A lovely summer day~Attn~ Rossa

[Elyssa]

Elyssa was tired of sitting in her rooms all day. She hadn't seen Dafydd in weeks. She knew he was around she just couldn't tell where he was. She felt lonely being without him, she'd gotten used to having him around. She needed to go out and do something so she wouldn't go crazy over wondering where he'd been all this time. She hated going anywhere on her own then so she would have to find someone to share her company with.

 

Elyssa went out toward the gardens and decided she would stop by the novice quarters and listen to see if she could find anyone who had nothing to do that day. She thought it very unlikely but thought it'd be nice to take a novice out and get to know them. As she was walking through the halls she ran into a novice who looked as though she was heading back to her rooms. "You there what are you doing this afternoon?" Elyssa didn't want to sound mean so she put a little less harshness to the voice she usually used with Novices. "if you aren't doing anything I'd like you to get washed up and meet me in my rooms in the Blue Quarters in an hour I've got a surprise for you." Elyssa turned and started to walk towards the kitchens she turned and smiled at the girl "My name is Elyssa Sedai that will be all you need to find my rooms." Elyssa continued on her way to pick up a few things for her day out and then headed back to her rooms to wait for the novice.

[Winter Mist]

~Rossa~

 

She bit her lip. Hands that had not been accustomed to such hard toil were now cracked, and dry as old leaves in autumn changing to winter. Still she kept her head down and walked from the chore she had just completed back to her room in the Novices Quarters where, for once, she did not have anything else planned for the rest of the day. If luck was with her, Rossa would overhear someone with news of Altara, and her homeland, but again, she never trusted to luck. You made your own luck, or other people engineered it. Maybe someone would have news of who had been responsible for the blaze that orphaned her with one stroke. Tears fell less frequently now, and she was able to mask the worst of her grief with the face her mother had told her to wear for Court appearances or for when another House came to visit them. It was a masquerade, to hide the ravages of her personality, and to protect both herself and everyone else from her intent, but then no one knew of her true intent. No one knew that when, when, not if, she became Aes Sedai she would journey back to Altara, and the little village on the outskirts of Ebou Dar and put right the wrongs that had been done to her honour and her family name. Whatever it took, she would restore the prestige they had once held, instead of the martyred state they currently did.

 

An elegant Aes Sedai clad in blue walked past her just as she had entered the halls to go back to her room to fetch a book. Her name was Elyssa Sedai, and as Rossa dropped a deep curtsy befitting the woman’s rank, she studied the quality of her dress, and her shoes. One never knew when such a thing as the patterning on the hem of a skirt, or the tread to a woman’s slipper would make all the difference. In some ways it was as interesting as studying the One Power itself, and if used correctly, far more rewarding. So, now she knew how to find the Sister of the Blue Ajah and also a few other things that she kept to herself and stored away for future information. Well, surprises were not always nice, but she trusted the look on the Sister’s face and the chance to visit the rooms of an Aes Sedai, even for a chore such as cleaning which was likely what would happen, were not to be sniffed at. Too often all that abounded were the same walls of classrooms, or the small room given to the Novices, or the trees that lined the gardens while paths were raked and borders turned. Rossa would go, as there was also the chance of a scrap of paper left unattended on a desk that gave her the news she so desperately craved. She had only received hearsay as to whether her family was alive or dead and had taken it for granted that they had all perished in the fire, but what if another had escaped? What would she do if a relative had survived? The thought had not occurred to her, and it made her knees tremble and her stomach bloom with icy butterflies of morbid hope. She dropped another curtsey to cover her momentary confusion.

 

It was pointless fetching a book now, if more chores were all that awaited her, so she passed briefly by her rooms to see if her roommates were there and finding them out, she sat on the bed, briefly turning each figure she had carved in her family’s likeness, for remembrance. No tears fell this time. She tucked them back into her belt pouch and made her way to the Blue Ajah Quarters and asked for Elyssa Sedai, being grateful for the clear and concise directions she was given. With a loud knock on the door, Rossa waited.