"I don't think you understand the gravity of the..."
"Child, I have no patience for your doubts." she did not even look at Daigian. "I will see this man you speak all speak of."
"Cadsuane Sedai." Corele stood in her way. "I beg you for forgiveness, but this man fell from the sky. We saw him and we cannot lie. You, of course, should know that the best." That was not incorrect. Corele and Daigian were certainly not lying.
"Then I am afraid you were gulled. I will have to clean this mess like usually."
"Gulled? We saw it with our own eyes!" Daigian protested, but Corele knew her sigh was already bad enough.
"Daigian, keep your tone down. I do not like it."
Cadsuane turned away from them, prompting Daigian to react, but Corele held her back. "That woman would make a rock angry. Just leave her be."
Whoever built this room did not have a good taste. Too bright colors and complicated patterns for Cadsuane to care. Children these days...
The man was dressed in black robes, having his back turned on her. She will eventually teach him not to do that, but first things needed to have a priority. "Let us get this done with, boy, I do not have patience." Idiot turned towards her before she even finishes that sentence. Those cold grey eyes made her reconsider all of this for a moment. In comparison to that face all the Aes Sedai looked like old things - that is how timeless that face appeared to be. And yet, those eyes had the wisdom and age none she ever saw did. But only for a moment.
"You are not too talkative." she said. "Good enough, not as stupid as others. They often..."
"Aes Sedai." he tried that word on his tongue. "Aes...Sedai?" he waved away. "No! Not now?"
"I am afraid that's not how it will go down, boy..." That...that did not feel right. His eyes stared at her, and that face without age spoke a different story. "Get up, now."
"Not help, no!" he did not raise his voice - his tone just got more decisive. "Not now! I do not need it now."
"The only help you will receive from me is..."
"Man esselya ná."
She blinked. "What?"
He pointed at her. "Man - name. Your name."
She gritted her teeth. "If you are so interested, Cadsuane Sedai for you. But I am the one who came here to talk to you..."
He waved away. He dared to do that.
"Oh, we will not let that pass." she said. "Answer my question, or we will..."
"Elentári. Súlimo."
"What?"
"Aratar. They sent me back."
This language he spoke in...not in any text of the Tower was it discovered or known. A language different even from the Old Tongue, and no one of the White or Brown sisters knew of a tongue older than it. She spoke with them and read their documents, having once had interest in ancient languages herself - these words he was speaking were nowhere else recorded.
Is it possible he was a man who gabbled about memories of his past lives? A channeler touched by the Taint? She considered that for a minute, but something was off. Whoever or whatever he was, he was not a channeler.
"Do you...even understand what I am saying to you?"
"Moriñgotho." he repeated that word again. "Moriñgotho enutúlie."
"What is that?" Cadsuane said that with surprising interest in her voice, to her own astonishment. "What does that word mean? What is 'Moriñgotho'?"
He gave her a short, thoughtful glance, but then turned away, speaking the same thing. She scoffed. "Fine. It seems like I will have to coddle you like a babe." She hated that. Most men and women you treat simply as boys and girls - too dumb to come to conclusion on their, but smart enough to realize arguing with her is fruitless. But people like him...you need to be patient with them, unfortunately. "Let's start simple then: what is your name?"
He put his head down, repeating another thing. "Eru, apseni." He looked towards his window. "Ilúvatar..."
"Ilúvatar?" she repeated. "Is that your name?"
"Lá!" He raised his finger. "Lá! NO! Never say that again!"
She was startled again by his arrogance, even frustrated. "Then, Light, what are you saying?"
"Light..." he repeated, staring through her rather than at her. "Light...He." He pointed up, looking down. "Him. Ilúvatar - Allfather."
Allfather... Who in the Light is that? Such title or name she never heard before... then she thought. He repeated that word, the word 'Light' in the same breath and he pointed upwards, most likely to heaven. Light of the Heavens... she realized. The Creator.
She sighed. Is that what he was - a madman, who hears voices in his head and proclaims himself the voice of the One? A prophet like that dull Shienaran?
"Alright." she tried her best to sound polite and slowly laid a hand on his shoulder. "Let's take it easy..."
He brushed her off, pushing her hand, yet without any hint of anger. She bit her tongue.
"Who are you?" she insisted. "Tell me your name now, or you will force me to find it for myself." He continued on repeating his nonsense and gibberish, even standing up and walking towards the window, looking up to the heaven. "I am not a soft woman like the children you met - if you believe that, you are terribly misguided."
He did not turn towards her. "You think I fear that boy? You are mistaken...again. I can play with him, for all I care." It just so happened that the boy in question was the Dragon Reborn. "So?"
"Eru apseni."
She tsked. "You are bold then." She reached for the True Source, feeling saidar closely. "I do not like this. No, I hate this. But you leave me no choice."
When she placed both of her hands on the back of his head and then, without realizing, tapped into the his mind. She intended to merely make feel uneasy, but it left a completely different effect - she gained access to his memories, but did not touch them. It is not just that she was not interested - it really was possible to awaken the person by tapping into their memories, but it would take much more time and work than tapping into its essence would. So she seized the mind, hard enough to push it, but taking care not to force it to do anything.
Slowly, she started unlocking the mind. Slowly, carefully and gently, as if she was tendering a flower. For a thing so strong and wondrous, mind was quite easy to ruin.
But this mind was not ordinary. It was...grander. It had more knowledge, more understanding, greater psychological and neurological capacities. Many of the characteristics seemed to be greater. Positive emotions and traits were certainly remarkable - there was much empathy, great intelligence and capability. But the negative traits were just as strong, though it felt as if they were hidden behind a mist - anger, pride, lust for power and knowledge. Great ambitions. Too great. But there was something else: hatred and...regret. Both of them fighting with one another, burning as two great fires that wrestled to choke the other. Those two things were stronger than anything Cadsuane had felt in his mind.
Suddenly, that same fire reached her, causing pain to run through her body, her mind and soul. She gnashed her teeth, which would she always took care not to do in front of anyone else, knowing it would make everyone less considerate in her presence. But now, Cadsuane did not care about that.
She was afraid she would break this mind, but it was already broken.
Memories flashed in front of her eyes, memories that were not her own. She could not keep watching any longer and startled away, almost stumbling on her dress. She panted as if she was running for miles, and he backed away from her, falling to the floor.
When she reached her breath, she could not believe how terrified she actually was. "Who are you?" was all she uttered.
He looked up at her for a single second. He opened his mouth to say something, but the sound did not come out, and no word in any language proceeded out of his mouth. Then, he burst out of the room, leaving Cadsuane, the coldest and most stern-faced woman in the order of Aes Sedai, with her eyes widened in terror.
When she opened her eyes, Min saw only complete darkness. She knew she was standing on something, but not what was it. She assumed it was a cave, since she could hear the drops of water smacking the pool. She could hear, but not see anything at all. Min decided not to move, because she thought she will fall into the water if she does. The complete darkness made her feel uneasy.
Then, she heard something else. Screaming, and hissing at the same time.
"Thief! Thief! Thief!" When she heard, she immediately started running, afraid that the voice was talking to her. The voice she had heard was catty and the horrible coughs were coming from the throat. However, she could not recognize the word that the cough formed. She was not sure what it said.
"Thief!" She heard another cry, belonging to the same voice, and continued running through the cave, but she stopped again, pretty soon.
"Lost! It's lost!" Min was frozen at the moment from fear. The voice also said something that Min could not understand.
In the blink of an eye, Min found herself in deeper darkness. This time, she could hear other voices.
"Where is it?" She hid behind a stone instead of running. She did not have the time to think.
"Go back up the passage!" another voice shouted.
"This way!"
"That way!" voices shouted.
She looked away and the last thing she saw was a blade swinging before her eyes.
She screamed, but then...
Nothing will happen to you here.
Dhagon, Min. Dhagon...
She jumped from bed as soon as she woke, looking at Rand who was still sleeping. She placed her hand upon her lips to stop herself from screaming. "Light, save me!" she whispered. This has been going on for weeks already. Min dared to try channeling, but it never worked. She was not a channeler - Aes Sedai came to that conclusion too. This has something to do with my viewings.
Rand twitched in his sleep. He had been doing that for a long time now, ever since the box. Sometimes he would even murmur in his dreams, babbling a few words of the Old Tongue from time to time. She noticed his scars and wound on the side that had not yet healed. Rand would always say they are nothing, but she could clearly see it pained him, even when they were together.
She was sorry for him. She lightly caressed his cheek and then stood up, leaving the room, either to sleep elsewhere or to walk a bit. Knowing him, however, he will probably wake up wondering where she is. That protectiveness frustrated her, for sure, but she was happy about it too. It meant he loved her as much as she loved him.
She took her own light, walking through the corridor, heading for the library. If she could not sleep, she will read then. On a shelf, she left Fel's book, Reason and Unreason. He gave her that book a little before they parted months ago. Fel had spent years writing it seemed, having a keen interest in history of the Age of Legends and the nature of prophecy. He was a philosopher above everything else, however, wondering about the meaning of life, about the metaphysical nature of reality and even theology. He wrote extensive notes about such things, the nature of existence, role of the Creator and the Dark One in reality or, as some people preferred to call the Creator, God, which is the term Fel used more often.
The only people interested in asking these questions were philosophers and theologians it seemed. When she was in the White Tower, Min met many Aes Sedai of Brown and White Ajah, both of which acquired and studied this knowledge, the latter especially. But Fel wrote about this in different ways, showing some new theories she did not think were seen before.
The common analogy used for the nature of the world's history is that of the Pattern - the Wheel of Time weaves the threads of history that will repeat in same or at least similar manner throughout all eternity.
Standard analogy, Min agreed.
However, my personal study and, if I were to allow myself such things, even my personal experience, has led me to see many flaws in that analogy. At the surface it appears to be very intriguing and careful, but the analogy falls apart when faced with arguments, which I will come to quickly. I have, instead, come to a different conclusion.
She raised her eyebrow in surprise.
My instinct, that has rarely failed me before, has made me consider another analogy for the way the Creation works and the way its history unfolds, and I think it is more similar to something else - a Music.