It was a warm day in the outskirts of Chachin. The al’Thorn farm was running smoothly today and all of Ingtar’s chores had been finished early and he had been given permission to spend the afternoon doing whatever he wanted. Luckily for Ingtar his sister Delity had also finished with her chores and had also been given the same option. Although the two siblings were 4 years apart in age, Ingtar only 13 and Delity 17, they were very close and enjoyed playing with each other especially in the woods near the family farm. And so it was on this warm summer day that the two al’Thorn children could be found wandering through the woods.

Unfortunately for them they were not alone in the woods that day. Ingtar was bending down near a stream to get a drink while Delity continued on. Suddenly Ingtar heard a scream from up ahead in the direction his sister had disappeared. Jumping up he ran in a sprint his small legs taking him as fast as he could as he called out to her, “Delity!”. As Ingtar crested a small rise in the woods he noticed his sister halfway up a tree and two trollocs looking up at her from the ground. How the two had got there he had no clue but it was not totally uncommon for such beast to be wandering near by. The fact that the al’Thorn farm lay just north of Chachin close to the Blight border allowed for such occurrences to happen. Only twice before had Ingtar ever seen a trolloc this close and each time his father, an officer in the border patrol had been there and easily dispatched the foul beasts.

This time his father was not around and although Ingtar had been in training, as most boy children his age were to one day join the forces of the border patrol, he knew he would be very hard pressed to take on such beast. Still it was his sister and he would not leave her alone to these beasts. Ingtar pulled his dagger from its sheath that hung on his belt. He longed for his sword that he would use to train with but he had left it at home. Slowly he moved forward in measured steps as he had been taught for the past 5 years of his short life. He was perhaps the best swordsman in his class but he had no sword only the dagger at the present and even if he had his sword these beast looked huge to him. One of the beasts turned to face him, seemingly laughing as a sneer up turned the beast lips. The beast was so confident in its victory that it did not even remove the sword it contained in a belt at its side. Ingtar moved through his forms, Serpent Coiled in Waiting into Arch of the Moon, followed by Lightning of the Three Prongs. The trolloc screamed out in pain as Ingtar’s blade met with the beast’s flesh. It was then that the trolloc decided to pull his sword and it was in that moment that Ingtar moved for the kill. He knew it would be risky but it would be the only chance he had. Quickly Ingtar rolled by the trolloc and then turning, jumped onto the beast back. With a quick movement Ingtar brought the dagger across the trollocs throat, slashing inward and across with all his might. The trolloc dropped the now unsheathed sword as its hands went to its throat but it was too late and it stumbled backwards losing balance and falling to the ground barely missing where Ingtar was now standing.

The other trolloc turned its attention from Delity and saw its brethren lying motionless on the ground in a puddle of red liquid. Immediately the only remaining trolloc drew its sword and brought it around to face Ingtar. The lad knew he was in trouble now but perhaps he could slowly lead it away from his sister and then out run the beast. Ingtar began to back away from the beast trying to stay just out of its reach, hoping Delity would realize what he was doing. Unfortunately for Ingtar he could not see the rather large stone lying in his path and as he backed away his foot caught it sending him falling backwards. It was at that moment the trolloc chose to attack as Ingtar lay on the ground. The trollocs blade came down and all Ingtar could do was try and deflect the blow with his dagger. He did manage to meet the blade but the force that the trolloc had on the downward swing was no match for Ingtars small blade and size and he only managed to deflect the blow from the middle of his chest into his side.

Ingtar screamed out in pain, the wound immediately spilling warm, red blood onto the dirt beneath him. He had never felt such pain before and it was a struggle for him to remain conscious. Suddenly the trolloc was on top of him pinning him beneath the beast weight. A sickening smile was on the beast lips as he picked up Ingtars dagger from the ground tossing his own blade aside. As the beast drew the dagger upwards Ingtar knew his life was over and only prayed the Light his sister was now running towards the farm and the safety their father could provide her. Ingtar knew this next blow the trolloc was about to provide would end his life quickly even though the blow to his side that continued to empty his body of vital fluids would kill him soon enough.

Ingtar could hear his sister scream NOOOOO, as the blackness fought to take hold of his body. Ingtars eyes closed, death was close at hand. He had not the strength to open his eyes anymore when suddenly he felt a rush of wind and his chest where the trolloc was seemed lighter, as if the trolloc was no longer there. He struggled to open his eyes only to witness a bright flash of light and to feel a heat upon his face. The next thing he saw was Delity’s face above him. He noticed tears running down her face as he tried to tell her to run but he could not find the strength to speak. That was the last image he remembered before the darkness took him.

When Ingtar awoke it was about ten days later. He was within the al’Thorn home lying on his bed with his sister lying next to him. She looked as bad as he felt, beads of sweat trickling down her forehead, her body twitching uncontrollably. Her dark brown eyes met his blue-gray eyes as he looked over at her. There was an emptiness that was contained within her eyes unlike the normal fullness and vitality he usually found within them when he looked at her. She seemed to force a smile to her lips, and a slight twinkle came to her eyes. Ingtar was unable to keep his eyes open any longer and again fell back to sleep.

They had rode quite a bit and it was getting along in the day. “Lets stop here,” he said with a smile as he looked over at her. In a little spot on the side of the road he placed a blanket down for them and removed the lunch they had packed. As he secured the horses to a tree near by he couldn’t help but look at her sitting on the blanket and think once again of his sister. The long hair, the slender figure, plump pink lips, the dark brown eyes. Perhaps that was one reason he had been so willing long ago to ‘bond’ with her.

He had come to the Tower what seemed like ages ago now to him, as he was now a man in his late thirties. He was sixteen when he had left home to join the Tower as a Warder trainee. In part his decision had been because his father had been killed by a group of trollocs while on patrol. That alone had not been the only reason however. The al’Thorn family knew that what Marcus al’Thorn did as an officer in the border patrol was dangerous and that he could be killed at anytime. So could any of those that served at the Blights edge to protect the lands to the south. It was a sense of duty, of honor that gave these people their motivation. Marcus al’Thorn had been no different than many that had given their lives with dignity and honor to fight the Dark Lords minions. And while his fathers death played into his motivation to come to the Tower it was the helplessness he felt when his sister and him had been attacked that provided the most inspiration for him. Unbeknownst to him, or anyone else in his family, she had been able to channel the One Power. The secret wasn’t known unfortunately until it was too late. Ingtar had set out long ago with some friends to try and save Delity, but they had never found her and Ingtar had not heard from her in many years. The scar he bore on his right side reminded Ingtar of his failure to protect his sister so long ago. If only he had been able to fight better perhaps she would not have had to channel.

Ingtars hand traced the old wound subconsciously before he even realized he was doing it. As he walked toward the blankets he could see her look at him knowingly. He of course had told her everything years ago, including his feelings of failure about his past. She only nodded and listened back then as if she understood. It was amazing to Ingtar how that shared ‘bond’ allowed for such...understanding of one another. After they had ate they decided to stay for a brief time to rest before once again heading east on their journey. She opened a book and began to read evidently sensing his need for quiet. As Ingtar lay back he once again thought on earlier years.

He looked into those dark brown slanted eyes, his own blue-gray eyes unblinking as he knelt before her on one knee. It was a necessity as much as anything else that had brought him to this point. Their mission was an important one and the need for the benefits the ’bond’ would provide weighed heavy on his decision. The thought of her bringing his honor to question once back when she was an accepted getting ready to be raised to the shawl was there in his mind. It had just been a harmless prank he had thought back then but evidently she had not seen it that way. There also was the thoughts of a honey-blonde haired Aes Sedai that had occupied his thoughts greatly since coming to the Tower. It had always been assumed, not only by him but by much of the Tower as well it seemed, that he and the honey-blonde haired woman would bond once they were raised and able. Now it was his choice of course, the situation and thoughts at hand playing clear in his mind, he spoke his words clear and true. “ My sword for your strength, my body for your protection, in life or until my death your honor upheld”. There was a look of surprise in those dark brown eyes as he spoke. She of course knew of the other perhaps that was the reason for her look of surprise, he could only guess. But he had spoken, clear and true, it now was up to her to decide what to do next. Kementari moved closer and took his head in her hands. He had been taught what it would be like, but the words could not prepare him for the actuality of it all. At first he felt confusion, the thoughts of his and of hers mixing into a mass of signals. To a lad of only 23, it was quite an experience. He quickly learned how to deal with it though and before long it was as if it had always been there to him. He was now Ingtar al’Thorn, Warder to Kementari Sedai of the Blue Ajah.

Ingtar would of course accompany Kementari as she went on journeys. She seemed fascinated by objects of the One Power and often such journeys would lead to them returning to Tar Valon with such an object she had found. It was on these journeys that he felt the most at ease with his life, a sense of accomplishment. Back in the Tower however life changed somewhat for him. He was given more responsibility as far as helping in the training of the warder trainees. It was tough at first considering his young age but it was not long before he had earned the respect of the trainees as they saw his proficiency with a blade. He was no blademaster but his skill with the blade was great. And while Ingtar possessed great skill with a blade he did not have the expertise that even some of the trainees did with other weapons and therefore never held himself in such high regards. In fact one such trainee Ingtar had befriended was Uaine from the Two Rivers area. The lad needed help with learning how to handle a sword but he was very good with a quarterstaff. So the two worked together teaching the other the weapon in which he had the greater knowledge, although Ingtar never really liked the staff that much and stuck with using a sword whenever he had need of a weapon.

Everything seemed to be going good for Ingtar. He felt he had a purpose felt he had accomplished something, felt as though he could leave the past behind him. But it was in this time that the Wheel decided to weave another glitch with his thread. Ingtar was in the yards training with Uaine while Kementari had been off in the Tower somewhere working on one of the objects they had just brought back from a journey. He had told her to rest first from the long trip before she began to study the object. Of course being a Saldaean women, she was stubborn and told Ingtar not to worry about her she’d be all right. As Uaine and himself sparred a sudden jolt of pain burst through his head bringing him to his knees. He had felt many pains in his life since becoming a warder from many cuts and wounds but the only other time when he had felt such a pain like this was when he believed he was going to die as a young lad almost 15 years ago. This time however there was no blood, no trolloc about to finish him, no thoughts of his sister Delity. In fact there were only thoughts of...his own pain that he was feeling. He had got used to having Kementari’s feelings and thoughts in his head over these last five years, always able to separate between his and hers. Now as he writhed on the ground from the pain all he could sense was his own thoughts and feelings. He was able to slowly struggle to his feet the pain threatening to render him unconscious. He leaned upon Uaine, only able to take a few steps and whisper her name... “Kementari,” before he went unconscious.

A few days later he awoke to find himself lying in a bed in the infirmary, a yellow accepted sitting close by along with two Tower trainees that were ready to become warders except for lack of a sister bonding them. Ingtar lay there for a second looking around wondering why he was there searching his thoughts for ... “Kementari”! Frantically Ingtar looked around but she was nowhere to be seen. The men rushed to his side restraining his arms to hold him down. “Let me go” he roared at them but they held on to him with a vise like grip he could not break. Suddenly a Yellow Sister appeared and began to speak. “Do try to calm down Gaidin Ingtar. It will do no good to rile yourself up like this. Kementari Sed...” the women's mouth seemed to choke on the words but she quickly went on. “.... Lady Talice is no longer here within the Tower.” Why did the Yellow Sister use Kementari’s other name. Ingtar knew it only because many a time when the two had traveled together that had been the name she would use when talking to others or at an inn when securing a room. Ingtar focused again on the Yellow Sisters words a s she continued. “She is alive and well and has traveled to Maradon. Now you must rest yet, drink some of this.” Ingtar took some sips of the strange tasting liquid. It was cool within his mouth as he drank but seemed warm within his throat as it went down. A few seconds later he was feeling sleepy once again but tried to ask questions, he had to know what happened to his Aes Sedai. Why would she leave without him? “What happened to Kementari Sedai? I can no longer sense her presence. She just wouldn‘t leave without me, without speaking to me of her plans, I‘m her warder.” The yellow sister looked at him with a seemingly tender, sad look upon her eyes for a second before her face once again revealed nothing but its agelessness. “No longer, Ingtar. She did speak to you though just the other day,” and with that said the yellow sister turned and walked off. Ingtars eyes felt heavier now and began to close. He did remember seeing Kementari recently. It seemed almost dream like to him at the time. She had said something of a freak accident and that she no longer had need of him. There was sadness in those dark brown slanted eyes as she spoke to him from what he could remember. He tried to recall more but the drugs that the yellow sister had used in his drink took affect and the last thought he had as he fell into a deep sleep was that once again he had failed.

It was early evening, the sun slowly disappearing behind them as they came within sight of the small town where they had planned to stop for the night. Ingtar saw to their horses and then went into the inn to catch up with Talice who had already talked to the innkeeper and reserved them a room. They decided to get a warm meal and enjoy the entertainment being provided that night within the inn. They sat and ate their meal talking quietly among themselves. The food tasted good and the warmth of it and the fullness within their bellies soon had them climbing the stairs to their room. Once inside Ingtar secured the latch to their door and removed his shirt as Talice also prepared for bed. The room was not real big but it was not too small either. The two were not ’rich’ by any means but breeding horses and selling them had earned them enough money to be comfortable when spent wisely and Talice saw to that. He watched her with a smile on his lips as she got into bed and then he blew out the candle that gave the room its light and made his way to the chair by the window. Sitting by the window he looked out it towards the east. It would take a few more days travel but they would soon arrive at their destination.

Ingtar found himself wishing that the two still shared the ’bond’ between them so that he could know what she felt about returning. Of course he was glad for the ’bond’ they now shared, as husband and wife. A smile again filled his face as he quietly listened to the sound of her breathing as he could tell she had finally found sleep. Even now after about 4 years he found himself always smiling at the sound of her sleeping. The sense of peace that always seemed to play itself on her face as she slept. He knew of course that at least tonight beneath that outwardly calm and peaceful appearance there was an inner struggle she was facing, facing because of him and what he had set out to do almost 8 years ago.

Ingtar struggled with himself inwardly in the months after Talice had left. He had found out that the bond between them had been broken because of a freak accident that happened with one of the objects they had brought back. The result of which was Talice had been stilled, cut off from the One Power and thus breaking the bond between the two. No longer able to channel she was no longer an Aes Sedai and no longer in need of a warder. She had left quietly and quickly back to Saldaea.

Ingtar tried to involve himself in the Tower, tried to help in the training and even volunteered to go with Aes Sedai that had no warders when they needed to take trips to some place. But all the time his thoughts remained on Talice even though there was no longer a bond that held him to her. To him the bond had been more than the thoughts and the sense of having to protect her. No he had made a vow to always uphold her honor, until his death. Could one be relinquished of such an oath just because they no longer shared a ’bond’? Besides that he had made a promise to her grandfather years before when he was her warder and they had been in Maradon on some Tower business. He had promised to always take care of Talice. And so he left the Tower and it was under these circumstances Ingtar al’Thorn found himself standing outside a house in Maradon some two years after Talice had left the Tower.

Ingtar almost laughed out loud as he recalled both their surprise upon her entering the sitting room in her house when he came to call almost eight years ago now. She was shocked to find him standing there evidently expecting someone else and he was just as shocked to see Talice her face once again looking as though she was 19 or 20. Even now looking at her he couldn’t help but smile as he looked towards her the moonlight shining slightly into their room giving off a gentle glow that allowed him to see the face of his wife, a face that looked almost 10 years his younger. She was of course 10 years his elder but the stilling had lead to her face looking so young not ageless, just young. Again Ingtars thoughts recalled the past as he turned back towards the window.

Ingtar was working with the horses as usual, having told Talice he was staying with her she put him to work. Ingtar enjoyed the work; he loved being around the horses. What he couldn’t stand though was the officers and merchants that came to call on Talice. She had told him they were just friends she had made in the years that she had been gone from the Tower but to Ingtar they appeared as more. He knew the look that was in their eyes, one that said they all wished Talice would pick them to marry. A time or two he had to force a couple to leave, as they did not seem to be willing to leave without Talice committing herself to them.

Ingtar could understand though. Talice was a good-looking woman. Any man would be proud to call himself her husband. She did well for herself, breeding horses and selling them to different places and people including the Saldaean army. But every time he thought on a suitor calling it only angered him. Sure it was nice to marry for beauty and money but Ingtar felt the only right way was to marry for love and he ...loved Talice. The thought caught him by surprise so much that the horse he had been training around the ring suddenly bucked and threw him from the saddle. Sure he had come here to honor his oath to her and his promise to her grandfather but they had talked about that many times over now. She had told him that she no longer held him to either and he was free to return to the Tower. It had been tempting as Ingtar longed to return to the Tower, to return to preparing for the Last Battle, so that when that day came he could exact revenge for his father, his sister, for Talice. Ingtars hatred for trollocs at times consumed him but he had been able to control it enough that he stayed on here with her. It had never been intended on his part that was sure. When he had left the Tower his heart had belonged to another although he felt compelled to go after Talice and bring her back to hopefully be healed. He had been her Warder after all and it was his duty, was it not, even without the bond? But time had changed things, and no one could stop the spinning of the Wheel for their own purposes. Sitting there on the ground he knew what he must do.

Ingtar got himself up and dusted himself off and marched straight to Talice. There was a merchant there with her that she was entertaining. Her face showed only surprise and then shock as Ingtar nearly lifted the man from his seat next to her and escorted him out the door. Upon returning into the sitting room where Talice sat she started to scold him but he held up his hand and spoke in a tone that said he would not be interrupted. Surprisingly she held her tongue and let him speak.

“Talice, I know we have talked before about why I came here. I know you no longer hold me to those oaths and I can see that you are right. Even though I am slow to agree I believe your reasons are right and that they no longer bind me.” She looked questioningly at him but he only moved closer and placed a single finger to her plump pink lips to quiet her. “ I know what you are thinking, that I am going to return to the Tower. I will not lie, I do yearn for that and you know why as we have talked about such. But there is something else Talice, something else I have come to realize. Something that I also yearn just as equally or even more so.” Ingtar knelt beside her, and took her small hand into his. “I love you Talice, and I want to marry you.”

Ingtar again looked at his wife as she tossed and turned for a second before once again becoming comfortable and resuming her rhythmic breathing that Ingtar thought was so beautiful. It had been almost 4 years ago that they had wed. In that time their love and respect for each other had grown. Ingtar had placed the thoughts of returning to the back of his mind and concentrated on becoming the kind of husband his father had been to his mother. Ingtar had never known two people more in love and he wanted to have Talice feel that kind of love for herself. Ingtar thought Talice also loved him deeply and had agreed to be an informant for a green Aes Sedai that happened to come through Maradon. Ingtar figured it was his wife’s deep love for him that perhaps made her think that doing so would perhaps provide him with a link to the White Tower. She had continued to tell him, even after they were married, that he could return to the Tower. He dismissed her words though as foolishness. It wasn’t until about a year ago when the Green Sister happened to be coming through Maradon again that the thought of returning to the Tower was brought to the forefront of Ingtars mind.

The Green Sister had befriended Talice and had learned of Talice’s past, the fact that she had once been Aes Sedai too but had been stilled in a freak accident. The Green Sister relayed information to Talice and Ingtar that now there was a possibility that Talice might be able to regain her abilities to channel. That some Yellow Sisters had been working hard making strides in the art of healing every day. There of course was no guarantee as this ability to use the One Power to ’heal’ was a rather new ability that had been discovered but even so there was hope. And although Talice had seemed to Ingtar to have reservations about it all she agreed to return to Tar Valon with Ingtar. Ingtar knew it was only because of the deep love, Talice felt for him, that she would open herself up this possibility. She had seemed quite content training horses and living out her days with Ingtar in Maradon. But yet she knew her husband’s secrets, his desires to return and Ingtar knew this played a part if not the sole reason for her to return with him, as she knew he would never return without her.

Ingtar made his way to the bed and quietly lay down beside his wife wrapping his arm around her. He would never let her know the fear he kept deep within him. The fear that he felt in the dark when he was all alone. The fear of failing again. Gently kissing her on her shoulder he silently whispered, words he said quietly to her unbeknownst every night now since they had married. “Though steel may break, bodies may grow old and frail, and death may come; in our love there is a bond that can never be broken. In that bond of love shall I forever uphold your honor”.