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Harrowhark the Ninth ([personal profile] we_bring_hell) wrote2020-08-26 10:50 am
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Gideon the Ninth, Between 19 & 20

The first few times Harrow has come to Milliways, she gave every sign of a carefully cultivated appearance. Tonight is different.

She's wearing black trousers and a black, high-collared shirt; there's no sign of her robes or the bone corselet she usually wears. Even her gloves and bone rosary bracelets are missing. Her facepaint is worn away, sweated off and smeared into an indistinct grey in many places. For the first time her bare skin is visible on her hands and places on her face; it's a muddy, pallid brown. Her short-cropped black hair is mussed.

She is clutching her journal like a lifeline; she moves slowly but she's steady, in the way of someone who learned long ago to make her body steady when it wants to shake. She finds her way to an overstuffed chair and drops into it, staring at her papers in a way that suggests she is looking past them.
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[personal profile] blue_ajah 2020-08-27 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
"What will you do with it?"

Moiraine is studying Harrow very carefully now, taking in every nuance of her appearance and demeanor.

It is entirely likely, she realizes, that the other woman has come directly here from the aftermath of the ill-fated dinner party without taking any time to recover.
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[personal profile] blue_ajah 2020-08-27 05:48 am (UTC)(link)
"Lady Ninth."

The Aes Sedai's tone is kind.

"You will be better able to focus with rest." She lets that observation stand for a moment, then adds,

"If you cannot bring yourself to do so at present, I might provide temporary aid, but you will still need to rest in the relatively near future."
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[personal profile] blue_ajah 2020-08-27 06:06 am (UTC)(link)
"We will speak of such things later, if at all," she says, and holds out both hands to Harrow.

Once again, a warm golden glow surrounds her.

"Place your hands in mine."
blue_ajah: (dancing with fire)

[personal profile] blue_ajah 2020-08-27 06:23 am (UTC)(link)
The Aes Sedai closes her fingers around Harrow's, and threads of white, blue, and silver explode from where their hands are linked to rush over the other woman like a wave.

The weave brings with it the feeling of wind over water, sweeping over and through its target and washing fatigue away in its wake, leaving nothing but the sense of being well-rested, as though after a good night's sleep.

It does not take long. The light fades as Moiraine finishes the weave. There is a final sense of gentle pressure on Harrow's fingers, and then the Aes Sedai releases her.

"You must rest within the next day or at most two. This is a masking, nothing more. It will allow you to function as though you have slept, but it only shields you from your exhaustion; it does not remove it."
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[personal profile] blue_ajah 2020-08-27 03:32 pm (UTC)(link)
A faint smile curves her lips.

"It is a peculiarity of this weave that you cannot, in fact, use it upon yourself. A protection of sorts, perhaps."
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[personal profile] blue_ajah 2020-08-27 03:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"If you will have it so," the Aes Sedai murmurs.

"Go and restore yourself, Lady Ninth. I will be here for some while yet, if you wish to return after, and if not, then I expect I shall see you again at another time."
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[personal profile] blue_ajah 2020-08-27 04:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Moiraine settles back in her chair and signals a waitrat to bring her some tea, as she considers everything that has just happened.

She does not envy Harrow the situation that the younger woman has found herself in.