Jeffery Kincaid hadn't wanted to take along time lingering with his mother and her new family.  He loved them all dearly but he didn't want to get attached to them too closely, he knew he had to go and the sooner the better, it was the last thing in the world he needed was to hurt his mother or the twins.  He was thankful that Demus had come with him.  It was a little awkward at first, he was after all his mother's lover and what appeared to be her best friend.  He was happy for his mother, she looked happy in a weird sort of way but then she was always not happy too.  Too many things troubled her, and he thought he knew what most of it was.  He wondered if there was any way to help her.

 

They were nearly to Tear now, maybe another night or two under the stars before he would take his life in a new direction.  Demus and Jeffery Kincaid sat around the fire roasting up a trout they had fished from the near by river.  It smelled wonderful and his belly was rumbling.

 

"Smells good."  Jeffery Kincaid was glad that Demus was close to his age. It made his mothers protector seem alot less adult.  He smiled.  "So you going straight back to the ranch?  Or getting away from the tedium of rasing horses?"  It wasn't something he really cared about but it was conversation and he was a friend or so he thought.

 

JK

As odd a place as he found himself in, Demus found himself enjoying the travel the farther they got away from the Ranch.  True, his companion was a year older than he, and his lover's son, but that was only part of it.  Cari was more than a lover to him; she was a friend and most of all, she had become his teacher.  Friends, real friends, were few and far between among their kind.  Finding Cari had been a stroke of luck and if he was completely honest, probably a life saver a few times over.  She had an edge that kept her skills honed no matter that she seemed a quiet Ranch hand to the outside world.  Her passion for the darker arts had been something he'd been rather surprised to find he shared.

 

And thus this trip.  He was getting too connected to Cari, too wrapped up in her and her family.  It was easy for him to fall into that, but he needed some space.  Not that he was thinking of putting an end to their relationship nor their professional attachment, but he needed to put things into perspective. 

 

He smiled at the other man and gave a small laugh.  "Oh, I figure i'll make my way back there eventually, but it's a big world.  I think I might see a bit of it before I go back to the Ranch.  I think they can manage a bit without me."

 

Demus Nolorean

Jeffery Kincaid smiled.  "I did the same thing before mother came back to Tar Valon after my  Dad did."  A pang of sorrow peirced his voice as memories of all the good times he'd had with Alex flooded his memories.  "I traveled around looking for something, I had thought I'd found it in Amadicia with the Children of the Light."  He laughed, "But I was mistaken."

 

The pot smelled good as he took a ladle full and dumped into his cup.  "Where do you think you will go?  Someplace remote and quiet or some place busy like Tar Valon, or stay in Tear and see the sights?"  Jeffery Kincaid wasn't sure how long he would be in Tear, with the fear of channeling so high he doubted his training would start there.  But you never knew and it would be good to know that if he couldn't do what he thought he could then he could perhaps go traveling with Demus.  It would be an interesting trip he was sure.

 

JK

"Oh, I figure i'll go here and there."  Demus said with a shrug.  He took a bite of food, taking a moment to enjoy the taste for a moment before going on.  "Mostly I think I'll see what happens in Tear, see if there is anything fun to be done, then move on.  I figure i'll travel until something takes me my way around home or until the need to find my way back to the Ranch hits me."  He smiled then.  "The real question is whether it's Cari or Kate that makes me go back." He said with a laugh.  "Your mom is the strongest woman i've ever met, but I don't know anything that can compete with little Kate batting those lashes at me."  It was rather true and he wasn't ashamed to admit it.  Kate was about the sweetest thing he'd ever met and he was only glad that Cari allowed him to dote on the kids as much as she did. 

 

In truth, he had little in the way of plans outside of Tear.  He had a job there and once that was done he would travel wherever he felt the need to move.  Most likely though his trip to Tear would be short and his travels elsewhere would be short as well.  He wanted to see a bit more of the world and get his head sorted.  Perhaps he should take work as a merchant's guard?  Or find a traveling peddler?  Well, he would see what Tear brought first before he did anything else.  Who knew what other work might come his way there.

 

Demus Nolorean

Jeffery Kincaid smiled at the thought of Kate flirting with Demus.  It was no more far fetched than Demus being with his mother, the ages were far closer and he doubted the man would harm his littlest sister.  "Kate is taking after mother in many ways."  He wouldn't say more, but he wondered if there was something more to be said for Kate's interest in her mother's lover.

 

Jeffery Kincaid finished his food and drink.  "I will take first watch, and wake you when the moon is high.  I'm sure we will not be bothered but my mother's training is too far ingrained to break it."  He smiled at Demus.  "I'm sure you understand that."  He was sure that Demus was more than her lover but also a student, his mother was good at many things.

 

JK

 

OOC:  I figure once you get back we can do a few more posts in Tear itself

Demus didn't answer, but laughed lightly as he turned over into his bedroll.  He slept lightly as he always did, but not from lack of trust in Cari's son.  Jeffery was better trained than he in a fair number of things and he knew his back was good with the other man. 

 

The next day turned out as well as any other and time went fast for the two as they continued traveling.  They made good time and Demus was surprised how well they got along.  The more time he spent with Jeffery the more he liked the man.  At first he had only thought about getting away from the Ranch and getting to stretch his legs on the road a bit, doing a favor for Cari.  He hadn't thought he'd really get to like her son in the process though.

 

Each night was passed in front of a fire with a couple stories and some laughs and the days seemed to follow the same routine.  When the city of Tear finally came into sight Demus was more than happy to be out of the saddle, but not out of the company.  He figured he'd get a chance to see Jeffery a few more times before they had to part ways completely, but he couldn't be sure.  He had a job to do and Jeffery had his own things to deal with.

 

He smiled at the other man as they got closer.  "What do you think?  Rooms in the best place for the night? Give us a proper end to our journey?"

 

Demus 

"That sounds excellent."  Jeffery Kincaid wasn't exactly sure how this would play out, he was not eager to find those his mother had sent him to find.  His doubts of his mother's knowledge came to the front of his mind.  He knew she wouldn't send him into the pit of doom.  He knew she loved him and meant the best for all things she had done for him in his life, even leaving him alone within the walls of the Tower while she found herself.  He could feel the bitterness creeping in and now he was sitting here with her lover.  A boy, younger than himself.

 

But Jeffery Kincaid grabbed the void, that was not how his mother had raised him.  It was Lila who of course did all the work but it was by mother's instructions that he was taught what he was and the way he learned to be.  She made sure he was going to be a good man, so good that he would become a child of the light, however short lived the experience was for him, but he had lived up to her expectations, and how he could see it in her eyes, she feared for him, feared for his life and for those around him.  Yet she sent someone she cared for with him.  She couldn't come herself, and she was right, he hadn't wanted her to bring him here, he was a man now, and she sent someone she trusted to guide him through the big world and keep him safe.  She trusted him.  And that was what brought Jeffery Kincaid back to the world around him.

 

His thoughts had taken up most of the cites of Tear and he wondered if Demus had noticed.  Jeffery Kincaid paid for the rooms they would take.  His mother had given him the funds to do so, they'd spent so little on the way south that they could afford quite a grand room for each of them and a most lucious dinner.  His stomach rumbled and he knocked on Demus' door.  "I'm going to down to eat."  He waited for a reply, he'd be down shortly.  Jeffery Kincaid knew he was here for more than one reason and he wasn't going to pry into the things he and his mother shared.  He was just glad to have met the man, it might be the last time he would be himself if the rumors of going mad men were true.  Jeffery Kincaid shivered.

 

He sat at a small table in the far corner with his back to the wall.  His mother's teaching ingrained in his soul, always watch your back and never leave a man no options.  The last was far from easy to understand, but reading the Art of War, rather transcribing his own copy had taught him the meaning of it and many other things Matalina had lived by.  His mother had changed names, but she had not changed her philosphies on life, he could tell that by watching her, and now watching Demus, her student.  But they hid things too and he knew he would never know what, he didn't want to know.

 

Jeffery Kincaid waved the girl away after ordering an ale. He would wait to order, until Demus came.

 

JK

It hadn't taken them long to get settled into a place and when he heard Jeffrey calling at his door he simple yelled out that he'd be down in a minute.  It wasn't that he really had anything else to do to settle in, but he had work to do tonight so once he and Jeffrey got their fun out for the night he had some recon work to do.  His mission was simple enough, but it was always simple to say kill someone.  It was harder to get it done and to make sure it was done in the manner asked.  This was the sort he disliked.  Something that needed to appear other than a murder. 

 

He had his extra knives well hidden in various spots on his body and had pulled fresh clothes out for the night.  Dark colors were good for the evenings work and it would be just as well to wear them in the common room.  Having changed and freshened up a bit, he managed to make it downstairs to find Jeffrey. 

 

He'd been quieter as they entered the city and he guess he could understand why.  The end of this journey and the beginning of another... it was always hard to see what the road ahead was going to bring you and when your life was changing it was even harder.  He'd been there a few times in his young life.  Light, he'd been there a few times just since meeting Cari.  She'd managed to find a way to twist him all around and still he felt the stronger for it.  He couldnt' imagine what living with someone like Cari for his whole life would have been like. 

 

He smiled at the other man as he took a seat opposite him, noticing and approving the placement of the table he had taken.  "feel a little more human now." He said with a grin.  "A little ale to wash it down, some good food, and I think I could be an extremely content man."

 

Demus   

Jeffery Kincaid smiled, he thought of other things that could quell a man's soul after a long journey, even though he had never personally sought after it.  Maybe tonight?  The question lingered in his mind as the serving girl came back.

 

Jeffery Kincaid asked for the specials and decided that the lamb stew and extra bread would hit the right spot. "We've still got plenty of money left that Mother set us down with.  So don't be shy."  He grinned at his new friend and he tipped the serving girl a silver coin and patted her on the rear.  It was very uncharacteristic of him, but this was probably his last night before he found out he was going to really go mad.  He wasn't about to let that happen and be a virgin too. 

 

Their dinner arrived and the serving girl smiled a sweet smile at Jeffery Kincaid.  "Let me know if there is anything you two need."  Jeffery Kincaid nodded with a bright smile and then dove into the stew, head first as Lila would have said.  He missed his nanny, but she was off now in Cairhein tending to her new grandchildren.  He'd written her a few times since they'd parted ways in Tar Valon.  Maybe he should write her again.  Let her know that mother was doing well and that she was really a good mother when she didn't have to be a Warder.  He could see it in Aiden and Kate, and the way they had grown up.  His bitterness crept in again.  He wished she could have been there for him like that, but he knew that she loved him, probably more than any other because he was the first.  He'd lived with the ideas, he was making his own way in the world with the help of many she had trusted her life with.  He smiled at Demus hoping to lighten his mood. "Mother would hate this meal.  But the lamb is very tender and juicy.  How can you and the twins stand to eat with her at times.  All those vegetables and beans."  He laughed as he spooned a peice of bread through the stew and took a big bite.

 

JK

It was interesting to watch Jeffrey at the Inn and Demus was rather amused with the other man's antics.  He had never spoke of women on the trip, had never mentioned a single girl in his life other than his mother and sister, and yet he was playing with the serving girl.  Not something he would have expected.  Still, it was every man's choice and so long as he took care of the serving girl well Demus didn't see a need to stop him. 

 

He laughed at the comment about Cari and her meals, all the while eating a thick stew.  "There are some things you put up with," he said with a grin.  "because everything else is worth it."  He didn't think about what he was saying and it was the sort of words he would normally try not to say, but Jeffrey made comments like that easy for some reason.  He wasn't on his guard as he should be, but at the same time he didn't care enough to correct it.  He liked Jeffrey after traveling this far with him and he'd rather have the man's honest opinion of him than walk sensitively around him.  Minus a few darker details of his life.  "And then again, when you can't put up with it... you go into town and order steak."

 

Demus :P

Jeffery Kincaid laughed.  "Yeah I suppose so.  But I'm sure your cook feeds you well when you don't dine with Mother.  I know the kids only enjoy eating with her because it's alone time.  I guess I  liked that too with mother gone so much. But they say she's gone alot too.  Off on these missions and then comes home with more problems."  The sorrow was in his voice.  All of her children were concerned, he was sure Fawne was too, but he hadn't talked to her much while he was on the Ranch, she was off playing with her friends there or at her father's grave. 

 

They really had a strange family.  Even Demus seemed to be a part of it.  "Yeah, well don't let Kate get under your skin.  I think she'd be worse than mother when she's older. And she's all there."  It was meant as a joke but it was more a cover of his over protectiveness of his youngest sister.  It was one thing for Demus to be with his mother, but his sister, now that would be fighting words.  Jeffery Kincaid knew that Demus was an honorable man and would not take advantage of a nine year old but what happens if he's still around when she's sixteen or eighteen? 

 

Jeffery Kincaid wondered whether or not he'd still be here to see his sister marry and have kids.  He was saddened by the thought of missing their lives as his mother had missed most of his.  He'd probably never have kids of his own.  It seemed that this direction in life was just as bad as being a Warder or Tower Guard.  No real life, nothing normal.  He envied Demus that. He was a free man.  But he hoped that he could learn enough to maybe help his mother fix her problems.  There had to be a way.  She would never agree to let anyone try, so it would have to be done with out her knowledge, but he could plan he could plot.  Maybe it would be enough to give him a purpose in life.  To fix the madness in the mind.

 

JK

Demus laughed about the comment on Kate, mostly because the little girl had gotten under his skin a while back.  Aiden had too in his own way, but where he knew he could be more firm with Aiden, Kate just smiled up at him and he knew he was a goner.  His mother had always said that was the way it was with kids... that she'd been lucky to only have one boy to spoil because she would have had a hard time spoiling two of them.  Of course, he had a soft spot for women and always had.  It was a trait and sometimes a fault that he knew well in himself. 

 

"Let's just hope by the time she gets that old she'll have a good head on her shoulders.  I'd hate to have to kill all the boys on the Ranch and in town because she was making eyes at them." He raised his glass as if it were a toast.  Yeah, that would be a hard one to explain to Nathan.  And to Cari since he'd have to act before they actually laid their hands on the girl.

 

Demus

Jeffery Kincaid smiled.  "You sound much like a father."  He took a sip of his ale and then continued. "It's good to see that they have some male influence in their life.  I didn't get one until I was six, I was a bit younger than them.  My own father left me and Mother when I was very little.  But Mom met Alex and they got on well for a while, until he asked her to marry him, that's when things started going down hill.  They didn't seem that way at first, but that's pretty much where things started falling apart from what I can remember.  But after Alex came back from his trip with his bond holder he found out he had a daughter.  I was sort of jealous and asked if he'd be my Dad too.  He said yes, mom said okay and so I took his last name, since Mother hadn't explicitly given me one.  It really is ironic that she took the same name after they broke up and she left the Tower.  I miss Alex but I had another father figure while in the yards, so I guess they raised me okay."

 

Jeffery Kincaid hadn't realized he was rambling, Demus probably already knew all of that information anyway, he was close with his mother.  "I'm glad someone will be looking out for the twins."

 

JK

It was interesting to listen to the other man talk about his life.  The only Cari that he knew was a wonderful mother.  She left on missions, true, but her kids were always well cared for and they knew love far better than most he believed.  He didn't know about sounding like a father, but he did care about what happened to the kids. 

 

"That I can promise you.  Even if there was nothing with Cari... they're great kids.  I don't think I could turn my back on them.  My father died when I was 12 and before that he was gone a lot too.  He was a Child of the Light actually." He said, not remembering if he'd told the other man that or not.  "I had my Mom but that was it.  The twins don't have their Dad, but at least they know they have people they can turn to if they need it."

 

Demus

"I'm glad for that.  I wish I could be there, but my life has taken on a new direction, one that needs to be learned before I can see my family again.  It's too dangerous if I don't."  He wasn't speaking of the Children of the Light coming after them, but more that he could hurt them. 

 

Jeffery Kincaid looked down at his plate and noticed it was gone, as was his drink.  He hailed the pretty serving girl, but a new one came over.  "Mia is off now."  The girl smiled at the two of them.  "But she's waiting for you by the back stairs..." Her last sentence trailed off.  "What can I get for you?"

 

Jeffery Kincaid blushed but he was considering it.  He knew that this might be his last chance.  His last chance...

 

He stood up.  "Thank you Demus, for the wonderful night, but I think I'll see what Mia had in mind.  If I don't see you in the morning before I leave for my new journey, thank you for this one."  He held out his hand and the other took it. Jeffery Kincaid smiled.  "Tell my mother thank you for me as well."

 

Jeffery Kincaid bid him farewell and headed for the back of the stairs.  Would he go through with it?  He didn't know but he knew he had to at least go.

 

JK