milliways_bar | (no subject)

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A line of silver light flickers and then widens into a portal. Beyond it can be seen a stone corridor, dusty with disuse and somehow almost wrong in shape, and sealed at each end.

The illusion of "Syrenne" fades as Moiraine steps through into Milliways, and for a single unguarded moment the Aes Sedai looks unutterably weary.

"Matters worsen, I think, if familiar paths are twisted so," she murmurs under her breath. "Perhaps a space here will grant respite enough, still." Moiraine straightens, then, and glides toward her usual table, signaling to Holly as she passes.

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And he could see still hear Dumbledore's faint cry. The voice that continued haunting his dreams at night. No accusations, just pity, and resigned acceptance from the old man. It was maddening, and he had trouble getting sleep at night as result.

"How?" There was a definite little boy whine in his voice.

"You would begin, I should think, by being willing to renounce the Shadow, to deny the Dark One, and to seek the Light."

Her tone is serene, but her gaze holds his.

"And then you might find others here who would support you. It has happened before."

"I do not promise that it would be easy, and to some degree it depends on what you have done, I suspect. But as I have said before... whatever the Dark One wishes, I oppose."

All of this said, Moiraine waits.

"I... but sh... he would try to kill me. It was for eternity, and I agreed." He frantically fixed his near-slip, and continued on.

"I turned away from the light forever." he almost wailed a little.

He then added, "Nothing really yet." He was still being tested. And he even failed that. 'Malfoys do not fail. They succeed.'

Maybe I'm not a Malfoy then...

The near slip is enough, as it happens, given Merriman's recent warning. Dark eyes narrow a fraction further.

"You may very well be in danger of death, Draco, given what you have agreed to; but it is not a certainty that you will be killed, and there are far worse things besides."

"What's worse than that? I'm dead if I go home anyway now. My family might be killed. I had to do this."

"Worse than that is to live in Darkness, at its beck and call as its slave, existing always in fear, would you not think?"

The calm voice is uncompromising.

"There is always risk in life, but things may not be as certain as you seem to believe. The Wheel weaves."

Draco commented, "I've been living in it all my life. It's the only one I know. The only way to power."

"Then perhaps it is time that you learned a different way."

A beat.

"Your father's route has brought him nothing but trouble here, if he is who I think he is."

"How?" He asked about the first statement.

Draco remarked then, "You know my father? He's here?" He tensed, seeming hopeful and afraid at the same time.

"I have not seen him in quite some time."

The Aes Sedai looks steadily at him.

"If you would be free of the Shadow, you must renounce it."

"Oh."

Draco then found himself admitting, "I don't know if I can." There was obvious fear on his face.

She looks at him for some time, and the silence stretches out.

In Moiraine's world, men younger than Draco have fought and died against the Shadow, cursing it with every breath, and she has little sympathy for one such as this.

And still.

"If you will not try, then you will never know. If you will make the attempt, then you may have aid."

"I'm scared." He seemed resigned somewhat.

"Of course you are." The serene tones are crisp and even and without pity. "It is a dangerous thing that you have done."

"But it's not too late?"

"I would not think it so, no."

Certain and clear.

"How would I renounce it then? Not in front of her?" Draco worriedly replied.

"It is the Rider, then? The woman who calls herself Blodwen Rowlands?"

Dark eyes are intent upon him. She has no doubt, but his reaction will tell her much.

Brief surprise, but then his expression is masked again.

There is a brief nod.

"I see," she murmurs.

"You might begin by announcing it elsewhere -- but unless you mean it, child, it will avail you nothing."

Draco nodded, and asked nervously, "What then? I'll be exposed, won't I?"

"I should think it quite possible."

A pause, while she studies him.

"Would you wish help?"

Draco remarked, "What kind of help?"

"This is not a bargain, child." The Aes Sedai's voice lashes out like a whip, and dark eyes are hot with temper, although her composed manner does not change.

"If you would seek freedom from the Shadow, then I might help you to oppose it, but if you persist in cringing in search of guarantees for the damnation you have sworn yourself to, then I will see you dealt with instead."

Draco flinched at that, and resisted the urge to run.

He then straightned himself, and calmed his emotions again. Packing it away neatly in his mind.

"My apologies then," he said.

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blue_ajah - 2005-12-21 09:12 (UTC) - Expand

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dragonofgrey.livejournal.com - 2005-12-21 09:16 (UTC) - Expand

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