An audience with the Amyrlin [Attn: Jaydena and Sirayn]

[Kaylan]

The old Green and her once-mentee marched through the halls of the Tower. Well, Kaylan marched - or perhaps it would be better called a stalk - and Jaydena sort of glided in that graceful way that Aes Sedai were supposed to walk.

 

It seemed to Kaylan that they were probably on a fool's errand, that the Amyrlin Seat had no doubt already been approached by no less than a dozen Sisters trying to curry favour. She cared little for how Sirayn viewed her - the blonde Aes Sedai could still remember both her Amyrlin Seat and her Ajah Head as wide-eyed girls. Well, she probably would have remembered them like that if she'd ever paid much attention to the novices and Accepted - as it was, Kaylan remembered Jaydena's novicehood only because she'd mentored the woman, and nothing before Sirayn's initation into the Green Ajah. It was enough for her - or perhaps too much. Sometimes it was difficult to push those memories aside and remember that her seniority meant nothing in such company.

 

Still, in this case, she would once again be the teacher - she was the most experienced with this weave. Assuming, of course, that there was anything to teach. Sirayn could very well throw them out without so much as a thank-you for the thought, after all.

 

It didn't take long to reach the Amyrlin Seat's office, where they were greeted by the Keeper of the Chronicles. Kaylan felt that she should probably let Jaydena do the talking - the last Keeper she'd had many interactions with had been Arette, and that had ended with a spectacularly red cheek from the slap Kaylan had given her. From memory, Arette had gotten one of her own in before Kaylan had slammed a shield over the woman and taken full advantage of her Talent.

 

Somehow, that didn't seem like such a good idea now. Not that it had been a particularly good idea back then, either, but at least it had made for a good story.

 

Yet, here she was opening her mouth.

 

"We have important news for Mother, if she can possibly accept us."

 

That was respectful enough, wasn't it?

 

~Kaylan Morin

Aes Sedai of the Battle Ajah

Bonded to Mercury Sansiria, Calya Gille and Jada Sellick

[Sirayn]

Petitions still stuffed her head to bursting as she made her way back through the bustling corridors. Spoilt lordlings by the bucketful and the squabbles of lesser merchants served to give the newly minted Amyrlin Seat the impression that a good outbreak of plague would do everyone a favour. Having been something of a firebrand in her misspent youth she had never felt the slightest kinship with the Grey Ajah, patient schemers that they were, and now she found herself compelled by events to exercise a little diplomacy she was finding a whole new appreciation for them. The odd moment of tragedy provoked compassion from even the coldest heart but how anyone could stand so many self-seeking people escaped her entirely.

 

Technically she was one-seventh Grey Ajah now, just as much as Green Ajah, and the thought ought to strike fear into the hearts of all right-thinking people. It struck her as a little bit surreal that she, the unwanted one, had come to preside over petitioners’ audiences as Amyrlin Seat as though she had every right to do so; the weight of the seven-striped stole on her shoulders still felt foreign and in the office and quarters now hers by right she felt like an imposter. She half expected someone to denounce her at any moment. Only it didn’t seem to be happening and despite all common sense she appeared to be the leader of the free world right now.

 

Rank always brought trouble and this particular one brought more than its fair share. For example, nobody had warned her before she put on the striped shawl just how many endless ceremonial duties she was now expected to fulfil. Before her ascension she had taken every opportunity to escape such functions, save perhaps as Captain General where she had known Green Ajah tradition inside out, and now she had no choice any more she contemplated the spectre of petitioners’ audience with dismay. If they wanted a ceremonial leader they should have picked someone who looked prettier all wrapped up in a striped stole. She had never been much good at being ornamental.

 

The bloody shawl was too conspicuous anyway. It drew people’s eyes like merchants to gold. She slipped it off with a practised shrug of one shoulder, though it seemed sacrilegious to stuff it into her pocket and therefore left it draping her arm like a colourful banner. Even carrying it thus made her stand out; she could not vanish into a crowd however much she wanted, adorned by those seven bright stripes, and for one who had spent most of her life in the shadows one way or another it disconcerted her greatly. Not half so much as the idea that she might one day get used to this though.

 

By the time she reached her destination her sorely taxed patience was beginning to recover. Her new office, the Amyrlin’s office, was at least beginning to bear her stamp; she’d been busy making it look like a place of hers by filling it full of books and papers and cold clean colours. On the way in she exchanged a polite word with her new Keeper, still an unknown variable to her and one whom she planned to run a proper and detailed assessment on later to see what dirt she could dig up; it did not do to let one’s sensitive political plans go through the hands of someone whose allegiance she did not know. No doubt her Keeper was busy doing exactly the same to her. The opening moves in a game always had that stylised, predictable aspect.

 

Other games ongoing today became her primary concern as soon as her Keeper informed her who had come to visit. Two of her favourite people! Her mouth curled in a smile approaching irony as she contemplated this unexpected pleasure, or possibly not. The real irony of it was that while she had no liking for either woman, not to mention a rather strong hostility to painted, perfect Jaydena after all the history between them, they were two of the only people she could probably trust right now: Kaylan because she had once been a Black Ajah hunter too, and Jaydena because of her … current loyalties. Of course either or both could have been corrupted in the meantime, which was why she could only probably trust them, and why she did not keep them closer in her counsels.

 

Though honestly, she couldn’t figure out why they had come. Kaylan in particular would never have come by for political reasons; the old Green Sister had made clear her aversion to politics. No doubt her companion was too busy with Seiaman and their turbulent love life together to trouble herself with anything else. Only one way to find out: “Send them in, please.†She composed herself in preparation for what, if history was any indication, would be a trying interview.

 

[Jaydena]

Jaydena followed her mentor through the Halls and ignored the suspious glances, it seemed that these days two sisters together was a threat to someone. Soon they had reached Sirayn's new home and Kaylan spoke to the new Keeper, "We have important news for Mother, if she can possibly accept us." Jade nodded to the woman and waited to see if Sira would let them in. She could see the woman denying them access but she hoped she would do such a thing to the leader of the Green Ajah and one of her Sitters and one of the oldest Greens in the Tower. Kaylan hadn't done anything to upset Sira as far as she know but that oldest thing should hold some weight. They waited a few minutes and finally the Keeper returned to lead them to the new office. She hadn't been inside since Sirayn had been chosen and as she walked in she looked around.

 

Already the place was taking on the look of Sirayn, she could help but remember how it had looked before with Lanfir and Lyanna and she closed off the pain that came with losing them. Eyeing Sirayn she saw the woman was without the stole but looked radiant and confident in her new role. Jade bowed her head and walked forward to kiss Sirayn's ring, she curtsied and kissed the ring that Sirayn wore, her eyes raising to Sirayn's as her lips graced her friends. This was as close as her lips would ever get to any part of Sirayn. Standing up she waited for Kaylan to kiss the ring and then started speaking, "We are some to bother you Mother, we know you must be very busy but we have some important news to tell you. Since Kaylan Sedai had a part in it I will allow her to speak for the Green Ajah." She stepped back and waited for Kaylan to show the weave to Sirayn, her eyes steady and strong on the woman.

 

Jaydena Sedai

CG

[Kaylan]

It galled, curtsying to a woman who she could remember being initiated, and Kaylan thought to herself as her lips brushed over the Amyrlin's ring that there was a damned good reason that she spent most of her time outside the White Tower. Keeping that in mind, the old Green thought it best to leave Jaydena to do the talking, as she was much more politically minded than her once-mentor. Stepping aside a little to show her deference, Kaylan folded her hands in front of her and waited for Jaydena to explain. Light, why was she even here? It wasn't as though she was needed.

 

"We are some to bother you Mother, we know you must be very busy but we have some important news to tell you. Since Kaylan Sedai had a part in it I will allow her to speak for the Green Ajah."

 

That set her to blinking, as though it had been unexpected, although Kaylan hadn't really given Jaydena much of a chance to practice so it did stand to reason that she'd be adopting the position of teacher once more. She'd taught both of these women in the past, and now it felt strange to be even contemplating it again, being the lowest ranked of the lot of them. Well, their rearranged status within the Tower was no reason to be shy, so Kaylan simply shrugged - the tiniest movement of shoulders - and nodded.

 

"My apologies if you have already been informed of this, Mother. The Gray Ajah invited me to tea, where they demonstrated something rather spectacular."

 

Without so much as a 'by-your-leave', the white-haired Green embraced the Source, weaving together Spirit and Air and Earth until a portal opened into blackness, green and white tiles this time holding three seats, for the three of them to travel. With a thought, she let the portal close, not presuming that she could take the Amyrlin even so far as Rashima's Garden without at least thirty other people knowing about it. Unless Sirayn commanded it, of course - none of it meant much to her. Politics and power. Kaylan wanted none of it.

 

"They're calling it skimming, Sirayn. Not half an hour before we came to see you, Jaydena and I were standing at the edges of the Blight." The Three Oaths marked her words true, and the Weave that she'd demonstrated - and would be happy to demonstrate again - testified further, if there was any doubt about her loyalties.

[Sirayn]

Important news. She had had her fill of news, important or otherwise, and it seemed unlikely that anything from this particular quarter would lighten her mood. Suppressing a grimace through a heroic effort Sirayn gestured for her visitors continue. The further they got into this the stronger her suspicion got that she should have been consulted a long time ago; it did not bode well at all that everyone in the Tower had known of the Grey Ajah’s miraculous discovery before her. Her job was to be not only the smartest but the best informed. She did not count herself secure enough yet to pull up the Grey Ajah on their apparent forgetfulness … but it was a definite black mark against them. A note to pursue in the future.

 

Only an instant’s warning prevented her doing something precipitous when Kaylan embraced the One Power unexpectedly in her presence. Ever since the very first Black Ajah hunt she had never been comfortable while people channelled around her; heads had damn near rolled when Lyanna al’Ellisande burst into delicate negotiations armed with saidar. The sheer unlikelihood of cranky old Kaylan Morin turning out to be an incarnation of evil calmed her somewhat. It was a fool’s thought, nobody could be trusted unless she had tested them herself and never let them out of her sight afterward, but nevertheless she could not make herself believe that Kaylan posed a threat to her.

 

The next moment even the chances that one or both of these women were Black Ajah left her. Skimming! A lost weave from the Age of Legends! Her quarters were stuffed full of books detailing all these skills they had never recovered, stores of knowledge gone down with Paaren Disen, lore lost forever when the Strike at Shayol Ghul went terribly wrong … It took literally months for even a fast rider to reach the Blight. To get there and back in half an hour had never been accomplished in the past two thousand years. The two women beside her looked so calm; they spoke so casually of something never done since the Age of Legends; did they have any idea the prize they had brought her? Did they know what could be done with this weave?

 

Its tactical value resounded in her skull. She could list half a hundred possibilities for warfare, for economics and politics. More than that, and she began to smile in a rather chilly fashion, she could finally escape the trappings of being Amyrlin. In thirty seconds’ time she could be high in northern Shienar, or tasting salt on the wind in marshy Mayene, or dicing with death in Amadicia. Not only her but a hundred Tower Guards or anyone else she chose to bring with her. She could send a proper strike force to Kandor -- not just Rosheen Tahn Sahkr and the best the Order of the Rose could give, but real strength, the Tower’s might brought to bear. She could get the Dragonsworn out of Cairhien herself!

 

Of course she dared not, much though she disliked it her life was now too valuable to risk in so cavalier a fashion, but nevertheless … if she ever needed to, she could go anywhere. Oh yes, she could make something of this. Did the Black Tower have such riches for their madmen and children at play? The Shadow? Could the weave be turned upon them as she had already started planning to turn it on others? She needed to put her head together with Aramina sur Dulciena as soon as possible to figure out how to defend the Tower against this new threat. Doubtless the full strategic implications would not become apparent until they had had some time to consider it. But for now … she fingered the tiny angreal in her pocket and, frowning, summoned the image of what Kaylan had done before her.

 

As with every other bloody weave one could possibly conceive of it was beyond her unaided, though had she just a fraction more strength in Spirit, she might have had it at her fingertips. It did not require especial skill; just concentration … a framework of threads here, bare bones in her favourite element of Earth, a little lace sparking whitely, and the whole weave fell into place. A slash of silver twisted in the air before her, rotated and opened into a portal. A gust of glacial wind swirled forth into the room; snow dusted the floor in the instant before she let the weave drop, exulting inwardly, though she kept herself composed on the outside. Borderlands on her doorstep! She liked this very much indeed.

 

On second thoughts it seemed almost too good to be true. Did innovations like this happen by accident? Supposedly a member of the Green Ajah had discovered how to make herself invisible not long ago, but that person had disappeared under suspicious circumstances, and she had never satisfied her own curiosity as to the exact provenance of Eleanor al’Raim’s little invention. “Where did this come from exactly? Who in the Grey Ajah has been … experimenting?â€

[Jaydena]

Jaydena almost laughed out loud at her old mentors expression as she motioned her to speak. Kaylan blinked at her and then quickly recovered, adopting a serene expression Kaylan began to speak, "My apologies if you have already been informed of this, Mother. The Gray Ajah invited me to tea, where they demonstrated something rather spectacular." Kaylan embraced the source and began to weave the weave, Jade winced for it was not acceptable to channel in front the Amyrlin within permission. She glanced over and eyes Sirayn as Kaylan continued, "They're calling it skimming, Sirayn. Not half an hour before we came to see you, Jaydena and I were standing at the edges of the Blight." Sirayn jumped back a small distance and Jaydena realized that she wasn't going to rip into Kaylan and she hadn't seen the weave.

 

The wheels were working on Sira's brain and Jade could all but imagine what she was thinking. The same things she had been thinking when she had discovered the weave, as ajah head she was trapped within the Tower but with this weave she could sneak off to Tear and buy herself a new carpet, or sneak off to the Seafolk Isles and sit on the sand next to the ocean. It was mind boggling what you could do, not just that but for the green ajah and the Tower itself. Jaydena watched as Sira embraced the source and wove the new weave. The woman always had been a fast learner. She turned back to Sirayn as the weave dropped and waited for her reaction “Where did this come from exactly? Who in the Grey Ajah has been … experimenting?â€

 

Jaydena Sedai

[Kaylan]

"The invitation came from Phaedra and Nyssa, but it was Phaedra who demonstrated the weave." That was enough information for the moment - Kaylan felt no need to volunteer more than that, and Sirayn's question had not covered who had attended from the other Ajahs.

 

She picked at a loose thread on her skirt, wishing already that she could be excused to go back to her own business. As lovely as it was to be singled out, as much as there might have been a prestige in being the first of the Green Ajah to learn the weave, the old Green would have refused had she known that it would lead her here. She simply wasn't comfortable around the obvious signs of political power, outranked by a pair of women that she'd practically seen as mewling babes, having to speak rather than letting someone speak for her.

 

Jaydena should have been the one to demonstrate, to speak. It was only proper. But she was the one with the knowledge at this point, Kaylan supposed, so there was very little choice in the matter for her. She could only hope that they would be finished soon. Sirayn had obviously grasped the weave quickly enough - what more would she require from them?

 

It took effort to keep a flutter of irritation off her face. But that would certainly not be proper, and even she had some sense. Not much, but some. Not to mention that there was no real reason for her irritation, simply the crankiness of an old woman who was used to her routines. What she needed was a nice cup of tea, something shadow-spawned to study, and a Warder at her side.

[Sirayn]

Ooc: I’ll wrap this up since you’re leaving. Sorry to see you go. :(

 

Nyssa. The name rang some very dark bells indeed since their interrupted chat one time long ago. Bright young Nyssa Deschain and that image of stern Grey Ajah solidarity, Phaedra Eskarne, judge and lawmaker … a most persuasive duo, no doubt, and what kind of convincing exactly might those two do? The lack of activity from a certain quarter was making her doubly suspicious; she saw Black Ajah in every shadow. Lanfir Leah Marithsen was dead and gone, and with her all her bright plans for the rise of a different type of Ajah, but it might be time for her to gather a Black Ajah hunt of her own. There was only so long she could continue to ignore them while gathering her own strength. Soon enough she would have to strike.

 

And when that time came she would need everything to hand. Including this strange, powerful gift from the Age of Legends … and perhaps a few other tricks she had in hand, both from that long-ago age, and from times and places rather closer to the present. It would take time and concentration to plan out all the tactical repercussions of this weave, and of course she needed to find out who else outside the Tower had knowledge of it, and what that meant for their defences. Presumably no Aes Sedai was fool enough to go round teaching anything to the Black Tower or the Shadow, much less something of this magnitude, but should anyone have a little … incident … outside her control they could find themselves faced with a nightmare scenario in record time: half a hundred mad male channellers who could step straight out of nowhere in the heart of Tar Valon.

 

Fingers crossed that not long from now somebody would walk into her quarters with the knowledge and skills necessary to block anyone from Skimming directly into the Tower itself. They would come to need that technique like never before. Otherwise the Black Tower and, worst of all, the Dreadlords could pluck them like apples off a low-slung branch. Yes, a lot of work needed doing before she could call her Tower safe again in this new and dangerous world. Pensive now, she gathered up her two visitors, including Kaylan Sedai who kept fidgeting with her skirts for some reason, and dismissed them. “Your call is appreciated. That will be all, daughters.” And the rules of the game had changed again.

[Jaydena]

"The invitation came from Phaedra and Nyssa, but it was Phaedra who demonstrated the weave." Jade nodded, for she hadn't even asked that question herself and she had wondered who had shown it. She had been in such a hurry to bring it to Sirayn, maybe in a part of her to earn brownie points, that she hadn't thought to ask. She waited for Sirayn's reponse as was quite shocked when Sirayn stood up and ushered them toward the doors as she spoke, “Your call is appreciated. That will be all, daughters.” Jaydena blinked and bowed her head, "Thank you for your time Mother, I hope this will be of benefit to the Tower and to you as well. If you have any further questions or anything else please let me know." She turned and waited until Kaylan left the room, as the other woman cleared the door, she turned her head, winked at Sira and then walked from the room.

 

Let her stew on that one for awhile, she thought. She followed Kaylan out, nodding to the Keeper who she didn't really know and began speaking, "Thank you so much for your time Kaylan, I will bring this before the ajah and I may need your help with it and will for sure acknowledge you as bringing to me." She finished speaking and they parted ways. Jade made her way to the rooms of her Sitters, checking to see if any of them were in. When none of them answered their doors she walked back to her rooms, and wrote notes to each of them to request an audience...

 

Jaydena Sedai