Part I -- Initiation
Chapter 1: To Be Aes Sedai
Joar Addam Nessosin stood in line, waiting for his turn to test. He watched the shut door apprehensively. When the man came out, only three more would test before it would be his turn. He was eighteen, younger than most of the other men in line.
His eyes drifted to the second queue outside the testing room for women and rested on Kiara Eronaile, two years his junior, and next in line. Her pretty face was set in a mask of determination. Her streith gown was silvery green, and her hands were fisted tightly on her wide pleated skirts. For some reason she was feeling envy.
For a moment Joar Addam forgot all about testing for the ability to channel. His eyes were full of Kiara, who had moved into the house next to his with her family not a week ago. She was a short, slender woman with flowing dark hair and fair skin. In the time span of two days she had proved her quick, fiery temper to everyone in Shorelle. Twice that day she had snapped his nose off for getting in her way.
Several other young men had tried to gain favour with her since her arrival. She either ignored them or passed scathing remarks, much to Joar Addam's relief. Kiara could channel, everybody knew that. What was left to be determined was whether she was strong enough to become Aes Sedai.
The door to the women's testing room open, and a girl of no more than fifteen years emerged looking crestfallen. The sun-haired Aes Sedai tester came out after her, ageless face serene. Her blue eyes fell on Kiara, and her breath caught.
"Come here, child," the Aes Sedai said once she had recovered. Kiara's calm shattered as excitement crept over her. "You have the potential to be one of the strongest channelers this Age has to offer, child," the Aes Sedai went on, "and you will go to Paaran Disen to train. You will be contacted about this later."
Kiara's eyes widened. Then a slow smile spread over her face. She forced it back into a neutral expression, though the green faded from her dress to be replaced by rich gold. "Thank you, Aes Sedai." She left the waiting room, trying to keep her steps slow and measured.
She will be Aes Sedai, Joar Addam thought. He already had the coveted third name at a young age because of his talent with music, but to be Aes Sedai … that was another thing altogether. He barely noticed the next man enter the testing room.
An hour later, Joar Addam emerged from the testing room feeling excited and nervous at the same time. It had only taken ten minutes. He would go to Paaran Disen as well. He left the Shorelle branch of the Hall of Servants and went home.
Kiara was sitting on the grass under the chora tree in her garden when Joar Addam Nessosin, that dratted musician neighbour of hers, appeared around the corner with a pensive expression on his face.
Her streith gown became gold accentuated with light orange, as well as nearly transparent. Blushing, she concentrated and managed to turn it silvery-white and as opaque as anything could be.
Joar Addam smiled and waved as he passed. Kiara had to clench her teeth to stop herself from smiling back. She struggled to keep her dress the way it was. Even so, it gained a slight red-gold sheen.
"Are you going to Paaran Disen?" the question was out of her mouth before she could bite her tongue.
Joar Addam's smile widened. Only being under a chora tree stopped her from committing an act of moderate violence. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am," he replied. Why did her heart leap like that?
Kiara sighed and leaned her head against the trunk of the chora tree. "Want to wager on who will be raised full Aes Sedai first?" she asked.
"Against someone with the potential to be one of the strongest channelers this Age has to offer?" he shot back. "I don't think so."
She did smile, this time. The gold in her dress became more pronounced. "You already have your third name," she said. "You can't be afraid of a little nobody like me."
"Afraid?" Joar Addam echoed with amusement. "Not afraid. Just confident I your abilities."
Kiara's smile vanished and she arched an eyebrow. Strands of black appeared in the streith. "What is that supposed to mean?" she said suspiciously. More black appeared. A little red, too.
Joar Addam glanced at her dress warily. "I meant no offence," he clarified quickly. "It was a compliment."
Kiara regarded him for a moment or two before letting the red and black fade from the fabric of her dress. Then she let her guard down altogether and sprung to her feet, smiling widely. "I'm going to be Aes Sedai!" she proclaimed cheerfully.
Joar Addam laughed, "So am I, Kiara. So am I."
That night, snatches of a tune played on the harp drew Kiara out of her house. It had been going on for some time, but she had just noticed it because her family had been fussing over her all night. She wore a white algode nightgown with a pale blue silk robe thrown casually over it to ward off the night chill.
Joar Addam sat on a bench in his garden, fingers gracefully plucking the strings of his harp. She crossed her own garden, bare feet making no sound as they padded over the grass, to the fence dividing the two houses. She leaned on the fence and watched Joar Addam, who had his back to her. She did not know the tune, but it was so beautiful that she did not quite have the heart to interrupt. One of his own compositions, perhaps.
A few minutes passed, and the playing stopped abruptly. Joar Addam placed the harp beside him on the bench. He looked up at the full moon, its light illuminating his handsome features, making every strand of his dark hair appear to glow silver.
"I see why you have a third name," Kiara broke the silence.
Joar Addam turned his head to look at her. "It was nothing," he said.
"Will you teach me to play the harp?" she asked in a stroke of daring. She was thankful that the relative darkness hid the blush that followed.
"I can try," he replied.
Kiara drew on the Power tentatively, using half-formed weaves of Air to make a bridge over the fence. She could have used the gate. Am I trying to impress him? Surely not …
She sat down on Joar Addam's other side. He lifted the harp and gave it to her, trying to tell her how to hold it. Her breath caught sharply when he reached around her to correct her grip.
A flash of lightning slashed across the sky. Kiara looked up. "I think it's going to—" it began to pour "—rain."
"What luck," Joar Addam muttered dryly as rainwater drenched them both within seconds.
"What luck," Kiara agreed. "Maybe tomorrow. There is plenty of time yet. Perhaps even in Paaran Disen, if there is time." She got up. "Good night, Joar Addam. Sleep well and wake." With a brief smile she turned and fled for the shelter of her own house, clutching her robe tightly around her to cover herself, for the algode of her dress had turned transparent when soaked with water.
Kiara changed out of her wet clothes and went to bed, feeling exhilarated and tired at the same time. Slowly, she drifted off.
She was in a dream. She stood by the bench in Joar Addam's garden. It was a dream, and funnily, she knew it. She jumped when Joar Addam appeared in front of her. "Light!" she hissed. "Where did you appear from?"
"I've been coming here for a while now," he replied calmly. "I think this is tel'aran'rhoid, the World of Dreams."
"Oh," Kiara said, realisation dawning on her. Then a wicked smile spread over her face and she said, "Let's take a peek around. We could look in the branch of the Hall of Servants, see what the rest of it is like."
Joar Addam gaped. "Are you mad?" he asked. "There will be Aes Sedai dreamwalkers around."
Kiara looked crestfallen. "I forgot about that. Let's go have a look around the docks then. To see the sho-wings and ships. Do we have to walk, or is there another way?"
Joar Addam shrugged. "There might be, but I don't know it. Let's walk."
She acquiesced and fell into step beside him. For a brief moment her plain silk dress became a barely opaque streith gown with a scandalously low neck, too snug around the hips and bosom. She concentrated on plain silk, and it jumped back. Light, the World of Dreams was tricky. She hoped he had not seen.
The sights seemed to fly past. In what seemed like bare moments, they were at the docks. The sea was visible. There were no waves disturbing its surface. It was just a huge, still body of dark water.
Kiara surged ahead of her companion and ran to the piers, examining the huge cargo carriers. To the airport beyond, where sho-wings of various sizes and designs were parked. She ducked around a particularly large one and crashed right into Joar Addam, who had been coming around the corner. They went down in a heap.
"Ouch," she complained, opening eyes she did not remember squeezing shut. And found herself looking straight into Joar Addam's dark eyes. Her throat constricted into a tight knot. He was right on top of her. She could not breathe.
Joar Addam looked as if he was about to hyperventilate as well. His face crept closer. Kiara tipped her head back slightly and shut her eyes. She felt his lips brush hers. Her eyes snapped open.
Kiara vanished suddenly, and Joar Addam hit the floor painfully. Either she had gotten so upset she stepped out of the dream, or someone had woken her up. Rubbing his bruised ribs, Joar Addam left the World of Dreams.
Kiara woke up to find her mother Kyria shaking her. "Kiara," the greying woman said softly, "you were caught out in the rain tonight. Wake up and have some hot soup before you sleep."
"I was having a good dream, Mother," Kiara murmured. She sat up and took the bowl of soup from Kyria. She sipped from the rim of the bowl. The soup was hot and delicious. She drained the bowl as quickly as she could without scalding her tongue. Kyria smiled, took the bowl and left. Kiara lay back down, wondering if she should go back to tel'aran'rhoid to look for Joar Addam. She decided not to. He had probably left, anyway.
The next morning, the sun-haired Aes Sedai Harlett Karla Moridys, who had tested Kiara, came to collect her and Joar Addam. When she saw him, her cheeks reddened, and she ducked her head to hide it.
During the short jo-car ride to the airport, Kiara stared out of the window and refused to look at Joar Addam. She knew her face would become so red she would die of it if she looked at him.
At the airport, Harlett Sedai hustled the pair of them into a sho-wing already crowded with potential Aes Sedai. They were chased into two available seats next to each other. She channelled Air and took their bags off to the cargo hold.
The sho-wing took off once Harlett Sedai had alighted. "Kiara," Joar Addam said finally, "about what happened last night, I'm sorry if I offended you."
Kiara glanced at him. "I wasn't offended. My mother woke me up for hot soup." She realised that she sounded quite ridiculous, so she laughed. Joar Addam laughed, too. The mood lightened considerably.
"It's a full day to Paaran Disen," he said. "I wonder what there is to do."
"Look out of the window, talk, eat when they give us food, and sleep when night falls. Easy enough," Kiara answered. They laughed again.
They talked about the World of Dreams for a while. Then they got bored. Drawing on saidar, Kiara wove Air and tugged at Joar Addam's hair. He did not yet know how to touch the Source, so he tugged hers with his hand instead. Smiling, Kiara channelled again. Joar Addam's eyes widened.
"That was unfair," he declared. "I can't exactly reach yours, can I?"
Kiara laughed. She had eased a whip-thin weave of Air between his bottom and the seat and pinched the former. "I can do worse," she threatened.
"Spare me," he responded amusedly.
A young woman passed on her way to the bathroom. Grinning, Kiara slapped the woman's bottom firmly with Air before hurriedly letting go of the Power. The girl jumped and whipped around. Her eyes fell accusingly on Joar Addam. Her full-armed slap drew eyes from the entire cabin. She glared and walked on.
"Thank you very much," Joar Addam muttered sarcastically as he rubbed his cheek and turned away from wide eyes.
"Oops," Kiara said. "I didn't know she had such a quick temper." She gently took his hand from where it covered the affected cheek and kissed the latter. "Feel better?" she teased.
Night fell after two meals and one afternoon nap. Kiara curled up in her seat. "It's a little cold," she murmured. Joar Addam eyed her for a moment or two before slipping an arm around her shoulders. She shifted a little closer and laid her head on his shoulder. It was a lot warmer.
Joar Addam's hand began to stroke her hair, though she was so sleepy she barely noticed. She fell asleep.