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[Xavier]

Xavier, having gained new insight on his twin sister, her situation, and their relationship, had been sitting in his room, mulling things over. As he thought, he idly turned the dagger in his hands, allowing it to catch the fading light. It was a beautiful piece of work, and to his eye, the runes seemed to shimmer. He wondered if that was a trick of the light, or something else. On a whim, he decided to reach out to the Source while concentrating on the dagger.

After what he thought was only a few moments, he blinked, then looked at his window. When had it gotten dark? "Bloody....have I been staring at this thing for that long?" It took him a few moments, but he finally realized why he was feeling strange. It was only a trickle, but he was holding Saidin! He almost lost it as soon as he realized this, then calmed himself and smiled. He owed this discovery to his twin sister. He would have to thank her later, but right now, something was tugging at him. He needed to speak to his mother. His thumb ran over the rune that De'Ryanna had named when she had held the dagger, and he spoke one word in a low voice.

"Mother?"

[Airtia S. Cauthon]

Needless to say, Airtia was busy. That would be the answer to the question of why she wasn't around the Inn a lot and to where she always went. She was busy about business. What that business was varied and wasn't publicized and usually when she was involved in a task she didn’t leave it until she was done. However, this time was different.

Someone was calling her.

They were making an attempt at it rather and she had thought it to be her son, no doubt trying to use that dagger she gave him and reaching out to her blindly. As she donned her short red leather bodice and slipped in the spikes that held it together she began to think that the fault for him calling her incorrectly may have been her fault, but that thought quickly faded. M'be this time 'e will listen.

With her pants up and her boots on she stepped through a Gateway and entered into Xavier's room. He had used a specific device to call her and, unless he learned a few new tricks, there shouldn't be anything that bared her entrance.

When she arrived and saw him sitting there with dagger in hand she only watched for a moment or two before taking in a breath. "I would think that ye knew that tae call someone, it tis usually standard fer their name tae be used."

Without moving anymore into the room Airtia made a nod to the dagger. "'ow does it feel?" That was a two-fold question for she was not only speaking of the item he held. Since he had used it to reach her it meant that he felt a 'spark' and put that into the item as well.

She had been very meticulous in having that item created.

[Xavier]

Faster than you could ask if a cat had a climbing gear, Xavier was on his feet, nearly dropping the dagger in the process. Looking embarrassed, he stood up, straightening his shirt and trying in vain to make himself look presentable. "Hello, Mom. Sorry about that, I've never done that before. Besides, I feel odd calling you by your first name. It's just...well, I've already been rude enough to you." He looked down to the dagger, then back to Airtia, smiling a bit. "Amazing. It's only a trickle, but ...wow. And the dagger? It fits in my hand like it's a part of me. How long have you had this in the works?" Holding the weapon almost reverently, he chuckled, shaking his head. "Never mind, and I apologize for asking. I would also like to apologize for my behavior recently. I've a feeling that I wouldn't be here right now if I were not your son." He looked around then, glad beyond measure that he had tidied his room before he had called to her. "To be honest, I wasn't sure that that would work. I mean, I asked De'Ryanna, and she told me, but I figured I would get it wrong at least twice. Would you care to have a seat? I'd like it very much if you would stay and speak with me awhile. I have a few questions, if you don't mind." He cleared his throat, looking a bit embarrassed again. "A few questions, that is, besides those which I have already asked." He still stood, and would continue to until his mother had made herself comfortable.

[Airtia S. Cauthon]

Being that it was her first time in his room it was given a look-over that was done with a slow turn of her head from side to side her eyes picked over the pieces of it while he made his first line of statements and apologies. She would have answered his questions, but he had told her to never mind them. So be it. Airtia was not one to offer information, especially if it was unwanted.

"Ye could be a lot more effective in yer words, Xavier, iffen ye would pick one thing tae talk about at a time." He had presented her with a few things and had chosen not to talk about any but instead something different that he had yet to disclose.

There was something he said that wasn't a question but a statement and she would comment. "Are ye use tae things nae working when ye try them?" He offered her to sit but instead she would move over to lean against the dresser in his room. Though her boots had heels they barely made any sound as she moved across his floor. She positioned herself to lean against the dresser's side, that way she still had a good view of him.

Silver eyes turned to him once she was settled. That she had taken up a position somewhere in the room was her answer to whether or not she would stay, if it had been otherwise she would have stayed where she was. Now Airtia only waited to see what else he wanted since she was to 'never mind' his first set of questions.

[Xavier]

"Yes, I have been told that I have a tendency to ramble. I suppose I got that from Father?" He smiled, knowing she would get the joke. "Anyway, no, I am not accustomed to failure, which is why Saidin was so frustrating. It was like being hungry and having food dangled in front of your face." A soft sigh escaped him.

"You know, when I said never mind my questions, it was out of respect for your privacy. I would indeed love to have answers to those questions, as well as posing another. I spoke with De'Ryanna about Rode....Benjamin. She told me of their bond, and how it was foisted upon her unwillingly. I would like to know how it can be removed without damaging my sister." He looked down out of embarrassment. "I know I've been awful to her, but she's my sister. I love her, just as I love you." A short pause as he looked back up. "And no, Mom, I don't expect you to say it back. Besides, I already know you love us. Otherwise, you would not have sacrificed so much for our benefit." He smiled slighty, and moved to seat himself on the end of his bed.

[Airtia S. Cauthon]

"Then ye learn tae control the thing that ye cannot 'ave, ye do nae let it control ye." That may not have made a lot of sense when first heard it, for how could a person control what they didn't have? In retrospect, though, it did make sense. "And I prefer straight forward questions," said as her position shifted only slightly as she crossed her right ankle over her left.

"Feel free tae ask me anything that ye want, only know that e'erything 'as consequences and just b'cause it tis asked does nae mean I will answer." Airtia remembered telling Gawain something similar to that many years ago.

"As fer your inquiry the question o' whether or nae removal will be damaging all depends on the perception o' the person 'posedly being damaged." Even though she was talking to her son, her voice tone was even. And it wasn't a no or a yes. "Howe'er, aside from him passing the bond tae someone else there tis a way fer ye tae remove it, and that way lies in what ye are 'olding in yer hand."

[Xavier]

He smiled wanly, and shook his head. "The truth you hear may not be the truth you seek. Yes, I know, and I accept that. I just can't stand knowing that Roderick holds power over my sister." He rose, drawing the dagger in front of him, holding it blade-up and bowing his head. "Please mother, I ask that you teach me what I need to know. I would see this bond severed, and if possible, without harm befalling my sister. I would suggest forcing him to pass the bond to someone more worthy, but I know he would not do so. I only ask, as I said, that you teach me. Please, mother." He was speaking to his mother reverently, and with a large amount of respect, as was owed to her.

[Airtia S. Cauthon]

Airtia looked at her son with a flawless, unreadable expression on her face. The seconds felt stretched as Xavier was silent and so was she, if there was any noise in the room it was either from their breathing or some outside influence. In the absence of noise she was considering what exactly to tell him and thinking over how he would accept what she would say. His petition was sincere - that was for sure - but that wasn't the point. 

"'Ave ye taken what she wants into consideration?" She finally asked him, breaking the silence between them. "Has she confided in ye her desire tae be rid o' the bond?" Forced or not. The last time her daughter had mentioned the bond to her she had complained of not having the benifit usually received from it. 

"Though things are o'ten done fer o'ters nae because they 'ave asked, but because we know what rid best fer them, e'en iffen they do nae." Such was a role of a Sedai - deciding what was better for the whole (which was neither here or there) and seeing it carried out. 

Airtia eased off of the dresser and stepped in front of him. Reaching out with the pointer finger on her right hand she pressed her finger to the daggers tip. "I cannae teach ye how tae hold Sadin, I'm not male, and the runes will nae 'ave the same power off I help ye tae understand them." She could only tell him the baiscs, and he already knew that or else she wouldn't be here.

"Howe'er, I can tell ye that the ties he 'as placed around yer sister are made with a good amount o' Spirit and they are centers around her heart." She paused here and removed her finger from the blade and held her hands down by her side. "And, tae remove the bond without his help, ye 'ave tae use that dagger and penetrate her heart."

The 'you' had been emphasized. There was no reason given as to why it had to be him or an answer to anything else hinted at in what she had said. 

  

[Xavier]

Xavier sighed, shaking his head. "I feel as if she would be happier to be free of the opportunistic bastard, Mother. She has not said so, as such, but I can sort of sense things about her. I don't know how, and I can't explain it. It must be the bond that exists between twins." Grinding his teeth, he looked down to the blade, then back to her.

"I suppose I could ask her what her wishes are plainly, but who knows what sway Roderick holds over her? He may force her to misrepresent things, since she is incapable of outright lies. Still...I don't like the odds of an attack on him, as it would backlash on De'Ryanna due to the bond." He pondered this for a moment, then looked up. "There has to be a way. Nothing is impossible. Nothing. I could not stab my sister, Mother. There's no way, not even if she were threatening my life. She would just have to kill me. I can't."

After a moment, he looked into her eyes, a pleading look in his own, which were slightly watery. "Mother, you gave me this gift, and I appreciate it. However, I humbly ask that, just this once, you answer me in a straightforward manner. Is there a way to force him to release the bond without harming my sister? Could this dagger be used to facilitate that? Am I to simply attempt to kill him?" He groaned slightly, then shook his head. "I am ready to do whatever I must, Mother. Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit into Sightblinder's eye on the Last Day. I will see her released, or him dead." He sheathed the dagger, then drew his sword, holding the hilt's cross-guard in front of his eyes. "This I swear, by my hope for salvation and Rebirth. If I fail, may the last embrace of the Mother welcome me home." He would not fail his sister. Never again.

[Airtia S. Cauthon]

"We cannae force him tae do anything he doesn't want," just because they couldn't didn't mean that the same applied to another. "Iffen ye really want nae harm tae come tae her aside from the emotional and mental infliction from a lost bond, then he 'as tae freely pass it on."

Xavier had to know that there was no way to get his sister out of the bond with Benjamin without some form of 'damage'. At least it wasn't physical damage, and that's the type he was referring to wasn't it?

She heard the words that he said and took a step to his left as her fingers brushed idly down the side of her thighs. Listening to him now and relating it to what he had said only moments ago she saw a conflict. He said that he could not stab his sister and then he turned around to say that he was ready to do whatever he must. Could it be that he had changed is mind?

"Ye learn yer oaths well," his mother stood at the other side of him and reached out to press a finger against the top of the swords hilt in a means to ease it down from his face. "But, iffen ye are truely ready tae do whate'er it takes, iffen ye really would see the bond broken by yer doing then ye will take the dagger and push it through her heart."

That was a straightforward answer. Just as he requested.

[Xavier]

"The physical damage I could live with, Mother. We heal quickly, as you must remember." There had been countless instances in his youth when he had sustained an awful wound, only to have it begin knitting up right before their eyes. "I don't want her mind damaged, and Light help me, I don't want her heart hurt either. You say I must stab her in the heart? Why not do that to myself? It's just as bad, you must see that....she is my twin sister. You were there!" He stopped, panting, seeking composure.

"I don't know what to do, Mom. I ask for counsel. Please, tell me how to fix this." The last bit of his statement was almost garbled, as he had dropped his sword and wrapped his arms around her. After all, he was still her son, and she his mother. At what age does a son stop needing a mother?

Oh, and the first one to say mama's boy gets a shot in the bollocks.

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