Black hearts [attn. Alicatia]

[silhouette]

For years and years, Nyssa Deschain had walked through the halls of the White Tower at night. As a novice she had broken curfew, wandering in secrecy, learning the ways of the Tower when the world slept. As an Accepted she had grown bolder, the risk of punishment diminished as her steps grew more and more silent, until she could move without being heard. As an Aes Sedai, no one sought to question her motives, if they found her out and about at night. An Aes Sedai had her own reasons, and those reasons mattered only to the Aes Sedai herself. Even when her wanderings became more frequent, no one wondered. It was the greatest weakness of the White Tower. Nyssa knew of all the currents that flowed underneath the surface, saw the webs of power as they grew. One pull at a thread here or there, and the webs would untangle, leaving the Tower in chaos. Tempting, but also useless, for now. The time would come when the White Tower would come to understand that it’s destruction was not in the hands of the enemies they watched, outside Tar Valon. It was in the hands of it’s own daughters. A few spiders in the webs of power, working silently, secretly. But no one ever questioned the movements of an Aes Sedai, and no one ever thought to ask her if she spoke the truth. The White Tower was blind, and Nyssa had been using it’s blindness for years.

 

Because no one thought to watch her, she could watch others freely. In the years she had sought out those with a dark heart, pointing them out to the sisters of her true Ajah. Many a young initiate had found herself faced with a question. A question that would determine their faith. Some fell ill, during the night, not living to see the light of day again. Others were overcome by grief, seeking to end their own lives. Some gave the only right answer, accepting the freedom their new sisters had to offer them, setting out on the only path available to them from now on. They scurried along, little spiders in the web, manipulating, laying the groundwork for their Lord. When the time was right, the White Tower would crumble, and it’s most valued children would stand in the ruins, and smile.

 

Nyssa smiled now, as she welcomed Alicatia Sedai into her rooms. This one had been a slow learner, struggling with the strictness of the Tower, with being who she was. A dark child, one with much doubt in her heart. A little spider, weaving little webs of her own. Nyssa had long suspected that Alicatia Sunoma had an allegiance to the Dark Lord similar to her own. It was time to free her from her oaths. “Come, sit.†She gestured towards a comfortable chair in her room. In a chest not far from where she herself was seated, the oath rod was waiting. She highly doubted that Alicatia would fall ill, or would become overcome by grief tonight. She hadn’t spoken to the younger Aes Sedai often, but it wasn’t unheard of that one sister invited another over. Alicatia seemed to be a lonely Aes Sedai. Nyssa could almost hear the praise Phaedra would give her, for her attempts to draw Alicatia out of her shell. “Tell me, Alicatia, do you feel at home here, within the Gray ajah?â€

 

~Nyssa Deschain

Black Sister

[Matalina]

Alicaita had wondered why the older Aes Sedai would invite her over for tea, but to keep the peace with in herself Alicatia had accepted. She didn't want to make enemies in the Tower, at least not yet.

 

Alicatia returned the smile upon entering the Gray's room. The room was furnished with good taste and Alicatia was glad to be offered a comfortable chair. There had been a time when it would not have been so.

 

Alicatia had not expected the question. Home, how can any darkfriend feel at home amongst the light, but that was not the question. In her guise as a light loving Aes Sedai was she at home. But there was still oaths that bound her to the truth, and Alicatia had yet to find a way to break those bonds. It was rumored the Black Ajah could, but it was also rumored that the Black Ajah existed. Alicatia could find no signs of truth in either rumor. But if they were like herself, their secrets were sealed shut in the depths of their hearts.

 

"I guess I'm at home as anyone could be who was unwittingly drawn into the house of the White Tower." Her ability to channel had damned her from the beginning, her mother forsake her and her family was left in shame. Alicatia's only family lay with in this shining city and it was hardly a family at all.

 

Alicatai

[silhouette]

Nyssa poured Alicatia and herself a cup of tea, giving Alicatia a moment to come up with a suitable answer. The younger Aes Sedai was good at twisting the truth, that much had become obvious to Nyssa during the trial. She had hated her trial, and Freja had not held back when she questioned her. Alicatia had looked as though hate filled her to the brim at some point. Small nuances in her voice, a rigid stance. Small signs, and signs she would learn to hide within the years. Nyssa smiled slightly in her teacup at hearing Alicatia’s answer. Home. It was such an empty word here. Home was where the heart was, but how could a dark heart ever be at home in the centre of the Light? She was quite sure that Alicatia would feel more at home once she knew that there were others who shared her allegiance with the Great Lord of the Dark.

 

“I heard that your arrival hear was not without trouble. It can be hard sometimes, to let go of one’s past…†pure truth pouring from Nyssa’s lips. She herself had never forgotten who she was. It had made her who she was today, and she wouldn’t change it for every promise of salvation people could make her. Salvation was an illusion. This world was damned, and she would dance on it’s ashes eventually. It was time to find out of Alicatia would dance with her on those ashes, when the time came, or if the younger sister would burn up far swifter than anyone expected.

 

“There is a new family, waiting for you here though.†She raised her hand, silencing Alicatia. No doubt the younger woman had intended to say that she was grateful for the sisters she had gained here. She would have had to twist the truth a great deal though. “I don’t mean our fellow sisters of the Gray Ajah. I mean your other kin. The siblings of your heart, Alicatia. The ones who bow to the same Lord as you do. If you wish it, I can offer you a home here. I can offer you the allegiance of those who serve the Great Lord of the Dark, like you do. Just say the word, Alicatia, and you fill find that you have more friends here than you ever thought was possible.†A dangerous moment. If she said no, Nyssa would have to disable and kill her swiftly. Nothing was ever sure until someone had resworn their oaths. Nyssa sat up straight and sipped her tea, apparently without a care in the world.

 

~Nyssa Deschain

Black Sister.

[Matalina]

Alicatia raised an eyebrow, had she really stumbled across the Black Ajah as Nyssa was so kindly hinting at, or was this a rouse to get her to declare herself and then be punished by death. There was always the possibility and she wasn't sure she trusted this new information. How many times were you burned by the same things? To give into the pressures of friendship and get hurt by them. Alicatia wasn't sure how to answer or how to say yes with out actually doing so.

 

Alicatia tried not to let any emotion show but she was definately sceptical and surprised at the same time. "How do I know you aren't trying to pry information out of me that could damn me here in the White Tower?" Alicatia smiled at her sister, "If I were a darkfriend, I don't think I would admit it openly to anyone with out proof my allegiences were safe." Alicatia wasn't sure what she'd take as proof of the Black Ajah but there had to be a way to know for sure. Being a Darkfriend was dangerous, but being one in the White Tower was doubly so.

 

Ali

[silhouette]

Nyssa laughed when Alicatia challenged the truthfulness of her suggestion. Had she been this bold, decades ago when Raeyn Sedai invited her to her quarters, and offered her the same thing she had just offered her fellow Gray Sister. Proof. To give Alicatia proof. Had she asked for the same? No, Raeyn had told her details about her life that none within the White Tower could have known. Raeyn had casually pointed out that her life would be over if that information ever reached the side of the light. The choice had been easy, because there was no choice. Alicatia’s situation was different. The distrust came from her in waves so thick that she could almost touch it.

 

Slowly she reached to the box that was sitting on a small table next to her head. Just as slowly she opened it, and pulled something out of it, which she showed Alicatia. The oath rod. She could see that Alicatia recognised it. It had been the bane of her existence, before she was freed from the oaths she spoke upon her initiation.

 

“I am going to tell you two things, and only one of these is going to be the truth. This is not to teach you something about me, it is to teach you something about my power.†She placed the oath rod on her lap, folding her hands on top of them. “When I was young, my mother told me that a woman’s power doesn’t come from what she shares with people, she said it comes from what she withholds from them.†She smiled again. “Sounds truthful, doesn’t it?†She paused for a moment, taking a sip from her tea. “And now for the second… fact. There is no Shayol Ghul. There is no Creator, and there is no Great Lord of the Dark. The last battle is as much of a farce as the Dragon Reborn and the Age of Legends.â€

 

Serenely she handed Alicatia the oath rod. “Hold this, and I will set your mind free. You will gain a power beyond the power of any lightfool Aes Sedai. I will give you the power to lie. I will give you the power to make weapons beyond your wildest imagination, and I will give you the power to kill. Imagine for a second, to be unlimited among thousands of weakened Aes Sedai. To be able to tell people lies, and have them believe you because they know and believe that you can not lie. This all I will give you, and all I ask in return, is a little faith in me and your new family. I have trusted you with my secret. You must trust me with yours.â€

 

~Nyssa Deschain

Black Sister.

[Matalina]

Alicatia wondered if the rumors were true and it just took this long to find the right ears to hear it from. But was it so easy, and how do you trust someone who can lie? Two rumors both true and Alicatia was stuck with a dilema, to trust a darkfriend. Was there honor amongst them. She supposed there would have to be some sort of comadary between known darkfriends, but how far did it extend, but Alicati's own need for acceptance of any kind drove her to admit the truth, despite her misgivings.

 

"If this is the path the Great Lord offers me then I shall take it." Alicatia wondered if it would be as bad as the first time, how would the breaking of prior oaths feel, she only hoped that it would give her the freedom to seek the path she wished.

 

Alicatia

[silhouette]

It took less than she had expected. Or perhaps the offer was more tempting than she had thought. Or perhaps she was just more convincing than she had thought. Either way, the results were the same. Alicatia had taken the oath rod, and now it was up to Nyssa to channel spirit into it. “I will help you free yourself from the three oaths, and after that I will only need one small, less restricting oath in return. Now, I need you to repeat after me…†The unswearing of the oaths was much the same as the swearing of the oaths, except with a denial in it. “I do not swear to tell no lie, I do not swear to make no weapon, I do not swear never to use the one power as a weapon…†easy. And yet the effects were grand. Nyssa watched as Alicatia shivered, the bonds that had held her finally released. It was like having a constricting net around oneself cut away. Like finally being able to breathe again. Nyssa smiled. “I never quite realised how cruel the Three Oaths were until I was free of them.†She said.

 

“And now for your final step, the one which will set you onto your path to greatness. Hold the rod, and swear your loyalty to the Great Lord of the Dark. Swear that you will serve him in this life, and in the next.†Nyssa still channelled spirit into the rod, waiting for Alicatia to complete the rite.

 

~Nyssa Deschain

Black Sister

[Matalina]

To be free of the oaths was like a weight being lifted off of her shoulders and the new oath would be much easier to handle. Alicatia with all her hatred for the One power let it be the guide to her new path, one of the Greath Lord's choosing.

 

"I swear my undying loyalty and faith to the Great Lord of the Dark. I will serve him in his great cause."

 

The oath took hold and she could feel it settling within her bones, but the power that she'd gained was immense, to be able to do the three things the oaths forbad, a new hope dawned for Alicatia.

 

OOC: sorry i was slow on this.

 

Ali

[silhouette]

Nyssa smiled warmly at the sight of the oaths being lifted from Alicatia, and then the addition of the new oath. It didn’t seem to constrict her at all, but then again, she had already taken her oaths to the Great Lord. This new oath was merely a confirmation of the old one. It settled in. It was like coming home. She took Alicatia’s hand, and gave it a soft squeeze. “Are you alright? Do you require healing?†she said. She doubted that the oaths would be as constricting and painful as the oats she’d just been freed from, but it was better to be certain.

 

Alicatia didn’t look as though she was particularly bothered by the tightness of her new oath. “Welcome to the Black Ajah, Alicatia.†She said. She rose from her seat. Tucked the oath rod away. She’d have to put that back from where it came from soon. First there were other things. “There are certain signs we have, which you must learn. Signs to indicate who we are.†Nyssa showed her a simple handsignal. Barely noticeable, except for the trained eye. “This is your signal. That of a Black Sister. Common dark friends have a different signal.†She showed it. She spent the next hour teaching Alicatia the signs of the Black Ajah.

 

~Nyssa Deschain

Black Sister.

 

ooc: no worries