As usual all speech in italics is in the Old Tongue.

Chapter LXIX - Do You Like Surprises?

Was the flow of the taint, on top of the raging torrent of saidin, fading? Taija couldn't really tell. She didn't have the mental energy to think about it. Every ounce of her being was dedicated to survival now. Keeping her web of saidar together and functioning, avoiding drowning in saidar or being ripped apart by saidin. Holding her connection to the Choedan Kal together.

Then, suddenly, it was gone. Just like that. The ever present noise stopped, the second sun vanished and she was just channeling huge volumes of clean saidin into her taint-destruction web to no effect whatsoever.

It took Taija a few seconds to register the change. Then, achingly slowly, she closed off her connection to the Choedan Kal. Neither half of the Power wanted to be released. It was like trying to close a high pressure pipe with her fingers, but she forced it down. She couldn't lose control now, not when she thought she might actually have succeeded.

Grinding her will against the Power, dominating saidin and submitting to saidar Taija gradually brought the flow of it through her to a stop. Then with a suddenness that was almost surprising, she was empty. The Power was gone.

She struggled to smile at Rand with cracked lips caked in something. He looked like shit. Blood trickling down his face, "…"

Oh, it seemed like she'd lost her voice. Maybe now it would be ok for her to pass out?

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When the noise stopped and that beacon of light winked out Mesaana wanted to howl with rage. Taija Kosola had done it, somehow. It was insane, but she had to face reality. She deflected another blow from the Amyrlin, aimed at the aes sedai behind her. Perhaps she could at least kill this thorn in her side? No, that was foolish. Others would be coming, now that the cleansing was done. It was time to retreat. There would be other opportunities. The Light had won a battle, they certainly hadn't won the war.

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Aleksi gasped with relief as the omnipresent light and noise suddenly subsided and then a moment later vanished to nothing. He wasn't sure how long he'd been sat there, how much saidin had flowed through him, but now it was different. It was… clean. It was glorious! She'd done it! His aes sedai had just bloody well gone and done it!

Not that he'd ever doubted she would. Even when she did. Silly woman. If only she could see herself the way other people did. Well the way he did anyway.

Moiraine looked back at him and the other aes sedai, her eyes sliding over the corpses of her two sisters. That had been frightening, for a moment he'd thought he was going to die. He could see why Taija hated being in a link, the sheer helplessness of it was terrifying at times.

"It seems they have done it." Of course, she would be able to feel the lack of the taint too, leading the circle as she was. "We must retreat fast now. The Forsaken will be determined to seek revenge and we do not know how the battles on the slope have progressed. I suspect Taija and Rand will also need healing and care, in addition to any survivors from below."

Aleksi felt her draw saidin through him as she slashed at the anti-traveling wards, the huge amount of Power in her circle allowing her to effortlessly demolish the wards around the cliff-top. Then she spun a large gateway. No signal would be needed for the defenders below. It would be obvious to anyone for thousands of leagues that it was over.

"Taija and Rand can be taken through first, we will hold the line here until everyone else is through."

There was something about… Aleksi scrambled to his feet. "I'll just check that they're well Moiraine sedai," he was already moving, jogging over to their dugout on stiff legs without waiting for an answer. He vaulted the earth wall into the hole and blanched at what he saw. Taija and Rand were both unconscious, blood on their faces and clothes, but still breathing thank the Light. Amys looked a little disoriented, but she was at least awake.

His eyes went to the access keys. Paranoia? He was still in the circle, he had no control over the Power. A split second decision was needed. He'd seen the way Taija was with Amys, compared it to how she was with the aes sedai.

"Amys!" His voice was urgent as he reached down to pluck the statuettes from Rand and Taija's arms. "Take these, hide them somewhere no one other than you can find them and avoid the aes sedai. It's probably nothing, but… these represent a lot of temptation for anyone and Taija trusts you…"

Amys looked at him bleary eyed for a second and then nodded. The normally perfectly poised woman staggered over and took them from him. A moment later a small gateway opened and she half fell through it. If she was half as tired as he felt, that would have been a struggle for her.

It wasn't a moment too soon as he saw Cadusane's head poking over the lip of the hole. "Cadsuane sedai! I'm glad to see you." It wasn't even a total lie, from what he could pick up of the opaque world of aes sedai politics she at least sat a bit outside the Tower hierarchy. "They're both unconscious, alive but hurt. We need to get them help."

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As the gateway closed behind her, Siuan glanced over at her friend. She hesitated for a moment and then said, "you can release the link now Moiraine, I believe we are safe."

Moiraine did not visibly react, but Siuan could see some of the tension leave Aleksi at the same time as the light of saidar winked out from around the women. Clearly he was more astute than she had thought, not what she expected from an Andoran peasant.

"I see that you have Callandor safe and sound Aleksi, you have done good work." It was not Callandor she was interested in of course, that was useless to the aes sedai and attempting to take it would be clear treachery. She turned to Moiraine, "the Choedan Kal access keys were not on Taija or Rand when they came through, have they been secured? They cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of the Shadow."

Moiraine gave her an unreadable look. "It seems that Amys, the wise one, took them with her while Aleksi was checking on the Dragon and Taija sedai."

Ah. Fishguts. Siuan turned the full weight of her gaze on Aleksi. "Was this Amys told to take them? Is she trustworthy?"

He gave her a small smile, one that gave absolutely nothing away. "I don't think anyone tells Amys what to do, but Taija trusts her with her life."

"Well it is good to know that." It was always good to know things, but she was furious. Surely that boy had not out maneuvered them like that. Amys must have been acting on her own. She would have to watch the wise ones more carefully.

"Rand and Taija have been healed and are recovering, you will no doubt want to rest too. Comfortable accommodations have been prepared for you."

He gave her a low bow, holding himself in the same way as Taija did. She was starting to suspect the man might be a lot more use to the woman than she had initially thought. "Thank you Mother, you are most kind, however as her warder it is my duty to be with her."

So that was the way the sail was set was it? Very well. "Of course, you will be shown to her quarters forthwith." She knew for a fact that the man had never been bonded by Taija, but felt she had no choice but to act as if he had.

As he headed off, led by an extremely uncomfortable novice, she narrowed her eyes at his back. A more intelligent man than she had given him credit for. She would have to remind some of the sisters about what that crystal sword cradled in his arms meant. She had too many nets in the water for this all to fall apart.

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Demandred stepped out of his gateway, back into the heat of Shara. Shendla, as competent as she ever was, was waiting for him, a veritable horde of channelers, male and female, behind her. His 'Freed' ready to serve. Excellent. He was about to start giving orders when he felt the beacon of saidin halfway across the world wink out. Well, fuck.

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Nynaeve wanted to groan. She'd been bundled off to a small room and allowed some sleep after being healed, but now they'd woken her up and she was faced with three cold eyed aes sedai. She just wanted to rest and make sure the girls were alright. Egwene had been barely holding off tears after they'd driven Semirhage off. She'd been closest to Aviendha.

"The Tower has turned a blind eye to your behaviour for too long. You will put on the dress and address us with proper respect or I can assure you you will be made to weep."

"You will also give us the angreal for safe-keeping. An accepted has no need for such things."

There was no time for mourning or regrets now. Nynaeve ran through a calming exercise Taija had taught her in her head. "I will do no such thing. As I have said already, I am aes sedai, raised to that rank by Taija sedai, who quite frankly has more of a claim to the title than any of you."

"You are a runaway who has been indulged for far too long in your delusions!"

Light, if she was getting this then what was happening with Egwene and Elayne? She needed to get to them and make sure they were alright and then to get Taija out of this place. Everything they said confirmed her choice to stay with and learn from Taija. For all their occasional clashes, she was at least a woman who didn't just try to bully her way to what she wanted.

Was this why Taija was so insistent on the aes sedai calling her Taija sedai? When Nynaeve had called her that after being raised to the rank Taija had laughed at her and told her not to be so over formal.

"Light! You wool headed women! What is the matter with you? Taija is an aes sedai from the Age of Legends. She's just cleansed the taint from saidin, she's personally killed two of the Forsaken. Why do you insist on questioning her decisions, her status?! I am not a runaway and I am not delusional. " Maybe those calming exercises weren't working so well after all.

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Taija woke up slowly and painfully. Her head was pounding and she felt terrible. It took her a little while to work out that she was somewhere she didn't recognise. A wooden paneled room, not luxurious as such, but certainly comfortable. She had a brief moment of panic, before she got it under control. What happened? Was she a prisoner?

It took a little longer for the memories to come back. Especially as she shied away from some of them. Agony, pain, the strain of constant channeling through the Choedan Kal for hours on end.

Taija could tell she'd been healed and someone had cleaned her up. It was intrusive, but she probably needed it. She was still alive, so it couldn't have ended in total disaster, the planet was apparently intact. She wasn't sure whether she'd succeeded or not though. She couldn't remember.

Taija thought for a bit longer. It was better than trying to get up. She must be in Siuan's village. If she was in Caemlyn she'd recognise her own room. It definitely wasn't the Waste and the Forsaken wouldn't have treated her this well.

Had she been betrayed by the aes sedai? She wouldn't put it beyond them, but that was probably just her paranoia speaking. What could Siuan possibly have to gain by doing that to her now? She couldn't test whether she was shielded, just the thought of touching saidar made her want to vomit.

Eventually Taija levered herself out of bed, nearly falling over when she tried to stand. Only one way to find out, but Light she felt weak. It didn't help her headache, but she tottered her way over to the door, using the wall for support. Gently she pushed down on the handle, now to see if she was a prisoner…

Taija pulled the door open to see a large man standing outside it, clearly guarding it. There was an aes sedai watching him from further down the corridor. For a brief moment adrenaline surged through her and then, as he turned to face her, she realised it was Aleksi.

"Taija! What are you doing out of bed? You should be resting!" He looked her up and down disapprovingly and she remembered she was just in a shift. It was hardly that revealing though.

"Aleksi," she slumped a bit with relief. "You look exhausted. What are you doing guarding my door when you should be resting?"

He started to protest and Taija cut him off. "If you're allowed to tell me off then so am I. Now you need to…"

A commotion broke out in the corridor and she heard a familiar voice raised, "no, I've waited. She's awake and I'm going to see her now!"

What in the Light was Tel doing? She heard boots coming down the corridor and then Aleksi stepped out to block the doorway. "Go away Tel, you know she doesn't want to see you." Was that real anger in his tone?

Taija sighed, she didn't have the energy for this. "It's fine Aleksi, let him in."

"But Taija, you're not even dressed."

For fuck's sake! She was wearing an actual dress even if it was considered underwear in this time. "It's fine, just do it."

For a second Taija thought he'd disobey her, but then he stepped aside and Tel clomped his way in. He was followed by several hard-faced aes sedai. They certainly weren't invited in! One of them sniffed when she saw Taija, but Taija only had attention to spare for Tel. He looked like hell. He was limping, she could see him wince as he walked and his face was badly burnt. There was blood all over his trousers too. Why hadn't he been healed? Did no one offer?

"What do you want Tel?" A pat on the back for doing his duty? Taija kept her sarcastic comment to yourself.

"I'm sorry to bother you. I know you don't want to see me, but…" He hesitated. "You'll want to see this." Taija tried not to look at the aes sedai silently mouthing the words after him. They were unbelievably rude!

Tel reached for his belt, there was something hanging off it a moment later he'd untied it, holding it up in front of him. It took Taija a moment to process. Was that a head? She leant in closer, was that…? "Is that Mierin?"

Taija's voice trembled as she reached out to take the severed head in her hands. Tel nodded. She could hardly believe it, but there it was, cold flesh under her fingers, a look of vague surprise on Mierin's face.

Taija's hands were starting to tremble too, her eyes blurring. "You killed her?"

Tel nodded again. "I know it doesn't matter now, but I loved them too." His voice sounded so sad.

"I know." Her voice was a whisper. "Did it hurt? Did she suffer?"

Tel hesitated, "No, it was almost instant. I cut her in half."

Taija clutched tighter at Mierin's head, her shaking fingers digging into the cold skin. "Good." She wanted Mierin to have suffered, but it was good that she hadn't. Taija wasn't like her and Tel shouldn't be either.

Taija was vaguely aware of the horrified looks on the faces of the aes sedai who'd followed Tel into the room, but fuck them. She wasn't sure what she should be feeling now. Angry? Delighted? Relieved? Sad? All of them? She caught Aleksi's eye, even he seemed disturbed. None of them really understood. "Can you get rid of this? Burn it, throw it in a river, feed it to the pigs I don't care."

Aleksi gave her a small, uncomfortable bow and reluctantly took the head before heading away.

Taija looked back at Tel and took a step towards him and another, ready to pull him into a h… She stopped herself at the last moment. No! Instead she just met his eyes. "Thank you Tel."

Blue eyes met brown as he stared back for a long moment and then gave her a deep bow, somehow managing to combine the forms for apology and giving honour into one. "Any time."

He turned to leave and Taija nearly kept quiet, but she couldn't stand it. "Why didn't you get healing?"

He shrugged, "showing you this was more important."

"Well get some now, please."

"Of course Taija sedai."

"And get the scar healed too, it's even more hideous than the last one."

"But I'm actually proud of this one!"

Idiot! "For fuck's sake Tel, just do it!"

He actually sniggered as he left. Bastard.

Still as she tottered back to her bed Taija felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It was hard to admit, especially given how much she wanted her dead, but ever since her fall Mierin terrified had terrified her.