A visit to the Mistress of Novices (ATTN: MoN)

[Kelitor]

Ykoria sighed as she followed the fiery haired Accepted through the halls of the White Tower, slippers whispering softly on the white and green tiles of the current section. She would much rather be in the library, at the moment her parents and the rest of the Mayene delegation were hard at work copying a fascinating treatise on formal logic and its applications to various disciplines.

 

She might not be fully grown, but she was certainly capable of sanding and blotting the freshly transcribed pages, carefully packing them for the trip back home or even taking a chapter of her own to copy from the unbound manuscript.

 

The Accepted glanced back at her sigh, and Ykoria bit her lip. Too loud, fool! Make no waves, be quiet and invisible until you know what is going on and are safe. It had been a philosophy that had served her quite adequately in her childhood, which had been on the outskirts of politics, being the daughter of a librarian in reasonably high favor with the First's chamberlain. She didn't intend to jeopardize her position by spilling her feelings like some gutter brat.

 

The Accepted smiled back at her wryly: "Don't worry, its only a little farther, and then... well. It depends on what Pia Sedai says, I suppose." Her eyes sparkled gaily, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could channel? We've had so many new Novices in the past few weeks. Pia Sedai has been positively gloating."

 

She giggled, and then suddenly wiped her face "I don't think you'll need to tell her that though."

 

Ykoria nodded, "Of course." Why would I do that? Antagonizing an Accepted for no reason? What this Pia Sedai doesn't know won't hurt her.... And I don't even know this Accepted's name anyways.

 

She did hope this silly farce would be over soon. While her father would be delighted if she could channel; it would give him much greater prestige back at home in the servants pecking order, and having a daughter who was training to be Aes Sedai would likely even warrant the attention of the First herself. Mayene was small, and about as far as you could get from Tar Valon and there were subsequently few Mayener Aes Sedai.

 

Yes, Ykoria mused, Me as a Novice would be quite the feather in father's hat. The First herself would hardly be upset either.

 

Pity then that she had not the slightest interest in becoming an Aes Sedai. She didn't really see the point. She could get on quite fine without having the Whitecloaks and 3 out of every 4 ignorant peasant clods out for her blood. It was too high profile, and she'd learned very early on that while the loud, noisy and flamboyant tended to have power for a day, it was the quiet, self-effacing, and cunning who ruled after the stupider, louder ones got themselves disgraced.

 

But one did not refuse Aes Sedai when they gave a direct order... You were an idiot to have ever allowed this situation to develop, girl, She berated herself, a frown slipping over her normally placid features, You should never have let that controlling old busybody see you in the Library!

 

She had been leafing through a slim volume on astronomy and the movement of the stars, which the author had attempted to describe mathematically, when she had been shocked by a sudden voice behind her demanding she identify herself.

 

She'd wheeled about to come face to face with a tall, statuesque, gray-haired woman with the features of an Aes Sedai, glaring at her. After giving her name, the elderly Aes Sedai had begun demanding to know why she was in the Tower, specifically the Library, and her response of being with the Mayene delegation had not proved sufficient.

 

Then, when the old woman had asked if she'd been tested, she'd made the fatal mistake of truthfully answering "No.".

 

You cretin. Why couldn't you have lied to the batty old hag?! If you had simply said "Yes, and I have no talent." She would have dropped it and I wouldn't be wasting my time!

 

But instead, the old woman had literally grabbed her arm, and with a swirl of her sapphire skirts, had dragged her, through the middle of the Tower Library, with other Aes Sedai, servants, Novices and Accepted, and a number of people she knew from home and deeply respected all staring at the insane crone hauling her away by force.

 

The Aes Sedai had dragged her into the scriptorium where, under the supervision of the First's chamberlain, and an Aes Sedai with a Brown fringed shawl, everyone else was preparing to begin copying the next work on their list.

 

The old woman had summoned the other Aes Sedai with a snap of her fingers, and after a brief, whispered command, had also summoned the chamberlain.

 

"This girl has not been tested, boy. This is quite reprehensible. Every girl who comes to the White Tower should at the very least be tested. The requisite abilities to become an Initiate are far too rare, and in my opinion, allowing this one to get away would be an affront to the dignity of the Tower..."

 

And the presumptuous hag had continued on for some time in like vein: berating the chamberlain for not ensuring that everyone in the delegation had been tested (even though she was the only one of age to enter the Tower in any case!), berating her sister Aes Sedai for not seeing to it before her (they'd never met), berating Ykoria herself for not being a responsible child and didn't she dream like ever other girl of becoming Aes Sedai?!?! (no, not really) and then she had descended into a rant about the corruption of the world in general that had lasted several minutes, and left awkward silence in its wake.

 

Fortunately, the chamberlain was quite practiced at placating such people, and had fallen over himself assuring that Ykoria was quite chagrined, and they were sure that she had been planning on being tested sometime, but they would see to it immediately, as it pleased the Aes Sedai.

 

With that the old woman had stalked off, her blue skirts flaring about her ankles, and only giving her time to nod to her parents and siblings, the Aes Sedai wearing the brown fringed shawl had hustled her out into the hall, where she had conscripted the Accepted now escorting her along.

 

By now, after recounting this, Ykoria had descended into quite a black mood, and she suddenly became aware of an ugly sneer twisting her face. And she deliberately forced her face to relax Well, it will never do if anyone sees me like this. I must appear calm. There was nothing she could do. But she would never forget that presumptuous withered fool! If she by some freak chance could channel, she swore to herself that that woman would someday come to regret humiliating her!

 

Suddenly, the Accepted halted in front of an oaken door, and wheeled to face her, and Ykoria made sure her face was fairly calm, shoving her hate and fury down for a time.

 

"Well, child, this is the study of the Mistress of Novices," She smiled warmly, so warmly that Ykoria actually felt a lip quirking in spite of herself "I do hope it all goes well. Maybe I'll see you in my classes sometime."

 

With that, she giggled one last time, then knocked on the oaken panels, and walked briskly back down the hall, leaving Ykoria alone to deal with this Mistress of Novices behind the door.

 

(Ykoria Eranyame. Not happy, but so far doing well at maintaining an outward deadpan calm.)

[Lavinya]

Countless times Pia Tovisen had glanced at the sun already, and before the day had ended, countless more times would be added to that. The Mistress of Novices stifled a yawn, and turned her attention on the book of Novices again. Everything was recorded in there, after all. Everything that mattered at least. Last night another Accepted had ventured into the rings, and passed through them free of everything she had been before she became who she was now. In her fine handwriting Pia made a note of the raising in the book of Novices. Today the girl would choose her Ajah, and her fate would become truly entwined with that of the Tower. Her choice was no secret to Pia, the way very little that happened among the novices and accepted of the White Tower was a secret to her.

 

She closed the big book after she was done. The book looked a little old, but the preservation wards that were set on it worked well. It seemed as though it would never get full. Pia had once paged through it, and found her own name, as well as that of the Mistress of Novices before her. It was interesting to learn how long some of her sisters had been here, and how long they had taken to get themselves raised. Wistfully Pia peered at the sun again, only to find that it hadn’t moved a bit. The day was still young, and she would be tired and aching by the time it was done. Not that the work of the Mistress of Novices ever truly ended. There were wards on the door to the office that told her people were waiting in front of it. The wards would wake her, even if someone tried to sneak in when the night was at it’s darkest.

 

Just as she thought of the wards, a tingling sensation crept over her skin, telling her that someone was about to knock on her door. Soon enough the sound of knocking followed. The sound of a knock often told her a lot about who wished to enter. This was the hesitant knock of someome who came to her with a request. Pia took a moment to school her expression into something a little less depressing than the look of fatigue she had had. “Enter.” She said, her voice calm and low as usual. The door opened as she channelled a thread of air to it. To whomever entered it might seem as magic. The young woman was dressed in clothing that suggested she was not of the Tower. Yet. Things might change soon. “My name is Pia Sedai. I am the Mistress of Novices at the White Tower. How may I help you?”

 

 

~Pia Tovisen, Mistress of Novices

[Kelitor]

Without warning, the door suddenly began swinging open, and a voice called from inside: "Enter." Ykoria saw with interest that unless the opener were hiding like a child behind the door, the only person in the room was the Aes Sedai sitting behind a desk. Impressive, She thought to herself, walking into the room with a measured step.

 

 

With an assessing look at her, the Aes Sedai spoke again, "“My name is Pia Sedai. I am the Mistress of Novices at the White Tower. How may I help you?”

 

Ykoria bobbed a polite curtsy before answering, "Yes, Pia Sedai. My name is Ykoria Eranyame... I'm here with my parents, who are with the delegation from the Mayene who are making copies of some books in the Tower library for the First. I was in one of the Depositories when one Aes Sedai came up to me and asked if I'd been tested,"

 

She paused for a moment, taking the excuse of needing to take a breath in order to keep herself from exploding in a screaming rant about the blue gowned harridan.

 

"When she found out I hadn't, she walked me to the other Mayeners and told them she was sending me to be tested. And I ended up with an Accepted guide who brought me here. I'm sorry to have become such a bother, Pia Sedai." With that she bobbed an apologetic curtsy, folding her hands demurely.

 

 

[Lavinya]

Pia gestured to one of the chairs in front of her desk. They were uncomfortable, but that was for a purpose. After all, those who spent too much time in them would deserve the discomfort. Those who did not were merely reminded of the fact that they should not misbehave, in order to avoid the discomfort that came with the chairs. The young woman, who had identified herself as Ykoria sat down. Pia folded her hands in front of her on the desk, and studied the girl intently for a moment. Not that she could judge if the girl would be worth anything just yet, but at least she would be able to see how nervous the girl was. Those who were most nervous often were the ones who wanted it most.

 

“So, child…” She started, deliberately using the word child. She would become accustomed to it before she was raised to Aes Sedai, and Pia saw no point in shielding the girl from what would be her reality during the next twenty years of her life, if she turned out to be worthy of staying. “You have not been tested yet?” The girl shook her head, indicating that she had not been tested, or perhaps that she didn’t even know what the test entailed. Pia smiled reassuringly at the young woman, and opened one of the drawers of her desk. There was only one item in the drawer. A smoky gray crystal that she had received from the former Mistress of Novices.

 

Slowly she rose from her seat, and walked to the other side of the desk. Though she was by no means the tallest Aes Sedai within the White Tower, she imagined that she must come across as being a giantess to the young woman sitting in the uncomfortable chair. She knelt in front of her, trying to relax the young woman a little. The test would be hard enough as it was without Ykoria being terrified of her. “Clear your mind completely, and focus on the stone.” She said. The girl did, staring at the stone intently. Time passed, and Pia worried that her arm would cramp up before the girl showed any sign of potential. Just as she thought there would be nothing, s light flickered within the stone. Pia smiled, and rose again. As she walked back to her side of the desk, she imagined she felt the surprise in the eyes of the girl as they settled on her back.

 

“Congratulations, dear. You can learn to channel.”

 

Pia Tovisen, MoN

 

Ooc: rp your reaction to finding out you can channel.

 

[Kelitor]

Sitting in the dratted chair, Had the woman picked uncomfortable ones on purpose?!, gazing into the crystal, she flinched in surprise as Pia Sedai rose suddenly, having become quite lulled by the depths of the stone.

 

As Pia Sedai began gliding back around the desk, she stared at the Aes Sedai's back, wondering what it meant that the Mistress of Novices had pulled the crystal back so abruptly.

 

 

Still moving with a casual slowness as she walked around her desk, the Mistress of Novices suddenly spoke:

 

"Congratulations, dear. You can learn to channel."

 

Ykoria nodded slightly to herself, and opened her mouth ready with some trite words, accepting her failure and thanking the Aes Sedai and begging pardon for taking her time when the actual import of her words dawned on her.

 

She snapped her jaws shut, staring intensely at the Aes Sedai, who was now rounding her desk and seemed rather pleased with the situation. She attempted to paste the semblance of a pleased expression on her face, and failed. She knew from what the Accepted had told her that there were probably any number of empty-headed twits who had been in the same position in the past weeks or month, but she unlike them, understood Or at least, I think I do... the ramifications of what she'd just been told.

 

On one hand, she'd dismissed the possibility, assuming that as was logical she would enter the service of the First formally in a handful of years. Then she would follow her father's example to rise to power behind the scenes and quietly. The logical path for her had been to continue working in the library, enter the First's service, and use her father's influence as one of the favored librarians to quickly reach his level at which point they could worked in tandem for one of them to seize the position of Head Librarian when it became vacant.

 

While Mother wasn't nearly as ambitious, her position as a scribe, and willingness to do as her husband told to ensure her own advancement in the hierarchy of palace scribes would have ensured the Eranyame family power and a high visibility with the First.

 

Now, that was impossible. She couldn't refuse training. First, the One Power was something that few had the opportunity to use and so the stunning possibility that she could wield it shouldn't be discarded.

 

Second, the knowledge that the eldest Eranyame daughter had rejected the opportunity to train in the White Tower would become known. As initiates of the Tower from the tiny state were a source of civic pride, failures were also pitied and a disappointment. She would now inevitably become a source of publicity for Eranyame. Now she needed to choose whether it would be positive or negative.

 

She was aware of the Mistress of Novices gaze on her, in the growing silence and she struggled to embrace a sudden reversal of all her plans and beliefs, trying to weigh where the greatest advantage to her lay.

 

On one hand, Aes Sedai had always struck her as a position being too visible for the acquisition of power, but she acknowledged silently that possibly that was her own prejudice.

 

Also, the One Power would be a great asset, even if she decided not to continue her training. In fact, that might almost be best. She had heard of the Three Oaths of the Aes Sedai, and they struck her as amazingly inconvenient.

 

And now that she had an opportunity, perhaps she should seek to raise her aim a bit higher.

 

So then. I will have to do it. Otherwise I return to a horribly undermined position. This way, I bolster my family's position, I gain the One Power and I can gain more power then any mere servant could dream of.

 

With that conclusion fitting itself together in her whirling head, she nodded to the Mistress of Novices. "Ahhh... Thank you Aes Sedai. Does that mean I'm a Novice now? What happens to me now?..."

 

Ykoria trailed off, her thinking returning from long term scheming to the immediate future, and she stared blankly at the Mistress of Novices, realizing she had not the slightest clue what would happen next.

[Lavinya]

Now that the girl had already been tested, it was time to make her stay at the White tower a fact. Strange enough, the testing didn’t mean that the girl looked any more secure than she had before about her stay at the White Tower. Even though she had to know, somewhere deep down inside of herself that she would be accepted within the White Tower. That she would learn to channel, to the best of her abilities. Still the girl shifted in her seat, as if she couldn’t quite believe that she would be asked to stay. Pia decided to relieve her from the tension that was building. She opened the book of Novices which was still in front of her. She picked up her pen, and prepared to write. “Let’s see about making your stay here a bit more permanent then, shall we?”

 

She didn’t have to look at the young woman to see that there was a change in the tension that had kept her in it’s thrall. “Can you tell me your full name again?” As the girl replied, she wrote it down in the book. Another life sealed to the Tower, for better and for worse. “And your place of birth and raising?” again she wrote, making Ykorias‘s stay more certain with every letter, every curved or straight line. “And finally your age.” She finished with a dot behind the age, which felt as heavy and important as any signature from any high lord or lady. “Welcome to the White Tower.”

 

Ooc: rp your char’s reaction to being written down in the novice book.

 

Pia Tovisen, MoN

 

[Kelitor]

"Welcome to the White Tower"

 

The words seemed to echo strangely in Ykoria's mind as she nodded automatically to the Mistress of Novice's declaration. And oddly, the face of that gray-haired Aes Sedai from the library floated up into her mind's eye. She looked smug. Ykoria wanted to kill her. She stepped on that, hard, and rising to curtsy, she murmured to Pia Sedai:

 

"Thank you so much Aes Sedai, I'll work hard at my studies and do my best."

 

With that, and a few more words from the Mistress of Novices, Ykoria found herself in the wake of yet another Accepted, this one classic Cairhienin with wavy dark hair and a petite build, leading her down to what she had called the "Novice well".

 

She sighed softly, the Accepted had told her that her possessions would be fetched from the Tower's guest quarters by the servants, not that she would have any use for it in the next ten years, TEN YEARS?!?!?!!?, a part of her screamed, and that she would probably be allowed to meet with her family and friends as long as they remained provided she act with decorum and maintain the dignity of the Tower... of which she was now an initiate.....

 

Ykoria squared her shoulders as they came swishing around a corner, and descended a grand staircase in an enormous glass-paned atrium leading out towards a grandly expansive mezzanine. She had no choice, so she would do this.... who knew what could happen after all. She was in the Queen of all Cities, with the grandest of libraries, the greatest philosophers and thinkers in the world.

 

Perhaps, she could allow herself to think and dream here. She had no alternative, really.

 

And with that, she wasn't so surprised after all when she found she was smiling.