12-30-2022, 06:32 PM
Daryen’s healing was not so brilliant as to fully restore anyone, but he could mend minor injuries. On the battlefield, it was easier to plug a gaping wound with flows of Air and Earth and deliver a soldier to a true Healer compared to attempt to stitch lacerations together. For a case like this, though, Daryen’s strength in the Power carried him through the flows. He’d Healed Jai untold times in the past. When they shared the field of battle, it was usually after Jai bore the brunt of protector rather than due to any flaw in his defensive abilities. When out of battle, it was generally following an excellent training session. Jai dealt more damage than he received, but when his focus was compromised, he could take a licking as good as anyone. Their bond transferred Jai’s pain, and Daryen usually used the excuse to pretend to want to heal Jai out of selfish desires, but that was one of the only ways to obtain Jai’s consent. This was one such instance, and it worked, as comfort settled upon them both like a blanket.
Daryen nodded when it was done, saying nothing about the path that brought them to this moment, and turned to don a jacket that he had previously stripped. Part-way through pulling it on, he heard Jai say something clear as day:
“This ceremony will be painful enough to endure.”
Daryen swiftly spun to look at Jai. He was busy dressing as well and not looking at him at all. Had Jai muttered it? He did speak to himself often, usually when he was disturbed by something, but that was unlikely this time. He’d heard it loud and clear. Strange.
He slowly finished putting on his jacket, studying the back of Jai’s head as he did.
“The ceremony is necessary. Trust that I know what I am doing, brother,” he said.
Jai then looked at him with the strangest look of confusion on his face.
Then without moving his mouth at all, Daryen heard him say something else:
“I trust the Seanchan will betray you,” Daryen heard.
His jaw parted slightly. The only sign of his surprise.
He had heard of strange developments between bondmates before. His sister regaled him of such stories, though having never taken a warder herself, they were only here-say. The Asha’man often bonded their wives, and the effects of those connections were widely known in the Black Tower. Only in the past few years did Aes Sedai and Asha’man bonds develop, and those effects were held close. It was said that the outcomes changed depending on if the woman formed the bond compared to the man. Their former M’Hael - Shadow Al’Mere was said to have mutually bonded Lythia Sedai, but Daryen was not close enough to either of them to ever hear how those bonds evolved.
He knew of no other pair in the Black Tower where one Asha’man bonded another. Nay, if there were, none would have been so long-lasting or long-held a bond as his upon Jai. They had been together many years. More than a decade.
He was long ago accustomed to feeling his bondmate’s emotions and sensations for himself. The closer they were, the stronger the transmission. Sometimes, when they were together intimately, he could not even discern his body from Jai’s. It was euphoric in no other way that Daryen could describe.
But this was the first time he heard Jai’s thoughts as his own.
He said nothing of the revelation to Jai, wanting to understand the rules of this new evolution before commenting on it. Interesting that Jai did not react as if the reciprocal was being experienced. That meant the bond-holder received the senses, but the bond-mate had none.
Daryen recovered with barely a reaction to this strange new revelation. He wanted to give Jai no additional reason to worry.
“I trust that you will watch my back as you always have,” he added with a reassuring grin.
“I’ll see you out there,” he said and departed. There were final matters to attend before the ceremony commenced.
Daryen nodded when it was done, saying nothing about the path that brought them to this moment, and turned to don a jacket that he had previously stripped. Part-way through pulling it on, he heard Jai say something clear as day:
“This ceremony will be painful enough to endure.”
Daryen swiftly spun to look at Jai. He was busy dressing as well and not looking at him at all. Had Jai muttered it? He did speak to himself often, usually when he was disturbed by something, but that was unlikely this time. He’d heard it loud and clear. Strange.
He slowly finished putting on his jacket, studying the back of Jai’s head as he did.
“The ceremony is necessary. Trust that I know what I am doing, brother,” he said.
Jai then looked at him with the strangest look of confusion on his face.
Then without moving his mouth at all, Daryen heard him say something else:
“I trust the Seanchan will betray you,” Daryen heard.
His jaw parted slightly. The only sign of his surprise.
He had heard of strange developments between bondmates before. His sister regaled him of such stories, though having never taken a warder herself, they were only here-say. The Asha’man often bonded their wives, and the effects of those connections were widely known in the Black Tower. Only in the past few years did Aes Sedai and Asha’man bonds develop, and those effects were held close. It was said that the outcomes changed depending on if the woman formed the bond compared to the man. Their former M’Hael - Shadow Al’Mere was said to have mutually bonded Lythia Sedai, but Daryen was not close enough to either of them to ever hear how those bonds evolved.
He knew of no other pair in the Black Tower where one Asha’man bonded another. Nay, if there were, none would have been so long-lasting or long-held a bond as his upon Jai. They had been together many years. More than a decade.
He was long ago accustomed to feeling his bondmate’s emotions and sensations for himself. The closer they were, the stronger the transmission. Sometimes, when they were together intimately, he could not even discern his body from Jai’s. It was euphoric in no other way that Daryen could describe.
But this was the first time he heard Jai’s thoughts as his own.
He said nothing of the revelation to Jai, wanting to understand the rules of this new evolution before commenting on it. Interesting that Jai did not react as if the reciprocal was being experienced. That meant the bond-holder received the senses, but the bond-mate had none.
Daryen recovered with barely a reaction to this strange new revelation. He wanted to give Jai no additional reason to worry.
“I trust that you will watch my back as you always have,” he added with a reassuring grin.
“I’ll see you out there,” he said and departed. There were final matters to attend before the ceremony commenced.