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The Journeys of Melabrid
Daleb
Melabrid Daleb's stilted boots made little noise aside from the odd squelch, as he crept through the darkened and muddy streets of Tear. The women he was following showed no signs of caution, never looking back. After all, who would dare follow Aes Sedai? The pair of Grey sisters from the White Tower had left their Warders twiddling their thumbs at the Stone, made their excuses to the High Lords, and had apparently gone for a stroll. Nobody thought to question why Aes Sedai would want to 'go for a stroll' in the iniquitous and mud-ridden Maule in the middle of the night. Aes Sedai were not to be questioned, simply avoided. Melabrid however, had followed them here from the Stone every night since their arrival. They met each night with a pair of cloaked men and spoke for a few brief moments before the Aes Sedai walked back to the Stone, and the men disappeared in the direction of the docks. The two men were waiting outside the shabby inn as usual. The Golden Cup did not look like the sort of place silk-gowned Ladies frequented. The two men on the other hand, fit right in. The first was short and balding, his dirty blue cloak wrapped tightly around him. His companion was taller, wearing a somewhat cleaner green cloak which hung open. Obviously they were strangers to Tear, as Tairens did not wear cloaks, which dragged through the mud. Melabrid slipped into his customary and fragrant hiding place behind two barrels of dead fish at the end of an alley, and watched. The men looked nervous, which they had not done on previous nights. The taller one shifted his feet- as much as the mud allowed- while the smaller man seemed to be trying to crush himself in his own cloak, wrapping it tighter and tighter around himself. The Aes Sedai approached the men, while the few people nearby took one look at their ageless faces and remembered urgent appointments -in Bandar Eban, by the speed at which they departed. The men also looked as if they wanted to visit friends in Arad Doman, but they stayed put as the women stopped a few feet away. The short, balding man- his cloak almost tearing as he nervously wrenched it around himself ever tighter- said something, and there was a long pause as the Aes Sedai looked at one another. Melabrid's breath nearly stopped. Were the Aes Sedai finally going to channel? He tried not to blink -an achievement considering the clouds of flies buzzing around the dead fish nearby- tried not to blink in case he missed seeing the One Power at work. But to his disappointment, the slim, graceful sister -Tekume Barshta- only nodded, and the small party began to move away toward the docks. Melabrid followed, keeping to the shadows. As Melabrid's eyes adjusted to the poor light of the docks at midnight, he made out the Aes Sedai and the two men, but he noticed with a quickly stifled gasp that there were three more men watching hidden nearby, out of sight of the Aes Sedai but visible to their cloaked companions. The three watchers carried drawn knives. Melabrid could feel a prickling sensation on his skin, that he put down to nerves. Should he warn the Aes Sedai and risk the discovery by his father that he had been following them? That was not the main reason he kept quiet, surely the women must channel now. He watched with anticipation. The sisters appeared to be arguing with the two men, who were obviously only distracting them while their accomplices crept up from behind. The balding man had finally torn his cloak, and now he played with the frayed edges instead, as he bounced up and down on his stilts, obviously willing the assassins to move faster. The assassins slunk towards the group through the maze of ropes and barrels on the dock, coming ever closer- twenty paces, nineteen, seventeen… The blades were raised at fifteen paces, but just as the assassins were about to spring, and Melabrid was about to shout a warning, the plump, short sister -Dresdun Erlohan- flung up her hands in disgust at the 'argument' she thought she was having with the first two men, and spun on a heel in the mud to face the assassins. Melabrid nearly fainted, and his skin prickled as he watched Dresdun recover from her shock, and raise one arm in a sweeping motion. The first assassin seemed to shrivel up on the spot, steam rising from him as he fell. The other Aes Sedai -Tekume- whirled around in almost the same instant as shards of what appeared to be ice leapt from her hands and impaled the second assassin. The third rushed onwards, brandishing his knife, but the look of hopelessness and terror on his face showed he had no illusions as to his survival prospects. He was simultaneously frozen and smashed by the two Aes Sedai, who then turned slowly back to the two men, whose faces were masks of terror, and who were apparently held in place by invisible bonds. Melabrid could almost have laughed and danced with excitement, had he not been so stunned by the events he had just seen. In his heart, he had always harboured an idea that the Power did not exist, and what was apparently done with it was actually accomplished through trickery and sleight of hand. But no amount of quick hand movements or trickery with mirrors could leave one man desiccated, one thoroughly perforated and a third in icy chunks across the ground. He loved it! The Power existed, and it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen! He had to see more. Eagerly, he resumed his observation of the situation in front of him, wondering what fate lay in store for the unfortunate captives. To his surprise and disappointment, the Aes Sedai simply watched as rope bound itself around the men. The spectacular display was over, it seemed. The sisters marched them back towards the inner city, and Melabrid made his own way back to the Stone, his thoughts whirling. How could he see more of the Power when he was stuck in Tear? How could he prevent his father finding out about the channeling? How could he prevent his father from finding out that Melabrid had seen it, but did not intend to report it. He did not see the grey-haired man watching him from behind a cart. ******* House Daleb's grey-haired thief-catcher, Dairaen, watched as young master Melabrid slunk back towards the Stone. Dairaen would give the young man his chance to tell his father -Dairaen's employer, Lord Daleb- about the crime the Aes Sedai had committed. Let the lad get his first taste of House Daleb's traditional work -preventing channeling in Tear. One day, it would become young Melabrid's responsibility. Let him have the glory this time. Dairaen admired the young man's commitment to his duty- his close watch on the wretched women was to be commended. A pity the Illianer scum had not killed the Aes Sedai. At least the Illianers did everyone one favour, he thought, looking at their mutilated bodies. Light, he hated Illianer dogs. |
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