All Will Come Out in the Washing

Eluanna Brynoch (Lulu), Written by Nicole
Posted on Fri, Jul 2, 2010 21:33 pm

She had already been at the White Tower for one week and she had only learned one thing: that she hated doing laundry with the burning passion of a thousand suns.  Hated it more than trollocs and darkfriends and cabbage and Marisa Turner with her stupid curly blond hair all put together. It made her hands crack and peel and it seemed like no matter how many white dresses she scrubbed, there were always more.  It might have been tolerable if she was really learning something, but every class she'd been in so far was all about "theory" and no chance for her to prove the Aes Sedai wrong.

She sighed and pushed a stray lock of black hair out of her face, getting it wet and doing no more than plastering it to her temple.  She still had one more basket to wash and then she got to go take what had dried off of the lines and fold those, and then deliver them to where ever the Sedai told her they ought to go.  She took her frustrations out on the cloth, scrubbing the dress so hard it was a wonder that it didn't get holes in it.  No one could say that it wasn't clean, however, she thought with some irritation.  She'd bet the Aes Sedai could do this in two minutes with the One Power, and why not? 

Her one class so far was all about the theories behind the One Power, which she thought was rather ridiculous.  A "theory" was just a guess, wasn't it?  And who cared about the history of Saidar anyway?  History was a bunch of dead people that no longer mattered, so why did they spend so much time studying them?  She gave the dress one more vicious scrub to illustrate her annoyance, and then moved to hang it on the line.  Finally, the hardest part done, now she could take down the things that were dry. 

Dragging her basket along, she began to unpin the sheets that were flapping in the breeze, attaching the clothespins to an apron that she wore about her waist.  These white Novice dresses were fairly comfortable, she'd give them that, though it still annoyed her that she had to look like everyone else.  What was the point of that, anyway?  Blood and ashes, she thought, this whole place is like a bunch of rules for no good reason.  What is the point?  She noticed that one of the Sedai was watching her throw the sheets in the basket with more force than was strictly necessary, and she grudgingly toned it down, not wanting a repeat of what had happened on the first day she'd been given this chore.  That harridan Felysia Sedai had made her run laps around the field half the afternoon for having a "bad attitude," whatever that meant!

Well, regardless of how she felt about this place, she didn't want a repeat of that experience, so whenever she saw the White Sister she made sure not to let her displeasure show on her face.  By the smirk on the Aes Sedai's face, however, Lulu had no doubt that the Sister knew very well what she was really thinking.  Could they read thoughts?  That was disconcerting…

Lulu did not so much as glance at Felysia Sedai as she walked into the room where all of the clothes were folded.  She set about folding the sheets with a vengeance, however, as soon as she was sure the Sister's attention was elsewhere.  Marisa Turner, the novice with the perfect creamy skin and shiny blond hair shook her head at the sloppy way Lulu folded her linens, her own daintily folded into perfect squares.  It only made Lulu dislike her more.

"Lulu," Marisa said in exasperation, walking over and taking a sheet from her.  "Look, if you just take a moment instead of attacking these like they were darkfriends…" She demonstrated the proper fold while Lulu struggled not to roll her eyes.  Sure enough, Felysia Sedai had entered the room and was giving Marisa a pleasant smile at seeing her help out the struggling Lulu.  Maybe she didn't have an ulterior motive for helping, but Lulu secretly believed that no one could look that perfect and not have serious character flaws.  "Here, I'll finish yours," Marisa added and the Aes Sedai practically beamed at her.

"Eluanna," Felysia Sedai said – the Sisters never called her Lulu – "Since Marisa is doing your folding, why don't you do her deliveries with your own."  Lulu ground her teeth at this last, flashing Marisa an ominous glare which the other girl did not appear to notice at all.  Delivering everything was the most tedious part of the entire affair and now she had to do twice as much!

That night, when she fell into bed exhausted again, she tried to reflect on her plans for getting out of here, or perhaps some sort of revenge on that irksome Marisa, but once again she was too tired to even focus her thoughts, much less form any plans.  She had to wonder, as she drifted off, if that wasn't the Sisters' intention, and if it was, it was working so well she had to admire them for it.

In reply to Wandering to Find Home[show]/[hide]

Her first glimpse of the White Tower came at first light, just as the sun climbed over the horizon, bathing it in the rosy glow of dawn.  She didn't want to be awed by the sight of it, but in that secret place inside where she was completely honest with herself, she admitted that she was indeed moved by it.  It was like nothing she had even conceived of in her wildest imaginings, having nothing in her history or experience that came close in comparison. The other girls were silent as well, even they of more experience were apparently awed as well.  Lulu was glad not to be the only one, especially since she harbored a deep dislike for all four of them - all from privileged homes nad all already able to touch Saidar. I don't want to anyway, she thought, with some bitterness.  She hadn't wanted to leave home in the first place, but these Sedai wold not take "no" for an answer.  Nor would they accept running away as an answer and Lulu's bottom still smarted from the last switching she'd received.  The other girls disdained her for her threadbare clothes and rebellious attitude, but she would have wagered that none of them had ever known freedom as she had. With a heavy sigh, she plodded over the bridge, or rather, her horse did, in her mind.  More likely he walked along as placidly as the rest, but she liked to think that he was as sullen as she.  The day was warm, but a breeze rose on the air, blowing strands of her dark hair across her forehead, and she wiped them away irritably, feeling the gaze of the Aes Sedai upon her. Alyssa Sedai, of the Blue Ajah, was as stern and disapproving as ever, while Malya, of the Yellow, always had a kind smile.  Brenna, the Brown, had neither, her nose in a book at every turn.  Neither the stick, the carrot, nor indifference had any effect on Lulu.  She wanted to go home, despite being on her own there, because it was all she'd ever known.  No one had asked her if she wanted her life upended, had they?  Nor did they care, not even Malya (she refused to give them the honorific "Sedai" in her own thoughts), whom she considered to be the "nice one." The horses were left at the stable, where Lulu spied a girl in white mucking out the stalls.  She was no stranger to such chores, but she had made a practice of avoiding them whenever possible, and her mind was already spinning with tales that might work here.  She hadn't much time to think it over, however, before she was given a white dress and shown her new room.  Blessedly, she had the room to herself, though the Accepted that led her there made sure to point out that this was a condition that was subject to change at any moment.  She was ordered to change and present herself to the Mistress of Novices forthwith, and so she did, though she took her time and was the last of the new girls to arrive. The rest of the day was a blur of instructions and tours and perhaps she even had a meal at some point, but when she finally crawled into bed that night, she was too exhausted to recall. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lulu's Journal, Entry 01 Yesterday was my first day at the White Tower.  They gave me this notebook for lessons, but I have resolved to use it as a place to record what happens to me here and how I feel about it.  The Aes Sedai don't seem to care much, about how we feel at least, though they care very much about inconsequential things, like how well one can read (well enough, thank you!) and if you've ever predicted the weather (accurately, mind). This morning we are supposed to be given our schedule of lessons and chores and I wonder if anyone will notice if I hide somewhere and just don't show up.  I bet they would find me though - Alyssa Sedai is like a bloodhound, she never loses the trail! I suppose I can hope that people will just leave me in peace, and that the Sedai will realize their mistake and let me go home.  Or feed me to Trollocs - either would be better than lessons and chores! I hear the footsteps that can only be Faylin, the Accepted who appears to have taken a personal interest in me.  Lucky me.  Off to lessons and chores I go - at least until I find a way around those twin horrors to which they are putting me!

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