Sial had to fight the urge to dance. As it was, it was difficult not to drop the book, now open on the line '...not only what is collectively known as the Borderlands but the tenuous relationship with the Aiel...',  in her enthusiasm. Raeyn Sedai was going to take the other Sister away! Surely a Novice would not be left to reasearch unsupervised, so she could get dismiessed. She could drop this tedious task, look up a cure for Coal, maybe sit in the gardens, get some dinner-

“Before we leave, perhaps you should see what your young assistant has found, if anything.” the Brown Sister finished. Any delight Sial had felt at the likelihood of getting away evaporated. Oh buggery! I cant say anything! They'll get cross at me for being a Novice bloody slacking and I'll spend the rest of the day-and probably the rest of my bleeding life too-cleaning chamberpots as punishment. Arg! I'll...I dont know!...I'll...blag...

In desperation, Sial scanned the page. '...and the mightiest nation this side of the Aryth Ocean is acknowledged even by the savages, who the might Monarch of Cairheinin continues to negotiate patiently with despite the Aiel lack of understanding in the concept of Ambassadorship. May the Royal line of Cairhein live forever, light be willing! In the case of Tar Valon...' The Novice kept her face neutral-you couldnt play merchants off against eachother if your face told your infomation for free-but her eyes darted. Time for some quick thinking.

"Yes Aes Sedai, though I have not been working for long. On this, I mean. I mean, all Ive found out is the general overview of...um, this book." A Cairheinin accent was not meant for umming and ahhing and usually the mere sound of herself would have been enough to trip the young woman over her words. In this case, however, the waffling gave her a chance to think. To think very, very quickly. She adressed Ava but switched eye contact between the two Sisters when she spoke, in a bolder tone.

"I have only had a chance to check this book, Aes Sedai, and I havent read much beyond the prologue but Ive found out several things. First, this was written before the relationship between Cairhein and the Aiel soured, in the time of a king or queen. Second, it contains referances to Ambassadorships between the North-the Borderlands and Tar Valon included-and Cairhein. And third, its been written by some bloo-ah, someone of noble blood or maybe someone who wanted to suck up...er, who wanted to gain royal favour, so its strongly biased." Sial tried not to shrink under the eyes of the two Aes Sedai. She was not particularly tall and wanted to keep every inch she had when facing these women, even in response to a question.

"I hope that helps Aes Sedai" she added, standing to throw in a clumsy half-curtsy for good measure. That ought to do it. She'll know if thats what shes after. Light, I wonder what she is after? She'd better not be bloody messing with Maerone...not unless she's planning to soot up some chimneys. Dami can make a fourtune if she did that. Oh, who bloody cares what the bloody woman is up to? Let me go, lady!

It was the middle of the night, way past the 9pm Novice curfew. It was the middle of the night and yet the Blue quarters of the White Tower was flooded with women in white dresses. Well, perhaps flooded was an exaggeration-there couldnt be more than 20- but it still could have been a funeral party with the amount of white were it not for the amount of conspiratal whisperings and muted giggling. It didnt take a genius to work out the drift of what was going on and Sial was hardly stupid. The Novice had been more than surprised to find such a lot of other Novices out at night in one place. And horified-horrified that she had somehow missed hearing about this. It wasnt so much that she was offended; she had made no particular friends yet amongst the other Novices  and so did not feel left out exactly. It was that she prided herself on ratting out infomation. If I only found this by chance, how many other events have I missed?

Sial tagged onto the back of the group, trying to be inconspicuous. An Accepted-one of the ones she had followed in-faced the others, her air of command slightly dampened by the fact that she was holding a friends hand. A "friend"-Sial tried not to flush and changed her line of thought. There were some things that were to be kept behind closed doors and were no one elses business. Assuming that was the case, of course...feeling her pale cheeks starting to colour, she scowled to herself and listened to what the Accepted was talking about.

“Good morning, ladies!" the woman in the banded dress announced in a very Illian accent. She was not short but then Sials 5'4" saw most people as tall regardless of how they measured up to the non-Cairheinin world. The Accepteds hair was curled and brown, a much richer shade than Sials own and considerably less scruffy. She was freckled too but hers were more noticable than Sials own and while Sial hated her freckles, barely there though they were, the Accepteds made her seem pretty and slightly mischievious rather than making her look like she had some sort of horrible pox.

"I do be hoping you be having enough sleep for the night. It do be time for us to strike back at our ... tyrannical oppressors! Yes, let them do be feeling the wrath of our gathered ... ah ... vengeance!” Ah. So its a rebellion. A rebellion of Novices and Accepted? These few against a whole bloody Tower? Light, even if they are the strongest channelers in the Tower, theyll get trampled under numbers! And planning a rebellion in an Ajah! They must be bleeding mad! What are they planning to do, break a few vases and burn a few books? Theres no hope in hell that this lot could take down the Tower. They really must be mad! If they honestly think Aes Sedai are that feeble, Im getting out of here right now and telling someone theres a rebellion. Im not getting bloody crushed, no sir!

The Accepted was not finished yet. “So long as nobody do be getting hurt, I no do be caring what you decide to get up to. You can go by yourselves, or in groups, I no do be caring, but if you get caught you do be on your own! Do there be any questions? If not, then let’s get cracking!” Sial breathed a sigh of relief. She wasnt mixed up in a rebellion, then. More of an organised...an organised what? Organised trouble? It was still madness...this many would get caught...still...

Wouldnt it be fun? a wicked little voice whispered in Sials mind. A chance to do whatever you feel like. If you are going to get in trouble, why not go the whole hog?

Ive got no one I hate here, not really reason argued back in her head. The Novices havent really spoken to me, let alone the Accepted, so I can hardly hate them. Eqwina Sedai may have been miserable but she gave me a horse and Lillian Sedai may make me do stupid things but she lets me get away with stuff too.

Of course, as was usually the case, the Voice of Reason was crammed into a box and stamped on while the Voice of Badness ran amok. Sial had no reason to be here; she could get in trouble and she hadnt been invited, but stupid or not she was going to stay. She was going to stay, she was going to get caught but she was bloody well going to enjoy herself!

The voice of reason piped up again. Whose to say someone here wont get cold feet and rat on the rest of you? It was a reasonable enough point. Hesitantly, Sial half-raised her hand from the back of the group and spoke up.

"'Scuse me? What happens if someone gets caught and squeals on everyone else?" She felt eyes on her, strangers eyes, and felt awkward. Then continued talking, her language deteriorating the more defiant she felt. "If someone does that to me, I swear I'll hunt the Trolloc-kissing cow down and make her regret it, but thats going to be bloody hard if Im too bruised to sit down and confined to washing bleeding pots for the rest of my life."

Sial Daemoa liked the library. It was perhaps a strange place to appreciate when she only got a day off every 20 days, unless her lessons got cancelled or she finished a chore extra early, but she liked the library all the same. There were books, for a start. Sial knew how to read but that was more luck than judgement; her mother had been too busy for books and she had always been skeptical of wether her father and uncles knew their letters at all and, as such, a luxury like books had not been common back in her home in Maerone. The books, in such numbers, were facinating but her attraction to the library was more than that. There was a peacefulness to it.

This particular day was not a day off but her main chore had been cleaning fire grates and so she had finished with time to spare: you didnt spend your life as a chimneysweeps daughter and not pick up a few tricks. This particular day she was not in the library entirely for lesiure, either. She had nipped into the stables to visit Coal, a heavy horse that had been an unintentional gift from Eqwina Sedai, and had noticed the massive grey animal was less chirpy than usual and that his nose was running. Sial liked Coal a lot but did not claim to be an equine expert. The Tower grooms looked after Coal as well as all the other White Tower horses and while they did their job well, she avoided them as much as possible to avoid calling attention to herself. She wasnt entirly certain that Novices were technically allowed horses, despite an Aes Sedai being the one who had given her Coal four months ago, and if that was the case she definatly didnt want the grooms poking their noses in and getting her big grey pet confisgated. No grooms meant no one to ask for horse infomation, though, which had lead her to the Library.

The trouble was that the Library was so big. Sial had had no idea where to start looking for infomation on why a horse might have a runny nose. She had stopped, just for a moment, to consider her predicament, twiddling the end of her plait around her finger and scowling.

Standing still, however, seemed to have been the wrong thing to do when a cross sounding Aes Sedai in a pretty lavender gown called to her. “If you have nothing better to do than stand there, child, help me sort through this selection of books. I need to you to take notes of all books that have references to ambassador rights in Cairhien for the past 200 years.”

200 years?! She must be bloody joking! Sial had hesitated, but only for a moment. She did have something better to do but she wasnt totally daft. You didnt go telling a full Sister that you couldnt help her because your horse might have a cold, not unless you particularly wanted to be scubbing pots with black-and-blue buttocks for the next Age. Coal would have to wait. Besides, any work for an Aes Sedai could be useful...she walked rather warily over to the lavander-gowned sister and sat down beside her.

The sooty-eyed Cairheinin felt awkward. Awkward was putting it lightly. The Aes Sedai in an irritable, lets-give-the-lazy-Novice-a-rubbish job mood and now she couldnt escape. Sial picked up a book to look busy but she was too dazed to actually work. She felt wrongfooted. The day had started so well, what with getting such a straightforward chore and having the chance to pet her horse but now...Light, let this be easy. Even as she thought it, Sial realised exactly how many books were in the Aes Sedais selection. Light, 200 years? It will take me that long to read one of these buggering great books! In the future some doddery old Brown will decide to look for a Cairheinin ambassadorism book for a bit of light reading and will find my withered corpse jamming up the pages. Assuming I dont die of boredom in the next 200 minutes...

Almost as if her thoughts had called her, a Brown sister appeared. Sial did not even know the sisters name but knew the sister was Brown from catching a fragment of conversation on one of her own excursions to the Library. This particular Brown was not the doddery old figure of Sials musing but a sensible, tired looking woman in a violet dress that contrasted rather nicely with that of the lavender-clad sister. “Hello... Eva, is it? You look frustrated... do you wish assistance in anything?”

Sial did not presume that the woman was talking to her. Instead, she made a mental note that lavender-dress was Eva Sedai, assuming, of course, that the Brown had not made a mistake. Lavender-dress replied “Good day, Raeyn and thank you for offering your help, it is not frustration you see, but an hour too long of studies I guess.”

Again, Sial noted the name but also made a good pretense of reading the book in front of her. Lavender-dress sounded frustrated, whatever she claimed, and the Novice had no intention of irritating her further by appearing to slack. She carefully picked up a quill and a piece of paper.

“I see that you carry a book in the same series as one I am reading,” the woman continued, suddenly looking interested in the Brown sister. Sial stopped imitating scanning the page and looked up, intregued at the change of tone. “Would you be so kind to have a seat and maybe discuss the topic with me? I am studying the ambassadorship in Cairhien and am slightly pressed for time to go over all these volumes.” The woman looked straight at Sial, who shifted in her seat, but either did not see that she had stopped reading or did not care to make an issue of it. Thats interesting...whats she up to?

To cover the fact that she was trying her hardest to eavesdrop, the Novice made her dark-lashed eyes look at the page before her. '...cairhein has been the centre of both commerce and social advancement in years and under its current talented monarch promises to rival the glory of Artur Hawking. In particular, it can be noted that the recent relationship bewteen the country and...' Out of nosiness more than anything else, Sial read the page she was looking at properly. She was a surprisingly quick reader for a commoner and by the time she had finished the page, she had sussed why Ava-Sedai was so snippy. Anything titled 'Cairheinin relations with the North' promised to be about as fun as poking yourself repeatedly in the eye with a chimney brush. That page alone made the Novices own temper deteriorate a notch; not only was it blatently written by some suck-up noble who wanted to get into the monarchs favour, she would probably have to read the entire book to see if there were any references to Ambassador rights at all.

Sial titled her bit of paper 'A list of books that contain references to the rights of Ambassadors in Cairhein' in her appauling writing, then doodled a hangman on the corner of her page as her mind drifted back to the Aes Sedais conversation. Eavesdropping was so much more fun than reasearching...

Sial Daemoa

Nosy, nosy Novice

Sial knew nothing about Vera Cadsanome-or at least she hadnt. On entering the Aes Sedai's room, however, she automatically tried to change that. It was habit but even if it wasnt, she wouldnt have been able to miss certain things. The personal touches. Even those who were out of the Tower for years at a time couldnt help but pick up a few personal items, have there rooms just so, and Vera Sedai was no exception. That chair for example. It said something about its owner. The whole room did if you knew what to look for. Sial just had to work out exactly what it was she was trying to see.

It was easier to examine the Aes Sedai herself than spend precious moments of nosiness trying to guess what the room might mean. Vera Sedai was not ugly and Sial guessed that, had it not been for the ageless look that unnerved some, men might find her attractive. Her eyes were certainly pretty, grey like her Ajah, but in Sials experience there were few people in the world who didnt have pretty eyes. Eyes were too alive to be unattractive. After 3 months in the Tower, she knew it was considered rude to think of an Aes Sedais age...but she couldnt help wondering. The Aes Sedai was smiling. That was a relief, at any rate.

Sial stood still. Carefully. She didnt want to stand like some uppity little noble chit but she couldnt bring herself to creep and crawl more than necessary. She would chirp honourifics and bob (bad) curtsies like a good little Novice until the cows came home but she wasnt going to go over the top. She may sweep floors and scrub pots and run letters around but she still had got some pride. "My name is Sial, Vera Aes Sedai," she said in her precise Cairheinin voice. She curtsied and made a pigs ear of it too. Rather hurriedly, she skipped straight ahead to the letter. "Arette Sedai told me to bring you this letter." She held up the letter, trying to look-what? What was a Novice meant to look like? Dress or not, she was still the chimney-sweeping, merchant-stirring, kitchen-breaking, Reader-annoying young woman she had been 3 months ago. 19 or not, she still looked like a 16 year old street urchin. Whats the point in trying? Any day now Ill screw up and they'll say that Eqwina Sedai made a mistake and send me packing. Grr. Bloody...Tower.

It was big, it was fat, it had an expression like thunder and that was not just referring to the Head of the Kitchens. A half grown wild boar hung on a spit, piggy eyes shut and tusks in a snarl it had probably worn in life as well as now. No one seemed to have any idea who had ordered a wild boar for dinner but whoever it was deserved a clip round the ear, Aes Sedai or not. Not only was the sizzling pig decidedly creepy, it seemed to be ajitating the Kitchen staff with the simple fact that it needed to be prepared.

Sial Daemoa, sleeves of her novice whites rolled to shoulders as usual and looking scruffy even by her standards,stood across from the spitroast washing Sea Folk Porcelain goblets with soapsuds up to her elbows. Goblets were getting off lightly; across the room, some poor novices were scrubbing greasy roasting trays. Still, goblets were enough. The cairheinins hands were shriveled after being in water for so long and her skin crawled with an umpleasent grimey sensation. Ive probaly soaked up enough bloody washwater to go the next month without drinking she thought grumpily to herself, splashing a dirty goblet into the bowl with a little more force than stricly necessary and causing a cascase of bubbles to spill down her skirts.

"Bloody brilliant..." Sial muttered under her breath, flicking at her skirts with one hand. Almost 4 months of being at the White Tower had not managed to stop her cursing under her breath and it certainly had not resigned her to washing up. She didnt think anyone had noticed though-the kitchen staff certainly were rushing about in bad tempers too much to bother with a silly little Novice. Perhaps another Novice, or even an Accepted, would notice but then they were rushing about too. She scrubbed at her dress a little to vigourously. The precious Sea folk procelain slipped in her wet hand and fell...

With a yell, Sial dived for the goblet. She suceeded in catching it unharmed. She also suceeded in upending her washing up bowl. A cascade of suds and bubbles hit the floor and spread across the tiles. Sial wacthed, dark eyes wide with horror, as those who had not heard the clatter of the bowl or her own squeal continued hurrying. Hurrying past the spitroast. Hurrying toward the expanding pool of water...

Sial Daemoa

Clumsy Novice

(OOC: Feel free to run to the MoN, add to chaos, slip and break a leg ect ;))

Sial had watched the Keeper open the note but it was her reaction that was most interesting. The Novice was young but not stupid. Wards and letter burning? There had to have been something important in that note, either to the Tower or to Arette Sedai and Lillian Sedai. The 'more letters' was interesting too. It suggested that more Aes Sedai would be involved. Sial didnt know what exactly they were involved in but if she delivered another letter, she would have three names. Perhaps this will be more interesting than I thought. Light, who'd have thought that playing carrier-pigeon could be as useful as eavesdropping in a marketplace?

The cairheinin had been quite well behaved as far as propriety went and she was pleased with herself. She was more pleased, however, that the older woman hadnt equired further into her appearence. The sudden laundering of her novice whites, now that had shocked her. She still wasnt entirely used to spontanious channelling and the nature of the chanelling alarmed her because it was so practical. No story ever accused Aes Sedai of practicality but a Weave that could wash, mend and iron all at once was frankly genius. Sial itched to learn that one. Why do they need servants and Novices to wash their clothes if they can do that? I could buy one outfit and break it in and Id bloody well never need another one!

Sial felt a little silly standing on a chair and considerably embarassed that she was essentially being dressed by the Keeper but, thankfully, she had never been measured for a dress (she had got her clothes from hawkers and carts premade) and so the image of a noblewoman at a dressmakers never entered her head all the while Arette Sedai was fixing her shoes. If it had, her face would probably have caught fire. As it was she could feel her cheeks heating. When Arette was finished, the Novice dress looked better than it probably had new. Even the Novices hair seemed neater alongside such an improved appearence of her clothes. Sial resisted the urge to roll her sleeves up.

"This is a one time only event. If I ever see you in such state again, you and the Mistress of Novices will have a nice little chat. You were spared only because I need the letter sent. Shoo now, child. The Wheel waits on no woman." The Keeper sounded annoyed but not murderous. Sial couldnt believe her own luck. She jumped off the chair with probably more enthusiasm than was proper and curtsyed as best as she could manage. It turned out looking like she was trying to use her skirts to fly while bowing but that couldnt be helped. "Yes Arette Sedai, thankyou Arette Sedai!" With the letter in one hand and a final nod of her head to Arette, Sial scarpered.

Closing the door to the Keepers office, Sial hopped in victory. She was alive and unscarthed! Arette wasnt a bad old stick, really. That or Sial was too beneath her notice for her to concern herself with. Either way, she had survived meeting the Keeper without getting beaten or thrown out of the Tower or giving away excessive personal infomation or swearing. That was enough to class as a victory in Sials book. She swished her newly whitened skirt and trotted off along the corridor before she remembered the letter in her hand. Who is Vera Cadsanome? She had better be in the bleeding Gray Ajah quarters; I wont recognise her if I pass her. Anyway, Ill chuck her this letter, run back and hope Lillian Sedai hasnt noticed how long Ive been gone and then get back to those merchants... No matter how fun the merchant reports were, however, this was real life and Sial was intregued as to what Lillian and Arette were so fussed about. She pondered that as she headed down the Tower.

The Gray Ajah quarters were refreshingly neautral in apperance with noting that Sial could see that would particularly offend anyone, unless someone happened to find neutrility offensive. Servants drifted and the occasional Warder strode past the young dark eyes woman as she entered with her letter. The Warders interested Sial more than she cared to admit. She had never thought men a particularly big part of her life-the boys of Maerone certainly never got far with her-but after three months of essentially female company, she was missing males. Not in the husbandy sense; love was a fairytale as far as Sial could see, made up to use against children like Trollocs and channeling men. It was the company she missed. Having grown up with a brother and a mass of uncles, she missed the joking and teasing and even the random rib-cracking bearhugs.

None of the Warders in the Gray Ajah looked particularly huggy, rib breaking or otherwise. Sial carefully avoided them, concentrating on the grey tiles floors. She stopped at a rather bossy looking maid with a broom to ask directions to Vera Sedais room.

"Over there," the maid replyed sniffily despite her Illianer accent, "Though how you expect me to be knowing, I dont know, though I do be knowing but thats neither here nor there. Get along with you! I be busy!" She continued sweeping the floor. Sial scowled but did not say anything in retort to the womans snippy tone. Servants, women servants especialy, knew were Novices stood in the Aes Sedai heirarchy and did not have to show the respect they would do to a full sister. "Thankyou for your help," Sial replyed with a coldness that could put midwinter to shame.

She strode rather ungraciously in the direction that the servant had indicated and stopped outside the door. There she rather carefully checked her appearence. Just because Arette Sedai had let her get away with looking like she had been wrestling pigs didnt mean other Aes Sedai would be so lenient and Sial didnt want to push her luck after such a close call previously. She pulled down her sleeves that she had uncoinciously managed to roll up somewhere between the Gray Quarters and the Keepers office and flicked stray wisps of brown hair behind her ears. Then she stood on toptoe, letter in one hand, and knocked on Vera Cadsanomes door.

Cheers Arette! I knew Id sen something about it somehwere-that helps loads! Thankyou :)

Sial had tried-and failed-to curtsy. She never did with Lillian Sedai. Her curtsies were too rubbish to bother her mentor with. Lillian Sedai deserved something done properly or not at all, Sial had always felt. The Keeper of the Chronicles, however, that was a different matter. First off, Sial knew nothing about the woman, not really. And then there was that she was the Keeper and Sial just a Novice. Novices could perhaps push their luck with their mentors (perhaps) but with the Keeper? That would be foolishness.

"Well child, state your name and what brings you here? And what has happened to you? You look old enough that you should know by now how to keep yourself more presentable." Arette Sedai sounded reasonable enough. For a moment, Sial found herself liking the woman. It had nothing to do with the fact that she had suggested that Sial looked older, of course, none at all. Sial, at 5'4" and with the look of a girl at least three years younger, was always irrationally irritated when people got her age wrong. Of course, older could mean anything. Older could refer to a 15 year old. Sial chose to gloss over that in her mind. It was easier that way. You are in the presence of the Keeper, you bloody fool! Say something! Dont gape like a trout on the bank of a river!

"Im Sial-" already, the Novice was stuck in her reply. How did you adress the Keeper? Eaiser to stick with the Sedai doodah... "My name is Sial, Arette Aes Sedai. Lillian Sedai told me to bring you this letter." That sounded alright, didnt it? Respectful enough, surely. That was one bonus with the precise characteristic of a cairheinin accent. Even theifs and beggers could sound at least vaguely proper.

The Novice remembered the letter and carefully offered it to the Keeper but her shadowy dark eyes were already taking account of the room and its occupant. The piles of papers interested her after her day of reading about merchants with her mentor. What does a Keeper read? It took a moment for Sial to remember that the other woman had asked another question. She was reluctant to answer in full; she didnt really trust herself to manage to keep both her dignity and her temper in answering. Not to answer, though, would be bad. Not just improper but dangerous. Who knew what a peeved Aes Sedai would do to a steeplejacks daughter who failed to answer her? Sial had been meddling in Daes Dae'mar long enough to doctor her reply to an extent but who knew how much would be obvious?

"I was sort of presentable when I first got changed, Aes Sedai" Sial replyed solemnly. "I was neat right up until I left my room." It was entirely true. She never thought she was pretty but generally once she had washed and put on clean clothes and flicked a brush through her long dark hair she looked neat. Ish. What she had failed to mention was that within five minutes of getting changed in the morning, her sleeves would be rolled up, her dress creased and her hair flyaway. She may be able to start the day as neat but it never lasted past breakfast. Neat was not that important when you were a chimney sweep or an errand girl or a tavern kitchen girl or the Readers assistant. She was tempted to say more but she didnt think she could talk about her bloody lace coming undone and falling face first along a bleeding corridor without either swearing, scowling, speaking in a disrespectful tone or ranting like a raving lunatic. She carefuly folded her hands behind her back to avoid fiddling with anything and watched the other woman carefully. Very carefully.

Just a quick newbieish question-is there a limit on how many characters have a certain talent? I think it would be nice to give my character a talent (shes not exceptionally strong so a Talent might entertain, especially if it was a useless Talent) but I probably should make sure I know what Im asking for before writing out applications :D

Sial Daemoa was not always the easiest person to get to do things. The cairheinin 19 year old was quick enough to learn and not reluctant to do so, but 'have to' was not something that appealed to her and in such cases she had a tendancy to dig in her heels out of principal if not inclination. So she had to wonder how she had gone so far learning with Lillian Sedai without problems. The main issue in Sials eyes was that Lillian Sedai seemed to unwittingly manage to make things interesting. Sial would have sworn (feverently and borrowing some of her steeplejack uncles' vocabulary into the bargain) that she herself had not given anything away about herself over the past three months. She had dabbled in interfering with the merchant Daes Dae'mar often enough to keep personal infomation close and besides, she had been born a private individual. So how did Lillian Sedai seem to find, just when her temper was starting to fray, ways to interest her in learning again so she forgot any inclination to rebel?

Perhaps Aes Sedai play the Game of Houses better than Maerone merchants. Or maybe Lillian Sedai can bleeding well read my mind or something Sial had thought that morning when her mentor had handed her reports. It sounded dull, reports, and had someone just told her that she would be pouring over 5 year old descriptions of one event before she had been handed them, she would have made herself scarce. Gone and hid in the Warders yard, maybe, or in the Kitchens up a chimney for a day. But the accounts were...well, fun. It was almost like being home again, except instead of eavesdropping on infomation and then selling it to who would pay most, Sial was looking through lies to find out who would have least reason to lie. It was almost as good as hearing a story, except these were real people.

Sial jotted down a new suspicion on a dog-eared bit of paper. She could read well enough and spell reasonably but her writing was terrible. It wasnt that she didnt know her letters-she did-it was just her interpretation of them that was aweful. Sial had never kept a diary but had she ever felt inclined to do so, she would never have to worry about prying eyes reading it; even she occasionally wondered what in the Light she had written. That didnt matter though-these notes were just for her. The dark haired woman had a feeling she knew whose account to trust now, though, but she just had to-

Lillian Sedai suddenly scribbled so franticly that Sials concentration broke. She scowled darkly at the inturruption-she hated it when people inturrupted her reading-but curiosity replaced the irritation. Lillian was not, for the most part, a frantic person. Whys she jumping like someones put a hedgehog in her shift? There was a note...the Lillian embraced the Power. Sial itched to do the same herself, watching carefully. Whats she doing? You dont need Saidar to read

"Sial, I need you to take this letter to Arette Sedai, the Keeper of Chronicles" Lillian Sedai said. Sial clenched her teeth but tried to keep the expression off of her face. First off, Lillian must have warded the letter. Sial wasnt sure what irritated her more-the fact that her mentor didnt trust her not to read a private letter or the fact that her mentor possibly knew that she would have read it in case of advantage, regardless of loyalties. Secondly, the letter contained something she didnt know and how she hated not knowing. Especially ferrying infomation that she didnt bloody know herself. And thirdly,  Arette Sedai.

It annoyed Sial that someone as important as the Keeper had so little rumour about her. Perhaps part of the problem was that, even after three months, Sial was little more than cordial toward the other Novices. Half of the little upstarts were younger than her and most of them were already in their tight knit little cliques. Sial Daemoa was not about to go trailing after some little 15 year old gang as a tagger on. She would rather be on her own than part of a gang out of charity. Novices, however, were the place to start if you wanted gossip on Aes Sedai and as she didnt talk that intimately with the other Novices, Sial was at a loss when it came to thinking up what she knew about Arette Sedai. Except that she apparently was very strong (which hardly took a genius to guess-how else did someone become Keeper?) and was a good teacher. Neither were bits of infomation that would get Sial very far.

Still, Lillian Sedai had asked and, after all, she was Aes Sedai. Sial surpressed a sigh at the loss of her study. Instead, she flicked her plait back over her shoulder away from her hands, brushed stray wisps of brown hair out of her face and took the letter in good grace, then trotted out of the room. She didnt curtsy though. She still couldnt curtsy without looking a fool.

"Bloody letter, inturrpting my bloody study, could be prying into merchant fights..." Sial muttered. Under her breath, of course. And after she had closed the door. And put a corridor between her and her mentor. Natrually. She muttered for quite a while as she stomped along but after two more corridors, she was only muttering to keep up apperances and her stomps had reduced to a bouncy gait. She flicked the letter idly and wondered what it could say.

Perhaps its a book reccomendation, thought thats not important. Perhaps Lillian Sedai has made a miraculous discovery. Oh, Light! Maybe its a decoy! Shes made a discovery and needed to get rid of me! Oh, buggery, or I didnt solve the merchant thing quick enough-I bet thats it. Shes finally snapped and decided that Im not bleeding Aes Sedai material and shes going to get Arette Sedai to throw me out of the highest window  in the Tower with only that letter as a cushion and see if I bounce when I splatter on the courtyard floor. Even as she thought it, Sial didnt think the latter was too likely, but you never knew with Aes Sedai and she couldnt shake off a feeling of dread. She imagined this was what it was like to be sent to see the Mistress of Novices for a wrong. She dreaded ever meeting the Amyrlin.

A shoelace came undone and Sial went face first across the colourful tiles with a yelp. She slid a few feet on the shinyness before stopping thankfully short of a Sea Folk Porcelain vase that was tall enough to hide a child. "Blood and bloody, bleeding, Trollocing ashes!" The words were out of her mouth before it occoured to her to look if anyone was around. Thankfully, the corridor seemed clear. A witness would have added insult to injury-was she injured?

Gingerly, Sial got to her feet. She was winded, hair bedraggled and her knee would probably bruise by tomorrow, but otherwise fine. Her Novice clothes were another matter. Dust smudges were strewn down the front of her white dress and there was a thread hanging from the hem. The offending lace had snapped and its pair flopped sadly against her shoe. Sial winced. She wasnt exactly fond of the ensamble-she doubted any Novice really was-but she had a feeling that this was not good. Not good at all. At least the letter was uninjured.

How can a flipping floor thats scrubbed by Novices and servents every day be so bloody flithy? Sial tucked the spare lace into the side of her shoe and dusted herself down as best she could. She even unrolled her sleeves from her shoulders in an attempt to look neat, but they were creased after being folded for so long and the gesture didnt help. She wanted to change: she was going to the Keeper, for Lights sake! But there was no time. She hurried to the Keepers office as fast as dignity allowed, galloping along empty corridors in an attempt to get the thing over and done with, but all too soon she was there.

Sial looked at the door and clenched her fists and tried to keep a serene expression at the same time. Dont be in! Then I can stick this letter under the door and go back to reading those merchant reports rather than standing here like a tramp in rags. Dont be in, dont be in, dont be in, dont be in She knocked hesitantly on the door.

Sial Daemoa

Novice

Yay, James, congrats! *brings champagne* A scary new MoN...eek ;D

Sial Daemoa wondered what on earth she was doing as she peered around the corner at the two Accepted that were lurking around the Blue Ajah quarters. More importantly, she wondered what they were doing. It was dark still-no one in their right mind would be awake, especially not anyone in a white dress. Of course, Sial herself, a novice of three months, was awake but that was beside the point.

The Cairheinin 19 year old watched as one, then the other slipped into the Blue Quarters. What were they doing? It was past midnight, for Lights sake! Sial rolled a loose white sleeve back onto her shoulder to match its partner and looked at where the Accepted had gone, frowning slightly. She herself was ony awake by...well...not chance. She had just happened to spot a crate of live chickens being delivered while on kitchen duty early that morning, prior to her lesson with Lillian Sedai, so she had woken up now, when there would be less people around, to visit them and perhaps to releive the kitchen staff of them. She had no real use for chickens, especially not in her tiny novice room (thankfully to herself, sofar) but old habits died hard. Besides, she had always had cats around at home. The chickens might have made good pets. She looked slightly ruefully after the Accepted. Now she had seen them, she felt that she should follow them. Anything out of the ordinary made her want to investigate. Accepted were not merchants so she could hardly sell the infomation of their doings to other Accepted, but that was a habit too.

Sial fiddled with the end of her soft dark plait, unnoticing of her hairs flyaway scruffiness. In the dark, it looked darker, as did her eyes and black eyebrows, which made her pale skin look almost white. In her novice dress, the black and white contrast could have been dramatic but Sials slouch and the scowl to her expression spoiled any potential affect and left her looking like what she was; a chimney sweeps daughter lurking in a ledgendary Tower. If I go get the chickens, Im more likely to get caught she reasoned in her head. Whats the worst that will happen in I follow those two? They might get pissed off but I can always lie and if I dont go I'll spend all tomorrow wondering. Though the chickens...I could have done with a couple of spare feathers, my bloody pillow feels like a reedmat...

Bleeding Accepted, out in the middle of the bloody night, cant sleep like normal people...Sial muttered under her breath, making up for her precise little accent with the enthusiasm she put into her curses. She had never visited the Blue Quarters-she wasnt sure if Novices were even allowed-and she had no idea who the Accepted were. Still...

Sial threw up her hands and followed the two Accepted, trying to keep back but not look suspicious at the same time, and entered the Blue Quarters.

Sial Daemoa

Novice

OOC: Hope you dont mind me butting in-feel free to hit me if Im messing up your plans ;D

Sial couldnt stop herself from grinning. Her grin was neither elegant nor pretty-indeed, she looked like a street urchin who had stolen cakes from a windowsill as she showed perhaps too much tooth-but she was too glad to care. Nor did it matter that showing true emotions was silly in the merchant version of Daes Dae'mar. She had done it! She had bloody well done it! Even the stupid Earthy weave, she had done it! She wanted to run all around the gardens in glee.

Of course, she didnt. Sial was not as ridiculous as all that. Still, she couldnt help her pale complexion colouring in delight, the rosiness emphisising her freckles. What would home think if they could see me now? I could smash soot out of the chimneys without my father fussing over propriety-I bet I could do it from the ground. And work with the Reader at the same time, and maybe work at the Dancing Bear again if I could swap the water in the Water weave to wine or ale or- Her thought train ran on as her feet bounced her away.

Lillian Sedai had seemed pleased. The little dark haired woman couldnt help looking behind her to the Domani Aes Sedai as she left the garden. If Sial was rosy-cheeked now, it was nothing compared to how she had flushed at her mentors praise. Sial wasnt entirely sure how to cope with praise or hand-clasping. Cairheinins, as a race, were reserved with hugs and handshakes as it was, and Sials own family had always communicated their affection for eachother with playful curses and cheery insults and punches. The young woman had reacted by giving solemn thanks, with a grin that didnt match the attempted seriousness of her clear accent. She had inclined her head, too, but hadnt curtsied. Not out of disrespect but because she was so abysmal at curtsying that she didnt want to demean the gratitude she had wanted to convey by fuffing about with her skirts.

When I leave the Tower, I'll give Lillian Sedai a present as thanks. Maybe them lot at home will give me a loan and I'll get her a book or something. The thought was natrual to Sial. For all her success that day, she still thought like a steeplejacks daughter. She knew she was at the White Tower, knew that she could channel, but was still doubtful that she would be an Aes Sedai. Oh, she occasionally thought about what it would be like, but those thoughts always had the tone of a wish rather than a liklihood. After all, she had played at being an Aes Sedai Queen when she was five, but wishing and pretending and daydreaming didnt make it so. The cairheinin 19-year old was still sure in the pit of her mind that sooner or later she would muck up and be sent away.

At that moment, however, failure was the last thing from her mind as she bounded from the gardens toward her room in the novice quarters, now thinking about visiting the library, Coal the horse in the stables and writing to home all at once. A success with Saidar, a free day and a scheduled discussion about learning stuff; what more could she want?

Sial Daemoa

Novice

OOC: Yay! Twas indeed fun. 1 tickbox down... ;)

Yay! im in, or rather, Sial is ;D

Sial was twining the end of her plait between her fingers and looking around the room. Not that the new woman-she had to be Aes Sedai!-was not impressive in herself. However, the short woman had other things on her mind. Where is this?  Since when do Aes Sedai write? Blood and ashes, I hope they dont ask me to write...the merchants always said my writing looked like some lightforsaken rat had been dancing a jig on the paper with inky feet. Bloody merchants.

She switched her attention from a rather ominous looking mirror to the other women properly. Her dark eyes skipped from one to the other, eyebrowns lowering only a fraction in though as her cairheinin mind automatically looked for advantage. Who was the important one? Strange though it seemed, Sial thought perhaps it was the unknown Aes Sedai. Eqwina Sedai was cold and chilly and distant while the other woman was polite and familiar, yet there was a definate degree of command there. Hmm. That was interesting. She went to lift the end of her very frayed plait to her teeth, then dropped it and folded her arms behind her back carefully. No point letting them think what she didnt want them to think.

Sial carefully shared stares between the Aes Sedai, expression reasonably neutral but eyes calculating. They cant really be real sisters, can they?

Sial Daemoa

Novice (to be)

OOC: Than you Lavinya! Its really apreciated *huggage*

Eqwina, I know you were interested in Eqwina getting lumbered with Sial. Lillian is going to be her mentor but Sials writing is terrible-maybe Eqwina could get stuck doing writing lessons with her or something? Or anti-swearing lessons? ;D

Yay!

Im back now *pokes James with a stick of Rock* :D

Im off on holiday for a couple of days (til the 8th :)) so I wont be around. This is probably most relevant to James, Lavinya and Eqwina as its them Im RPing with atm-sorry folks, dont mean to leave you to get bored! ;)Back soon but until then, bye bye and have fun :D

Sial Daemoa sat on the bench beside Lillian Sedai and, as she looked for a moment at the garden, allowed herself to once more remember that shining event. Even after a month, it blazed in her memory like a bonfire that no amount of kitchen chores or errend running could quench.

It was evening, the sun just starting to fade, and Sial thought her mentor had given up. Not that Lillian Sedai lookec any different or acted any different to their first lesson but Sial felt sure that the woman had to be exasperated. She certainly would be.

Sial was not a woman to dwell on despair but the young cairhien was struggling. Struggling badly, like a snared rabbit. Saidar was the essence of the Tower and she had not even had a taste. She had not made friends in the two weeks. Oh, she had nodded and exchanged plesentries with a few but she was guarded with them all. Some of the other novices were younger than her, even younger than her brother at home, but they could embrace Saidar as they would hug a relative. Or eachother, for that matter. Another reason Sial hadnt made friends. Too much open emotion and hugging for her liking. Anyway, she still swore too much and they might tell on her. Besides, she wouldnt have liked another knowing she couldnt do what they could and, if she was as hopeless as she felt she was, she would be leaving the Tower soon anyway.

When Lillian Sedai asked for the moment she had felt most focused in her life, Sial was surprised. That was different to the old rosebud routine. Perhaps it was surprise that had lead her to answer "My father taught me how to fight with kicking a little bit after I was 13 and got sack-er, well, he made me go through the fighting over and over until all the aching went away and my mind sort of...disconnected." Sial wriggled awkwardly. Sharing personal infomation was always a no go. However, her mentor was even cannier than she looked and Sial ended up mimicking that kick-concentration, then adding the very thorny rosebud over it and the light, then feeling the warmth in the rosebud and the nourishmesnt...

Sial grinned momentarily at the memory. If only she had known from the beginning it would be that easy. Surrendering to saidar didnt feel like surrendering at all. It felt like drinking from a chilled spring on a summers day after a day of thirst. She had never been one to enjoy going thirsty. After that first time, she had not spent all her time suspicious that the other novices were talking about her. Well, not all her time, anyway. She was not their friend nor any of them hers yet but she no longer felt like a chicken trying to fly with the swallows. She had got a room to herself so far and so had not been pushed into getting to know anyone else. Of course, there was Eqwina Sedai but she was another matter entirely. Bloody woman. Sial managed to moderate her language in front of Aes Sedai but, on her own, she still swore like a Tairen pirate.

"Sial, if you would embrace saidar?"  Lillian Sedais voice inturrupted her mentors musings, but Sial was sure that she would never mind being asked to hold the power. She obeyed almost instantly, grinning like a street urchin. Her grin itself was rather too toothy and wide to be beautiful in the slightest, but her dark eyes glittered as they crinkled. It was not just the joy of embracing the source that let her display so much emotion without heed of consequences. After nearly 2 months, she was beggining to let her guard down with her mentor.

The novice listened as the Aes Sedai explained the task. Lillian Sedai was good at explaining. Sial found herself using the honourific 'Sedai' more often now with Lillian, in her mind as well as out loud. With most Aes Sedai, she still used it out of a vague sense of impending doom but for her mentor, it was more a mark of...what? Respect? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Either way, she was using it for reasons other than avoiding a beating.

Sial turned her attention to the task at hand. They had a bench, today, unlike her first time attempting to embrace Saidar. And items on it. Basic items, true, but items none the less. Holding the power, Sial had seen the weaves Lillian Sedai had performed. Fire, Water, Earth, Air and Spirit. A candle, a bowl, a rock, a feather and an orb. Right, weaves...ok...this better not be as rubbish as the time I tried sewing...

To put off the moment she actually had to weave, Sial picked up each object and examined them. They were perfectly normal and she could see no weaves around them to say it was some sort of trap. There was only so long she could observe them (and the table, the bench, her mentor, the garden, her dress, her shoes and the cloud formations...) before she felt she should probably have a go. Trying and failing beats not trying at all, surely she insisted to herself. Tenatively she channelled a thread of Fire. Why fire, exactly, she did not know, but this was the first time she had coinciously channelled. She gave a surprised grunt and almost released saidar out of shock. Fire to her looked...well, fire coloured. Out of interest, she channelled a thread of Air, again pleasently surprised that she had managed to channel a thread. It looked blue, crisp and light like a winter morning. Then Spirit, which seemed to glow with a soft whiteness, then Water, a deep sea greeny-blue. Sial did nothing with the four threads-she didnt feel stable enought to weave them without first making sure she could channel all four...

No, wait. There are five...oh. Earth! How could I miss Earth? The novice attempted to channel an Earth thread to join the other four. She could a glimpse of a clay brown thread before the thread itself collapsed in a puff. Sial glanced at Lillian Sedai, who was apparently reading. You couldnt be too sure with Lillian, Sial had discovered. The woman seemed to have a spare pair of eyes or something.

Sial was still proud. Two months at the Tower did not breal the pride at her core. Instead of asking for help, she tried again for an Earth thread. Again, the thread did not want to cooperate. What did Earth have against her? She attempted to weave the other four but, not remembering the weaves now, her attempt turned into a an agry knot that collapsed with a roar. She sighed. "Lillian Sedai,  will you show me how to do those Weaves again?"

******

It had taken a surprisingly short while (and a good few sessions of practicing secretly and illegally in her room at night-there were some benefits to not having a roommate as of yet) for Sial to learn the Weaves required. The candle and the feather had been a doddle, lit and floating within mere lesons. The orb had soon followed that. Filling the bowl with water had been more challenging, but she had got that in the end. In fact, it had taken her almost three times as long to learn how to embrace Saidar and hold it safely.

It was the rock that had got her. Oh, how she hated that rock! Earth just didnt agree with her. She found Earth twice as hard to weave as she did nice, easy Water. It wasnt that she didnt understand the weave, nor that she couldnt channel suffiencinetly. It was just getting those bloody Earth threads to do what she required! Of course, practice made perfect. After the first of her Earth threads had collapsed in her room, she had given up practicing with Earth at night for fear of being caught, saving her Earth weaving for her lessons with Lillian Sedai. Not that she had been caught embracing saidar without permission yet. Sial was rather pleased at that.

Evetually, after many hours sat grimly on that bench with the Domani woman reading and watching her at the same time, Sial had done it. Done the rock weave. And today. she intended to prove it.

The candle, bowl, orb, rock and feather were untouched on the table. Sial had never laid a Weave before but today she intended to do just that. She stood up and re-rolled her novice dress sleeves. She had taken to rolling up her sleeves as far as they would go. It made the white dress feel more normal. Then, a thought took her and she sat down again, trying to look demure. Using weaves was for Aes Sedai. If she were going to play at weaving, she should at least pretend to act Aes Sedai. Carefully, she wiped the grim hints of determination away from her faintly freckled face and looked at her mentor. "what would you like me to do, Lillian Sedai?"

If she doesnt tell me to use these bloody weaves now I can do them I swear Ill smash that trollocing rock open with my teeth, burn me! Bloody Earthy rocksmash weave.

Sial Daemoa

Impatiently Earth-cursing Novice

Thanks Mat and Andrea! Thats what I was looking for :)

Hello :) Ive got the Skill and Strength numbers for my current novice character and I thought I understood how to divide it but before I had a chance to do so, the site the infomation was on broke away from DM and so is now unavailable. Does anyone happen to have a copy of those conveient tables lying around? Are we skill going off those systems?

Also, perhaps a silly question since I havent sorted my power score thing out yet, but when I do, do we have a special thread or site or something where we post power stats of our characters? Or is that meant to be secret?

Sorry, probably a silly thing to bring up :D Was just curious

What is the screenname of your mentor: James (did have KristenSedai/Lavinya as well before she left)

Character name of your mentor: Lillian (and a load of others...I can only remember the one with the wooden leg ;D. Its Lillian who is Sials mentor anyway :D)

Is your mentor active?: Yes indeedy *pokes James* ;D

Eqwina, if you want Eqwina to get stuck with Sial in some way (maybe she gets sent to her as punishment or for an extra lesson or something?) thats ok with me :)

Sial was relieved. More than relieved. Her mentor hadnt set fire to her hair in punishment for bad language, just rebuked her in the manner of a mild relative, which she had accepted with the grace of a child that has been scolded for burning a pie after setting fire to the bakery. She was interested, too, in what Lillian Sedai had to say about her book-or, more accuratly, she was more interested in how that infomation could be used. Shes a white who likes emotion? Thats a complete load of chamberpottage! What was it people reckon in the stories? Blues are manipulative schemers, Greens are violent tarts, Reds are distrusting manhaters, Greys are interfering meddlers, Browns are socially-imept goblins and Whites are emotionless icepeople. Then again, Aes Sedai are meant to be serene monsters... She glanced out of the corner of her darklashed eye at Lillian Sedai. If the woman was a monster then she wasnt making a very good job of looking like it. She seemed...well, nice. A feeble description perhaps but it was the best Sial could think up at short notice. There had been something self-depreciating in the Domani womans words somewhere, but a hint of humour too as if she had a private joke about something. And she was grinning! Surely Aes Sedai did not grin!

She wasnt stupid either. After explaining her book to the bounds of answering a question in a polite but friendly way, Lillian Sedai had returned to the rosebud excercise. Sial frowned, but only very slightly. The woman wasnt offensive, after all. Surrender? That doesnt sound much fun! Like some sort of bloody battle plan! A battle plan against...saidar, isnt it? Although the discipline thinking thing makes sence. My father says you cant kick your enemy in the head if you spend too much time thinking about it. You just focus until your mind gets detatched, then do the thing before the bugger smacks you in the nose.

Nethertheless, the short cairheinin woman crossed her ankles again and shut her eyes. Natrually, the usual concerns of being attacked or mocked or mauled horribly due to her eyes being shut in strange company skittered through her mind but she banished them to their usual corner. Ok, concentrate! Rosebud. Rosebud. Ok, what colour can it be? Ooh, white, since Lillian Sedai is white. Maybe its a special colour or something-ok, concentrate. A little curled white rosebud fromed in her mind. White rosebud. With dew. And leaves. And thorns-got to add some more of them. Big thorns. Big thorns with poisionous stabbers to protect the rosebud from stuff. Ok. White tiny rosebud with huge menacing poisonous thorns. She added ecessive pointy throns to the stem of the tiny little mental picture of a white rosebud covered in dew. She felt better with the knowledge that there were poisonous thorns on her tiny little white rosebud, somehow. It made her happier to think of it without the intrusion of anything, goats or otherwise.

Sial chewed her bottom lip as she thought, uncoinciously jiggling one leg. What did Lillian Sedai say? Something about focus and clutter? Would it be clutter if a catipillar ate the rosebud? No, it can be a poisonous rosebud as well as poisonous thorns. Her mental catipillar vainished, leaving just the heavily guarded rosebud in her mind. She held the rosebud picture for a little bit. After all, a familiar flower would be easy to think of, wouldnt it? Ok. Right. Rosebud. Check. Light...candles have light, dont they? Ok. Rosebud by candlelight. Rosebud is sucking up candlelight like ale. No, not ale! Ale is flammable-

Of course, merely thinking flammable meant her little mental rosebud went up in flames, as did any shred of calm she might have had gained from it. She struggled and got the picture of the rosebud, complete with poison and thorns, back again but her concentration had been broken and she couldnt find the sort of calm way of looking at it. Instead, she felt vaguly like an idiot sitting with her eyes shut and her mind started wandering over trivial matters (though ones that could be sold for profit) such as what she knew about Eqwine Sedai and Lillian Sedai and the interior of the Tower and of the excericise itself. Of course, thoughts of selling infomation invariably lead her to think of home and to wonder. Do they miss me...?

That wasnt a productive area of thought, so Sial pushed it back. Her thoughts were all over the place now but she didnt open her eyes. She didnt intend for Lillian Sedai to know she had broken concentration again, or that she felt stupid. But...couldnt some Aes Sedai in stories read minds? She opened one dark eye a crack to peer at Lillian Sedai and see if she had noticed.

Sial Daemoa

Novice

Things? Sial thought to herself. The clothes on her back and the items in her saddlebag were her things. Memories meant more than clothes, anyway and besides, if rumour was right, she'd get a new dress soon. Eqwina Sedai...well, its a name I suppose. I could use it, I bet. The dishevelled cairhienen girl kept pace with the other woman quite easily. Sial was hardly a spectacular rider but she could do the basics. Go faster. Slow down. Turn. Jump. That sort of thing. For her mounts part, Coal seemed resigned to listening to whoever sat on his back with at least a semblence of mild obedience. It didnt take brains to tell an obedient animal what to do.

Sial dismounted with confidence but not elegance. The floor was a lot further away than she had realised and her knees jarred. She was in the process of grabbing her saddlebags when the other woman-Eqwina Sedai, she reminded herself-spoke. "I have no use for another horse, so it appears this one belongs to you” Sial found herself very glad she was holding onto something. The woman was giving her a horse?! For her own? She liked animals but a horse was something major. It was as if someone had told her that they were giving her management of their business or control of their entire pepper wagon or leaving her in charge of messager pigeons with nobody watching. Bloody...blood! Oh light! What would them at home say if they knew I had a horse? I bet Coal is as good as Sooty at home. Maybe better. And hes all mine!

Of course, then other reasoning kicked in. It always did. Why is she giving me a horse? Is she trying to tie them fabled bloody Aes Sedai strings to me? Or is this a gesture? Will the other Aes Sedai respect one who gives freely to some commoner woman?But how can I turn down a horse? Oh, ashes, I cant turn down a horse. Not without looking like some idiot noble with more pride than brains. Besides...besides, if this whole stupid, trollocing situation catches fire, I could get home on Coal, easy. Or flog him for some money or something. Patting the heavy grey horse, Sial said as respectfully (and quickly) as she could, "Thankyou, Eqwina Sedai."

Wether the other woman had heard was another matter. She had gone striding off like a general or something. Sial patted Coal once more (Deas Dae'mar token or not, she did like the animal), flicked a bug off her wollen brownish dress, rearranged her not-quite-black cloak and strode after Eqwina Sedai. Staying behind her. It wasnt that she was intimidated, of course not. As far as Sial was concerned, there was no such thing as intimidation, not of her at any rate. She just...thought it would be more respectful. Yes. And wanted to sightsee a little better.

They entered the Tower without the pom and ceromony Sial had expected. A few stray people gave them funny looks, which Eqwina apparently ignored. Sial, however, glared at them. And glared rather fiercly too. Whoever these people were, she didnt intend to be thought of as a trotting puppy at the first hurdle. The little woman reached to flick strands of dark hair out of her eyes-glaring somehow lost its impact if you looked like a tumbleweed.

"Eqwina Sedai? Who do I need to speak to-ooh, I like the floor squares! um, I mean, who are we going to see..."She trailed off, mentally kicking herself. Bloody, bloody idiot! Honestly, floor squares! Think before I speak, think before I speak, think before I bloody well speak-oh Light, not bloody, dont start swearing. Dont let her think you are an idiot. First impressions stick-dont let hers of you be 'motormouthed nosy midgit with as much sophistication as a haystack and hair to match'...

Sial Daemoa perched on the edge of the bench and tried to keep herself from twining the end of her scruffy dark plait around her fingers. It was an irritating habit, one that she had only aquired since leaving home, and as such it was new enough for her to both notice and dislike. Almost as much as she disliked what she was wearing. White. Honestly, what idiot thought up white? Even a noble would get white filthy if they had to wear it to walk around in it. And sleeves! I wonder if I could cut them off somehow? Almost absently, she went to chew the end of her hair but caught herself just in time. She wasnt going to sit fiddling like some sort of infant in public. She looked around to distract herself. The gardens were pretty. She had always liked plants.

"While you will have a very broad education here at the White Tower-" began the other woman-the Aes Sedai-and Sial switched her attention to her mentor. Lillian Sedai looked every inch the Domani woman of rumours. She wasnt as tall as Sial had always assumed Domani people would be, nor vain or soft appearing, but she was an elagant person in her way. Not at all what you'd expect an Aes Sedai to look like, really. A total contrast to the Aes Sedai who had bought her to the tower. Sial tried to pay attention. Whether the woman seemed like an Aes Sedai stereotype or not, she was one. The novice crossed her ankles and listened. Saidar...thats what they call it? What a weird na-

Lillian Sedai had channeled a flame from nowhere and Sial barely stopped herself from leaping off the bench. She could deal with fire but fire appearing from nowhere was never good-it generally meant that some bloody idiot had failed to check the coals werent still smouldering. But there were no coals here. That was alarming in itself. It was all the little Cairheinin woman could do to stay sitting still and looking moderatly attentive. When the book levitated it was still-odd-she still found that her stomach dropped, but this time, at least, she was a little more prepared. A book isnt going to set this stupid dress on fire...

"Now, close your eyes."  Sial did so immidiatly. Lillian Sedai hadnt sounded threatening, or commanding, but it was a bad idea to take chances with Aes Sedai, even if they were apparently pleasent. It wasnt something she was entirely happy with. In fact, now that she thought about it, shutting her eyes in front of a stranger wasnt very clever at all. She could get stabbed in the back. Or someone might set her hair on fire. Or she could get struck by lightening. Or Lillian Sedai could dissapear-could Aes Sedai dissapear?-she could dissapear and leave her sitting like a fool in the middle of the garden. Or maybe she would get hit over the head by that book...

"I want you to imagine a rosebud, don't add anything else to this scene, just the rosebud.  Do you have it firmly in your mind?"

Yes, Ive got a bloody rosebud in my head Sial thought and its going to die horribly. Probably eaten by a goat.  That was a bad idea. Automatically, the rosebud in her mind was replaced by a goat, which was for some reason wearing a keseira on its head and the stole of the Amyrlin Seat. Bad idea...concentrate, Sial, you bloody idiot!

"Good." Apparently Sial had kept her face reasonably neutral-Lillian Sedai did not sound as if she was annoyed, thank the Light.  "Now I want you to imagine sunlight upon the rosebud, warming it to the touch.  As the sunlight bathes the rosebud, the rosebud opens to allow the warmth and the light into itself.  Now, open your eyes."

Sial tried and failed to look serene. All that had happened was that her mental picture of a rosebud (with goat teethmarks on it) had withered due to the intensity of her imagined sunlight. Not to mention that she felt like a wally. Sitting there with her eyes closed imagining bloody flowers and she hadnt felt a thing.

"The reason we use this exercise is because it allows you to visualise your thoughts.  You are that rosebud, the sunlight is saidar.  It is there, an ever present warmth that is simply waiting for you to open up to it.  It isn't something that will come easily, in fact I remember feeling like an idiot while I tried to do it.  But, you will get there." Perhaps Lillian Sedai understood a tiny bit. It occoured to Sial that all Aes Sedai had to start somewhere. "We will do this for two hours every day, as long as it takes for you to learn.  You are to try only when we are together so I can monitor you, if you wish to ask questions then by all means ask them, I'm here to help you.  Now, begin when you are ready."

Sial shut her dark eyes. Rosebud, rosebud, rosebud... Immidiatly, a rosebud popped into her mind. It was little and scarlet, tightly curled on a single dewdropped branch of thorns. easy. Now, sunlight, wasnt it? As she thought it, a soft ray of light descended onto her little rosebud. It was all very picturesque. Visualising had never been a problem for Sial. Concentration on the other hand...the entertaining goat from before made a reapperance, to the little womans horror. Which of course made her wonder about a heap of things, including wether goats got sunburned. Leading to mental images of bright red peeling goats...

Sial opened her eyes and winced. She looked at the Aes Sedai. No, Im not going to ask. She'll think Im some townie clod with charcoal for brains. She shut her eyes again, screwing up her face ever so slightly as if to banish the goat from her mind. Except now that little rosebud was in the middle of a charcoal burner...Sial screwed her eyes shut until little aura-specks danced over the black of her vision, suceeding in not only banishing all thoughts of goats and charcoal but also the rosebud and the sunlight. After spending a moment trying to make pictures out of the coloured specks behind her eyes, Sial opened them, trying and failing not to scowl.

Lillian Sedai, why bloody rosebuds? she had asked in her precise cairheinin voice before she had taken the time to think about it. The honourific clashed with the mild curse. Badly. Oh, buggery, Im up the pot without a brush now... She quickly said something else-anything to distract attention away from her. What are you reading? she asked, a bit to quickly, gesturing at the book, then realised that perhaps that was too familiar a question.

Sial Daemoa

Novice

Sial Daemoa- brand sparkly new yet-to-be-enrolled-with-MoN novicey person ;D