The Wheel of Time belongs to Robert Jordan, I just play here.
Chapter 10
Jahar went to his new rooms when he left the Hall. Most Warders were in a different part of the Tower, but as Sheriam's Warder his quarters were right next to her Keeper's rooms. They were also much bigger than any he had had, even in Cairhien, but since he still had only the saddlebags he had taken from Cairhien he was done unpacking in just a few minutes.
Many of the Warders were by now helping the servants, carrying the many items through the Gateways some sisters held, and off the wagons that were now riding in through the city. But the servants and soldiers were doing most of the labor and he felt better staying close to Sheriam.
Sheriam was in the Amyrlin's study and he did not disturb her, instead taking a chair and sitting down in the anteroom that was now hers. It was a large room, large enough for any number of people who would be waiting to see the Amyrlin to stand or sit on one of the chairs lining the far wall. A wide writing table held stacks of paper that had the slightly disorderly look of being rifled through by someone who did not know what was in there.
Jahar did not channel like he had been doing the previous day when Sylviana had come in. He was not really tired but with everything that had happened in the meantime, he did not think he could concentrate to figure out a new weave. Doing so was hard enough under any circumstances. Instead, he sat back, resting and thinking.
He had not been in the anteroom for long when a rapid knock sounded and the door opened further. Sheriam had left it ajar and so had he when he had come in. Lyrelle rushed into the room, pulling the Red who had been so shaken in the Hall along with her by the arm. The Blue sitter threw a hurried glance around the room.
"Sheriam is with the Amyrlin," Jahar told her.
"Anyone with her?" Lyrelle asked.
"I don't believe so," Jahar answered. Siuan was hearing the first report on Talene from Saerin, Seaine, Yukiri, Doeselle and Pevara, he had heard just before he had gone to his rooms, and he had not seen anyone since he had come here.
Lyrelle barely took the time to nod at him as she dragged the Red toward the inner door and knocked on it.
Sheriam opened it, but she did not get the chance to say anything. "Duhara here has just told me something the Amyrlin must know immediately," Lyrelle burst out.
Sheriam stepped back as she nodded. "Come in and let's hear it."
Strangely enough for as great a hurry she had been in, Lyrelle hesitated and glanced back at Jahar for a brief moment before she turned and hauled the Red into the Amyrlin's Study.
Only moments later Sheriam opened the door again. "Jahar, would you join us please?" she asked. She sounded calm but she did not feel it.
He quickly got up and went in. The Amyrlin's Study was an ornate room but it held few furnishings. The Amyrlin sat behind her desk, Sheriam taking her place beside her after closing the door. Lyrelle stood with the Red -Duhara- in front of the desk.
"Tell him what you just told us," the Amyrlin ordered Duhara.
The Red's eyes widened as she looked at him. She took a deep breath before starting. "Elaida sent a Red sister with fifty others and two hundred of the Tower Guard to take the Black Tower."
Jahar looked at her, stunned. He didn't know whether to be angry or laugh. "Fifty-one sisters?" he asked incredulously.
The Red nodded.
"And two hundred Tower Guard."
She nodded again.
"Against the whole Black Tower."
Again a nod.
Jahar shook his head. "Light, Elaida might as well have sent a novice and a stable boy to take the Lord Dragon," he said.
"Elaida said.." Duhara began. "She thought.. there can not be more than a few men there who can actually channel?" she finished, her tone making it sound as if she, too, did not believe.
"There were over two hundred of us when I last was the Black Tower and that is months ago, there are about five hundred now," Jahar told her harshly.
Duhara gulped at that, but she still stammered, "But, but.. Even if there are.. that many. Channeling for only months or weeks, surely they can't.. fifty full Aes Sedai. I mean.." She was still shaking her head.
Jahar had had enough. "Shield me. Now," he snapped at her.
The Red just stared at him, wide-eyed.
"I am not holding Saidin. I started to channel last summer. You were a Sitter. Well?" he asked coldly.
This time Duhara's eyes darted away from him, to Sheriam and the Amyrlin.
Sheriam's flat stare reflected his anger, and the Amyrlin did not say a word either, but Jahar thought he saw the corner of her mouth twitch as if hiding a smile.
Duhara swallowed hard. Jahar felt the tell-tale prickle, grabbed Saidin, and sliced through her flows in one heartbeat. The Red gasped as the severed flows snapped back at her and she staggered, but he shielded her and wrapped her in Air before she could fall. He only held her for a few moments, then released her. She stumbled and caught herself on the Amyrlin's desk, then stood slumped over it, holding herself up with both hands. "Light, they're all gone. Light, they're all dead. Light," she muttered.
The Amyrlin glared at the Duhara with disdain but she did look slightly worried as well.
"They won't have been killed," Jahar said. The M'Hael might have killed Aes Sedai attacking the Black Tower if it were all up to him, but Jahar had a good idea how the Lord Dragon thought about killing women. Even in the south the Lord Dragon had ordered the damane taken alive, if at all possible. "I don't know how they are held, and they might be stilled, but the Lord Dragon would not allow them to be killed."
Lyrelle, who had otherwise kept back, gasped at the mention of stilling and he felt apprehension from Sheriam as well. Even though stilling could be Healed now, no one who had been an Aes Sedai for long while it was still irreversible could talk about it comfortably. Duhara still leaned heavily on the Amyrlin's desk, looking ready to fall over any minute.
Only the Amyrlin had not flinched at the words, nodding instead. Of course, she was from the same village as the Lord Dragon and no doubt knew him better than anyone else in Tar Valon. She now looked at the Red holding herself up. "Oh, do sit down before we have to pick you off the floor," she said, contemptuously.
Duhara stumbled back and sat down heavily on one of the chairs in front of the Amyrlin's desk.
Lyrelle remarked, "It is still strange there is no report of any fighting, no matter how small, from Caemlyn."
"There wouldn't have been any," Jahar said flatly. "Not if these sisters were expecting what she told us," he indicated Duhara.
"I guess not," the Amyrlin replied grimly. "When you Travel to Cairhien this afternoon, find out where these sisters are held. They may be Elaida's and utterly clueless but they are Aes Sedai and I want them back here."
Jahar nodded. "I will."
"Is there anything else related to this you have not told us?" the Amyrlin asked Duhara, who shook her head slowly, looking down at the floor.
"No Mother, that is all I know, and that nothing was heard from any of them, or any of the guards."
The Amyrlin snorted. "Then finish reporting any other business to Lyrelle and after that I am sure she can find something for you to do."
The Red stood up, still so shaken she almost fell as she curtsied, and breathed "Yes, Mother," then followed Lyrelle out of the room so closely she almost stepped on the Blue's skirts.
"If there are no other new developments, I will Travel to Cairhien now," Jahar said.
"The Light only knows what the other sisters will have to report," the Amyrlin sighed. "But yes, go now. I want to know how they are."
"Yes Mother," Jahar said, and with a brief nod and a glance at Sheriam he left the room.
Jahar paced the anteroom while he waited for the Lord Dragon to see him. The room was large but stark, Cairhien style, with dark wood and severe lines. A great contrast with the light and ornate rooms of the Tower. Two Maidens were playing cat's cradle, ignoring him after they had let him into the anteroom.
He felt Sheriam through the bond, fuzzed by distance. An unpleasant feeling, to be so far apart. He could still make out she was switching rapidly between anger, frustration and pure astonishment. She would still be hearing reports from the Sitters and going though Elaida's papers. What other crazy schemes had that woman been up to?
Finally a small group of Cairhien nobles came out of the throne room, throwing him a brief startled look before strutting out of the room as if they had not started at all. Jahar paid no attention to them, long used to that kind of reactions from non-channeling people, and it certainly paled by the reactions of the Reds.
Then the Maidens told him he could go in, and he saluted as he entered the throne room.
Min and Cadsuane were with the Lord Dragon again. Jahar didn't mind Min, but Cadsuane made him uneasy. She studied him closely as he told the Lord Dragon first about the taking of the Tower, then about the Reds. The Lord Dragon was of course pleased to hear the Amyrlin held the Tower, but the news of the Aes Sedai disturbed him.
"I knew I should have visited the Black Tower more often," he said, getting up and pacing through the room. "I do not know what has happened with these Aes Sedai, but I will find out. This afternoon I have to meet with the a few of the Wise Ones and Dobraine has been waiting for a chance to talk to me all day, but tomorrow I will Travel to Andor first thing in the morning. Tell Egw.. tell the Amyrlin I will send word by noon."
"Yes Lord Dragon," Jahar said, then added. "There is another thing I wanted to ask." And he explained about the inverted weaves, the removing of tiredness, and how he had run into these.
"I do not know how to remove anyone's weariness, but it would be a useful thing. I think it is more up Damer's street to figure that one out, I will get him working on it," the Lord Dragon said. "Now for as far as inverted weaves are concerned, I do not think there is a way to undo them when you do not know how they were held, but I did not know there was such a 'tab' for the Saidar version of it either. Perhaps there is such a thing for us as well. I will teach you how to invert the weaves on two conditions. Do not teach anyone else -I do not know who I can trust apart from you and Damer- and find out if there is such a tab or other trick for us to find and undo another person's inverted weaves."
"I understand, Lord Dragon," Jahar acknowledged.
He felt the Lord Dragon grab Saidin and looked closely as he channeled the flows. In just two tries Jahar held a simple inverted weave.
"You are quick," the Lord Dragon remarked.
"Thank you Lord Dragon. I have had a lot of practice lately," Jahar replied.
Cadsuane sniffed from where she was sitting, but Jahar tried to ignore her. The grey-haired Aes Sedai was a difficult person to ignore though, and he felt uncomfortable under her stare even though he knew he was right about his channeling. The event of the past weeks had only reinforced that certainty; much he could not have done had he learned to channel playing it safe as the Aes Sedai did.
He had linked with Cadsuane once, right after the cleansing of the Taint, when she had wanted to feel for herself if it was gone. While almost all Aes Sedai appeared self-possessed and cool to outsiders, Jahar had long found out most of them were as emotional as anyone, among each other and to themselves. They just hid it from those who could not channel. But Cadsuane. Cadsuane had really felt collected and in control, through the link, even there on that hilltop after everything that had happened.
The Lord Dragon hardly seemed to notice her presence. He had sat down again, leafing through some maps.
"The Seanchan have been reported in Amadicia, and some rumors even put them in Ghealdan," he said. "Damer and Corele have Travelled there to gather information on the strength of their army, the number of damane, the number of those raken and whatever else they can find out. After Altara, I had hoped we had slowed them down but it seems they hardly noticed the setback. I want you to tell the Amyrlin to be on her guard. I will hold them from Andor and Cairhien, but if any of the damane discovers how to Travel, or if they capture anyone who can, they could move straight on Tar Valon."
"Yes Lord Dragon," Jahar said grimly. He had worried about the Seanchan but he had also hoped they would have been hit harder in Ebou Dar.
The Lord Dragon got up again, walked to a writing desk, and wrote a few words on a piece of paper. He pushed the letter in an envelop and sealed it.
"I want you to go by Caemlyn on your way back," he told Jahar when he was done. "Tell the Lady Elayne that I will go to the Black Tower tomorrow, and I will visit her when I am done there. And give her this letter."
Jahar took the letter and saluted. "As you wish, Lord Dragon."
He left the throne room and Travelled to the palace in Caemlyn.
Chapter 10
Jahar went to his new rooms when he left the Hall. Most Warders were in a different part of the Tower, but as Sheriam's Warder his quarters were right next to her Keeper's rooms. They were also much bigger than any he had had, even in Cairhien, but since he still had only the saddlebags he had taken from Cairhien he was done unpacking in just a few minutes.
Many of the Warders were by now helping the servants, carrying the many items through the Gateways some sisters held, and off the wagons that were now riding in through the city. But the servants and soldiers were doing most of the labor and he felt better staying close to Sheriam.
Sheriam was in the Amyrlin's study and he did not disturb her, instead taking a chair and sitting down in the anteroom that was now hers. It was a large room, large enough for any number of people who would be waiting to see the Amyrlin to stand or sit on one of the chairs lining the far wall. A wide writing table held stacks of paper that had the slightly disorderly look of being rifled through by someone who did not know what was in there.
Jahar did not channel like he had been doing the previous day when Sylviana had come in. He was not really tired but with everything that had happened in the meantime, he did not think he could concentrate to figure out a new weave. Doing so was hard enough under any circumstances. Instead, he sat back, resting and thinking.
He had not been in the anteroom for long when a rapid knock sounded and the door opened further. Sheriam had left it ajar and so had he when he had come in. Lyrelle rushed into the room, pulling the Red who had been so shaken in the Hall along with her by the arm. The Blue sitter threw a hurried glance around the room.
"Sheriam is with the Amyrlin," Jahar told her.
"Anyone with her?" Lyrelle asked.
"I don't believe so," Jahar answered. Siuan was hearing the first report on Talene from Saerin, Seaine, Yukiri, Doeselle and Pevara, he had heard just before he had gone to his rooms, and he had not seen anyone since he had come here.
Lyrelle barely took the time to nod at him as she dragged the Red toward the inner door and knocked on it.
Sheriam opened it, but she did not get the chance to say anything. "Duhara here has just told me something the Amyrlin must know immediately," Lyrelle burst out.
Sheriam stepped back as she nodded. "Come in and let's hear it."
Strangely enough for as great a hurry she had been in, Lyrelle hesitated and glanced back at Jahar for a brief moment before she turned and hauled the Red into the Amyrlin's Study.
Only moments later Sheriam opened the door again. "Jahar, would you join us please?" she asked. She sounded calm but she did not feel it.
He quickly got up and went in. The Amyrlin's Study was an ornate room but it held few furnishings. The Amyrlin sat behind her desk, Sheriam taking her place beside her after closing the door. Lyrelle stood with the Red -Duhara- in front of the desk.
"Tell him what you just told us," the Amyrlin ordered Duhara.
The Red's eyes widened as she looked at him. She took a deep breath before starting. "Elaida sent a Red sister with fifty others and two hundred of the Tower Guard to take the Black Tower."
Jahar looked at her, stunned. He didn't know whether to be angry or laugh. "Fifty-one sisters?" he asked incredulously.
The Red nodded.
"And two hundred Tower Guard."
She nodded again.
"Against the whole Black Tower."
Again a nod.
Jahar shook his head. "Light, Elaida might as well have sent a novice and a stable boy to take the Lord Dragon," he said.
"Elaida said.." Duhara began. "She thought.. there can not be more than a few men there who can actually channel?" she finished, her tone making it sound as if she, too, did not believe.
"There were over two hundred of us when I last was the Black Tower and that is months ago, there are about five hundred now," Jahar told her harshly.
Duhara gulped at that, but she still stammered, "But, but.. Even if there are.. that many. Channeling for only months or weeks, surely they can't.. fifty full Aes Sedai. I mean.." She was still shaking her head.
Jahar had had enough. "Shield me. Now," he snapped at her.
The Red just stared at him, wide-eyed.
"I am not holding Saidin. I started to channel last summer. You were a Sitter. Well?" he asked coldly.
This time Duhara's eyes darted away from him, to Sheriam and the Amyrlin.
Sheriam's flat stare reflected his anger, and the Amyrlin did not say a word either, but Jahar thought he saw the corner of her mouth twitch as if hiding a smile.
Duhara swallowed hard. Jahar felt the tell-tale prickle, grabbed Saidin, and sliced through her flows in one heartbeat. The Red gasped as the severed flows snapped back at her and she staggered, but he shielded her and wrapped her in Air before she could fall. He only held her for a few moments, then released her. She stumbled and caught herself on the Amyrlin's desk, then stood slumped over it, holding herself up with both hands. "Light, they're all gone. Light, they're all dead. Light," she muttered.
The Amyrlin glared at the Duhara with disdain but she did look slightly worried as well.
"They won't have been killed," Jahar said. The M'Hael might have killed Aes Sedai attacking the Black Tower if it were all up to him, but Jahar had a good idea how the Lord Dragon thought about killing women. Even in the south the Lord Dragon had ordered the damane taken alive, if at all possible. "I don't know how they are held, and they might be stilled, but the Lord Dragon would not allow them to be killed."
Lyrelle, who had otherwise kept back, gasped at the mention of stilling and he felt apprehension from Sheriam as well. Even though stilling could be Healed now, no one who had been an Aes Sedai for long while it was still irreversible could talk about it comfortably. Duhara still leaned heavily on the Amyrlin's desk, looking ready to fall over any minute.
Only the Amyrlin had not flinched at the words, nodding instead. Of course, she was from the same village as the Lord Dragon and no doubt knew him better than anyone else in Tar Valon. She now looked at the Red holding herself up. "Oh, do sit down before we have to pick you off the floor," she said, contemptuously.
Duhara stumbled back and sat down heavily on one of the chairs in front of the Amyrlin's desk.
Lyrelle remarked, "It is still strange there is no report of any fighting, no matter how small, from Caemlyn."
"There wouldn't have been any," Jahar said flatly. "Not if these sisters were expecting what she told us," he indicated Duhara.
"I guess not," the Amyrlin replied grimly. "When you Travel to Cairhien this afternoon, find out where these sisters are held. They may be Elaida's and utterly clueless but they are Aes Sedai and I want them back here."
Jahar nodded. "I will."
"Is there anything else related to this you have not told us?" the Amyrlin asked Duhara, who shook her head slowly, looking down at the floor.
"No Mother, that is all I know, and that nothing was heard from any of them, or any of the guards."
The Amyrlin snorted. "Then finish reporting any other business to Lyrelle and after that I am sure she can find something for you to do."
The Red stood up, still so shaken she almost fell as she curtsied, and breathed "Yes, Mother," then followed Lyrelle out of the room so closely she almost stepped on the Blue's skirts.
"If there are no other new developments, I will Travel to Cairhien now," Jahar said.
"The Light only knows what the other sisters will have to report," the Amyrlin sighed. "But yes, go now. I want to know how they are."
"Yes Mother," Jahar said, and with a brief nod and a glance at Sheriam he left the room.
Jahar paced the anteroom while he waited for the Lord Dragon to see him. The room was large but stark, Cairhien style, with dark wood and severe lines. A great contrast with the light and ornate rooms of the Tower. Two Maidens were playing cat's cradle, ignoring him after they had let him into the anteroom.
He felt Sheriam through the bond, fuzzed by distance. An unpleasant feeling, to be so far apart. He could still make out she was switching rapidly between anger, frustration and pure astonishment. She would still be hearing reports from the Sitters and going though Elaida's papers. What other crazy schemes had that woman been up to?
Finally a small group of Cairhien nobles came out of the throne room, throwing him a brief startled look before strutting out of the room as if they had not started at all. Jahar paid no attention to them, long used to that kind of reactions from non-channeling people, and it certainly paled by the reactions of the Reds.
Then the Maidens told him he could go in, and he saluted as he entered the throne room.
Min and Cadsuane were with the Lord Dragon again. Jahar didn't mind Min, but Cadsuane made him uneasy. She studied him closely as he told the Lord Dragon first about the taking of the Tower, then about the Reds. The Lord Dragon was of course pleased to hear the Amyrlin held the Tower, but the news of the Aes Sedai disturbed him.
"I knew I should have visited the Black Tower more often," he said, getting up and pacing through the room. "I do not know what has happened with these Aes Sedai, but I will find out. This afternoon I have to meet with the a few of the Wise Ones and Dobraine has been waiting for a chance to talk to me all day, but tomorrow I will Travel to Andor first thing in the morning. Tell Egw.. tell the Amyrlin I will send word by noon."
"Yes Lord Dragon," Jahar said, then added. "There is another thing I wanted to ask." And he explained about the inverted weaves, the removing of tiredness, and how he had run into these.
"I do not know how to remove anyone's weariness, but it would be a useful thing. I think it is more up Damer's street to figure that one out, I will get him working on it," the Lord Dragon said. "Now for as far as inverted weaves are concerned, I do not think there is a way to undo them when you do not know how they were held, but I did not know there was such a 'tab' for the Saidar version of it either. Perhaps there is such a thing for us as well. I will teach you how to invert the weaves on two conditions. Do not teach anyone else -I do not know who I can trust apart from you and Damer- and find out if there is such a tab or other trick for us to find and undo another person's inverted weaves."
"I understand, Lord Dragon," Jahar acknowledged.
He felt the Lord Dragon grab Saidin and looked closely as he channeled the flows. In just two tries Jahar held a simple inverted weave.
"You are quick," the Lord Dragon remarked.
"Thank you Lord Dragon. I have had a lot of practice lately," Jahar replied.
Cadsuane sniffed from where she was sitting, but Jahar tried to ignore her. The grey-haired Aes Sedai was a difficult person to ignore though, and he felt uncomfortable under her stare even though he knew he was right about his channeling. The event of the past weeks had only reinforced that certainty; much he could not have done had he learned to channel playing it safe as the Aes Sedai did.
He had linked with Cadsuane once, right after the cleansing of the Taint, when she had wanted to feel for herself if it was gone. While almost all Aes Sedai appeared self-possessed and cool to outsiders, Jahar had long found out most of them were as emotional as anyone, among each other and to themselves. They just hid it from those who could not channel. But Cadsuane. Cadsuane had really felt collected and in control, through the link, even there on that hilltop after everything that had happened.
The Lord Dragon hardly seemed to notice her presence. He had sat down again, leafing through some maps.
"The Seanchan have been reported in Amadicia, and some rumors even put them in Ghealdan," he said. "Damer and Corele have Travelled there to gather information on the strength of their army, the number of damane, the number of those raken and whatever else they can find out. After Altara, I had hoped we had slowed them down but it seems they hardly noticed the setback. I want you to tell the Amyrlin to be on her guard. I will hold them from Andor and Cairhien, but if any of the damane discovers how to Travel, or if they capture anyone who can, they could move straight on Tar Valon."
"Yes Lord Dragon," Jahar said grimly. He had worried about the Seanchan but he had also hoped they would have been hit harder in Ebou Dar.
The Lord Dragon got up again, walked to a writing desk, and wrote a few words on a piece of paper. He pushed the letter in an envelop and sealed it.
"I want you to go by Caemlyn on your way back," he told Jahar when he was done. "Tell the Lady Elayne that I will go to the Black Tower tomorrow, and I will visit her when I am done there. And give her this letter."
Jahar took the letter and saluted. "As you wish, Lord Dragon."
He left the throne room and Travelled to the palace in Caemlyn.