Chapter 13
A Bonding We Shall Go
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Lorena was sore and irritated with her group. Strager and Na'fha didn't get her home until near dark the day before. Black Dawn was roaming around the forest outside the estate walls and making the horses nervous. Seth had reamed her as soon as she had come in the door for nearly forty-five minutes before she had decked him and went to soak in her bath. Before she had even made it to her bed, Ian had stormed into her sitting room and demanded to know what had happened in the forest. Thoroughly tired of them all, she had called on the sadir, wrapped him in massive weaves of Air, and sent him literally flying from her suite and into the hallway. She had then told every single male in hearing distance that she was not to be disturbed for the next twelve hours. That didn't last.
By first light, the wolf had somehow snuck into the house and had snuggled into the bed with her. An eye twitch started ten minutes later when Strager barrelled into her room and then curled up on the foot of her bed to sleep with his fang brother. Behind him came Seth seething in anger at finding the man in her bed. Black Dawn woke from his sleep and nearly tore Seth apart before she got a hand on him. Donald and Rhys weren't far behind to drag the bleeding Seth from the room still ranting. The commotion had then woken Ian, Trisain, Grim, two of her Warders, and Saris, who all piled in to see what was going on. Lorena's eye twitch became even more noticeable as soon as Leonard came in scratching his bare chest and yawning. The bastard had went to bed early the night before and had been asleep for well over ten hours. SHE had only gotten five hours of sleep.
Grabbing her weaves, she wove Air and Fire to amplify her voice and place gags in all of their mouths. She held onto Dawn and glared at all of them. She was standing on her bed in a tank top and boxers. Her hair had come undone from her braid and was sticking up all over the place. She had bags under her eyes and they were a nasty bruise color. Her eyes were nearly black in her fury. Screaming, she told them all to shut the hell up.
"What part of 'DO NOT DISTURB ME' did any of you miss last night? Hmmm? Please tell me why I have the whole household in my bedroom? And how the hell did Dawn get into the house?" She was screeching. She hated to screech. She jerked Dawn's ruff to make him stop growling and glared at Strager. "If you let him in here, I will skin you alive and wear your skin as a trophy!" As her anger let off, her eyes turned a wicked shade of blue nearly the same color as balefire. "I want to know why I have a wolf in my bed!" She lifted the weaves and flopped onto the bed. Dawn whined as he lay his head into her lap. She still had a grip on his ruff. Strager was giving her a look as if he couldn't believe that she had complete control over his fang brother.
Strager staggered forward and looked down into the small woman's furious gaze. "I am so sorry, Dream Walker! I only spied him as he came into the room! You were asleep and I did not wish to wake you." He gave her his hand and waited for the reprimand.
Lorena glared at him, grabbed his hand and shoved him down onto the bed. "Stay there. SETH!"
Donald and Rhys let him go. He stormed back into the room and stomped over to her. "Tell me why I found that man in your bed!" he demanded.
Lorena shifted Dawn off her lap and gave him a silent order to stay put with a shake to his head. She stood and went toe to toe with Seth. Her eyes darkened to black as her fury climbed her again. It was time to end this man's obnoxious holier-than-thou attitude. She wove a thread of Air and cut off his vocal cords. She wove another thin weave of Air and wrapped him in it to stop his movements. Smoothing her hair down, she tied off the weaves and let go of the sweet mercy of sadir. She was thankful that Trisain and Grim had been teaching her those weaves. They came in awful handy.
"Let me tell you something, Master Seth," she growled into his face. "I am tired, sore, and very cranky. I have had five hours of sleep of the twelve that I wanted to get. If I want to have a man in my bed, it is of no consequence to you who I bring into it. You are NOT my husband. You are NOT my guardian. YOU ARE NOT MY KEEPER!" She moved around him and sized up his lean muscle and exquisite physique. "You are training to be my Warder. If I take you to my bed, so be it. If not, you will have to get over the fact that I do not want you. You may have appointed yourself my mate, but that does not give you the right to storm into MY quarters and demand answers. I am your bloody god given Mistress! Not the other way around! How dare you storm into my sanctuary after the way you acted last night. Did you forget the broken nose I gave you? Would you like another one? I will not have Trisain Sedai heal you and you can carry the reminder of what happens when you royally piss me off!" Lorena's eyes were blazing. Her fury had carried them from a deep black sapphire to a blazing electric blue.
"Furthermore, every time you come at me with the attitude that you have, I will with-hold the bond just to keep you in misery," she railed.
Leonard had to stop this. Lorena's fury was something to be afraid of. He had watched her tear three men apart in front of him with just her fists. Granted, they had thought her easy prey because she was small and looked vulnerable, but she had nearly killed them. If he didn't stop her, she was going to kill Seth.
"Lorena!" he shouted.
Lorena spun to pin her Master with a deadly glare. "This is not your concern, Master."
Leonard, ignoring her temper, went on. "You must stop this. You are going to kill him if you keep on. You must calm down, love. Please," he pleaded in a soft voice. "This is not the way to handle this."
Lorena snorted and whirled Seth around with a flick of Air. "For him, this is the only way. If you do not want to be witness to this, then leave." She glared at her Master and pointed to the door. "I will not have this man berating me for all and sundry. I am a fucking grown woman! Not some fifteen year-old chit that needs guidance. I have survived to much to be treated like chattel! You know this. But you don't know everything." Lorena's fury broke then and she collapsed against her adopted father. "Oh, please make it stop, Father!" Tears came hard then as she buried her head into his chest. She felt his arms fold around her as he rocked her like a small child. He sat on the bed, carrying her into his lap as she curled around him.
"Everyone, leave," Leonard ordered. "Strager, you and the wolf stay. You may be needed. Seth can't be unbound till she lets him go." He looked to Trisain and Saris. "Please forgive her. I will explain everything later." He watched as the group left. Donald and Ian trailed the group and stood guard outside the door. He waited for the tears to subside as he whispered words of soothing into her hair. He hated this the most about women, but with Lorena, he would sacrifice much. She really was like a daughter to him. And this secret she was holding from him was hurting his heart. He wished that Braxus, his dragon, was with him. He needed to go to him on the morrow and sleep curled in the ancient beast's nest.
"Tell me what is wrong baby girl. Please? I love you and want to help," Leonard whispered.
Lorena calmed down and lay quiet in her father's arms. Something she missed. Warm, loving arms just holding her as her pain ate her alive. She sniffed and wiped her nose with her tank top. She was going to have to change again. The day was steadily getting worse. She took in a deep breath and lifted her head.
Leonard almsot lost his breath at the color of her eyes. They were nearly ice blue. He had never seen them that color. "What is it? What has you in so much pain?" He felt a warm body push between him and Lorena and wasn't surprised when the large black wolf buried his head into Lorena. He could sense her hurt and was trying to soothe her in anyway he could. Strager had even come closer, placing himself to Leonard's left and wrapping his arms around the girl. Where had she found this stray mutt with his bright yellow eyes?
Lorena savored the feel of both men holding her. She felt loved and protected. Taking a few deep breaths, she answered her father. "Right after I started my senior year in school, I was living with a foster family. My grandparents had just passed and I was still a minor, so they had to put me in foster care. I was placed with a good family. They even had two older boys and a younger daughter. I was there a few weeks before they turned on me. The father beat me repeatedly. The mother turned a blind eye to my screams for help. The boys loved to hear me scream. The girl was never home when they beat me, so she never knew. After a couple of months of beatings, the assaults started. First it was the father, then the boys. The mother was out of the house every time. My cries for help went unheard. The neighbors never heard me." Lorena shook as she recalled the horrors she had to live with everyday in that house. "The social worker didn't believe me. I didn't have any scars or bruises. She thought I was lying. I told her to take me to the hospital to have them check me out. I wanted out of that house. After every visit, the beatings were worse and the assaults more brutal."
Tears fell as she recalled the very last one. "The very last one I recieved, I broke free and made it outside. I was naked and bloody. They had been especially brutal that night. All three of them had taken turns. I had to do something. I knew that I wasn't going to make it another day in that house." Lorena shuddered and sobbed. "After the younger son was done, the dad came at me again. He forced me to take him in my mouth. I couldn't do it. I was gagging. I snapped and bit down hard. I spit it out. As he screamed, his boys let me go. I spun off the table they had me on and grabbed the nearest thing I could find. I think it was a bat. I hit all three of them and ran. I was picked up by the police a few minutes later hiding a few blocks away."
She sat up and turned to look at Seth. She saw the pain there in his eyes. Tears were tracking down his face. He felt her torment. She contiued, "They tried to take me to the hospital, but I wanted them all in jail. When they got there, that bitch was trying get him into the car. There was no denying the fact that he was injured. There was blood everywhere. Before the police could do anything, I was out the door and on her. I hit her with everything I had. I screamed at her. Asking her why she allowed them to rape me repeatedly. Why she allowed them to beat me daily. Do you know why she let them do it to me? So they would stop doing it to her and her daughter. I collapsed. When I woke up, I was in the hospital. I was there for nearly a month. The entire family was in jail. The daughter was with relatives and she was pressing charges against every single one of her family. They had been doing that to her since she was nine. She was only twelve when they were arrested. For the three months that I was there, she knew what was happening, but she didn't know how to stop it."
Lorena stood and embraced sadir. She let the warm embrace wrap her in it's arms. She released Seth from his bonds. She let him take her in his arms as she cried again into his chest. "I am so sorry, baby girl!" he cried, as he rocked her. "I didn't know! I didn't know!"
Lorena stepped back and cupped Seth's face in her hand. "I've never told anyone but the police and the judge. No one could have known. I never went back to that place. I was allowed to move back to the farm and complete school. I spent my entire college years there. I didn't have friends over. I got some self defense training, but it was you, Leonard," she said, turning to her Master, "it was you that helped me channel that anger into something useful. I was never a victim after that." She held out her hand and smiled wetly. "I never meant to let it get out of control again. I thought I was over it. I was becoming interested in men again."
Strager only understood one thing about the whole situation, his pack mate had been hurt badly. It had wounded her soul deeply. He looked to his fang brother and both stood and joined the little group. He wrapped his arms around all three and held on. Dawn wedged his way into the middle and whined at the two legged female that he had decided was his to keep. She reached down to rub his ears. Strager held on tight for a moment longer then backed away.
"I think Dawn and I will take a stroll around the estate. You need some time, Dream Walker." With that he shooed Dawn out in front of him and closed the door behind him.
Lorena pulled back from the comfort and love. She gave each of them a smile and stepped back. "I think Seth and I need to be alone, Father. I have some apologizing to do." Leonard nodded and left without a word. She turned to Seth and held out her hand. "Please, come sit with me." She led him to the bed and scooted up into the bed, pulling him along. Once she was settled, she leaned against his shoulder and sighed. "I have treated you so poorly, Seth."
Seth gently lay an arm around her and pulled the woman he loved more than his life close. He knew that she was going to take on more than him as a Warder and he was prepared to share her with whomever she took on. He had enough love for them all. "I will forgive you if you will forgive me. I know that I can be hard on you. But you are the heir to our Order. You must start acting like a princess." He laughed at her expression. "Well, the Order is known across several worlds, not just Earth and this one. We are here to help the people on this world with the Dark One. We could be on this world for several years, but that doesn't mean that you can just run off and do what you want. You are in a military unit as second in command. We work independently but also together." He flicked her crinkled nose then leaned down to kiss it. "You really are trouble."
Lorena smiled up into Seth's amber eyes. Slowly, she pulled Seth's face to her and nibbled at his lips. Exploring his lips with hers, she let her hands roam through his short blonde hair. It fit with his tall, lean body. The body of a trained swordsman, it was tightly wound with muscle and sinew. Seth had to top her by nearly a foot and he was strong. He had put on more muscle and some weight since training with the Warders, but she liked it. Deepening the kiss, she straddled him as her hands pushed his shirt from his shoulders.
Seth pulled back and looked into her passion deepened eyes. "Do you really want this?"
Nipping his lip, Lorena sat back. "Of course. Now shut up."
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Later that afternoon, Lorena and Seth emerged. Lorena was smiling as was Seth. They were on the way to track down Grim and Trisain. Lorena needed to learn the weaves so she could bond Seth to her. They found everyone in the sitting room off the billiards room. Lorena gave everyone a huge smile.
"I wish to apologize for my words and actions this morning," she said with a small curtsy. "I hope that you can forgive me."
Trisain and Grim exchanged knowing looks. Both stood and bore down on the girl. Lorena saw them, dropped Seth's arm, and tore off down the hall. Grim and Trisain hooted in laughter and gave chase. Black Dawn yipped in happiness and joined the hunt. Strager shook his head and settled back into the couch. The other men just looked confused.
"What just happened?" asked a dazed Seth.
"Besides your apparent hook up with Lorena, I would say that those women have a very special course for her to learn," answered Donald. He handed Rhys a tumbler of congac as he slid down to sit on the arm of the couch. "Don't worry so much. They get along perfectly well. The Aes Sedai won't hurt her. They just love to torment her." He smiled down on his lover and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "So have you and Lorena come to terms?"
Seth blushed, but nodded. "She and I have decided that we are just going to have a friends with benenfits relationship. I do love her, but not in the marrying kind of way." Seth sat beside Rhys after grabbing a congac. "So what do we have on the agenda for today?"
Donald snorted. "The day is nearly gone. It's nearly time for the evening meal."
"We could get some sparring in," Seth suggested.
Leonard shook his head. "Let's just relax for now. All you young ones will be leaving on the morrow for a nice camping trip to the hot springs. We older folks are going to enjoy a quiet house for a week or so."
Seth and Donald both broke out laughing. Seth recovered first. "Leo, you are only a few years over forty so pull the other one. Saris and Trisain are just as young, even with the One Power. Grim is a force to be reckoned with. So what have you old farts got planned?"
Leo threw a pillow at the younger man. "I wouldn't be saying anything, Seth. You are only three years away from your fortieth birthday. And here you are sleeping with a girl barely out of school!" He sighed dramatically and fell back into his chair.
Saris, Strager, and Ian passed looks between the men. Strager cocked his head like a curious dog and asked, "You are not upset at Seth for sleeping with your daughter?"
Leo sobered and answered, "Lore is old enough to make her own decisions. She has a very old soul in her and it makes her more wise and better adapted to live than most. She is really my adopted daughter as her parents are dead. She is still young enough to worry about, but she is an adult and has been for a very long time. Besides," he said standing, "I figured it would have happened sooner or later. She will need the men that she is gathering to her. Let's just hope that they can adapt to her quirks and needs. They will have to be able to travel with her when we leave this world."
Strager nodded. "I understand. Black Dawn has grown attached to her. It is strange for me to admit, but I do believe that I will have to leave with you when you leave. My fang brother will not leave that girl for nothing."
Leo crinkled his brow in thought. "I do not know how your power will transfer over the worlds, but Saris only lost a little of his power when he crossed, so it shouldn't affect you much at all. We will have to take you over to visit my world so you can get used to it. As for the wolf, we will move out to my estate in the country. One to keep him from causing panic in the city and to give him plenty of room to run." He scratched his head and thought for a second. "I have a friend that would like to look at your wolf. He is the exact size of the dire wolves we used to have. It would be good to have those animals running about again."
Strager smiled and nodded happily. "Dawn mentioned them a the other day. I would like to meet your wolves. I may be able to talk to them."
Leo blinked but agreed. "How old are you Strager? You look fairly old."
"I've just passed my twentieth summer, though I have been running with Black Dawn since I was just a small child. I was chosen by the wolves not long after my village was destroyed by raiders. I lost everyone that night, but I gained my brother."
"I thought that the Wolf Brothers ran in larger packs," Saris stated.
Strager grabbed a glass from the side table and made himself a drink. "They do. But Black Dawn is a huge wolf compared to the others. They kicked him from the pack and I bonded with him. Where he goes, I go." He shrugged and downed the fiery liquid. "Dawn and I adapted well and I can associate with humans better than most of my kin. As you know, very few of us can stand being near humans and revert to wild and feral people."
Leo clapped the boy on the shoulder. "You will do well in our group. Tell me, do you have much weapons training?"
Strager shook his head. "I get by with my daggers, but they don't help when I am being attacked with swords or arrows."
"Ha!" Leo barked. "I have a friend that can teach you how to use those daggers and be deadly from thirty yards. Would you like to meet him?"
Strager smiled brightly. "I would!"
"Alright, but first I am going to test you so that I can gauge your skill level and see what I have to work with." Leo guided the boy out to the stables, leaving the others to finish their drinks.
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Lorena gasped in a breath. She had been running for the last few minutes, Trisain and Grim following her doggedly. Her muscles were still sore from the sex and running wasn't helping the ones in her legs. Black Dawn let out a yip down the hall. Lorena jerked up and ran again. She knew the wolf could have had her a long time ago, but he was just guiding the Aes Sedai. Damn wolf! As she turned to run, she stopped and thought about a weave she wanted to try. Grabbing sadir, she wove Earth, Spirit, and Air together. Hoping that the weave she wove would hold, she spun a cloak around herself that would cloud the wolf's sense of smell, sight, and hearing. She then wove a second one that would overlay that one to block the women's senses as well. Tying off the weave, she dropped sadir and ran a few more feet to an alcove and slid into it. She just hoped that Balck Dawn didn't smell her. The looks on those two women were scary.
She waited in silence as the women came around the corner of the hall with the wolf out in front. He swung his head back and forth across the floor to track her flight. Grim and Trisani were smiling and chattering quietly. As the wolf came to the spot were she had wrapped herself, he stopped and snorted. He looked directly at her and grinned. Damn! What surprised her was him not notifying the women. She kept quiet and listened as the women came closer.
"Why do you think she ran?" Trisain asked, stopping a few feet from the alcove.
"Probably because we were grinning like fools and scared the poor girl. One look at two Aes Sedai with evil grins on their faces would have caused any right thinking person to take off," Grim responded. She shook her hair off her shoulders and sighed. "I really wish she would stop acting like some Novice and come out. We really need to teach her those weaves so she can take that man as her Warder. I still think she should be part of the Green."
"Yellow!" Trisain shot back automatically. "Oh, who am I kidding? That girl is powerful, but something is blocking half her power. Ashes, she's almost as powerful as Elayne or Nyneave! If she is raised to the shawl, she would be above us in power even as she is now."
Grim nodded and chewed on a nail. "We really need to take her to Salidar to get her tested and raised. We need the bodies. And I will make sure that she isn't kept there. I will bring her back as soon as she meets the Amyrilyn and recieves her ring. I need to get back to the south as soon as I can. The Seanchan are moving further north and there have been rumors of them moving further east with those horrible damane." Both women shuddered at the thought of those poor women being used like dogs.
Lorena sighed. She cut the weaves and stepped away from the alcove. "Alright, I will stop running. I really need to get this over with and then we can relax before heading out to see the Amyrilyn. I am guessing that Egwene al'Vere is the Mother?"
Both women jumped when they felt the source taken and immediately dropped, but recovered when Lorena stepped away from the shadows. "Yes," Trisain stated. "We will be leaving for Salidar a few days after you get back from the hot springs. During those few days, Grim and I will be teaching you the weaves you will need to master before being raised. After your raising, you will be given the choice of which Ajah you will go into."
"Green," she answered back with no hesitation. "I am a warrior and since the Green Ajah is the battle Ajah, then that is the one I will be going into." Lorena shared a smile with Grim. "Besides, I do believe that it is also the only Ajah that lets you take more than one Warder."
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After dinner, the household gathered in the parlor off the billiards room. It was time for the bonding ceremony. Lorena had opted to dress in her battle gear. She was wearing a hunter green lawn shirt over which she wore a darker green cincher and her black leather battle pants. She had sent off for a pair of roughened black heeled combat boots that she had at her apartment with silver grommets and knife sheaths built into the outer sides. Her sword was strapped to her side as well as a smaller dagger belt around her waist. Her hair had been done in multiple braids tight to her head and flowed from her neck with small silver dragon trinkets on the ends to secure them. Around her throat she wore a choker of black leather with a jade dragon undulating across it. In her ears she had changed her hoops for smaller silver studs and a jade ear cuff and chain in her left ear.
She waited on the party to gather round and motioned for Seth to come to her. "I take to me, Seth Drago, as my Warder. May the Light bless you as I take you into my keeping."
Seth knelt at her feet, taking her hand. "I, Seth Drago, give my sword, my life, and my pledge to always keep you from harm. I give my life willingly to this woman to protect and shelter from all that would harm her."
Carefully, Lorena opened herself to sadir and wove the bonding weaves. She placed her hands on either side of Seth's shoulders and settled the net into place. As the weaves melded them together, she threw her head back and gasped as the weaves sunk into them both. She could feel Seth's love for her and his pride. She could feel everything that he did. She could only imagine what Seth felt from her. He had to feel the love she had for him and the joy that poured through her.
"Do you see the gold veins, Grim?" Trisain whispered. "The love that they have for each other?"
Grim wiped a tear from her eye. "We should be lucky to witness this. Bonding a new Warder is so secretive and private, but she has the guts to be a great woman and Aes Sedai. I only hope that the new Amyrilyn will take her."
"If she doesn't, then she is a fool," Trisain ground out. She sniffed at Grim's indrawn breath. "The new Mother is still just a child. But, she has wisdom on her side. She shouldn't raise this girl, then I will have to have a talk with her."
After the ceremony, the group settled in for a night of fun and games. Not long after the younger people agreed to meet in the courtyard first thing in the morning and set out. Trisain and Grim agreed to get the necessary provisions ready for the trip to Salidar the following week with Saris and Ian accompanying them to make the Gates and have extra protection. All in all it was going to be a very busy couple of weeks.
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Okay people, this is where the story will be jumping foreward a couple of years. The next part of the story will be taken up just after the events in Towers of Midnight. Hopefully, I will be updating at least once or twice a week. I am working on some original fiction also, so my time will be split between the two.
Thank you for reading!