A trip to the Market

[Phelix]

Elin sighed with relief as she watched her novices quietly walk out of her classroom. Yes, she thought of the girls and the room as ‘hers,’ she had taught the girls in this room for the past several months, and their progress filled her with warmth. She had been an Accepted for three years now, which meant she had been in the Tower for almost eleven, years.

 

She had shed her belief that her long dead brother was the true channeler through hard work with Kathleen Sedai, and she had fought to pass the test to become Accepted. That had only been the first test, and her first months as an Accepted were some of the most difficult of her life so far. Elin knew that she had left behind that small bakery in Amadicia. She still loved her family, but they were in her past. They had helped form her, but now she was responsible for forming herself, growing and becoming an Aes Sedai.

 

Standing, she gathered her books and the papers she had assigned her girls. It was a simple assignment, they were required to each pick a woman who had burnt herself out, and write a paper about what she had been doing that lead to her accident. Learning that lesson had been a shock for Elin as a novice herself. She had found that there were women who had been burnt out simply by drawing too much power by accident, and there were women who had been burnt out while testing ter’angreal.

 

They had taken risks, though. Stepped out of who they were. Elin had not. She was still even wearing the bonnet Amadician women wore in public. With an irritated sigh, Elin left her classroom.

 

Back in her bedroom, she could not focus on her own reading. Her mind was still thinking about how she was holding onto the traditions she had grown up with. When she was raised Accepted, didn’t the Amyrlin say she was washed clean of Amidicia? She stepped out into the Gallery to check the large clock, and was glad. It was only 10:30 in the morning, and she had hours before she was required to be back in the classroom teaching a smaller group of novices the Old Tongue. Their lesson today was centered on the words one used in practical conversation, specifically the market.

 

If she could not focus on reading, perhaps Elin could prepare for her class by visiting the market in the city. Gathering her cloak and gloves, both made of impeccably white material, Elin left the Accepted’s quarters, striding down the corridors. Novices and servants in the halls curtsied to the proper angle for an Accepted, and Elin herself curtsied to the few Aes Sedai who crossed her path. There were warders too, who bowed to the Accepted with the fluid grace of walking death. She was torn.

 

Like all Accepted, she thought about what it would be like to be a full Aes Sedai, to wear the shawl and potentially to bond a Warder. Some of the girls planned on being Blues or Grays and so they knew they would need a Warder with them to travel the world, while other girls planned on being Greens and holding a half dozen bonds while they battled shadowspawn in the blight. Some of Elin’s friends planned on becoming Reds, and they would forsake bonding all together.

 

Elin wasn’t sure what she would do. As a Red, she could work to right wrongs like the one that ended with her brother dead on a stake in their village, but that would most likely be on an individual level, traveling across the world. She might as well be a Blue and take that as her Cause. As a Gray, she could work to get governments to institute laws governing how the accusation could be laid, or how justice must be witnessed and meted out. If she became a Green, she would be able to fight for justice as well, and she would have warders with her to back up her authority as Aes Sedai. If she became a Yellow she would be able to Heal anyone she rescued from dire straights.

 

She was not one of those Accepted who knew the Ajah they would apply to, and she didn’t think she would know until that moment came. She was, just like all Accepted, learning the hundred weaves that they would be tested on to become Aes Sedai. They were complex weaves that did nothing practical, but each had a designated effect. Every other night, she gathered with some of the other Accepted to practice tormenting each other, distracting their peers from the weaves they must perform perfectly. The Accepted were hard on each other, leaving welts, itches, aches, and uncomfortable memories; but they knew that the test itself would be much worse than anything they could think to do to each other.

 

Elin could perform the first thirty weaves perfectly every time, but the most she had ever performed was sixty-three. She wasn’t the best of her peers, but she was far from the worst.

 

Stepping out of the Tower itself, she crossed the yard, her eyes scanned the novices working at their chores. Some were sweeping paths clean, others were washing horse blankets and tack, and Elin even saw some girls planting bulbs that would burst through with gorgeous flowers in the Spring. As an Accepted, it was her duty to make sure the girls were performing their tasks properly and in a timely manner. She smiled a small, secret smile to herself when she saw a ripple pass through the girls as they whispered to each other that there was an Accepted about. It was much like the ripple that passed through a herd when a predator was noticed.

 

Elin didn’t think of herself as a predator, but she knew she must become one. In the real world, you could either be a predator or you could be prey, and Aes Sedai are never prey.

 

As she passed under the Tower’s gate, she nodded to the Tower guard on duty. It felt like the weight of the world’s eyes fell on her. When she became Accepted, it was drilled into her that whenever she left the Tower she would be representing the Tower to everyone who saw her. Every servant, every merchant, every noble would see her actions and know that she would soon be Aes Sedai, and they would judge her accordingly.

 

Outside the gates, she hired a seat, and was carried to the market. The men carrying her were polite and obviously locals. They had that unmistakable casual air sitting outside the Tower, and their faces were an odd mixture of different nationalities. They were tall, with dark hair, tilted eyes, but with the sallow skin one expected from Cairhienin. The families that stayed in Tar Valon over generations rarely stayed within their own nationalities when looking for spouses.

 

At the market, Elin did not speak as she walked through the crowds. Her face was hidden deeply within her bonnet, so very few people felt the urge to speak to her. When she finally spoke to a merchant, he was unfailingly polite, and helped her to purchase a wide variety of fruits that she knew had Old Tongue names her students should know. She moved on, and purchased a few other small items, books, pens, and a variety of threads, ribbons, and strings.

 

Turning back to find the entrance to the market, she began walking with her packages, her mind firmly on the lesson she would be teaching this afternoon. When she passed a tavern, she didn’t even notice the man who came out chasing after her. When his hand closed on her upper arm and pulled her around, she was shocked. Few men dared to touch initiates of the Tower, and this one reeked of alcohol.

 

“Woman! If you are so deep in mourning that you’re wearing a white bonnet take yourself back to your home!” His voice was loud, and he leaned too closely into Elin’s face.

 

“Sir, you will let me go. I am not in mourning, I am an Accepted.” She dropped one bag to free that hand to try to remove his hand from her arm, but he held on.

 

“I don’t care what you call yourself! Any Light fearing Amadician woman in this Light forsaken city should hold to decency! Mourn in private, woman! In this city of witches, you must hold tightly to the traditions you were raised with!”

 

Another man, also drunk, tried to pull the first away, explaining that the woman he was attacking was also a member of the Tower, but the first man wouldn’t hear it. He knocked his friend to the ground, and continued yelling at Elin.

 

Aes Sedai were forbidden from using the Power as a weapon, but defending yourself from an assault was not forbidden. Drawing on the Power, Elin wrapped the man in Air and pulled him away from her and off the ground. The drunk man started cursing, looking around for the “light forsaken witch” who was trying to prevent him from speaking wisdom to this young woman. Finally, Elin tore off her bonnet and threw it to the ground, letting her black curls hang free.

 

“I am Elin Hawes, Accepted of the White Tower, sir. Thank you for your concern, but I am not in mourning, and I do not need your advice on my behavior.” She released him, and he dropped to the ground. Taking up her packages again, Elin began walking toward the area where hired chairs would wait.

 

She felt a soft, mushy crunch smack her back. Turning around, she saw the drunk man standing in a circle of onlookers.

 

“So you’re a filthy witch too. You’ve left the Light and your home behind to take up with the Dark One? May the Light curse you!” He threw another rotten apple, which struck Elin in the gut. She was so shocked, she didn’t think to defend herself.

 

After a third apple struck her, she embraced the source and wrapped him in flows again, and she stalked over to him, anger burning in her heart, but nothing but calm showing on her face.

 

“Sir, you have assaulted an initiate of the Tower twice now. Do you know what penalty that carries here in Tar Valon? You will be flogged, tossed out of the city, onto the far side of the bridge if the city guard is generous, and forbidden from reentering Tar Valon.” She spoke the words calmly, but the anger still burned. How dare this man speak to her of leaving her home.

 

“The hatred in your soul, and in the souls of people just like you, is the reason why so many young women are forced to flee their homes. If anyone has left the Light behind, it is you. The Light is full of grace, joy, and all things good. Hatred, rage, and violence like yours are of the Shadow. Take yourself back to Amadicia and learn what the Light truly is.”

 

By that time, the city guard had arrived, their officer stood beside Elin.

 

“Your pardon, Accepted, do you wish you press charges? We have witnesses who claim this man assaulted you.” His men were surrounding the Amadician, waiting for Elin to release him.

 

“No, officer, I do not wish to press charges. I wish the good man from Amadicia to learn a lesson in grace.” As she released his bonds, the man bolted away, and the guards’ eyes followed him. The second man, who had tried to pull the first off of Elin, came forward.

 

“Sir, Mistress, please accept my apologies for Giof. He just received news that his younger sister was taken by the Children of the Light for passing information to an Aes Sedai. He mourns her still, and knows that if he returns to Amadicia, the Children will take him too and send him to the inquisitors. It does not excuse his actions, but I know, were he in a better state, would appreciate your grace mistress.” With that, he bowed, and walked back into the tavern.

 

Elin smiled to the guards, and declined an escort back to the Tower. Weaving air, earth, and water, she forced the rotten fruit out of the cloth of her dress and cloak. Then she walked back to the chairs and hired one to take her home to the Tower.