Chapter XLII - It Can Be Difficult to Translate the Old Tongue
As soon as Taija set foot in the Dedicated Waste she was hit by the heat. It was like stepping into a furnace and she was almost instantly sweating. She quickly shot a glance at Aleksi, she'd have to do something about him, with his pale, Andoran skin he'd burn very quickly. The girls too.
As for herself, Taija at least had the benefit of melanin. Nevertheless she was soon rummaging in her pack, now happily mounted on a horse that she'd 'acquired' at the stables in Tear, for a cloth to tie around her head. She could just spin a web to partially block the sunlight above her, but that would make her stand out uncomfortably. A target for anyone looking to remove the channelers from the group.
Taija pulled out a length of white cloth from her pack and, after a moment's thought, wrapped it around her hair and over her face, just leaving her eyes exposed. For a moment she enjoyed imagining she was Fernain Kiramon when she starred in Rapid Reaction 3. A completely trashy film, but great fun all the same. Then she remembered where she was and pulled herself back into the present with a small grimace.
Pleasingly the girls were already copying her, although probably not fantasising about long gone movies while they did it. That just left Aleksi. She'd have a word with Rand too, ginger hair and excessive Sun didn't go well together, but he seemed to be arguing with Moiraine about something, so Taija figured she'd leave them to it for now.
By the time she'd sorted Aleksi out, and seen that Mat had copied Elayne, sensible lad, the rest of the group had gotten themselves organised with Rhuarc taking the lead. They were all on what looked like a mountainside overlooking yet more wasteland. Not a particularly attractive mountain though, no towering crags or snow or trees. Just brown, arid scrub.
Taija didn't hear what was being said by Rhuarc, but soon everyone started to move slightly down and along the mountain. It was lucky it wasn't particularly steep or rough, at least where she was, but with the heat and lack of a proper path it was still going to be hard going.
Aleksi, Mat and the girls swung themselves onto more 'acquired' horses, they were far too soft at times. Aleksi was fit enough she supposed, but Taija found herself musing about the girls' condition. Then she saw the Dedicated walking and trotting along in small groups and she started smiling. The kind of smile that would have had her apprentices worried if they'd seen it. It was a good opportunity to start doing something about the girls' insistence on acting like pampered noblewomen when they weren't channeling.
The group was progressing at a comfortable walking pace, so with a nod to Aleksi Taija sped up her steps and headed over to the girls. "Elayne, Nynaeve, I've been thinking about your training." She didn't bother with a preamble, they were used to that by now.
"Yes Taija sedai?" Their voices were as polite and respectful as she'd expect, but they couldn't quite hide the hint of trepidation in them. They were learning.
"I've spoken with you before about the importance of fitness. In my own time we used to say 'a healthy body leads to a healthy mind' and I think that applies just as much nowadays. Just as importantly, if you want to be able to fight, then fitness is vital. It's nothing I haven't said to you before." Taija could see their faces falling, they knew where she was going with this.
Elayne sighed, "what would you have us do Taija sedai?" Good girl, Nynaeve just looked more mulish.
"You're both far too slow on your feet and you're worn out long before you should be when we do combat training. It wouldn't matter in times of peace, but those aren't an option for any of us. So, from now on, you either walk during the day," Taija paused as if making a great concession, "you can leave your packs on the horses though, or you join me for my morning runs. Your choice. Of course if we're not on the move then you'll join me regardless."
Elayne grimaced and then dismounted from her horse with enviable elegance. "Yes Taija sedai." Fortunately she didn't see the amused smile a nearby Dedicated warrior gave Taija.
Nynaeve on the other hand protested, "Taija sedai, with the greatest of respect," she could probably work on the respect if her current tone was the best she could do, "that isn't necessary. Women shouldn't be charging around like men, leave it to them, we have better things to do with our time."
"I disagree." Taija gave her short shrift. "If you want to learn from me then that means learning everything I have to teach, whether you like it or not. That includes fitness. I'm not going to have one of my apprentices dying because you got winded after trying to dodge one of the Forsaken's webs."
Nynaeve sniffed and Taija raised her eyebrows. "If you don't like it, you have other options. I'm not from the White Tower, I don't force people to stay with me." She made her tone slightly teasing to try take the sting out of her words. "If you still want to be aes sedai, I suspect Cadsuane would welcome you back to the Tower."
That got a deeper scowl from Nynaeve, but she bowed her head in acquiescence, "as you wish Taija sedai." With that she climbed off her horse, somewhat less gracefully than Elayne.
Taija cast a slightly critical eye over the two of them as they walked, "we're going to need to do something about your shoes later. Those just aren't good enough for this kind of thing."
That dealt with, she shot a querying glance over to Aleksi who'd been watching with some amusement next to Mat. He shrugged, "I'm already doing a lot as part of my… sword training with Edram."
"Fair enough," she hadn't noticed him running out of steam too easily. "It would be good to get you and Rand along to train with the girls some time soon though. Everyone could do with getting more experience working together." Taija raised her voice, "Mat, will you be joining us?"
He just gave her a flat stare. Fair enough, it wasn't like he was her apprentice, but his loss.
======
It took a couple of hours of walking, but eventually, as they worked their way round the mountainside, a valley came into sight below them. It was an awe inspiring vista, spread out before Taija, almost making up for the unattractiveness of the mountain itself. Or it would be if it wasn't full of dense fog. How in the Light was that possible in this heat?
There was something poking out of the fog too and as Taija got closer she started to think it might be towers. She could only see the very top of them through the dense grey cloud, but even the little she could see of the architecture looked oddly familiar. Eventually she realised with a twisting feeling in her stomach that it reminded her a bit of her time. It must be Rhuidean. Maybe she'd be able to get a closer look later.
It wasn't long after that that they crested a ridge to see two encampments of Dedicated ahead of them. Taija wasn't sure why they thought a fight was coming, but the Dedicated in her party reacted by veiling themselves and more Dedicated seemed to be streaming out from those camps, also veiled. Shouldn't they be friends? Or did they have some kind of internecine warfare thing going on? Were they dedicated to different things?
Taija embraced saidar and prepared herself to spin lightning. Perhaps she could scare them out of doing anything stupid before anyone got killed.
Then she heard a woman's voice loudly call out, "the peace of Rhuidean!" Suddenly the Dedicated came to a halt, hurriedly unveiling with the tension leaving them as quickly as it came.
Taija realised that the voice came from a third, much smaller encampment, from which four women bedecked in jewelery and wearing dark skirts and white blouses had emerged.
With a fight now looking unlikely, she let go of the webs she'd begun to spin, although she continued to hold saidar. The older looking of the Dedicated women seemed to be saying something to the Dedicated who came with Rand and as she was speaking most of them started to divide up supplies and move off.
Taija was starting to get irritated at not being able to hear what was going on, so she moved forward through the group towards the Dedicated women. That let her see Rhuarc go up to the white haired woman and tell her something quietly. She briefly touched his cheek with obvious affection as she replied. Perhaps that was his wife? Taija really hoped he hadn't been hitting on her.
Once she was close enough Taija listened to them talking about clan chiefs with one ear while she turned to the girls, Mat and Aleksi and ordered them to drink. "If you don't stay hydrated, well watered, then you'll end up incapacitated or dead in no time." She'd have thought they'd have the sense to drink plenty without being prompted!
By the time Taija had sorted them out, there seemed to be some kind of argument going on between one of the Dedicated warriors and the women. In her head she rewound what she'd vaguely heard. She thought it was something about going to Rhuidean.
Based on what she'd heard, the Dedicated seemed to have a bit of a thing about the place. It made her wonder whether she could get herself permission to go and have a look, or alternatively just sneak off by herself when no one was watching. There must be something interesting going on there, the towers were interesting if nothing else.
The angry Dedicated man subsided into a furious sulk and then Rand stepped forward and bowed to Amys, strangely his bow would have fit right in at an event in the Hall of Servants. He asked permission to enter Rhuidean using some oddly formal wording.
Two of the Dedicated women said he could, but the angry man interrupted, declaring that Rand was no Dedicated and had no right to do so. Rand claimed that his mother was one of the Dedicated, which was a bit of a revelation. Taija had thought that he was Andoran, although she supposed he did look a bit like the other Dedicated. The other two Dedicated women quickly gave him permission too.
The way Rand was acting suggested that it was all part of his plan, although he hadn't shared that with her. He seemed to be becoming more paranoid and secretive by the day, it was worrying. Taija hoped Moiraine hadn't been getting to him.
It was a bigger surprise when Mat stepped forward and also asked for permission to enter Rhuidean. She quite liked the boy, but this seemed rather out of character for him.
There was a moment of stunned silence and then the Dedicated man moved to stab Mat with his spear in an incoherent rage. Taija readied a web to stop him if he got too close, but the light of saidar sprung up around two of the Dedicated women and he was flung back before she needed to do anything. Given they could channel, those women must be the Dedicated's wise ones. She'd have to ask them about Egwene once they had a minute.
The Dedicated man was spitting with rage, but was just ordered back to his tent, along with Rhuarc and the other Dedicated men. Apparently this was wise ones' business.
Eventually, after some debate the wise ones agreed that Mat could go. It looked for a second like Elayne wanted to say something, but Taija laid a warning hand on her arm and she subsided. The last thing she wanted was the girl trying to go too and getting herself into trouble. Tear had been more than bad enough.
Mat and Rand were informed that they couldn't take food, water or weapons into Rhuidean, which was frankly stupid. However, they didn't protest and Mat started unloading an impressive number of throwing knives.
When they were both denuded of weapons and water some ritual words were said over them and the wise ones formally covered their faces before sending them away. As they headed off across the dusty ground Elayne looked wistfully after Mat until Taija nudged her with her elbow. "Stop staring so obviously, it's distracting, he'll be fine."
She ignored Elayne's outraged look and went back to observing what the wise ones were doing. They gave the rest of them a once over and then the white haired one addressed the remaining men, "you two," she looked at Aleksi and Edram, "and Man Alone, we wish to discuss women's business, go to the encampment and raise your tents." If Lan hadn't already told Taija why the Dedicated called him Man Alone she might have had to suppress a snigger. If she ignored the very serious and tragic reason behind it, it was a bit of a silly name. As it was, Taija was irritated to have Aleksi ordered away because of some stupid gender thing, but kept her silence. There was no point alienating these people straight away.
The wise ones didn't seem to be particularly interested in her and the girls at this stage, instead speaking with Moiraine and Cadsuane. That was fine with Taija, she was happy to listen and learn for now.
It seemed that they had dreamed that Moiraine would most likely come, but hadn't been sure about Lan or Cadsuane. That confirmed that they must be the ones teaching Egwene. Taija shifted on her feet, suddenly a bit impatient, she wanted to make sure her apprentice had been alright among these odd people. She'd been careful not to interfere because of the Aelfinn's answer, but it had been difficult for her.
Finally they called over the last Dedicated who had stayed behind, one of their spear maidens who Taija vaguely recognised from the Stone. She'd stuck in her mind because she could channel, or at least had the potential to, and occasionally seemed to hang around with Elayne. Aviendha… that was her name.
What followed must have been another ritual, if a rather harsh one. She was informed that she was going to become a wise one whether she wanted to or not. Her weapons were broken in front of her, a few threats made and a lot of talk of duty and obligation. It seemed unnecessarily unpleasant, although it was nice to hear at least some channelers talking more about duty than their own status. It was interesting that all four of them seemed to be wise ones even though only two of them could channel.
Something passed between Moiraine, Cadsuane and the wise ones, although Taija wasn't quite sure what, but the oldest looking one spoke to them, "You meant to take her to your White Tower to make her one of you." It wasn't a question. "She is Dedicated, aes sedai."
The wise one's tone was firm, but it didn't seem to discourage the aes sedai. "She could be very strong," Cadsuane didn't deny the accusation..
"With proper training," Moiraine added. "She could be stronger than any of us."
"If she comes to the Tower she can achieve her potential." Both of them were intoning their words, alternating and working together for effect, it was actually quite impressive and Taija could see how it might be intimidating to some people. She was glad she hadn't had to put up with it from them.
"The Tower can provide knowledge and training greater than any other institution." She was surprised they could say that with a straight face.
The younger looking of the two Dedicated channelers replied. "We can teach her as well as you can aes sedai. Better. You treat your apprentices too gently in the Wetlands. The Three-fold land is no place for weakness. Aviendha will learn all that she needs with us." There was an undertone of contempt in the woman's voice and the Dedicated seemed to consider the matter closed after that.
It didn't take long after that for Aviendha to strip naked and run off towards Rhuidean. Given the nudity, it kind of made sense that they'd sent the men away.
Apparently there was some kind of ter'angreal there that she'd have to go through which would give her visions of the future. It sounded useful, but Taija couldn't remember ever hearing of a similar one in her time, which was curious. She was sadly less than surprised to hear that some women never returned from entering the ter'angreal. What was it with this time and people misusing extremely dangerous ter'angreal? She was doubly glad she'd restrained Elayne.
As Aviendha bounded away into the distance, the wise ones turned their attention back onto Cadsuane and Moiraine.
"Come," the eldest said, "We offer you water and shade aes sedai." She was clearly addressing Moiraine and Cadsuane and then she glanced back to Taija and the girls. "Your companions may find shelter with the others."
That wouldn't do at all. She probably shouldn't have hung back so much. Taija stepped forward uncovering her face and giving them a small bow, "my name is Taija Kosola Miranen," she kept her tone mild, she wasn't trying to make a point, not yet anyway. "I'm also aes sedai and these are Elayne Trakand and Nynaeve al'Meara my apprentices."
The woman's eyebrows shot up, "my apologies aes sedai, I had not realised. We had not seen you coming in the dream. We of course also offer you water and shade."
"Thank you," Taija nodded and smile politely. She couldn't hold it against them that they didn't realise when she'd keeping quiet at the back like that.
They were all quickly escorted to the wise ones' tents while a white robed Dedicated was sent off with the horses to ensure they were cared for. Did the white robes indicate a servant of some kind?
Once they were inside the largest tent they all sat down cross-legged on thick rugs and another white robed Dedicated served them water. The wise ones, Amys, Melaine, Bair and Seana introduced themselves. In turn Taija's group gave their own introductions.
"Cadsuane Melaidhrin, aes sedai of the Green Ajah."
"Moiraine Damodred, aes sedai of the Blue Ajah."
"Taija Kosola Miranen, aes sedai."
The atmosphere had seemed more relaxed, but her lack of an ajah causes a stir among the wise ones. "Do you not have an ajah?" Amys voice was sharp.
Taija shrugged, "I don't really feel I need one at the moment." She was tempted to explain that the word 'ajah' was being misused by the aes sedai nowadays, but that seemed a bit obnoxious.
To her irritation, the wise ones seemed to glance to Cadsuane and Moiraine as if asking them for confirmation. However, she felt a little mollified when Moiraine said, "Ajah or no, Taija sedai is aes sedai."
"Very well." That seemed to settle the matter.
Taija thought Moiraine might be about to speak, but jumped in before she could. She had things she'd been worrying about and now was her chance to put those worries to rest. "How's Egwene? Has she been learning well?" She leant forward eagerly.
Amys answered, "we have been very pleased with Egwene sedai's progress. She is headstrong, but always eager to learn, she is not how we expected an aes sedai to be."
Taija nodded for a moment, wait, aes sedai? "I'm sorry did you say Egwene sedai?"
"Yes," Amys nodded. "Of the Green Ajah." What kind of trouble had the bloody girl gotten herself into now?! Taija noticed Cadsuane leaning forward, eyes narrowing with a predatory gleam. For fuck's sake.
She hurriedly kept talking to make sure neither Cadsuane nor Moiraine got the chance to say anything, choosing her words carefully. They would no doubt be maneuvering for some kind of scheme to get Egwene back in their clutches. "Why exactly do you think she's an aes sedai?"
The Wise Ones glanced at each other, faces going blank, although Taija thought Amys had a slight frown. Moiraine and Cadsuane's faces had also gone worryingly blank, actually hers might have too. Amys answered. "That was how she introduced herself. I had been a little surprised, she looks young and lacks the ageless face and great serpent ring," the wise ones' eyes flicked over to Taija.
"Aes sedai will normally only develop the ageless face a few years after being raised," Cadsuane offered unhelpfully as she rearranged her hands in a way Taija was fairly sure ensured her great serpent ring was on display. Cadsuane wasn't showing it on her face, but Taija strong suspected she was enjoying the situation.
She resisted the urge to make a sarcastic comment about people binding themselves like criminals. The truce she'd achieved with Moiraine and Cadsuane was tentative enough.
Amys' eyes flicked from Taija's face to her hand again. "Yet Taija sedai does not have an ageless face, nor the ring." Her voice was level, just presenting a question, not challenging Taija's status.
Taija kept her voice mild, "Nevertheless I am aes sedai."
"Indeed," Cadsuane agreed without hesitation to her mild satisfaction. Although Taija supposed she'd established her status with her through right of conquest if nothing else. People nowadays did seem far too focused on strength.
Taija didn't want Moiraine and Cadsuane taking over. "It seems that I'm going to need to have words with my apprentice." She emphasised the last two words without looking at the other aes sedai. She could sense Cadsuane shifting slightly, but she didn't say anything. Quite right too.
The wise ones glanced at each other and after a second Amys summoned one of the white robed servants. "Fetch Egwene, tell her to come at once."
Perhaps sensing the tense mood the servant nodded and practically ran to find her.
The nine of them sat in slightly awkward silence while they waited and then Egwene came hurrying in looking sweaty. She was dressed like the Dedicated wise ones in white, cotton blouse and brown skirts and seemed to have picked up quite a tan.
She was looking to the wise ones when she arrived, but then she registered Taija and the other aes sedai's unsmiling presence. "Hello Egwene sedai." Her face instantly fell and Taija felt a pang of guilt she really had missed the girl. However, it was completely unacceptable to pretend to be aes sedai. She'd have thought Egwene would have realised from her lessons how offensive it was for someone to claim the title when they weren't entitled to it. Modern aes sedai at least had the excuse of believing they were true aes sedai, although as more than one of them had tried to remind her, they were hardly willing to let others claim the title either. More so it was personally offensive. She'd gone out of her way to take Egwene in, had to fight, literally, to have herself recognised as an aes sedai and then the girl just claimed it casually.
Taija let the silence stretch for a second, she didn't want to be unnecessarily unpleasant to Egwene, but she needed to understand that it wouldn't be tolerated, that Taija was actually very angry with her. "Would you care to explain?"
Egwene was a bright girl, if prone to poor decisions at times, she knew what Taija meant. "I'm sorry Taija sedai! It just… it just happened. I was in the Unseen World and I ran into Amys, like I told you. I panicked when I met her and I was… I was just desperate for her to help me and so I told her I was aes sedai. I realised straight away that it was a stupid mistake, but then I couldn't say anything in case the wise ones refused to teach me so I just had to keep going."
Taija watched her, expressionless, as she explained. She couldn't see any hint of dishonesty in Egwene's expression. She mostly looked upset and scared. It was a plausible explanation too. Taija thought back to some of her own youthful escapades. She'd never have been stupid enough to claim to be aes sedai when she wasn't, but there were plenty of times she'd managed to get herself into a difficult situation by saying something stupid.
Unfortunately her considerations were interrupted by Cadsuane. "The last girl I met who claimed to be aes sedai was made to weep for several months afterwards."
Taija shot Cadusane a look, seriously? The wise ones were looking very unimpressed with Egwene too, nodding in approval of Cadsuane's statement.
This was getting out of control. "Egwene, I'm disappointed in you. You know more than enough to know that claiming to be aes sedai isn't acceptable. We will discuss your punishment between us, go and think about what you've done." Taija spoke to her as if she was a child and tried to ignore the fear on her face. She didn't have time to be angry, she needed to get in control of this situation before one of the others said something publicly that they couldn't walk back on. It was going to be a delicate balance between protecting Egwene from the others and still making sure she was appropriately punished. Just what she needed.
"But, T…" Egwene protested before Taija cut her off.
"Now Egwene." Her voice left no room for compromise.
Despite that, Nynaeve spoke up, "Taija sedai, p…"
She cut her off too. "Quiet! Elayne, Nynaeve, you too please." It did her credit that she wanted to support her friend, but there was a time and a place. The situation was going to be delicate enough as it was. Taija needed to be in control of the conversation before the Dedicated or other aes sedai decided they wanted Egwene beaten or the Dedicated refused to teach her anymore.
"I must apologise for my apprentice's behaviour, if I had known she was claiming to be aes sedai I would have put a stop to it immediately." Taija faced the wise ones, making it clear it was them she was apologising to. Ultimately she was fairly confident that Cadsuane and Moiraine would give way to her if she pushed the point, although she'd rather not have to. "She has given offence to all of us, but I think the best thing would be for us to collectively agree on a punishment for her."
"I do not see why that is necessary, she has obligation to all of us, it must be met individually."
It took Taija a second to process what she meant by obligation. People did use her language oddly sometimes. "I understand what you're saying. However, the Dragon has been reborn, you have your Chief of Chiefs and the Light is assailed by the Shadow from all angles. We can spend time punishing her in each of our own ways and waste our collective time and also hers when she should be learning like the apprentice she is, or we can come to an agreement together.
The Dedicated looked sceptical and Cadsuane was clearly feeling unhelpful. "The only way to make sure this kind of lesson sticks is through pain."
"Absolutely not," Taija snapped before the Dedicated could have time to agree, then moderated her tone. She doubted her views on corporal punishment would get much favour with the Dedicated. "Ultimately she is my apprentice," Taija shot a look at Cadsuane. "I will speak to her, at some length, about what she did, but I acknowledge that is not a punishment." She could see she was losing the wise ones and hurried on. "In my own training, when a student committed a severe offence they might be given pointless tasks to do. Without the Power of course." This was the proper way to punish someone and make them learn at the same time, not some barbaric beating. "This was punishment with meaning. The purpose of being aes sedai is to serve, pointless labour is the opposite of service. To spend someone's time on valueless activity like that is humiliating and thought provoking. You do nothing for anyone else and also nothing for yourself until the lesson is learnt."
The wise ones glanced at each other, expressionless, then to Taija's surprise Amys nodded, "that is acceptable to us." That was a relief, unexpected though. She'd thought the Aiel would push for something more visceral.
That just left the other aes sedai. Taija looked Cadsuane straight in the eye and refused to look away until after a few seconds she looked down, her mouth twisting as if she just swallowed a lemon. "I can live with that."
After that it was just dickering about specifics.
=======
Once they'd reached agreement there was a brief pause and then Moiraine spoke up to ask about a letter the wise ones had apparently sent her in Tear telling her to come to Rhuidean. She certainly hadn't mentioned that in front of Taija.
This led into a lengthy explanation of dreaming and what they could and couldn't predict. Taija wasn't a huge fan of it as an art. She could acknowledge its usefulness, but like every other method of predicting the future, it was frustratingly vague.
Apparently there were all kinds of conditions that needed to be fulfilled for Moiraine to survive, various people needed to come here with her and she'd need to go through the same ring ter'angreal as Aviendha, although telling her that seemed to have been a slip up on the wise ones' part. Interestingly none of these things seemed to involve Taija, she wasn't sure whether to be relieved or offended by her apparent insignificance.
As far as Taija could tell Moiraine took the wise ones' statement in her stride. She had a sip of her drink and then launched into a musing monologue about the 'Old Tongue'. Personally Taija was much more interested in what the wise ones had to say about Rhuidean and the ring ter'angreal.
"It can often be difficult to translate the Old Tongue, words can have so many meanings. The Unseen World means the World of Dreams or perhaps the Unseen World, neither is really exact and it can be almost impossible to know the true meaning of a word in the language." Seriously? Taija couldn't help snorting softly to herself. Every time she thought she'd heard it all they came up with some new way of showing both their arrogance and their ignorance.
Her train of thought disrupted Moiraine glanced over at Taija her face unreadable. That must have been louder than she'd thought. No point alienating her, Taija was trying to be the bigger woman. "I'm sorry Moiraine sedai that was rude of me."
She just sighed, "as I was saying, the meanings of words in the Old Tongue can be complex." Her attention returned to the wise ones although Taija was sure there was a slight tightening of her lips. "Some words have become common and we do not think about their true meaning. Aes sedai meant servant of all. Then we have the Dedicated, which means dedicated in the Old Tongue. Only it does not just mean that, it is stronger, an oath written into your bones. I have often wondered what the Dedicated are dedicated to."
Even as the wise ones' faces hardened, Taija excitedly spoke up, previous irritation forgotten. "Oh yes, I'd asked Rhuarc about that and he didn't want to answer, it was a bit odd. The only Dedicated I've really known are the Dedicated to Peace who were pretty different really. Are different Dedicated dedicated to different things? Is that why they fight?"
Moiraine looked irritated at first and Taija realised as she spoke that she'd probably cut her off, but the annoyance disappeared when Taija mentioned the Dedicated to Peace. She always found Moiraine hard to read but she thought she looked both pleased and intrigued.
The wise ones on the other hand looked like they were carved from stone. Eventually Amys broke the silence, "Rhuarc has spoken to me of you Taija sedai. He said that you claim to have seen the Dedicated to Peace. How can this be, is it something of the aes sedai?
Taija glanced over at Cadusane and Moiraine who seemed to be content to let her do the talking for the moment. Maybe it was because they had no idea what she was talking about? "Well… kind of." The unamused faces of the wise ones told her that that wasn't enough of an answer. "I don't think Moiraine sedai or Cadsuane sedai will have seen them?" Her rising intonation made it sound like a question.
She paused for Moiraine or Cadsuane to speak, but they stayed silent. Eventually Amys sighed, exasperation slightly breaking the stone-hard impassivity of her face. "Let us not bandy words aes sedai. You say you have seen them with your own eyes?"
The wise ones were being very weird about this, so Taija simply said "yes" without elaborating.
The older one Bair seemed to lose her patience and snapped, "stop this obfuscation. Our patience is not unlimited. How do you know of them? They are long g…"
She clamped her mouth shut as if she had been about to say something she shouldn't have. However, Taija wasn't interested in that. She was sick of people talking down to her, women who thought the only way to get through life was by bullying others. "I don't understand you Dedicated's weirdness around the Dedicated to Peace. " Her voice was low and laced with anger. "You're nothing alike, beyond a name. They were devoted to serving the aes sedai and the most peaceful, benevolent people you could imagine. You people… I don't even know what you are. Dedicated to pissing me off probably." She muttered the last few words in her own language before continuing in a more normal tone. "Since you ask, I probably didn't know them as well as I should have, but I could hardly have forgotten them. The same way I can't forget Adanza, Jalanda, Paaran Disen. The world was a better place with the Dedicated to Peace in it even if they could never survive now. I assume your own name has nothing to do with them since I can't see what you do to make the world better. Moiraine sedai says it's difficult to truly understand what words like that mean. Well I understand perfectly well. Their dedication was one of the foundations on which the aes sedais' work rested."
The wise ones took a moment to process what she said before their eyes widened and they glanced at each other. "My apologies for my rudeness Taija sedai," Bair replied. "I have obligation."
"It's fine," Taija muttered she'd been quite rude back, "consider it forgotten."
That didn't seem to be quite the response Bair was looking for, but she continued nevertheless. "You speak as if you were actually there among the Dedicated to Peace, but this cannot be possible."
Taija shrughed, increasingly uncomfortable under their gazes. She hated talking about her time like this, it just brought back painful memory after painful memory all while forcing her to explain things to people who could never understand. "I was there, I wish I was still there, but now I'm here." She folded her arms and looked down at the ground with a scowl.
======
Amys looked at the girl, no woman - she'd heard enough of what she'd done from Rhuarc, sat scowling petulantly in front of her. Was she really claiming that she…? "You were really there?" She could not quite keep her voice from wavering.
Taija looked up again, pain filling her eyes. "I was born in Adanza, I've visited the Hall of Servants more times than I ever wanted to, I remember when the Bore was drilled. I fought in the War. Yes. I was there."
Off to her side Cadsuane sighed "The world has lost much since the Age of Legends; however, Taija sedai was there. I do not know how it is possible, but she was there."
This Taija's openness with her emotions was discomfiting, she was as soft as any wetlander, but then if what she was saying was true… The Aiel had toh to her. Far more so than to any other living aes sedai. "I see." At least she had remastered her voice. It made sense, she recognised some of what had been said. The Hall of Servants, the Bore, it was nothing that an aes sedai could not invent from histories of the world, but they said aes sedai could not lie.
"Now would you please explain to me why you get so uncomfortable every time the Da'shain Aiel are mentioned?" Amys suppressed her discomfort at yet another mention of them. It was a name that was not meant to be spoken yet clearly Taija knew of them, despite knowing almost nothing of the Aiel themselves. It made no sense unless what she claimed was true.
Amys glanced at the other wise ones, but they did not seem inclined to speak. "There are some things that are only spoken of in Rhuidean, can only be spoken of by those that have gone to Rhuidean. But…" she trailed off. Was she really considering breaking millennia old tradiiton even further? "We will speak of this with you alone. My apologies aes sedai." She nodded to Caduane and Moiraine. They were also aes sedai and held much ji as a result, but sacred laws could not be broken further, even for them.
She could see they did not want to leave, but eventually the two aes sedai nodded, "of course, we will give you your privacy." They stood up and left the tent.
The bleakness was still clear on Taija's face, but once the other two aes sedai had left she smiled slightly, although it did not reach her eyes. A moment later all sound from outside the tent vanished. "You want to keep your secrets and I respect that. No one will hear what is discussed in this tent."
There had been no glow of saidar, no weaves. Amys resisted the urge to gawk and kept her face composed, pretending she simply took it in her stride. Truly an age full of legends. "Thank you Taija sedai."
After a moment Taija prompted her, "so, the Da'shain Aiel?"
"Yes…" for the first time in years Amys glanced at the other wise ones, hoping one of them might take the lead, but no help was coming. Very well, she came to a decision. "In Rhuidean there is a ter'angreal. It shows those who walk through it visions of past Aiels' lives. Only those who are to become clan chiefs or wise ones may pass through it. Rand al'Thor will go through it and if he survives and if he is the Car'a'carn then he shall be marked by it. I do not even know if this ter'angreal will work for you as you are not of the blood. However, if you wish to find answers to your questions about the Aiel, I will give you permission to go to Rhuidean and try to find the answers you seek."
She glanced at the other wise ones who all nodded and gave their consent.
"Four wise ones have agreed, so you may go to Rhuidean if you wish. However, I will warn you. Your path is your own to choose, but if this ter'angreal does function for you then, while it may show you what has passed, some are unable to handle what they see."