Mirena looked up as she heard the wind rustling the leaves above her head. Jian was up there somewhere, trying to prove that he could indeed climb higher then she. She had decided to let him have the first try, so she didn't outdistance him by too much. If he was lucky then he would have made it up about five spans before he began to tremble and climbed down, claiming that his arms were sore from helping plow or something like that.
She had given up trying to soothe over his pride by saying that not everyone could climb. He was just one that couldn't while she was one who could, better then anyone else in the Two Rivers too. That included the boys and they all knew it, it made them madder then anything but they still knew it. "All right then, Mirena," Jian said as he dropped down to land beside her. He had bits of twig and leaf stuck in his matted brown hair. Everyone had brown hair here, and those dark eyes. "I marked where I stopped, see if you can beat me."
Rolling her pale lilac eyes Mirena jumped up to grab the lowest hanging branch and swung herself up over it, scampering up the different branches like a squirrel. She loved climbing, loved the thrill of being higher then she could be normally. And the higher she got, the more she could see and hear. Being at the top of a tree when the wind was roaring was better then anything else. Although no one would let her climb a tree when it was storming, and she thought that to be high in the middle of a storm would be grand.
She passed by Jian's mark a while later, shaking her head. It was still lower then her first mark half a year ago when they had started these contests. He was determined to beat her someday. Her eyes narrowed as she remembered something Audine al'Nien had said a couple of days prior. "You should start wearing dresses now, Mirena al'Tien," she said in that uppity way she had whenever she spoke with her. "It's unnatural to go around in breeches like the boys. You are fifteen after all."
Mirena had been stuck inside her house for two days after that, for hitting Audine. She had deserved it, talking like that and sneering at her like she was better just for wearing dresses and fluttering her eyelashes at all of the boys. "What does she know anyhow," Mirena grumbled as she passed the mark she had made last time, two weeks ago. No matter what she always made herself go higher then she had the time before. "I wonder what will happen when I reach the top?" she asked herself as she stopped on a branch and gouged out a line in the soft trunk.
"Mirena!" Jian called up. She leaned out a ways and peered down, unable to see him through the thick branches. "Mirena your mother is coming up."
"Ashes," Mirena cursed as she started back down, quicker then she had come up. The only reason mother ever came to get her was if she was in trouble. Maybe she had found out that it had been Mirena who had chased Master al'Nien's sheep into the Waterwood. He was as bad as his daughter, shaking his head at her and mumbling under his breath when he thought she couldn't hear. About her eyes and hair, mostly about the way she acted though.
By the time she let herself drop to the ground, her mother was already there. Her long, dark brown hair was twisted up in its braid, all women wore their hair in a braid, and her light brown eyes were anxious. "Yes mother?" Mirena asked as she brushed out her golden hair. It had managed to get itself tangled on her quick trip down.
"Run along now Davin," Lia al'Tien said with a wave of her hand. Davin gave a short bow before turning and bolting. He was probably thinking that Mirena was about to get herself a lecture and he didn't want to be on the wrong side of it. "Mirena, there is someone here to see you."
"From Emond's Field?" Mirena asked eagerly. The Wisdom there had promised to send her a book of herbs from outside of the Two Rivers on her last visit. Lia shook her head. "Watch Hill then?" The Wisdom there was sending her a basket of herbal remedies she had made up. Every Wisdom in the Two Rivers was proud of Mirena and her skill with healing. "From where then? Not Taren Ferry, she hadn't ever been up there. Taren Ferry folk were odd anyhow.
"She's an outlander," Lia replied, twisting her hands. "She knows you quite well, Mirena. She was there with your mother when you were born."
Mirena blinked, biting her lip before she said anything she might well regret. She knew that Lia wasn't her mother, that Jamar al'Tien wasn't her father. She didn't have to say it though, and she most definitely did not have to like it. They never told her anything about her true parents either, claiming they knew as much as she did. All Mirena knew of them was an ache that had always been there, as though she were missing a part of herself. "What does she want?" Mirena asked, throwing a lock of her gold hair over one shoulder and crossing her arms.
"She will not tell me," Lia answered. "Just come along with me Mirena and for once in your life don't be stubborn as a mule." Her eyes were pleading and Mirena finally nodded, uncrossing her arms and starting towards her home beside her mother.
Lyrenna sipped at the tea Lia had given her before running off to find Mirena. From all she had gathered of Deven Ride's inhabitants Mirena was an unusual young girl and not just for her pale hair and pale eyes. She wore breeches and tunics, preferring to play with the boys then the girls. "I should have suspected it of her," the Brown Sister muttered into her cup. "High-spirited like her brother. More headstrong from all I've heard as well." At least Zarkot was a quiet boy part of the time, despite his high spirits.
The door opened and Lyrenna heard two people walking closer, one with a lighter step then the other. "Lyrenna Sedai?" Lia asked as she stepped into the room, making a curtsy even lower then the ones novices gave. "I brought you Mirena, you did wish to see her."
Lyrenna was silent for a moment, simply looking at the girl she had come all the way from Tar Valon to retrieve. More then that, she had waited until the time was right to get her since the girl had been born. The only thing that made her resemble her twin brother though, was her eyes. They were a pale lilac, lighter then Zarkot's dark violet, but the same shape and there was a similar light in them. Her hair was long, a beautiful golden color. "So you are Mirena," she said at last, rising.
When Lia had named the Brown Sister though, Mirena had curtsied as low as her mother, an odd feat for a girl in breeches. "Oh do stand up now," Lyrenna said as she rose and set her teacup down on the small table. "Mirena, I held you when you were but a babe and you will do enough bowing at the White Tower to make you wish you had never come."
From the way the girl gaped at her she was confused and startled. "The White Tower?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Where Aes Sedai go?"
Lyrenna nodded. "Where you will be going. I was correct in coming back here now, I can feel the spark in you. You're going to come with me to the White Tower, Mirena. We are leaving first thing in the morning."
The girls startlement vanished and more then a hint of anger flashed in her lilac eyes. "You may be Aes Sedai but you're mad as well!" she snapped, ignoring her mother's startled cry. Lia had gone pale as a sheet, but Lyrenna simpled folded her arms and looked at Mirena coolly. Maybe this girl was a little too high-spirited. If she acted like this in the White Tower then the Mistress would see her more then she saw everyone else. "You cannot simply walk in here and expect me to leave with you simply because you say I have the spark or whatever the Light you called it!" This girl is going to have some problems, though it should be rather interesting to see her speak with the Amyrlin.
"You can channel, Mirena," Lyrenna said in a frosted-over voice. This girl seemed like the sort who would react better to cold then hot. "And no matter what you say, you are going with me in the morning if I have to tie you up and toss you across my saddle. I will be by an hour after sunrise for her, Lia. Good day." With that she strode out of the door, past the now-gaping Mirena and still-pale Lia.
The next morning Lyrenna rode out of Deven Ride on her calm mare. Mirena was sitting in the saddle of a young bay gelding, her hands tied quite firmly to the saddle.
((I say it's better now by more then a fair shot.))
She had given up trying to soothe over his pride by saying that not everyone could climb. He was just one that couldn't while she was one who could, better then anyone else in the Two Rivers too. That included the boys and they all knew it, it made them madder then anything but they still knew it. "All right then, Mirena," Jian said as he dropped down to land beside her. He had bits of twig and leaf stuck in his matted brown hair. Everyone had brown hair here, and those dark eyes. "I marked where I stopped, see if you can beat me."
Rolling her pale lilac eyes Mirena jumped up to grab the lowest hanging branch and swung herself up over it, scampering up the different branches like a squirrel. She loved climbing, loved the thrill of being higher then she could be normally. And the higher she got, the more she could see and hear. Being at the top of a tree when the wind was roaring was better then anything else. Although no one would let her climb a tree when it was storming, and she thought that to be high in the middle of a storm would be grand.
She passed by Jian's mark a while later, shaking her head. It was still lower then her first mark half a year ago when they had started these contests. He was determined to beat her someday. Her eyes narrowed as she remembered something Audine al'Nien had said a couple of days prior. "You should start wearing dresses now, Mirena al'Tien," she said in that uppity way she had whenever she spoke with her. "It's unnatural to go around in breeches like the boys. You are fifteen after all."
Mirena had been stuck inside her house for two days after that, for hitting Audine. She had deserved it, talking like that and sneering at her like she was better just for wearing dresses and fluttering her eyelashes at all of the boys. "What does she know anyhow," Mirena grumbled as she passed the mark she had made last time, two weeks ago. No matter what she always made herself go higher then she had the time before. "I wonder what will happen when I reach the top?" she asked herself as she stopped on a branch and gouged out a line in the soft trunk.
"Mirena!" Jian called up. She leaned out a ways and peered down, unable to see him through the thick branches. "Mirena your mother is coming up."
"Ashes," Mirena cursed as she started back down, quicker then she had come up. The only reason mother ever came to get her was if she was in trouble. Maybe she had found out that it had been Mirena who had chased Master al'Nien's sheep into the Waterwood. He was as bad as his daughter, shaking his head at her and mumbling under his breath when he thought she couldn't hear. About her eyes and hair, mostly about the way she acted though.
By the time she let herself drop to the ground, her mother was already there. Her long, dark brown hair was twisted up in its braid, all women wore their hair in a braid, and her light brown eyes were anxious. "Yes mother?" Mirena asked as she brushed out her golden hair. It had managed to get itself tangled on her quick trip down.
"Run along now Davin," Lia al'Tien said with a wave of her hand. Davin gave a short bow before turning and bolting. He was probably thinking that Mirena was about to get herself a lecture and he didn't want to be on the wrong side of it. "Mirena, there is someone here to see you."
"From Emond's Field?" Mirena asked eagerly. The Wisdom there had promised to send her a book of herbs from outside of the Two Rivers on her last visit. Lia shook her head. "Watch Hill then?" The Wisdom there was sending her a basket of herbal remedies she had made up. Every Wisdom in the Two Rivers was proud of Mirena and her skill with healing. "From where then? Not Taren Ferry, she hadn't ever been up there. Taren Ferry folk were odd anyhow.
"She's an outlander," Lia replied, twisting her hands. "She knows you quite well, Mirena. She was there with your mother when you were born."
Mirena blinked, biting her lip before she said anything she might well regret. She knew that Lia wasn't her mother, that Jamar al'Tien wasn't her father. She didn't have to say it though, and she most definitely did not have to like it. They never told her anything about her true parents either, claiming they knew as much as she did. All Mirena knew of them was an ache that had always been there, as though she were missing a part of herself. "What does she want?" Mirena asked, throwing a lock of her gold hair over one shoulder and crossing her arms.
"She will not tell me," Lia answered. "Just come along with me Mirena and for once in your life don't be stubborn as a mule." Her eyes were pleading and Mirena finally nodded, uncrossing her arms and starting towards her home beside her mother.
Lyrenna sipped at the tea Lia had given her before running off to find Mirena. From all she had gathered of Deven Ride's inhabitants Mirena was an unusual young girl and not just for her pale hair and pale eyes. She wore breeches and tunics, preferring to play with the boys then the girls. "I should have suspected it of her," the Brown Sister muttered into her cup. "High-spirited like her brother. More headstrong from all I've heard as well." At least Zarkot was a quiet boy part of the time, despite his high spirits.
The door opened and Lyrenna heard two people walking closer, one with a lighter step then the other. "Lyrenna Sedai?" Lia asked as she stepped into the room, making a curtsy even lower then the ones novices gave. "I brought you Mirena, you did wish to see her."
Lyrenna was silent for a moment, simply looking at the girl she had come all the way from Tar Valon to retrieve. More then that, she had waited until the time was right to get her since the girl had been born. The only thing that made her resemble her twin brother though, was her eyes. They were a pale lilac, lighter then Zarkot's dark violet, but the same shape and there was a similar light in them. Her hair was long, a beautiful golden color. "So you are Mirena," she said at last, rising.
When Lia had named the Brown Sister though, Mirena had curtsied as low as her mother, an odd feat for a girl in breeches. "Oh do stand up now," Lyrenna said as she rose and set her teacup down on the small table. "Mirena, I held you when you were but a babe and you will do enough bowing at the White Tower to make you wish you had never come."
From the way the girl gaped at her she was confused and startled. "The White Tower?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Where Aes Sedai go?"
Lyrenna nodded. "Where you will be going. I was correct in coming back here now, I can feel the spark in you. You're going to come with me to the White Tower, Mirena. We are leaving first thing in the morning."
The girls startlement vanished and more then a hint of anger flashed in her lilac eyes. "You may be Aes Sedai but you're mad as well!" she snapped, ignoring her mother's startled cry. Lia had gone pale as a sheet, but Lyrenna simpled folded her arms and looked at Mirena coolly. Maybe this girl was a little too high-spirited. If she acted like this in the White Tower then the Mistress would see her more then she saw everyone else. "You cannot simply walk in here and expect me to leave with you simply because you say I have the spark or whatever the Light you called it!" This girl is going to have some problems, though it should be rather interesting to see her speak with the Amyrlin.
"You can channel, Mirena," Lyrenna said in a frosted-over voice. This girl seemed like the sort who would react better to cold then hot. "And no matter what you say, you are going with me in the morning if I have to tie you up and toss you across my saddle. I will be by an hour after sunrise for her, Lia. Good day." With that she strode out of the door, past the now-gaping Mirena and still-pale Lia.
The next morning Lyrenna rode out of Deven Ride on her calm mare. Mirena was sitting in the saddle of a young bay gelding, her hands tied quite firmly to the saddle.
((I say it's better now by more then a fair shot.))