Arrival at the Tower (attn : MoN)

[Hayl3y]

The White Tower could be seen from very far away, glowing in the sunlight in the distance, as a central piece of the beautiful Tar Valon, and resting on a huge island connected to the mainland by a couple of bridges. As soon as Myrrhi had seen it, all the hardships of her journey had disappeared. She had never had the chance to go outside of Camelyn, she had never had the chance to travel far from her home. And now, there she was, happy and far from the boring life her mother had programed for her. True, she didn’t smell as good as before, she only owned the clothes she was wearing, there were holes in her boots and her back and feet were sore. But it was worth it, Myrrhi thought. Riding horses, sleeping in inns were things she had read about in the few novels she had owned. But, clearly, it had not been as comfortable as she had expected. But it didn’t really mattered anymore.

 

Myrrhi sighed once more and turned her head, smiling, towards the Brown Sister who was accompanying her. Deana Sedai, she had to call her. The woman had seemed to be quite young in the beginning but the knowledge she had, had made Myrrhi doubt that she could be any younger than 200 years old. Most of her travel time had been filled with lessons about history: World history, Andor history but also White Tower history, and so on. Different Ages had been mentioned as well as the Black Tower, the Children of the Light. Myrrhi wondered why soldiers would be glad to be called children but she had decided not to raise the question. To her astonishment, her favorite stories hadn’t been the ones about Camelyn court and its love stories but the ones about the recent and less recent battles. Deana must have been a storyteller in one of her previous life, because Myrrhi had been in awe when the Aes Sedai told her of the most important wars with all their gory details, even though that was not a really lady-like topic to talk about.

 

-          How long do you think it will take for us to arrive down there, Deana Sedai ?

-          Not much longer, Child. In a couple of hours will be able to pass through the White Tower door.

 

The Aes Sedai replied with a smile. She had loved to see how enthusiastic the young girl had been about the White Tower and the lessons she had given her. Of course, her temperament had not been novice-like but Deana had decided not to intervene. Myrrhi had been polite, eager to learn and helpful and that had been sufficient enough. Surely, the Mistress of Novices would have enough time to explain her how novices were supposed to address full raised sisters. The girl had needed history courses in priority. And that goal was more or less achieved. It was sad that the journey was at its end, as the Brown Sister would have wanted to talk about nature and the use of different herbs and stone powders. Maybe, she’ll have the chance to have Myrrhi as a student when she’ll be an Accepted.

 

The last hours of travel went by in the blink of an eye. Deana had asked various questions to Myrrhi to check out how well she had paid attention to all the stories she had been told, then had given more details when she had noticed the girl couldn’t remember the name of various generals and their mistresses. Overall though, Myrrhi had proven she had a very good memory and Deana had felt quite proud. The Aes Sedai had been so deep in the conversation that she barely noticed the girl calling her Deana and forgetting about her title.

 

When Myrrhi arrived in front of the Tower doors she couldn’t help shivering. She climbed down her borrowed horse and nodded to the servant who gently took it away, after the girl had patted it a last time. She didn’t have to wait long though. Another Aes Sedai had appeared suddenly behind her. No one could have missed what the woman was, as she was wearing her blue shawl with pride.

 

-          What is your name, Child?

-          Myrrhi, Morrigen, Ma’am.

 

The Aes Sedai looked at her brown sister.

 

-          Haven’t you taught the girl how to address an Aes Sedai properly?

 

Myrrhi blushed and rephrased her answer as politely as she could. Deana answered the lady and chatted a bit with her. And so the girl discovered that she had been greeted by the Mistress of Novices. Remembering everything that her travel companion had said, she decided to appear as meek as she could. She didn’t even raised her head when she heard that Deana had to leave straight away to check out something in her books, even though it made her panic. She would have no more known faces around her.