Prison Inside A Prison

They marched Rayel down numerous halls until she lost track of where she was. How is it that I am an Aes Sedai and I am still subjected to this? I am supposed to be the one making others dizzy in the hallways of the Tower. I've earned my rights to that privilege by now, surely?

They rounded corner after corner after corner, went up and down numerous staircases and into and out of countless rooms, Rayel's head becoming increasingly scrambled as the moments passed. She wished to ask where they were going, but she would not be like one of those foolish victims in the storybooks; she was going to keep her silly questions to herself, and she was going to act like she was in control. These women would not get the better of her.

At one stage she glanced to her left, down a side passage, and glimpsed something she had never thought to see again, something that caused strong feelings of self-doubt to rise within her. It was a silvery arch, like the ones she had seen in her Accepted's test, the kind of arch that she had always known would never fade from her memory, not when the arches experience had become such a large part of who she was. Again she wondered if she could be in the Arches right now, taking her Accepted's test. Perhaps somehow she had imagined her entire past? She did not have the strength of mind at this time to sufficiently comprehend how such a thing could be so, but she did have enough strength to crane her neck until the hallway, and the arch itself, were lost from view.

It can't be, she told herself, over and over, trying to calm down. She had enough trouble at the moment; she did not need to become a gibbering mess of incompetence as well. She needed to retain her wits. She needed to be as strong as she had ever been…and twice again as strong.

Long after she had caught that brief glimpse of gleaming white, they brought her to a halt in front of a door that looked the same as any other she had seen for the past hour or so. Guydin stepped forward and slid a key into the lock. Twisting it and the door handle simultaneously she then pushed and the door opened inward. She stepped inside and moved away to allow the nameless Aes Sedai to herd Rayel through the doorway. The room she entered was dark, and she could only make out vague shapes in the shadows. Where on earth am I? she thought frantically, trying once more to keep herself calm. Panicking would help no one, least of all herself.

"This will be your home until we decide what else to do with you," Guydin said in a matter-of-fact tone. "There are wards around the room that will detect any move you try to make. Any such move will result in more than mere detection: you will feel pain. If I were you I would not risk it. But it is entirely your choice."

My choice? When have you given me a choice in any of this? Rayel's fear was nearly overtaken by her anger in that instant, but she kept it all inside, concealed behind her Aes Sedai mask. She doubted she could keep it from shining in her eyes though; that was one thing she had never been good at.

Guydin and the other woman moved to the door again and made as if to leave. Rayel was confused. "Where are you going? I thought you had to monitor me?"

Guydin turned back to her. "We do not have to look at you with our own eyes, my friend. The wards on this room are quite sufficient for our purposes."

And they left her, alone there in the dark. She stared at the spot where she had last seen them, the spot now concealed by the shut – and, she was sure, locked – door. She was alone in a cold, dark room, cut off from the Source and apparently trapped by deadly wards of some kind. She was not about to assume it couldn't get worse; she wouldn't make that mistake again.

She turned in a full, slow circle, her arms, torso and thighs still restrained by the bands of Air. At least she could move at all. That was something to be thankful for. But she couldn't see – although her eyes were rapidly adjusting to her surroundings – and couldn't wield saidar. Perhaps most importantly at this moment, she could not get out of the room without risking triggering possibly deadly traps. She could always run – or at least shuffle – out of the Tower if she could get out into the corridors again. But could she really assume that would be possible? If those two women were confident enough to leave her here alone, surely that meant their weaves were powerful indeed.

"Who are you?" someone said from somewhere behind her, giving her another fright of a lifetime. So she was not alone after all.

OOC: I feel the need to rush this to a conclusion; so don't be surprised if some of my next posts are rather crap. I think I've posted enough "okay" stuff already right? *loL*