Rasheta woke up in a cold sweat, she remembered little of the dream other then it had been in the blight and she had seen things she would rather not remember now. She rubbed her arms and embraced the power using just enough she created a ball of light over her hand and shivered again. She got up and pulled a shawl around her shoulders and paced for a moment shivering. If she had been bonded to Adrian she would have simply rolled over and he would have hugged her till she could sleep again. As it was she was unbonded and totally alone.

 

She twisted toward the door and realized that no she wasn't alone. She and Dante had been sharing the same quarters for the last month and while it had been a little strange for awhile she thought they had started to get along better. Dante had already agreed to the bonding all she had to do now was actually do the weave. She had been holding off because she still wasn't sure if he wanted her too but now she was frightened and her mind wasn't working properly and she saw no reason to not do it now. He had agreed. She pulled the shawl closer around her shoulder and walked from her room the small ball of light following. She paused for a moment at Dante's door. She felt a moment of guilt but tramped it down and opened the door quietly.

 

Rasheta took a moment to look over the room again it had changed a little since Dante had moved in but she wasn't sure exactly what had changed. She noticed Dante asleep and she studied him closely from the doorway for a moment. He really was very handsome, she felt a moment of guilt for what she had done to him when they had first met the kiss sometimes haunted her but she hadn't allowed him to kiss her again. She walked slowly into the room and dimmed the light she was carrying with her as she walked. It would do no good to wake him up before she got done with what she had come here to do. She didn't want to lose her nerve either. She got to his bedside and stared at Dante again for several moments before she put one hand on Dante's face and then put the other one there and embraced the one power.

 

She shut her eyes and turned out the light she had already woven and then wove the weaves needed to create the bond and set them on Dante. She felt him in the back of her head as she knew she would and she was shocked when Dante grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward she was staring directly into his eyes she could just see them in the near darkness she had to wet her lips a few times before she could speak. "I'm sorry I had a nightmare and you had already agreed to the bond. I just needed to know someone was close." She waited to see what he would decide to do. She could tell he was shocked at what had just happened but she didn't speak again the next choice was his.

When your memory has a tendency to remember everything you had ever experienced, dreams are unwelcome. The worst moments of your life can be relived if vivid detail over and over again and time can not heal the wounds as the memory never dulls. As is tradition with all Kalduns when he had reached man hood his father had taken him to Shienar. There he witnessed a battle. Sandre he remembered had watched some house guards deal with some bandits but Dante... Dante had seen much worse.

 

He was dreaming of something large in black mail. Somewhere he could hear Rasheta screaming. His attacks no matter how hard he tried to swing seemed to have about as much force as a light breeze. When he tried to run towards the sound of Rasheta's voice he ran in slow motion. Though the armored figure did not have that flaw. As he finally reached her in time to see her cut down he screamed in his mind. The black armored figure took his head in its hairy hands and tried to crush it. Then he woke.

 

His hand was on Rasheta's arm. He was not alone. Even more shocking was he was not alone in his own mind.

 

"I'm sorry I had a nightmare and you had already agreed to the bond. I just needed to know someone was close."

 

His heart melted at her words and still being groggy forgot to keep his emotions in check after the bond. He had once told Rasheta he liked her. That had grown and he wasnt eager to give her updates. However now she in a lapse of being to groggy to remember to control his emotions the fact that he loved her came out in the full strength that someone who practiced the spring could feel.

 

It was done. He was bonded already. He could feel the fear in her mind from her dream then her way of bonding him. He had not let go of her arm yet and his eyes could not make her out in the darkness. He reached up with his other hand to touch her face. It was a gentle brush of the fingertips, to reassure her but also to check if this was really happening. Her face matched the feeling in his head.

 

"Its alright Rasheta Sedai. Will you stay with me awhile? Im not used to this." he was truthful and as the truth settled in his feelings of love turned to insecurities and fear. "If you wish... I could just lay a blanket beside your bed... though I suppose that would be less effective now." His entire train of thought would have to change. "Are you ok? Do you feel better now?"

Rasheta could only stare at Dante for awhile while he got himself under control. She could feel that he was shocked and sleepy and there was something else. She knew what it was but decided to ignore it for the moment, she could handle a warder in love with her even if what she needed now was simply comfort and a friend. She still didn't move her arm but when he brushed his fingers over her face she relaxed a bit. At least he didn't think it was an intruder anymore as she was sure he had moments earlier. After he asked her to stay with him she pulled on her wrist in an effort to make him let go he did but it was a little clear he didn't want to. He asked her

 

"Are you ok? Do you feel better now?"

 

Rasheta thought for a moment and nodded slowly. "I will know that I am not a lone anymore." It was enough for her at least for the moment. She moved a little away and relit the small ball of light it was much dimmer then she would usually have made it but it would do no good to blind both of them with the sudden light. She settled on the floor a little distance away and said. "I'm sorry to have woken you this way. It will get easier to have someone in your head don't worry. If you have any trouble, you can always speak to me about it. One of the Brown Aes Sedai will I'm sure be thrilled to give you a history of bondings and what every Aes Sedai in the tower can expect from a warder. Well what every Ajah in the tower can is more like." She tilted her head a little and studied Dante for a moment.

 

"Did you have a bad dream as well? It seemed as though you thought I was someone else when you came awake."

 

Dante nodded. "Yes... I was in the blight. Never actually been in there. Just saw it from afar. I saw.. horrible things there." He sat up as it felt as though his chest were constricting. His blanket fell off his bare chest and he didnt really care. She had come into his room after all.

 

He sat there with his eyes closed a moment. A part of her nestled in his mind. He didnt think he could have asked for more. He figured it would be easy for them to feed off of each others emotions, because of that, he made himself feel happy.

 

"Now what do we do Rasheta Sedai... are you going to be ok with a part of me in your mind all the time?" She had a warder before... but this was not the same. Plus she had to lose something of her former warder when she did bond him.

"Now what do we do Rasheta Sedai... are you going to be ok with a part of me in your mind all the time?"

 

Rasheta laughed and nodded then added "Yes I wouldn't have bonded you if I hadn't thought it through." She asked "Can you handle a part of me in your head all the time." She laughed and continued speaking.

 

"Do not worry I won't compel you to do anything even when I'm angry or frustrated. I know some of the Aes Sedai use the bond in that way but I never do." She added "and you know I speak the truth because Aes Sedai cannot lie we are oath bound to it." She paused and then settled herself down on the floor stretching her arm out to pillow her head on it. The floor didn't bother her actually she had slept enough on it that it seemed a second bed these days. She added

 

"I'm sorry I spoke over you and didn't allow you to answer my earlier question."

Dante smiled. "I find a part of you with me is comforting actually... strangely." He had thought it would be like an invasion of space but, not like a warm blanket and a plate of your favorite food but there she was. A soft pillow at that back of his head.

 

"Rasheta Sedai... you dont need to lay on the ground. There are throw pillows around and for that matter a bear skin rug if you are too afraid to lay up here." He looked at her as though she were being silly. Not that he could blame her. His bed was just a few stacked mattresses on the ground. it was low like everything else in his room. Tables you sat on your knees in front of  and so on.

 

"Besides if you lay on the floor like that you will need another massage so unless you liked being groped..."

"Rasheta Sedai... you dont need to lay on the ground. There are throw pillows around and for that matter a bear skin rug if you are too afraid to lay up here."

 

Rasheta shook her head amused. "I like the floor." She added "i've slept on it enough recently to be very used to it." She propped herself up with one arm and studied Dante for a moment and turned serious.

 

"Within the next few days you will have to meet our Captain General or Ajah head. Meeting her is a privalage and you are not to for any reason tell anyone else who she is. I will do everything within my power to prevent you from telling anyone who she is. Since you will meet her in a few days I give you leave to ask me anything you like in order to be prepared for it." She didn't add in jaydena's name but Dante would find out soon enough. Jaydena was going to be surprised when Rasheta appeared and let her know that Dante was now bonded to her.

Dante eyed Rasheta with curiosity. (Middle of the night and she opens herself up for questions?) he thought to himself. "I suppose if there is any protocol that would be good to know. I have been studying protocol between Warder and Aes Sedai interactions but the book was as old as the Tower. Did you know you owe me a pig every year?"

 

He smiled despite his being tired. It was a law probably outdated before it was even written. "Well tomorrow is my first day as your Warder... I believe there was also a protocol of Warder taking his Aes Sedai to breakfast and her pretending to like it."

 

Dante reached over and threw Rasheta another pillow. "Youve been warned about your back." he said with a stern look and sarcastic raised eyebrow.