((OOC: I'll let you decide if you want to arrive first or not. ;) ))

Time from the Towers really was to much of a demand when you were kidnapped. Lots of things had happened in her absence. Most of the things were organizational, some of which she had corrected since then. Other things were a bit more serious. She had missed the Dragons Ball, during which a nasty event had taken place. Tar Valon had been attacked, from the inside. Clearly it was an inside job and it was done by darkfriends. Shadowspawn had flooded the streets killing people as they could find them. But worst of all her own father had been attacked, clearly deliberate, but Gray men. Gray men were assassins, they had been sent to kill Rialt and they had almost succeeded. Cayana wondered slightly what had actually stopped them but unless Rialt told her she would never know, it wasn't a question one asked, not anyone. Having heard the news about Rialt Cayana had felt rather awkward about the fact that she hadn't spoke with him once since she had returned. To make up for the fact she had invited him to a private dinner at the Golden hag. It was a small inn, not frequented by Aes Sedai but the service was fine still. She had booked the private dining hall in advance and made sure that there would be food and privacy enough for her to meet Rialt there. Then she had sent him an invitation to join her there today in an hours time. Sneaking around wasn't a good thing when it came to things like these, but if no one had questioned her going directly to the Madhi about some things they wouldn't question dinner. Then again she had heard silly rumors about them being lovers, rumors that had made Radgar pretty much nuts until he had managed to speak with her and sort it out.

Shaking her head Cayana brushed her hair calmly and watched herself in the mirror. She was properly dressed in a Saldaean dress. It was black with deep blue embroideries along the seems of her skirt and the hem of her sleeves. In a dark or dimly lit room they were pretty hard to see, but Cayana liked this dress. It was as an exact copy as she had managed to make it of the dress she had arrived here in. It was a part of her past, as was Rialt.

More things had happened since Cayana had gotten back. There were disturbances in the south and most likely there was going to be a war, Tear and Illian had never been the best of friends but this had a bigger feeling to it. It just had a weird itch about it.

Braiding her hair in one long braid and then making that braid into a complicated knot at the nape of her neck she pinned it up and looked in the mirror. Rialt was just her father, but she was Aes Sedai and no little kid. She couldn't go around looking like a farmers 10 year old daughter that had spent the day playing wrestling with the boys. The funny part was though, Cayana had no idea about Rialts past, he could very well have been a farmer, beggar or tinker as he could have been a noble. Well perhaps not tinker. Rialt always wore a sword.
She grabbed her deep moss green cloak. That wasn't fancy in the least, a warm woolen thing without any detailing or the like. She pinned it at her shoulder and left her room.

It was already dark outside and the busy streets weren't quite as busy as they were in the daylight. It wasn't all to late in the evening though, quite the opposite, but it was winter and winter was always darker. As well as colder. She soon found her way to the Golden Hag and stepped in. Her hood down she approached the innkeeper, who recognized her not only on her appearance but on the agelessness that Aes Sedai got with time. It was an effect of the oath rod, a thing that would shorten her life considerably, but it was worth it for the fight she was fighting. The innkeeper, a rather short and skinny middle aged man rubbed his hands nervously and then showed her the way to the private dining room.

“Dark Blue, Rialt…It looks good on you; matches your eyes.” The pale haired woman in front of him said. He stood there in only his undergarments with Kiren stating at his expansive wardrobe. It was its own room entirely. A wall of uniforms were hanging neatly and all across another was a line of informal clothing, and an even larger line hung with casual dress, or silk…it was almost as if one of the servants purposefully hung his clothes in a specific way. He watched as Kiren moved quickly through the clothes and finally settled on something. She pulled it out and he moved away from the door and back over to his bed where she threw it. It was red. “Red? I didn’t even know I owned red… I thought you said blue matched my eyes.” He said as he ran his fingers over the material. Silk as well, why would she choose silk? It was dinner, not a formal engagement. Usually when he chose silk it was because he wanted his power known. He had once spilt wine on a white silk tunic on purpose, and left the room only to return wearing an even more ornate silk shirt later in the evening. The ruler had been impressed, but most importantly, he had been reminded of the wealth and power the Black Tower retained. But silk for Cayana seemed a bit too pretentious. He did not need to impress her.

“It does, but you don’t want to be too dashing. She isn’t Lyla. Come on Rialt, be a gentleman and dress up for the lady. You only dress nicely when you are forced to these days; you barely even dress nicely for Lyla.” She said her name softly, just in case. That information belonged to no one except Rialt, Kiren, and Lyla. He stared at the red shirt duly. Cayana is going to think I’m an idiot if I show up in red silk…Then again, Kiren has a point. Maybe she will think that I really do want to look nice for her. It was ridiculous that he cared so much of what Cayana thought. But he did. He wanted to make her believe that he cared, because he did. “Fine.” He sat and dragged on the black pants, and then shoved the red shirt over his head. It clung to his form and Kiren nodded to herself, satisfied with a job well done. He was fussy about his appearance, but sometimes Kiren was worse than he was. He tied his hair back behind his head with a simple piece of thread and after putting his boots on, began looping his belt. He always went out with his sword. Even before the attack at the ball he had done so, but now he would never let it leave his sight again. He would have been fool to think that someone in the world didn’t want him dead. “Well, I’m going to be off now. Tell Cayana I said hello.” Kiren chimed brightly near the door to the hallway. “Yeah…” He muttered after her and the door shut. He examined himself in the mirror. The ensemble was fitting actually. It had only a bit of embroidery around the cuffs, with a high collar. It wasn’t flashy at all, it was nice. But his eyes ran up to his face without even thinking and he was met with a large scar running down his right temple. It hadn’t marred his face, nor had it made him ugly, it was just a thing of him now. Every time he saw that he would remember that night. People screaming, the gray men. He had managed to kill a few of them, but his attacker had been efficient.

He picked up a folded piece of paper off of one of the dressers and opened it, re-reading the message that Cayana had sent to him three days ago,

He was glad that Cayana had contacted him, especially after her ordeal. He hadn’t been the only one who had suffered misfortune recently. Someone had apparently kidnapped her, but he had been unable to do anything at the time he found out. He had discovered the news barely a day after the incident at the ball, and had had to be forced into a sleep to keep from re-injuring himself. He had been out of commission from doing much of anything for close to a month. He did not even know how she had managed to escape, who had helped her…nothing. No one burdened him or informed him of any of the going on’s of the Black Tower on orders from Freyja Sedai. She had cited he needed a clear mind to recuperate properly. He thought that if his healing had not been in such haste he would not have been gone for such an extended amount of time, but he understood the reasons for it. Whatever the case, he had been unable to do anything about it, and by the time he had been well enough to check up on Cayana, she had told him that she was fine and not to worry about anything.

Making sure he had enough coins on him for the evening, he left his rooms and made his way toward the city on horseback. He didn’t bother with a mask of who he was. Many in Tar Valon knew, many did not. It was not a rare thing to see an Aes Sedai or Asha’man in the city these days, although with as much commerce, it wasn’t uncommon to run into someone who was not used to such a high population of them. It was always obvious which were which when they either bowed heavily, or when they seemed shocked. He ignored them and focused on the evening ahead of him. When he finally arrived at the Inn, he dismounted and handed the reins to a boy around eighteen and slipped him a Tar Valon mark. Walking casually up the stairs he walked inside and was greeted by a rather calm vibe. The Inn was not extremely nice, but nor was it shabby. Cayana had chosen well he decided as he was instantly flanked by the Inn-Keeper; a middle aged fellow who seemed like he was in a hurry for some reason. Rialt entered into the private room and already waiting for him patiently was Cayana, in a rather splendid black gown with blue embroidery modeled after what looked to be Saldaen style. She was a stunning resemblance to her mother, something that always made him do a double take. She did not look a thing like him he thought. The only real resemblance that she shared with him was her ability to channel and to heal.

He bowed as the Innkeeper left the room and smiled broadly at Cayana. “You look lovelier every time I see you Cayana.” Indeed, she did not look phased in the slightest by her ordeal as he was marked out easily by his own. He walked to her and took her hand, kissing it gently as he sat across from her at the nicely carved table. “I am glad to see that you are in good health. And I’m also very happy that you asked for this dinner. I had wanted to come and see you, but I was otherwise indisposed.” She knew about what had happened to him surely, but this had been the first time they had actually seen each other since before the ball and her disappearance. He paused to admire her and again said, “I am pleased to see you.” And he was, with complete sincerity.

Cayana had gotten there a little early, but it mattered little to her, she preferred to not have to many questions asked about why she and Rialt were leaving the Towers at the same time. As she was alone in the medium sized room she looked around, she had been here before but some minor details had changed. The last time the innkeeper hadn't known that she was Aes Sedai, or rather he hadn't realized it. The oval table in the middle of the room had only two chairs by it now, and the table was set for two. They were seated across from each other, which was proper. The room was nicely lit and the painting on the east wall was clearly visible. It depicted an old man, wearing a red and green shirt. Nothing on it told who the man was, but Cayana guessed it was either someone the Keeper knew, a local celebrity of old or a relative. It made little difference which, it had been there the last time too. The room had two doors, one out into the hallway from where one entered and one which she didn't quite know where it lead. She guessed it was either to the kitchen or some other practical room. Which ever it was it was thick enough not to cause any reaction among people when she weaved a listening ward over it. The ward was still there, intact and well without anyone having messed with it. Of course the only one who could mess with it was a channeler, but still. She had made sure the room was private before, she didn't need to deal with it now and she didn't.

The door opened and Cayana turned around. Entering the room was the Innkeeper and Rialt. The Madhi was wearing his normal black pants and a red silk shirt. He looked quite nice, but there was a difference about him that caught Cayanas eye. The man bowed for her as the Innkeeper left and Cayana curtsied back. The thing that had caught her eye was a scar. It rand down his right temple and was quite large. She wondered why it hadn't been healed properly. Normal everyday healing didn't heal such things, but the new healing did, the old healing, the kind Rialt knew. Then again he might have chosen not to have it removed. She guessed it had been one of his lesser injuries anyway. “You look lovelier every time I see you Cayana.” Rialt said to her and he walked over to her and kissed her hand. He took his seat at the other side of the table and continued. “I am glad to see that you are in good health. And I’m also very happy that you asked for this dinner. I had wanted to come and see you, but I was otherwise indisposed.” She nodded, she knew what he meant and the small smile she had worn faltered for a moment, but she smiled again. He was alive that was what mattered. He finished with saying. “I am pleased to see you.” She had let him speak without interruptions, as her reaction to his scar had been hard to contain. She had been a little off lately after she and Radgar had bonded. It interrupted with her abilities as an Aes Sedai, but it had settled somewhat, as long as Radgar wasn't pissed. “I am glad to see you too Rialt. It has been along time. I heard about the Ball.” She paused for a moment, she didn't know why but she felt guilty for not having been there. “I'm glad you are still alive.” She added.

It was nice to see Rialt but their conversation was interrupted as the door opened and two servants came in with their food. It was a private dinner, but they still had to serve the food. It smelled delicious, roasted chicken in some sweet smelling sauce. Potatoes and fruit. They placed the food on the table and came back with wine and water then left with bows and closed the door behind them. Once they were gone Cayana smiled a weak smile. “The most excellent timing don't you think?” Laughing softly she removed the covering of the potatoes and gestured for Rialt to take some food. “Things have been rather hectic lately I hear, with Tear and Illian at each others throats again.” She was small talking, it was still early and diving into deep conversations with Rialt wasn't just going to happen. Getting to know someone wasn't ever so simple when you were Aes Sedai or Asha'man, ever.