Jatasha felt a sharp pang of jealousy when the other woman smiled while she was talking about Carnhain, but she kept her smile fitted into place.  She wasn't about to get into that sort of a fight.  She had enough trouble with the man in her life without starting to act as foolish as a man herself.

"So you do no belong in the calvary.  What do you be doing now then?  Looking for a home still, or do you be joined up with something already?"  It was a friendly question, no matter the flare of jealousy from a moment before.  One of these days she would actually manage to convince herself that she could do it and she would find herself in the Band somehow.  One of these days.  She would.  Somehow.  But not today.

Jatasha

Aramina smiled at the Aes Sedai, the polite smile that always graced her face when she didn't feel the smile but knew it was appropriate.  As an Aes Sedai she had worked at it well.  Being the person that she was had perfected it for Aramina.  Only in the last few weeks had she ever felt empty for using her facade.  She laid the blame of that at his feet.  It was easier to leave it there, to move past and find he way through the darkness of her soul.  He had been her light, her humanity and without it she was shuffling to find the ground.  Lillian and Annais were there for her, she knew but only Lillian knew the truth about the man in her life and only from Aramina's words.  She didn't know what Lillian would think of the secret love of the coldest women in the Tower, but she was certain Lillian wouldn't approve of him.  That Aramina loved him would make her give him a chance though. 

She pushed the thought of him out of her head.  Just as she pushed the thought of her lost serpent ring or what would happen if he ever brought it back to her.  She didn't know and didn't want to torture herself with what she knew would never happen. 

"Thank you.  I can only hope that with time history will record it as such."

Aramina sur Dulciena

Keeper of the Chronicles

Timewalker listened to Orrin as he spoke, talking about what the wolves had shown him.  When asked what it meant she shrugged.  "It's hard to say.  Sometimes you must know the mind of the pack before it becomes easier to understand their thinking.  This pack is new to me.  It also looses in the translation sometimes as well.  Nuances of their images often mean as much as anything.  Over time you'll be taught this though.  Over time you will learn to speak to them and to interpret their call as much as any of us."

She looked at their site and smiled, filling her mug once more.  "A little more rest I think and we can be on our way."  She was quite happy to sit there for a little longer.  When she was on training expeditions Anton sometimes set a hefty pace and she was tired from the journey so far.  And they had quite a way to go to get home.

She smiled at the young man.  "Just another mug to warm me and I promise we'll begin."  She left it at that, trying to be as helpful as she could be.  She still had trouble dealing with people, trouble trusting, but she was getting better.  Time, of all things, and exposure were working their way through her.  She hoped he'd be able to open up a little and just talk about himself, but she wasn't going to push it.  They had the time and it was becoming more and more a friend to her than she would have ever thought.

Timewalker 

Short but sweet!  I like him already! Send him Caelen's way LOL!

Welcome aboard the BT!

Jatasha nodded at the other woman, smiling slightly.  She didn't know her from anyone else, but things started small and she might as well pass her time well.  "I do remember seeing you."  She said after a moment.  "You do still be new around here and you be with another woman, talking to Carnhain when you be signing in with the Band."  Maybe his name might help open the girl up.  A common person to talk about.  So long as she didn't make any bad comments.  Or worse... say the sort of things Jatasha thought about him on all to often an occasion.

"I do be Jatasha Danica." She said, introducing herself for the other woman.  She didn't offer a hand or anything else, just a name and a smile.

Jatasha

Welcome aboard!  And if you need a Greenie to say hi to, let me know!  I'm always available for Rps :P

Aramina shivered slightly as Lillian took her hand, grateful that if she had noticed it, she wasn’t making an issue about it.  Light, she felt like she had gained 50 years in the last few minutes.  She felt a small bubble of panic inside her, ready to burst open, the idea of trading her once secure future for the unknown.  She pushed it down though, knowing that while she had let go of one set of oaths she still held their secrets.  And that while she was no longer bound to Sirayn Sedai, she was bound by something stronger to another and that she had truly given her fate over to his keeping.  She would take it up and push through, but should the day come that he accepted her again, she would follow where he led. 

When Lillian let go she leaned back in her chair, trying to loosen the tension in her body.  She had no intention of ever telling anyone about the Order, or the bond to Sirayn, not even Lillian.  They might be friends, but she would never understand the purpose that Aramina had fulfilled there, nor the chances she had taken.  She was starting to relax when Lillian made a comment about the price for her silence.

Aramina sat up straighter, looking at the other Aes Sedai.  Light, there was always a price, she just hoped she could pay it this time.  When Lillian smiled though, her chest loosened and she shook her head.  Giving a small smile at first, it grew as she pushed aside the masculine voice in the back of her head that pointed out how quickly she had wanted to see the wrong in her Sister who had done so much to help her.  “I think I have just the thing in mind.” A strong wine, something to drown herself in tonight as she began working on this new friendship that had always been within her grasp, but miles away. 

Aramina looked at the Oath Rod before taking it from Lillian.  A chance to be free of the oaths she had spoken 100 years ago?  She didn’t know how to respond to that.  She would never betray the secrets she had learned as part of the Order, but when would she ever be able to undo this ever again?  She pulled the One Power around her, wrapping Lillian as she had requested. 

She opened her mouth to say the words, but nothing came.  Was it really betraying Sirayn to do this?  To take away the oaths that had always been unnecessary between them?  She knew that Sirayn would say it was.  Another voice pulled at her though and she closed her eyes against it.  The voice that said she would always chose Sirayn over any other, that her bond to the woman kept her from being more than she had been.  She didn’t agree with the words.  In the end though, she had made a choice at one point and perhaps if she hadn’t, she’d know where her Serpent ring was right now.  Taking a deep breath, she spoke the words, releasing her from the bonds of loyalty to Sirayn Sedai, to the bonds of loyalty to the Order, and to the bonds of secrecy for both.

She felt empty as she lay the Oath Rod back on the table and let the weaves around Lillian fall.  Empty of the driving force that had pushed her forward for over 100 years, the force that had made her a Banner Captain and had made her worthy to be seen as the Keeper of the Chronicles. 

There was a good reason Aramina kept a good hold of her temper, and that one comment heard above all others was the perfect example.  Her façade was up before she realized she had thought of it, and the tea to her lips in such a casual fashion that to her friend it had to be obvious. 

She set her cup down as the question came from Lillian and her heart stopped for a minute.  Spoken as it was, there was no betrayal of Sirayn or the Order.  It was a simple question.  The only question was, should she answer it.  She could refuse and backpedal her way from it, but that would be an answer either way.  Not only that, but it would erode some of the trust that she wanted to build with Lillian. 

The truth was, Sirayn was gone, and though she didn’t know why, she had to live with that face.  She had to steer her own future now and she had already made her choice of who to steer it with.    The Order was dead with Sirayn at the helm and it was time for Aramina to take a new leap of faith, the one that she had walked away from so long ago.

“Yes, my oaths do seem to be more burdening than those of my other Sisters.”

Aramina looked at the Oath Rod and took it in hand, studying it for a few moments before thrusting it towards Lillian.  She didn’t want to make her friend do this again, but she was right.  Absolute trust between the four of them had to be guaranteed.  If she doubted them, then anything that came out of last night’s impromptu meeting would be useless and covered in suspicion as well.

“Alright, lets get this out of the way then and see what other business we need to cover.  Whether I got sleep or not, the Keeper of the Chronicles still had her duties, and I have an apology I still have to make before I can do that this morning.” She said, in reference to the words she had spoken to the Amyrlin Seat the night before.  It wasn’t going to be pretty, but it was necessary.  It only took a few minutes and Lillian had proven her word.  Resworn, she also swore that both Annais and Meagan had resworn as well and testified that they were not Black Ajah. 

Setting the Oath Rod aside, Aramina took a sip of tea and looked at her friend. “Now, what do you have on your mind?”

The morning light filled the room far too bright and early for the Keeper of the Chronicles.  There were times when she used to revel in the knowledge that the world spun around Tar Valon, and it the Tower, to know that she was a part of that organism that made the clogs of the world run.  Today, it was a tired expression that simply meant she didn’t get to sleep in.  As it had every morning since the fight, Aramina’s mind turned towards the one man that had the power to change everything about her.  She had thrown herself at his feet and only time would tell if he would ever heal enough to believe in her.  Light knew she had trouble believing in herself sometimes.  Sirayn gone, her mind invaded by one of the Forsaken, Aran out of her life, and now the Black Ajah on her doorstep.  If she wasn’t a Green Sister already, she might have changed Ajahs.  The end of days was definitely at hand.  If not, she wasn’t sure she could live through all of this to see them.

She took a deep breath and sat up in bed, having only a moment’s surprise before remembering why Lillian was laying in bed next to her.  She smiled down at the younger woman, refusing to think about the questions that formed in the back of her head.  Like how could someone she had shut out for so long still find her worthy of friendship when the man she loved couldn’t see it in her?  Shaking her head she got up quietly, not wanting to disturb Lillian.  She put a dressing robe on and heard the slight knock at the door to signal her usual breakfast.  Answering the door, she took the tray herself so the novice wouldn’t notice the other Aes Sedai sleeping in her bed.

Setting the tray down, Aramina looked back over and found a rumpled looking Lillian sitting up in bed.  “Good morning.  Hungry?”  Her standing breakfast order had for years contained enough food for two, just in case.

This sort of place always made her nervous.  Jatasha took a deep breath as she leaned against the fence, watching the different people there.  Even since her return from Illian she'd become more and more confused.  Concerned.  Paranoid.  She's always enjoyed coming to the training areas and seeing the others before, but after Carnhain had almost found out about her, she'd become terrified that one of her clients would see her here and say something damning.  She had always asked for discretion from her clients, a simple request of tell your friends but don't scream lewd things across the room sort of thing, and it had worked pretty well so far.  She had heard comments a few times, but nothing more than they would have said for any woman with her known reputation. 

But she couldn't stay cooped up in the citadel all the time and wait around for Carnhain.  She needed the air.  Sometimes, she thought she could almost cross the fences and ask for help, ask for someone to help her pick up a weapon and train her.  Con has given her basic lessons in Illian after seeing her in the battles and knowing she had no skill whatsoever.  That she had survived the first time had been because she simply moved among the fleeing servants and people mistook her as such.  The second because she had found herself in the middle of a fight with one of the Dedicated of the Black Tower and he had worked with her during the battle.

Everytime she came down here she knew she should make her move and learn something, but everytime she walked away, the voice of her father in her head, telling her she was only as good as the coin her bed could make him.  She sighed, looking up at another woman who was standing not far.  Maybe today....

She moved a little closer and smiled at the other woman.  "Do it be feeling like a good day for training?" She asked, her Illian accent thicker than ever for her recent time in Illian.  "Or do this be a day for watching?"

Jatasha

It happened often enough but it surprised her every time.  A child, skidding into the infirmary as if someone were dieing.  Zalena caught the girl's arm before she could raise an alarm.  A novice, and by the looks of her new to it as well.    "What is it Child?" She asked, a little short but if it was a real problem she had need and if it wasn't, the child would get more than a short tongue from her. 

Light, but there were days when she felt her 130 years.  Or perhaps it was just the drink from the night before.  Or the lack of sleep.  But she'd always said there were far better ways to spend the dark hours of the night and she'd managed to find a nice someone to waste the sleeping hours with.  What was his name?  She shook her head of the thought and looked at the novice. 

"Shaneevae Sedai.  I was going to her rooms to help and she's hurt.  There was blood and..."

"Show me the way child."  Zalena was out the door of the infirmary and pulling the girl after her.  A brown sister, but where she was located in the Brown's halls was a mystery to her.  She just hoped the girl could hold her wits together well enough to show her the right room.  "Come on now.  Show me her quarters and i'll take care of everything else." She tried to be reassuring.  "And tell me what you saw as we walk."

"She was in bed still, and there was blood."

No matter what else the Saldean tried to get out of the girl those were the only things that had registered.  That the Brown Sister was still conscious at the time was a good sign.  She just hoped she still was when they got there.  She hurried the novice along and didn't bother with even a single knock at the door.  Instead she went running in to find the Aes Sedai in bed just as the novice had told her.  "Stay here Child in case I need you."  the words were spoken over her shoulder as she moved next to the Brown Sister.

"Shaneevae?  It's Zalena.  Are you still with me?" She asked.  Open eyes but she needed to make sure what was happening before she just threw herself in.  "Can you tell me what happened?"  Even as she asked she opened herself to the One Power and began to work the weaves that would allow her to delve the other Sedai.

Zalena Tesora

Yellow Sister

I still love you... though Jatasha is about to start pouting....

"Explain yourself and your actions.  You have perpetrated a treason against myself, you and your brethren have waged war against the Aiel who saved this city from destruction and you have conspired to commit mass murder and incite rebellion.  How do you justify all of this?"

"How do you?"  It was perhaps not the best start she could have made but the words tripped off her tongue before she could stop them.  It had always been that way, her speeches that head stirred the hearts of men and women had always begun by some off comment she heard, or something that she felt needed responding to.  She never planned them or tried to make a formal speech.  She had done so today, thinking everything over in her head, what could be pointed out and what couldn't, the horrors that had been witnessed that had justified their rebellion against the savages.  She tried to justify to herself that she hadn't slept well while trying to help tend to Luc but in all honesty she knew the words would have been said anyway.  She had learned the Great Game quickly, but she didn't think she would ever learn to control her tongue the way her Grand Aunt reprimanded her to.  Light, what her Grand Aunt would think of her, the poor scared child that had nearly shied away not so long again, inciting rebellion in Cairhein and being asked to account for it before the Dragon Reborn himself.  It would be an interesting meeting, should they ever come face to face again.

"How do you justify leaving your people in the hands of those who would wish nothing more than to burn it all?  Treekillers, is what they call us, because of the act of one man.  When the Shaido fell upon us, yes, your Aiel helped this city, but it was by your order alone.  You asked them to patrol our streets and see to justice." She smiled slightly at the man before her.  "What justice did you ask them to see to?  Did you ask them to make sure that we followed the rules of Cairhein?  Or their rules?  Did you ask them to sentence us by their ways?"

She turned her back and walked closer to the others as she thought about her next words. "We did not rebel against you My Lord Dragon." She said as she turned back to face him.  "We rebelled against those that took justice into their own hands and demanded justice that was not according to our own laws.  We rebelled against people that believed the answer to every crime lay at the end of a spear.  We rebelled because we did not believe you meant to leave these Aiel to kill us.  That they did so every chance they could, was a corruption of our laws and a corruptions of the purpose you left them here for.  We did rebel my Lord, but against that, not you."

It was hard to say if he was taking her words well or not.  Murmurs could be heard among her people as well as the Aiel but she didn't allow herself to think too much on them.  It was only the Dragon Reborn who held the power here and his eyes gave away nothing.  "I am your humble servant My Lord.  If you must exact justice for this rebellion than you can take it from my hide.  I have lived as a Cairhienin and if I die tonight then at least it is with the knowledge that I die a free Cairhienin and not some Aiel slave." The last would incense the Aiel but she cared little for it.  It was not a grand speech that some other Lady might give, but she was the Lady Duclei and she had somehow become the voice of the Sons of Cairhien.  She hoped that she did them some little justice.

Lady Raina Dulcei 

Don't worry... we don't believe what James says anyway :P

OMG!  That is awesome hon!  I'm so happy for you!  You know if there is anything you need... i'm right here :P

Wow.. who would have thought... Aramina is paranoid, schizoid, antisocial, nascissstic and obsessive compulsive :P

Paranoid: Very High

Schizoid: High

Schizotypal: Low

Antisocial: High

Borderline: Low

Histrionic: Moderate

Narcissistic: High

Avoidant: Low

Dependent: Low

Obsessive-Compulsive: High

I took it for Zalena and came out with only moderate Narcissistic tendencies... but I figure she's an Aes Sedai... they're trained that way :P

I am always up for an rp if you'd be interested.  :P  PM me!!!

OK, so a strong Pro-Band sentiment... I got that :P

Anyone else got some ideas for any other division they would like to see us get involved with? 

I prefer the Ajah boards separate as well.  It gives each Ajah it's own identity and keeps it that way.  We have more than enough boards to get joint RPs together within the White Tower.

I read Ata's post today, so we should be ready for you, oh great Captain General :P

I think we should leave that up to her handler.  It's the hardest part of the tradition and since we don't have that many active sisters, it would be pretty short, but i'll take her through it if Quibs wants me to.  I'll PM him and find out.  So are you giving her to me to mentor through GA stuff, or just Battle Weaves?

A small voice beside her brought Aramina's attention away from the sight of the dancers.  She looked to see an Aes Sedai and a polite smile came automatically to her face.  The facade that had been her mask for so many years now still came as quickly and strongly as it always had.  "Please, do join me." She said to the young Aes Sedai's question.  She didn't know the Aes Sedai but she remembered the days of wearing the stole just to remind others of who she was. 

"The Amyrlin's Glory is a wonderful place for a dance.  And a drink." She said as she waived a serving girl over to them.  "What will you be drinking Sister?" She asked, trying to set the young woman at east.  She had been strong enough to approach the newly raised Keeper of the Chronicles.  The least she could do was to make it an easy conversation.

Aramina Sedai

Keeper of the Chronicles

(OOC:  Me.. not interested in continuing an RP ??  I'll be found dead before that happens :P )

He hated all of this, and he almost commented after her remarks on Karli, but decided against it.  Karli was a part of his past and not someone he ever expected to be in his future.  She had been fun, and once upon a time, he had been hurt by her though it was his own misunderstanding that had been at the heart of it all.  He had blamed Aran for that for a long time to, but all things became clear if you gave them enough time.  Not that Aran had.  In Aran's usual way, he blindsided Sana with a few too many truths that he hadn't wanted to know and had walked away from it, months later of course, realizing that the whole ordeal that Aran had set up for him had really been for his own good. 

Now, he knew that he'd played Sahra wrong, even if he had felt it better for them both.  He didn't need months to learn from his mistakes, or to see how stupid he was being.  Sahra was a free woman and just because he refused to touch her didn't mean other men would.  He wouldn't look down on her for it, or hate her for it.  He just had a way to not feel jealous about it.  That was the real problem of course, but it was his problem, not hers.  That he had found her as he had... he knew Sahra.  If he hadn't found her, she'd have come to tell him eventually, trying to make it easier on them all.  Light, why couldn't she have told him instead?

He took a deep breath as she asked for peace.  He stood up and looked at her for a second.  "I... I can't promise to be like it was before Sahra, and I can't promise not to be jealous or hurt.  I'll try though.  Your still my trainee and I hope that you'll still be my friend.  Peace is something I would like between us."  He smiled at her then, a small smile, but it touched his eyes. 

Ursana