Meeting the Mon

[Hayl3y]

The wind is strong. So strong that it has become hard for Raven to move forward. She clutches to the sides of her cloak trying to keep it closed and bends the upper part of her body hoping it would be enough to shield herself from the gusts of air that have been fighting against her since noon.

Her hair is a mess and she hates it. The twin braids she made in a hurry this morning have completely disappeared. They now look like the tails of two mangy dogs.

Amalexia the Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah who tested her back in Cairhien and who is now accompanying her to Tar Valon decided that it would better for them to do the last part of their journey on foot!

When Raven learned about it, she thought Amalexia mad. How could it be good for her body to "walk" in such a weather? How could one call this exercise? Even the soldiers she spied upon never did anything like this for training...

Raven swears to herself that she'll tell everything to Carietta, her best friend. Carietta will be impressed to hear that Aes Sedai are completely crazy. The thought brings a smile on Raven's lips. She is sure that her friend misses her as much as she misses her friend. She imagines the tall blond girl, looking through one of the windows of her house, wondering how Raven is faring, wondering when they will meet again... 

She won't be waiting for long. This is all a big mistake, Raven thinks. I am no Aes Sedai material. This jewel must be defective, just like this woman's brain.

It is hard for the young girl not to laugh at her own words. Amalexia may be old and mad but she has very good ears. Raven has learned about it the hard way.

The Yellow doesn't seem to pay attention to Raven's speed. She walks in the lead, right next to her Warder. Together they chat as if the weather had no effect on them. It makes Raven feel very frustrated. She spits on the ground as she keeps on moving.

Eventually they reach higher ground. It doesn't take them long to see spears-like roofs peeking from the horizon. Step by step, Raven discovers more of her destination until the whole island of Tar Valon lays right in front of her.

She has never seen a place like this one before, except of course in the books she borrowed from Rynelda. However, in these books, the majestic castles and towers are inhabited by faeries, princesses and their gallant knights. Not crones with shawls who think they are better than anyone else.

Pushing the occupants of the White Tower aside, she concentrates on the other black dots moving here and there. Some are boats, some others merchants with their carts. The city looks so elegant and full of mysteries. Raven shakes her head already regretting that her stay will be so short.

Elric, Amalexia's Warder, interrupts her daydreams and presses her to move forward. He tells her something about rain coming but Raven's full focus is still on Tar Valon. She nods, and starts walking, her eyes still fixed in the distance.

 

Edited May 3, 2018 by Hayl3y

[Guest]

@Taymist - hey there, it seems that this thread escaped the reorganization

 

Can you place it in retro? It seems I don't have the powers to do that. Now, what I could also do is simply to restart another thread of there lol

 

Tell me what you prefer <3

 

@Chaelca Sure, I can move it. It didn't escape though, no threads actually got moved at all at the time. I just renamed the board to Retro. The ones on the Retro board were either started there or I stumbled across them when I was adding tags to the old Wolfkin RP's. Not really any easy way to recognise and/or move old retro threads en masse unfortunately.  

[Guest]

"Close your mouth", Amalexia orders.

Raven blushes and obeys. The place looks like... like... she can't describe what it looks like. From inside, the White Tower is even more beautiful than from the outside, and not only because of its walls or floors or tapestries. The people Raven has encountered are all so different and mysterious. She recognizes noblemen and women, young Novices and Accepted, people from so many nations dressed it their most elegant clothes - except for the Novices and Accepted of course. Raven finds their spotless white dresses very boring, even the ones with the rainbow hems and cuffs.

 

"The Mistress of The Novices' office is this way, on the right," the Aes Sedai goes on, a stern look on her face. "You are to report immediately to her.'

 

"Yes, Amalexia Sedai!" The young girl fights hard not to roll her eyes. The silly woman has already told her three times that she has to meet this Mistress Valeri Sedai and where to find her. Somehow, it makes her think that Amalexia must see her as some dim witted peasant. She quickly curtsies before adding, "I will do as you ask."

 

"I am not asking", says the Aes Sedai, "it is an order." She shakes her head and looks around until her eyes meet her Warder's. The man nods, and Amalexia seems to relax ... at last. "It won't be possible for me to accompany you, but be sure that I'll know if you stop or go anywhere else than to the Mistress of the Novices' office."

 

Raven opens her mouth to reply but she doesn't get the chance to say a thing. The Aes Sedai turns in a heart beat then glides to Elric's side.

 

"And so, the Mistress of the Novices' office it is..." the young girl mumbles.

 

***

 

The office is not far, it doesn' t take long for Raven to find it. Amalexia must be very insistent for some things but at least she can give very good directions. The young girl brushes the skirts of her dress, then clears her throat. She needs to be perfect, clean, polite, smiling. Of course, the Mistress of the Novices will be sad to hear that she has no intend to stay but it won't hurt to make a good impression. Who knows what the future may bring?

 

She takes a deep breath and knocks at the door.

[Guest]

"Come in," the Mistress  of the Novices invites her visitor to open the door and to join her in her office. She sighs, happy to have someone interrupting her paper work. So many Novices have seemed to be in need of attention these last few days, pushing Valeri to make many more reports than usual. Some were nice to write, a recommandation here, a recommandation there. Some others were less positive, lists of punishements, proposals to send this one or that one to the farms... And so, having the opportunity to say something instead of writing comes as a real Blessing.

 

The newcomer doesn't belong to the Tower yet, Valeri only need a fraction of a second to see it and not only because of the dark green dress and the light brown cloak she wears. It is because of her eyes. They clearly show that she has no idea about where she is nor about the respect she should show Valeri.

 

The child chews her lower lip, her eyes focused on Valeri's face. "Mistress," she says with a small nod of the head that confirms the Mistress of the Novices' suspicions.

 

"I am the Mistress of the Novices. This is my title, the one you should use when addressing me." She keeps her tone neutral, thinking that there is not need to push the girl at this point, not as long as her name is not written in her book.

 

"And who are you, Child?"

Edited May 3, 2018 by Chaelca

[Guest]

"Raven... hild," she adds after a while. "Ravenhild Tharne. I come from Cairhien, the city. My father is a city guard. My mother, she died, but that was a long time ago. I don't think I remember her. I don't have siblings but... It doesn't mean I feel lonely. There's Rynelda, she's - well was - my mother's best friend. She has children as well. I have friends back...  " She doesn't have the time to finish her sentence. The Mistress of the Novices clears her throat as if to make her understand that she doesn't care much about the details of Raven's fourteen first years of life.

 

These details are important though. Without them, Raven doesn't know how she'll manage to explain that the White Tower is not her place. She is convinced that the Mistress of the Novices will be touched by her wish to become a city guard like her father or by her need to return home to help the many people she left behind. She only need to have the chance to tell express herself.

 

Of course, Raven won't admit that she likes to be lazy and tends to run away each time Rynelda asks her to help with the chores. She won't mention the fact that she doesn't like to go to her classes nor how many lessons she skipped.

 

But she  has to tell that Carietta her best friend will be totally lost without her. Doesn't she, herself, feel lost without Carietta?

 

"Who sent you?"

 

Raven scratches her nose as she replies. "Amalexia Sedai, she's the one who tested me. She brought me here, with her Warden."

 

 

Edited May 15, 2018 by Chaelca

[Guest]

Oh light, this one is as chatty as a parrot... Valeri clears her throat hoping that the discreet sound will make the girl understand that she has to stop talking. She's young but old enough to understand that she shouldn't treat the Mistress of the Novices as a friend.

 

Valeri smiles as Ravenhild eventually pinches her lips. She's sure that the child would have recited the names of the friends she had left behind if she hadn't been stopped.

 

It is not that she doesn't care about the details of the Novices "previous" life, these details are important to understand who are the girls she has to deal with, but there's a way for the Novices to talk. And this one is surely not talking the way she should.

 

The new Initiate doesn't seem happy about the interruption. She scowls and starts chewing on her lower lip.

 

"Who sent you?" Valeri asks knowing that she should have thanked the girl for her first reply. That is what the rules of politeness clearly suggested. Unfortunately following these rules is definitely not enough to tame the too-extraverted Initiates.

 

"Amalexia Sedai, she's the one who tested me. She brought me here, with her Warden."

 

"Her Warden..." Valeri sighs and wonders whether the girl used the wrong word on purpose. "And so, she discovered your ability?" 

Edited May 15, 2018 by Chaelca

[Guest]

“She did test me,” Raven replies her eyes as wide as saucers. She wants to show to the Mistress of the Novices that she doesn’t understand the way the testing works and hopes that maybe the Mistress of the Novices will give her more information about it. The more she knows about the test, the more weapons she’ll have at her disposal to prove that her test didn’t give the right result.

 

Valeri doesn’t seem to catch the bait. She nods, before brushing the skirts of her dress with her right hand. The left now holds a pen. Will she use it to write my name in that flaming book? Raven wonders. She silently giggles at the use of the word flaming. Her father wouldn’t be happy to know what she’s using that kind of words … even if it is only in her head.

 

“I am sure that the test didn’t work. Well not well enough,” she dares to say. “I was tested during daytime. In a room with a lot of windows. I also heard that there was thunder in the air that day. This could have had an effect on the jewel… and…”

 

Again the Mistress of the Novices clears her throat. This time though, Ravenhild doesn’t stop. She has to go back to Carietta. She could live away from her dad but not away from her best friend. She needs to keep on talking, and so she does.  There’s also the fact that she doesn’t want to become a witch. She wants to become a guard!

 

“I can’t be an Aes Sedai. Amalexia was wrong. I don’t look like her, nor like you. There are people waiting for me at home. I need to go back.”

She allows herself a small break and focuses on the Mistress of the Novices’ face. The woman doesn’t look very happy.

 

“Please,” she goes on. “ I can’t stay stuck here. There are things I need to do. People who need me….” If not for her pride, she would beg. Instead, she keeps on talking, giving the same arguments over and over again. A quarter of an hour passes Raven only stops when she notices that the Mistress of the Novices has moved to one of the shelves at the back of her room.

[Guest]

“Are you done yet?” The Mistress of the Novices asks. As the words get out of her mouth she decided that she doesn’t like the new Initiate. No, I can’t say that I don’t like her. I should think of such strong words. Let’s just say that I will follow her steps with my full attention and I won’t spare her. Oh … no.

 

Valeri doesn’t wait for an answer. It is her turn now to talk. She ignores the girl’s surprised look. After all, it is highly probable that it is not a genuine one.

 

She grabs her current Book of the Novices and opens it to the first blank page. As she does so she explains to Ravenhild that the test is never wrong and why. She tells her that Amalexia could not be wrong and the reason why she couldn’t have lied.

 

“As for going back home,” she adds. “You will be allowed to return when the Tower judges that you are ready to leave. Even if we find out that weak in the Power, we can’t let you go as long as you are a danger to anyone including yourself. But I don’t think you are weak, so you will have to stay a while longer with us. You won’t be allowed to travel further than Tar Valon without a serpent ring around one of your fingers, and you won’t be allowed to travel alone without a shawl to complement it. Have I made myself clear?”

[Guest]

“Am I prisoner then?” Ravenhild says punctuating her sentence by placing her fists on her hips.

***

Ravenhild turns and turns on her mattress. She hates her room. It is small and very uncomfortable compared to what she's used to.

She tries to find what made the Mistress of the Novices become so angry. She had only explained her point of view. She may have protested ... a bit ... but no one had told her that she had to stay in Tar Valon. Amalexia may have mentioned it but the Aes Sedai had never reacted when Raven had told her that she wanted to go back to Cairhien, nor when she had suggested that the test hadn't worked! She had only rolled her eyes.... but that didn't mean anything.

This is so unfair! she mutters. This is the worst day of her life!  Not only did that Mistress-woman shout at her but she punished her as well. The punishment was way too severe in her own opinion.

She had to clean the woolen carpet - on which she may have spat in the heat of the conversation - but she also had to go through the shame of a private beating. A private beating is how she wants to call it. Somehow the witch managed to find a way to turn her bottom in a raw mount of flesh.

She had cried and sworn everything that Valeri wanted to hear; hoping that she would be left alone. Unfortunately, when the beating had stopped, the witch sent her to the kitchens... to help! Her traveling clothes were now unwearable. They were stained with grease and smelly like old rotting fishes.

One thing makes no doubt in her mind. She will escape from that flaming tower as soon as possible. First, she'll have to get rid of that bunch Accepted who won't leave her sides. One of them is sitting on a bench right outside her door.