Conversations, Apologies, and New Friends
Novice Teli Mildune, Written by Tanya
Posted on Tue, Aug 10, 2010 15:10 pm
"Sometimes I wonder if you are deaf, child, for how often you get lost in thought." Manon Sedai said, a smile at odds with her words. She stayed a few paces away from Teli, avoiding the newly cleaned portion of the pathway, Teli noticed absently as she stood, offering a curtsy. She looked at the ground guiltily, remembering the part, if albeit rather small, that Manon Sedai had played in the prank. Teli wondered if the Yellow had gone to see her after she'd disappeared from the Infirmary yesterday afternoon. Teli's thoughts were answered as Manon Sedai spoke again. "I hear that you were in the Infirmary yesterday, asking for a sleep aide. The Yellow Sister that came to me was none too pleased with you, sure that you had been lying about your sleep troubles, and the fact that she noticed a jar of itching powder missing. I hadn't thought you were the type to pull pranks…but I guess not everyone is how they seem. I certainly don't approve of your methods…but at least you are opening up. The only thing that calmed Helena Sedai was my promise that I would speak with the Mistress of Novices…who informed me of the fact that you had already received your punishment, and that I could find you out here."
Teli swallowed still looking down as she nodded when it seemed appropriate, going back to scrubbing the slimly moss off of the stones. Part of her expected that Manon Sedai would hear of her activities, but she also regretted it. She wouldn't call the Aes Sedai a friend, but she was one of the first people other than her brother and Rynn to actually listen to her story about what had happened to her father, and her involvement in it, the Blue even going as far as to say that it probably hadn't been her fault, an accident at worst. Teli had been surprised at that, but that had made it even easier to Teli to open up more and more to Manon Sedai as they traveled to the White Tower.
But now it seemed like she had disappointed this Aes Sedai as well. That was what she thought, until she heard Manon Sedai speak once again. "I heard that you didn't act alone…a Novice by the name of Amahli was your accomplice…was it at least worth it for the two of you?"
Teli looked at Manon Sedai, surprised by the question. She felt her cheeks darken as she nodded, before launching into an explanation about why they had attempted the prank, Manon Sedai nodding every once in a while, a slight grin forming on her ageless face.
"Well, I'm sure that many Accepted and even Aes Sedai did worse when they were new Initiates as well…just don't make a habit of it, and you should be fine." Manon Sedai said when Teli finished, and with that, took her leave. Teli scrubbed at the stone pathways after that with renewed vigor, a soft smile on her lips as well. After she finished, it was just about dinnertime, but she didn't go directly towards the mess hall after changing into a clean dress. Instead, she found the empty jar that had been filled with itching powder just the day before and she made her way to the Infirmary, to give the jar back, and offer an apology to Helena Sedai for stealing it, and misleading her about her sleeping troubles. As she left the Infirmary, and after a very angry Yellow chastised her for her actions, Teli spotted a head full braids, and she went over to the Taraboner Novice, smiling as she and her first friend at the White Tower made their way down to dinner….
In reply to In The Water Garden[show]/[hide]
Teli had been right about how she thought that she would be during the embracing lesson after working in the kitchens. Although not all of her fellow Novices were able to embrace or seize today, she was one of the ones who wasn't able to succeed at all. She couldn't relax during the exercise, which made it neigh impossible for her to accomplish anything. She sighed, defeated, as she raked and swept the leaves in the Water Garden into one pile, before picking them up and placing them in a container provided. She had had to come here right after her lesson, one of the gardeners having been instructed to watch for her, and provide her with the tools to work on the leaves and moss that Candance Sedai had sent her out there to clean up. It was hard to see at this point that the prank had been worth all of this.
She still didn't regret making a friend of Amahli, but how discouraged she was over the failure at the lesson today made her doubt her place here once again. Had Manon Sedai been wrong about her? That didn't seem possible, since she and Candance Sedai had both said she had the ability…but what if she couldn't use it? Could she possibly have a Block, like that Accepted had mentioned during the lesson?
She wouldn't be the least bit surprised if she did have a Block, since it was also thoughts of her father and the…accident…that kept her from embracing as well, she was sure. She continued gathering the leaves, having thought it would be easier to clear them away before starting on the moss, but her heart wasn't in it. She didn't want to be a disappointment again, but it seemed that she had already gotten off to a bad start here, the only help being the fact that hardly anyone knew about her past and what she had done that had made her mother hate her so. Manon Sedai had managed to get the story out of her, but that was only because she'd heard most of it from the rumors and her brother Dain. Part of her wondered if Manon Sedai had told Candance Sedai about it, and that brought ideas of going to the Mistress of Novices to talk…something that Amahli said that she could provide, but she stamped out that thought quickly. Since the Mistress of Novices probably wasn't very happy with her at the moment, she didn't want to visit there for the second time today, and give her an even worse impression of herself.
Light, but how did I get myself into this mess? Just because I'm a Bloody Andoran, it seems like…. Teli thought, finishing up with the leaves about an hour after she had started. She gathered the bucket and rag to begin on the pathways, cleaning off the water moss, the chore much too easy to keep her mind occupied and off of the thoughts that plagued her. It wasn't until about mid-afternoon that she was brought from her thoughts as she scrubbed at the walkways, and that was caused by a somewhat familiar voice saying her name. She looked around in a daze, her eyes falling on an Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah, the woman that had brought her here, Manon Sedai.
