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DRAGONMOUNT

A WHEEL OF TIME COMMUNITY

Kathleen enters the Tower


Kathleen

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Looking up at the majestic White Tower, Kathleen realized that she was crying and quickly wiped her face with her hand. Great, she thought, here I am standing outside the most prestigious place in the world, blubbering like an infant! How will they take me seriously with my face all streaked with tears? I didn't walk away from my family and come all this way to get laughed at at the door. Pull yourself together and walk in there like you belong!She took a small, broken mirror out of the sack she had on her back and fixed her hair. She did what she could to make the rags, which had once been her best dress, look presentable. She took a deep breath and entered the door of the White Tower.

 

She looked around and only then did she realize that she had no plan for when she arrived. For the last two years she was travelling, always wondering if she would ever arrive and sometimes wondering if there really was a White Tower to arrive to. She always thought about getting there, but never what to do when she arrived. Oh, of course she thought about getting tested, after all it ran in the family. She didn't know if that is something she would want. It was something her mother had wanted, but her mother had had a good life without the tower, hadn't she? Of course she had. Kathleen had always loved to hear about the Aes Sedai, and as a child she had dreamed about someday being one, but it was always the way you dream of something you know you'll never have.

 

She looked around at all the people walking through the halls dressed exactly as her mother had described. That's when it hit her, once they found out what was in the package she carrying, it wouldn't be a choice, she would have to be tested whether she wanted to be or not. She looked around at the Novices and Accepted briskly walking through the halls and their white or banded dresses. Kathleen took a small wooden box out of her bag and just held it. I do want this, she thought hesitantly, yes, this is what I want! She looked up at a straight faced Accepted who had stopped in front of her. Realizing the girl was looking for a response, Kathleen quickly apologized, shoved the box back into her sack and said, "My name is Kathleen, and I am here to be tested." The Accepted turned quickly saying "You'll want to see the Mistress of Novices, follow me." She walked so quickly Kathleen had a little trouble keeping up until, suddenly, she stopped outside a door and knocked.

 

 

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It was not easy being the mistress of novices. The workload was sizeable, the responsibility larger. Pia was feared and respected alike, and too some was a second mother of sorts, which to Pia made it worth the sacrifice. She took great joy in watching the initiates learn and flourish, was warm and caring whenever possible. One great downfall however, was the need to discipline. She took no pleasure in the necessity, and the current encounter was one of those times. Galin had so much potential, yet the tower had no room for bratty Aes Sedai. Thus, it was her duty to see those who were unruly novices chastised in the hope they would learn their mistake and move on. If only Galin would curb her tongue, these meetings could be avoided.

 

Whap! The birch whistled softly through the air before landing on the poor girl's already reddened backside, resulting in a following yelp and further tears from the squirming bundle of white bent over the desk. Whap! Pia's face was impassive as she dealt the blows, inside regretting the need for such treatment yet outside full of authority and impersonal regard. Having dealt the last blow, the always ordered mistress of novices lowered the birch and pulled down Galin's skirts, bidding her to rise. "I trust you have learned your lesson this time, child." She said sternly but not unkindly, pressing a handkerchief into the sniffling girl's hand. "I grow weary of punishing you for your continued insolence to your teachers. If I find you in my office again for yet the same offence, your punishment will double until you learn. Now go. You are excused from your class this afternoon so that you may contemplate in solitude what we have discussed today."

 

Pia dismissed the girl with a nod, only moments before a knock sounded on her door. Light, let it not be another naughty child! The door swung open as Galin awkwardly scurried out, leaving an Accepted and a wide eyed girl in her wake. Thankfully this did not appear to be yet another visit for penance, given that Pia did not recognise the girl in the careworn gown. Perhaps not a bad appointment after all. Dismissing the Accepted, waved the girl into her office with a smile, closing the door behind her and finally placing the birch away in a cupboard. She seated herself across the desk and neatly twined her fingers on the immaculate surface. Nothing was ever out of place or so much as crooked in Pia Sedai's office. "My name is Pia Tovisen, and I am the Mistress of Novices. How may I help you today, child?"

 

 

Pia Tovisen, MoN

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Kathleen had no idea what to expect when the solid door opened, but when the young girl stepped past her, face red and streaked from crying, Kathleen was startled. Trying to pull her self together she stepped into the room. She noticed the Aes Sedai who invited her in, had a piece of birch in her hand and she couldn't help but wonder what the girl had done to deserve it.

 

On what seemed to be a long walk to the chair thoughts ran threw Kathleen's head. Do I really want this? Do I have what it takes? If I don't really want this I can't show her what's in the box. I can say I just found it.Yes, I found it on the street and I'm returning it...But then I would never know. I've come so far, and there is a real chance..even if I can't make in at least I would know. She took a seat and marvelled at the beautiful desk in front of her and at the beautiful woman, Aes Sedai, in front of her.

 

The Aes Sedai sat down and said, "My name is Pia Tovisen, and I am the Mistress of Novices. How may I help you today, child?" The dreaded question, but without missing a beat Kathleen replied, "My name is Kathleen. I was sent here by my mother to return a package to the Tower." She reached into her bag and took out the little locked wooden box and set it on the table, then added, "And I would like to be tested, if you have the time." She was so relieved that she had done it that she let out a sigh, and looking up at the wonder of the room she realized it may only be beginning.

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Pia's day turned instantly brighter at the prospect of a girl who was willing to be tested for the ability to channel saidar. Still, she was only cautiously optimistic. Many girls were tested, but fewer and fewer were actually found with the ability to learn. That one showed the desire was a good sign though. Pia just hoped she wasn't overly disappointed should she fail the testing.

 

Her smile was warm as she turned it onto Kathleen. "By all means child, it would be my pleasure to test you." From within her top drawer Pia took out a clear green gem, smooth and polished but not to a high sheen. Pia walked around the desk and sat in the spare chair beside Kathleen, shuffling until she was sitting directly in front of the now somewhat nervous looking girl. "Please do not be disappointed if you fail, child. Few have the ability, but it makes you no less of a wonder." She smiled again briefly. "No harm in trying though? You may yet have the ability to be my newest novice, yes?"

 

Pia held the stone between them, smooth and rounded and not quite as big as her palm. "What I want you to do, Kathleen, is empty your mind of thought. Focus only on the stone. See it, see through it, feel it. There is nothing else but the stone. All your energy is being poured into the stone..." And so she continued in a gentle, soothing voice. Some may even have said it was hypnotic. All the while Pia watched and waited, for the tiniest flicker, the merest spark. Something that showed the girl had the potential they both sought.

 

Five minutes passed, then several more. Just as Pia was about to resignedly withdraw, it happened; a flash, bright and fleeting, lit the stone from the inside. Elation flooded through the Mistress of Novices at the revelation, having both seen and felt the small flow of saidar fill the girl. "Congratulations child. It seems you do possess the rare ability after all."

 

 

Pia Tovisen, MoN

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Kathleen listed intently to the directions she was given as Pia sat next to her, but she studied the stone in Pia's hand. Look through the stone?

But its solid. How I feel through something? Kathleen shifted in her chair, leaning forward toward the stone, surely that would help move her energy into it. She concentrated on them gem, or maybe just stared at, but after a while she let her mind go completely and from deep down with in, she focused. All of a sudden, from the middle of the stone, there was a flash of light. Surprise ran through Kathleen and just as quickly as it appeared the bright light in the gem disappeared. She didn't know if she should laugh or cry, but she laughed. When she looked up at the Mistress of Novices she pleased to see that the Aes Sedai looked pleased with her.

 

"How did you do that?" Kathleen asked, "or, did I do that? If I did that does it mean I can stay?" As she sat back she was filled so full of questions it was overwhelming, but she had better sense then to rattling off her tongue. She composed herself, and waited for an answer.

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  • 2 weeks later...

"That was all you, child." Pia smiled, inwardly delighted at the girl's amazement and what she took for wonder. "It was only tiny, but it was you channeling saidar, if only for a moment."

 

Strange enough, the testing didn’t mean that the girl looked any more secure than she had before about her stay at the White Tower. Even though she had to know, somewhere deep down inside of herself that she would be accepted within the White Tower. That she would learn to channel, to the best of her abilities. Still the girl shifted in her seat, as if she couldn’t quite believe that she would be asked to stay. Pia decided to relieve her from the tension that was building. She opened the book of Novices which was still in front of her. She picked up her pen, and prepared to write. “Let’s see about making your stay here a bit more permanent then, shall we?”

 

She didn’t have to look at the young woman to see that there was a change in the tension that had kept her in it’s thrall. “Can you tell me your full name again?” As the girl replied, she wrote it down in the book. Another life sealed to the Tower, for better and for worse. “And your place of birth and raising?” again she wrote, making Kathleen‘s stay more certain with every letter, every curved or straight line. “And finally your age.” She finished with a dot behind the age, which felt as heavy and important as any signature from any high lord or lady. “Welcome to the White Tower.”

 

 

Pia Tovisen, MoN

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"Welcome to the Tower." The words rang in her ears and the book closing shut secured it her eyes; Aes Sedai were real and someday Kathleen's childhood fantasy could actually come true, all she had to do was try. She was so excited she wanted to jump out of her seat across the desk and hug Pia Sedai. She wanted to laugh and cry with glee. So many emotions ran through her, so many thoughts of how to react, but all she could do was sit and stare in disbelief with the biggest grin her slender face could hold.

 

It was only a tiny bit of saidar, she reminded herself to calm down, but it was all from me! She knew that many of the girls from generations before had come to the Tower and been turned away after reaching Accepted, and even more still after just a few years as a Novice. They weren't strong enough to channel very much, and some even burned themselves out. This thought was a reminder that she may not last long, and just because she made the gem glow, light she really had made it glow, it didn't mean she would have what it takes to be Aes Sedai. She looked at the wooden box she had set on Pia's desk, some of my relatives burnt out or were turned away, but at least one was strong enough, and if even one was than I can do it too!

 

She thought about snatching up the box and putting it back in the bag. She had promised her mother she would return it to the Tower. Now that she would be staying at the Tower she would still be keeping her promise if she took it to her room. Who knows what they would do with it? If she had it she could keep it until she was turned out, then she would leave it here. If she was raised, no, when she was raised to the shawl, maybe she could use her grandmother's ring as her own. She thought all of this over in her head, but how would she take the box back now? It was already on the desk and if she put it back in her bag surely Pia Sedai would question her and she would look the fool for taking it. Looking the fool was the last thing she wanted on starting a new life, and she knew she was already failing with that. Coming in with rags and tears, then shifting in her seat, and the outburst of excitement when she had channeled for the first time was not making her look much more than a fool child.

 

No, that had all happened before she was in the Novice book. That was the difference. Then she had been a foolish girl, now she was Kathleen, a Novice of the White Tower, and she would not be a fool if she could help it. She straighted her back and took the chain with the key to the wooden box off her neck and handed it Pia Sedai. "This was given to me by my mother two years ago," Kathleen explained, " It was my grandmother's. She was Aes Sedai. When she died my mother found this ring and hid it this locked box. She wanted to return it but she was not able to make the journey." There was no need to mention her father forbidding her from coming here. "She gave me the box and asked me to return it to Tower. I don't know who I should give it to, but if I leave it with you do you think you would be able to see it safely where it belongs?"

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  • 4 weeks later...

There was no need to open the box to determine the contents, from Kathleen's story Pia deduced what lay in the box. But for the girl, she accepted the key and opened the small wooden box. Inside, cradled on a bed of soft cloth was a ring, one that matched the silver ring glinting on her left hand. A serpent, biting it's own tail. "Do you understand what this is?" Pia asked, lifting it out. Kathleen nodded, and Pia smiled at her.

 

"I can take care of this for you. Hold it in trust, you might say." She replaced the silver ring back into its box and locked it once more, then shifted it until it was square on the desk. "This ring is given to all novices who successfully complete their testing and are raised to Accepted, a symbol of binding to the tower. When your day comes, I will give it back to you myself, and it shall be yours." The girl seemed joyful at the prospect, which made Pia all the happier to be able to grant such a simple gift. She placed the key in her drawer, and stored the wooden box in a trunk.

 

Moving to a large cupboard against the wall, Pia withdrew several items of white clothing - a dress, two shifts, stockings, shoes, belt. These she passed to Kathleen. "Until that day, you will wear these, as a novice. It is your duty to keep them clean and well mended. They should fit you close enough, and you may see the mistress in the storeroom for another dress or two." Pia seated herself once more and faced Kathleen across the desk, and began to give her a run down on what was expected of the girl now that her name was in the giant book. Classes, chores, curfews, rules. There was a considerable amount to go through, and Pia hoped the girl listened and heeded well. "Now, before I hand you into the care of another initiate, do you have anything further you would like to ask?"

 

 

Pia Tovisen, MoN

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Kathleen was overjoyed to hear that Pia would keep the ring safe, and someday she would have it back. A link to her grandmother, reuniting her to her family, but uniting her to the Tower first. She hadn't realized just how great a symbol this ring was to her, until this moment. She would be really have something connected her to the Tower, and to her family.

 

She listened intently to Pia Sedai's description of how her life would be and what was expected of her at the Tower. She was not to pleased that there would be so many chores, she knew she would have some, and she was no stranger to hard work and house keeping, but that didn't mean she had to enjoy it.

 

She was glad to hear that she would be taught a variety of classes, she had never had any formal teaching before. She picked up on things very quickly and her father had always said she was a smart girl.

 

As Pia continued to explain Tower life Kathleen began to wish she could grab her note pad out of her sack, but didn't want to disturb the discussion, so she just listened as closely as she good and tried to absorb every thing.

 

Kathleen took her new clothes and thanked Pia Sedai for all her help. When Pia asked if she had anymore questions Kathleen said that she did not. "Thank you for keeping my grandmother's ring." She paused, and then said, "No, thank you for keeping my ring safe. I will earn it." That last statement was more for herself, but she tried to make it fit as a proper thank you as well.

 

When the girl Pia sent for arrived Kathleen curtsied deeply to the Aes Sedai and left the Mistress of Novice's study to find her way to her room.                   

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  • 4 months later...
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