The Banded Dress

[Leala]

Arms held loosely at her side and her eyes searching the room, Leala watched and waited to see if her students needed any help. She was teaching a small, basic mathematics class this morning. This was the second class, and her students seemed to be adjusting well to her teaching style. She had only been in the striped dress for a few days, and Valeri Sedai charged her specifically for this class. She was happy to find that her body had matured enough to fit the second hand dress well enough without having to worry about her dimensions. She remembered wondering how the two awkward dresses handed to her would last the first few days of being a Novice. Now, the only complaint she had with this dress was that it was a tad too loose at her waist. But if she tucked the fabric under her belt, there was no problem. Whenever she found herself with time to think, she would gingerly trail her fingertips along the stripes representing the seven Ajahs. That night had been the hardest she had faced, but she had made it.

 

Now she had five students working on their exercises. The class really was basic. This class taught the few innumerate Novices who had only just been enrolled to count, to write, and to understand numbers. There was hardly any hard thinking involved, but she enjoyed reasoning out the lesson and giving these girls information that would not have had otherwise. "M-Miss...er...Accepted Leala?" one of her girls said in a sheepish voice as she raised her hand only half off her desk. Turning, she walked around the table in the front of the room and glided over to the girl. She was a Taraboner and had her brown hair braided into the tiny plaits, but since she was a commoner, her veil only covered her face after her nose. She seemed to be struggling, but this was the first time she had asked for help. She glided over to the girl and sat on the bench next to her, wanting to show her that her job was to help her succeed. "Yes, Areliana?"

 

"It...it's just that I'm not sure what number this should be..." she said, pointing to a simple equation that asked for the number that came about when one took six away from ten.

 

Leala nodded and told the girl to wait a moment. Standing, she addressed the class. When she was sure they were all listening, she said, "Take your hands and spread all your fingers out." She did what she had requested as a demonstration. When she was sure that the girls had, she continued. "How many fingers do we have?" she asked. One girl toned in and answered, "Ten." Nodding, Leala said, "Correct." Turning to the board, she took the chalk and wrote the equation on the board. Automatically, the other girls all seemed to pay much more attention. "Taking our ten fingers, curl up one finger..." she said, curling one of her own fingers down and then another before continuing. "Until you have curled in six." She let the girls do so, not wishing to be too detailed so as not to insult their intelligence. After a while, Areliana blinked and looked at her four fingers left. "Four!"

 

"Very good." Areliana scrolled out the answer to the last equation with a smile on her face.

 

"When you have finished, place your work on my desk and you may depart to your next class." Leala strode to her position behind her desk. After a few minutes, the girls one by one turned in their papers and left the room. She picked up the papers and tapped the bottoms on the desk to straighten them. Closing the curtains to the windows, she turned toward the board. She took the rag that was folded on her desk and unfolded it to wipe away the remnants of her lecture. And with that, she left the room. She carried the small stack of paper, her notes for the lesson, a pen, and the ink well as she made her way to the Accepted's quarters.

 

Things had certainly changed since she donned the banded dress and the Amyrlin had placed the ring on her finger. She had her own room now. It was still rather small, but it was big enough for her to work and write and study. The Accepted in the halls were still chatty and giggly, but not nearly so much so as the Novices that had filled the halls when she was in that station. Feeling secure enough not to have to emulate the Aes Sedai, the Accepted felt safe enough to smile and laugh as they saw fit. One smiled and hailed her, waving. Leala smiled, acknowledging her greeting, and nodded. "Good day," she said smoothly before she turned left and entered her quarters. Walking to the small desk, she placed the sheets of paper on the desk and organized them, making sure that her notes were on top.

 

Looking over her notes, she double checked that everything had been covered in the lesson. The first class had been a learning experience for her as well. She had never taught a class before and speaking to a group of people whose education depended on her made her forget a few things in the first session. So, she had added a few of the forgotten things to today's lessons. She thought that since they had gone from not being able to read or work with numbers, to working simple equations and being able to recognize the numbers, they were doing well. the one thing that still plagued her thoughts was why Valeri Sedai had chosen her to teach the class instead of someone else. Moving from her desk to her bed, she laid back to think on this. Any of her teachers had said how intelligent she was, and how quick her thoughts were when others in the class struggled. She had a lot to offer in knowledge and support for the Tower. She could even update logs of information about her family for the Browns in the Library. But for some reason, the Mistress of Traditional Novices had chosen her to teach such a basic class. From the placid smile on the Aes Sedai's face,she knew there was a deeper meaning that she did not know and she was determined to figure it out.

 

For a moment, she closed her silver eyes and thought. She tried to put herself in the place of her students. Most of them knew a few of their letters, and their education had been next to nothing. they would need someone who understood their plight, and someone who was sympathetic. But this person would also need to be a good leader and lead the class in the desired direction. An Aes Sedai would be best to... Ah. Her eyes shot open as she reached her desired conclusion. Valeri Sedai wanted to help direct her toward the mentality of an Aes Sedai in a way that did not insult her intelligence. She could tell that her students were intelligent, but that they simply had not been taught. She would have to lower herself to their level of understanding while staying on their level of intelligence as well. She would have to lead these young women, like an Aes Sedai would. A smile played on her lips. Moving her arms, she sat up in her bed and fingered the Great Serpent ring on her third finger of her left hand. Valeri Sedai trusted her to find the purposes of her new responsibilities using her own logical processes. She was Accepted. And now her journey to becoming a Sister would become more difficult. She would need to grow and develop her ways to that of a Sister.

 

The young woman slid from her bed and took her seat at her desk. She took a pencil to check the papers. She quickly moved through the papers. Instead of correcting wrong answers, she simply marked them with a dot from the pencil next to it to show that the girl would need to rework the equation. Areliana had only missed one, and only by a small amount. she was showing great progress already. She appreciated the fact that her students truly wanted to learn. These Novices wanted to excel in their studies eventually and they were showing the right signs to movement as well. The whole Tower moved as a circle, as the Great Serpent biting its own tail on her ring. She realigned the papers again and moved to the small table. She had a few books that she needed to return. Taking them in her hands, she left her room and said hello to a few other Accepted again. She shifted the books to one side, cupped in her left hand.

 

When her arm straightened, she felt a small itch on her side. She had received a Healing for the burn on her side and the bruises on her arms that she had acquired in the Arches. However, she still felt a little twinge every now and then. It was a reminder of what she had been through, and reassurance that by the time she would be tested for the shawl, she would be ready.

 

Arriving at the Great Library, Leala handed the tomes back to the Brown behind the desk. She smiled calmly at the girl. "You'll soon be wanting to join the Browns, then," she said in the calm Aes Sedai tone. Se had met with this Sister each time she came to the Library. Shrugging at the suggestion, she asked if she had any manuals about teaching mathematics, or books on teaching philosophies. She pointed out the section and walked toward the indicated shelves. Sifting through the tomes, she found a good book about teaching philosophies. Moving toward another section, she found a basic mathematics book for lesson plans. She would make this venture count.