Eve of dispair

[Lauren]

Lauren had been running for so long that every breath ragged like fire through her throat. Blindly she took another alley, not caring where she went, as long as she could get away from the man who still persued her. She could hear his muttered cries and flopping feet on the pavement, but the sounds were getting fainter. That was a good thing, but she was not out of the woods yet.

 

An aching pain in her side now accompanied the burning in her chest, and she knew she could not go on much further. Her left eye throbbed, and she knew she would see it all blackened and blue when she would have had a chance to glance at a mirror. Spitting on the ground while running, Lauren tried to get the taste of blood out of her mouth - yet again. She hoped that the bitemark she'd given that bastard would be there till - till the world ended for all it mattered to her.

 

Panting, she rounded yet another corner and found herself on a very large square, paved with cobblestones in nicely shaped figures. It was very quiet, being late into the night already, and here and there she could see lights winking through closed shutters. A huge mass of stone rose up before her, and involuntarily, Lauren raised her head to see where it ended. With her neck craned and her eyes squinting, she could eventually make out the top of the structure. It was undoubtedly the largest building she'd ever seen in her lifetime, and it gleamed softly in the starlight. It's completely white was the first incoherent thought that went through her head - and it was then that she realised that the sounds of persuit had dissipated. Either the brute was waiting for her just around the corner, standing still to catch a sound, or he'd given up and went home. Or back to her mother.

 

I will never go back there.

 

That life was not for her, that much was clear by now. She still shuddered at the thought of his hands on her, feeling her up and down in places where she wasn't meant to be touched. Not now, maybe not ever. And staying with her mother would only repeat the same situation, over and over again. Being a harlot's daughter had never felt shameful, because it was the only thing she knew in life. It still did not feel shameful. Just not for her. Never for her.

 

Lauren peeked around the corner, but the streets behind her were deserted. He'd really given up. Question was, what was she to do now? Slowly she crossed the square, turning this way and that, but neither side looked very appealing. The enormous white building seemed to loom over her until it felt it would drop upon her, and a dizzy spell took hold of her. It was all she could do to sit down on the great white marble steps that led up to the huge building. Every bone in her body seemed to hurt - she had no coin to speak of, her dress was tattered and worn. She had no shoes on her feet and the last time she'd seen a bath was two days ago. Tiredly, Lauren rested her swollen face in the cup of her hands and started to cry.

[Guest Celes]

What was it about late evening walks that had Farrah so worried over the Gray who left to clear her head. Phaedra shook her head as she heard her maiden servant’s words ring in her ears, “Please stay in, take an escort if you must,” but she had waved that off as it was simply ridiculous that an Aes Sedai, no a Sitter of the White Tower could not head out after midnight to get some fresh air. Farrah said she would wait up for Phaedra who merely shrugged and then commented on the early mornings she expected her servant to be ready again. The woman knew Phaedra well enough after all those years they spent together in this strange friendship of loyalty and respect to know that Phaedra meant she ought to get some sleep rather than to wait up for a cranky old woman to return from a lonely stroll.

 

The moon came out and Phaedra allowed herself to move the cloak higher up around herself so she could hide from the cold wind that started to gust. The Tower grounds were long and wide and at this hour, with so little folk out, the wind had a free play and would not give that up easily. She shivered lightly, but mostly reveled in the fact that it was nice and quiet outside. Or at least, it was until she neared the main entrance and heard a soft voice, whimpering or maybe even crying. Phaedra imagined it was some novice who got on the wrong side of Faerzyne’s knowing eyes and grimaced a little at the remembrance of her youth under the care of the Mistress of Novices. Her fellow Gray followed a long line of Mistresses who could make any novice weep for days and nights on end if they wished to. She decided to call this girl out and take her back to her quarters, after a talking to about her leaving the novice quarters after bedtime. This simply did not do, not even for frightened young women in white.

 

However, when she looked she found a slender young woman, who laid curled up against the side of the steps, crying and looking very lonely to the Gray Sister who suddenly was not sure she should not turn back and forget she’d ever seen this girl. She was clearly not a novice, dressed in something that looked like she had dragged it through the mud and then along some branches before putting it on. But hold on, she looked beaten, bruised and hurt by someone and now she was trying to find protection here? It was the duty of all Sedai to take in those who needed care and protection so Phaedra took a step forward and spoke in a solemn, yet for her kind voice, “What’s the matter child, why do you cry?” and then reached out her hand to help the young woman up to her feet.

Phaedra Eskarne

First Voice

Gray Sitter

 

Short description fo Phaedra: always dressed in black or deep gray colors. Usually a long dress with a high necked bodice. She has long deep brown hair, very straight combed and dark tilted brown eyes. She is a bit older even with her ageless features and quite short for a Cairhienin. Maybe around the same height as Lauren, hope this helps. :)

My bio

[Lauren]

The sound of a voice and a hand on her shoulder brought Lauren back to the present, and she involuntarily cringed away from the touch. The woman who stood stooped over her seemed very tall from her point of view, but when she scrambled backwards, a little up the stairs, Lauren found that they were probably of a height. The woman looked imposing though, as if radiating a non-tangible aura of power.

 

She obviously also was very rich, judging from her dress and demeanor.

 

Hastily, Lauren tried to hide her dirty feet below the hem of her torn dress, but it wasn't long enough to cover all and besides, her hands and arms were equally dirty and the black eye didn't do much to improve her appearance. With a tired sigh, Lauren gave up and glanced away from that strangely ageless face.

 

"I have nowhere to go. I don't even know my way around this city ... is there maybe a poorhouse I could go to - or do you know of somewhere where they might give me a job?"

 

It sounded so brave, but the look on Lauren's face and the shiver in her voice belied the mature stance she tried to take on her situation. She wanted nothing more than to be taken up and put to bath and bed, just for one night if need be. Something to eat, a decent place to sleep. And in the morning she could consider her options. But she didn't want to sound like a beggar, nor ask for money or food. She only needed some directions and then she'd be ok again. Maybe.

[Guest Celes]

The girl asked Phaedra if there was a place for her to go, a job for her to find. Did she mean in the White Tower? Phaedra looked the girl over with a wondering gaze and took her by the hand without saying a word. “I do not know of any poorhouse in Tar Valon, but any stranger in need who knocks on the doors of the White Tower is welcome to come in and I will show you to our Infirmary now,” she expected the strange girl to follow her blindly as she would expect from anyone and had to hide her surprise when the girl struggled and broke free from her grip.

 

The girl was frightened, Phaedra realized and looked her in the eyes with a calm gaze, “My name is Phaedra Eskarne, I am Aes Sedai in the White Tower and I want to help you, will you let me?” She nodded, slowly, too slow and Phaedra waited, and then asked, “What is your name child?” She decided not to ask what had happened to her, as the trauma might make her run further now and there was something about this girl and her late arrival at the steps of the Tower that intrigued Phaedra. Maybe it was a turning of the wheel that brought her here, maybe she could be learn and wear the novice white herself? She made a mental note to test this girl once she was cleaned and checked out in the Infirmary, but for now she demanded the girl’s cooperation and to make out a name for herself. Any name, to call her by that as she would take this girl to the Yellows.

 

Phaedra

[Lauren]

Lauren felt as if she had fallen from one strange situation into another. The woman, who called herself Phaedra, seemed to think that she would blindly follow where the other led, but Lauren had had to fend for herself for too long to be so easily guiled. The woman seemed genuine, as seemed her appearance, but appearances could deceive and this was a strange city, with strange customs. It seemed as if Phaedra believed that the two prhases "Aes Sedai" and "White Tower" would explain it all. How odd.

 

"Will you let me help you?"

 

Slowly, almost against her will, Lauren nodded, but it went half-heartedly. She had to admit that an infirmary would probably be the best place for her at the moment, and it actually sounded like heaven, but why this interest? It was not as if she had anything to offer. When the woman asked Lauren for her name, Lauren hesitated again. Give a fake name? But what good would that do? She had no assets, nothing to her name anyway so giving it to someone would not render that other more powerful then. With a small shrug she relented.

 

"My name is Lauren. And I do not know what an Aes Sedai is. Are you some kind of physician?"

 

Lauren

Not quite knowledgeable in world history ...

[Guest Celes]

Phaedra wondered where this girl had come from, the wheel sure brought on great tidings if a woman appeared at the steps of the Tower who did not know where she was, or who the Aes Sedai were. She could of course lecture the child in the White Tower history, but for now she chose to keep it very simple and mostly very inviting to be joined inwards, rather then to remain outside. Having stood still for awhile now, the chill started to run down her back and she found herself wanting for a cup of black tea by the fireplace.

 

“I can tell you all about it once we are inside, the most I can tell you in a few words is that I live in the Tower you stand before, I live here and work to better the world and battle the Shadow.” She chose her words careful, trying not to scare Lauren, was that her name or had she made it up, Phaedra believed her as she looked too tired and worn-down to lie and so she continued, “If you come with me, you can meet other Aes Sedai who are specialized in Healing, whereas I am more interested in worldly politics and justice.” It was difficult to read Lauren’s face and to see if the young woman trusted her or not. Phaedra waited and then reached out her hand again, “To the Infirmary then?”

 

Phaedra