The Hunt

[Jay Carpenter]

It was tempting to shut out the world then forget it was waiting for their return when Nythadri’s face loomed so close. Little nuances were enhanced: the displeased tug of her lips was magnified, the resolution to her breathing louder, the caution washed clearly and so waiting for the next motion threatened Jai’s already divided attention. Which was a hard enough task for a man accustomed to devoting obsessive levels of focus to one task at a time.



Ledgers, the sword, channeling, people; every ounce of his being funneled to what was directly beneath eyes blind to nothing else. Thus he labored to devote sincere attention to the creature who now understood more about him in an hour than with those he'd worked side by side for years and while still keeping a bird’s eye perspective on everyone else's behavior. Light! The monument of the task doubled now that he realized just how much she guessed about his motives; likely more about him than he knew himself. For that, he was anxious to absorb what she would say next.



Surely he was not the first man to be haunted..? Asha'man by career held hands with the monster inside they trained to find pleasure in gore. No matter the target. Once a line of Asha'man were done, there was no identifying what those weeping mounds of pink were before anyway. Asha’man: recalling his identity washed his tongue with the flavor of guilt like a dry wine for such weakness. Saidin's addicting nature, another monster to control, rose to the surface defiantly in response. Take more, it called. Tighten the grip, it whispered. Bend it at will. The temptation tightened his will to live up to the uniform he never went without. An acute awareness of the cool silver pins resting against the flesh did their job. It took conscious effort: closing his eyes for too long to be an innocent blink, smoothing the lines of thought from his brow, drawing on the peace of the Oneness; but he maintained something as simple as a ward without the forces ripping apart. Or maybe it would be him which ripped. Was there a difference? It didn’t matter. The world held, for now.



The other half was gravely aware of that world he could face without fear. Nythadri spoke of the Blight. How long had it been since Jai breathed its rot? The scent of decay only intensified once the Blight's innards were dumped on the mangy ground. What a morbid stench to long for it now. He could return to the Black Tower and ask to be assigned a post north? Malkier's quiet voice in his head encouraged him to do so. But would he remember how to meld the symphony of orchestrated death shoulder to shoulder with his brothers? Absolutely. The quick answer glowed faint within. But to go would be running again. He was fiercely aware how well that worked out the last time.



His check of the room needed to be brief. It would undermine their previous efforts to peer suspiciously out into the crowd now. And he knew how he would react if by coincidence his eyes landed on Nisele for instance: unable to contain the spiraling hatred within; not for her personally, but only because she would assume he was using Nythadri as Nisele had used Jai. Jai would not do that. He hoped. Or was he already doing it? Blasted games.



As though incited by Nythadri's description of Daryen's rise to power, his search for the man was unsuccessful. Moved on to converse with others elsewhere? He glanced at the far entrance to an outdoor patio. Surely the king would not sojourn to a more private retreat this early in the day..? He stabbed a swell of possessiveness. As though Nythadri read his mind, with her next comment, he jerked back at her quip regarding questionable behavior. Jai looked quickly elsewhere, choosing the moment to finally check for the glow of eyes circling the darkness. He was never a master at deception, and so feared the tension from her comment would give him away. Only with himself could he truly fool. With that power he could talk the Dark One out of the war.



He found the world carried on without them. Swirls of slick fabric flowed on the air. Women bantered and laughed insincerely. A few heads leaned together over informal negotiations over something that would never come to pass. Servants ducked, the bodies moved, and the faces blurred.



What was seen on the surface was never real though. A squinting of an elder lady’s eyes showed disapproval at youthful affections. The lips of two courtly sisters wishing they were in Nythadri's seat flapped repeatedly. Even the clean-cheeked lad bringing the docile bits of food flicked his eyes back and forth between the unexpected displays of intimacy.



The room had noticed. From both the defensive looks marring the painted beauty from the women's faces, some of whom had little to lose, and the hat-tipping from the younger lordlings, then the room noticed correctly. Jai relaxed. A little. Saidin still raged as the ward held, but he returned from the edge. Back to Nythadri.



Her lids had fallen while he looked. But the tilt of epiphany was clear. When they lifted, she saw a slow nod from Jai supported her conclusion. She might have stopped there and called laying these early foundations of trust a success, but she didn’t. Time did not freeze as Jai would have appreciated. If only for a few more moments to absorb the tilt to her jaw. In it, he could practically see the steps of dissociation forming a logic in her mind. It was similar to his single-minded obsessions. If it weren’t out of context, he might have thought she was ticking off mental beads to balance the books. Calculating, something. Although, it occurred to him there were other things to calculate besides lines in ledgers.



Fearing the dissolution of their illusion, jai reacted as if Nythadri spoke of things to inspire a hungry smile rather than the scowl of conspiracy. of course, not all that hunger was faked.

“I guess that makes us even. Because I don’t think you trust me either.”
She would have been a fool to do so, but trust was an unnecessary trait in conspirators. In fact, Jai could attest that knowing exactly who not to trust was the more reliable investment.



The hunger cloaking Jai’s expression only intensified the playful way he threw out the obvious. “But I’ll wait until you do before asking just what you did to be deemed a Lady only in title.”
The jest conveniently danced aside the comments on duty. It was enough Jai tipped a nod toward honor. He didn’t have to talk about it.



But Nythadri deflated, leaned away, and shrugged with the weight of her own mysterious duty. Consistent with denying the presence of such responsibilities, he would not ask whether it was the weight of Tar Valon or Caemlyn which gave her so much conflict. Being of the city himself, he understood what white marble fountains and gold serpent rings did to lives, but Jai was quick to correct anyone who titled him as noble. Both realms were distant and foreign anyway: Tar Valon and nobility.



Her retraction ended the ward as much as Jai, who found it both a sorrow and relief as the strain of Saidin quickened his pulse. But the vulnerability of its absence manifested with his free hand automatically coming to rest against the sword encased quietly at his leg.



Nythadri spoke the words, but Jai reacted. First in rising into a tall stretch for the back, then to offer her a hand up. Including a patient grin for a reward. Both for her and their audience. There was no need to straighten the uniform beyond a curt tug of the sleeves. The soft blend fell without wrinkle quietly to his knees.



He needed to be social and she needed air; this seemed the best time to do it. Besides, he wouldn’t miss an opportunity to give people a topic to whisper. If she let him, which he did not think she would fight it, he kissed the back of her hand goodbye as Nisele had forced on him earlier, then disappeared on a turn.



While roaming there were no shortage of faces to greet and arms to clasp. Although there was not the air of reunion to it as he’d experienced these past few days. Jai’s smile was sincere for the most part. In fact, his smile made it so far as to escape the main room altogether. He took a set of stairs two steps at a time to fly past the mason marks lining the rail but managed to emerge onto the second floor space overlooking the gala below without incident. Especially since a particular young Lady half his size nearly ran into him on her way down.



Taken aback at first, he quickly recovered with a flourishing, and foreign, bow where one hand moved back from the slender hilt at his side and the other lowered from his heart. They met one another in formal grasps behind his back.

“My Lady Sachi, you are looking more wizened and older by the day.”
He was pleased to see the young lady smile at the strange compliment. Young women of such mirthful youth would move mountains to gain any advancement in seeming older than they were. Whatever plans she had for descent, they were good as abandoned when she snaked her arm under his elbow like a little sister.



“Tell me, how is your mother?”
He looked down at her playfully.



Young Sachi's chocolate eyes swirled with liquid connivance. A defiant testament to their innocence. “Lady Fatima is as we speak renegotiating with the Sea Folk.”




“Based on some new projections in the market, I presume? That would not have been your brilliant suggestion, was it?”
Jai's innocent question fell on ameable ears.



“Oh yes. It was very fortunate we discovered such forecasting. Mother was quite pleased with the discovery. I even get to lead the bartering for the next contract.”
Sachi beamed with pride. So did Jai. She earned it. She did all the work after all, once her aim was set true. Jai pat the girl on the shoulder.



“I look forward to hearing of your long and illustrious career making knees tremble. And of all the money you will make, of course.”
He winked expectedly. “When you do, I could use some new cording.”
He pat the silk strands balancing the sword to his low belt. Her eyes lit incorigably when she realized he meant the sword. “And remember.”
He clasped her shoulders and leaned the long way down to her face dramatically. “I am fond of gray.”
Just before she left, he felt her shoulders giggle under his hands. But before he made two steps farther, a pair of heavy boots fell in step warning of company.



“Perhaps we should all be looking to the north?”




“You’re a man of dramatic greetings, Captain.”
Jai’s smirk was insincere, but his companion did not seem to take the comment badly. However, the longer Jai watched, there seemed to be more frown than usual behind Antony Sadiq’s stare-straight squint. While the Captain’s question naively fell too close to Nythadri’s for comfort, he placated Jai’s suspicions before they rose too far to call back down without repercussions. As the coordinator for countless raids together, the Captain was aware how many tormented days such obsessions might cost the Asha’man. A scene nobody liked to watch.



“Your Lady friend? I take it she is a guest of the Aes Sedai’s, though?”




“Ah yes, her. Well, i’m not exactly sure who’s guest she is.”
His eyes darted the tops of heads in search for dark curls below. “Did you know Daryen has a sister that’s Aes Sedai?”
The brow curving question was out of idle interest, but he shrugged it off. It seemed all Domani were as aware of that fact as they were of which way to saddle a horse. Well, Jai didn’t exactly know his way around a tack room.



As though by summons, the Aes Sedai below them seemed to shift on the couch. The uniformed officer beside him went typically quiet, probably feeling for strings around his neck, though he did not fidget if he did, for the few minutes before pulling Jai out of waiting for the prickle of a woman channeling. His shocking statement worked.



“Fine meat today. What a shame to see it go underseasoned.”


The Aes Sedai vanished from his thoughts. “That was you? I thought..?”


Antony’s rare glimpse of a smile was his answer. “His Highness has more important matters on his mind besides the kitchen.”


Jai lent his laughter to the railing, “Yes, I suppose he does,”
clapped the man on the shoulder appreciatively. “So what do you know about this hunt?”




The two faded from sight shortly after.