Everyone gets a seat at the table

[Dena n’am Damodred]

Tag: Julian Damodred , Johar Salenas , and Ilya Masalkar

“I’ll cook.”

She had said.

“I’ll send the invitations.”

Ever since her horseback ride with Sorin, Dena had come back a changed woman. When Julian explained to her what the smell of blood most likely meant she felt a lot of things, but to her embarrassment her first feeling was pride. She had been useful and helpful and had a purpose. It was a nice feeling.

Then sadness for the boy crept in followed by foolishness at her pride in discovering it when it caused him so much pain. It felt wrong to take any joy in it.

“Can he be helped?”

She bit her lip in consternation.

Julian’s sigh was for the situation, not her question.

“Yes, blocks can be broken, but it isn’t easy. I never had to go through it thank the light, but I know men who have. Cirus overcame a block.”

She hadn’t known that. Dena felt like she was finally being allowed a seat at the table. She just wished it was a more cheerful table.

“It’s just tricky as Sorin doesn’t have much of a rapport with anyone, you see. I was hoping he would take a shining to you on the ride.”

Dena blushed. She didn’t think Julian meant a romantic interest by ‘take a shining’, but one could never be completely certain. All she was sure of was that she wasn’t going to ask.

“Not that I have smelled him around that many people, but the person he smelled the calmest around has been you.” She said timidly.

Julian blinked and then, “Maybe I should talk to him then.”

Something in her heart twisted. Even with everything already on his plate, she felt no resentment through the bond from him for adding something new. Light he was something. She suddenly remembered how calm and mature he was during all their arguments. She pushed aside the memories of how she had been acting, not wanting to face them, and not thinking it would do much good if she did anyway. It was better to move forward.

She knew that Julian was simply too busy running the school to help her the way he intended when he made that promise. She of all people knew how much he grieved the sudden loss of his friend and how overwhelmed he felt at all times with filling even half his shoes. The sudden guilt she felt for her petulance was like a punch to the gut.

She hadn’t been helping his situation at all and it was a real blasted situation. And then, just like that, she realized she needed to help him before he could help her. It hadn’t been their initial agreement, but the Pattern weaves as the Pattern wills and she had only been delaying her own goals and wasting her energy by fighting it.

So the question was, how could she help him? What did he need? He needed to move back into his bedroom and get better sleep for starters. They needed more space. There was no way he would move into Jadin’s old apartments, but maybe the Baijan'm'hael would - which would free up the second half of this floor. It was the only sensible thing to do. Clearly.

Of course, while she had been thinking all that Julian had been focused on the Sorin problem. She missed some of what he said before she realized he was speaking again.

“…so maybe I should invite Johar and Ilya to dinner in the city and see if they have any advice before I approach Sorin.”

“Let’s invite them here, I’ll cook.” And keep my seat at the table!

“We don’t have the space.”

“I have an idea for that too, just trust me. I’ll send the invitations for dinner the day after tomorrow. I saw on your schedule that you are free that night.”

To her surprise and delight he had actually agreed to trust her.

Now it was the day after tomorrow and Dena was lugging a large pot of her mother’s famous spicy beef and peppers up several flights of stairs. The Baijan'm'hael had agreed to the switch and all of yesterday and today Dena had channeled her mother getting everything ready.

She used Julian’s name to order Soldiers to move the Baijan'm'hael’s furniture upstairs and got a Dedicated to order from town what she needed to transform the then vacated space to fit their needs. Julian's half of the floor already had his bedroom, a private training space, and his living quarters. The other half of the floor was an exact replica, so she kept the bedroom as its intended purpose for herself, converted the training space to a small study, and the living quarters to a large meeting area.

Soldiers had delivered the invitations to Johar and Ilya and she left an invitation for Julian while he was out (as she had been stealing his comforter for her own room).

“You are cordially invited to a dinner in the former rooms of the Baijan'm'hael" had been fun to write.

As she set the pot in the middle of the table and put out bowls, sursa, and other utensils in case they were unfamiliar with sursa, a thought occurred to her. Not long ago she had run away from a life of doing mostly this because she had feared becoming tied to a man she barely knew. Somehow that was exactly what had happened anyway. Was it funny or was it sad? Dena decided it was a little bit of both. She adjusted the bottles of ale in ice and admired her handiwork. At least things were starting to get interesting again.

Description of the Black Tower

[Ilya Masalkar]

Although it wasn’t strictly his business, what he had discovered about that Soldier continued to trouble him. How could it not? Healing had been his duty since he had received the Dragon pin, and the boy clearly needed it. There was more to it that Ilya still did not know, though.

For the moment, however, Ilya put the boy out of his mind. He’d received a summons from the Tsorovan M’Hael. A dinner, rather than a formal meeting—that was somewhat reassuring, he supposed. Or less. Ilya couldn’t decide which. After briefly wondering if he should choose one of his other coats, he arrived at the man’s quarters dressed in Asha’man black. He was already wearing it, which made matters simpler, and the waves embroidered on the sleeves were flashy enough already. With a fellow Borderlander he could have trusted this was simply a friendly invitation, but Julian was Cairhienin. Ilya never felt much at ease dealing with southlander nobles, even those who pledged their allegiance to the Black Tower.

Still, he was careful to keep those concerns from his face as he knocked on the door. When it swung open to reveal Dena, he couldn’t hide a flash of surprise.

“Ah. Good evening, Dena,” he said, offering her a smile. Of course Julian’s woman would be there, he realized. Would she judge his coat? Maybe he should have worn something fancier. “Will anyone else be joining us today?”

The invitation hadn’t said anyone besides the Tsorovan M’Hael and himself were to attend, but a bit of confirmation wouldn’t hurt.

Johar Salenas Dena n’am Damodred

[Johar Salenas]

Unlike Ilya, Johar was not overly perturbed at being invited to dine with Julian. He liked Julian, though he wasn’t entirely sure whether they counted as friends. Cordial colleagues, maybe, particularly now that Julian had been promoted. Regardless, they had common interests.

He was slightly surprised to see Ilya stepping into the door when he arrived, just a moment or two behind the other man. Hm.

“Me, I s’pose,” Johar said, catching the door and sliding in just after Ilya. “Good evening, Mistress Damodred.” He inclined his head to her—though he had no idea exactly where she stood in Julian’s life, he supposed it was always best to err on the side of polite—and followed the other Captain-General into the room.

Now, this was interesting. Johar had assumed Julian had invited him for professional reasons, or social reasons, or perhaps some mix of the two. But why had Ilya been invited? He wasn’t friends with Julian, was he?

Ha! At least Jo was sure they weren’t being called in for a scolding over some prank. Pretty sure.

Though Johar was no Wolfbrother himself, he caught the aroma of dinner. Something spicy, maybe? Excellent. Whatever Julian wanted to speak to them about, at least they’d be well fed.

Ilya Masalkar Dena n’am Damodred

[Julian Damodred]

Julian was impressed that Dena had done so much in so little time. He of course, knew what was going on, how could he not with it right outside his own rooms? But he pretended not to notice and let her take charge. Hopefully this meant she was willing to start meeting him halfway. He had bonded her so that she would be of use to him, thank the Light it was finally starting to pay off. She had stolen his bedding though. That was annoying.

He opened his door to the sound of another closing down the hall and knew both of his guests would have already arrived. His men were punctual, as they should be.

He left his apartments to join them, feeling slightly nervous. Johar was a friend* of his, they had worked together and Julian had even recommended him to take his place on the War Council. Could they still be friends though? Of course they could. He was not the M'Hael, he was just a guy doing the job of two and a half men for much longer than he had agreed to. He just hoped Johar felt the same way about him. There were rumors that Julian might actually have something to do with the candidates for M'Hael going missing, what if Johar believed them? What if Ilya did? They weren't even friends, so he very well might.

He had only been planning on asking them for advice about Sorin when he thought of the dinner. However, when Dena suggested a more private meeting, Julian realized this would be a good opportunity to speak on the disappearances. While he was unsure of their trust in him, he felt very secure in his trust of them. It had to be an inside job, or a leak, someone on the War Council had to be involved, but it wasn't either of these two. He was sure of that. He trusted Johar and Johar trusted Ilya. It was that simple.

He opened the door as Dena was taking jackets and greeted the other men warmly. He had no jacket to give so his hands were free to shake theirs.

"So glad you could both make it, we're all here now, let's take a seat. Dena actually made dinner tonight, it smells lovely, dear."

Julian wasn't a fan of small talk, but it probably wouldn't do to skip it entirely.

"How have you been?"

He asked the two of them, taking a seat at the head of the table.

*Julian confuses work colleague and friend because he's not super close to most of his friends.

[Ilya Masalkar]

Anyone else turned out to be Jo. The other man hadn’t seemed to know that Ilya would be there, either. His friend’s presence was a vague comfort, at least. Unless they’d been called here to be punished for a prank, which didn’t seem likely. For one thing, they were being offered dinner. Julian probably wouldn’t be hosting them if he meant to reprimand them. Right? Right.

At Julian’s invitation, Ilya smiled and took a seat.

“Oh, well, I’m well,” Ilya said a bit awkwardly. He paused. “Busy, but I suppose that’s true for everyone, isn’t it? The Water Legion’s doing alright, though we could use more men, but I suppose that’s always the case. Erm.”

He glanced at Johar and then back at Julian. “How…about you?”

Ilya felt supremely awkward. The sooner they got to the point, the better.

Julian Damodred Johar Salenas

[Johar Salenas]

It’d been decades since Johar lived in Ebou Dar, but he was still extremely interested in free food. Oh, the Black Tower provided, but that wasn’t the same as proper dinner, prepared by someone for a few select people, eaten far from the dining hall. The food served in the dining hall was never flavorful enough. Never spicy enough.

He was quite taken with Dena’s efforts, to be honest. He could smell the peppers already. Not for the first time, Johar wondered whether he ought to find someone to bond. Just as swiftly, he abandoned the notion. The chances that he found someone tolerable to share his head, someone who’d make him spicy pepper whatever, seemed so slim as to be nonexistent.

Johar returned Julian’s greetings, thanked Dena, and took a seat. Peppered beef. Yes. He was interested in this.

“It does smell good. We’re fine in Spirit,” Johar said, glancing at Ilya. They, too, could use more men, but he wasn’t about to say as much. Spirit was superior to Water, after all. If people chose a different Legion, whether it be Water or whatever, it was only because they had poor taste and no common sense.

As for Ilya’s question to Julian, he saw no need to add to it. What was this about? Johar was curious. He was aware of a few...issues...recently, but he wasn’t sure which of those might necessitate a private dinner in Julian’s quarters.

Of course, there was always the possibility that Julian simply felt like being sociable. Ha! Unusual, but not unheard of.

Julian Damodred Ilya Masalkar

[Dena n’am Damodred]

Dena was fairly trembling with excitement when she went to open the door. A curly haired man entered first, dressed in his Blacks and had barely greeted her before he was followed in by a man she could only think to describe as very serious looking. She could definitely see him as a friend of Julian's.

She took their coats and felt quite a bit of pride in her hostess prowess, save of course for one important detail: Though she knew the names of both men invited, she wasn't familiar enough with either of them to be sure which one was which and so was relieved when Julian came in immediately after them.

Of course he didn't call either of them by name to help her out. Instead he said the most inane thing he could have thought of.

"How have you been?"

How was anyone these days? How did Julian even come up in rank with such sad people skills as this? How had he been alive for more than a hundred years and never learned how to talk to people? The question fell flat and there was a slightly awkward pause once they answered. Were these men really his friends? Had Jadin actually been his only friend? Dena knew better than to let awkward silences linger, it was always best just to charge right through them.

"Running a Legion sounds exhausting. I hope you all can take a load off tonight."

Dena offered the dish to the serious looking man first. They could serve themselves from it, she wasn't one of their men, and didn't want to give the impression she could be ordered around like one.

"Are either of you very familiar with many recruits? I went on a ride with one of them earlier this week. A Tai'Seanchan Soldier named Sorin. Julian tells me that is where you are from as well?"

The last bit was just to the curly haired man and she hoped she had gotten it right who was from where. To her dismay and embarrassment, she found that she had not, and apologized to both of the men profusely.