Edana wrapped her fingers around the mug as Joe set it in front of her. She sighed deeply and just inhaled the scent of it a moment. It wasn't that she hadn't had ale in a while, or at least, it wasn't just that she hadn't had it in a while. She just hadn't been alone when she did. Alone. By herself. No one dodging her heels. No justifications. No... well, nothing. She didn't have duty until tomorrow night. She didn't have to train anyone or oversee punishments.

 

It was a lovely thought and one she intended to mull over quite a bit as she lifted the mug to her lips. Someone sat down to her left and she flicked a glance that way before taking a drink. Her brow wrinkled as she set the mug down and swallowed the ale. Thera? She turned her eyes to the Mistress of Trainees. She didn't appear to be any more relaxed than Ed felt. She wondered briefly if the reason was the same. She tossed Joe a coin for Thera's mug as he set it on the bar in front of her and tipped hers towards her. If she was dealing with the same issues, she probably needed the ale as much as Ed did, after all.

 

"Rough day, Mistress Thera?" she asked quietly. She hadn't had many run ins with the woman as a trainee, but she had taught Ed how to scale a big rock. That was worth an ale, if not more!

 

~Edana

Leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed, Thera tried to put Serena from her mind. It would have been an impossibility even if she had not just seen the woman. Since their encounter a little more than a week ago, the Aes Sedai would appear in her site every time she turned a corner, or looked up from instructing her trainees. Serena never made a move to speak to her, and had artfully dodged Thera each time she’d approached. It was as if she was taunting her; though in her heart she knew that was not the case.

 

The history between them was palpable, anger and hurt still flooded on both sides, and she was likely only being cautious. In the time since their bond had been annulled Thera had married Jasine, a trainee ten years her junior, given birth to a child that she’d lost and adopted another. No doubt Serena had done many great things out in the world, but she had returned alone.

 

It had been a shock that she returned at all. When they had fallen apart and Serena had left the tower Thera had been sure she would never be blessed by her angelic face again. Though if she did return she was sure there would be a new Warder in toe. Her petite Aes Sedai looked so much like a porcelain doll, frail enough to shatter at a touch. So often Thera had wanted to wrap her in cotton and place her on a shelf for safe keeping that she’d often hoped she would bond another if only to keep her safe. Oh Light!! Why had the woman not spoken to her again!

 

Reaching into her coat pocket she pulled out her flask. Putting the cold metal to her lips she found it dry. “Why now! Why me!!” Putting all four feet of her chair back on the ground Thera walked over to the pitcher on her side table and found that it had been drained as well. When had she drank so much?

 

Locking up her punishment book and closing the door to her office she went to say good night to Lyss. The tiny tot was already ready sleeping, so she didn’t even take time to change. Slipping back out into the night she went in search of the only thing that could calm her mind..ale.

 

Taking a seat she held her hand up for a mug of ale and proceeded to sink deeper into her gloom. Perhaps if she got sauced enough she could forget ever having been bonded and in love.

 

Just as she was preparing to enter a solo drinking marathon she heard her time. Turning only her head she saw Edana and tried to put on a welcoming face. She didn’t think she managed much more than a grimace, but surely the woman would recognize that she tried.

 

“I have had a long life Edana, and today only made it seem that much longer. Most would relish in that, but right now I wouldn’t mind the rest of sleep” Glancing at the ale in the woman’s own hand she wondered what had brought her to this place. “And you? What sorrows or miseries are you trying to drown?”

 

-Thera 

 

Edana shook her head and eyed her mug. "I wish I knew. Nothing I should complain about and everything that seems to be driving me insane. My poor solitary life is anything but these days and I find, sometimes, that I miss it terribly. Today just happens to be one of those times."

 

She took a drink and set the cup down. "I can honestly say that I dread a long life if this is the beginning of it. I shall never bond and will die an old lady long before my peers, unless they beat me to a blade, that is." She tried to make light of it, but found only rueful annoyance for her efforts. "Truth be known, I've a love that I would die for and I fear it's killing me. I could do well with a bit of sleep, myself, but that comes with its own headaches these days."

 

She sighed and looked up at Thera again. "I'm not sure how you've managed it all these years, if this is what life in the barracks is like."

 

~Edana

 

 

Thera barked a laugh at hearing Edana speak about love. Love was the singular reason for most of her own pains and stresses. If she could only do as some Warder’s did and lock their hearts away in a vault never to be used again she may be able to have some semblance of a normal life; or at least a life without stress.

 

“Love is the greatest joy and the greatest bane of my life, and I don’t doubt everyone else’s life as well. I often wish that during my training I had managed to forget how to love, or kept my heart under lock and key.” Tipping back her mug she finished her ale and motioned to Lou to give them two more.

 

“The way I see it, you can look at love one of two ways. As a gift or a curse, most days my mind goes to the latter, but then again…… I am not sure I would want a life without love. Can you imagine how dull and onerous our days would be?” Sighing she ran her fingers through her disheveled red curls and rested her head in her hands. “I seem to be able to spew out an endless amount of advice, and yet I can  take none of it myself. What kind of fool does that make me?” Looking into the warm dark liquid in her glass Thera wondered if she would ever feel properly whole again.

 

Edana eyed Thera a moment and nodded as another ale was settled in front of her. "Aye, you've the right of it." She sighed and took a long drag on her mug before sitting it down. "I need lessons in that, as well. I've never once felt like I was less than anyone here..."

 

She eyed her ale and shook her head. "Until I met Sandre. I am a clumsy wreck, my emotions have more control over my actions than my head ever does and he can make me feel like I'm the worst sort of..." She waved her hand and took another drink. "Do you know he took an impossible assignment and left for the Borderlands to get himself killed because he thought I was cheating on him?"

 

Sure, she'd knocked him on his backside for that, but... she sighed and propped her chin in her hand. "Am I to assume, it doesn't get any easier?"

 

~Ed

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