Into the White Tower (Attn anyone)

The Aes Sedai waiting for them with the red-fringed shawl wrapped loosely about her shoulders had white-gold hair just past her shoulders arranged in tiny braids with red beads affixed to the ends that clicked when she turned to greet them.  A full mouth with pouty lips was covered by a diaphanous red veil and eyes impossibly dark brown that contrasted with the light color of her hair.  Her dress covered her from chin to the ground with white and black embroidery along her sleeves and collar, but the silk clung to the woman’s slender form almost more revealingly than the Mayener fashion.

Red—that would mean the Red Ajah.  Sarifa Sedai had explained that many women wore predominantly colored clothing to display their Ajah even when they didn’t wear the shawl.  And Red Ajah meant severe from what Sarifa had shared.  The Red Ajah dedicated their lives to hunting down men who could channel and stopping them from going mad by gentling them.  However, the Mayener woman was caught off guard when the Red Sister broke out into a smile.  “Welcome to Tar Valon, Medaea.  And it is good to have a Sister return.  It’s been five years since you have been in the Tower, Sarifa.  I’m Devora Sedai of the Red Ajah.”

Dropping into a curtsey, the exact depth of a Novice to an Aes Sedai, Medaea rose and gave a nod of her head.  “Thank you for your welcome, Aes Sedai.  I look forward to placing my name in the Novice books.”

The Red Sister’s pale brow rose and she glanced to Sarifa.  “If the Three Oaths didn’t bind us, I would swear you lied through your teeth about what her life will be like.”  Her dark eyes pinned Medaea and for an instant, she glimpsed the severity and harshness of their Ajah.  “In a week you’ll spend every night crying into your pillow, in three weeks you’ll be thinking that you want nothing more to go home and in twelve you’ll wish your mother never kissed your father.  This is not an easy life, Medaea and I think I shall find you in half a year to see if you still feel the same.”

With their luggage loaded onto an open carriage, Devora ushered them into their seats and they were soon winding their way through the paved streets of Tar Valon.  While the two Aes Sedai spoke in soft tones, Medaea allowed herself to take in the masonry of the Ogier and the wonders that they built.  Within five minutes they had passed through no less than four large plazas with towering fountains and swept by buildings that were fanciful seashells, crashing waves, twisting spires and what looked to be a blue cat curled up.  But most impressive was the White Tower jutting from the center of the city, gleaming and proud.  What had appeared large from a distance was immense and looming as they drew closer.

“Cleansed!  I had felt something some time back for certain, a strength and power in the weaves like nothing I’d ever felt, but are you certain?!”  Sarifa’s voice had rising in pitch.

“It’s affirmed.”  Devora nodded, her beads clacking together for emphasis.  “With some of the Aes Sedai returned bonded to Asha’man, we know it for truth.  The madness no longer progresses, but the Yellows have been unable to regress it with Healing, while the wasting sickness can evidently be Healed now, which is a relief to some.”

Medaea listened with half an ear but their conversation turned low once more and she was unable to follow anymore. Saidin cleansed—what would that mean for Devora’s Ajah?

Almost suddenly the carriage broke through the boulevard and the large square that spread out before the White Tower sprawled before them.  The base of the White Tower stretched in either direction, the plaza dotted with men and women in different colored clothes, from rough woolens to fine silks of every cut.  Drawing to a side entrance, Devora descended from the vehicle and Medaea followed after.  Safira put a hand to Medaea’s arm and drew her aside.  “More has changed than I had realized, Medaea, but much remains the same.  Please remember what I advised you and you will do well.”

“Thank you, Safira Sedai for all that you have done for me.”  Medaea dropped into another curtsey and watched the woman give a small smile before walking briskly toward a large set of doors.

Devora began walking and Medaea had to skip a couple of steps to catch up to the woman.  Although Medaea was taller by a few inches, the woman’s shorter legs covered ground quickly, leading her through a great hallway and to a large curving stairwell that rose up and and up through the ivory stonework.  “Once your name is placed in the Novice books, you will be provided with standard dresses in your size and all necessary accessories.  The White Tower will provide for you all that you need while you remain here.  You will have a single room to yourself, though I suspect it will be something of a culture shock for you, and within a couple of days your chore and lesson list will be posted you will be expected to follow it.”

Medaea felt herself grow winded from the continued climb up the stairs, but Devora Sedai hardly seemed to notice the exertion.  “Meals are served three times a day, however if one of your chores is to assist with the serving, you will be allowed a twenty minute allotment in order to eat before and then you will be expected to do your assigned tasks.  Failure to appear for any of your lessons or chores, or finding yourself idle where you are not supposed to be will not be tolerated.  Channeling without supervision is strictly prohibited and will result in a visit to the Mistress of Novices’ office. Ah, here we are.”

The hallway they walked along was wide and brightly lit from sunlight that somehow seemed to make it through to the center of these corridors.  They stopped before two wide pale arched doors and Devora pressed through.  The antechamber was net and orderly with two women sitting in chairs, their plain white dresses at odds with the colorful decorations and their red, tear stained faces.  A woman dressed in golden linen and white embroidery along the neckline looked up from her desk.  “Ah, you have brought our newest to us at long last.  Be welcome, Medaea, I’m Ranael Sedai and I assist the Mistress of Novices in getting your name into the books.  Come.”

The process was surprisingly quick.  A few details about her full name, date of birth, nation of residence and that was it.  Devora then led her back to the stairwell and up once again, the wide spirals taking them higher and higher into the heights of the White Tower.

They stopped on a floor that looked like every other floor that they passed and she was led to a narrow mahogany door that looked like every other door in the hallway.  Opening the door, Medaea schooled her face to stillness as she took in the stark white walls without so much as a crevice to allow in light.  A single bed, chest at the foot of it, chair and desk with lamp were all that furnished the room, as well as three bundles laying neatly tied on her bed.

“This is the end of where I assist, Novice Medaea.”  Although it wasn’t the honorific of “Sedai”, Medaea felt a small thrill at the official sound of her new life.  “You will be given an hour to change, place your new belongings into rights into your room and then another will be along to show you the necessary places that you will be expected to attend.  For the next month you should expect that another, older, Novice will be assigned to assist with your acclimation to the Tower, and then you will be on your own.”

Medaea once more sank into a curtsey.  “Thank you, Devora Sedai.”

The Red gave her a smile that held no warmth behind the veil.  “Don’t thank me yet, Novice Medaea.  I shall see you in six months.”

Looking around her room as the door closed, Medaea’s gaze fell upon the packages.  Unwrapping them revealed five white wool dresses and shifts that looked to be twins to the ones she’d seen on the girls earlier.  Belts, a pouch, stockings and slippers—all seemed to be correct in her size.  The final package was filled with a couple leather-bound books—one filled with what appeared to be a rulebook for Novices, another blank, for whatever purpose that could serve.

No time like the present.

Managing the laces of her dress had become easy since leaving Mayene and being forced to wait on herself on the ship.  Slipping out of her amethyst silk dress for what was probably the last time in some while, she folded it gingerly and with some care on the bed before donning her new clothes.  The wool was fine, though not as soft as her silk, and the stockings and slippers were just as common.  She grimaced and immediately swallowed it.  If she were going to be Aes Sedai, she would need to temper her arrogance over things such as clothes; it was a small thing to endure for the larger goal.

With the last button in place, Medaea smoothed at the plain white woolens and looked around her room again.  Stark and Spartan, the Aes Sedai had been right regarding the shock.  Her closet was larger than the whole of this room and yet she would be expected to live in this room for as long as they required her.

Sitting in the chair to wait for whomever had been assigned to show her about the Tower, Medaea considered her situation and what steps would need to be taken.

The first thing was chores—she would need to discover who set up the schedule of chores and find a way to have only the least onerous of them assigned to her.  It would be slow and delicate work but Medaea surmised she’d have at least three years, perhaps four before she became Accepted.  Yes.  No more than four years.  The second would be to determine the hierarchy of Novices within the Tower.  Most assuredly those who had been in Novice whites for longer might hold more sway or influence, but perhaps not.  She would need to find the strongest and quickest of the bunch and first befriend them and then turn them to her.

Tapping her finger to her lips thoughtfully, Medaea continued to consider the situation and what needed to be arranged.  The third would be determining which rules were those which would have her sent to the Mistress of Novices and which could be bent enough that it would be overlooked.  Fourth, the working class in the White Tower.  It was certain that servants notoriously heard things that they ought not, she would need to discover a way to earn their trust and have them tell her tidbits that others might not hear.  Knowledge was often power, and in a place such this where Daes Dae’mar was certain to be played by Aes Sedai, the more she knew the better she could play.

A knock sounded on her door, firm and assertive.  Her guide.  Standing, she looked about the room to assure herself that even now nothing remained out but her old dress.  Not only was her room tidy but it was one that would show nothing of herself beyond her former station and country.  “Come.”  She replied after a moment.  Control of a situation led to control of those within the situation. Her father’s wise words were never more true in a place such as this.

OOC:  Hello!  This is open to anyone who would like to be set up as Medaea’s guide for her first day in the Tower.  =)  Please see her biography for more detail on who she is!