You're caught! - Aithne-

[perine]

The evening had set on the quiet Tower. Perine had spent the entire day in her rooms, going through the endless piles of papers she had gathered there. Various reports from her eyes and ears. Essays from the classes she had taught. She had not even realized that time had passes so fast. Not until all light from her window had dissapeared. She had decided to clear her mind before getting back to the papers again. And she needed something to eat.

 

As Highest of Reds she received many documents that needed her attention, though now that she had given up her Sitter position in the Hall the amount had grown a lot smaller. She had found some bread and cheese in the Kitchen. The kitchen looked eery in the darkness, all the pots an pans lying where someone left them. As she got out of the Kitchen she saw movement in the corridor. Someone had sneaked past the kitchen with a hurry. At the sight of the white dress, Perine sighed. A novice. "Child." She spoke sharply from the shadows and the novice stopped abruptly.

 

She looked to the girl, she was a tiny little thing and Perine had to wonder is she had just arrived in the Tower. She looked like a true child. "It's way past curfew. What is your name?" She said and walked to where the novice had stopped. Her high heels echoed in the empty halls and her red dress looked almost black in the light. When the novice told her name, Perine nodded. "Follow me Aithne." She said coldly and turned around towards the Red Halls. She had just thought of a use for the girl.

 

When they reached Perine's room she had the girl sit. "As you seem to care little for the time for rest, I think I shoul dput to use your extra energy." She nodded at the table full of papers. "There is ink and clean papers in the drawer. I'd like you to make two copies of the documents in the red box." she said and opened the box to show a huge pill of letters written in bad hand. "Don't waste too long to the task. I have other things for you when you are done." Perine said and sat next to another table also filled with papers. She begun to sort them out without another glance at the novice. She would learn not to sneak in the halls after hours.

 

ooc. Here is a chore. The documents Perine asked you to copy are status reports from people looking after gentled male channelers. Most have been gentled long ago. You can make some up if you want. Have fun!

[Bastet]

Aithne grew bored of sitting in the gardens. It did not seem that the other girls planned on leaving soon. She really did not want to attempt returning to her room alone, but it seemed that she had no choice. She yawned and decided it was best to get some sleep. She had too much excitement and knew she had a hard day planned for tomorrow.

 

She dusted off her dress one last time and decided she would take the most direct route to the Novice quarters. It was really late, surely everyone would be asleep? Well, she would just risk it.

 

She made her way through the dark corridors as quietly as possible. She neared the kitchen and quickened her step. She started to think that maybe the route past the kitchen might not have been such a good idea. What if someone decided they were hungry?

 

"Child."

 

Too late. Aithne froze. She scolded herself for being foolish. She felt the tears form in her eyes. What was going to happen to her? Would she be kicked out of the Tower?

 

"It's way past curfew. What is your name?" Aithne barely whispered, "Aithne Sedrethi." She made a hasty curtsey as an afterthought. "Follow me Aithne."

 

Aithne did as she was told. She started to tremble with fear at the thought of being put out of the Tower. She had not been here long and did not want to go back to her family. She finally took note of the red shawl draped around the Sister's shoulders and her heart sank. She had heard stories of how heartless the Red Ajah was.

 

It wasn't long before Aithne realized that the Aes Sedai was not taking her to the Mistress of Novices. She had yet to see this part of the tower, but she guessed it must be the Red Ajah quarters. She was ushered into one of the rooms and told to sit at a table. A box full of papers was set in front of her with instructions to copy them.

 

Was this it? This was her punishment? She let out a small sigh of relief. It would be tedious, but it was much better than finding herself on her way back to Caemlyn. She yawned again, but found a small bit of renewed energy at how bad things didn't turn out.

 

She placed one of the papers in front of her and squinted at the scribbled notes. She studied it for a moment, trying to get used to the handwriting. It was a report on a man who had been genteled! She gave the Aes Sedai a questioning glance, but she was already focused on another pile a papers.

 

'Dovor Avel', she started writing down. 'Genteled Tammaz, 911 NE.' Aithne eagerly copied the notes. She wanted to read through as much of these a possible. Why did it spark her interest as much as it did?

 

OOC: Yay, thanks! I'm actually not finished with this post. I spent so much time writing 'pre-chore' and didn't want a book in just one post. :p

[Bastet]

Aithne copied the notes as quickly as she could while soaking in the information they possessed.

 

There is no life in his eyes. He simply stares out the window day in and day out. It won't be long now. I am making him as comfortable as I can.

 

The madness has already overtaken him. Very little we can do. A servant had forgotten a bread knife when removing his meal, and he used it to slice his face. We were able to heal him, but very few are able to look upon him without sicking up.

 

Aithne felt a terrible sadness with each report she copied. She could already see the dilemma male channelers caused the Tower. Letting them roam free was dangerous for themselves and those around them. But gentling them was only a slow death. How were these Sisters able to do this? So many of them stayed by the sides of these men as their life slowly faded away. As she finished up the reports, she found that she had a new respect for the heartless Red Ajah.

 

She wiped a stray tear from her eye and she placed the last copies on top of the pile. She patiently waited for the Sister to notice. She was not about to break another rule by speaking first.

[perine]

ooc. Curces DM for eating my first post. The one time I dont backup it, it's gone. Wails.

 

ic. The night grew darker as the two women sat by their own desks surrounded in work. The sound of the pen scarping on teh papers surrounded the otherwise quiet room. Perine shook her head from time to time at the reports she was handling before placeing them to the various boxes on the table. Everyone was adifferent color and she placed the papers there accordning to the contents.She placed the paper she was holding to the balck box for Immediate attention once the sun rose. The scraping had stopped and Perine glanced to see the novice shifting the papers into order. She was fast at the task, Perine had thought it would take the girl most night to complete.

 

The moon outside the window was high in the sky, dawn would be a while off still. Perine left her desk and took two cups and placed them on teh small coffee table in the middle of the room. She channeled the water in her kettle to boiling and took a seat at the desk and poured them both a cup of warm tea. "Aithne, please join me for tea. The night is long and you could use some refreshment." she said and waited for the girl to take a seat by the table. Perine offered her some bisquits from the jar and took one herself also. "Now, tell me Child. What were you doing sneaking about in the Tower at such late hours?" she asked fixing her gaze on the girls eyes. "I'll find out if you are creating a tale, so plese dont waste my time on such a meaningless matter." she added her blue eyes narrowing. She had her own thoughts as to why to girl was out of bed, but she would let the girl speak first. Perhaps she could determine the length of this punishment herself by what she spoke. Perine sipped her tea and waited.

 

ooc. So byt seeming to tell the truth so that Perine believes you Aithne can slip back to her own bed. But if you want to chore to continue, she can make something ridiculous up or someting else to make Perine doubt her story and then Perine will find something for her to do still. Up to you! :)

[Bastet]

Aithne gratefully took the cup of tea and nibbled on a bisquit. Now that she had finished copying the reports, her true exhaustion was seeping in. Light, she had so much to do tomorrow. It was going to be a long and tiring day.

 

"I'll find out if you are creating a tale, so plese dont waste my time on such a meaningless matter."

 

Aithne studied the Aes Sedai's face for a moment. She was at a dilemma. She was not a practiced liar, and the Sister would probably easily call her bluff. But she was the one foolish enough to get caught. Not the other girls!

 

She tried to sort her thoughts as quickly as possible. With hesitation, even the truth might seem as a lie. Aithne admitted to herself that she had already been out past curfew on her own. Granted, she thought she had a good excuse, but an Aes Sedai might not see in the same way. The fact that she was outside with other girls could be left out.

 

Yes, Aithne thought. The truth, but not the full truth.

 

"I had been hiding from an Accepted. She goes out of her way to pick on me, and I was tired of it. I simply lost track of time." Aithne became a bit frightened again, worried that she might get into more trouble. Her voice trembled slightly, "I'm really sorry and it won't happen again..."

 

ooc: okies, so it's not an outright lie. if Perine finds it unsatisfactory, feel free to work Aithne's butt off. she's needs toughening up, anyway. :D

[perine]

Perine arched her eyebrows at the novices answer. She looked scared and her explanation would excuse her for sneaking but not the time of it. Perine sighed sadly. Aithne would need to learn to keep her composure better if she wanted Perine to believe her lies.

 

"Who is this Accepted? I should like to speak with her if she is giving the novices too hard a time." she said firmly making her voice sound concerned of the fact. Perine watched the Novices face for traces of shock or confusion. And she wanted to know if she would bring the lie so far as to name an Accepted.

[Bastet]

Aithne's lip started to tremble. 'I won't cry. I won't cry again', she thought. She wanted to give the name of the Accepted in hopes that it would stop the harassment, but she had a strong feeling that it would end up turning around on her. Perhaps the Accepted would get angry and torment her even more? What if the other Novices saw her as a tattletell and not someone to be trusted? Aithne did not wish to isolate herself so soon.

 

Her eyes became moist, but she kept her tears from falling. "I'm sorry...I had a nightmare and my room seemed to be closing in on me. I needed fresh air so I took a stroll around the gardens."

 

Aithne did not like lying. It felt terrible. Yet, she knew that the truth might be even worse. She tried to keep herself from shaking and looked the Aes Sedai in the eye. She was doing her best to keep her composure...

[perine]

The girl was lying. But what part of her story was a lie? Perine started to doubt her own thoughts as she saw the novices eyes start to water. She fought bravely to keep her tears from falling. Perine nodded and turned to face the window. It was late. The girl would need to get some sleep before the morning dawned on them, but she had lied to an Aes Sedai and well, Perine could not let that go without a proper action.

 

She turned back Aithne and sighed sadly. "Follow me." she said and left her rooms, the slippers on her feet flapping on the cold stone floor. Perine walked directly towards the Mistress of Novices offices turning away from the doors just before to a side corridor that took them outside. The moon lit their way and a owl hooted somewhere in the distance.

 

She finally stopped at a meadow on the north side of the Tower. The meadow was small and traces of flowerbeds were still visible. Perine walked straight to the far corner of the meadow and stopped by the walls. She ripped some hay off the ground to reveal a small dusty stone with faded engravings. Perine turned to the confused Novice behind her. "This is the old burial groud for male channelers that had died in the Tower and who had no family left to calim their bodies. As you can see this place has been long neglected as none get buried here these days." Perine said and knew that Aithne already knew what the Red Sister was to say next. "I'd like you to start clearing weeds and dead flowers from this site. Give them the respect they deserve." Perine said and crouched down on the ground and wiped the stone with her sleeve to show the engraving better. She embraced Saidar and channeled air and earth in tiny amounts to the writing, tracing the original words. She set to her task to redo the writing on the stones, once more not looking behind her to the novice. She trusted the girl would do as was asked.

 

ooc. Gardening. *shivers* I hate gardening.

[Bastet]

"Follow me."

 

Aithne just knew that Perine Sedai was leading to her the Mistress of Novices? Where else would she be taking her? Aithne had stayed out of trouble so far, but she heard stories of the types of punishments the Mistress of Novices would dish out. Hopefully it would be over soon and she could try to get a few hours of sleep.

 

Aithne's curiosity piqued when the Aes Sedai led her out of the tower and into a small meadow. It was in a pitiful state, and Aithne was already guessing what she was going to have to do. Perine gave her a quick explanation of the meadow and set her about her task.

 

Aithne glanced up at the position of the moon and realized that she would be lucky if she had time to freshen up before her classes tomorrow. Never again would she let anyone talk her into breaking the rules.

 

She sat on her knees and started pulling weeds and dead flowers. As she worked, she realized that there were very few living flowers. Nobody seemed to take the time to maintain the small cemetary. Nobody expect for Perine Sedai.

 

Aithne felt a sadness tug at her. These men did not ask to channel, at least that she could understand. She had seen the cemetary where the Aes Sedai were buried, and it was nothing like this pitiful corner of the tower.

 

With every weed and flower, she became more frustrated and angry. She wanted nothing more than to be an Aes Sedai, but she was starting to hate their arrogance. These men spent their last days is depression or madness. They saw themselves as captives of Aes Sedai. Many of them had been fathers who were shunned by their own children. They did not ask for any of it. The least anyone could do was to keep their resting place in tidy order.

 

She let out an angry sigh as she dusted off a stone slab and started to pull the weeds that were growing around it.

[perine]

Perine watched the girl in white when she worked. She looked almost angry at the plants. But more than dedicated on her task. Perine could not help to think that perhaps this was a bit too much of a punishment for the girl. After all she was only sneaking out after hours, right? Not that Perine herself had broken the said rule. At times she had hoped that she would have done so. Or broken at least some rules. It seemd to make life more interesting in the Tower. But she had always been too fond of the rules and too good to even think such a thing.

 

When the first glimmer of the sun reached the tower, Perine quickly pulled her thoughts back to herself and walked over to Aithne. "Child, I think it's time you stopped. You have done more than needed already, and I thank you." she said and embraced saidar. She channeled water into a mug and hande dit to the Novice. The graves stones were now visible. The weeds were pulled into a pile to the side and the meadow looked better. No flowers grew there though. Perine made a not to herself to amed that situation immediately.

 

"Go freshen up and get something to eat from the Kitchens. Tell Mistress Laras to give you anything you want. My orders. I'm afraid you will have no time to sleep anymore, but I'm sure you will sleep twice as much tonight." Perine said wondering if she should scold the girl still to keep her understanding the reason for the rules, but thought better of it. "Thank you for your help." Perine added and turned back to look at the graves. Some lilies would look good over these mounds.she pondered to herself engulfed in the plans to make the place what it deserved to be.

 

ooc. Thankyou for letting me give you a chore!! :)