The day had dawned bright and sunny. Kristal Sedai of the Blue Ajah had not been able to sleep anyway, so she had spent most of the night sitting in her favourite armchair in front of the open window, thinking. Just thinking. About everything. An occasional smile had lit up her sharply beautiful face during the night as a particularly pleasant memory had surfaced in her silent thoughts, but now that the rising sun was painting the white buildings of Tar Valon red and gold, Kristal was as calm as only a Blue Sister could be.
It was a heavy responsibility, bonding a Warder. She had done her best to explain everything as clearly as possible, but she was still a little uncertain whether Harken had fully understood the nature of the bond. Once the flows of Spirit settled into him and tightened, she would be in his head until the day one of them died. It was a most serious matter, for after the bond was complete, neither of them could ever be rid of the other, and Kristal knew how much Harken valued his privacy. Still, she needed a Warder and he needed something to focus on, and since they had been friends for years, the bond was much like a way to formalise a long since established agreement.
But the night had revealed other truths as well. Kristal knew exactly how much she herself valued her privacy, and the thought of anyone sensing her emotions, even vaguely, was more than a little frightening. She would have been the first to admit that under the surface, she was still a bubbling volcano of fury most of the time, and dangerously close to erupting. The years spent in the White Tower had mellowed her somewhat, and learning to be a Blue had also taught her the value of keeping her fiery temper in check, but there were still times she had to take hold of something solid to keep from screaming the roof down on someone's head. She just had to hope that Harken would not hold it against her, once he found out about it.
And there was the matter of Harken's wolves to complicate things further. Harken was not alone in his head to begin with, and Kristal had no idea what would happen when she started to elbow room for herself in there. Would the wolves accept her without question? Would they think of her as an unwelcome intrusion? Would they be angry at Harken? And, most importantly perhaps, would they enter Kristal's head as well and speak to her as they did to Harken? Somehow Kristal doubted that. True, there was no previous record of Aes Sedai bonding Wolfkin so there was no way to know, but Harken would certainly try to keep the wolves away from her in any way he could. She did not doubt for a moment that "Griever" would show teeth to any wolf trying to establish contact with her. There was no way to know what the wolves would do, but having Harken as a buffer between them made Kristal feel more confident.
Yawning, she stood up and stretched. It was almost time, and she was not even dressed yet. The seamstresses of Tar Valon had been faced with a challenge, for Kristal had wanted nothing less than a dress in the Malkieri style. Bonding a Warder was, after all, quite an occasion in the Tower, and there was just enough vanity in Kristal to want to try some glamour. Checking the final result in the mirror, she saw with pleasure that the dress was indeed suited for the purpose. The rich blue silk had a touch of violet when the light touched it, and the seamstresses had really done wonders with embroidery. The cut was of course nothing like the latest fashion, but Kristal liked the way the dress allowed free movement without losing any of its beauty. Now this was indeed a dress for an Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah. Before leaving her chambers, Kristal brushed her hair until it shone and fell down her back like honey-coloured silk. Then she settled her blue-fringed shawl on her shoulders, and walked outside.
Harken paced the gardens, telling himself not to feel worried, and then proceeding to do otherwise. As if sensing his uneasiness, the wolves stirred, making their presence known to his. Several miles away, scouting along the outskirts of Tar Valon; yet today, it almost seemed like they were beside him. Feathery touches on his mind, as if in benediction. Whatever the day would yield, he at least, had his pack's approval and blessing.
It hadn't been all that difficult to make the others understand the concept of bonding; wolves thought as a group rather than as an individual more often than not, and the images he had tried to convey about his impending bond bordered along those lines. He had not slept the night before, nor had he been inside the White Tower walls the previous afternoon. Instead, he had, as he had often done in the past, sneaked out of the Tower and made his way past the city gates, into the small thicket where his pack had waited. There, he had hunted with his brethren, had ran with the pack and sang to the moon till dawn, shedding human inhibitions and letting baser, deeper instincts run free. It was a special sharing within the group, especially for one who had not been born wolf to begin with. It took him back to the days before he was Harkening Wacliffe Sivar, warder of the White Tower, even before he was simply the new Tower recruit with the unusual pale eyes; back when he was simply young, headstrong Griever, who knew too much and felt too little.
It may very well be the last time he would come to his pack as one mind within a whole. They had never met Kristal, preferring to stay out of sight from most humans, but they had approved the bond all the same. He was - and is - an unusual packmate, and they had learned to accept him for who he was when they took him for their brother. He still worried of the effects the Blue Sister might experience bonding a Wolfbrother, but Kristal had been more than willing to take the risk, and the fact that a full human was willing to participate in a shared consciousness that only wolves fully understood had been enough to impress most of his kin.
Harken had slipped into clothes more suitable for the occasion only an hour or so ago, when he had returned. His hair was still damp, and his face freshly shaved; he'd been so used to going a few nights without sleep that he hadn't thought much of it anymore. He continued his pacing; from time to time he would look up and glance at the winding path, half-expecting Kristal to suddenly appear from behind a wayward bush; just like before, when the then-novice had discovered an angry, reluctant siswai in the gardens, troubled by voices in his head and haunted by hate and loss.
A sudden familiar scent invaded his nostrils, and then there was the barest glimpse of royal blue, his sharp eyes spotting it amidst the shades of green. Halting his strides, he allowed himself a small smile. She was here.
Harken was already waiting for her in the Gardens. They had agreed that the place where they had first met would be suitable for the bonding, not to mention the fact that they would have more privacy there than anywhere inside the Tower. Kristal knew Harken did not want a crowd to witness the bonding, and she had also been in favour of a private occasion. She had been practising the bonding weave ever since she had learned it as an Accepted, but she still had to admit that having a dozen Aes Sedai watch her weaving with a sharp eye was a very unpleasant thought.
There was no need for much talk, since everything had already been discussed. "Kneel, please", Kristal told Harken. "It will be easier if I can touch your head." The Blue opened herself to the One Power, embracing it willingly, and felt the light of it fill her. Separating the cool torrent of Spirit within the river of Power, she prepared the weave.
"Do you accept the bond?" Kristal asked, and when Harken nodded, the Blue touched his forehead with her fingers and reached into him with the weave. A moment of uncertainty, and then the weave settled without trouble. Gasping, Kristal took a step backwards. It was as if a new window had suddenly opened inside her head, a window that led straight to Harken. She sensed surprise from him, and puzzlement, and acceptance. No, Kristal shaked her head and tried to concentrate, the surprise and acceptance were coming from him, but there were other minds out there as well, and they were not human. Most of the puzzlement was not coming from Harken but through Harken.
The wolfbrother wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but he had felt a light touch on his forehead, something cold washing over him, like having his head ducked under a stream, and then, quite suddenly, Kristal was there. It felt similar to his bond with his pack, and yet, worlds different at the same time. Wide-eyed now, he could feel emotions - some confused, some curious, he thought he could hear a few of them howl - pass through his thoughts, but juxtaposed on them was the Blue Sister's presence. Reasserting authority, he reached out with his mind, soothing the wolves as best he could. He had been living with thoughts not his own for many years; it stunned him to discover that one more presence did matter, quieting the others' thoughts simply by being there. It was unusual and comfortable at the same time.
"I think that must be the strangest thing I have ever felt", Kristal choked, not sure whether she should laugh or scream. "I can sense the wolves through you somehow, but they are keeping their distance for now. They are... puzzled. It is very faint. Like a sound, and you are drowning more and more of it."
"They will...get used to it." Harken finally managed to say. They would know better than to intrude deeper onto another thought not of their pack. He blinked, as if spotting something he hadn't noticed before.
Kristal helped Harken up, and smiled at him. "I think this is going to work just fine", she said.
Looking down at Kristal, Harken slowly broke into a hesitant smile. "I think so, too."
