Flames danced and flickered energetically in Lysana's eyes, reflected from the fire that had been used for cooking earlier in the evening. As she swayed and moved to the rhythm of a percussion and pan-flute duet, her bright garments flashed. Wide, multi-coloured skirts swirled around her bare ankles and her painted lips maintained a steady smile, which was part of the dance, but was also considered alluring to the present male company. This made her smile more, simply because her people considered this a sign that the dance was being performed properly. In reaction, Lysana began to feel that she was closer to finding one more note of harmony in the search for her own, inner Song.
Batting long, dark eyelashes dramatically at random men in her group of spectators, she was greeted by shy laughter, which resulted in gay laughter from the women, amused with this show of embarrassment from the younger male company. Lysana observed each face, satisfaction filling her, and she searched for eye-contact with each individual she glanced at. One man, however, was different as Lysana's emerald eyes darted across his face. He smiled, but it was he who caught her gaze, trapping it there, holding her eyes with his own for several seconds.
Slightly uncomfortable and rather distracted, Lysana tore her eyes away, and as the flute trilled, the girl spun. Her thick, raven hair lifted from her shoulders momentarily, its flower-entwined ends settling at her waist once more as she arched her back and reached for the star-filled sky. Gold bracelets and hooped earrings glittered in the light of the moon and fire as she remained poised on her bare toes, the sound of the flute and percussion ringing in her ears even after the melody had fallen silent and the rhythmic tapping had ceased. Laughter still filled the thicket where the Tuatha'an had set up camp for the evening, and conversation picked up now that Lysana's dance was over. Thus she was free to wander and participate in her own conversations.
Turning away from the fire, the girl did just that, feeling eager to watch as the younger men blushed whilst she asked them what they had thought of her dance. Yet, she did not advance far before the strange man who had held her gaze during the dance approached her, stepping in front of her so that she could no longer see the group of men she had been heading for. Swallowing, Lysana took a small step backward and turned her face upward to meet the man's intent gaze.
"You danced wonderfully, my dear," he said, his voice low. Suddenly, Lysana recalled a group of travelers who had joined her people earlier that day. They were on their way to where the Aes Sedai dwelled, or so they had said. This man was one of them.
"Thank you," she said, moving so that she could step around him. He simply moved with her, however, keeping himself situated in front of her. Lysana frowned at him.
"My name is Alon Yuan. You are called Lysana, I hear." His eyes, Lysana realized, were blue ice. "You know where we are headed, the Aes Sedai and I?" Alon asked.
The girl's frown vanished, and she continued to stare at him, disbelief crossing her features. "Aes Sedai." The name had been intended as a question, but it fell from her lips a statement. Alon nodded in answer. Lysana cautiously glanced back toward the fire, her gaze settling on the woman Alon and one other man had arrived with. She did not look as Lysana had expected an Aes Sedai to look. But then again, how was she to know? The Aes Sedai, her lips moving as she spoke with an older woman of the Tuatha'an, slipped Lysana and Alon a sideways glance, but her conversation never faltered.
"What are you doing this far from Tar Valon?" Lysana asked cautiously, wondering also why the woman would wish to travel as close to the Aiel Waste as they were.
"Searching," the intent man answered, his light-brown hair falling into his eyes, which, strangely enough, made him look dangerous and attractive at the same instant.
"I don't understand," she answered.
"Lysana, I am Asha'man," he said. His voice was nearly a whisper, but Lysana heard it as though he had screamed it at her. She took another quick step backward.
"What do you want with me?" she asked, a small tremor in her voice.
"You must accompany Myria Sedai, her Warder and myself to Tar Valon. You will be in great danger if you don't."
"Danger!" Lysana exclaimed. "You slip quietly into our caravan, converse with our people and accept our hospitality and NOW you tell us we're in danger?" She could not help but let her voice rise a pitch or two before Alon took her by the shoulders and pulled her into the shadows, out of view and earshot.
"Quiet!" he hissed. "I didn't say your people were in danger! Just you." Lysana glowered at him but the Asha'man gave her a look of his own. "You will channel Saidar soon," he said. Lysana's eyes bulged.
"What?!"
"I said quiet!"
"I know nothing about the One Power!" Lysana exclaimed, keeping her voice softer, slightly.
"That's why we're glad we've crossed paths with you," the Asha'man said patiently. "Myria Sedai said that you would most likely have died had we not found you. You'll learn about the One Power now, and you will learn to control it." Lysana stared at him, at a loss for words. "Come," he said as he put a strong but gentle hand on her shoulder and began to lead her toward the fire. "Meet Myria Sedai and her Warder Harid Masyn. You will be traveling with them for quite a while."