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"What in the Light, Ethin?" Esole asked in a whisper, surprised by the lack of people. She motioned for him to advance towards the back room in the far corner, opposite of the stairwell.

Ethin walked in, Esole trailing a few feet behind, and immediately unsheathed his sword and charged. Unable to see anything from where she was, Esole followed after him, embracing the Power in the process. Upon entering, Esole saw why Ethin was attacking - there were three large tough guys making a semi circle around them. Ethin was battling it out with two of them while the other advanced on Esole.

"Prepare to die, Aes Sedai," the thug jeered with a nasty sneer that showed his crooked yellow teeth. The man charged at her with a mace at the ready. He was almost upon her when Esole spared a quick glance for Ethin. It seemed he had slain one of the men and seemed to be almost done with the other.

She didn't have time to tell Ethin to spare the man so she decided to keep the man that was attacking her. Esole gagged the man and wrapped him with bonds of Air. Just as she finished with him, she looked over to Ethin who was wiping the blood from his sword onto the nearest corpse. Ethin looked over at her and nodded towards the captive thug with a quizzical expression.

"Ethin, it should be obvious. We must interrogate him and find out all we can," Ethin nodded at her logic. "Now then, I'll be needing your cloak. We must shroud his face. I can only do so much with the Power. It will be obvious he is being taken against his will." Ethin nodded once more and removed his cloak and wrapped around the man, placing the hood far over the man's face so it could not be seen.

"This will be difficult. I have never used the power to control a person's movement completely. That seems more up Meltin's alley," Esole said with disgust. "His movement will not be smooth, but it will have to do." She practiced a few times on the man, lifting him up a few feet from the ground so she could move his legs. She practiced with just his legs, trying to get a fluid movement going. It did not seem very natural but it was close enough. She then added arm movements. It made things more difficult for her. While walking, she would have to concentrate on not only keeping his arms and legs moving, but keeping them moving together in a way that looked natural.



Once they reached the inn where she had shared a drink with Melthin and Marek, she ordered a room for them and quickly shut themselves in the room. She made sure to set up inverted weaves around the room to prevent eavesdropping and made sure to make a barrier that kept others out of the room.

"Well, you're half-right. I would get rid of you, but I wouldn't use Ethin," she admitted calmly. "I don't believe in using a Warder when I can do it just as easily. If I still have a Warder," she added under her breath, doubting that fact. She surveyed the man, surprised he was telling her any of this to begin with.

"She seemed to be under the impression you would kill Ethin," Kiae continued, watching the man carefully for a reaction. "And I assume you or Esole would jump at the chance to get rid of me. No, I haven't come up with anything," she said, changing subjects abruptly. "I still need to gather more information before making any plans of action."

Kiae wasn't about to say she believed Esole's erratic behavior was due to Melthin's influence, so remained silent on that subject. "Well, someone believes I'm valuable other than the Tower. I do believe that's the best compliment I've received," she said, only slightly sarcastically, as a bitter smile appeared on her face. "Light help me, someone is mocking me, leaving Melthin as my only recourse," she thought bitterly. She didn't trust the man, but it appeared he was the only one who would consider what she said at the moment.

"Geofram, what's the matter?" she asked, narrowing her eyes as the coughing fit appeared. She hadn't noticed it before and as a Healer it would have been obvious to her from the beginning.

"Seeing as you're the only one in our little party currently speaking to me, I have to be concerned," she replied primly, before leaning over and snatching the glove before she could react. She frowned when she saw the dark blood on it and looked back up at him. "How long as this been happening?" she demanded, not needing him to drop dead on her before she was through with him.
She smiled suddenly, almost predatorily. "And when I'm concerned about someone's health, it simply means I don't need them dying at the moment," she added sweetly.

Kiae noticed the gesture and merely rolled her eyes, sorting out the information quickly. "I'm not stupid, you know," she remarked, before frowning a bit. "It sounds like your body is weakening from all the channeling - it happens to both men and women if they strain themselves. I can heal it if you want. Just stop weaving so often and I think it might calm down," she informed him. If it wasn't that, she didn't know what could be causing the coughing.

(I didn't want to say it was that for sure, so it's still open for you to do with it as you like. )

Kiae frowned and took his head, concentrating on the weave as she delved into the man's body. Nothing seemed out of place, yet there was something not quite right, either. Going deeper, she abruptly broke the weave and stared at him intently for a long moment.
"It's a taint of some sort," she said, her mouth a thin line. "I've only seen it in Darkfriends before."

Kiae rose to her feet as well and shook her head. "I Shielded Esole earlier because someone was using the One Power to directly attack her. If this taint was a tool of the Darkfriends to spy on us or you, it would be similar to that, I'm sure," she told him. The fact only Darkfriends had this was not a pleasant fact, but his reaction convinced her he had known nothing about it.

She shook her head to clear it and sighed. "Not everyone with a taint knows they have it, Geofram. I'll send some of my contacts at the Black Tower working on this to see if any other students are having similar problems." "I don't trust the man in charge." was left unsaid. She was surprised by his suggestion of breaking the Bond as well, but shrugged. "Esole wouldn't listen to me if I told her the Creator itself led me to the New Order and destroyed it, even if I came with proof. My words and actions mean nothing to either of them right now," she continued bitterly. Suddenly aware she had said more than she meant to, she hurried on. "Besides, Bonds are used to heal Warders who have lost their Sisters in battle or otherwise. Until I know for certain the Bond has no effect, I don't recommend having none."

"I'm sure you man can find me if you require me for anything," Kiae replied, getting to her feet as well. "If you experience anything worse than the cough, tell me immediately. I'll continue searching for information until then," she told him, mentally kicking herself.
"Fool, fool, bloody fool! The man's a Darkfriend, there's no other way! And you're dealing with him!" She winced at the mental beration, but found no other option available to her. Without that blasted Green's aid, or Ethin's companionship, she had nowhere else to turn to in matters like this.