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Just as Moiraine was about to drift off to sleep, she felt someone practically jumping on top of her. She was about to snap at them, but opened her eyes to find it was Siuan.
"Siuan?" she said, a little sleepily.
"It's me," Siuan said. "Sorry. I know you must've been about to fall asleep. But I wanted to show you something."
"Okay," Moiraine said, and Siuan held out her hands so Moiraine could pull herself up.
"We'll have to be very quiet," Siuan said. "Merean's on the prowl. But it'll be worth it."
"Okay," Moiraine said again. Siuan smiled at her, leaning in to kiss her forehead before taking one of Moiraine's hands in her own and squeezing it.
They poked their heads around the crack of the door, checking that all was clear, then all but ran towards the back stairs that led to the exit of the Tower, and didn't stop until they reached outside.
"We're nearly there," Siuan panted. "We're going a little way beyond our usual fishing spot, because it's clearer there."
"Clearer?" Moiraine asked.
Siuan smiled at her. "Yes, clearer," she said. "Ah, there we go. Now, lie on the grass and look up."
Moiraine did as she said, and gasped at what she saw. The sky was dark, the full moon a silver globe in the canopy. The rest of the sky was scattered with a multitude of stars, little pinpricks of light, like a school of fish in a sea of blackness.
"It's beautiful," she said, shuffling closer to Siuan.
"Not as beautiful as you," Siuan said. "Light, I wish I could make you see yourself the way I see you. You're so beautiful, Moiraine, it hurts."
"That's you," Moiraine said. "You're the one so beautiful that it hurts."
Siuan shook her head. "It's you," she said, more insistently this time. "It's always been you."
"Have you ever been in love?"
Moiraine startled a little, then turned to the side, to see Egwene standing beside her.
"Hmm?"
"Sorry, I can leave if you..." Egwene said, fidgeting a little.
Moiraine placed a hand on her arm. "That's okay," she said. "You can stay. What was your question again?"
"Have you ever been in love?"
"Ahhh," Moiraine said. "Well. I suppose I have. And I'm surprised you haven't realised yet, you know."
Egwene inclined her head to one side. "Sorry? I don't..."
Moiraine smiled. "Siuan?"
"Siuan- oh."
"Yep. Known each other since the very first day we arrived at the White Tower, and loved each other for nearly as long."
Egwene let out a long, low whistle. "Wow." Then she hesitated. "Since you can't really leave the Tower, how did you, you know, properly court each other? If that makes sense? I'm not really sure how to put it. But if you get me?"
Moiraine looked at Egwene with what looked nearly like affection. She and Siuan didn't have any children of their own, and the children from Emond's field were the closest thing they'd have.
"Well. We weren't supposed to leave the Tower, but we'd sneak out and go fishing together, or down to the kitchen for sweets. Verin- the Brown with the grey hair- would always leave cakes for us. There's this unspoken thing that if one girl likes another, she'll share cakes with her, or take her out of the Tower at night, just her alone."
"That's interesting," Egwene said. "In the Two Rivers, if you like someone, you dance with them at festivals, or you pick berries and flowers for them, or you buy them candy from those peddlers."
"Hmm," Moiraine said, staring thoughtfully in the distance.
"You didn't exactly have any of that, did you? Even outside the Tower?"
"Not exactly," Moiraine said. "But that's okay."
Egwene hesitated again.
"If you don't mind me asking... what would you and Siuan do for each other instead?"
Moiraine laughed a little. "A lot of things," she said. "But one of the most memorable times was she snuck me out of the Tower so we could look at the stars. It was my first time ever seeing the night sky properly."
"Really?" Egwene asked, looking like she approved.
"Yes," Moiraine said, with a soft smile. "A little different from what you'd expect. But no, if you were wondering, she didn't give me flowers or candy. Not much of that to be found here."
"What did she give you, then?" Egwene asked.
"She gave me her love," Moiraine said. "And she gave me the moon and the stars. Infinity."