Sinead didn't see Lasana or Lundren for several hours after that, as both were busy. Lundren with Green Ajah affairs, and Lasana with her meeting with Kesinda. While thinking about the outcome of that particular appointment, she ran head long into a novice, knocking the poor girl over. "Oh, excuse me," she said pleasantly, helping the girl to stand once more, and steadying her until she got her breath back. "Forgive me, Aes Sedai!" The novice gasped, dropping a curtsy that landed her on the floor once more. Another new one…all the others know not to do that… Sinead thought, as she helped the girl to stand again.

"Please- I am just Sinead." Sinead said in a gentle voice. The novice gaped at her, and then nodded. Sinead relaxed a little, and made as if to walk on.

"I'm sorry, Sinead S- Sinead, but I was told by- by the Amyrlin herself to get you…you're to go to her study…in half an hour…" Sinead nodded, and walked on, head high. Kesinda could wait a few minutes; she was not going to hop for the woman's whims. "Sinead S- Sinead, she said you'd better be there on time, or she'd- she'd…punish me. She mentioned putting me from the Tower, Aes Sedai…" Sinead snapped around, staring at her.

"She said she'd put you from the Tower if I am not on time?" Sinead asked, anger bubbling over. The novice nodded miserably. "Mother, you overstep yourself," she muttered to herself through gritted teeth. "The Ajahs will have a word with you now. See if they don't!" She shook her head, and then put a hand on the novice's shoulder. "You may have the rest of the day off. If anyone questions it, send him or her to me. I would suggest that you spend the day in a remote part of the Gardens."

The novice smiled through her fear and darted off. Sinead waited for her to round the corner, and then made a Gateway to the hallway outside the Amyrlin's antechamber. She walked in almost jauntily, after making sure she was pristinely clean and neat. Marela looked up expectantly, nodded, and then showed her to Kesinda's door, ignoring the complaints of the Aes Sedai already waiting. "The Mother wishes to speak to Sinead Sedai," Sinead heard her say, and then the door closed, the Keeper leaning against it.

Lundren was there, as were two other Aes Sedai, one male, one female. Sinead knew the female- Jocinde Nerise, a Green. The male, however, was distinguished only by his gray sash, his youthful face, and the fact that last time she'd seen him, he'd been garbed as Accepted, being chastised by Deiree for being late to a class. She nodded to both, then went to sit beside Lundren, arms crossed, chin high. "I am glad that you are prompt, Sinead." Kesinda said, her Taraboner smile, the half-pout hovering on her full lips, widening when she saw the outright anger on her face. Sinead felt like sticking her tongue out. "I have matters of great importance to discuss with you." She settled back into her chair, her eyes traveling over them all.

"What would those be?" Sinead asked. The Amyrlin's face tightened, and Jocinde shifted uneasily. "Maybe the fact that you threatened a novice with being put from the Tower if I did not come on time?" Jocinde stared at her in shock. Sinead grimaced, glaring at the Amyrlin, green eyes twin fires of outrage.

Kesinda straightened her shawl ostentatiously. "After you leave, Sinead, I want you to write up what you think a suitable punishment is for insubordination. If I don't consider it strong enough, I will triple it." Sinead's lips narrowed, but she nodded, rising to curtsy. "You may as well remain standing," Kesinda said negligently. "I'm sure it will give you a reason to pay attention. You're liable to fall asleep if you stay sitting." Sinead glared at her, but remained standing, body relaxed, as if that was what she wanted to do anyway.

"I called you because I have just received a disturbing report from the Reds and the Yellows." Sinead's eyebrows rose. Those were rather unlikely sources for information. "They say that there are armies of trollocs such as has not been seen since the Breaking descending on the world. The largest is in the Borderlands; Arafel, to be exact." She pursed her lips. "The most powerful, however, is in Tear. There are enough Halfmen and Draghkar with it to destroy a goodly portion of this Tower. The other is in Altara, and whether it is fighting with or against the Seanchan is yet unknown." Sinead's lips tightened. Red and the Yellow indeed; she'd just sent Sallah the report on the trollocs in Tear, and she was sure the Head had passed it on to Kesinda. What the Amyrlin just said was an almost word-for-word quote of what she'd written. It was pressing, though, no matter whom Kesinda cited as her sources, and she'd rather Reds and Yellows got the credit, than have Tear, Altara and the Borderlands wiped out.

"I myself will be leading a group of Aes Sedai to battle the army in Tear- it is the most pressing danger." the Amyrlin said, steepling her hands on her desk. She looked at Lundren. "I hear that you are an excellent battle-lord; I need you to go to the Borderlands, and deal with that army." She turned to the other man. "You and Jocinde will be leading the third army." Her eyes passed right over Sinead. "You may choose companies of fifty Aes Sedai and as many guards as you think will be needed. I have already chosen Sinead." She gave Sinead another of her malicious smiles and Sinead fairly quivered, glaring at her. "I will need her Talents in Tear." Only an excuse. Just another way to hit beneath the belt, without anyone knowing. Let me be with him, you lily-hearted…!

"Yes, Mother." The strange man said, bowing in his chair. "I am sure I can stop this danger." Jocinde nodded, but her eyes were expressionless, though extremely chilly, and Sinead wondered what she was thinking about. "May we be excused to begin our planning?" Kesinda nodded, turning to face Sinead and Lundren when the two were gone.

Lundren was thinking hard, Sinead could tell, and she put a hand on his arm. It wasn't fair! He would be halfway across the world from her…the Amyrlin wasn't doing it for any particularly logical reason. She considered disobeying her, following Lundren despite her orders. But if the Tower ever realized how bad of an Amyrlin Kesinda was, she would need to be there. Not to be Amyrlin, she was certain. Her journey to Rhuidean had made it clear that there were only two instances when she could accept the position of Amyrlin without causing the destruction of the Tower, and neither of them was this.

"I am sure you will know what to do," Kesinda said to Lundren- and she batted her eyelashes! Sinead trembled with rage, barely hiding it behind a shield of serenity she only just managed to slam into place before bursting out with what exactly she thought of the woman. "And you, Sinead. I expect you to report to me on the day we move out. We wouldn't want you to accidentally 'forget' we were going, would we?" She smiled sweetly. "Lundren, please come to me with your plans when you have them ready." Lundren stood, bowed, and left.

Sinead slowly sat down, afraid that her trembling knees would put her on the floor if she continued to stand. "Why do you do this to me?" She burst out, her fists clenched. "Why to Lasana? We have done nothing to you, and yet you treat us as if we were garbage that you found in the Erinin!" She closed her eyes, so she wouldn't have to see the sneering face, or the many honey-gold braids that surrounded it. "Why must you punish us, when Lasana and I were the ones who made the difference in whether you were made Amyrlin or were sent to hoe potatoes in the country?"

Kesinda smirked, and stood. "I do what I do for my own reasons. Do not question my decisions, Sinead Sedai. I require obedience. If you are not careful, I will demand you swear me fealty. I have a few other sisters who have, so it will not be something I have done solely to you- you will not be able to claim I am treating you unfairly."

The Amyrlin walked around the desk, and stared up at the paintings she'd had put up there: battle scenes, people dying. A woman, standing alone in the remains of a battle, men in wetlander clothing, and Aiel men and women dressed in very bad renderings of cadin'sor surrounding her. The woman's ageless face was very obvious, a staff in one hand that bore the standard of Tar Valon. Sinead thought that maybe it was someone's interpretation of the Battle of the Shining Walls, but she couldn't be certain. If it was, the artist had had little idea of what a battle actually looked like, especially one involving siswai'aman. "Another thing," Kesinda said, turning around. "That sister of yours is coming with me. I need to keep an eye on her- once a traitor, always a traitor, no matter what oaths one takes." At that well-aimed insult, Sinead lunged for Kesinda. She would gladly be stilled, gladly be exiled from the Tower, to get her hands around the woman's neck, just once.

Flows of Air wrapped around her, slamming her against the opposite wall. A shield slid into place, and Sinead stood panting, glaring at the woman she had silently declared war on. "How dare you?" She panted. "How dare you?" She asked, struggling against the bindings. "Your own mother was a Darkfriend- you told me, when you were a novice. In case you forgot, I was the one who broke your block!" Something stopped her mouth from moving, and she was totally helpless. Kesinda did not like being reminded that she was thirty-seven and had only been Aes Sedai for four years.

"How dare you?" Kesinda asked, advancing on her. Sinead's eyes widened, and she struggled to move away. "I am the Amyrlin Seat; even if I were Bonwhin Meraighdin reborn, that position would demand respect. I will give you until the day we leave to contemplate your errors; if you do not apologize -publicly!- by then, I will declare you unfit for your chair in the Hall. And I will set you a penance fit to make you crawl into a corner and cry just by the memory of it. If you still do not apologize, I will come up with worse. Now- go! Say your good byes to your man. I daresay you'll never see him again."

Kesinda turned away, and the flows morphed. Before fading away, they tossed Sinead onto the floor in a heap; Malera laughed softly. Sinead stood up, face red, and strode from the room, shaking with rage. Her cloak billowed behind her in dark blue wings. Lasana! She cried in her mind. Her sister was already on the way, she could tell. Worried sick and obviously just as angry as Sinead, Lasana's presence in her mind brought her back to reality, just as she rounded a corner, and, for the second time that day, ran full-tilt into somebody. This time, however, it was Lundren, and she led the way back to their quarters, trembling with rage and the need to voice it.