Down the Rabbit Hole ((ATTN: MoN))

[Maurelle]

The ink was barely dry on the letter to her father letting him know just where his wayward daughter had ended up, when she was rushed into a room full of dresses of every shape and size. Under the critical eye of a sharp faced Tower servant she stripped out of her comfortable green dress, narrow tan apron, and stockings. Then there ensued a kind of tug of war about the green headscarf.

 

"Would you hand me the head scarf?" the servant had a high pitched voice that was rapidly getting on Erlene's nerves. So much had happened in such a short amount of time they were strung abnormally tight and the idea of having to give up the symbol of her womanhood and respectability as a Murandian was just too much.

 

"No thank you," she said in a voice that she thought would end this part of the conversation. She watched as fine lines appeared at the corners of the other woman's mouth and eyes from her displeasure. Erlene had not intention of giving up the hair covering. They had marched her off with barely a word of explanation and informed her that it would be years before she had even the slightest chance of seeing her beloved father again. Now they were trying to strip away her modesty?

 

"Novices only wear white," the servant said and Erlene could feel her anger evaporate. Why hadn't this woman just said so? If she had known that it was just a matter of replacing it... She moved to untie the knot at the base of her skull, a delicate procedure with her curly, blonde hair often tangling around the knot, before she noticed the distinct lack of scarves or even a substitute material. Her fingers froze and she narrowed her eyes at the serving woman. How dare she!

 

"Do you have white head scarves?" Erlene asked fire lighting behind her dark blue eyes. The other woman's lips thinned at being found out.

 

"No...,"she began but Erlene didn't give her a chance to finish her internal mercury on the rise.

 

"Then I shall keep this one until you do," she cut off any further arguments from the serving woman and was soon dressed in a long sleeve white dress and stockings. Even her slightly worn leather shoes where dyed white. The green scarf on her golden hair practically glowed in its shock of color.

 

"We will see the Mistress of Novices, now," the other woman said with a smug look in her eyes. Erlene wondered what about the woman she was going to see inspired such a look. But she was not going to give up the head scarf. She marched behind the serving woman, the anger fueling her determination beginning to waver the further up the Tower they walked. She saw other young woman dressed in all white and none of them had head scarves. Some of them actually stared at her as she walked by. Maybe keeping the head scarf was a little foolish, but this was the path she had set out on. The serving woman stopped before a door with the flame of Tar Valon on the door. She knocked three times before leaving to complete her other duties.

[Leala]

Valeri poured herself a cup of mint tea and sipped on it for a moment.  It was the first moment in a long while when her office was exactly how she had imagined it:  everything in its place, and quite...save for the noises around the Tower.  She breathed easily for a moment and simply savored her tea.  Oh, of course there were things to do.  There always were for the Mistress of Novices, but it was nice to relax when she could.  She felt some tension leave her shoulders and chest.  A slight headache even subsided.  She hadn't even noticed she had had a headache she had been so busy.

 

Then there was a knock at the door.  Her headache threatened to come back, but she made herself calm down.  She opened the door with a weave of Air, and was shocked to find what awaited her.

 

A young woman, who was not enrolled as a novice, stood before her in a novice dress and a green head scarf.  She looked as though someone had done her a great injustice, judging from the redness in her cheeks and the look on her face.  She could feel the Saidar in her, though, so she must have been tested.  But it was so strange to have a perspective novice come to her in novice whites.

 

"Come in, child, take a seat.  Tell me your name and how it was that you came to my office dressed as a novice when you are not yet in the novice book."  Normally, she would have been less forthcoming, but this situation was simply baffling.

[Maurelle]

Erlene walked into the room slowly. It felt like the study of the lord her father and mother had served. She had been summoned in there only when she and the Lord's sons had done something really bad. She wanted to snatch her head scarf off her head if it would get here out of here faster. Being bare headed and thought a woman of loose morals was better than the look she was currently getting from the woman who opened the door. It was like her mother was back from the grave and eying her over one of her cook pots.

 

She sat only on the edge of the chair with her fingers twisting around each other. Erlene had never been this nervous-even when her father had told her that they were sneaking away in the night she had not been this nervous. Then she had been more excited and entranced with the idea of seeing the world. Now her world was even more topsy-turvy. Taking a deep breath she began to relate her day starting with her trip to the market, the Aes Sedai taking her to the Tower and the shiny gem. She quickly went over the fact that she had written a note to tell her father where she was and that she had been herded into some kind of dress storage area and her clothes taken.

 

"But I didn't let her have my head scarf," her hand went up to touch it as though assuring herself that it was there. If she was going to get in trouble for wearing it, it had best look proper.

Edited July 7, 2013 by Maurelle

[Leala]

Valeri listened to the girl's story and was frankly appalled by the Aes Sedai's behavior.  Girls weren't to be dragged away from their families.  How under the Light would they ever get any recruits if the White Tower dragged girls away just because they could channel?  That certainly did leave a lot to be explained as well.  She nodded when the girl was finished.  "I do apologize on behalf of the Aes Sedai who brought you here.  She should have let you speak with your father, and she certainly shouldn't have dressed you in novice whites before you enrolled."

 

She let that sink in before she continued.  She had to let this girl know that she was on her side.  "It is good to know that you have been tested, however.  That, she did right, and she would not have sent you to me if you had not been proven to have the ability.  She brought you here to offer you the chance to become an Aes Sedai.  The first step toward the shawl is what we call a novice.  As was explained to you, novices wear all white.  We will have to find a white headscarf for you soon, after you've enrolled.  But, I cannot in good conscience enroll you without letting you know what you face when you enter the Tower.  You will have a great amount of duties as a novice.  You will study many things, including the One Power, and you will be assigned daily chores.  If an Accepted or Aes Sedai asks anything of you, you will help them.  Of course, an Aes Sedai will hold rank over an Accepted.  But every day, you will learn more about your power and how to control it."  She paused again to let that sink in.  "Knowing all this, do you still want to enroll in the White Tower as a novice?"

[Maurelle]

Erlene listened to the other woman speak her mind turning every which way. While it was true that she should not have been marched to the Tower without the option of speaking to her father it was a blessing in disguise. Knowing her father, the man would've tried to smuggle her out of Tar Valon as fast as he could arrange it. It wasn't that her father was phobic of Aes Sedai- he was no Illianer. It was just that she was all he had left. First the death of her mother. Then the deaths of his beloved lord and his sons. The despot who replaced the old lord thinking to make Erlene his bed warmer and the run to Tar Valon had broken something inside him. She loved him dearly, but she had a feeling that the Tower would not just let her go because it might hurt the feelings of one man. While she felt that a letter could never truly express her sorrow at the thought of not seeing him for sometime, it was at least a sterile break.

 

She felt a little of the tension leave her as she heard that she would be allowed a headscarf-even if it was only a white one. Erlene had left the world she knew behind because of a threat to her virtue. She knew that boys and men looked at her. She had even had to occasionally put one in his place. But the Lord hadn't gotten the hint. Her headscarf was the one thing that had stood between her and him. As long as she had it the other women in the estate had been willing to run interference for her. If she had lost it... Her hands tightened. Maybe she could let the headscarf go eventually. Maybe she could let it all go. But for now it was a badge of her virtue.

 

Erlene thought about life in the Tower as the Aes Sedai before her explained it. It didn't sound much different than life on the estate. She'd have to learn just what it was visibly that separated the different ranks, but that was something she would pick up with time. Chores were chores. She loved cooking enough that if she could swing that duty it wouldn't even truly be a chore. Eventually, she'd even have access to all those books her father told her that they kept here. The very thought of it had her in a better mood that when she had first walked into the study.

 

"Of course I still want to enroll," her voice was steady as she said it. "I have a question, though. What do you mean by the shawl?"

[Leala]

Valeri smiled when Erlene said she was still interested in enrolling as a novice, even after everything that had happened to her.  But then, she asked a question.  "Ah, yes.  The shawl is what denotes an Aes Sedai.  When you reach the rank of Aes Sedai, you will receive a shawl, one of the color of your choosing.  The shawl represents which Ajah you choose.  There are seven Ajahs: the Red, Yellow, blue, Green, Brown, Gray, and White, and each has their own mission and purpose within the Tower.  You'll find out more about them later, though.  Our purpose today is to make you a novice and settled in."

 

With that, she stood up and retrieved the enormous Book of Novices.  She set the book on her desk and flipped the pages until she found the first empty slot.  "To do that, I'll need your full name, place of birth, and your age."

[Maurelle]

Erlene looked at the giant Book of Novices in awe. True it was a book that likely only held the information that this Aes Sedai wanted, but it was still the largest book she had ever seen. She wanted to run her hand over the leather cover. Such a book was worth more than her father could make in a year. They hadn't been able to take any of the books from the estate's library when they ran despite having owned a third of them. She had spent hours in there as a child. The smell of old paper, a hint of dust, and an indistinct smell that she could only describe as knowledge was as much a part of her as her blonde curly hair. A smile curved her lips and made her eyes sparkle.

 

"Erlene Hortenica," her shoulders went back with pride as she spoke, " sixteen. I was born in Murandy." The second the words leave her mouth a craving to see her old home was strong within her. Perhaps the memory of it and the time she spent there would never leave her as her father said, but the knowledge was little comfort at the moment. If she became an Aes Sedai there was a chance that no one alive would remember the estate or even Murandy the same way she did. It was hard to imagine that she would be the only one. The very idea was enough to crush the beginnings of the good mood from seeing the large tome. The Aes Sedai before her hadn't mentioned that the life she led would be very lonely, but she couldn't think of it any other way. The sparkle in her eyes disappeared and a frown began to pull down the corners of her lips.
 

[Leala]

Valeri wrote down the information given to her.  Erlene Hortencia - 16 - Murandy.  When she looked up after she had written it down, the girl seemed to have become crestfallen in a small amount of time.  Well, on a day like this, there was really no telling where one's emotions would take them.  She closed the Book of Novices and replaced it on the shelf.  Then, she opened a cabinet and sorted through various accessories until she found a white headscarf.

 

Setting it on her desk, she addressed the new novice.  "This would normally be the part where I would give you your novice whites, but it seems someone has taken that privelege from me today...they are called novice whites for a reason.  If you would please wear this, I'll keep your green one in a safe place until you reach the shawl."  She waited until Erlene had exchanged her green headscarf for the new white one.  Valeri folded the green one before continuing.

 

"Very good.  Now.  I want to see your clothes clean and free of wrinkles every time I see you."  Once she was sure her words had been understood, she went to the door, opened it, and hailed an Accepted, telling her to take Erlene to her new rooms.  As Erlene left to get a tour of the Tower and to be shown where she would be living, Valeri said, "Welcome to the White Tower, novice Erlene."