"May the light shine on you, Zarin Sedai. I am Tovra din Akarn Black Sails, former Windfinder of the Leaping Gull," the woman said. Zarin started to nod. Of course. An Atha'an Miere. The medallions shouted that a mile away. If Zarin had been paying proper attention, she would have noticed that. Few books had mentioned the Atha'an Miere, but those that did covered everything about them. And Windfinder... Most Aes Sedai had a theory that Windfinders could channel.
Zarin studied the Atha'an Miere -Tovra, she told herself- as she brushed several locks of hair away from her eyes. Zarin herself sat with her hands in her lap, her face smooth so it wouldn't show what she was thinking. Her own bright blue eyes grew strangely distant as she lost herself in thought. For a moment, Zarin forgot Tovra was there. Just for a moment.
Blinking in surprise, the glow that surrounded Tovra for an instant that marked a woman channeling brought Zarin out of her thoughts. The glow quickly vanished, but not before Zarin saw the flows of Air being woven in an intricate pattern.
With a soothing smile for Tovra, who looked like a deer about to bolt, Zarin spoke. "Yes, child. I know that you can channel. I could sense it in you as soon as we met. The Power is strong in you, stronger than most in the Tower. Some would want to put you in novice white as soon as they saw you, but I will not. Even if I were one of them, the novice book is closed for those past a certain age."
Zarin looked at the table, and, seeing her stack of papers, channeled a small thread of Fire and Air before picking up the stack and setting it on her lap. "However, we should probably get you away from the Tower. I was planning on leaving for Cairhien, and I feel that you should come with me."
Zarin spoke the truth, she was headed for Cairhien first, but after... After, she was not sure where the trail of the Black Ajah would lead her.
xxxx
Tovra looked calmly again at this Aes Sedai, a bland look on her face. Get her out of the Tower?... She had known for many years the age limit for the Novices- it had been drilled into her head as soon as they had learned she could channel. They couldn't put her in the Novice books now- or would they? Feeling apprehensive, yet suspicious, she regarded Zarin Sedai carefully.
She was honestly stronger than most in the Tower? By the Three Oaths, she knew it to be true, but how could it be? She had been barely strong enough to pass the tests for Windfinder... She was one of the weakest. Or had been.
Maybe she needn't be so worried of these Aes Sedai. Yet there were many here. Even if they said there was so few, they easily had enough to overpower her and even twenty of her sisters.
Now she had another option open. In truth, she hadn't wanted to find out about her people. She had just thought it would be something to do. Her life had been so empty after... after...
Tovra sighed. There was honestly no reason why she shouldn't agree to go with this woman. She was just making excuses, born of her inborn unease around Aes Sedai. Choosing her words carefully, she spoke softly and deliberately.
"I would be honored to accompany you, Zarin Sedai. If it pleases the light, I would like to perhaps go as your... protector? To earn my way? Perhaps that would be enough for a gift of passage. I am quite proficient with weapons..." She glanced meaningfully at her small steel pile of sword and others at the door.
"And they are not the only means I have to protect." She meant her ability to channel, of course. No Three Oaths held her.
She found the Oaths a scornful thing, as they twisted words so much you wish they would just outright lie, and to not attack first when faced with an enemy was foolish. The weapon oath was also foolish- could you not make a sword quicker and sharper than a smith? She had seen Aes Sedai work from the Age of Legends, before the Oaths- they were wonders.
xxxx
Zarin smiled, and followed Tovra's gaze to the pile of steel that had been laid at the door. "And they are not the only means I have to protect." Zarin jerked her eyes back to the woman. Of course. The Three Oaths. It would be useful, having someone not bound by the Oath Rod.
"As you probably know," Zarin said, "the first Oath is to speak no word that is not true. Bound by that Oath, I can say without hesitation that I would be honored to have you along. And that would be a wonderful gift of passage."
Zarin had studied all the books that mentioned the Atha'an Miere and she had even spoken with a few. Even so, she had only a vague idea of what the gift of passage was, but she had schooled her face that none of it showed.
"Now, child." Zarin paused. "Or should I call you my Gaidin?" Zarin raised an eyebrow in questioning. "As my protector, it wouldn't do to have you... indisposed while in a battle. Do you have a ring or something that I could see for a moment? If not that, one of your medallions would do," Zarin said, gesturing at the medallions that ran on a chain from her nose to ear.
xxxx
In the little time she had been in Tar Valon, Tovra had learned the basics of Aes Sedai and their 'culture'; the basics of each Ajah, and about Warders. She was slightly annoyed this Aes Sedai would make such a simple mistake- female Warders were Gaidar, and she was clearly female- but what had she meant by that? Were Warders not somehow bonded to their Aes Sedai? Like many, she didn't know exactly what it entailed.
Shrugging, she delicately reached towards her face-chain, her most prized possession. She knew every medallion on it by heart. Carefully selecting one, she unhooked a small silver one, a Raker with billowing black sails engraved in it. The blackness was a special Atha'an Miere secret, and the medallion had been her gift when she had received her second name. It was her favorite of the little disks hanging from the chain.
She slowly offered it on her palm, tattoos down. She hoped it wouldn't be marred, but it sounded like she was about to... receive something? A curious yet wary look appeared on her face.
"If you wish it, you may call me whatever you like," she told the ageless face.