Wishes

Deftly spinning threads of Air while her hands remained folded at her sides, Candance pulled the chests up from the cart that they had been piled into and moved them, one at a time, so that they were sitting on the ground behind her, lined up in a straight line, equidistant from each other. Many years ago Candance Melhir had realised that she was a precise woman, who liked things kept in a neat and orderly fashion, and now she took pride in living up to her own expectations. It was best to be organised, she felt, and she liked that order to be represented in all aspects of her life.

That done, Candance looked out around the area, checking that everything else was as she wanted it. She was in the Corner Garden of the White Tower grounds, one that was currently being remodelled and landscaped, and the labourers were working hard at it. To the Mistress of Novices, the opportunity had been too good a one to pass up, and she had requested that the labourers let her know when they reached this stage so that she could use it to teach a lesson to the novices. They had agreed, and liked the idea of a day off from their work, which Candance had personally suggested to Melina Sedai for their help.

The garden certainly did not look as it once had when Candance had been a novice; the trees which had grown so large that they were a threat to the structure of the White Tower if they came down in the latest storm were now removed, leaving a large depression in the soil where their root systems had once been. All of the turf had been torn up, and all of the flowers from the flowerbeds had been pulled out. What was left was a large empty field of soil, a brilliant contrast to the surrounding gardens that seemed to be exploding with green. Candance already knew from her own testing that the soil here ran deep, as deep as they would need.

Yes, she had been fortunate with the timing of the landscaping of this garden; it would serve her purposes well.

Looking up at the sun, Candance realised that her students would be arriving soon, which made her wonder where her male counterpart was.

“Where is he?” she mused out loud.

As if summoned by her words, Asha’man Colbin shouted out his greeting to her as he turned a corner into her view from the Training Grounds. Had she not known the man’s tendency to get caught practicing with the blades with the Warders, she would have wondered why he was coming from that direction, but she didn’t need to see the welts on his bare chest to know what he’d been doing.

Drawing up closer to her as he pulled his black coat back on, doing up his buttons quickly, Colbin flashed her a friendly smile and ruffled his dark hair happily. His dark Cairhienin colouring was almost at a contrast to her own greying hair, and his small, petite face would have looked decidedly odd if it had her bold, prominent Saldaean nose or upturned, green eyes.

“Good morning, Candance Sedai,” he said happily, offering her another smile. He was one of the more polite Asha’man currently residing in the White Tower, who seemed genuinely interested in learning more about the ways of the White Tower in contrast to the ways he had been trained in at the Black Tower, as well as the ways of the Warder. She had often thought that his smile was infectious, and he seemed to flash it around to whoever caught his eye. Asha’man Corbin was a genuinely friendly man.

“Good morning,” she replied amicably, “you have been in the Training Grounds?”

“I have! These Warders of yours fight with a fierceness not many in the Black Tower could rival, they’ve certainly been able to teach me a thing or two. I haven’t felt such the keen sting of bruises when I shift in my sleep since I as an un-pinned soldier years ago, still trying to work out how to heat up my meals and washing water!”

As if to prove his point he stretched, reaching his arms up towards the sky, and winced noticeably, flashing her a sheepish smile after he’d returned back to his normal stance. Despite his friendly nature, the man possessed a certain grace of danger, his body held loose as if he was constantly ready for anything. It was something all the Asha’man seemed to have: an air of danger that followed them around no matter how they smiled.

“I’m glad that they’re keeping you on your toes.”

“Yes, you could say that they are definitely doing that!”

“The novices will be here soon,” Candance said, and, once again, as if summoned by her words, the first splash of white against the green gardens appeared, followed by several others. Candance and Corbin stood together and watched as the cluster – a group of giggling girls who had also come from the same direction as Corbin drew closer. As they drew closer, they were able to see that one of the girls was blushing a furious crimson and was the source of the other girls’ giggles and Candance felt her face steel – what had the girls been doing in the Training Grounds?

Upon realising that they were being watched both by the Asha’man and the Mistress of Novices, both of who were watching them quietly, with emotionless faces, the girls quietened (barely managing to stifle their giggles) and scurried up to them quickly, dropping into curtseys once they stood in front of them. They remained down in the curtseys slightly longer than they normally would have, and Candance left it unsaid that they were trying to stifle their giggles once again.

“Good morning, girls,” Candance said smoothly once they had pulled themselves up, “I trust you came straight from your morning meal to this lesson–” she did not need their blushes to tell her otherwise “–kindly introduce yourselves for the sake of Asha’man Corbin. You’re the first ones here, so we’ll begin shortly.”

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OOC: Welcome to Novice Earth! =D Post at least 400 words as an introduction and have your novice introduce themselves to Asha’man Corbin.  If you have any questions, please email me. =) We’ll continue with this lesson on the 8^th.

–Jeremy