I dare say that I rather love the idea of that party Dar'Jen Sedai. Even should there have been other options they would be hard pressed to defeat you, Sister.

I am happy to award you the painting.

@Skelos

The....Black Ajah is a complicated topic. The answer to your question lies within the topics of: lies, time, fear, politics and denial.

I do not know where you are in your reading of our chronicles, so I must exercise caution in my reply. I will merely say that part of their success, given their scope, is the use of lies. It is far easier to maintain secrecy if you can simply lie about your involvement, knowledge and actions.

Beyond that, time. The Black Ajah have been in operation for an alarming yet unsurprising amount of time. And time often serves as a great teacher and concealer. Undoubtedly learning how to cover their tracks, recruit, and operate within the shadows over the course of their existence, all that knowledge merely grows and engrains itself into better and better ways to stay hidden and functional.

Fear and politics go hand in hand when it comes to this....I loathe to say 'ajah.' The Tower simply fears publicly admitting to its existence, for several reason's I am sure you can deduce. Perhaps the largest reason being it would undermine the efficacy and weight of  the Tower and Aes Sedai as a whole. If people as a whole knew that the Black Ajah existed they would not know which Aes Sedai they could trust. As a result our influence and ability to Serve would plummet to near non-existence. Leaders would dread our council, people would refuse our help.

Last, but certainly not least, you must remember to whom the Black Ajah serves. Retribution from the Dark One and his Forsaken are powerful motivators to stay secret.

@Asha'man Shar'aman

I am afraid I do not share your enthusiasm for it's potential commonplacement.

Not so much an opinion as a curiosity. It is not something I have experience, nor something I have particularly heard of. I fear I fall more in line with my Brown sisters here and am curious to see how it works, how it evolves and what detriment, if any, may come. Cautious curious optimism is, perhaps, the best way to describe it.

There is so much to have been done differently young Warder. So much that a little guidance could have provided. So much pain to have been avoided.  You asked my thoughts and those have been given. I do not however see much to be gained by looking at the past and saying how I would have changed it. It has been done, it has been weaved into the fabric of the Wheel.

As for your new question, I must say that is a prickly situation. It is unknown, that type of bond, the intricacies and workings of it, it is hard to say what that relationship could bring. Not having experienced it, nor having any inclination to, I can only say that in principle I disapprove. Yet I am intrigued.

I do not believe the Asha'man have been established nor trained to the extent needed to, shall we say, take the lead in such a relationship, and that by them bonding an Aes Sedai it may prove detrimental to the Sister involved.

Time will tell.

Oh, my dear Rand.

Thank you for the interest young Warder, it does you well to be alert to such developments. Your question is, however, complicated. The 'Black Tower' and Rand's Asha'man are a source of....how shall I say? Frustration.  For while I understand the need for which they were developed, and clearly their usefulness in the troubled days to come are plain. Their execution was flawed as Rand could have stood to gain much more if my hand were there to guide him through their formation. A fact I do regret.

So much heartache, pain and trouble could have been steered away from him. The path and usefulness of the Asha'man would have been noticeably smoother if handled with a more 'delicate' and finessed touch.

But alas, the Wheel weaves....