Meeting the Mistress of Novices and ready to start the journey

[Kaylynn]

Kaylynn looked up at the shining walls of the White Tower while heading north on the river Erinin. Her mother had sent her to Tar Valon via one of her merchant vessels leaving out of Bandar Eban to do trading in Tear. She twisted the sapphire stone around her neck in her hand, a present from her mother. She smiled at the thought of her mother and the tears in her eyes as she gave it to her as they shared good-byes on the docks in Bandar Eban. Her hand shifted to her wrist where the silver bracelet sat with its small flecks of sapphires all around its surface. Her father had gave her that bracelet the year she started her Domani classes with her mother and aunt. He said it would shine blue like her eyes, yet not as beautiful, and the memory made her blush.

 

After a month of traveling the coastline and stopping in Tear, she could finally see the shimmering White Tower. The city stretched out around it as if to cradle it in the vast buildings and palaces built up around the White Tower. She could see beautiful domes and smaller towers with bridges between so that there occupants could walk the width between the two towers. She looked in awe at the beautiful bridges that stretched spans above with no support besides where they started and ended on either side of the banks.

 

As the boat slowly made its way to the docks below the White Tower, Kaylynn nervously shifted her belt knife and smoothed her skirts. Her belt knife was a present from her brothers before they went of to war on Almoth Plain. A small blade the length of her hand with a single sapphire at the base of the hilt, it would do if she needed to protect herself as her brothers had tried to show her before their leaving. She bent to open her trunk for what seemed like the hundredth time to make sure she had everything she needed. When the gang plank was finally in place at the dock she walked out towards the dock with one of the sailors carrying her trunk behind her.

 

She walked through those wide gates and saw a vast array of people from different nations walking to and fro, seeming to be in a hurry whether they were coming or going. She saw a girl older than herself in a white banded dress walking past with a look as if she knew where she was going. Kaylynn called out to her, "Excuse me! I am a bit lost, could you help me?" The girl said she would. "I have a letter here that is to be delivered to the Mistress of Novices, could you tell me where I might find her?" The girl nodded and told the sailor carrying her trunk where he could store it until Kaylynn had need of it.

 

She followed the girl in the white banded dress down hall ways and up staircases, to the point that Kaylynn knew should would never be able to find her way out by herself again. They came to a plain polished wood door and the girl have three strong knocks, waited a moment and stuck her head in, said something and then motioned for Kaylynn to walk into the room. The door closed behind her with a soft click and she was alone in a room with what could only be another Aes Sedai on the other side of the desk.

 

Kaylynn blushed slightly and then curtsied deeply, "I am Kaylynn Tasil Saeed, I have a letter from a Green Aes Sedai that tested me in Bandar Eban." Kaylynn curtsied again and offered the Aes Sedai the letter with a green seal on the back.

 

Kaylynn Tasil Saeed

Soon to be Novice of the White Tower

[Amadine]

Valeri looked up from her reports to see a Domani lass standing in her doorway, a letter in her hand. "I am Kaylynn Tasil Saeed, I have a letter from a Green Aes Sedai that tested me in Bandar Eban."

The child curtsied and extended the hand holding the letter. Valeri indicated the chair placed before her desk, "You may sit there, may i have the letter please child."

Kaylynn sat and handed the letter to Valeri. She took the letter, her own name was written in a flowing hand across the front. The parchment was of good quality, probably quite expensive and when she turned it over she saw why. There was a green seal bearing the impression of the Flame of Tar Valon. So the child had been sent by a Sister then. Valeri broke the seal and read through the letter. It was brief as expected, giving an outline of the events that led to the child being tested and sent to Tar Valon.

Valeri smiled at the dark haired lass seated nervously before her, "This letter tells me little Kaylynn, perhaps you would like to share the full story of how you came to be in my study with me, yes?"

Valeri Kinaea

Mistress of Traditional Novices

[Kaylynn]

Kaylynn blushed and then sat up right on the edge of the chair and smoothed out her skirts. She looked at the Aes Sedai in front of her and blushed again.

 

"I am the daughter of a lesser lord and high merchant. I had three brothers but lost one to Almoth Plain battles............" Kaylynn paused. "You were asking about the Aes Sedai that sent me, sorry!" Kaylynn curtsied from her chair and continued, "I was working in my aunt herb shop when I saw two beautiful ladies conversing with my two brothers. Both were clearly outlanders, in beautiful green riding dresses with four men in their shadow. I walked out to see what my brothers were up to and heard them talking about Tar Valon and Warders and Aes Sedai and the White Tower. I supposed they were trying to get my two older brothers, who were soldiers to go to Tar Valon to become Warders. I interrupted them at that point and told them that I wanted to go too." Kaylynn blushed a deeper red and tried to act as if it was not obvious.

 

"The two women then started to ask me questions, like how old I was, how I was related to the boys (my brothers) and so on. We went to my aunt's herb shop and they continued to ask me question in the back room. I told them my love of herbs and old things and how my aunt was teaching me how to use herbs for various things. They said they had to test me to see if I was able to be taught at the White Tower as Aes Sedai or as Warder. They produced a beautiful egg shaped stone on a gold chain and walked her through the test." Kaylynn fidgeted in her seat, "I made it flicker a couple times towards the end and they then asked to speak with my parents."

 

Kaylynn sat straighter and fidgeted with her bracelet. "I was put on one of my mother's trading boats and was shipped off to the White Tower."

 

Kaylynn looked up at the woman across the desk through her dark lashes and waited for the embarrassment that she was not to be accepted to the White Tower as a potential novice but as a potential warder. She placed her hands in her lap and tried hard not to fidget or smooth her skirts.

 

Kaylynn Tasil Saeed, Domani

[Amadine]

Valeri listened to the child's tale, the words seemed to tumble from the Domani girl's lips. As he story drew to a close Valeri replied, "So child, you can learn to channel."

 

The girl nodded and Valeri continued, "Are you ready to give up your life from before the Tower? Are you ready to dedicate yourself to years of training and study? Have you any questions for me before we continue?"

 

Valeri poured two cups of tea from the steaming pot on her desk and pushed one towards Kaylynn. Lifting her own cup to her lips, Valeri sipped her tea as she waited for the child's answers.

 

Valeri Kinaea

Mistress of Traditional Novices

[Kaylynn]

Kaylynn looked at the Mistress of Novices and then at the steaming cup of tea in front of her. Am I ready to give up my life to be an Aes Sedai?

 

Kaylynn nodded to herself as if to answer her own question that she had not stated aloud. She picked up the cup of tea and inhaled its aroma which seemed to strengthen her.

 

“I am ready to become Aes Sedai. I know it will take years of dedication and training and I will have to put my past and my......family behind me. And I am ready and willing, Aes Sedai.”

 

As Kaylynn spoke she started off strong but slowly wilted like a herb left to long in the sun. She sipped at the tea and stared into the depths of the cup for courage.

 

“What must I do to join the White Tower, Aes Sedai? Please show me what I must do.” she almost shouted the end of her sentence as if to prove to the Mistress of Novices that she was truly ready for what lay ahead of her in the White Tower.

 

Kaylynn blushed deeply, which she knew would only make her blue eyes look more violet than blue. She tried to hide her face by looking at her lap and cursing the combs that held back the sides of her raven hair.

 

Kaylynn waited quietly to either be sent away, laughed at or accepted into the White Tower as a new novice.

 

Kaylynn

Aspiring novice

[Amadine]

Valeri nodded as the girl declared her readiness for life in the Tower. She could not understand what it would truly mean of course, but she was willing to dedicate herself. She reached down and opened the drawer where the Novice Book was kept, she set it on the desk in front of her and spoke as she turned to pages to the most recent entries, "This is the Novice Book. Within it's pages are the names of every woman who has studied at the White Tower. By having your name written in it you are sealed to the Tower forever." Valeri did not say that sometimes the Tower let you go - if you proved unsuitable to become an Aes Sedai, Kaylynn would learn about that in her studies soon enough.

 

Taking up her pen Valeri smiled at the lass seated before her, "Now child, can you tell me your full name, place of birth and your current age please."

 

As the dark-haired girl spoke Valeri recorded the details in aged leather bound book. She finished the entry with her own signature and set the pen back down.

 

"Welcome to Tar Valon Kaylynn Tasil Saeed, Welcome to the White Tower, Novice Kaylynn." she intoned with some formality.

 

She rose from her seat and from the large wardrobe in the far corner of her office she fetched a pair of Novice dresses, shifts, stockings, slippers and a few other items, all in pristine Novice white. She set them in the child's lap and fished a wooden token from a jar on her desk.

 

Taking her seat again she spoke. "If you take that token to the seamstresses they shall measure you and sew up dresses and shifts to fit you properly, but these will do for the next few days."

 

"Do you have any questions before i have someone show you to your rooms and about the Tower?"

 

Valeri Kinaea

Mistress of Traditional Novices

[Kaylynn]

"This is the Novice Book. Within it's pages are the names of every woman who has studied at the White Tower. By having your name written in it you are sealed to the Tower forever."

 

"Now child, can you tell me your full name, place of birth and your current age please."

 

“ I am Kaylynn Tasil Saeed from Bandar Eban in Arad Doman and I am 15 years of age.”

 

"Welcome to Tar Valon Kaylynn Tasil Saeed, Welcome to the White Tower, Novice Kaylynn."

 

The Mistress of Novices went to a large wardrobe and gave her some white items out of it. She then handed her a small wooden token from the jar on her desk.

 

"If you take that token to the seamstresses they shall measure you and sew up dresses and shifts to fit you properly, but these will do for the next few days."

 

"Do you have any questions before i have someone show you to your rooms and about the Tower?"

 

Kaylynn shook her head and stood as a girl in a white dress with seven bands of color at the hem and cuff entered the room. Kaylynn left with the girl and her small bundle of white garments.

 

As she walked through the Tower following the girl, who called herself Accepted, she stared at everything. The Accepted told her of the novices and the Accepted quarters and how many girls there were and how few that seemed to be for what the Tower was capable of holding.

 

Kaylynn barely listened and ended up a a door in one of the Towers, she peeked over the railing to see the blue sky above and a small garden below. She entered the room and stared about at her surroundings. She placed he belongings on the larger of the two beds that looked to be from a farm in Andor. The Accepted told her she was the only one in the room at the time but she will probably have a roommate today or the next.

 

She turned around the room and saw a small hearth with a wood pail and fire supplies, there was a small stand in the corner with a wash basin and pitcher from Tear of a plain cream. In the corner nearest the bed she choose there was a decent sized wardrobe from Arad Doman. Kaylynn smiled at the thought of something from her homeland.

 

Kaylynn turned as the Accepted started to tap her foot with inpatients, she walked to the door and shut it. She then followed the Accepted to the seamstresses to be measured for her new novice garments.

 

This was the first day of the rest of her life, and Kaylynn smiled.