Oh, there must be some misunderstanding... (Attn MoN)

[Maryam]

As Maryam rode the bay mare onto the ferry that would take her across the Erinin, she stared up with wide eyes at the spire driving boldly into the sky, and the terrible smoking mountain behind. Light, the mountain dwarfed anything she'd seen in Murandy or any of the lands intervening. She jerked the reins with a start as the gruff ferryman growled, "Girl!" for the third time, then grunted in annoyance and then some concern as the mare pulled back at the bit. Relieved when the annoyed ferryman grabbed the reins from her and took control, she slipped off the mare, dismounting rather awkwardly, and looked up into the face of the man scowling down at her. A nasty scar pulled the side of his mouth down into a permanent frown, and Maryam realized that the fellow wasn't actually grimacing at all. Venturing a weak smile, she reached into her pouch and pulled out a silver Cairhienin mark, handing it over to the man.

 

"What's your name, girl?" The man really wasn't that hideous now that she saw him clearly. He wasn't. His face was lined, and there was that scar, but she wasn't some goose squawking from the nest. Clearing her throat, she took a breath, then yelped as the ferry slid out into the water, the polemen guiding it across the river. "M-maryam, good sir. Maryam Aldevwin, sir. And yours?"

The old fellow looked up at the mare and patted her on the neck gently. "Name's Cotter, Maryam Aldevwin. I reckon you're champing at the bit to be Aes Sedai?"

Maryam jerked her head back from the plume of smoke rising from the top of Dragonmount, and turned a startled glance at Cotter. "What? No. No. I do go to ask a question, that's all. I cannot channel the One Power, Master Cotter." Blushing at the thought, she swallowed and rather pointedly turned to stare back at the mountain. Cotter, never one for pressing an unwelcome conversation, concentrated on the horse.

 

Thanking Cotter, Maryam put her foot in the stirrup and mounted unsteadily, clopping off of the ferry and onto Tar Valon, relieved to be off the riverboat. Not turning to look back, she rode slowly up the road toward the Tower, staring with wonder at the beautiful town, Ogier constuction occasionally taking her breath away. Finally reaching the Tower stables, she dismounted, gave a coin to the stableboy, and took up her pack, striding up the wide walkway into the Tower, the seat of ultimate power in the world, and goggled. The room was... fantastic. Beyond belief.

 

Maryam was staring up at the masterful painting on the ceiling when she felt a tug at her sleeve. Turning a bit awkwardly, Maryam dipped into a deep curtsey, and murmured, "Good morning, Aes Sedai." Glancing up from the curtsey, she looked into the rather annoyed eyes of a short, stocky young woman in a white dress with an odd banding of colors on the hem, and smiled uncertainly.

 

The other woman sighed and began to speak, her tone denoting utter boredom. "I'm not Aes Sedai, girl. If you're here looking for your sister or cousin, go over there and talk to her." The young woman tossed her head, sending a sensuous wave of dark curls over her shoulder, and gestured to a graceful looking Domani in a high-necked green gown, then continued, "If you're here for work, go outside, around to the servant's gate, and speak with Carldrin Salmere. If you're here to be tested, you'll need to wait over there for someone to get you to see Pia Sedai. If you're here for a petition, you want..." The girl blinked in some surprise when Maryam interrupted the litany. "Yes, Aes... uh... ma'am. I'm here to see the Mistress of Novices. I have a letter I am supposed to deliver into her hand and stay present while she reads it, and I've a question for her. Is... is there a line for that?"

 

Three hours later, a short girl with a bold nose stepped out of the hallway, holding a clipboard in her left hand, the golden serpent biting its tail gleaming on the third finger. She glared for a moment back down the hallway, then looked down at the clipboard, and called out, "Maryam Aldevwin, come with me." Maryam rose, approached the girl, and curtseyed. "Thank you, Aes Sedai, I..." She stopped abruptly when the Accepted gripped her skirts, and frowned down at Maryam. "Accepted, Maryam. The dress means I'm Accepted, not Aes Sedai. You don't need to curtsey to me. Pia Sedai will see you now. Don't be afraid. It doesn't hurt." Turning, the accepted turned to walk into the hallway, and Maryam hurriedly rose, shouldering her pack as she followed, stopping in front of the plain door.

[Lavinya]

Countless times Pia Tovisen had glanced at the sun already, and before the day had ended, countless more times would be added to that. She sighed softly, and inclined her head a little, her dark hair confined neatly and tightly did not even shiver at the motion. The Mistress of Novices stifled a yawn, and turned her attention on the book of Novices again. Everything was recorded in there, after all. Everything that mattered at least. Last night another Accepted had ventured into the rings, and passed through them free of everything she had been before she became who she was now. In her fine handwriting Faerzyne made a note of the raising in the book of Novices. Today the girl would choose her Ajah, and her fate would become truly entwined with that of the Tower. Her choice was no secret to Pia, the way very little that happened among the novices and accepted of the White Tower was a secret to her.

 

She closed the big book after she was done. The book looked a little old, but the preservation wards that were set on it worked well. It seemed as though it would never get full. Pia had once paged through it, and found her own name, as well as that of the Mistress of Novices before her. It was interesting to learn how long some of her sisters had been here, and how long they had taken to get themselves raised. Wistfully Pia peered at the sun again, only to find that it hadn’t moved a bit. The day was still young, and she would be tired and aching by the time it was done. Not that the work of the Mistress of Novices ever truly ended. There were wards on the door to the office that told her people were waiting in front of it. The wards would wake her, even if someone tried to sneak in when the night was at it’s darkest.

 

Just as she thought of the wards, a tingling sensation crept over her skin, telling her that someone was about to knock on her door. Soon enough the sound of knocking followed. The sound of a knock often told her a lot about who wished to enter. This was the hesitant knock of someone who came to her with a request. Pia took a moment to school her expression into something a little less depressing than the look of fatigue she had had. “Enter.” She said, her voice calm and low as usual. The door opened as she channelled a thread of air to it. To whomever entered it might seem as magic. The young woman was dressed in clothing that suggested she was not of the Tower. Yet. Things might change soon. “My name is Pia Sedai. I am the Mistress of Novices at the White Tower. How may I help you?”

 

~Pia Tovisen

Mistress of Novices

 

[Maryam]

Maryam stepped forward into the room and momentarily gaped. The room had a sense about it of great age, and it struck her that her mother must have come here as well. Swallowing the lump suddenly rising in her throat, she locked eyes on the woman behind the desk, the one who almost certainly had moved the door. Dropping into a deep curtsey, the young girl studied the woman's face. Strangely, she couldn't put an age to her. "Th-thank you for seeing me, Mistress of Novices Sedai. I am come from Kirgard in Murandy with a letter from my gram, and a question, if it pleases you, Aes Sedai." Realizing she was still squatting in the curtsey, Maryam rose and thrust the letter toward the other woman, and nearly shouted with a note of panic in her voice. Light, she'd felt so calm just a moment before. "Aes Sedai, what happened to my mother? Her name is Magrath Aldevwin and she came to the tower and we got a letter saying she'd died but it didn't say what happened and we got a bit of silver which was nice but not really necessary though it paid for me to take an apprenticeship as a maid and then gram..." Realizing she was gabbling, Maryam shut her mouth and blinked away the tears that were threatening to form.

 

The letter, seal still unbroken, says, "To the present Mistress of Novices, I am writing to inform you that the girl bearing this letter has been tested and has the ability to learn to channel. I have sent her to you because I wish to avoid any appearance of collusion or community with other women with the gift, and because she deserves a chance to learn. I beg for you to tell her of her mother, for while I have my suspicions, I could not bring myself to share them with Maryam. Please, Aes Sedai. This girl is the best of my life, and all I have left. I plead with you to grant her the same opportunity that I was not strong enough to bear. Signed in the Light, Ceilidh Aldevwin, Accepted of the White Tower."

 

((Ceilidh was an initiate a hundred years ago or so, and rose to accepted, but was not strong enough to become Aes Sedai, and so was put out of the Tower. Magrath was a novice 14 years ago, and about eight years after that, never came out of the arches her second time. If that's cool with you.))

[Lavinya]

Pia frowned as the girl who had yet to identify exploded with a barrage of panicked words that made little sense. That was, until she heard the name Magrath Aldevwin. Magrath had a child, Pia had known that, indeed it was she who had arranged the remuneration be sent to her charge's family. In silence and with grave eyes Pia took the proffered letter and waved the wide-eyed girl to a chair in front of the desk. Carefully she cracked the seal, not a hint of emotion flickering across her serene features, despite the heaviness that had settled upon her like a cloak. Maryam, and able to channel at that. Ceilidh was not a name Pia knew, but no doubt if she scoured the Novice Book she would encounter her record. No doubt she had been put out of the tower as opposed to a runaway, to still claim the title Accepted.

 

"Well child," Pia exhaled softly, refolding the note and slipping it into a desk drawer, "would that you had arrived under happier circumstances, this could be a more joyous meeting. I will tell you about your mother, that which I am at liberty to divulge, then we shall discuss the rest of the missive." Pia laced her hands and rested them lightly on the polished desktop giving Maryam a level but not unkind stare. "Your mother served as a novice here, that much you know, training to become an Aes Sedai one day. To be raised to Accepted, each girl must undergo a certain test. Now, this I cannot tell you much about, only that it is a thing of the One Power. A Ter'angreal, it is called, forms the test." Pia sighed, remembering acutely the renewed horror she had felt when the girl failed to return from the third arch, the final test! Her own beloved sister had met the same fate, a mere year before Pia herself would be asked to take the test for the first time. To this day, it still saddened her, some almost two hundred years on.

 

"Your mother never returned. I know it must be little consolation, but she could not be found, and it is easier to explain the situation as death than to reveal the whole truth." Pia paused, her dark eyes sympathetic. "I am very sorry for your loss, Maryam. It is very rare for such to happen, but not entirely unheard of. I can only hope the story does not sour you too much on the White Tower, as your Grandmother writes that she has sent you to become a novice like your mother and herself before you. You were aware that you could channel?"

 

Pia Tovisen, MoN

[Maryam]

Maryam listened quietly to the other woman's explanation, nodded, then blinked in surprise at the last comment. She could channel? Ridiculous. "Oh, there must be some misunderstanding, Aes Sedai. I cannot channel, I just came for information about my mo-"

 

Frowning, Maryam touched her throat. Why wouldn't the word come out? "About my... my..." No, sure enough, she was unable to say it. Some Aes Sedai trick? And why was a drop of water running down her cheek? Touching the offending bit of liquid, she pulled her fingers away, staring with annoyance, then looked up. No, the roof wasn't leaking. Light, she must be coming down with a chill. She couldn't be crying. She COULDN'T! What was there to cry about?

 

Glancing at the Aes Sedai, she frowned. "I am sorry, Aes Sedai, I do not usually get weepy. Tha-thank you for waaaaaa!" Oh, light, she was sobbing like a child who couldn't have a cookie.

 

Pulling her feet up onto the chair and her knees tight to her chest, Maryam wept, great deep-throated sobs that tore through her slender frame. Oh, her mother, her mother was gone! She had never mourned, not really. After all, she never knew the woman who had given her birth. A tight ache in her belly caused her sobs to turn momentarily into heavy, wracking coughs, and she was quickly reduced to a sniveling mess. Huddling in the chair, Maryam managed to croak miserably, "I am sorry, Mistress Sedai. I mean no di-di-DISrespect." Choking back another sob, her shoulders continued to shake.

[Lavinya]

Inwardly cursing herself for her insensitivity, Pia fished a clean linen handkerchief from her belt pouch and rounded the desk to embrace the sobbing girl. The poor child finally learned of the truth concerning her mother, and she rewards her with another shocking discovery. Pressing the square of linen into Maryam's hand she tried to offer what comfort she could, hugging her and murmuring soothing words into her hair, ignoring the growing dampness on her shoulder. "Do no be apologising child, you do be allowed to grieve," Pia said gently, slipping back into her native Illianer accent, a sign that she herself was somewhat overset. She knew the child's pain, still felt it as though it were only yesterday her own dear sister had failed to emerge from the ter'angreal.

 

"What a girl sees in the arches is known only to her, but I will tell you what I believe," Pia said as Maryam's tears lessened and the tremors began to still. "The third arch is for what will be. It is not always easy to separate reality from what is seen therein, but I believe your mother and others found a life so wonderful, so happy, that they are unwilling to leave it. Perhaps she was the grandmother to your children there, or maybe she ruled as a queen. Who can say? It is hard for those who are left behind to bear, but at least there may be some comfort in knowing your mother is alive and happy somewhere. Just sadly no longer with us." Pia's face was filled with kindness and she patted Maryam's arm in a motherly way, giving her a gentle smile.

 

"I am sorry I wasn't more sensitive in giving you this news Maryam; do not feel you can not express your sorrow." A gentle hand brushed the hair back from the somewhat more composed girl's face and then Pia rose, gathering a small polished gem from a desk drawer and returning to kneel beside Maryam's chair. "Remember her fondly, and live your life. A life she never had to live. Let me show you something," she said, holding the deep green gem up so Maryam could see it. "Concentrate on the stone. Clear your thoughts of everything but the stone..." Pia continued to drone soothingly, watching and waiting as Maryam did as she was bid, eyes focused on the small stone, until suddenly a bright light sparked within it, gone as quickly as it came.

 

"You saw it, yes? Well I also felt it. This tells me you can learn to channel, just like your mother."

 

 

Pia Tovisen

MoN

[Maryam]

Maryam sat wretchedly in the chair, choking over wracking sobs that tore through her small frame, startling momentarily when Pia's hand touched her own. Glancing up at the blurry image through her tear-filled eyes, she rather unceremoniously took the linen and blew noisily into it, then threw her arms around the older woman, only half listening to the words of condolence. "But it-it-it's so SILLY! I neh-AAAAWWW (hic) never even knowed h.. knew her!" Maryam plunged her face into the crook of Pia's neck and wept, fifteen years of pent-up grief and agony finally spilling out, pain over the loss of years and love.

 

Pia was wonderful. She held on good and hard, which reminded Maryam of Gram. Gram knew a good cry when she saw one, and always knew what to do. Maybe she'd learned from this woman. Huffing gulps of air, the young girl finally started to pull composure back onto her face, sniffling loudly, as Pia continued, explaining - well, telling - about what may have happened. Maryam drew back slowly, composing herself. She listened impassively to the woman's well-intentioned words, mouth tightening into a line at the comment, "Just sadly no longer with us." Maryam looked down at her lap, at the calloused hands, remembering years of labor in a manor house, sweeping, scrubbing floors, being thumped with the Lady's fan. Her hand lifted to a small lump of scar tissue behind her right ear, remembering looking up at the wretched woman and flinching and cringing, and how she'd KNOWN mother would surely have put an end to it if she'd lived. But she had, of course. She was living as a queen, playing with some other Maryam's babes. Selfish trull.

 

Maryam's face reddened as she glanced up at Pia Sedai's admonishment to remember her mother fondly. Of course. Her anger was petty and cruel, and she was better than that. Frowning at the small stone the Aes Sedai brought over, Maryam opened her mouth to protest that Gram had already shown her something like this, when the woman's commanding voice drew her in. There was something compelling, something... dimly remembered. A moment, a flash of euphoria with Gram, but... concentrate on the stone. Relax. The stone is the world. Concentrate on the stone. Surrender to the stone. Surrender...

 

Flinching at the harshness of the Aes Sedai's voice, she looked up with wide, frightened eyes, now convinced that it must be true, and responded, "But... but... But Mistress Sedai, I'm a lady's maid. I do no want to channel the power. What does this mean?"

 

[Lavinya]

Gentle, Pia thought. She must be gentle with this one. She smiled kindly at Maryam before returning to her original seat behind the desk, replacing the gem squarely in the drawer. "I understand you do not wish to channel the power, child. I myself was no different, when I was your age." Her fingers folded neatly on the immaculate desk top and she gazed earnestly at Maryam. "Unfortunately, having the ability discovered poses a dangerous situation. One day, you will be unable to help but channel. Then it will become easier, and you will do it again, and again. If you are lucky. To channel without teaching is extremely dangerous. It is one of the tower's strictest rules - no novice may channel without the presence of an Accepted or Aes Sedai instructing them. Unchecked, you could burn out the ability, or much worse, you could kill not only yourself but those around you."

 

Pia disliked having to scare the girl when she was already so fragile, but it was a necessary evil. She took her role as the mistress of novices very seriously, and her first charge was to protect the girls under her care from harming themselves and each other. There was no question that Maryam was the newest of these novices - it was only now a matter of convincing the girl. "It is a frightening thought, yes? What you need do is study at the tower. You will become a novice, and we will teach you control, how to not only use your power, but how to do so safely. Once you have this necessary control, then you will be able to safely return to your home." Assuming she didn't have what it took to be Aes Sedai, anyway. Pia did not deign to add that they tower would not let her go if she showed true potential, not until she wore both the serpent ring and the shawl of an Aes Sedai.

 

The letter from Maryam's Grandam was resting on the table, Pia tapped it lightly with one finger. "Your grandmother knew all these things when she sent you here, child. She is both ensuring your safety and that of everyone around you by seeking our aid and training." With that said, the ancient Gray sister drew the giant book of novices out of another desk drawer and set it reverently upon the desk. "In here is the record of every girl who ever trained at the tower. If you like, I can look up the entries of your mother and grandmother once we are done." Taking a pen, Pia dipped it carefully in ink and held it poised above the most recent page. "Please state again, for the record, your full name, age, and place of birth."

 

 

Pia Tovisen, MoN

[Maryam]

Maryam stared up at the motherly figure from across the desk, missing the comforting arms, especially when the woman described how she could hurt herself and the people she loved by ignoring this potential. Light, what had she gotten herself into? Oh, Light, she was in a serious amount of trouble, Light's own truth to it. But what did that mean, she could just return home? Frowning, Maryam continued listening, doubtful at this point. Then the woman mentioned Gram. She had KNOWN? Of course she had known. She must have. Why, the scheming old baggage... Maryam couldn't help the fond smile forming on her lips as she stared at the enormous book. This was JUST LIKE Gram. She never had just the one purpose that was obvious.

 

Taking a deep breath, Maryam responded, knowing what this would mean. But Pia had made it clear, and Gram had done this for a reason.  In a loud, clear voice, she declared, “My name do be Maryam Ceilidh Aldevwin, daughter of Magrath Aldevwin of Kirgard, and Seram of the Tuatha'an, and I am fifteen years old, born in Kirgard, though my heart still wanders, searching for th-” Blushing, she realized that she was perhaps going on more than she should have, in the Tinker way. She wasn't searching for the song, that was just silly. However, not to be so easily foiled by her own foolishness, she continued, “I would like very much to see the names of my gram and my mother in the book, if it do please you, Mistress Sedai. And if you would be willing to indulge me, I've a question. Am I to be trained to become Aes Sedai, Mistress Sedai? I do not mean to presume, but I've heard the stories that girls do come to learn to be Aes Sedai. I would like to know, then, what does it mean to be Aes Sedai? If I'm to become one someday... well... what is an Aes Sedai? What makes y-” Choking off the last word, she corrected, “an Aes Sedai different from, say, my gram who trained in the Tower?”

[Amadine]

*bump*