The echo of the rap had barely died away before she was staring in the face of Pia Sedai. Oh, dear.

"Oh..." She trailed off, curtsied, manners coming to the fore by instinct. When you saw an Aes Sedai, you curtsied; a life in Tar Valon had taught her that and taught it well.

What it hadn't taught her, however (much to her dismay) was to find one's tongue in the presence of one of these women. Then again, Aes Sedai had that odd effect on everyone. She felt as if she'd been turned into a butterfly pinned into a display for the woman's perusal. And the woman gesturing her in, and returning to her desk, hadn't done anything to her!

Ino racked her brain for the appropriate courtesies. "I'm sorry for disturbing you, Aes Sedai." That was simple enough. She followed the elder woman in, and sat down, smoothing her skirts nervously.

"I was sent here by Maidela Sedai...to sign my name in the Novice book," she explained.

The Blue Ajah is important because....

Ino frowned, stopped writing, and settled back into her chair in the library. Why was the Ajah important? She'd thought she'd known after Estel Sedai's lecture, only to discover that the headful of information she'd gained was so dense it was like an onion. Peel one section back, and another section lay beneath. There was so much the Blue had said, and yet...yet so much she *hadn't* said. Ino's near-year of study at the Tower had taught her that much.

Well, never mind that Estel Sedai had left things unsaid; unsaid things also meant unanswered. And Ino had to suss out the puzzle. Lovely. Taking up her penknife, she began to whittle a new point on her quill while she tried to unwind the skein that was her lesson.

History. That was the key. Blue sisters didn't seem to pursue causes that could be solved in a week; from what she'd heard, their plans spun out over years. Decades. Centuries.

She found herself writing without thinking. Just notes, not the final product.

The Blue Ajah is important because, in their devotion to causes, they have learned to take the long view on nearly everything. While the Brown Ajah immerses itself in history, the Blues take the lessons of history and put those lessons into practice. The causes they pursue cannot be solved in an eyeblink; every change is connected to another, and thus one must learn to predict and anticipate what changes will come of a Blue sister's decision.

It is probably why they excel in the political arena....

As she continued to sketch down her thoughts and arrange them for the final paper, she found herself nodding in agreement.

Maybe I will be Blue, someday.

Ino sought her bed that evening with the intention of never rising again once her head hit the pillow. While Saline was no brutal taskmistress, she was every bit the Accepted that wanted to pull every bit of skill and potential out of her mentee.

If she'd thought touching saidar had been something of a trial, the lesson she'd sat that day had been worse. Not only did Ino have to prove a greater grip on the Power, she'd had to develop finer control over it. That had her sweating, it did. Holding saidar was such a euphoric feeling, she had trouble simply pushing it away as Saline instructed. Quite a few times she fumbled and lost her grasp on it completely. It took many attempts before she was able to complete the exercise correctly - once. Naturally, the Accepted had her repeat it almost immediately to make sure it was no fluke.

By the time Ino finished the third round of the exercise, the late hour plus general exhaustion was giving her double vision. She barely had the wherewithal to slip into her shift and into bed once she got to her room, and she slept so deeply, she had no dreams that she could remember.

She woke the next morning feeling somewhat tired, but accomplished. After a good breakfast in the hall, she worked her way through the rest of the day's classes and chores - and as the hours passed she found herself looking forward to that evening's session. To her credit, she did not run to Saline's chosen room; instead, she tried to stay serene and calm as she made her way down the halls. She needed to get into practice for that, anyway, if she hoped to aspire to where the Accepted was now...

"Saline?" she called, peeking her head in then taking her normal seat. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting long. You said we'd be talking about elements and flows today?"

(Last time on First Touch with Lyh-Lyh and libertine....)

Saline made her introductions and began teaching her mentee, Ino, the ins and outs of One Power basics. However, before she began, she sent the Tar Valon girl off to the library to acquaint herself with the consequences of misuse of the Power. After reading several records, the skeptical Ino understood the seriousness of the upcoming endeavor, and promised to attend with all due concentration.

The Accepted carefully guided the Novice through successfully touching saidar for the first time, then instructed Ino in the needed skill of pushing and pulling on the Power. After all, draw too much or lose control, and bad things could happen.

This exercise was rather tiring, so Saline sent the girl off to bed, telling her they'd meet at their usual time tomorrow.

Now...back to our thread, already in progress.

Ino stepped into the room, glancing right. Yes, this was the right room; the odd word "Daes Dae'mar" was written on the blackboard in neat yet graceful script. And it did not appear that she was late, either. A thin smile flitted over her lips as she walked to the center and took a seat, one row behind the first.

Ah, she wasn't late, but she wasn't the first, either - someone else had beaten her here, and looked as impatient as she felt. The novice nodded quietly to her, settled her skirts to fall properly, and flipped to the first empty page of her ledger.

"What is Daes Dae'mar", indeed. A question she well wanted answered. Apparently, not knowing what it was and saying so in front of a Carhienin earned one the gaze reserved for a freak in a wandering carnival.

"It is the Game of Houses," the novice - Athelta - had said, peering up at the taller Ino. "You do understand that...?"

Ino shook her head. "I'm sorry, Athelta. I've never read much about Carhienin history before." Tar Valon history had been pretty much all she'd been exposed to in her studies, before the Tower.

That had earned her an even more shocked stare, and then laughter. LAUGHTER! And cemented Ino's determination to take this class, right then and there.

"It's only a door," Ino Garvedian murmured as she took in the high arched oaken entryway leading to the Mistress of Novices' chamber. "Honestly, it's nothing you haven't seen before, so just knock and get it over with." She couldn't bring herself to do it, though. At that moment, the shining brass knocker in the middle of the panel gave her more pause than a venomous snake.

Maidela Aes Sedai, the one that'd brought her here, had only come with her this far. After depositing her in front of the door, she'd announced her intention to go on to more important affairs; at Ino's startled blink and stammered beginnings of a question, she'd tilted her head, raising an eyebrow. "Light, child!" she'd said, adjusting her fringed shawl. "Do you honestly expect every step of your way in the Tower to be smoothed over? Some doors you have to walk through yourself. Consider this your first lesson." And then she'd swept away.

The Aes Sedai was right. It wasn't like she was going to sign Ino's name into the Novice book. She took a deep breath, lifted one hand, then dropped it again, smoothing her skirts nervously.

Light save us all, Ino! She could hear her eldest sister Ivalice in her ear, almost spitting with aggravation. She wasn't sure why her conscience seemed to always chose to sound like her sister, but it was bloody effective. NOW what?!?!

"I don't hear anything within. Maybe she's out, or...she's busy. Yes. That -"

Sigh. Ohhhh. So you're affecting politeness to avoid me pointing out that you're scared?

Ino gasped. Her spine stiffened. Her dark eyes flashed. There were certain things one never said about Ebou Dari women...!

Oh please, her conscience drawled, for all the world sounding like Ivalice when her husband was being particularly difficult. You've never been within fifty miles of Ebou Dar.

Neither have you! Ino shot back defensively. And that's as may be -

You're scared.

I am NOT!

She could practically see her sister giving her that look. I don't see you proving it.

Ino was not scared. She was NOT! Really. Honestly. Her hand leapt of its own accord to the knocker, and rapped it twice against the heavy wood. Perhaps she slammed it a bit too hard, in retrospect; she hadn't known sound echoed quite that loudly....