“Truly?” Mave asked as she sat down in one of the comfortable chairs and pulled off the wollen leggings she had been wearing. Crossing her long golden limbs she took the proffered bowl of oatmeal. Weariness was settling into her bones, though in truth the Weaving she had performed had been more taxing than the evenings travel and the dancing combined. Now, by the light of a warm fire, she felt foolish to have bothered with it. Surely her suspicions were nothing more than that and the rider would turn out to be some disgruntled customer of the family business or some such. She had wanted to return to the farmstead so that if things went poorly she would at least not have to worry about innocent bystanders, save for Ali of course, and he had proven that he could take care of himself.

“Well I grew up outside Bandar Eban…” she talked for a time about the wonders of the port city and then about the manor that her family had brought with the money from their trading ventures. Nobility was a fluid thing in Arad Doman and in a few generations the Kashana’s would probably give themselves titles and airs to match their wealth. If Mave hadn’t been taken off to the White Tower, she doubtlessly would have been another brick in that climb, a marriage alliance to a house with ancient title but failing fortunes. She didn’t share that part with Ali naturally, nor did she allude to having travelled to Tar Valon. He didn’t seem to mind, he was a good listener eating up the stories she told him of the vast Almoth Plain or of the storms she had seen on the Aryth Sea and the shipwrecks she had visited on the rocky coast. He was a handsome man, strong and muscular and very different from most of those she had met. The odd shade of his eyes was captivating as well and she could easily understand why he had been the center of attention for the marriageable women of the village. Less understandable was why he was still single when the average age of marriage was low. Possibly this Evelyn she had heard of had plans in that regard. Well in a day or so she would be gone and her disruption to his life would be over. It made her inexplicably sad, he was the closest thing to a friend she had enjoyed since she passed through the arches. Unless you counted Velma Sedai, who while mysterious and intense was hardly friendly.

The fire had burned down low by the time they finished talking and Ali made one last round to check the window latches. Mave doubted he would have bothered but it was obvious that the strange rider wasn’t far from his mind either. For her own part she was comfortable that her wards would keep them safer than the strongest door in the Two Rivers would but she couldn’t share that information. Finally it was time for bed and she gave Ali a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek, an act which made him blush almost the shade of his eyes.

“Thank you for today Ali, I had a wonderful time,” and with that she vanished into her bedchamber and lay down to sleep.