An Accident

[Muirenn]

Dulcinea was bored out of her mind.  Taking a turn at attending the Amyrlin was always seemed like an interesting task at first, but then faded on to drudgery.  Every time there was something interesting about to happen, she and the other woman in the banded dress were shooed away out of earshot.  And then for good measure a ward was put up to prevent even casual eavesdropping.  No fun at all.  At least today Annais Sedai was having her audiences out of doors.  It was indeed a beautiful day for a ride.  But the beast of a horse she was on liked to dance, and Dulcinea was becoming more and more frustrated with trying to guide him back and forth from the main riding party. 

 

There were nearly a dozen sisters in all, including the Amyrlin.  And there were three other Accepted who had been sent carrying messages.  Dulcinea herself had just returned from delivering a summons to a Blue, who should be here shortly.  She hadn't dared to wait on the sister having her mare saddled, and the Blue had only tsked softly and sent her ahead.  Who knew when the Amyrlin or one of the sitters might need another messenger? 

 

And it seemed that she had arrived none too soon.  Just as she was getting settled in, the Amyrlin beckoned for the other woman in the banded hem.  Dulcinea smiled wryly at her, glad that it was someone else's turn.  As the Amyrlin sent the girl on her way, she turned her horse back around, flicking the reins expertly.  But the spirited mare did not want to go. She minced a few steps forward, then balked.  Another flick of the reins did nothing to move her forward.  Frowning, Dulcinea watched as Annais Sedai gave the horse a quick heel in the ribs to encourage her. 

 

At that, the mare reared back on her hind legs and then reversed, quick as lighting, her hindquarters going up in the air.  And the Amyrlin was unceremoniously bucked off.  Everything seemed to move in slow motion as gasps of horror went up among the trailing coterie.  Dulcinea was surprised to find that one of those strangled noises was coming from her own throat.  A

 

A loud crack echoed through the air as the Amyrlin hit the ground.  That was not right.  A fall from a horse was hard, but not that hard.  A broken bone?  A snapped wrist.  But she wasn't moving.  Oh Light, the Amyrlin wasn't moving. 

 

The moment was broken in a flurry of activity as two Yellows and a Gray flung themselves from their mounts, weaves already being prepared.  A stout Yellow reached Annais Sedai first and a simple Delving weave sank into her.  However, the Delving, used to check health, did not turn to the more complex Healing.  The sister lifted an edge of the Amyrlin's stole and used it to cover her face, then stood, scrubbing her hands against her skirts. 

 

"The Amyrlin, she is dead."

 

-Dulcinea Velasques

Accepted

[Tigara]

Running here. Running there. Fetch this. Fetch that. Deliver this. Deliver that.

 

That was how Melianna's morning went. It was one of her morning to tend to the Amyrlin with some other Accepted. She knew two of them. Dulcinea had invited her to a spa with her. Teresa had held a party back when Meli was a Novice. She didn't know either very well.

 

The Amyrlin motioned her over and sent her to give a summons to Jaydena Sedai. She took the envelope in and placed it in her pouch. With that, she was off to find her mentor.

 

A strange sight greeted her when she was finished her task. The Sisters stood around in a circle, and the  Amyrlin was no where to be seen. She came closer. She saw something on the ground in the middle of the circle, but she could not tell what. The Sister had not noticed her yet. She came closer. And there it was. The seven striped stole of the Amyrlin Seat lay across a body on the ground. "What happened?"

 

"Oh, I did not see you, child. The Amyrlin was bucked off her horse. She is dead." replied a stout little woman, wearing a shawl fringed in brown. Dead? But she had not been Amyrlin very long. She couldn't see the other Accepted. They probably went off to notify the Sitters. "Child, go tell the Sitters of the Red of the news."

 

"Yes, Aes Sedai." Back to the Tower.

 

Melianna Hollmen

[Jaydena]

Jaydena rubbed the cloth over the desk in her room, adding some more beeswax to it, this was something the servants normally did. However today she had felt the need to do something that connected her to simple labor, something in fact that reminded her of her childhood. Back when life had been simple and  she hadn’t had all these stresses and responsibilites. When her life had in fact been much easier, her biggest decision had been what dress to wear and what color of thread to use on her embroidery. Of course she had grown up on a farm and so life hadn’t been the same as a palace princess but it had been so much different than it was now, two different worlds in fact. Turning away from the desk she moved onto the table they all ate breakfast on and polished it until she could see her face in the dark cherrywood. Time passed and soon she ran out of wood to scrub, everything was dusted and she had moved on to making sure there was no dust on her swords or daggers. She pulled a dagger out, one with a ring in the hilt and eyed it, remembering what had happened on the day she had been given the dagger. Her lover Seia had given it to her and told her that if she ever betrayed her, it would be Jade’s duty to put that dagger through her chest. Jade sneered, Oh ya that had worked well, she thought, Seia had come back from the dead and chosen Sirayn over her, and when Jade had tried to put the dagger through her chest, she had fought her off. The dagger went back into the sheath with a clunk and back up on it’s stand in the bookcase with the other daggers and swords, they all sat like a testament to her pain and loss in front of the many books. Her many warders swords sat in a row, all of them were dead and gone or had deserted her in some way and left their swords behind. One of them at least she knew was still alive but was masking his bond. She sighed and massaged her neck with her hand and looked up as a knock sounded at her door.

 

She called out, “One moment please,” and then she walked over to the couch and held her mask up to one side of her face, she then embraced the source and affixed the mask to the right side of her face and walked to the door. With a careful movement she opened it and was surprised to see her mentee standing there with a shocked expression on her face. Melianna curtsied quickly and then spoke, “Jaydena Sedai, I am sorry to bother you but there has been a horrible accident, the Amyrlin Seat was bucked from her horse and killed outside.” Jade blinked and moved into action, “Thank you my child, please return to your quarters, I am sure the Mistress of Novices will be there to talk to all of you soon.” She motioned Melianna forward and then walked from her room, setting the wards as she went. It didn’t make any sense at all for something to happen to the Amyrlin Seat, the woman was an accomplished horsewoman and even if she had been bucked off, she should have known how to fall to avoid damage. Had someone killed the Amyrlin Seat, she wondered? It didn’t make any sense, I mean after all their Amyrlin had only been in a Power a short while, yes she had wanted to make changes but she was to be the shortest reigning Amyrlin Seat ever now. Shaking her head she walked outside and found someone to ask questions of…

 

Jaydena Mckanthur

Head of the Green and Sitter