[pfsb] the mirrors of the wheel

[blue_ajah]

The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, and all things are part of the Pattern. There is little that she can do now but wait, guard against events worsening as best she can, and watch.

As a result, Moiraine is in the bar this evening, musing over her thoughts with a cup of tea at hand and a slender, leather-bound journal open to a blank page before her.

Comments

[bialy_wilk]

"Hopefully the salvation along with the destruction." He turns his goblet on the table, slow.

"So this dragon show up?"

[blue_ajah]

"We were fortunate. And it was hard fought." She watches as he spins the goblet in a slow circle.

"He did. He was reborn as the prophecy held he would be." Something very wry shades her voice. "And still, it took me twenty years to find him."

[bialy_wilk]

"Hm." He frowns, slight, and gives her an inquisitive look.

"So... not a real dragon. Just the name?"

[blue_ajah]

"Perhaps title would suit better," she explains. "The first Dragon, Lews Therin Telamon, may have been so called for the massive amount of power that he held - enough to break the world. Which he did."

She gives a very slight shrug. "So when the Dragon was reborn, you may understand that the idea was far from welcome to many."

[bialy_wilk]

"I'm familiar with world-breaking power and some unwelcome ancestors," he tells her, dry. "Dragons, too. Though I wouldn't call any of them world-breaking, exactly. And in our case, it was a bloodline, not reincarnation."

[blue_ajah]

"'Of the ancient blood, and raised by the old blood,'" she murmurs. "Something of the sort, perhaps?"

[bialy_wilk]

"Something like that."

He looks back at the fire, still turning the goblet, before opening his mouth again. "'Verily I say unto you, the era of the sword and axe is nigh, the era of the wolf's blizzard," he says, the words familiar, falling easily off his tongue. "The Time of the White Chill and the White Light is nigh, the Time of Madness and the Time of Contempt: Tedd Deireádh, the Time of End. The world will die amidst frost and be reborn with the new sun. It will be reborn of Elder Blood, of Hen Ichaer, of the seed that has been sown. A seed which will not sprout but burst into flame."

The witcher looks back to her, expression shuttered. "Aen Ithlinnespeath," he tells her. "The prophecy of Ithlinne Aegli aep Aevenien. An elven sage."

[blue_ajah]

She listens fiercely, trying to commit his words to memory. "Not an easy thing to bear," the Aes Sedai murmurs, when he is finished. "Far from it. But it may be that there is hope in it, too, from what you have said."

[bialy_wilk]

"That's the problem."

The world is ending. He can accept that. What he dislikes is that line about the Elder Blood; about the world being reborn under a new sun. "Everyone wants to be part of the new world. But to do that, they've got to get their hands on a bearer of the Elder Blood."

[blue_ajah]

"Your potential student." It is not a question. "Do they have allies? In addition to you?"

It is also not a question that the witcher Geralt will have aligned himself with this individual, whoever they are. Not any longer.

[bialy_wilk]

"Some old friends. Not sure about anyone else."

Like, for example, this mysterious elf Ciri seems to have been traveling with.

[blue_ajah]

On the surface of matters, it sounds as though that might be far from enough, but Moiraine knows better than most how very few people can still shift the world entire. She nods.

“Then Light willing, it will be enough. Especially with what may be found in places like this.”

[bialy_wilk]

"We'll see," is his less than optimistic response. "I'd prefer an army, if one were available."

[blue_ajah]

"One might be, if needed," she returns, dryly.

[bialy_wilk]

"Hiding one somewhere behind your skirts?"

Possible, but unlikely.

[blue_ajah]

Without missing a beat, she replies, "This dress might hide many things, but I do not think its skirts are so full as all that." Her tone is just as dry as before.

"But stranger things have been known to happen. The Dragon Reborn was a sheepherder from a remote village, when first I knew him, and came to lead an alliance of armies from all across the world. Your student may find similar influence, in time. The Wheel weaves."

[bialy_wilk]

"Mm."

She's not wrong. And in fact he knows one perfectly solid way to get an army. "Just depends on what she has to give up to get one."

[blue_ajah]

Moiraine nods. "There is a saying in the Borderlands that 'death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.'"

She, he says. She does not pounce on this information, although she makes note of it.

"They have many sayings in the Borderlands."

[bialy_wilk]

His voice is desert-dry. "What, that one not universally applicable?"

[blue_ajah]

A faint smile curves her lips. "I would say, rather, that Borderlanders have a predilection for creating axioms."

[bialy_wilk]

"Nice for them to be known for something so harmless. I know a bard who'd want to hear all of them."

Not that he's seen Dandelion in years. "Not so sure about that first one, though. Duty isn't part of a witcher's line of work."

[blue_ajah]

Laughter flickers in her dark-eyed glance to accompany that faint smile. "I would not say that is all they are known for. I can think of at least one bard myself who would have several opinions on the matter."

Moiraine considers him, tapping one finger lightly against the glass. "Is it not? Well, then, perhaps another saying would be more appropriate to the situation, and that is 'when the price is high, that is how you know it is worth paying.'"

[bialy_wilk]

"Sounds like something someone rich would say," he points out. "But as it happens, the question of cost is a moot one, for the moment. Will be, unless or until she's found."

[blue_ajah]

"Not all prices are paid in coin," she counters. "Some of the most important are paid in other ways."

Her eyebrows rise at his revelation. "She is missing?"

[bialy_wilk]

"And you can be rich in other ways, too, or so I hear." He shakes his head at her.

"I told you. She's on the run. Has been for years."