Mary had just arrived in Tar Valon, and was not surprised to see the streets packed with people for the Feast of Fools celebration. She wore her feastday best and peered excitedly into each stall she passed. Many were delightfully covered in array of colors and lights, each as vibrant as the next! The smells and sights were wonderful, but her stomach rumbled loudly letting her know it regretted her haste in leaving before breakfast - but wait, was a that pie cart up ahead?
As Mary quickened her pace toward the tantalizing aroma of freshly baked pies, her excitement mingled with the infectious revelry of the Feast of Fools, the air filled with laughter, music, and the occasional burst of fireworks, creating a kaleidoscope of sensations that enveloped the City of Tar Valon in a joyous fervor; however, as she approached the pie cart, the bustling crowd seemed to part inexplicably, revealing a shadowy figure clad in dark, hooded robes, their piercing gaze fixated on Mary with an intensity that sent a shiver down her spine, an unexpected foreboding that whispered of hidden dangers lurking beneath the festive façade, and as she reached for a delectable-looking pastry, a furtive movement caught her eye – a glint of steel emerging from the folds of the stranger's cloak, signaling a perilous undercurrent beneath the merriment that threatened to unravel the festivities into a tapestry of danger and intrigue.
Mary had always bathed her time between the folds of her books, swimming the depths of fictional intrigue and squirreling her time away. Time that had the unfortunate side-effect of over-acting both her imagination, andcuriosity. Really if she had been blessed by the Power, Mary would have made a lovely Brown Sister. However, this day, facing this threat, her warning instincts met her immovable curiosity and froze her feet to the ground as the shadowy figure flashed towards her, short dagger raised, all ready for a strike.
Mary could only watch aghast as the raised dagger fell, her active imagination already experiencing the dull, bludgeoning pain - stab wounds did not feel sharp she knew from her reading - when suddenly the dagger flew away in a burst of motion. An object rolled to a stop at her feet. A pie dish! She had been saved by a... The dark robed figure was knocked onto the ground by a short bosomy woman, who leapt over the pie cart, cannoning into the figure. This unexpected saviour whipped a wooden sword out from a scabbard on her back and started towards Mary's assailant who was already scrabbling backwards, looking for an escape.
Adept at wooden spoonage, Mary's savior beat back the assailant, stirring up a heavy dishing of bruises, however in the shadows of the space between shops a second hooded figure emerged, sword glinting as they came up behind the utensil wielding hero.
As the blade glinted in the sun, Mary noticed a cloaked woman just aside of her. She was wearing a serpent ring. Just as she noticed, so did the assailant who turned and quickly went the other way fading into the crowd. Of course, this is Tar Valon and Aes Sedai would be among the crowd.
Why were assailants trying to murder her? She was just a simple young woman.
