathroom simultaneously let out a breath they hadn't even realised they had been holding, followed by silent giggles from the two rescuers. “Light, what did you do, Leane?” a quiet but amused voice came from the door. “She was in absolute kill mode!” More giggles. Leane froze again. Those were not two full Aes Sedai having mercy on a little novice, she realised. “Moiraine?” she asked, incredulously. The paler figure was easier to recognize, now that her eyes had fully adjusted. “Yes you fishbrain.” the darker figure was stepping closer to her, into the moonlight. “Siuan?!”
The slightly older novice made a small little bow, grinning from ear to ear. “At your service.”
Leane couldn't believe it. “Light you saved me!” she said, still not really recovered from her shock. "Couldn't let the red eel get you, could we?” The Tairen girl nudged her playfully with her elbow. “We don't let our kin get eaten by sharks.” Leane was stunned. Kin? She usually kept to herself. Most of the other novices were afraid of the domani witch, or found her strange and she had never thought they had even really noticed her. Moiraine and Siuan had started their education half a year earlier and had been inseparable ever since even if they were very different characters. The wild outspoken Tairen and the composed but brilliant cairhienin lady were a thorn under Elaida´s stinking foot and she had to admire them for that.
“Thank you!” she said full of gratitude and Siuan nodded friendly. “Do you want to take a bath?” she said, mentioning into the room. Leane slowly took a few steps into the small but luxurious chamber with a hot tub in the middle, filled with steaming water. “What is this place?” she asked, stunned. “Keepers private bathroom. Gitara actually uses a key and I accidentally found it while cleaning her office yesterday.” Siuan answered nonchalantly and slipped into the hot wetness. Then she splashed a little water towards her friend “Come in Moiraine, there is no point in hiding anymore, she has seen us.” Moiraine however still stood at the door, as if she was indeed hiding from her view. Did she regret her actions? Why was she looking as if she had the one that had been chased. And cought.
She looked back at the girls. From one, moving her arms almost to carelessly around in the water to the other, hiding in the shadows, seemingly…embarrassed. Both were naked, completely naked. At night. In a private bathtub. “Are you two…”, she remembered the word from her book, “...pillowfriends?”, she asked sheepishly. Siuan snorted. “If you wanna call it that.” the Tairen admitted.
“Siuan!”, Moiraine sounded shocked. She had finally stepped into the moonlight too, almost slipping on the wet tiles. “What?”, her friend asked, “She is a domani, they don't care about such things.”
‘Well, maybe they don´t in the big cities.’ Leane thought by herself but didn´t see any reason to admit it outloud. Not when they thought she was some kind of expert in…these things.
Moiraine sat down on the edge of the water and eyed her suspiciously. “If you tell anyone…”she threatened and reak worry peaked through her controlled features. “Your secret is safe with me!” Leane raised her hands as if in surrender. “You saved my life today so I am in your debt now.” Siuan fastly turned towards her, spilling water all over her novice robe. “Oh.” she said excitedly. “Do you have any domanisecrets you can spill? You know, some…techniques.” Even in the pale moonlight she could see Moiraine blush. “Siuan!” she gasped a second time. “What?” was the answer again. “She is our friend now, we can trust her!”
Leane´s heart filled with joy at these words. “Pinky Promise!“ she swore ceremoniously to Moiraine. Maybe they really could be friends. She grinned and turned back to Siuan. “Actually, I do have a book I can show you.”