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At that moment, five darkly clad men burst out of the surrounding wood, swords bare and eyes burning with a lust for money. One of the men bared his teeth in a sneer that revealed many missing teeth. "Pathetic," thought Ethin with disgust.

"Give us all of your valuables and money," the sneering bandit growled angrily. The bandits advanced on the horsed trio in a semicircle with the sneering leader at its center. Ethin snickered under his breath. Their obliviousness to his obvious prowess in swordsmanship was humorous.

A voice called behind him, it was Esole. "I would turn around and run to my mother's apron strings right now if I were you," she said with a twisted smile. The bandit openly laughed at her threat. He motioned slightly at his men and they advanced at a run. Esole clicked her tongue in a vexed manner and at that moment, the two men closest to her went flying into the trees. Ethin could only guess that she had used the One Power. That left three other bandits to go.

Ethin dismounted his horse and unsheathed his sword in one fluid motion, seemingly appearing at the lead bandit's right side. "She warned you," Ethin reminded the leader grimly. The bandit's sword flew towards Ethin and Ethin's met his with a clash and a spark. Ethin pushed his weight down on the man and he crumbled beneath him. He looked down at the bandit, shook his head, and whispered an Aiel saying about death under his breath before ending the bandit's life quickly.

Ethin rose and turned, finding the other two bandits advancing on Kiae.

Ethin grimaced at the bodies but felt better that now the streets were safer. "I will check around us. It would be best that you and Esole stayed close together," Ethin said as he took his horse over to the side of the road. He soon disappeared into the trees and checked the trails of the bandits. It seems they had caught all the bandits to be found.

Kiae sighed softly to herself and reached out with the Bond for reassurance. She hadn't realized how insecure she was now with her Warder until he had left her sight into the trees, causing a bubble of panic to rise in her throat before she caught herself.
"Don't be stupid, nothing will happen," she scolded herself. She adjusted in the saddle slightly in an attempt to calm down.

Esole grew tired of the silence after a while and decided she would try and strike up a conversation. "So how have you and Ethin been?" she asked nonchalantly.

Esole's face flushed, rather uncharacteristic of her in her opinion. She had not been expecting Kiae's question. "Yes, I have. But not very many times. We never had feelings like that for each other," she said, trying to keep her voice smooth. "Have you two?"

Esole noticed a sudden change in the Yellow. She couldn't quite put a finger on what it was exactly but she decided she would lose her antagonizing antics for the moment to gauge the Yellow's feelings. "Are you well? I'm sorry if the news offended you. We were Bonded for a while and he was the only person I had and me his. It was nothing serious," she said in what she hoped was a reassuring tone.

Esole nodded with understanding. "I understand; however, it wasn't really a relationship. We were lonely and destitute a few nights and needed someone to console us and we found that consolation in each other on those nights," she said, mind in the past. "But the way he looks at you - you definitely mean something to him. Knowing that man, he's probably waiting for you. Ethin has a big heart. He doesn't want to hurt you or rush you."

Esole averted her eyes, pretending she hadn't seen the Yellow's tears. "It's Ethin. He understands. I don't see how such a man as him that can be so ruthless in battle yet so kindhearted," she said, trying to change the subject from the Yellow's lost Warder.