As usual all speech in italics is in the Old Tongue.
Chapter LXXI - Bend or You Will be Broken
Siuan watched Taija gather her thoughts. The woman looked absolutely terrible, if this was not so important she would feel a bit bad for putting her in front of the Hall like this. She clearly would rather be anywhere else.
Not that Taija's discomfort was of any relevance to her plans. As soon as the news of Taija declaring young Rand and Nynaeve to be 'aes sedai' reached her Siuan had known she had to act. Some of the Hall had dismissed it as the fantasies of a historical relic, but she knew what it was. An existential threat to the White Tower.
While Siuan was willing to work outside the strictures of the Tower when necessary, like when she had first met Rand in Fal Dara, the fact was, the White Tower was a bastion for the Light that had stood for millennia. The Black Ajah and Forsaken had nearly destroyed it, but she could not allow Taija to finish that job. Particularly not with the Last Battle coming. The most powerful channelers on the side of the Light needed to be part of the Tower, strengthening it and benefiting from its guidance.
Oh, by herself Taija would not be a threat, she might be able to convince a few people to follow her, but she would fade into irrelevance over the next century or so while the White Tower would remain. With the backing of the Dragon Reborn things were different and with the cleansing of the taint even more so. She could not allow Taija's tower? Organisation? Whatever it became, to have a monopoly on male channelers. That would allow it to grow to the point where Taija would be able to use it to steal women from the Tower.
That had been hard to convince the Sitters of, but luckily a majority of them had at least some sense. As for the small number who wanted to deal with this by punishing Taija for the insult she had offered to true aes sedai and forcing her into penance… Sometimes Siuan wondered whether the tests for raising women to the shawl should be harsher.
"Thank you Mother for your kind words." At least Taija had remembered the correct title, that made a change for her. "I'm grateful for your consideration and your invitation. However, there are certain things about the White Tower which make me uncomfortable."
Oh Light the woman was saying no. Siuan's heart sank. Did she not know how generous this offer was? How hard Siuan had worked to get the Hall's agreement for it? Was it the three oaths? Siuan had not forgotten Taija's reaction to discovering those and fortunately she had already docked the spare boat for that.
"You and the Dragon would of course be exempt from swearing the three oaths." Pressure could be applied in due course. She glanced at Tel Janin and suppressed a shudder. "For reasons I hope you would understand, we would not extend that exemption to Tel Janin." The bloody man did not even blink at that.
Taija glanced over at him, her face expressionless. "Thank you mother, that is most generous, but your, ah, oath rod would not work on a man. As you know some ter'angreal only work for men or women and there were different binding rods for each gender."
Had the woman just lied to them? Moiraine had said they had fooled him with an imitation of the Oath Rod. That would not have worked if Taija was telling the truth. Siuan suppressed a surge of anger, calling her out now would only inflame the situation. Instead she nodded her head as benevolently as she could. "An exception could be made for him too, until a male oath rod can be obtained." Damn that woman!
Taija glanced slowly around, looking back at Nynaeve and the other girls. "Thank you for your generous offer mother. I would never deny the contribution that the White Tower has made to the world and I look forward to standing with it as allies in the battle against the Shadow and after the war has been won." The small bloom of hope in Siuan's heart died at Taija's next words. "However, my loyalty is to the Ma'bahrdo Sa'sedai'en." It took Siuan a moment to translate the Old Tongue from Taija's strange pronunciation. The Hall of Servants, only… the suffix 'en'. She had to suppress a surge of anger that shot through her. How dare she! Tel Janin's eyebrows had risen as, interestingly, had Elayne's. It was hard to tell which of the Sitters had picked up on that through their general annoyance at her reference to the Hall of Servants.
Taija smiled at the aes sedai. She was looking nothing like her normal, diffident self, in fact she seemed to be straightening up, growing in energy as she spoke. "I do not deny the validity or position of the White Tower. You are all aes sedai. However, I ask for the same courtesy to be extended to me and mine. We are aes sedai too. We have our own traditions, that also stretch back thousands of years."
Why did Nynaeve think she could nod along to that? She had been an accepted in the Tower less than a year ago. Had not even known she could channel a few months before that.
"Of course our own traditions do not deny the possibility of others. If any of us wish to join the White Tower, they are welcome to. To be aes sedai is not to force others to your will." It was these kinds of sentiments that made it necessary to bring her in under the aegis of the Tower. Did she not understand how foolish she was being? This was not the utopian world she grew up in! "If Nynaeve sedai," she emphasised the title, "or either of my apprentices wish to leave and train in the White Tower, I would be sad to see them go. But I would wish them all the best and welcome them back if they chose to return."
Taija had that smug smile on her face that she sometimes got when she thought she had scored a point. "Nynaeve, Egwene, Elayne, do you want to return to the Tower? You'll always be welcome back with me afterwards."
Of course the girls shook their heads. Siuan needed to intervene. "Of course I would not presume to tell you how to conduct yourself."
A number of the Sitters very much would. Siuan had had to point out to them that holding Taija, al'Thor, Tel Janin and Nynaeve against their will would likely take 24 sisters between them holding shields constantly, another few for Elayne and Egwene. And then what? That Aleksi boy laying waste to them with Callandor? The last bastion of the Light in the face of Elaida's coup descending into chaos and death? It had been pointed out that they could just gentle Aleksi. Sometimes Siuan truly did despair.
The inability of some sisters to see past their own desires was infuriating. She would like nothing better than to impose her will on Taija and the rest of them, but then what? Even if they succeeded they then had to guard the most powerful channelers on the side of the Light, assuming Tel Janin qualified as that. There was no end goal. No doubt they could break their will eventually if they tried, but that would be doing the Dark One's work for him! She wanted to guide them, ensure that their efforts were directed in the best way for the Light, not to destroy them.
Siuan continued. "However, Nynaeve, Egwene and Elayne are runaways from the Tower. You can choose how you deal with such things, but the White Tower has its own laws. When they signed the novice book they agreed to be bound by those laws."
Anger flashed briefly across Taija's face. The woman's arrogance was unbelievable sometimes. Just because she was from a more historic time did not mean that she could just walk in and break Tower laws that had stood for thousands of years. "They are aspirants to the Hall of the Servants and so they come under the Karagaeth Sedai Vidhel." That made Siuan think for a second, she had never heard the term before. Servant punishment code? Some sort of legal system presumably. Taija hesitated and then added, "or the legal system of any nation they're in I suppose."
She should not have added that. "So you accept they are subject to the law of the White Tower. Aes sedai are not above the law." Of course they were. Above others' laws anyway, but not Tower law, the fact that Taija thought otherwise was yet another factor undermining the aes sedai.
Taija gave her an angry look, speaking faster. "You know what. Fine. Let's face it, all you're really interested in is power, not law. So let's talk power." Behind her Tel Janin grimaced took half a step forward reaching for her shoulder and then changed his mind. What did he know? "You want the girls, but you don't have the power to take them, so you're trying to persuade me to do it for you. Well I'm not going to."
"If you could make me hand them over, which you can't, what then? How exactly do you see this going? Three women, each of whom is more powerful than any of you, better trained than any of you. Who know how to Travel and who don't want to be here. Will you have guards on them the whole time? Will you keep them shielded while you beat them until you break their spirit and they give in? Do you think that this is a productive use of your resources while we're in a war for survival with the Shadow? You've shown that you can change in the face of reality, but it seems more change is needed. Remember this, if you rely only on power then sooner or later someone more powerful will come along, whether they're right or wrong. That's why your hierarchy is so stupid, what does strength have to do with ability? Bend with the times, or you will be broken."
Siuan opened her mouth to snap back at the fool woman as angry murmurings overtook the room. Then Rand suddenly spoke up, breaking his silence. "Thank you for your passionate words Taija sedai." He was only a boy of 20, but there was something about him that commanded attention and she found her mouth snapping shut. "I have nothing but respect for the ancient traditions of the aes sedai and the White Tower's contribution to the cleansing of the taint will be remembered. We need to work together if we are to defeat the Dark One. However, I think that tempers are high amidst the emotion of the cleansing. We are all tired and have many things to attend to. Ultimately there is room for all of us under the Light and we can continue discussions in a proper forum."
Lelaine sprang to her feet, "boy if you think…"
Rand turned his full attention on her. "Rand sedai if you please, or My Lord Dragon if you still struggle with that." His voice had suddenly gone from mild to dangerous and she seemed to choke under it until he turned back to Siuan his tone returning to its previous mildness, "Mother, thank you for hospitality, but I think it would be better if we all left now. Your aes sedai will always be welcome wherever I am as I hope you would welcome Taija's and I look forward to receiving ambassadors and advisers from you."
Where had the boy developed this kind of charisma? Despite herself Siuan found herself dipping her head. "Go in the Light Rand sedai."
Perhaps it was better this way. It would already be difficult enough to mollify the Hall after Taija's words. Maybe when tempers had cooled Taija would see the benefits of what she was being offered. Despite that optimistic thought, Siuan knew she had lost this battle.