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"Enough of this," Siuan said, as she clambered out of the tub and left them to the heat.
"Is it time already?" Lan asked, and Moiraine knew if she hadn't masked their bond, she'd be feeling the disappointment he otherwise hid so well.
"Dinner can wait, can't it?" he entreated, not bothering to avert his eyes. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that Siuan was like him—unselfconscious in her nudity.
"Your efforts would be better spent elsewhere," Moiraine said, lounging back against the tub's high sides. "I'm impressed we got her to stay with us this long."
"And I think that if I don't tempt you two out of there, I'm likely to find you in the same place tomorrow morning, sodden and half-cooked." Siuan looked back over her shoulder at them as she slipped into a brightly-colored wrap. “Like two crabs boiling in a pot,” she said, laughing.
Moraine felt her breath catch at Siuan's easy laughter. It wasn't something she saw much of these days.
Siuan was always beautiful but here, away from the Tower, she was positively radiant. As she stepped closer to the windows, she seemed to glow in the late afternoon light. While the moisture in the air made Moiraine's own hair go limp, Siuan's only coiled more tightly in the heat. The shorter length revealed the base of her neck, and if Lan hadn't joined them today, Moiraine didn't think she would have been able to resist the temptation to step out of the tub and press her mouth against the glistening skin there.
Before Moiraine could lose herself further, Lan began to push himself up out of the water.
"We should help," he said.
Siuan waved him back. "No, stay." She swept back the sides of her hair and clipped it up, out of her face. "I'm more than capable of starting a meal by myself. You'll be back on the road tomorrow. Rest."
Lan watched her leave the room, brow furrowed. "How can she prefer cold water?" he muttered, then stiffened, looking even more stoic than usual.
Moiraine didn't need the bond to know that both of them were surprised he'd asked the question aloud. She suppressed a smile. His words confirmed something she'd previously only suspected.
"You think you're in any position to critique someone's bathing preferences?" she inquired.
Lan didn't answer, concentrating on...something. And then he scowled. "Why must you always mask the bond when we're here?"
"We're bathing in the same room. You can't complain about not being able to protect me."
His scowl deepened. "Stepin says-"
"Who's Stepin?"
"Kerene's Warder."
"Kerene Sedai," she corrected absently. "But I don't remember-"
"He's new," Siuan said, walking back in and pulling some spice jars off a low shelf. "If I heard correctly, he picked a fight with her in one of the city's bars."
Moiraine looked over at Lan. "And you two get along?"
Lan stared back at her unblinkingly. "He makes me laugh."
Moiraine was trying to decide if he was being serious when Siuan spoke.
"Lan," she said, "I know what I said before, but if you're almost done there, we could use some more fuel for the fire."
"Of course."
In a series of movements that demonstrated his efficiency, he was out of the water, dried, and dressed. Before he started out the open doorway, he looked pointedly at Moiraine.
"Fine," Moiraine said, as she unmasked the bond.
She felt a few tendrils of annoyance, followed by the barest hint of relief, and then he was gone.
Siuan walked over to a nearby chair and picked up Moiraine's robe. "You know," she said, as Moiraine stood, "ever since Kerene came back with that sullen boy in tow, all the other warders have been trying to draw him out of his shell." She held out the robe as Moiraine stepped out of the tub. "Yours is the first to make any progress at it."
Moiraine slipped her hands through the arms of the garment, enjoying Siuan's nearness. "And is that what you sent him away to tell me?"
"No," Siuan said, gently guiding her to turn around. "That was for..."
As Siuan leaned forward, Moiraine leaned back.
"Siuan, wait. We'll see each other later, after he leaves."
"Why wait?"
"We can't-"
"I'm not taking you to bed. Yet. I'm just..." Siuan cupped her chin and kissed her lightly, then brushed some hair back from her face. "I don't understand you sometimes. He already knows you care about me."
"Some habits are difficult to break."
"So it's not just your feelings for me you try to hide?"
"Why would it be? I've never been ashamed of how I feel about you."
"If you spend your life trying not to feel anything around him, it's going to seem very long indeed."
"It might be better than the alternative."
Siuan looked at her curiously. "You've spoken more than once about his bravery. If he can handle Trollocs, I think it very likely he can handle whatever you throw at him."
Moiraine straightened the cuffs on her robe. "When did I ever say that he wasn't brave?"
"Moiraine," Siuan sighed and rubbed her arms. "He's your Warder. Your companion. He knows when you're hungry and when you need to relieve yourself. He knows when you're afraid. The two of you just finished bathing together, for Light's sake. You've already been brave."
Moiraine tried to respond, but her face felt too hot to speak.
Siuan's tone softened. "I know you didn't always want this, but you made your choice—and you chose well. Now you have to stop fighting it. It will only hurt both of you, if you keep trying." She offered Moiraine a cheeky smile. "And in the end, I think you'll have about as much success with him as you did when you tried it with me."
"What makes you think he would welcome it, if I..." Moiraine's hands fisted at her sides. "We share a mission and little else."
"So tell me why he spends half his time here complaining when you mask your bond?"
"Duty."
"You really think that's all that boy cares about? I, for one, wasn't surprised when I heard about his success with Stepin. And you shouldn't have been either." Siuan pinned her with a gaze. "Does he even have anyone else who cares for him?"
"I-"
"When he left with you, did he leave anyone in the Borderlands behind?" Siuan paused for a moment, then continued, "You don't know, do you?"
"I allowed him his privacy."
"Did he ask for it?"
"What?"
"Love, sometimes you think you're doing things for other people when you're actually doing them for you."
"It was not my intention," Moiraine said stiffly.
"I know." Siuan sighed again. "Look, that boy—that man—is single-minded enough as it is. He needs something to care about besides our mission. You bonded him, so one of those things should probably be you." She touched Moiraine's fists, waiting until they unclenched to thread their fingers together. "At least promise me you'll think about it."
"I will," Moiraine said. "But I'm still masking the bond later tonight."
Siuan gave her a wicked smile. "With what I'm planning to do to you? You'd better."
This time Moiraine could feel the flush all the way down to her toes, and there was a clatter outside that sounded very much like kindling being dropped onto the deck's weathered boards.
Siuan laughed and lifted one of Moiraine's hands to kiss her fingers. "Who knows, you might have just bought yourself a reprieve for the next time you're both here."
Despite the teasing, Moiraine sensed an underlying wistfulness in Siuan. It made her realize that she hadn't asked after Alric...
...but then Lan stepped inside and the moment was gone.
A discussion best saved for later, then.
Moiraine looked over at Lan as they rode side-by-side on the road leading out of Tar Valon.
There he sat, straight and proud in the saddle, ready to take on any enemies they might encounter. He knew how to do his duty. She'd never have to teach him that.
But when she tested the bond, all was not so placid underneath. Anger, uncertainty, longing—for what, she didn't know.
But she could ask.
She turned to him. "When we were in Fal Dara, who did you visit?"
Moiraine could feel a thrum of surprise before he quelled it.
"I don't know how you'd refer to them..." he said, watching her warily.
She kept her face expressionless but didn't look away.
"...but I consider them my family."
"I'd like to hear about them."
"And will you do the same for me?"
She looked straight ahead, coming to a decision. "If you'd like."
"A bargain, then," he said, and she could feel the smile in his voice.
"Yes," she said, and waited to hear what he had to say.