Disclaimer: it has been awhile I know but I still own nothing, I'm actually poorer, stuff cost money god dam it. Rj still owns way too much.
######### change of pov.
Chapter 4. New Ideas.
For the second time in as many days, Ethan Quillus Farvian fought the return of consciousness. He had learned over and over again in the last ten years that waking never brought the joy it seemed to promise the slumbering mind. Struggling against the slow murmuring of thoughts that came out of nowhere just brought a greater awareness to the soul, struggling just seemed to quicken the process of waking. But not to struggle was impossible as sometimes images accompanied strands of incoherent thought. With his minds eye he tried to look away, to ignore what he saw and heard, but invariably he failed. Images flashed in seemingly endless torrents through his mind. He saw cities burning, he saw battles been fought, some he knew would be won, some he knew that had been lost, he saw dead people everywhere in the streets of once great cities, sprawled haphazardly on the ground seemingly at random, some struck down by plague, others by famine and more still by the weapons of their enemy. He saw speeches been made at the hall of the servants by world renown figures, snippets of the impassioned words springing to life in his mind. He could feel anger surge through his body at what was said by some and joy at others. He saw the people in cities that had yet to fall, the people of the city of Paaran Disen, some with hope on there faces as he walked past, many more where etched with defeat. It was this though that caught his conscious minds attention, the horror of walking through the capital city of the light, where almost everyone had stopped believing they would win was replaced by another image, one that would scar him for the rest of his life, it was an image of the ocean, rolling waves cascading haphazardly in seemingly all directions and from somewhere the words floated into his mind, 'Paaran Disen, home to millions'.
Instantly he jerked awake, gasping as he sat bolt upright. Air filled his lungs ruggedly as he tried to control his breathing. Slowly the imaged faded from his mind, replaced with what he was seeing. He found himself looking around a dimly lit room, pale moonlight streamed through the open windows to his left, through which he could see the silhouette of a city. Although he had no idea which city it was, he was sure he had not gone to sleep in this room. "Where in the name of the light am I?" he asked almost silently to the lavishly decorated room. Looking away from the windows he noticed that through the archway there was a sitting room in which two men where standing by the door looking at him intensely as if they did not believe what they where seeing. He could barely make out their features in the dim light but shock clearly painted both. One, an old man with a greying beard, seemed to snap out of it first, turning to his companion he stated firmly, "Aldrin, inform the captain, one of them is awake, and don't forget to mention that he spoke in the old tongue." The younger man nodded dumbly and left the room, instantly a faint murmuring could be heard from the other side of the door.
He was under guard? What had he done? Why was he here? Panic threatened to grip him in it's unrelenting hold so Ethan did the only thing he could think of, he assumed the oneness, instantly the panic seemed to vanish and his mind was surrounded by an unnatural calm, saidin seemed to shine just out of sight but he knew it was a simple act to bring it to him, clenching his left hand he noticed he still had his rings, saidin was a cold comfort in times like this. Something was not right, it was buzzing around in his mind but he couldn't put his finger on it. Wait the guard had said he had spoken in the 'old tongue' and that 'one of them was awake', he now noticed he had been hearing someone breath the entire time, someone else was on the bed. Turning his head to the right to look, he began wondering who it could possib....... his eyes fell on the strawberry blonde that seemed to be sleeping peacefully beside him. His though process shattered, recent memories exploded into his head. The void wavered and eventually cracked like shattering glass, leaving his mind defenceless against onslaught. He remembered it all. Paaran Disen was no more, the world he knew was gone, he was in Caemlyn, he had come seeking information, he had been deceived, he had been stabbed by a Gray man and he had been recovering no doubt whilst sleeping next to one of the FORSAKEN, the person that had probably ordered the Gray man to stab him in the first place and that had tried to kill him as well, but she had underestimated him. It seemed the pattern had a sense of humour.
Shock must have painted his face because the old guardsmen had come forward with a look of concern on his face. "You alright boy?" once he was sure he had Ethan's attention he nodded his head towards Graendal, "Someone you weren't expecting?" He felt like laughing hysterically, does anyone ever expect to wake up next one of the forsaken? Instead he simply nodded his head, answering yes to both questions while he desperately sought to regain his composer. He was certain he was going to need it. Looking over at Graendal he saw that the weave he had placed around her head was still in place, untouched. She would sleep until she died of thirst or starved to death, whatever came first. He noticed the guardsmen was still looming over the bed, looking at him strangely, needing time to think he asked the only question he could think of, "Why am I not dead?, I was stabbed in the back," quickly he reached over his shoulder to feel the wound, and confirming his suspicions all he felt was smooth unbroken skin, "I don't even have a wound!" Who had healed him?
The guardsmen shock his head before he spoke, answering the question the way Ethan though it he would, " Lucky one you where, you where healed by one of those women, not one of the Aei Sedai mind but one of them kin, though I can't see no difference, every women who can channel is Aei Sedai in my book, except them sea folk women, strange people they are, spending their lives one a ship and ............." the man trailed of after having realised he had been rambling. His face turned grim, "though none of us guards can tell why either of you haven't woken up yet, she" he indicated Graendal with his head, "doesn't seem to have a scratch on her yet nothing will wake her and you have seemed to be going through a fever ever since we you where brought here." The man stopped talking but was now staring intently at his chest, clearly staring at his tattoo. "You a friend of the lady Elayne Sedai?"
Aei Sedai, the man had said Aei Sedai. He was healed by a channeler, we still exist, he almost shouted. But the joy was short lived as he realised the man had said nothing about male Aei Sedai. He had purposely said 'one of them women'. Where there no male channeler's left? A by- product of that anomaly? It was a scary thought. Anger surged along his veins, it was rage in its purist form, all the males' dead, the ones that actually didn't sit and wait for the impossible to occur, and the females, the ones that had sided with that Faithful Concord stupidity, where alive and, looking around the room, seemed to live in palaces. "No, I don't know the Lady Elayne." Ethan's eyes returned to Graendal, at least he would be able to exact some small revenge.
The guardsmen shock his head as if he expected different. "Strange, she is very interested in both of your conditions, she herself came to check on you last night and had her healer look at you three times in the past day, and if I'm not mistaken she would have come and checked you again before she went to bed tonight, she's probably on her way here right now", the man turned to look over his shoulder at the door, "and if I'm not mistaken that will be her now, be respectful you hear!" With that the man turned and walked back to his post.
It hit Ethan over the head like a brick what the man had been attempting to do, trying to keep him from leaving by slowly giving him useful, but harmless bits of information. It seems the station of this guard here was no accident. He probably would have seen it sooner had he actually been trying to leave. If he had somewhere to go. At the moment the only thing that was of importance to him was the blonde seemingly sleeping peacefully next to him, the real puzzle that needed to be solved and soon. The one person he knew for sure would know everything he needed to know and more. Much, much more. His attention was caught by the door in the sitting room opening and the guardsmen moving aside. In walked the absolute definition of a 'Lady' that Ethan had read about in the history books. He felt Goosebumps run up and down his arms and fire sprang into being inside the room; cast a blinding light across everything. Quickly his eye's adjusted and he took in the sight before him.
The Lady Elayne was tall for a woman; she had an oval face framed by a mass of red-gold sunburst curls. She also had full red lips and very blue eyes, like sapphires. Straight back, with supple and strong limbs she held herself with an air of superiority, she looked like a women that expected to be obeyed, and generally was. And the green dress she was wearing seemed intended to bring attention to her bosom; though anyone caught staring would undoubtedly be reprimanded. With the flick of her wrist she dismissed the guardsmen, who, after a short bow for Elayne and a glare for Ethan, left quietly, shutting the door behind him. Interesting, this was an Aei Sedai now? How old was she? If this woman had risen to be named Aei Sedai at such an early age she deserved his respect, at the very least he could give her a chance. After all, it was highly unlikely that she was part of that fateful concord now was it? It was a bitter thought. Though he wasn't about to just start trusting her.
As the door shut behind her, Elayne Trakand took in the sight before her. As had been reported the boy was awake, sitting up in the bed with no trouble at all, quite remarkable for someone that should still be dying from poison. Perhaps Sumeko had been wrong but she didn't think so. It seems the Asha'man have been preparing for the shadow a great deal more than they had though. How they did it was a problem for another day. There was an intensity about him that really was quite astounding, it seemed to exude from his green eyes, eyes that reflected the hovering flames she was channelling, eyes that complimented his face in a way she was not expecting. Instead of the arrogance other Asha'man had shown, his was what could only be called confidence, a confidence in his own abilities that in his present situation he shouldn't have had and it scared her. He reminded her of one of the Gaidin, ready to move at a moments notice yet sitting seemingly at peace, the type of movement that this man might be able to achieve could be devastating. Five black sisters, at once! The though made her shiver. He was calmly studying her, for some reason he seemed to be judging every move she made, she was sure he had noticed her shivering and was positive he would remember it for a long time. The tattoo of the dragon above his heart glistened on his chest, in stark contrast the pale skin that covered his muscular frame. Elayne spared a quick glance at the women who, unfortunately, still seemed to be sleeping peacefully, as she had now for a day and a half. She was almost startled when he spoke in greeting.
"My lady", he said followed by bow from his sitting position, " forgive me if a don't get up, I'm still a little dizzy" he finished with a small apologetic smile on his face but other than that his expression didn't change.
"That is quite alright, we weren't expecting you to wake for days yet, perhaps weeks. Master?" she left the question hanging in the air.
"Oh forgive me", he said, though he didn't sound apologetic at all, "my name is Ethan Quillus Farvian". The Intensity in his eyes grew as he said his name studying her reaction, had he expected her to recognise it?
Unsure of herself Elayne continued with the introductions, "Master Farvian, I am Elayne Trakand", if he knew who she was he wasn't impressed he just gave another short bow and said nothing. The icicle of fear within threatened to grow but she wouldn't let it. Deciding the time for formalities was over, if there ever truly was a time, she decided to get to the point. "Master Farvian, although at one time your kinds presence within the city might have been tolerated", she paused to see if he understood, if anything he just seemed a little alarmed, quickly she continued, "now that time has passed. It is dangerous for me to have you or your ......'brothers' within the city, to have you in the city not only killing my guardsmen with that', again she paused and pointed at the sword that was propped up against the wall beside his bed, "but killing Aei Sedai with the one power, in the middle of the street where anyone could have seen you is unacceptable". If anything the man now just looked confused.
"They where Darkfriends, My lady, they deserved to die and they attacked me, what would you have me do, not defended myself?" As he mentioned 'they deserved to die' his eyes had flickered, just for an instant, towards the woman next to him. So he included her in the people that should die, did he? That icicle of fear lessened somewhat, he had killed them because they where Darkfriends, not because they where Aei Sedai.
"I had thought as much, the five woman you killed had been named black Ajah already, it is the reason you where healed instead of killed. The guards where Darkfriends as well?" after receiving a slight nod in reply she continued, "the question now then I guess is why the shadow wants you dead, to send five Darkfriends and five........Dreadlords," she said the word slowly, it felt strange describing the women as such even though she knew they where, " and her against you, or is she a friend of yours?" she said indicating the women sleeping to his right as she sat in the stool next to the bed. He followed her with his eyes, almost like a caged lion, not sure if its captors are taunting it or giving it a chance of escape. The expression on his face was unreadable.
Tearing his gave away from her own the boy took to studying the woman lying beside him before replying. "No, she is no friend of mine." he answered quietly. Returning his gaze to Elayne he continued, "As for the other question, all I can say is that if the shadow wants me dead so badly, should you not want to keep me alive?"
"Again, why do you think you where healed?" she answered with a tight smile, if this boy could learn to control his features he could almost pass for an Aei Sedai, answering questions, in a way that gave away no information, yet forced her to respond. It was quite frustrating, coming from one so young. It seems this black tower taught its men well.
"For that I thank you, I had not noticed the Gray man." His expression had turned grave, and almost apologetic, wait did he actually believe that he should have been able to notice the Gray man was there before it struck? Gray man had been known to get through hundreds of Gaidin and Aei Sedai and assassinate their targets before they where even noticed.
"There was no way you could have know the Gray man was there," she stated reassuringly, this boy didn't look old enough to be out in the world by himself, let alone old enough to be a target for assassination. He just gave a small smile and shrugged his shoulders, so she asked the other questions that had been bugging her, "Who is she," indicating the sleeping blonde, "and why, if she is not a friend is she not dead?" from the look on his face before he replied he had been expecting this question, waiting for it in fact.
He seemed to answer truthfully as far as she could tell, "Her name is Kamarile Maradim Nindar," he said her name slowly as if to gauge her reaction and shock painted his face when there was none. If anything his expression turned to one of bewilderment, realising he had stopped he quickly continued, "And she isn't dead because I have some questions to ask her."
The boy regained his composer quickly, although he still seemed ....... lost, his eyes not focusing on what surrounded him, as if he was looking inward. "When will she wake?"
"When I let her". A simple question followed by a simple answer, though an answer that sent shivers down her spine.
It was time; she decided to get to the problem. "I need you to leave, you been here can have disastrous results for me as I'm sure you can imagine." Somehow he seemed not to understand, it seemed the Asha'man weren't as in touch with her position here as she thought, "You and your friends from the Black Tower been in Caemlyn at the moment would be used by my enemies against me. Your presence could be my downfall. I need you to leave, now."
He studied her for a moment, his eyes had gained in intensity at something she had said but otherwise his face remained passive, all of a sudden he moved, startling her, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, almost as tall as rand she noticed, and as he moved to where his robe lay over the chair she adverted her eyes, but not before she noted he moved with a warders grace. After his robe was in place he turned back to face Elayne. "I am grateful for your assistance and would not want to bring about your.....downfall. We will leave immediately."
"You will take her with you?" she asked shocked.
"Of course, I didn't keep her alive just to leave her behind", he stated calmly as he picked up his sword.
"I see," though she didn't see at all, "I will open a gateway in the woods near the Black Tower for you, about a days walk east of it, unless you want to go directly there yourself?" Opening a gateway any closer with saidar could be dangerous, very dangerous.
He paused to think for a moment, than answered, "Thank You, I don't know this place well enough yet to make a gateway."
Nodding her head, so it's not different for men than it is for women, why did she expect such? "It is the late hours of the night and will be some time before the sun rises, you may want to set up camp where you arrive, I have arranged provisions for you both and you may want to rest before starting out at dawn for the tower grounds." with that she turned towards the door, opening it she motioned the guardsman who had been sent to fetch the provisions inside, who promptly handed them to Ethan then left, closing the door behind him. "There should be enough for the both of you." She had hoped that by the time she got there both of them would be awake.
Ethan nodded then swung the strap of the bag over his shoulder and turned towards Kamarile, "we leave now?" he questioned. In reply she just nodded. With that Ethan moved towards the form of the sleeping woman gathering her in his arms, Elyane had a strong suspicion that that woman wouldn't see the new dawn. A pang of guilt swept through her but she stomped on it, hard. The woman was part of a group of Darkfriends, and in the very least she was one herself. She could live with the blood of one dead Darkfriend on her hands, quiet easily in fact. She needed them gone, questions had already been raised about the dead guardsmen, questions about who was in this room and why. If her rivals for the crown found out about this they would label her the Dragon Reborns puppet, even though they where wrong, she would have no way to fight them and even if this came out but she still took the throne, once she announced Rand as her husband and the farther of her children, which she had no doubt in her mind she would one day do, her reign and that of her daughter would be undermined permanently. She would be know as the Dragons Queen, as it was people would one day see things as such, she didn't need them thinking that the only reason she gained power was her relationship to the Dragon Reborn. Fool man, they needed to stay away, couldn't they see that? Apparently not.
"Master Farvian, I don't know what you where doing in Caemlyn, or what your orders where or even why Darkfriends where chasing you," deniability was important, especially after she took the Three Oaths, "But I need you to take a message to the Black Tower. I tolerate your presence in Andor, but at anytime in the near future whilst the succession is still taking place, Asha'man are not welcome inside the walls of this city. If you need aid do not under any circumstances think that I will give it. You where a special case, you where injured fighting the Black Ajah, whom should have been left to the White Tower, if you have orders to fight these women forget them now. Even taking that into consideration if your attack had been witnessed by the populace of the city I would not have been able to help you, as it is I have some guardsmen who need watching and I have a story planned about who you two really where and why I helped you." Aei Sedai and her warder should be able to explain what the men saw, he killed man with the sword apparently, according to Birgitte it was the work of a bladesmaster, or at the very least someone quite skilled, one man against five she said according to where the dead bodies lay, at once, a warder indeed. The power is not understood by many and the fact that the beams of liquid fire seemed to originate from him can be explained with a little misleading information. The fact that she doesn't have an Aei Sedai face is easily explained away as well, after all Elayne doesn't either and she is Aei Sedai. A neat story but it could have just as easily been different, disastrously different. She shivered at the thought.
"I will deliver your message, the Asha'man will know, Thank you again for the healing, Lady Elayne. Please know that I had no intention of causing you any harm, if I had know I would have stayed away. I hope my presence hasn't had any lasting effects on your chances in the succession." He ended with a small apologetic smile, as if he truly meant what he was saying.
With a small smile of her own she replied, "Thank you too, although I do not approve of you killing them, those women needed to be dealt with. Fare well Ethan Quillus Farvian." With that she turned and drawing deeply on saidar opened a gateway to where she had promised, strange how what was though lost forever was she now thought of as commonplace.
The intense green eyes studied her one last time, "Fare well, Sister." With that he turned and walked through the gateway with the strawberry blonde in his arms. After he was through he turned and nodded once, as silently requested she let the gateway close. When the gateway closed completely she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. He had called her Sister. She thought that if that ever happened she would be offended, but his calling her Sister had seemed more like a title of........ respect. That one word seemed to have more emotion and value behind it coming from him then an entire day of people bowing and calling her 'Lady'. She must admit she had a grudging respect for him as well. Not once was he arrogant, not once was he rude, not once did he seem like any of the other Asha'man she had meant, Rand had said not to trust any Asha'man except a handful, perhaps he was one of them? She decided that she was going to ask Rand if he was, and if he wasn't was going to ask Rand to talk with him. Knowing Rand that man was the type that he had in mind when he founded the Black Tower, a man that could modestly live up to his expectations. It was then that a pang of sadness hit her, he was only little more than a boy, though he was mature beyond his years, a boy that was most likely to die a horrible death and go mad, if he didn't die on the battle field. It was the first time Elayne felt sadness for a man who could channel besides Rand, sleep would be a long time in coming once she had returned to her rooms, she wondered how many others there where at the Black Tower like him, doomed from the beginning to lose no matter if they won but yet still they learned and fought. The question that troubled her the most was, if the positions had been reversed would she have chosen to channel knowing she would go mad and die, to fight the shadow, when she didn't have to?
Ethan turned from looking at where the gateway had once been, a ......... intriguing woman. She seemed to have done her best under the circumstances and when it seemed that the world held no love for man who could channel and the.....Asha'man, she aided him as best she could. And she risked not becoming Queen to do so. A noteworthy act no matter which way you looked at it. She resisted the temptation to extract as much information as she could from him but instead provided him with what he needed, even though she didn't know what she was doing he was still grateful. At first she acted exactly as he though a lady would, looking down at him along her nose, but after a while she relaxed and just seemed to want to help him leave, something that he needed to do in the first place. She seemed to forget that he was below her, and had started acting as if he was an equal, from what he had read of Lords and Ladies that where in power in Monarchies, this was no easy feat for them. One thing from their meeting disturbed him greatly, how much time had passed for someone who would be as well educated as a Lady and a woman who was an Aei Sedai to not know that Kamarile Maradim Nindar was Graendal? The thought made him shiver. At least now he had a destination. Just one problem remained. He still held one of the Forsaken in his arms. But first he needed to set up camp.
As quickly as only a skilled man can, Ethan set up camp, after all he had done it a thousand times over the last ten years of his life, countless nights under the stars, waiting for the next battle, sleeping with the soldiers to boost morale. Soon he had a fire burning in a small clearing in the woods, he had found bedrolls in his the sack and he now sat on one whilst Graendal slept on another. The provisions provided had been adequate to say the least, most seemed to have come form the palace kitchens. He sat studying Graendal. The Horrors that this women had committed that he could name of the top of his head where unthinkable, the ones no one knew about where most probably worse. Enslavement of thousands for the purpose of sexual playthings, the murder of children because it was a kindness as she saw it, the thousands she ordered fed to the Trolloc's, the millions that had died indirectly by the riots she had incited, the hundreds of prominent people who had gone missing only to return and somewhat later would be found to be secretly working for the shadow, it was found that their minds where almost completely gone, compulsion surely at work and Graendal was one of the best at compulsion ever known. He should kill her then and there, not even wake her up, but something was stopping him.
He felt something wasn't right and he trusted his instincts. Something was wrong, it should be a clear cut execution, he didn't even need her for information anymore, he would find everything he needed to know at this Black Tower he was sure, even the answer to the scariest one of all, how does no one remember her name but she walks openly in the streets of cities? She was taking orders from someone; the shadow was regrouping, or had been for centuries. But there was something not quite right about this woman, for some reason it felt wrong to kill her, he felt as if he was missing something. For what seemed like the hundredth time her went over again what he knew about her, before the bore was drilled she was a world famous figure, she was brilliant at treating people with disturbed minds - the best at brain manipulations - being honoured for her work but she wasn't liked by those who knew her well, she expectations of others and her own ideals, she had believed that everyone should live a simply life, material possession where not important, the problem was that those that could not live up to her expectations she treated harshly. Ten years after the bore was drilled she became the complete opposite of what she had been, with a total fixation on sexuality and sensuality. Within 25 years of the Collapse beginning, she was the second person to commit to the Shadow. The day she announced her allegiance, the War of Power began. It was then that it struck him, the puzzle that was Graendal fell into place and he was shocked to his core. "Oh, dear Creator how?" he whispered, but he knew.
How had they not seen it before, how did they know that she was the second to swear to the dark one? How could they be sure that this is correct? They had taken what the shadow had told them and ate it as fact, she was a world famous figure, and all of a sudden ten years after the bore is drilled she changes overnight? Overnight she becomes what she has hated for so long? When she declared the war began, when she declared millions lost hope, after all if she could follow the shadow who else does?
Quickly he crossed the space separating him from Graendal, he knew what he would find, he just had to be sure. He wove the weaves of healing around her head, careful not to disrupt what he had already put there, and searched. It was where he though it would be though he would never have noticed had he not been looking for it, and it was like nothing he had ever imagined. Wrapped tightly around the part of the brain that separates those that can channel from those that cannot was a thin cord, so tiny that his weaves could barely detect it. It had tentacles reaching of it in all directions some out into the brain and others straight into her connection to saidar from which it seemed to be feeding; it was obvious that this was the connection that gave it its strength. Repulsed he withdrew his weaves and sat back.
If for instance Graendal wasn't the second to go to the shadow as we had all thought what then. 15 years later millions of Trollocs and Myrddraal spring from nowhere, if Aginor had already sworn and started his research, which seems highly likely, and if Semirhage had already sworn and had already developed the method of turning anyone to the shadow using thirteen Dreadlords and thirteen Myrddraal, who is your perfect candidate to be turned? Kamarile Maradim Nindar. She is a world famous figure; she declares then the war of power starts, her interior personality changes overnight into something she would despise, as if whatever is controlling her is torturing her. She is immensely strong in the power. She gave the shadow something they didn't have but desperately needed; her understanding of the nature of humanity, from which her enormous understanding of compulsion stemmed. How had they not seen it before? Everything Graendal had done, was the horrible polar opposite too what Kamarile would have done. But he knew, they where blinded by fear. "Oh dear creator, how long has she been tortured inside her own head?" He remembered the surging he had felt when he said her name, she had been trying to tell him something.
Embracing saidin through the sa'angreal on his left hand he knew what he had to do. Ever so gently he placed his hands on either side of her head and closed his eyes. Instantly he felt his weaves make contact with the vileness that had infiltrated her brain, as with every weave there was a way to undo this one, he just had to find it.
A/n: You didn't think I was going to leave poor old Ethan all along did you? Shame on you. How many people saw that Elaida's foretelling was about two people, show of hands?? Anyway hoped you liked it.