Drabbles of life after

BONUS: MIRROR WORLD

WoTtober 2023 #BONUS: MIRROR WORLD

"I'm still surprised," Lan said, tying their horses to a tree while Moiraine walked to a stone that somehow caught her attention a moment before, "that you really wanted to go with me after the last time."

"Why? "He detected a real question is her voice. "I've become poorly and you got me back in a timely manner. If anything, I feel even safer with you after that."

"What is it?" he asked, coming closer.

"I don't know."

Lan almost ran to her then. There was this rabid curiosity he remembered. That drive to uncover a mystery that might have carried her through being a Brown, if she so chose. The same that drove her in Tiffan's Well to uncover balefire. It was good to see, but it was also scary. Moiraine tended to be reckless in that mood.

"Don't touch it!" he screamed, but she was already doing that. "Thom is going to stab me to the Tower and back if anything happens to you"

"Nynaeve will deal with that in a heartbeat." She was still moving her hand over the stone. He knew her enough to know she started weaving. "I think I remember hearing about it. I didn't think one was supposed to be here, though."

"Get let's get back to the palace and get some Brown sisters here to study it."

It was a perfectly reasonable request, but, Moiraine, being Moraine, still weaved. He decided to end it and manually remove her from this place, but she disappeared before we managed to touch her.

His body froze at first. As the moments went by without Moiraine reappearing, his heart beat faster and faster. He went around the stone, but it was obvious he had no power to interfere. He was torn between waiting and racing to the palace for help. Then he remembered the bond. Nynaeve was at the palace, but she would know where he was. She would help. He sent his need for support through the bond and hoped she would understand his meaning.

The small group of warriors came promptly and first he sent gratitude for quick reaction, before facing Thom, who was riding at the head of the group.

"Where is she?" he asked, looking around. "What happened?"

Lan nodded to the stone. "She didn't want to wait for the Browns to look it over." He motioned the men to secure the area around. "I saw her channelling, but I was too late to stop her."

"It's Moiraine." Thom crouched by the stone and touched it. "She wouldn't listen even to Cadsuane. You did what you could, I'm sure." It sounded like an absolution, but this didn't change anything.

"I will ask Nynaeve to get another sister here to try and..." He wanted to say more, but he understood Thom was not even listening. He couldn't blame the man. If it was Nynaeve... "They will find her."

"Go to the palace," Thom said with an unreadable face. "I will wait in case she comes back."

Lan was torn. Something that still remained in him from his days being Moiraine's Warder wouldn't let him leave, so he just instructed one of the men to go back hastily and tell the queen everything. He described what he saw and stressed the need for a Brown sister.

Before he could send him off, however, something happened and almost unconscious Moiraine practically dropped into Thom's arms. Thom tried unsuccessfully to get her to focus, but she just dry-heaved in his arms, the slumped with eyes that barely blinked.

"Thom!" Lan reached him and pulled up one of the bard's hands that came up caked with blood. "Get our horses!" he shouted to the men around them. "I can take her on Mandab," he said to Thom. They both knew it would be faster that way, so Thom nodded, and, after handing Moiraine to him up to Mandarb's back, followed on his horse.

Lan carried Moiraine only several steps towards the interior before Nynaeve ran towards them. He laid her down into the arms of Thom, already kneeling on the ground.

"She's seriously hurt," Thom said. "She needs immediate healing."

"Moiraine..." Nynaeve said, shaking her arm.

"Just heal her," Thom said. "I take it on my neck"

Nynaeve looked to him, but Lan was sure Thom was right. There was no time to waste with how much blood Moraine was losing all over her body. She almost gasped when she delved Moraine. The healing took a lot and Lan had to half carry her inside.

#

Thom carried unconscious Moiraine to their rooms. It was strange, she was wearing a different dress than what she chose in the morning, but he didn't dwell on it, however. He just took it off and changed her into the one loose nightshirt Moiraine loved so much. He made sure she was well covered before climbing into bed beside her and cuddling her exactly as she liked it. Nynaeve predicted she would be asleep at least until the morning, but Thom would not risk her waking up alone.

"Thom", she surprised him by saying before he fell asleep, "thank you for killing Taringail."

Whatever happened to her, he was sure it must have been traumatic.