Tarasin Palace up to the da'mane kennels, Ebou Dar [late evening]
Mat's morning and afternoon had been extremely busy: first getting the rest of his soldiers out of the city (and his manservants, and Olver, and a bloody gleeman, and a Tairen thief-catcher and Light, Mat almost missed the days where it had been just him and his cloak sleeping under a bush), then telling Beslan that tonight was the night he would be leaving.
As he'd suspected, the boy (it didn't matter that Beslan was years older, if he sulked like a child, he got called a boy) was unhappy with the little notice Mat had provided him to provide a distraction. After several minutes of wrangling, Mat managed to get Beslan to agree to being seen while whatever he planned took place. There was no point in letting him get caught starting a rebellion and ending up with his, and most likely his mother's, head on one of the pikes on the gates leading into town.
Finally, at the appointed time, he took the sul'dam dresses Merlin had obtained and made his way down to the stables to meet Joline Sedai and Setalle Anan, the innkeeper who had been protecting Joline and would be serving as their second sul'dam.
And, he remembered belatedly, Joline's two Warders. Bloody wonderful.
"This will work," he said quietly to himself.
Fifteen minutes later, the women in their disguises, and they were making their way into the palace and towards where Mat had told Arthur and Merlin to meet him, in a corner by the staircase leading to the kennels.
Arthur Pendragon
Arthur had been stoically trying not to laugh ever since Merlin had turned up in one of the dresses. (He'd failed, for the most part.) By now, he had schooled his face into the picture of quiet determination, though, and none of the mirth was evident in his expression.
"Well, this has gone brilliantly so far," he said. "I'm almost surprised, Mat." And bowed his head at both of the ladies.
Joline Sedai
The Aes Sedai plucked at her dress and made a dissatisfied face. "Well, the night is still young," she said uncharitably. "I'm no longer cowering in the basement of an inn filled to the rafters with Seanchan. This is a very small step forward."
Setalle Anan
"Remember your manners, Joline Sedai," the older woman scolded, ignoring the venomous look the other woman shot at her. "It's good to see you again, Lord Mat. Your manservants removed your personal possessions from the inn--" by which she meant his very large trunk of gold, "--earlier this afternoon. What shall we do next?"
Mat Cauthon
"Mistress Anan," Mat said, nodding his head. "Joline Aes Sedai. May I present Prince Arthur Pendragon and his servant Merlin."
Their eyes bugged out like he'd imagined they would.
"The Dragon has been Reborn," he said with a tiny spasm to his jaw muscles. "All things are possible under the Light."
Merlin
"Hello!" Merlin said with the amount of cheer not at all suited to this situation. Because he was a special man.
Jolie Sedai
Joline sniffed. "Lead on, Lord Cauthon," she said.
Mat Cauthon
"This way," Mat said, "and for the love of the Light, look like you know what you're doing. No one stops people who look like they know what they're doing."
He lead them through the palace, then up to the fourth floor, where he paused. "Merlin," he said in an undertone, "do you remember which kennel Teslyn is in?"
Merlin
Merlin winced at the word 'kennel', but nodded. "As long as no one is patrolling that hallway, it's simple to find."
Mat Cauthon
"Right," Mat said. "Take both women with you and go get Teslyn. She should be able to tell you where the other Aes Sedai--Edesina--is being held. And if we are very lucky, we'll get out of here without any real sul'dam coming in."
His tone said that might be a bit too much to hope for.
Arthur Pendragon
Arthur privately held some longstanding protective feelings re: Merlin running off on his own to mess about with magic, but he kept them to himself this time. Instead, he nodded quickly. "And if the sul'dam do show up?" he asked, "I'm not going to take my sword to a woman unless there are no other options."
He'd definitely made a bit of a slip back in that regard, once he'd gotten home.
Mat Cauthon
"Nor will I," Mat said, completely understanding where Arthur was coming from. "If it comes down to it, we'll gag them and stuff them under a bed somewhere. And move much faster."
Merlin
Merlin glanced from one to the other. "Right. I'll handle it then."
Look, someone needed to be willing to poison women. Or blow them up. Or push them down stairs. God, Merlin was a horrible person.
Arthur Pendragon
"Oh, I'm sure you will," Arthur said, good-naturedly.
He was possibly not yet entirely privvy to Merlin's tendency to do horrible things to the fairer sex for the cause.
"But now that all that's settled..."
Mat Cauthon
Mat nodded. "Arthur, if you want to take the far end of the hallway as lookout, I can stay here, and Merlin can go get the Aes Sedai. Quickly. And quietly. If some of the other damane discover what we're about, they'll raise the bloody alarm."
Arthur Pendragon
Lookout. There was a time Arthur would have loudly protested being considered a mere lookout, but that time wasn't now. (And thankfully so, or they'd never have heard the end of it.)
He just nodded, taking 'quickly' and 'quietly' to heart, and slipped away before Mat had even finished talking.
Merlin
"He does that," Merlin whispered with an apologetic shrug. He looked over at the women and nodded in the right direction they needed to go. "We should hurry."
Joline Sedai & Setalle Anan
Joline nodded, then pushed to the front despite having no idea where she was going.
Setalle rolled her eyes at Merlin.
Merlin
"Um, left," Merlin offered, pointing helpfully before trying to dart ahead and lead the way. He was doomed here. DOOMED.
"If we hurry, we can get there and back before Arthur gets impatient and comes looking."
Joline Sedai, Teslyn Sedai & Setalle Anan
"You do be taking long enough," Teslyn sniffed when they got the door to her kennel open. Her eyes widened when she recognized Joline. "You be no holding my leash," she spat. "Rebel."
Setalle rolled her eyes again and reached for the cuff for the leash hanging on the peg by the wall. Thirty seconds of frantic fumbling and she finally figured out how the clasp worked and she snapped it onto her wrist. "Where's the other one?" she asked, then dispatched Joline to retrieve the other woman.
"There," she said, smiling at Merlin. "All done."
Der'sul'dam
"All done with what?" a decidedly female voice with a slurred, Seanchan accent demanded from near Arthur's end of the hallway.
Merlin
"Oh bugger," Merlin said, gaping in a manner that did not read 'All Powerful Wizard of Myth and Legend' at all.
Arthur Pendragon
... Yes, 'oh bugger' about covered the whole thing. "All done with... our rounds," said Arthur from his end of the hallway. Arthur, who had in fact had to tell little white lies like this to his father all the time. "We had no intention of disturbing you, I'm sorry."
Der'sul'dam
The der'sul'dam continued to come down the hallway. "Who gave you authority to take damane out after dark? If they don't get their sleep, they're impossible to deal with in the mornings."
Mat Cauthon
Mat strode forward, cloak whirling as he walked. "He's all the authority we need," he said, pointing to Arthur. "Or don't you recognize Artur Paendrag Tanreall when he stands reborn before you?"
Please work, please work, please work... he begged silently at whatever provided his luck.
Arthur Hawkwing Reborn! Really!
Arthur took that moment to do his best impression of a stoic regal warlord--
--which considering that he was a stoic regal prince during his dayjob, was actually fairly good, mildly questioning arch of his eyebrow and all.
Der'sul'dam
The der'sul'dam's eyes threatened to fall completely from her head as she stared at Arthur for a long heartbeat.
...then she knelt down, face to the floor.
"Forgive me, High Lord," she mumbled. "I didn't think you would be here, among the savages."
Arthur Pendragon
Arthur was going to delve into his deepseated issues with his 'legendary status' across universes some other time. (Or, more likely, just horribly, horribly repress them, barring intervention-by-Merlin.)
He knew how to play this part, though, so he pursed his lips, and stayed upright. "Many things are possible in times like these, and we can't afford to be thrown," he said, stealing a bit shamelessly from Mat. "Let this man through; his business is right, and he is loyal."
Thank God for Uther Pendragon and his inadvertent lessons in how to lie to authority figures.
Der'sul'dam
"Of course, High Lord," she replied, not moving her face from the floor (the Seanchan Blood had ruthless ways of dealing with those who seemed anxious to climb above their station, and the der'sul'dam was not interested in experiencing that kind of pain), "I only wonder if you would prefer a more trained damane. Tessi is still...erratic."
Arthur Pendragon
"The damane Tessi suits my purposes for the time being," he said, coolly. "Are you questioning my judgment?"
Der'sul'dam
"Never, High Lord!" she stammered. "I just don't wish you to be disappointed."
Arthur Pendragon
"I will not be," said Arthur, "For I might have need of the less dispensable damane later." He'd... also pick later to be conflicted about just how much he currently sounded like his father. One of his eyebrows arched. "You'd do yourself credit, der'sul'dam--" and another thing Arthur was currently very bloody pleased about was his memory for titles, "--if you made yourself scarce now, for much the same reason. The future will call for great feats yet."
Der'sul'dam
"Very good, High Lord," she said, climbing slowly to her feet and backing down the hallway. "This will be a day I will long remember," she vowed.
Arthur Pendragon
He inclined his head at her, regally, in lieu of using blessings that might seem utterly alien to this time and place.
Inclines of the head, however, always communicated the same bloody thing.
Mat, Arthur thought to himself, owed him a few yards of ale for this splendid feat of rhetorical excrement.
Mat Cauthon
Mat gave Arthur a smirk before pausing before one of the kennels. "I'll meet you downstairs," he said. "I have another promise to keep."
The Sea Folk Windfinder inside deserved her freedom as much as the Aes Sedai, he felt.
The Aes Sedai had already begun to circle around Arthur, telling him the fifty different ways they'd just thought of that he could have handled that situation better.
If by "better" you meant "their way."
Arthur Pendragon
"Oh, do shut up, it worked. Also, you are wrong, and--"
Arthur was going to fit right in here.
[OOC: Part one of three, preplayed with the wonderful bigdamndestiny and bitch_prince, tweaked from the end of Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan, NFB, NFI, void where prohibited, sales tax applies in WA, AK, and TX...]
As he'd suspected, the boy (it didn't matter that Beslan was years older, if he sulked like a child, he got called a boy) was unhappy with the little notice Mat had provided him to provide a distraction. After several minutes of wrangling, Mat managed to get Beslan to agree to being seen while whatever he planned took place. There was no point in letting him get caught starting a rebellion and ending up with his, and most likely his mother's, head on one of the pikes on the gates leading into town.
Finally, at the appointed time, he took the sul'dam dresses Merlin had obtained and made his way down to the stables to meet Joline Sedai and Setalle Anan, the innkeeper who had been protecting Joline and would be serving as their second sul'dam.
And, he remembered belatedly, Joline's two Warders. Bloody wonderful.
"This will work," he said quietly to himself.
Fifteen minutes later, the women in their disguises, and they were making their way into the palace and towards where Mat had told Arthur and Merlin to meet him, in a corner by the staircase leading to the kennels.
Arthur Pendragon
Arthur had been stoically trying not to laugh ever since Merlin had turned up in one of the dresses. (He'd failed, for the most part.) By now, he had schooled his face into the picture of quiet determination, though, and none of the mirth was evident in his expression.
"Well, this has gone brilliantly so far," he said. "I'm almost surprised, Mat." And bowed his head at both of the ladies.
Joline Sedai
The Aes Sedai plucked at her dress and made a dissatisfied face. "Well, the night is still young," she said uncharitably. "I'm no longer cowering in the basement of an inn filled to the rafters with Seanchan. This is a very small step forward."
Setalle Anan
"Remember your manners, Joline Sedai," the older woman scolded, ignoring the venomous look the other woman shot at her. "It's good to see you again, Lord Mat. Your manservants removed your personal possessions from the inn--" by which she meant his very large trunk of gold, "--earlier this afternoon. What shall we do next?"
Mat Cauthon
"Mistress Anan," Mat said, nodding his head. "Joline Aes Sedai. May I present Prince Arthur Pendragon and his servant Merlin."
Their eyes bugged out like he'd imagined they would.
"The Dragon has been Reborn," he said with a tiny spasm to his jaw muscles. "All things are possible under the Light."
Merlin
"Hello!" Merlin said with the amount of cheer not at all suited to this situation. Because he was a special man.
Jolie Sedai
Joline sniffed. "Lead on, Lord Cauthon," she said.
Mat Cauthon
"This way," Mat said, "and for the love of the Light, look like you know what you're doing. No one stops people who look like they know what they're doing."
He lead them through the palace, then up to the fourth floor, where he paused. "Merlin," he said in an undertone, "do you remember which kennel Teslyn is in?"
Merlin
Merlin winced at the word 'kennel', but nodded. "As long as no one is patrolling that hallway, it's simple to find."
Mat Cauthon
"Right," Mat said. "Take both women with you and go get Teslyn. She should be able to tell you where the other Aes Sedai--Edesina--is being held. And if we are very lucky, we'll get out of here without any real sul'dam coming in."
His tone said that might be a bit too much to hope for.
Arthur Pendragon
Arthur privately held some longstanding protective feelings re: Merlin running off on his own to mess about with magic, but he kept them to himself this time. Instead, he nodded quickly. "And if the sul'dam do show up?" he asked, "I'm not going to take my sword to a woman unless there are no other options."
He'd definitely made a bit of a slip back in that regard, once he'd gotten home.
Mat Cauthon
"Nor will I," Mat said, completely understanding where Arthur was coming from. "If it comes down to it, we'll gag them and stuff them under a bed somewhere. And move much faster."
Merlin
Merlin glanced from one to the other. "Right. I'll handle it then."
Look, someone needed to be willing to poison women. Or blow them up. Or push them down stairs. God, Merlin was a horrible person.
Arthur Pendragon
"Oh, I'm sure you will," Arthur said, good-naturedly.
He was possibly not yet entirely privvy to Merlin's tendency to do horrible things to the fairer sex for the cause.
"But now that all that's settled..."
Mat Cauthon
Mat nodded. "Arthur, if you want to take the far end of the hallway as lookout, I can stay here, and Merlin can go get the Aes Sedai. Quickly. And quietly. If some of the other damane discover what we're about, they'll raise the bloody alarm."
Arthur Pendragon
Lookout. There was a time Arthur would have loudly protested being considered a mere lookout, but that time wasn't now. (And thankfully so, or they'd never have heard the end of it.)
He just nodded, taking 'quickly' and 'quietly' to heart, and slipped away before Mat had even finished talking.
Merlin
"He does that," Merlin whispered with an apologetic shrug. He looked over at the women and nodded in the right direction they needed to go. "We should hurry."
Joline Sedai & Setalle Anan
Joline nodded, then pushed to the front despite having no idea where she was going.
Setalle rolled her eyes at Merlin.
Merlin
"Um, left," Merlin offered, pointing helpfully before trying to dart ahead and lead the way. He was doomed here. DOOMED.
"If we hurry, we can get there and back before Arthur gets impatient and comes looking."
Joline Sedai, Teslyn Sedai & Setalle Anan
"You do be taking long enough," Teslyn sniffed when they got the door to her kennel open. Her eyes widened when she recognized Joline. "You be no holding my leash," she spat. "Rebel."
Setalle rolled her eyes again and reached for the cuff for the leash hanging on the peg by the wall. Thirty seconds of frantic fumbling and she finally figured out how the clasp worked and she snapped it onto her wrist. "Where's the other one?" she asked, then dispatched Joline to retrieve the other woman.
"There," she said, smiling at Merlin. "All done."
Der'sul'dam
"All done with what?" a decidedly female voice with a slurred, Seanchan accent demanded from near Arthur's end of the hallway.
Merlin
"Oh bugger," Merlin said, gaping in a manner that did not read 'All Powerful Wizard of Myth and Legend' at all.
Arthur Pendragon
... Yes, 'oh bugger' about covered the whole thing. "All done with... our rounds," said Arthur from his end of the hallway. Arthur, who had in fact had to tell little white lies like this to his father all the time. "We had no intention of disturbing you, I'm sorry."
Der'sul'dam
The der'sul'dam continued to come down the hallway. "Who gave you authority to take damane out after dark? If they don't get their sleep, they're impossible to deal with in the mornings."
Mat Cauthon
Mat strode forward, cloak whirling as he walked. "He's all the authority we need," he said, pointing to Arthur. "Or don't you recognize Artur Paendrag Tanreall when he stands reborn before you?"
Please work, please work, please work... he begged silently at whatever provided his luck.
Arthur Hawkwing Reborn! Really!
Arthur took that moment to do his best impression of a stoic regal warlord--
--which considering that he was a stoic regal prince during his dayjob, was actually fairly good, mildly questioning arch of his eyebrow and all.
Der'sul'dam
The der'sul'dam's eyes threatened to fall completely from her head as she stared at Arthur for a long heartbeat.
...then she knelt down, face to the floor.
"Forgive me, High Lord," she mumbled. "I didn't think you would be here, among the savages."
Arthur Pendragon
Arthur was going to delve into his deepseated issues with his 'legendary status' across universes some other time. (Or, more likely, just horribly, horribly repress them, barring intervention-by-Merlin.)
He knew how to play this part, though, so he pursed his lips, and stayed upright. "Many things are possible in times like these, and we can't afford to be thrown," he said, stealing a bit shamelessly from Mat. "Let this man through; his business is right, and he is loyal."
Thank God for Uther Pendragon and his inadvertent lessons in how to lie to authority figures.
Der'sul'dam
"Of course, High Lord," she replied, not moving her face from the floor (the Seanchan Blood had ruthless ways of dealing with those who seemed anxious to climb above their station, and the der'sul'dam was not interested in experiencing that kind of pain), "I only wonder if you would prefer a more trained damane. Tessi is still...erratic."
Arthur Pendragon
"The damane Tessi suits my purposes for the time being," he said, coolly. "Are you questioning my judgment?"
Der'sul'dam
"Never, High Lord!" she stammered. "I just don't wish you to be disappointed."
Arthur Pendragon
"I will not be," said Arthur, "For I might have need of the less dispensable damane later." He'd... also pick later to be conflicted about just how much he currently sounded like his father. One of his eyebrows arched. "You'd do yourself credit, der'sul'dam--" and another thing Arthur was currently very bloody pleased about was his memory for titles, "--if you made yourself scarce now, for much the same reason. The future will call for great feats yet."
Der'sul'dam
"Very good, High Lord," she said, climbing slowly to her feet and backing down the hallway. "This will be a day I will long remember," she vowed.
Arthur Pendragon
He inclined his head at her, regally, in lieu of using blessings that might seem utterly alien to this time and place.
Inclines of the head, however, always communicated the same bloody thing.
Mat, Arthur thought to himself, owed him a few yards of ale for this splendid feat of rhetorical excrement.
Mat Cauthon
Mat gave Arthur a smirk before pausing before one of the kennels. "I'll meet you downstairs," he said. "I have another promise to keep."
The Sea Folk Windfinder inside deserved her freedom as much as the Aes Sedai, he felt.
The Aes Sedai had already begun to circle around Arthur, telling him the fifty different ways they'd just thought of that he could have handled that situation better.
If by "better" you meant "their way."
Arthur Pendragon
"Oh, do shut up, it worked. Also, you are wrong, and--"
Arthur was going to fit right in here.
[OOC: Part one of three, preplayed with the wonderful bigdamndestiny and bitch_prince, tweaked from the end of Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan, NFB, NFI, void where prohibited, sales tax applies in WA, AK, and TX...]