Loose Ends

[Jay Carpenter]

Zakar Kojima

Her question beat upon a door that need not be opened.  He had the facts.  Zakar prided himself on the ability to see the forest where others lost themselves in tangled branches.  He alone maneuvered a four-century pillar to the edge of ruin without compromising the blanket of public affairs in which it were nestled.  Investment acquisitions in a broken economy would serve him little gain.  Thus necessitating an accurate prediction of commerce's chill, logical flow to this nearly completed execution.  With business as it were with men like Winther, Zakar efficiently accumulated his successes by trusting to the continual of the status quo.  For where there was data to trace, there was a way to manage future control. 

His eyes fell to a ledger waiting undisturbed on the corner of his desk.  Papers were neatly stacked upon it, and held down by a simple, but elegant paperweight.  That ledger was written in his own hand rather than clerk penmanship.  A composition he was anxious to take to his hand once more.  Once business with Nythadri was concluded, that was.  Despite the severity of its contents, Zakar's office was rarely locked in his absence.  He trusted to the boundaries of privacy, trusted the unity of his team and felt secure in leadership.  His plans would come to fruition, of this there was little doubt.  No alternative than success existed when coin was a cold, but easy mistress to bed.  She was more straightforward a concept to grasp than the tender arms of a truer courtesan. 

The facts were secure in his palm.  Sharp as a newly minted Mark.  Winther was an emissary to recruit Ellis, a man who could be trusted to skim an untraceable trickle from the scam.  A scam, without Zakar's anonymous help, would never gained its initial footing.  A starving beast bore no burdens, after all; someone had to feed it.  Aes Sedai accounts were a gamble to risk; a powerful, but treacherous feedback loop.  Should the White Tower discover him, it might lead to his own collapse.  But business was nothing if not an intelligent investment in acceptable risk.  Jai had been a coincidence, marking him as the conspirator, a step of Zakar's willingness to usher the Asha'man toward his freedom from family burdens, and perhaps extend Ellis' usefulness. 

The story turned an unexpected outcome, however.  The serene, unwelcomed fallout sitting across from him now.  Jai's motives were not in Zakar's constructed expertise to predict.  His youngest brother was a blight on the standard curve with which Zakar operated.  An error for which he could not account, and so chose to treat as an outlier rather than a deviant.  Jai was unreasonable passion and energy, unpredictable and hot-headed.  An enigma to a man like Zakar: to be ruled by uncertain passions rather than the laws that governed the world.  The means by which his one stroll through Caemlyn uncovered a deeply buried alliance between Ellis and Winther was a foggy mystery for Zakar still to this day.  As Ellis was more a blank slate of questions than answers, Zakar's threats fell away unheard, drowned amid the cacophany of an Asha'man's ever-ringing promises.  Ellis' lips were sewn shut.

Nythadri's announcement earned a short nod.  Confirmation of their mutual agreement fell on more receptive ears than had her last utterance.  He stood abruptly, brushing his sleeves free of dust as he did, though made no indication of escorting Nythadri from the room, merely to honor her exit with gentlemanly accord. 
"Then I believe we are done."
  His voice enunciated a shade more broadly than it had during their conversation thus far.  Followed by an automatic summons of his assistant to the doorway, "It was my pleasure to meet you, Accepted." 


Toward the tight-lipped, duty-laden assistant Zak turned, gesturing sharply at the woman of the White Tower as he did.  Perhaps with a sharper hand than he intended, "See to it Accepted Vanditera's name is taken down as one with immediate access to me whenever she desires to call." 


The man nodded without hesitation, but curiously studied the woman in question for a split-second before turning aside to clear her path for exit; signaling the meeting's conclusion.  A rare addition to a list she would become: immediate and emergent access to Zakar Kojima himself, and the first among woman to join exclusive company.  Extreme circumstances must place her in such high regard, he imagined.  Beyond that of Aes Sedai and heads of international powerhouses; even Zakar's wife, who on more than one occasion waited patiently for access to her husband to open up.  The chore was as good as done then, as his mind was already accomodating Nythadri's extended interruption in Zakar's schedule.  Both men were ready to see it resume.  Zakar's next meeting would continue through a meal now: a less than ideal scenario for the parties involved.

Following the colorful trail of Nythadri's eventual departure, Zakar's fingers thoughtfully drummed upon the gleaming wood of his desk until the return of his assistant broke his thoughts.  Then he shrugged into a fine gentleman's coat, "I want everything wiped down before I return,"
and departed himself, leather attache in hand.

Jaslene Basinthe

Jaslene stared at the tea leaves stuck to the bottom of her cup, tapping her foot under the table as she did.  Thankfully, a tablecloth obscured her impatience from the patrons around her.  Partners and trios circled the elegantly decorated tables of this outdoor cafe, laughing and chattering about their midday activities free from the noise of the street beyond.  A warm, but distracted smile greeted anyone who caught her eye, but sitting alone as she was, few but the server paid her any attention. 

Scanning the street both ways from the bank's immaculate front entrance for the tenth time, her shoulders shrugged in defeat.  Zakar spoke true: she had need to return to her own work.  So she dropped a few coins on the table, payment for the warmth and the more than adequate service, gathered a cloak about her shoulders and navigated her way out. 

Then she caught a glimpse of colored stripes and her soft features split into a wonderous smile.  It was the same dark-haired wonder as whom she glimpsed sitting with a clerk on her way out.  Though now, Jaslene could fully appreciate the Accepted with a complete view.  Nythadri seemed near to her age, although she clearly never bore children with such skinny hips.  Her hair shone like black marble and pale skin gleamed like the moon.  Jaslene pushed her own curls behind her shoulders and smoothed the front of her simple bodice before weaving her way through the street-farers until she'd caught Nythadri's attention.

"Forgive me,"
she started, breath catching in the haste to corner Nythadri before she escaped.  "You must be Nythadri?"
  Jaslene held out her hand in greeting, though she studied the Accepted with a twinkling, friendly appreciation.  She certainly understood how such a beauty like Nythadri's would capture Jai's attention.  That boy was ridiculously easy to predict, but even as a lad he muttered few names under his breath as he had this one's. 

"I'm Jaslene."
  She said happily, expecting recognition.  However, finding little, she cleared her throat apologetically and clarified, "Jaslene Basinthe..?"
She blinked and withdrew her hand, face dropping uncertainly, "Mikel's wife...?" 


She cleared her throat, pink apples glowing her cheeks with color.  "Forgive me for being so presumptious, oh-"
a meager gasp escaped as a man bearing an arm of packages accidentally brushed by.  They stepped from the harshest flow of traffic and settled nearer to the edge of the street for a moment of respite.  Jaslene's continued fascination did not wane, however. 
"I hope Zak wasn't too harsh, he can sometimes be oblivious to his own affect.  You know men,"
she teased of course.  Warmth and instant friendship bonding Nythadri into the group as though it were a natural acclimation. 

The laughter subsided, but the cheeriness of the moment continued.  "I'm so sorry, I'm sure you're extremely busy."
  She blinked, realizing she had yet to truly explain herself, and feeling foolish for it.  "I'm a friend of Jai's, or well, my husband is,"
her almond eyes narrowed, still half surprised someone so close to Jai as what she imagined Nythadri to be was ignorant of these names. 
"I figured he'd be back by now.  Ten years and not a word, then suddenly he's jumping about like a scattered poodle, but anyways, you know how he is,"
waving away another teasing shrug, she glanced around them as though his sudden appearance were to be the punchline of a very elaborate joke, "Could you do me a huge favor and pass along a message when you see the boy?" 


Unable to fathom rejection, she went on, though a duller emotion crept into her tone, "his poor mother asks everyday when his portrait will be finished.."
Lips previously fluttering with an ever-present smile pressed themselves together just mentioning the poor woman.  While the main portrait would be hung in their gallery, Jai's mother waited for a smaller copy to go on her bedside table.  Her room was lovely without it, full of sunlight and fresh air; doors frequently thrown back so the scent of a flower-sprinkled terrace perfused the air, but Jaslene could sense the aging woman's ache for a missing child's image.  She could see the yearning settling deeper lines everyday across a previously smooth forehead not that long ago.  As though the woman feared that much longer and she would forget what her youngest looked like at all. 

So Jaslene nodded, feeling as though her conscience could rest a bit calmer now, and gathered herself to leave the Accepted to her busy schedule.