Shameless Glances

Novice Sadrok Rachin, Written by CJ
Posted on Wed, Aug 18, 2010 01:52 am

Sadrok  always found that indignant look on a girl’s face when he rightfully accused them of stalking him rather gratifying. He gave her an appraising look just to be fair.  She really was quite attractive… if a bit crackbrained herself to be mooning after him. He had to give her some slack though, she seemed almost sincere. Exotic almond-shaped eyes of teal gazed up at Sadrok, an irritated look twisting her delicate features. Tousled black curls tumbled loosely down her back to brush against her slender waist, the silky locks a contrast to her Novice whites. Next to the much taller man, the girl looked tiny…the top of her head barely reaching the middle of his chest. She didn’t look strong enough to have knocked down a feather, much less him.  But then she had been running pretty fast when she came around the corner.

He smirked at her, starting to walk away before calling back over his shoulder to the little novice. “You know… If I didn’t know you were a stalker, you might have actually had a chance.” That intense look in her eyes made him laugh softly as he turned away, disappearing down the hall while she still spluttered in indignation, leaving her behind to try and find her own way out of the male novice well. Putting her out of his mind, he went to the dining hall next to the kitchens and got himself a late breakfast. Whereas he felt the usual fare was probably adequate for the female novices, he often found himself requesting a second serving every morning.

As he entered the dining hall, there was a flash of dark red and white just to the side of him, and Sadrok almost groaned out loud. Only one Novice in the Tower had hair that particular shade of red hair, and that was Rahime Najat, a very forward Domani girl. Granted the chit was pretty, but she was obsessed with him and always seemed to be following him wherever he went. Never was he more thankful than when he realized that she was leaving the dining hall, rather than coming to harass him as was her usual routine. Perhaps that last visit to the Mistress of Novices for stalking him had knocked some sense into her. Granted, he’d been set to work in the kitchens for that; as if it had been his fault she’d decided to stalk him.

Finding somewhere to sit by himself proved a bit of a challenge. He didn’t really have any friends among the male novices, and the few that were still eating didn’t have any empty seats near them where Sadrok could find some respite from the calf eyes surely being directed his way. They seemed to make a point of excluding him from their company – either because of how strong he was both with and without saidin, or because so many of the girls paid him so much attention – attention that he neither enjoyed nor wanted. There were even some nasty rumors among them that the only reason he hadn’t gotten into trouble for canoodling with every girl he could get his hands on was because he was interested in other men. The truth was, he just didn’t have the time for their foolishness, and was perfectly content to focus on his studies instead of getting involved in the schemes cooked up by the other novices to whittle away at the monotony of their days.

The first table he’d tried to sit at that day, one of his peers suddenly decided he needed to take up two seats, shooting Sadrok a frosty glare in the process, which was returned in kind of course. The only male novice he’d really gotten to know much about – though they barely ever talked except about their classes – was Theon. They’d been in a lot of the same lessons together, and had helped one another out on more than one occasion, though in the lessons not related to the Power it had mostly been Theon doing the helping. Theon didn’t seem to be here this morning though, he’d either skipped breakfast entirely or had eaten earlier. Besides Theon, the only other real friend he’d made was Krath, a trainee who had approached him seeking help in dealing with his trouble sleeping. He had not seen Krath around in some time, though he knew he was still among the trainees.

He wound up sitting at a table full of girls that had been chattering until he’d shown up.  Once he sat down at the end of the table to eat in silence, pointedly ignoring them, they too grew quiet. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but it seemed as if he could feel their eyes on him as if they were reaching out to touch him. A few of them were attractive, sure, but he had no need to lower himself to the point of paying them any mind. He firmly ignored all of them, a stony expression on his face as he ate quickly.

One or two of the Novices tried to strike up an innocent conversation with him, and he responded politely that he wanted to eat in peace if he thought they were interesting, or ignored them outright if he saw no reason to feign interest. Finishing his meal, he excused himself and took the dishes back to the kitchen. He didn’t see a single novice in the kitchens today, since it was Sunday, but he brought his dishes over to the piles left behind by the novices who had eaten earlier in the morning and left them there before leaving the dining hall. In his mind, with how horrible the food was here, it was more than enough for him not to leave the dishes sitting out on the table. He would force himself to eat what he had to in order to keep his strength, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to complain to himself about the poor quality of the food.

The tall young man found himself reverting to old habits from his days as a member of the guards in Far Madding. His head held high, he walked confidently down the hallway, his bluish-green eyes scanning his surroundings. Hushed whispers and giggles coming from further down the hallway drew his gaze, alerting him to the presence of a group of girls. Not wanting to deal with any more foolish – what was the word she had used? crackbrained? – idiots this morning, Sadrok ducked down another corridor before the gaggle of Novices could catch sight of him.  Having been in the White Tower for a while now, he was well aware of where he was despite the random detour. He sighed in relief as he made his way through the empty hallway. If he was lucky, he might be able to reach the entrance hall without running into any more Novices.

But luck did not seem to favor him this morning. As he was walking through some of the less used hallways of the Tower, he ran across Josel Sedai, one of the younger Green sisters who had taken an interest in him – though to give her credit, he thought it had as much or more to do with his being a swordsman, and that he had been aspiring to become a Blademaster before he came to the Tower, rather than just because he was breathtakingly handsome. Sadrok bowed politely to her. “Good morning, Josel Sedai.”

The brown-eyed Aes Sedai inclined her head slightly in response to his bow. “Good morning, Novice Sadrok. What brings you to this portion of the Tower? One would think that you’d be outside enjoying your free time?”

“Aes Sedai, if I could have gotten there without half the novices in the Tower stalking me the whole way, I would be back outside, yes.” He sounded somewhat exasperated, though he was doing his best to moderate his tone – Josel herself had cornered him more than once to lecture him on benefits of joining the Green Ajah when he became Aes Sedai, and had more than once hinted at the idea of letting one of the current Green sisters Bond him.

Josel Sedai shook her head in amusement at the tone of his voice. She peered at him a moment before speaking, “Ah, that makes sense. Well, perhaps I can aid your attempts to avoid them. Walk with me, Novice.”

Sadrok once again was barely able to stifle a groan, knowing he was in for another lecture about the virtues of the Green Ajah, especially for a man who was skilled with a blade. He would have let Josel’s voice carry over him and only made appropriate acknowledgements if he didn’t know she wouldn’t help him escape the other novices if he wasn’t genuinely paying attention to her. So he found himself following a pace behind her, head high as his eyes looked every which way. He’d once again slipped into Cat Crossing the Courtyard, even though he knew it would draw more attention to him than he wanted – that way of moving was almost as natural to him now as breathing.

As they walked down the halls towards the entrance hall, he caught sight of a few Accepted and Novices both scurrying down the crossing hallways away from him and Josel Sedai. The Accepted didn’t often bother him, but he recognized several of the Novices from the dining hall that morning. Remembering that he was supposed to return a few of the books he’d borrowed on the Old Tongue to the Library yesterday and had forgotten, he bowed to Josel Sedai as they crossed a hallway that would take him back there relatively quickly.

“Please excuse me, Josel Sedai.. I forgot to return some books to the Brown sisters in the Library yesterday, and need to go get them from my room first. Thank you for your insights into the Green Ajah, I shall keep our conversation in mind if it comes time for me to choose one Ajah over another.” Bowing once more, he slipped off down the hallway to return to his room in the male novice well and retrieve the books he’d forgotten to return to the Library the day before. It galled that he wasn’t able to just buy the books like he would have back home. He often found himself wishing he had access to his money, but as long as he wanted to become Aes Sedai, he’d have to suffer through poverty, malnourishment, and menial labor before he would earn that prestigious title.

When he got back to his room, he was surprised to see that a number of his things had been search through. Oh, everything looked fine – whoever had been in his room had put everything back in almost the exact place it had come from.. But the books he had come back to get were stacked on top of each other in the wrong order, the sheets of his bed were rumpled when he always made it look as pristine as he could every morning.. And one of his white shirts was missing. Fortunately, the culprit had stolen the shirt that he’d torn a few days ago, but he was still livid that anyone would invade his personal space in this manner.

Straightening his room out took some time – what he wouldn’t give to have a manservant again to do this for him – but once he had everything where it was supposed to be again, he put the books in a satchel and slung it over his arm before heading back out. Once again, he slipped into Cat Crossing the Courtyard almost subconsciously – when he caught sight of the first group of girls he started really paying attention to the stance, putting every significant ounce of arrogance into it that he could muster.

He walked right through the middle of their group, not even bothering to excuse himself, and continued on without so much as a backwards glance. He had to slow his pace to bow respectfully to the Aes Sedai and Accepted that he passed, but anyone else was coldly ignored as he made his way back out to the Library. Well, almost everyone else was ignored.. he also made a point to show respect to the few Gaidin he passed as well.

In reply to Crash of the Novices[show]/[hide]

It had not been very long since Brileia’s admittance to the White Tower as a Novice, and yet it seemed to her like time was passing by very quickly.  Festival time was already upon them, and free time was given to all.  But the young Novice felt as though she might be the only one not looking forward to this time.  With so much to learn and do, how could she possibly afford to take a day off from lessons?  She knew that the Aes Sedai were expecting them to socialize and enjoy themselves during the festival. But during her short time here, Brileia had met several of the other Novices, and their ideas of a good time just did not mesh well with hers. The Domani girl with the room besides hers, Rahime Najat, was the epitome of everything Brileia did not want to become. The girl was lazy in her lessons, and yet seemed to think that she was the Creator’s gift to mankind. Even worse in Brileia’s opinion was that the girl seemed to chase after anything that was male. She simply didn’t understand how anyone could have time for such things with all the work that was expected of a Novice. By the time the sun rose that morning, she had already made her decision. While her fellow Novices were no doubt off giggling over some half-naked trainee, Brileia would be taking the utmost advantage of her free time and doing some studying within the vast library. Quickly dressing in the typical white garb of a Novice, she took a moment to glance around the quarters she had been assigned. It wasn’t as much as she might have had back home in Maradon, but the young girl found herself liking it nonetheless. There was a great deal of white everywhere from the walls to the bed linens. Brileia found it to be a strangely soothing hue and did not mind the absence of color that seemed to bother many of her fellow novices. Her bed was small, but just the right size for the fourteen year old. In her opinion, it was more comfortable than the much bigger one she’d had back in her parents’ home. Her small desk was cluttered with various books and parchments from the lessons she’d attended so far. Every night before bed she would take the time to go over her notes and lessons until she was certain that she knew the material well. Her parents may have provided for her, but they never really understood her quest for knowledge and need to train as much as possible. Her room had become her new sanctuary in place of the small hidden glade she’d discovered back home. Here, in this place, there was no one trying to force her to become someone she could never be. There was no one trying to make her forget her most precious person. And most of all, there was no one trying to sell her to the highest bidder. Marriage? That was a laugh. Brileia remembered quite clearly the conversation she’d overheard. She had been looking for her mother, hoping to gain permission to skip her dance lessons for the day and go out into the marketplace in search of a birthday present for her young nephew. Instead of finding her mother, she had discovered her father having a secret meeting with her uncles. Being the curious girl that she is, Brileia had lingered outside the door, eavesdropping. Apparently Uncle Rashmere had been in negotiations with the head of the Kandori merchants’ guild in Maradon, a man by the name of Alin. At the time the young girl couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could her parents think of using her to gain an alliance with another merchant family? She had been devastated at the realization that her family was trying to find a way to send her as far away from Saldaea as they could manage. She shook her head and smiled to herself, suddenly quite happy that she wouldn’t be marrying the guild leader’s nephew now. He was probably some hideous fat merchant anyways. Bluish-green eyes glanced once more over her room before she finally took a step out the door and looked down the hallway. Taking the only path she had committed to memory so far, Brileia made her way towards the dining hall. Back at home, she might have just gone without eating in her excitement. But the last time she had skipped a meal to spend time going over her notes, she had ended up being dressed down by one of the Yellow sisters for compromising her health in such a way. She had no desire to get in any trouble on her free day. Getting a penance now would ruin her plans. Placing a few pieces of fruit on a plate, Brileia settled down at one of the tables, making certain to put some distance between some of the other female novices and herself. She nibbled on a piece of fruit, trying not to listen to the whispers and giggles of the other girls. She tried to ignore the shrill voice of one particular Novice. But it was quite difficult to ignore Rahime when she was spouting such insanity. The girl was actually planning to sneak into some poor male Novice’s room tonight. Brileia couldn’t help but to feel sympathy for the poor man she got her hooks into that night. It certainly would not be easy to get rid of her. Brileia wanted to gag in revulsion as the other girls continued to gossip, giggling over their plans to ogle half-dressed trainees in the yards. Really, did they have nothing better to do with their time? Did they have no inclination to actually succeed in Tar Valon? Perhaps they enjoyed the penances that would be assigned when they were caught by the piercing eyes of an Aes Sedai. And what about those poor men who were only trying to train? She could only imagine how frustrating and annoying it would be to surrounded by foolish girls staring at her like a fresh piece of meat. Finished with her meal, the petite Novice took her leave before the insanity either made her lose her breakfast or become infected with their silliness. Now, if only she could remember where the library was, then things would be perfect. Shrugging lightly, Brileia just picked a direction and began to walk that way. She figured that she’d come across the library or someone who knew the way eventually. Despite having grown up in a well-off merchant family, the young girl was mesmerized by the different tapestries that decorated the hallways. The colorful threads depicted many a story that she had heard as a small child. Of course it also occurred to her that taking care of those tapestries would be a rather loathsome chore for any Novice. Beating the dust out of the heavy tapestries would be a punishment for anyone. So engrossed in her amazed perusal of each tapestry, Brileia didn’t even notice when she turned down an unfamiliar hallway. Her small feet barely made a sound as she wandered through what seemed like a maze of hallways, never actually seeing another person. It was quite apparent by this point that she had managed to get herself quite lost. A frown curved her lips as it occurred to her just how much studying time she had missed in the amount of time it had taken her to even get to this point. Even white teeth dug into her bottom lip anxiously as she resumed walking, this time moving a bit faster than before. Why was it that every hallway seemed to look alike? There was nothing that appeared even remotely familiar here, and Brileia was beginning to wonder if she should have left a trail of breadcrumbs just to find her way back. A small hand slid through silky, black curls, twisting the locks of hair around her fingers as she tried to decide what to do. She was all alone in this place with no idea of how to get back to something familiar. Each breath seemed to come faster and faster until she was nearly hyperventilating. Wide teal-colored eyes darted around as memories began to overwhelm her. The last time she had gotten so lost, it had nearly taken her life. A little girl of only eight years, Brileia had been with her family during an outing in the countryside near the Arinelle river. A patch of wildflowers had caught her attention, and she had been pre-occupied with gathering as many of the pretty flowers as she could. Darting here and there, she had carefully picked each one that had caught her eye. Tucking a particularly beautiful violet into her bouquet, Brileia had looked up to realize that nothing looked familiar. None of her family were in sight, and she was much closer to the forest than she had originally been. The last thing she remembered from that day was a set of feral, yellow eyes gleaming in the shadows and the pain of sharp teeth and claws digging into tender flesh. When she awakened days later, her oldest brother had gone against their parents’ wishes and explained what had happened. Though he didn’t go into much detail, it was enough for her to know that she had nearly died after being attacked by a large wolf. Her brother had found her in the nick of time and saved her life, killing the beast before it could escape. Even now, eight years later, all she could see in her nightmares were yellow eyes and sharp teeth. All sorts of illogical thoughts began to spring to life in her mind as she grew more and more anxious, panic beginning to set in. The sound of paws padding across the tiled floor echoed through her mind, a faint growl seeming to echo from the shadows that seemed to have grown in the short time she’d been in that hallway. A soft whimper escaped her as she stared at one particular corner, imagining that there were eyes gleaming in the shadows there. Grasping her white skirts, the petite Novice turned on her heels and hurried through the unfamiliar hallways as if the Forsaken themselves were nipping at her heels. Lost within the illusions caused by her frightened mind, Brileia was completely oblivious. Breathless, she suddenly collided with someone much taller and bigger than herself. A frightened cry escaped her as she stumbled and fell, ending up on top of the person she’d knocked down in her haste to escape the demons conjured by her mind. Black curls tumbled over her face in a riotous mess, her hands pressed against a rather firm chest. Her head spinning, it took a few moments before she realized that she was sprawled across the lean form of a man. Eyes widening in shock and utter embarrassment, she scrambled to her feet in a flurry of white skirts and black curls. Visibly trembling, the young Novice stared down at the man she’d knocked down, stammering breathlessly in embarrassment. “Oh! I am so sorry! I didn’t see you there! Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Before he could even answer her, she looked around in complete confusion. “And where in the Light am I?” “You’re in the male Novice well, and no, I’m not hurt.” The man stared at her, a blank expression on his face. Only then did she notice the pristine white uniform of one of the male initiates of the Tower. Suddenly that blank expression on his face seemed almost dangerous. “I’ve been gawked at, flirted with, and stalked.. but never tackled before... Nor has anyone ever tried to sit on me before..” At first, Brileia felt only relief that she had not hurt the man with her carelessness. But then she realized just what he was implying with the last part of his statement. Her jaw dropped in indignation, her slight body trembling in growing anger. “Excuse me? Please refrain from grouping me with those crackbrain girls. I have absolutely no desire to be stalking anyone, much less any of the males here.”

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Replies to Shameless Glances

  • Seeking Knowledge — Brileia, Wed, Aug 18, 2010 16:13 pm