Skimming from the Tower

[Kaylan]

The party had gathered, carrying far less than they normally would have on a journey like this, and Kaylan turned to everyone with a smile. Two Aes Sedai, three Warders, three of the Tower Guard. A good number, a good group. Phaedra may have held doubts about how well they would do, but Kaylan was confident that they could go from here to Shayol Ghul if they wanted to and not have any problems.

 

Well, no problems fighting, anyway.

 

Phaedra could take care of the peacekeeping bit, surely.

 

One hand briefly touched the ring on Mercury's right wrist, one of the ter'angreal that they'd never been able to deactivate or even really study properly. There were a few Browns that fought over her Warder's time every now and again, but Kaylan barely even thought of them anymore. They did their job, that was the most important thing. Of course, they also cancelled out her Flows if Mercury wanted to fight against them, which had left the old Aes Sedai and her young red-headed Warder with a rather interesting relationship.

 

Sometimes, Kaylan couldn't understand why people didn't have Warders. At other times, she looked at her own and wished she'd never learned the weave.

 

"So, shall we be off?" She'd tested the weave more thoroughly since learning it, and was confident that there would be no problems getting their party to farms slightly south of Cairhien city. They might need to ride until that evening to reach the city, but they would certainly gain a huge advantage by using the weave.

 

Hopefully her friends still owned the farm.

 

Hopefully it hadn't been converted into a grazing ranch. That could be... interesting.

 

Embracing the source, the old Green wove together now-familiar threads and watched as a hole opened onto a large square platform, With seats and torches and a fence all round to keep the horses calm. Green and gray tiles formed an interesting geometric pattern that gave a suggestion of scales and swords, but wasn't necessarily designed as such.

 

"Shall we?" She motioned at the hole, stepping in herself and waiting for them to follow. Once they were all settled, the hole closed and the platform started moving, and Kaylan wished that she'd thought to bring sandwiches or something. Her trips to the blight had taken minutes, not seconds, so she was expecting the same of this. Still, it was far better than the weeks that it could have taken, and left them with much longer for the investigation.

 

After some time, the platform seemed to come to a stop. There was no wind to indicate it, just a feeling that was a little unsettling, but Kaylan stood confidently and opened another hole.

 

Still fields of wheat, thankfully.

 

"Alright, off you all go. Careful."

 

Her Warders went first, to make sure there was no trouble. She wasn't expecting any - it was a farm, after all, not a fortress.

 

[Cross posted to Alliance thread]

[Guest Celes]

Ralleigh had been busy rubbing down one of his favorite training horses when the message had come that he had to meet with Borac. The Master at Arms had spoken with him that morning and Ralleigh wondered what could be so important that a second meeting was deemed necessary. He shrugged and handed the brushes to the trainee who had brought word. “Make sure you clean the hooves there Gus,†and then was off to see what it was that Borac needed to speak to him about.

 

Now he was floating on some kind of One Power contraption as part of a team of guards, warders and two Aes Sedai. Two older Sisters, one of them a Sitter for the Gray Ajah, the other a hardened battle Sister. Ralleigh knew that he was the senior officer, but he also knew that the Greens kept different rules for their Warders in terms of ranking. He glanced over at Ben and Paddy, the two guards he had been able to pick for the trip. The Master at Arms had given him a short list of available guards and Ralleigh had picked two from his own region. Paddy was up for a promotion to lieutenant and Ben was a newly promoted tower guard. Both could use the experience for their career in the Yards and both were well trained and strong.

 

He watched as the Green Sister showed them to the land of Cairhien. Unbelievable how this worked, Ralleigh shook his head as he took the rear to make sure nobody followed who wasn’t supposed to. Ben was excited and started speaking with one of the Warders about their mission, but Ralleigh soon silenced him. He let the two Aes Sedai believe they were in command of this mission, but their lack of leadership bothered him already. Ralleigh was used to receiving orders and to bark them himself, he did not need a glance or a nod or a frown to tell him anything. Non-verbal orders were not his style and he soon called Paddy towards him to check the environment. “Paddy, check out where we are, Ben stay here with me as we form the escort,†he barked his orders with great ease and watched as Paddy ran off to do as he was told. For a moment, Ralleigh decided to let his guard down and sniffed in the fresh air, this was a good change of pace even if it had come quite sudden. The clear cloudless sky was a good sign, if one believed in such things.

 

*** ***

 

Phaedra could have held the weaves herself, she would not have needed a powerful angreal, but with the current group of people she was required to. However, her mind was not set on showing off or step over the small foundation of trust she had found formed between her and the Green so she followed calmly. She watched Kaylan who weaved the Skimming weave, just as she had that morning during the discovery the Grays presented to a selected group. Kaylan had been there then, along with Nyssa who had in secret found this weave. A weave that was believed lost since the Age of Legends had been retrieved and a Gray had claimed the first discovery of it. No matter that the Red Ajah had quickly improven on the weave within months, quicker than anyone could have believed. But that was how it went with these big discoveries, bright minds were set to work. Phaedra watched over the captain and his men and wondered what went through their bright minds. Awaiting an attack, anticipating the pain that came with fighting, she was not sure and did not really want to know.

 

Aside from the captain and his two tower guards, there were also the three warders. Kaylan had brought her three warders. The bond, a Warder was something Phaedra could not understand. How could a woman of sound mind decide to share that mind with no less than three other people. Warriors who sought blood and whose idea of past time would be to ruffle each other up. Although so far they had behaved no different from the guards, calm and reserved, their eyes wide open and their glances sharp. This did not change the fact that they chose weapons training over reading and writing. War would be fought until one party gave up or was ended, diplomacy was for the weakhearted they said. Phaedra could not understand and therefore had never chosen a Warder of her own.

 

She watched as the captain started to bark orders and make this trip his own. Phaedra knew what she and Kaylan had agreed on and waited calmly for the Green Sister to show them the way. Ralleigh was there for protection, to make sure they could do their work in the relative safety that this small an army could give them. Because in Phaedra’s mind, any and all warriors and any army on the loose, could only cause more pain and suffering than they could ever protect anyone from. She watched as the others set off to walk towards a farm and gazed over the lands she had come to know so well from her time as a High Court Judge in Cairhien City. Those days were long gone, but the smell of the air had not changed. It was good to be back here and for a few calm moments, Phaedra could enjoy her return home.

 

Ralleigh Taj

Captain of the Guard (NSW)

 

Phaedra Eskarne

Gray Sitter

[Kaylan]

Things hadn't changed at the old Dupree farm, from what she could see so far. Still, this wasn't a social visit, even if the old couple had been wonderful eyes-and-ears for some time. Most of the time it was little more than ramblings about crops, but occasionally their old minds read something into rumours that her agents within the city could not see - or would not report.

 

Ralleigh was looking... uncomfortable. Terse. He was a good captain, from all reports, and she wanted to make it clear to him that she was only there as a One Power backup. Unless they started fighting against Shadowspawn - more than unlikely on the streets of Cairhien - her expertise wouldn't be quite so useful, and would likely draw unwanted attention. Kaylan preferred to leave learning tactics to her Warders - she was slightly more eccentric in her interests.

 

"Captain Taj. If it comes to a fighting situation, we are at your disposal." She included her Warders without feeling any particular need to name them. The four of them had generally learnt to work as a cohesive unit, and all of them had experience following orders in battle. Usually she did not leave a man - not to mention a man that had no idea about channeling - in charge of her, but they needed to have a clear understanding before any situations arose where they'd need to know who to look to.

 

"As far as I am concerned, though, we are all simply overkill, sent to bother Phaedra Sedai. The Sitter is perfectly capable of handling herself, and I am sure that she will let us know when we are needed."

 

Not exactly the best way of outlining the chain of command, but Kaylan wasn't exactly subtle and she saw no need to beat around the bush. Still, it was better than saying, 'Phaedra is in command, stop fretting boy.' Men needed direction, but if you were too obvious in giving it to them they would dig in their heels.

 

That was why she'd only ever Bonded one man.

 

Her mind turned to the mission at hand, and she wondered where they were going to start. Surely Phaedra already had that in mind, but Kaylan wanted to find out some more information so that she could get in contact with some of her eyes and ears. They may not know anything useful, but it was worthwhile asking them, anyway. She seemed to recall a saying about never knowing if you never got going, but it was possible that had gone out of style centuries ago. Occasionally she piped up with sayings from her youth that made very little sense to someone brought up centuries later, and she didn't really feel like explaining herself right now. Well, she had an excuse. Kaylan had been old and grumpy longer than any of these children had been alive. Bar Phaedra, of course, but that was entirely beside the point.

 

~Kaylan Morin Aes Sedai

Sister of the Battle Ajah

Bonded to Mercury Sansiria, Calya Gille and Jada Sellick

 

[OOC: You can go ahead and take us to the city if you like.]

[Guest Celes]

The Gray Sitter had made some arrangements to meet with people in the city and Paddy was going to join her. She had spoken with both Paddy and Ralleigh himself about this and requested that only one guard would accompany her for now. Of course Ralleigh had made sure that Ben was also going, but he would be on the look-out rather than part of the team. Phaedra Sedai had given him a stern glance but had finally accepted that she had a back up in case something would go wrong. She did insist that the second guard be nowhere in sight when she met with the contact in Cairhien and was even hesitant to let Paddy come in and not be left at the door. But Ralleigh knew that the guards he had selected would be respectful and do their duty, but they would also be on their guards when it came to imminent danger. He could trust them.

 

Now, for today he was left with the Green Sister and her three Warders, this gave him time to go over something she had commented on the day before when they had arrived. They were all part of his mission and in a way this meant that the captain could lead the Sedai. A new experience for any guard as they were bound to follow the Aes Sedai, rather then lead them and this proved an interesting case study for Ralleigh. He chose a neutral ground for them to discuss this further and invited the Green and her Warders to a training spar behind the farm. The Green Sister told him her Warders were already on missions, she did not say how or why but would gladly accept his invitation as in her words, sitting still was more lethal to her than being attacked by a raid of trollocs. “Aes Sedai,†he said as they took to some warm up before heading off to real sparring. He had not brought any practice weapons and chose his short broadsword for this spar.

 

She was in battle attire and for her age looked physically fit and well shaped, he admired her as she ran past him at a high pace and waited for her to invite him to the spar. He was forming small fanning movements with his sword when she appeared behind him, ready to begin. They sparred for a good hour when it was time to take a break, the farmers were both on the land and so Ralleigh offered to get them some water. When he came back with two cups and a stone chalice filled with cold water. He pored them both a cup and sat down on a bench with his back against the barn wall. “You train every day, Kaylan Sedai?†he asked as he gulped down his cup and looked at her as she settled next to him. “You seem in very good shape to me, I have to admit I was impressed with your stamina and skill with the weapons you carry,†this was meant as a compliment but it came out rather harsh as he was still lightly panting from the spar they’d just had.

 

Ralleigh Taj (NSW Captain)

[Kaylan]

The spar with Ralleigh was a welcome change - if she sparred with her Warders, after all, they knew what she was thinking so they could always tell her feints, and many of the Tower Guard refused to cross bare steel with an Aes Sedai. She didn't even cheat and use the Power, she was having that much fun.

 

"I train as often as I can, Captain, but unfortunately Aes Sedai are expected to attend to other matters before the sword." Kaylan was realistic - she knew that she would never match a Tower Guard, not even one freshly raised, but steel was not her primary weapon.

 

She chose to take the comment on stamina for what it was, and even chanced a mild flirtation. "Stamina? You have no idea."

 

Well, she had to do her part for the Green Ajah reputation, didn't she? Although all the lightskirts they seemed to have gotten over recent years were doing plenty on their own.

 

Kaylan did love men. More than that, she loved mankind, which was why she'd been fighting the Shadow for so many years. Every bit of her study was recorded somewhere, in case her fears came true and she died before the Last Battle came - others needed to know what she had discovered about the Shadow so that it could be applied.

 

She had a horrible feeling that she should have been working faster, but so many years had passed that she'd grown comfortable in her relatively eccentric studies.

 

Somehow, the Green Sister managed to look graceful in her sparring gear, sitting as she was without a drop of sweat on her and sipping at her water.

 

"You seem very skilled with your blade. I am surprised that some Sister has not snapped you up yet." Then again, some Ajahs seemed to see Warders as nothing more than a strong arm when needed, rather than a Brother - or Sister - in Battle.

[Guest Celes]

The Green spoke open, which was something Ralleigh had not been used to before. He did not mind though, Kaylan was an intelligent woman and a well trained warrior, it was a pleasure to be in her company. Not only because of the things she said and the way her graceful body moved as they walked and fought, but also because her choice of wardrobe allowed him a peek at a flawless skin and soft lines that betrayed this warrior did still care for her body like a woman would. He could appreciate the combination of woman and warrior mixed in this woman and let his eye wander for a few seconds before returning to his cup.

 

As Ralleigh finished his water, she commented on the fact that he was not bonded and Ralleigh nearly sprayed the water from his lips in laughter. “Yes,†he said between fits of laughter, “I am the perfect example of what a Warder cannot be, you see, too dominant and more interested in training a group of fighters to stand ready than to protect a single Aes Sedai,†he stopped laughing and bent his head. “Of course that group of warriors is there to protect the Aes Sedai,†and peeked through his lashes to see her face. She looked bemused somehow, not offended at all. He let the air escape from his lips in relief.

 

“I believe that Tower Guards are brothers and Sisters in battle, we just do not choose a single partnership but work as a group or even a team.†Ralleigh did not really have anything against the bond, he was just not sure that his qualities would be brought out best with a Sister in his head and in his thoughts constantly. To break the silence that followed his laughter and comments on the bond towards a Green who had bonded three Warders, Ralleigh offered another round to spar.

 

Kaylan accepted and they headed off to the small field once more to practice their skill. Ralleigh was impressed with how much energy the Green Sister held after the first hour of sparring and had to work himself hard to keep up. He was not the strongest or fastest guard in the Tower, well trained and highly skilled in tactics, Ralleigh had become a captain because he could train and lead other men and women to excel in their force. He got a firm beating from her weapon on the hip and huddled over, trying to get back on his feet and get a strike back in, but he failed and dropped to his knees. In a mumble he commented, “No Sedai would bond a Warder with so little to offer,†and wiped his brow before coughing to catch his breath and getting back up again.

 

Ralleigh Taj

NSW Captain WY

[Kaylan]

"Oh, don't be a fool. It's very unattractive."

 

The old Green offered a hand to help him back up, but her thoughts were, perhaps unsurprisingly, on herself.

 

You're too old to be flirting.

 

Blasphemy.

 

Lost your touch.

 

Oh, I sincerely doubt that.

 

"You'd be amazed at what some choose to Bond. I've had ten over the years, not all skilled with a blade - at least at the beginning... But none of them fools. A lucky hit in from me means nothing."

 

Perhaps it simply meant he was distracted. Well, it wouldn't be surprising, given the topic of conversation - she'd heard the whispers, particularly after taking Jada's Bond, that she would Bond as soon as look at you. They weren't true, of course - Kaylan was picky about more than looks - but she could understand why he might be worried.

 

Then again, it may just have been the tight breeches and open-laced shirt she was wearing. Comfortable, but revealing, much like the rest of her wardrobe. Kaylan was far too stubborn to play to anyone's expectations.

 

"The sword is not, after all, my only weapon. I am well aware of the limits of my skills." Sheathing her blade, Kaylan embraced the Source and created a whip of air, smiling at him rather cheekily before letting it dissipate, a small fireball appearing in her palm to replace it.

 

They were all weapons. Her blade, the Power, the way she dressed and the manner in which she behaved. Underestimation was a fatal mistake.

[Guest Celes]

Unattractive? Had he tried to be attractive to her? He had to admit with blood rising into his cheeks that he had tried to impress her. He had felt that his inadequacy and her beating him had shamed him a bit, but she had picked him right up again. A very interesting woman, a warrior with a female form that could not be denied. He looked her over again and then shook himself, to concentrate on their spar. They did well and trained until her warders returned with news and reports from the area. She gave him a curt smile and before she could leave, Ralleigh did something he had not thought he could, “Kaylan Sedai,†yes she was Aes Sedai, later he would smack himself in the head for his insolence in asking this, “would you do me the honor of sharing a meal together?†yes he could have asked nicer. She did not reply right away and Ralleigh forced himself to look into her eyes while he awaited her reply.

 

Ralleigh Taj

 

***

 

The city had changed, Phaedra felt it as she moved past familiar buildings and let her eyes wander over the faces she had ones trusted blindly. That was when she still lived in Cairhien, when she worked her and was known as one of the High Court Judges who ruled the justice in this country. Phaedra had organize two meetings this morning and Paddy had decided for himself to join her in them. She had tried to convince him she did not need him there, but the city had changed and Phaedra had to admit that inwardly she did feel safe knowing the tower guard was near.

 

She moved slowly as she came near to the inn where she was to meet Ms Rosa, a servant from the House of Lord Dehan. She had kept her eyes open and was to report to Phaedra about what she had found out. Lord Dehan had been in conflict with Lord Harold and Phaedra had asked Dawn to negotiate a truce between the two. This was the last time she had seen her Gray Sister and to this day, nobody knew for sure what had happened. Could it have been a robbery? Or was it indeed sabotage of the work Dawn had been sent to do, for these two Lords. Phaedra hoped to find out, before she met with Lord Dehan in two days time for dinner. She made a fist for a short instant, her skin turning pale as her fingers clutched together. Concentration was focused on the conversation with Rosa and not on the pain that all this had caused her, she fought back a headache that would probably torture her later that day when she found a moment to relax and stepped into the inn to meet with the servant.

 

Phaedra Eskarne

[Kaylan]

Calya had brought interesting news from one of her eyes-and-ears, and Kaylan wanted to go somewhere private to look over the letter herself, but she found herself turning around to face Ralleigh again as he addressed her formally.

 

She blinked at his question, for just a moment.

 

"Sharing a meal?" She repeated, as though she hadn't understood.

 

It had been a few years since Kaylan had actually enjoyed anything beyond flirting with a man. Not since Jumael... That thought brought a pain that she buried deep down, before it could touch her face.

 

But Jumael was not hers anymore. Not bonded by love or the Power any longer, no matter what she might want. It was love for him that had broken their Bond, a love that she still held somewhere inside her. She had loved many, over the years, and lost them all - it was part of her life, part of her duty. She could still remember every detail of Shem's face, though she'd buried him centuries back - Kaylan's one regret was that she'd never given him the love he deserved, because of the damned shawl around her shoulders. A shawl that would one day be her burial shroud. It was part of being Aes Sedai, part of being Battle Ajah.

 

But a meal was, after all, only a meal.

 

"Of course. It would be my pleasure." She favoured him with a small smile before turning back to her Warders.

 

"Name the time and the day, and I will be ready." Calling over her shoulder without looking at him, Kaylan couldn't help but smile.

 

I haven't lost it after all.

 

~Kaylan Morin

Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah

Thrice Bonded