Disclaimer: Oops!! ElfIcarii was right, I forgot to put a disclaimer in *g* It should be obvious but, anyway, I do not own WoT, didn't invent the land or the types of people or anything. All the characters in the following story are my original creations, however they only exist because of the wondrous Robert Jordan and the awesome world he's given us WoT fans :) Please do not sueth me, I am pooreth and RJ is richeth *G*
I Will Never Break That Promise (1)
Aloris Sedai hastened down the hallway, hoping to be back at her room before Loran arrived. She wasn't looking forward to this encounter, but she had to face what was coming. It was a simple fact she found difficult to swallow.
"Aloris Aes Sedai," squeaked a novice who had appeared suddenly from around the corner. "Thank the Light I found you! I have messages for you."
Aloris glided to a halt and let a slight frown mar her forehead. "Messages? From whom?"
"They arrived by pigeon not an hour ago, Aes Sedai," the novice piped, her great green eyes seeming impossibly round. "Here you are." She curtseyed deeply after dumping a small cloth bag in Aloris's hands.
"Thank you, novice," Aloris said, and added, "you may now return to your duties."
The novice scurried off, trying to hide the curiosity in her eyes, and Aloris watched her until she had rounded the next corner and disappear. Then she hesitated, eventually deciding to head to the Blue Ajah Tea Room instead of back to her room. There was no need for Loran to see the messages until Aloris had determined the degree of their importance. Aloris would be late for their meeting, but she decided that it did not matter – the messages could be more important by far than Loran-related annoyances.
She hurried down the hall in the opposite direction from that in which the novice had gone, wondering what else could possibly happen to confuse her plans for the day.
The door to the meeting room had been firmly closed for over an hour, but now it burst open abruptly, emitting a dishevelled Aes Sedai into the hallway.
Cariana Sevine slammed the door behind her and staggered down the corridor, gasping for air. She ignored the strange looks she got from other sisters and understudies as she passed. She had just been hit with the heaviest sledgehammer blow she had endured in her entire career as Aes Sedai. She was still winded from the impact, so that the despair had not fully sunk in yet.
She finally made her way outside, where she stood wavering and gulping in the fresh morning air. The coldness rapidly cleared her head and she abruptly realised that was the last thing she wanted. A clear head made way for understanding. She did not want to understand anything, least of all the reality of what they had just done to her.
The last thing she wanted was to be able to contemplate the task she had been set.
Back in the meeting room, debate was surprisingly unheated.
"We need that support," Verena said for the third time within twenty minutes, as if trying to justify what had just happened. "If she is not up to it, we will do it some other way…but we need that support."
Dayla shrugged in discomfort, profoundly aware of the empty space two chairs to her right where Cariana had sat until mere moments ago. The silence was oppressive.
"Why did it have to be her?" she asked. "I know that she is the best equipped of any of us to navigate the way through the castle…but…"
"Is it wise to have an unfit woman take charge?" That was Coral Emeran, finishing the sentence Dayla had started. It was the question everyone wanted an answer to – no one more so than Cariana, undoubtedly. The poor woman had fled, stricken, as if they had moved literally to stab her in the back. The memory plagued Dayla, as did the knowledge of what she would have to do later on today.
"You will meet her?" Aloris asked, as if reading Dayla's mind and trying to remind her of her duty, just in case.
"Yes, yes," Dayla replied irritably. "I know my duty. I assume you know yours."
Loran Sedai rose to her feet before anyone else could speak, looking pointedly at Dayla as she said, "The meeting is closed. All are dismissed."
Dayla wasted no time escaping, and made immediately for Cariana's rooms.
She waited all day for Cariana, and saw not one glimpse of her. How dare she do this to me?! she raged inwardly, feeling it trying to choke her. She had long struggled with that rage, fully realised for the first time in the aftermath of her Accepted's test. Her discovery of her true self that day had left very few thankful. Dayla Mronias had a frightful temper.
Strangely, Cariana was one of the few individuals who could never incite Dayla to violent anger, despite being one of those who most greatly irritated her. Cariana knew all Dayla's buttons, and never hesitated to push those that would better serve her purpose, or that of the Tower as a whole. Dayla had never been able to truly resent the woman for her lack of scruples. She means well, she told herself repeatedly, though she knew that was not it either. Most Sisters meant well, as far as Dayla knew. She never made excuses for them. It was only Cariana, Dayla's best friend and sole confidante.
And she is five hours late! Dayla clenched her hand around the pitcher handle, having to force herself not to hurl it across the room.
She made herself sit and wait it out, knowing it must not be too long now.
As it turned out, the wait was long indeed. Cariana never showed up. Dayla woke early the next morning, having returned to her rooms rather late at night without speaking to Cariana. The first thing she did was order a new pitcher to replace the one she had broken last evening.
Then she went in search of Cariana Sevine.
Cariana ducked into the shadowy hallway, hastening along at a pace unbefitting of Aes Sedai. She only went this fast because she knew no one was about to see her, at least not underlings. She saw other sisters here and there, though thankfully no one she was trying to avoid. She just wanted to get to her room and be alone. She needed time to prepare herself mentally, before beginning to pack.
She did make it to her room unseen, but she shouldn't have underestimated Dayla's resolve. The woman waited inside the room, seated daintily on Cariana's only wooden chair. When Cariana slipped into the room, watching her back instead of the space before her, she rose swiftly and spoke.
"There you are. I was wondering."
Cariana started and leapt about, her wide eyes narrowing as they fell on Dayla. "How dare you enter my room without my permission?" she hissed.
Dayla tugged on her shawl, and Cariana noticed other signs that the woman was extremely agitated. Not to mention infuriated. Cariana hastily donned a cloak of caution, wanting to avoid angering Dayla further if she could.
"You have a duty, and so do I! I believe that Tower law takes precedence over those laws that go unspoken, do you not?"
There was a wryness in her voice, and Cariana was reminded of her Oaths, just as Dayla wanted. The Oaths were spoken aloud, and in the end they were all that mattered. That was the idea, anyway. Cariana sighed and shrugged out of her cloak, folding it and laying it on the bed. "You always were too wise…"
"I am furious!" Dayla snapped, for once speaking the obvious. She wasn't the type of woman to do that.
"I noticed," Cariana responded, gambling on the strange affection the other woman felt for her that allowed her to get away with more than most other sisters. "But you ought to have asked where I have been before leaping to conclusions. Then again, you have always been a little overhasty."
Dayla glared at her more fiercely than she could ever remember her doing in their entire history. "You must leave in two hours' time! I was expecting you to ask some advice of me, and others, before departure. But I suppose you are absolutely confident of your own abilities. You no longer need us, or our approval. Do you forget that this is a team effort?"
Cariana's own fury seemed ready to engulf her then. She wanted to grip Dayla's face and scratch with her fingernails. She wanted to tear at her own skin until she was unfit for service. She could hardly believe she had been talked into this farce, but the fact was, she had agreed to take part. She had agreed to take the most crucial part, actually. It was her duty, to the Tower and to her sisters, to betray not only blood kin but also former allies. Dayla was largely responsible for landing Cariana this role. She had recommended that Cariana be approached.
"I have forgotten no such thing," Cariana replied, her voice dangerously quiet. She moved over to the desk where the water pitcher stood collecting beads of water on the outside. "In fact, I have just paid Master Lundrin a visit."
Well that gave Dayla pause. And so it should! If you do not trust me, why did you nominate me for this accursed duty? Cariana asked silently, knowing there was really no need to ask aloud.
"I see…" Dayla murmured, tugging at her shawl with a little less gusto.
"Do you?" Cariana paused, letting the water pitcher hover in mid-air where she had lifted it. After a moment she wafted it over to where she could take hold of it. Then she swivelled her head to stare at Dayla intensely. "I was asking his advice, as a matter of fact. I wanted to know which horse to take for a quicker journey. Whether he could arrange my food for me. If he had anyone in mind for a bodyguard."
Dayla looked troubled, but Cariana wasn't sure why – there were so many possible reasons. "You would take no more than one of course," was the first thing she said in reply. Cariana fumed, but did not let her anger show. Or hoped she didn't. Is that all you can say? she snapped silently. Dayla sighed, and added, "I do apologise," almost as if reading Cariana's mind. She said it very quietly, so that Cariana barely heard it.
"I expected no less," Cariana said, pouring a glass of water for herself. She did not bother to pour her friend one. It was a mark of how angry she was. If Dayla noticed, she did not let it show in her expression.
"I am sorry, for more than one reason." Dayla was obviously reluctant to add that last, but she did it.
Cariana saw it in her friend's eyes then. She was torn between staying angry and letting her heart melt. She soon gave in to the latter. "Dayla, I understand. It was your duty. You chose the person you thought was best suited." You chose me, the woman who knows them best; the woman who knows their nuances, their weaknesses, well enough to bring them to their knees. And destroy them if necessary. That was what being Aes Sedai was about. There was no compromise, not if it endangered the Tower. Women made sacrifices. They went so far as to betray family, and even to trick and trap fellow Aes Sedai. That was that.
"I did. I truly did." Dayla sounded like she was begging now, although she certainly didn't look like it. "You are our last hope."
"And I may fail yet." There. It had been said out loud, the thing that everyone feared. Cariana was not about to pretend she had more chance of success than she did have. Things were extremely precarious. It would only take one tiny slip for everything to come crashing down around their heads. Matters were in a fine balance, and it was up to Cariana, a human being, if an Aes Sedai, to make sure that they stayed balanced. Oh, Light, how did it come to this?
"We must not speak of such things," Dayla said hastily, twitching uncomfortably. "If you will allow it, I would be pleased to help with final preparations."
Cariana had expected no less of Dayla. Should I be grateful? she asked herself. She really had no answer. All she knew was that she must take what she could get. The aid of a best friend was not to be forsaken due to a personal conflict.
"Will you organise some substitute tutors for me? I must have novice Fire and Spirit lessons covered. In the meantime, I need to pack."
Dayla nodded, murmuring, "Of course. I was already thinking of Accepted Mildren for Fire." Cariana did not bother to nod, for Mildren was the obvious choice. Mature, able, and patient. Perfect, almost more so than Cariana herself, who was the most renowned Fire teacher the Tower had seen in thirty years. "And perhaps Darielle for Spirit. Or Linden?"
"Do not burden Linden further." Cariana thought for a moment before adding, "It is up to you. I have no time to think of it, that's why I asked you to take care of it."
Dayla nodded and smiled slightly. Before rising, she met Cariana's gaze. The two women shared a brief moment of pause, in which their faces reflected the affection they felt for each other.
When Dayla had left, Cariana took one more sip from her glass before setting about packing.