Sisterly Love

[keyholder21]

As the other Accepted finished eating and returned their dishes to the kitchen servants, Miahna continued to eat absentmindedly. Her emerald eyes stared out the windows, deep in thought, as her hand brought the sandwich to her mouth and then back down again. Her food didn’t hold interest for her lately; it was all she could do to stay focused on her studies. The more days that stretched on between letters, the more worried she became.

 

Ever since Miahna had left for the Tower, she’d been in constant contact with the majority of her siblings. Henry and Rilanne sent letters explaining how the children were doing, and that their own family was growing. Kagan sent letters about his sword study and how he was now in the Royal Army of Arafel. Cale sent letters relating how he had finally settled down and was finally building a family of his own after traveling for many years. Jenelle was similarly raising her own family – she had a daughter named Miahna and a son named Matthis. Rolland had shot up like a rocket, nearly as tall as an Aiel. That had caught a few admiring eyes – his fortune must as well, as the youngest Telonne boy had become a blacksmith in a large town and was hauling in some hefty money. Everyone except for Tessa and Daniel had flooded her little keepsake box with letters and she’d been more than happy to buy another, larger box.

 

It wasn’t a surprise, really, that she hadn’t heard from Daniel. No one in the family had heard from him since he’d left all those years ago. She’d worried, sometimes, that something had happened to him, but he’d always been a resourceful boy. As a teenager, he’d often disappeared into the woods with nothing but the clothing on his back to return days later happy as a clam and no worse for wear.

 

By this point, it wasn’t really all that remarkable that she hadn’t heard from Tessa either. The youngest child had taken the move and Miahna’s leaving the hardest. While she’d written a few letters in the beginning, in her scrawling seven year old handwriting, her letters had dropped off as she grew older and ended altogether when she turned ten. Henry and Rilanne had kept Mimi abreast of the situation – that Tessa was acting out, and getting over her feelings of abandonment, but it still hurt Miahna deeply that the little girl she’d raised from a baby didn’t want anything to do with her anymore. Those letters from Tessa were Miahna’s most prized possession at the moment. She’d cried over the pages more than once.

Finishing her sandwich, Miahna suddenly came back to herself. She was sitting in the dining area, alone except for a few random white or banded dressed girls at other tables. An apple and some other food items still sat in front of her, but Mimi’s appetite was gone; it hadn’t really been present lately. She gathered her stuff together and dumped it into a trash can before slipping out of the Kitchens.

 

A novice caught her sleeve, apologizing profusely as she did so. The girl’s face was ruddy and she was breathing hard as if she’d been running. Mimi started to form a stern look on her face, about to tell the girl how to properly get around in the Tower and the proper way to catch the attention of an Accepted, but she was instantly distracted by what the girl said.

 

“A message just arrived for you Accepted. I delivered it to your room with haste, as was requested.” Somewhere a bell rang and the girl blanched. Taking one look at Miahna, she ran off down the hall, the white dress billowing out around the hem.

 

Rushing to her room, the Arafellin was heedless of the proper stride for an initiate of the Tower. Her dark braids streamed behind her, bells tinkling, as she rushed to the Accepted quarters. It was so coincidental that it had been months since she’d received word from any of her siblings and the one day that she’d allowed herself to dwell on it, one had arrived. Oh Light let it be good news..

 

Miahna threw open the door and felt her heart leap into her throat, threatening to burst out of her chest, as she spied the cream envelope on her bedside table. The writing was a beautiful feminine script that she didn’t recognize. Closing the door quietly, the Accepted hurried over to her table and removed the letter from the envelope. The paper was heavy with quality, and the ink shimmered a navy blue in the sunlight.

 

My Dearest Mimi,

 

The only words that come to mind when I write this letter are that it’s your fault. You were the person that held our family together and it wasn’t the same after you left. I felt isolated. You took me from mother and father, whom I haven’t seen since, and then you left too. It’s your fault that I feel all alone in this world; it’s your fault that I was abandoned by everyone. They all pretended that they cared about me, but I knew that it was just a front for everyone else to see. They used me and then cast me aside, much like you did. It’s your fault. It’s your fault that there are six pairs of dead eyes, eyes that look much like mine and yours, staring at me as I write this letter.

 

I now savor hate as much as I craved love. Your love. The love that you took away, never to return. Did you really think that letters could fill the hole that you left when you decided to put your future ahead of mine? Remember that day, for you will never have that happy of a memory again. I slaughtered each one of them for the lies that they told me, for the fake love that they gave me, for putting their needs above mine in my time of need. They said I’d get over it, but I didn’t.

 

Did I mention that I’m coming for you too? You don’t get to escape the pain just because you’re locked up in the White Tower. I’ll wait as long as I have to, because just like you, I have ways of living a long and healthy life.

 

Until we meet again,

All my love!

Tessie

 

Shocked, Miahna released the letter and sank to the floor. Tears flooded down her cheeks. It couldn’t be real. It had to be a test. Like the Arches. She remembered the pain and horror she’d felt at finding Rolland in that house, blood and bodies all around him. That same pain and horror again pulsed through her body. The letter floated down next to her gently, the lovely writing a stark contrast to it’s meaning.

 

She stayed like that until dawn.

[Elgee]

Larindhra stared down at the pale little face, the bells at the ends of her Arafellin braids looking incongruously cheery against the stark white infirmary pillows. There was physically nothing wrong with the child, the Yellows insisted, but they were reluctant to send her back to the Accepted quarters in her current emotional state. Rightly so, Larindhra thought. The sympathy she had felt welling up inside her when the Mistress of Novices had told her of the situation, only intensified as she saw the raw horror in the child's eyes.

 

Horror and guilt - Larindhra well remembered her own "what ifs" and "if onlys". Her first instinct was to coddle Miahna, but just like herself the girl was a Borderlander - coddling would make her feel even weaker. No, a certain amount of care had to be taken, but the best thing would be to help the girl face reality, and find some purpose in life to sustain her. She wondered how she would have dealt with matters if it had turned out that one of her own had done the dastardly deed ... yes, care had to be taken.

 

Her smile was warm and sympathetic, but she put a briskness into her voice as she patted the girl on the hand. "Come, Miahna - it is time for you to get up out of this bed. I've had a few of your things moved to my quarters, where you will be staying for the next few days. My name is Larindhra Reyne, in case you have forgotten. I ... went through a similar experience before coming to the White Tower, which is why Valeri Sedai asked me to take care of you for a while."

 

She helped the almost catatonic girl out of the bed and get dressed, then led her off to the Red Ajah quarters. All Aes Sedai quarters held at least two bedrooms, since most preferred their Warders close. That fact never failed to make some Reds shudder, which in turn never failed to amuse Larindhra. Sometimes she thought her sisters a tad silly. The bedroom came in handy now, for sure. She showed Miahna where her belongings had been stored, then led her back out into the sitting room. "Come sit down, child. A cup of tea will go down nicely now, don't you think?"

 

 

Larindhra Reyne

Red Sitter

[keyholder21]

ooc: Oops! Sorry about forgetting the other 'r' in the subtitle.

 

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Sparking white walls of the infirmary surrounded her; high ceilings stretched above her, almost never ending. Not that she noticed either. Her emerald eyes lay open, but unseeing as Miahna tried to process that her entire family was gone. Murdered in cold blood by their youngest sister. The sweet little girl that Miahna had raised from a baby. The little girl that they had all looked after with a fondness that only someone who had taken part in the raising of a child could have. Her mind whirred, repeating scenes from her Arches, scenes from when Tessa was a young child, the scene of Miahna leaving. She didn’t feel the tears that trailed down her cheeks to land on the white pillowcase.

 

Aes Sedai came and went, each a Yellow, checking on her condition. Mimi didn’t remember leaving her room, she didn’t remember being discovered by another Accepted, didn’t remember being carried down the Accepted hallways by a large hulking Warder for one of the Yellow Sisters on duty, didn’t remember that it had been nigh on a week since she’d received the letter. The letter that was now in the possession of Valeri Sedai.

 

The Mistress of Novices had, of course, been kept apprised of the situation. As was in her nature, she trusted the care of the child to the Yellows but was continually troubled about her unchanging emotional state. Upon reading the letter, it was obvious that the child needed to be dealt with very carefully and needed to be in the care of someone who had herself been through a similar ordeal. Hence, the Red Sister who was gazing down at the nearly catatonic Accepted now.

 

The Yellow Sisters had given up trying to speak to the girl, as she simply did not respond. They were barely able to get her to eat. So the sudden voice at her side made Miahna blink in recognition of her situation. The Aes Sedai next to her bed spoke to her kindly, but in a vigorous tone. She explained that Miahna would be staying with her for a few days. The girl opened and closed her eyes, really seeing for the first time in days. As the fog cleared away, she found herself walking with the Aes Sedai in the Red Ajah quarters. Blood pumped eagerly through her extremities and her entire body ached as it started to come alive again.

 

They settled into the sitting room, Miahna half laying on the couch and Larindhra in an overstuffed chair opposite the couch. Dazed, Mimi gratefully accepted the cup of tea proffered to her and found, to her surprise, that it was the same delicious Saldaean tea that Valeri Sedai kept in her office. The tea wet her throat and, finding the ability to speak again, she softly thanked the elder woman for her generosity.

 

“How?” was all she could manage before tearing up again. Lifting the cup of tea to her lips, Miahna tasted salt as her tears mingled with the dark liquid. Why?

[keyholder21]

The rest of the evening was quiet. The Red Sister seemed to notice that Miahna needed peace and quiet, time to grieve, time to process, and time to come back to herself. The short time that she had surfaced had tired her greatly. After crying into her tea, the Arafellin had sat for nearly an hour staring into the cup as the delicious liquid darkened and cooled. Larindhra had sat with the girl, somehow understanding that she while she needed the time, she also needed the company. On some level, Mimi recalled what the Red Sister had said in the infirmary, that she had been through a similar experience.

 

After some time, the Red Sister had guided the Accepted gently to the extra room. After numbly going through the motions, Miahna found herself in a large bed, in a dark room, staring at the ceiling. Like her experience in the infirmary, her mind kept going through the events of the third Arch, and then flipping back to the letter. Yet this time was different. It registered to the Arafellin that she wasn’t quite alone. That something of this magnitude had happened to the woman who was in the other bedroom and she had survived to become a powerful Aes Sedai. Mimi felt part of the tension lift from her body, and while it was a small part, it was a start.

 

The morning brought fresh tears, but they dried up a bit faster than the day before. Pulling herself physically into a somewhat presentable state, the Accepted sat on the edge of the bed and tried to do the same mentally. It was still more than she could process on the whole, but her mind began to start filtering the information. Mimi remembered bits and pieces of the other letters she’d received, teasing out snippets of sentences to support the idea that little Tessa had been heading dark for a long while. Perhaps even before her older sister had left, as their father had had darkness in him and none of the other children had ever showed even a glimpse of that blackness. Perhaps Tessa had been destined to inherit that part of him.

 

Tears came again, as Miahna dwelled on the fact that she hadn’t been strong enough to remove her siblings from that situation. She touched her wet cheek tenderly in the last place that her father had hit her, the very hit that had led to her arriving at the White Tower. Suddenly angry, the Accepted gruffly scrubbed the tears off her cheeks and stood up. She stared at herself in the large mirror opposite the room and took in the red-rimmed eyes, disheveled hair, and glistening cheeks. Letting loose a growl, Miahna picked up a lovely glass dish that sat next to the bed on a table and threw it.

 

Her image fractured as the mirror and dish both broke into several pieces. Anger fled her as Mimi gasped at suddenly remembering where she was and whose mirror she had broken. Yanking open the door to the room, the Accepted stumbled back at the sight of the Red Sister standing directly in front of the doorway.

[Elgee]

After putting the child to bed, Larindhra sat up for a long time, remembering her own history with those filthy shadow-cursed fools who called themselves Darkfriends. She no longer felt that burning surge of fury that had dominated her for years after her whole family had been murdered, but that had been because she had channelled it into something useful. Maybe the child would also be able to do that, or maybe she would leave it behind her, but first she had to go through the grieving process.

 

It was late into the night when she finally fell asleep; a sleep disturbed by nightmares from years past. Thus it was that she had only just blearily sat up in her bed when a loud crash from the room next door had her stumbling towards the cause. The door was yanked open before she could raise her hand to do so, and a red eyed Mimi stared up at her with a tear streaked face full of chagrin. The shards of broken glass scattered around the room behind the girl told its own tale. So the child had moved from her near-catatonic state to one of anger - that was good.

 

Blinking the sleep out of her own eyes, Larindhra gave the girl a comforting smile and put one arm around her shoulder, ushering her into the sitting room. "Are you afraid because you broke something, child? Do not be - I understand why you did it." She gently led the girl to a comfortable chair then channelled a flow of Fire into the water-filled kettle on her tea tray. "It is good that you are letting your emotions come out - bottling them up now will only lead to festering, and as any Yellow could tell you, festering is not a healthy thing."

 

Returning with two cups of honeyed tea, she gave one to Mimi and curled up on another chair with her own. Normally when in company she would sit up straight with her feet on the floor, but right now the child needed to feel comfortable and secure. Letting go of a bit of dignity in order to engender that feeling was no hardship; especially not since this was her favourite position in which to relax, anyway. She took a sip of the tea, murmuring over its soothing fragrance, before once more sending a warm, motherly smile at the girl. "Tell me what you are feeling right now. Don't hold back, child - nothing you say will leave this room, or make me think any less of you."

 

 

Larindhra Reyne

Red Sitter

[keyholder21]

Miahna caught herself after the third step backward, staring into the Aes Sedai’s deep eyes through the open doorway. The woman looked tired, though not angry. The Accepted furrowed her brow in confusion as the Red Sister smiled and wrapped one of her arms around Mimi’s shoulders instead of screaming in indignation, or furiously casting her out of the extra room for having shattered an obviously expensive mirror. Guiding her to the sitting room, the Aes Sedai spoke calmly and softly to the Arafellin.

 

"Are you afraid because you broke something, child? Do not be - I understand why you did it." Miahna lifted her eyebrows in surprise. Aes Sedai were still a mystery in many accounts – despite having lived in the same general area with them for nigh on twenty years. Sisters could blow up over the smallest thing. They claimed to practice serenity always, but each initiate had seen a glimpse or two of heightened emotions. However, when there was something large, something you expected the women to be flustered over, their feathers remained unruffled. It was like the Tower had taught them how to handle the large situations, but ill equipped them for the small everyday things. Peculiar.

 

Mimi led herself be led to a large overstuffed chair. She sank down into the dark cushions, feeling the anger flow out of her body – as if the chair were absorbing her intense anger and leaving her with a clearer picture of what had happened. Taking the cup of tea from Larindhra with a murmured thank you, Miahna sipped the dark liquid. She normally liked it black, but since arriving at the Tower, the Arafellin had had her share of sweetened tea and thus she sipped it normally. The heat traveled through her system, pushing the rest of the anger out as it spread.

 

The Red had curled up on a different chair. The Accepted started to notice that this setting, this situation, was different than what she was accustomed to. It wasn’t all proper language and curtsies. This Aes Sedai realized that she needed something else and the woman was willing to forgo the appropriate decorum. Larindhra did this to let Miahna know that she could as well. Mimi managed a small smile as the Red Sitter settled a comfortable position. "Tell me what you are feeling right now. Don't hold back, child - nothing you say will leave this room, or make me think any less of you."

 

Miahna hooked her feet under her lap as she used to do as a small child and took another sip of tea before she answered. Her hands trembled as she set the teacup back on the matching saucer. “It’s difficult to put the entirety of what I’m feeling into words Aes Sedai. Mostly…mostly I am confused. Devastated is a close second, but mostly confusion. And anger is here too.” Mimi paused as a rush of feelings flooded into her, once again energizing her cells until she felt like she was vibrating in the chair. “I want to know why. And how. Why would she…how could she feel that strongly? How could she murder those who loved her in cold blood? How could she watch as they died and not feel something? How could…Why couldn’t I save them?” Tears dripped freely down her face, the salty liquid seeping into her mouth as she stared at the Red. “How could she do this?!”

[Elgee]

Larindhra watched with relief as the tears flowed freely down the girl's face. Keeping grief, or any other emotion, in whilst in public was right and proper, but keeping it in always was a road to disaster. Aes Sedai were regarded as emotionless by some, those on the outside, so to speak, but most learned that one had to let that guard down sometimes, lest what was on the outside permeated through to the inner self. Mostly they did that with fellow sisters, or even trusted servants.

 

That serene face was presented to novices and Accepted too, so they could learn by example. Compassion could not be taught that way, however, and compassion was one of the things Aes Sedai needed most, lest they become power hungry monsters. Larindhra had seen that happen; she had seen many things over the long years she had lived. She believed in passing on what she had learned, even the unpleasant things.

 

Leaning forward, she handed Mimi a handkerchief. "Valeri told me quite a bit about your history, Mimi, and showed me the letter from your sister. Understand, she did this only so that I could help you properly, not to invade your privacy." She waited for the girl to nod her understanding, then continued. "You ask why you couldn't save them; how she could do this. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you felt in some way responsible, yes? That if you had not come to the White Tower, your sister would not have turned to the Dark?"

 

She watched as a myriad of emotions flitted across the girl's face. "Maybe that is true. Maybe." She took a sip of her tea, gathering her thoughts, remembering. "I had those thoughts myself, when my whole family was murdered by Darkfriends. Had I not gone to the market that day, would I have been able to save them? A sixteen year old girl? On the other hand, had I not gone to the market and overheard that one Darkfriend, he would most likely have committed many more atrocities, and I would be dead. Instead, he got what he deserved, and set me on my path. Many others of his kind would not have been caught and ... dealt with, either."

 

She blinked and shook her head. "But to get back to you - child, some people are simply born with some ... flaw. No matter how life treats them, they will always feel they are somehow owed something, and will do anything, hurt anyone, to get that. There is always some excuse, with them - someone else to blame for their actions."

 

 

Larindhra Reyne

Red Sitter

 

 

[keyholder21]

Miahna took the handkerchief from the Red Sister with a sigh and scrubbed her cheeks dry. Her face felt puffy and clammy, her eyes swollen, her heart heavy. She lifted the cup to her lips and drained the rest of her tea as she listened to Larindhra discuss the letter. Briefly, the Accepted wondered where the letter was. It was obviously no longer on her floor. Would it still say the same things if she looked at it now? Would it still hold the same hatred, still take away her entire family?

 

If I hadn’t come here then she wouldn’t be…she couldn’t be… her green eyes glistened again as she started to berate herself. Mimi wiped furiously at her cheeks as the Sitter stared intently. The Aes Sedai looked at her as if she could read her mind. "Maybe that is true. Maybe." Mimi sniffled, nodding her head slightly as she agreed.

 

The Red spoke wistfully of her past, her eyes moving from Miahna’s face to the arm of her chair. From the tone of her voice, it was apparent there was still pain from that long ago event, but it also sounded…faded. Maybe time did heal all wounds.

 

The older woman refocused on Mimi, blinked and shook her head. "But to get back to you - child, some people are simply born with some ... flaw. No matter how life treats them, they will always feel they are somehow owed something, and will do anything, hurt anyone, to get that. There is always some excuse, with them - someone else to blame for their actions."

 

“How can you tell the difference Larindhra Sedai? It’s difficult for me to believe that Tessie was doomed from the start. How can I know that I wasn’t part, or even the root, of the problem? If I had been there, if I hadn’t – like she said - taken away all of the people that she loved, would she still have done this? She took away all of the people I loved! Good people, just to get back at me! It’s my fault they are dead!” Miahna burst into tears, the teacup falling from her hand onto the patterned area rug. “How can I continue on with my life here, knowing that I killed them? And that I’m endangering other, good people just by remaining here?”

 

With her head in her hands, Mimi cried until her tears ran dry yet again. The Red Sister looked on quietly, concern displayed on her ageless face.

Edited November 2, 2010 by keyholder21

[Elgee]

Larindhra eyed Mimi with concern, then rose. "One moment, child." She hesitated again before heading for her room. Maybe now wasn't the right time yet, but it was a gamble she would have to take; at least the child was in a safer environment now. Unravelling the trap she'd woven around the ornately decorated box on her night stand with the speed and ease of years of practice, she took out the letter she'd hidden there. Larindhra wrapped a pale rose dressing gown around herself and carefully inserted the letter into a pocket before heading back into the sitting room.

 

Heading straight towards Mimi, she smiled soothingly as she embraced Saidar and cupped the girl's face in her hands. Delicately she wove Spirit in a complicated tapestry, then released it to soak into the girl. She wondered idly if anyone other than Reds knew this weave, then brushed the thought aside. It wasn't forbidden, and did not rob the person it was used on of their will like Compulsion, only calmed them temporarily. Very useful on men who could channel, or had been gentled.

 

"Do you feel a bit better now, child?" She waited for the girl's hesitant nod before reaching for the letter and handing it to her. "In that case, I want you to do me a favour, if you would. It will take a great deal of clear thinking from you, not to mention courage, but I think you have proved that you have the capacity for both, yes?" Again she waited for Mimi's nod before seating herself.

 

"Good then. No, do not look at the letter yet. What I want you to do is to calm and centre yourself, as you would do to embrace the Source. Only once you are feeling completely at peace, open that letter and read it; however, try to imagine that it is written by someone you don't know, to ... me. Think about what that girl has written and done, and the accusations she makes. What advice would you give me?"

 

 

Larindhra Reyne

Red Sitter

[keyholder21]

Hiccuping quietly in the overstuffed chair, Mimi nodded as the Aes Sedai excused herself. You bloody well get ahold of yourself. Crying over and over again is not going to make them come back. Not to mention Larindhra Sedai is opening her quarters to you and all you’ve been able to do it blubber and break things. Blinking slowly, the Accepted shed her dark eyelashes of the moisture gathered there and resolved to start dealing rather than reacting to the issue.

 

The Red Sister returned after a mere moment, clothed in a pale rose dressing gown. She sat on the end of the couch nearest Mimi and delicately cupped the Arafellin’s face. It was a motherly gesture and one Miahna hadn’t expected. Sniffling she tentatively smiled at the woman.

 

Larindhra embraced Saidar and wove a complicated Spirit weave – one Miahna could not follow even after all her training – and placed it on the crown of Mimi’s head. Confusion and then calm set in. It was as if she was immediately herself – no longer clouded by ‘what if’ and ‘why.’ Shaking her head, the Accepted stared at the Sitter.

 

“Do you feel a bit better now child?” Larindhra asked. Concern still painted her ageless face. Hesitantly, as she was still trying to figure out what the weave had been, Miahna nodded. The Aes Sedai gave a curt nod – almost as if she were reassuring herself instead of the Accepted, and pulled out a letter from her pocket.

 

The letter looked familiar, even from the outside. It was as if that paper and seal were burned into Miahna’s mind forever. Her hands shook a little, but she took the letter from the Red and held it gingerly. It was immensely difficult not to open the letter right away, to read yet again about her family, to see if the words were still the same. Still, Mimi had been trained repeatedly to listen to Aes Sedai above all else and she resisted, pushing back her emotional attachment to the letter and focusing instead on Larindhra’s voice.

 

Her suggestion was a good one, of course. Breathing in and our slowly, Miahna set the letter in her lap and closed her eyes. She sat there breathing with her eyes closed for several minutes before the calm rolled over her nervousness. When she finally opened her emerald eyes, she displayed only serenity. A good Aes Sedai feels but does not show emotion unless it is necessary, Mimi recalled from a class long ago. She looked down at the letter and flipped it open.

 

Knowing what to expect lessened the pain, as did, Mimi suspected, the weave that the Red had released into her. Calmly, the Accepted read the letter, trying to distance herself from the events.

 

Miahna cleared her throat and responded to the Red Sister’s request. Try to be objective. Light but it was difficult! “What advice would I give you?

 

…The author of the letter is obviously in pain, or had been in pain at one point. Instead of reaching out to those near her, however, she twisted that pain into something evil. She didn’t try to fix her pain, but rather cause that same pain – or more – to someone else. That was selfish and wrong. Furthermore, I would say that the child is past ‘fixing,’ it sounds as if this was the beginning of many – if you aren’t afraid or hesitant to kill members of your own family, then how would you stop from killing others who got in your way somehow. I would take the threat of her coming after you as fairly empty. At least, the White Tower is not an easy building to infiltrate and there are hundreds of women here who can channel, not to mention the Gaidin aren’t easy targets either. I would say that she’s someone worth pursuing. Not necessarily for you, but for a Sister or confidant that has skills at tracking down murders…she may even be a Darkfriend.” Mimi gritted her teeth at the thought, but it was definitely plausible. She waited for the Red’s response. I can’t believe I just said all that.

[Elgee]

Larindhra nodded with satisfaction as the Accepted revealed her conclusions. This girl had just shown that she had the grit and the necessary brains to reach the shawl. Maybe even sooner than she herself thought. No need to tell her that yet, lest she think the battle already won, but a bit of encouragement never hurt.

 

"That was truly insightful, Mini. It is always hardest to distance oneself from something in which one is so intimately and closely involved, but it is a necessary lesson for an Aes Sedai to learn." She smiled mysteriously as she could see the girl trying to puzzle out the true meaning behind her words.

 

"To be Aes Sedai is to put all other ties and bonds behind one. Allegiance is to the White Tower, and the Light; we are the Servants of all, regardless of our place of birth, childhood friends, even families. It can become a lonely road, shared only with sisters from our Ajah at times. After all, who else could truly understand what mission drives us?" She had fallen into an almost a musing tone. "Sometimes the Blues don't have even that, what with their Causes being so varied."

 

She shook her head, focussing on the here and now. "Tell me, what do you think should be done in this case, or any other case where it is strongly suspected or even confirmed that someone is a Darkfriend?" It would be interesting to see if the girl could take this one step further.

 

 

Larindhra Reyne

Red Sitter

[keyholder21]

Miahna furrowed her brows as the Red congratulated her on distancing herself. The woman mentioned that it was a necessary lesson for an Aes Sedai to learn. Did that mean that she thought Miahna was close to becoming Aes Sedai, or just that she was ahead of the curve? How many Sisters had to go through something like this in order to learn this lesson? Hopefully not very many. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, ironically, I wouldn’t even wish it on Tessa. The Accepted continued to stare at the older woman as she mused on the meaning of Aes Sedai and missions.

 

The Aes Sedai shook her head, as if to clear it of her ruminations. Mimi did the same. Larindhra’s expression switched from serene to curious. "Tell me, what do you think should be done in this case, or any other case where it is strongly suspected or even confirmed that someone is a Darkfriend?"

 

The Aes Sedai definitely wasn’t shy about asking pointed questions. Miahna looked back down at the letter once before she answered, as if confirming the existence of the paper and its contents. “Turning away from the Light is wrong, Larindhra Sedai. The suspected Darkfriend should be caught and put to question. If it is confirmed that he or she is a Darkfriend, then that is punishable by death lest she corrupt or kill another.” Her breath caught in her throat at that last phrase, but she released it slowly and found the pain more tolerable. It was wrong. What her sister had done was wrong. It helped to be disconnected from the events and view it as objectively as she could.

 

It suddenly hit Miahna that everything she had said was true. Her sister was beyond help. Her sister had murdered their family. Her sister was a darkfriend. Tessie is a Darkfriend. she said to herself, the words rattling around in her head. “Tessa is a Darkfriend,” the Arafellin said into the silence, calmer than she had ever expected to. “Tessa is a Darkfriend.” Her heart clenched, but no tears came.