An unbreakable bond

Chapter 19

After lunch, they were no closer to a solution than before. Mother Fiosä allowed Rand to leave the cottage to see Egwene, Perrin, and Loial, but it was Nynaeve's assignment to watch over him.

Even Moiraine was allowed to leave with Lan following her every move. The warder was surprised when his Aes Sedai didn't wander through the little village. Instead, she moved to a hill, which lay behind the last cottages and gave a beautiful view over the landscape. There she sat down cross-legged and closed her eyes, while she tried to find her connection to the source.

Lan needed a moment to realize what she was doing, then he stepped behind her. "You have to stop doing this, Moiraine."

"I won't get my access back by doing nothing."

"And you won't get better if you keep pushing yourself."

Moiraine decided to ignore Lan. He would give up soon when she... Suddenly, she felt Lan's fingers on the back of her head. He pushed her just a little bit forward before his fingers disappeared again. The Aes Sedai bit her tongue. She needed to concentrate. It was a waste of time to fight with... His fingers were back and pushed her again.

"Stop that.", Moiraine said in her best warning tone, and his fingers retracted.

"As soon as you stop pushing yourself."

Again, they turned silent, then Lan's fingers appeared a third time, but now, the push was harder than the other two.

"Lan!" Moiraine's nerves were really thin. "Leave me alone!"

"Not gonna happen." Lan didn't sound anxious at all. He was enjoying the view, while his fingers reached out... This time, Moiraine slapped his hand away and jumped to her feet. She was pissed and gave him a hard shove against the chest – well, at least the best she was able to do.

"Go and find Nynaeve!" The warder smiled, but otherwise, he stayed where he was. "I mean it, Lan! Leave me alone!"

"I know that you want me to leave. But you also should know by now, that I won't do this."

A frustrated scream escaped Moiraine's lips and she gave him another shove, which was as useless as the first one. Then a third and a fourth, while Lan waited. He watched how she was letting go of her anger and felt how every shove became weaker until her arms gave in and she stumbled against him. Immediately, he put his arms around her and held her close to him.

"Are you done now?", he asked softly.

"How am I supposed to help Rand when I can't use the One Power, Lan?"

"You don't need the One Power to guide him. Everything he needs is in your head, Moiraine. You just have to tell him."

"He doesn't listen. This is something he has in common with Nynaeve."

Lan chuckled before he answered: "Then you have to keep telling him until he listens. It's a good thing that you have some experience in being persistent."

Moiraine mumbled something, which even Lan didn't understand, but it wasn't necessary. All that mattered to him was that he had succeeded in distracting her.

Meanwhile, Rand was walking back to Mother Fiosä's cottage with his friends by his side. Loial was the only one, who had stayed at Perrin's and his' cottage. The others had insisted to walk him back to the wisdom of the Aiel. Especially, Egwene was using the opportunity to be close to Rand.

But when they reached the cottage, a small group of the redheads had formed at the door and was arguing with Mother Fiosä. One man stood in front of the old woman and was obviously the speaker, while the others were only cheering at his words. His blue eyes were sparkling, while he argued with the old woman.