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

Chapter CXXIX - Vigorous Negotiations

The Hall of Servants

Bennae's return from Saldaea was the highlight of Taija's week. Not only did she have her friend back, but Bennae reported that Saldaea shouldn't be causing problems anymore, the issue there had been dealt with. When Taija tried to press her on it she just smiled enigmatically and went full on Tower aes sedai.

"Some things are better left unspoken Taija my dear."

Taija gave her her most unimpressed look. "Bennae, we're behind privacy wards, fighting a war for survival and you want to not tell me what you've been up to so that you can seem suitably enigmatic? Seriously?"

She looked grumpy for a second and then grinned. "Oh very well. Since you asked so nicely. Still, it is sad that an old woman is not allowed to keep her secrets."

"You're not even that old!"

"That is not the point Taija my dear, not the point at all. Anyway, one of the Forsaken was indeed present in Saldaea and had been turning its rulers against the Hall. She is now dead as are a number of other darkfriends."

Taija's eyes widened. "One of the Forsaken?! She's dead? Which one? How did you know? How did you kill her?!"

Bennae looked like the cat that got the cream as she explained. "Really, I would have thought after your own experiences with me you would realise that people from your time are not as good at hiding as you might think you are."

"Alright, fine. Although we'll need to explore this further, with at least Aleksi, but how in the Light did you kill one of the Forsaken?! Or did someone else kill her? I'm not sure you'd be able to. No offence…" Taija thought for a second. "Did you do something with forkroot?"

Bennae's smile didn't waver. "Oh no, I simply poisoned her and arranged for another darkfriend to be blamed for it."

Taija looked into her kindly eyes and wondered what in the Light had happened to make people like this in this time. "Bennae, I say this with the greatest of affection and also half an eye on my food supplies, but you are probably the scariest of my friends. In this time or my own."

======

Taija was in her office when Aleksi finally decided that it was time to talk to her about whatever was on his mind. Once she'd closed the door, poured him some tea and spun a ward against eavesdropping he got going.

"So… when I visited the Tower to get the binding rod I was approached by an aes sedai."

"You were?" Taija resisted the urge to start teasing him, this was clearly something serious and he wouldn't appreciate her winding him up when he wanted to talk business.

He nodded, either not noticing or ignoring her amusement. "Alucia Gamys of the Red Ajah."

Oh Red Ajah. Yuck, Taija's amusement fled. "I can't say I've heard of her."

"No, I hadn't either. I think she generally avoided the White Tower." He took a breath. "Anyway, she told me some interesting things about the Red Ajah. Basically, they're virtually extinct. Their leadership, other than Elaida, is dead or turned, and there are fewer than forty of them left. They also don't have a purpose anymore, obviously. Apparently there's talk of disbanding the ajah."

Taija shrugged and smiled. "I don't see the problem to be honest."

He laughed, although it was a slightly nervous, awkward laugh. "No neither did I, but anyway, Alucia came to me with a proposition, which we've been discussing together. The White Tower used to essentially have full control over channelers in the Westlands. Any that acted up risked having the aes sedai descending on them. Now we have the Hall as well, which is already overtaking their numbers and we don't control our members as tightly as they do. We've also found out about the Kin and the Sea Folk and obviously there are the Dedicated. That's a lot of channelers and numbers are rising. What she's suggested is essentially a watch for channelers."

It took Taija a moment to parse that. "You mean a police force?" Aleksi looked confused. "An official organisation dedicated to upholding the law and catching criminals."

"Oh, yes. Police." He chewed over the unfamiliar word. "Anyway she's suggesting that this could be the new purpose of the Red Ajah." He saw Taija's scowl coming almost before it formed. "She also acknowledged that that's not going to happen without the Hall being involved."

Taija looked at him carefully. "That's… unusually perceptive for one of the Red Ajah."

Aleksi nods. "Yes, she's really not like most of the Tower aes sedai."

"Oh really?"

"Mmm, far more open. She has a rather odd sense of humour too." He lost focus for a second.

"Right, so she wants a sort of watch force over channelers and wants us involved too. Presumably under the leadership of the Red Ajah?" Taija's tone made her opinion of that clear.

"No," Aleksi shook his head. "She's been pretty clear that it would need to be a joint thing. Obviously I haven't agreed to anything, but what we've been working out between us is more a plan with Hall and Tower aes sedai working together to find and take criminals. Then they can be tried under the rules of their own organisation or a joint court if they're not affiliated to anyone. I've been absolutely clear that members of the Hall will not be being sent for trial in the White Tower."

"Alright, good." A thought occurred to Taija. "Is this an official approach, is she the head of the Red Ajah or something like that."

Aleksi turned red. "Ah, no. This is just her idea, but I think it's a good one."

Taija's eyebrows shot up at that. "So she's come up with this idea, without any official backing and wants us to help make it happen."

"Yes… But…"

"But?" Sometimes she was reminded that Aleksi was still in his mid-twenties. With him it was easy to forget, but this was feeling more and more like one of 'those' conversations with Elayne or Egwene.

"But I think it's a good idea. It needs fleshing out and obviously it will need the agreement of the White Tower, but I think there's something to it. I wouldn't raise a hand to save the Red Ajah, but I don't think we should throw away a good idea just to grind them into nothing either."

"Alright. Anything would need to at least consider the other channeling organisations too. I'm not sure exactly how that would work, but I'm not against it in principle. Tell me everything and we'll discuss it. Unless I hear something I really don't like I'd like you to keep on discussing things with this Alucia. Invite her over here too, she should see how things work first hand. Then perhaps once you've developed things a bit more you I'd like to meet her and we can talk about how to move things forward."

======

Shienar

Eben channeled saidin and saidar into the walls of the watchtower as Helena watched. After a minute or so he stepped back, panting slightly from the effort. That was one more fort that would be almost impossible to breach.

Before he turned away he glanced towards the Blight. The Shienarans had all been saying the same thing. It was quiet, too quiet. They seemed to be split on whether that was a good or bad thing though. Some said any relief from the shadowspawn was good. Others said it was a sign that the Shadow was building up to something.

======

The Hall of Servants

Pelod bowed to Aleksi sedai when he reached the Hall's gates before hitting him with the compulsory slicing weave. "Welcome back Aleksi sedai."

"Thank you Pelod, it's good to be home. Have a nice afternoon."

As Aleksi sedai headed away Pelod looked after him before returning to his vigil. After a moment Gileth, his fellow guard for the afternoon, broke the silence. "Is he coming back from the White Tower again?"

"Probably." Pelod lowered his voice. "I've heard that he's been working on something with a Tower aes sedai."

"Perhaps, it would make sense with the way he keeps going there."

"Yes, but that's not the mad part. The mad part is, I heard she's from the Red Ajah."

"No!"

"Yes," Pelod nodded. "He's going and meeting with a Red Ajah aes sedai almost every other day."

"That can't be easy. He's so dedicated to the Hall… It's inspirational, really it is."

======

Mazrim Taim was walking through the Hall's grounds after teaching an initiates' class when he saw Aleksi walking beside a woman with an ageless face. He resisted the urge to scowl, instead just giving the two of them a polite nod. He might not agree with everything in the Hall, but politeness cost little.

He had heard rumours that Aleksi was working with an aes sedai and one of the Red Ajah no less. It was a shock to see it was more than just a rumour. He was surprised the man had the stomach for it, even being such a lapdog to Taija as he was. Still, he had to concede, there was probably some higher purpose to it, Taija and Aleksi did seem to strongly dislike the Red Ajah, even if he felt they were far too soft about the Tower aes sedai.

Not that it concerned him. They were his allies, not his friends. They could work with whoever they wanted, as long as they did not expect him to join in. What was the Old Tongue word that Taija liked so much? Oh yes, 'fuck' the Red Ajah.
With that thought his mind turned back to pondering how much longer it would take Noruan to become an aes sedai.

======

A couple of weeks after Taija's conversation with Aleksi about his police proposals she was sat at her desk going through endless paperwork and reports, having had to spend a chunk of her morning on discipline after a brawl between initiates. Why they thought that their nationalities should have any bearing on who dated who she had no idea. The glamour of being First Among Servants was almost non-existent, the main benefit was paperwork. That and at least she sometimes got shallow curtsies from Tower aes sedai.

The reports were almost relentlessly depressing. The only positive was that Rand had been expanding his reach yet again, almost the whole continent was behind him these days.

With a sigh Taija put down a note on failing crops and food storage around the world and picked up another. A small town in Arad Doman seemed to have been almost wiped out as everyone there descended into homicidal madness, killing anyone close to them. Horrific. Presumably another of those 'bubbles of evil' that have been popping up around the world.

That report decided it for her. She needed to do something more enjoyable for her own sanity. With a decisive movement Taija put her papers down and headed for the door.

It was only when she reached the corridor outside, receiving a bow from the initiate who was reading there, that Taija realised she had no idea what to do. The whole world was going to shit, so going off to sneak into a random royal palace to admire the art might not be a great idea. Also Tel was off on an outreach mission and he was the only one who'd really appreciate doing that.

There were no competition matches going on right then, so she couldn't watch one of those. Intruding on one of the classes would just be annoying for the teacher. Worst of all, with Tel's absence she couldn't even just go and bug him for attention. With a small growl of frustration Taija turned back towards her office. Then she remembered Aleksi should be free. Maybe he'd be up for a drink, they could disguise themselves and head into Caemlyn.

It only took asking a couple of people before Taija established that Aleksi was in his office. As soon as she heard that she was making a beeline for it, without waiting for the initiate to finish what they were saying. A bit rude maybe, but she'd had enough of the Hall for the day.

When Taija got to Aleksi's office she burst straight in. "Aleksi! You wouldn't believe the kind of day I'm having! Do you…" she trailed off.

There was a woman on her front on Aleksi's desk. With an ageless face. Naked. And he was standing behind her and… Oh Light! Taija's brain stopped functioning for a moment and then her face was heating. She had time to see Aleksi blanche and the woman look up, her face as composed as any Tower aes sedai's, although that composure was being ruined by the rapidly spreading blush on her pale skin.

"Shit sorry!" Taija fled without any further words.

======

Back in her office, sitting there trying to get unwanted images out of her head, Taija forced her mind to turn back to practical matters. Rand had been uniting the Westlands and obviously he'd got the Dedicated under him too. Seanchan was out for obvious reasons. Tempting as it was to go over there and rain fire on Fortuona's head, that was her disgust for their system talking, not practicality. It would just be a distraction from what was important, weakening the Light when the Last Battle was coming.

However, people in this time thought of the world as so much smaller a place than she did.
In her own time she could be on the far side of the planet in as long as it took her to step through a gateway. Taija had known people who literally commuted between continents, although admittedly not many of them.

There were two glaring omissions from people in this time's thinking and she was including Rand in that. Her efforts at learning about the post-Breaking world had at least paid some dividends. What about Shara and the southern continent? She'd been told that the southern continent was a blasted wasteland known as the Land of Madmen. It didn't sound very positive. However, no one seemed to have actually been there for generations. As for Shara, Amys had told her that they were deeply hostile to outsiders, but again the only people they interacted with were Dedicated and Sea Folk.

Perhaps she should try sending someone over to each of those places to see if they might be allies for the Last Battle? It would have to be someone strong in the Power, maybe a couple of people for mutual support. The question was, was it worth the risk? She might lose two or four strong channelers right when they were most needed for no gain whatsoever. On the other hand, she might be able to bring new allies to the field.

=====

Later in the day Taija heard a knock at her office door. At her call of 'come in' it opened and Aleksi walked through, looking sheepish, trailed by the aes sedai whose ageless face Taija had last seen bent over his desk. She was all aes sedai haughtiness now though, face composed and serene.

Taija could do serene too, especially when there was potential to wind someone up. "Aleksi, good to see you, I'd been wanting to speak to you and you must be Alucia Gamys."

"Taija, I…"

"Please, make yourselves comfortable. Let me get you something to drink? Tea?" Taija didn't let Aleksi get a word in, pulling a couple of chairs out with flows of air and spinning fire into her teapot.

"Thank you." Unlike Aleksi, Alucia was pure serenity sitting down as primly as anyone Taija had ever met. "I have heard much of you, I am pleased to finally have the opportunity to meet you."

Taija suppressed a smirk. "Yes it's nice to meet you too." She poured some tea into cups and handed them to the two of them. She should really behave herself with a Tower aes sedai, but on the other hand… "I trust your journey to the Hall was pleasant? Aleksi has mentioned your proposals to me." She could see Aleksi's worry growing as she very carefully kept a straight face. He knew her too well.

"Thank you, most pleasant." Light, she was such a Tower aes sedai! And Aleksi had said she was different too!

"Mmm. So, Aleksi told me that you had a proposition that he had been negotiating with you." Taija paused for a moment, keeping it just short enough that they didn't have time to speak. "I must admit though, I hadn't imagined negotiations would be so… vigorous."

They both immediately flushed red. It made her wonder how old Alucia actually was, although then again if she'd been caught like that she ahve been blushing too and she was nearly 200.

"Taija…" Aleksi was cut off by Alucia.

"Taija sedai we…"

"Oh don't worry, you can call me Taija, no need for titles. Why, I think we're practically family now." She smiled brightly at them.

Alucia let out a strangled sound and Aleksi put his head in his hands. Taija let things hang for a little longer and then changed her tone to a more serious one. "Embarrassment aside, Aleksi, I'm sorry for walking into your office without knocking. However, you shouldn't be using it for trysts with Tower aes sedai, or anyone else for that matter. You have a room," Taija's mind went back to one particularly memorable incident with his Dedicated ex. "Or the old oak tree by the river, that too." He looked like he wase trying to shrink into nothing. Perfect.

Alucia, however, seemed to be made of sterner stuff. "Stop this, it is none of your business what we do in our own time."

Taija raised her eyebrows at her. "Would you say that to Siuan if she caught you doing that in Leane's office? No, no need to answer that. Fine though, if you want me to take this seriously rather than teasing you, then let's have a serious conversation." Obviously Taija had no intention of letting it go with Aleksi, it might be the best thing that had happened all month, but it was still a point she needed to make. "You're coming to me with a proposal that involves careful negotiation between the Hall and the Tower and will need my personal backing to persuade the Tower it's a good idea, all to save a group of people I despise. Now I find out that you're lovers too. How can I trust anything I hear to be objective?"

"I wouldn't let that twist my judgment Taija, honestly!" Aleksi sounded both hurt and horrified at the idea.

"Aleksi, I trust you as much as I trust anyone alive, but we've all had our heads turned by a beautiful woman or a handsome man. I really couldn't care less who you're banging as long as they're good to you. However… how do you know that Alucia hasn't just seduced you to get what she wants?" Taija felt bad saying it, but it was a very real issue.

"She wouldn't!"

"Really? Just because you like her? Or because she's Red Ajah and so would be above sleeping with a mere Hall aes sedai?" Taija turned her attention back to Alucia who was blushing again, but somehow she also seemed to be getting more relaxed as Taija spoke. "Easy enough to test, no weasel words Alucia, just a straight answer. Would you seduce Aleksi to get what you wanted?"

She smiled at that, even Taija had to admit she was quite pretty when she smiled, it transformed her face. "Yes, absolutely."

What? There's a long silence as Taija and Aleksi tried to process that. Alucia's smile widened. "You have missed the obvious question though."

"What's that…?"

"Did I seduce Aleksi to help with my proposals?" She paused. "The answer to that is no by the way." With those words she leant back, and shot him a smug smile.

Taija gave her a look. "Do you think this is somehow funny?"

"Well, yes. Do you not?"

Alucia had her there. After a moment Taija turned her eyes to Aleksi. "Ok Aleksi, you're right, she's not like other Tower aes sedai. You can keep her for now. Just to be clear, that doesn't mean that her proposals are agreed though. So let's talk about those."

======

Caemlyn

Rand was in a foul mood. His visit to Ghealdan had gotten him what he'd wanted, but the fact that he'd had to send Masema back to the Borderlands and threaten to hang his followers had tainted its success. Why did so much of the world seem to be going mad?

Well what did you expect, the man was a lunatic and your Last Battle is coming. Things are only going to become worse as the Dark One's touch grows stronger.

Shut up Lews Therin. He directed the angry thought at the voice and then returned to his brooding.

Not this time. Do you even have any idea what you are doing? You are just muddling along like an idiot boy.

If you don't have anything helpful to say then go back to whatever hole you belong in after what you did to the world. Unfortunately that time his harsh words to the voice didn't drive it away.

Obviously I know what you are trying to do, it will not work. I have said it before, I will say it again. I want to speak to Taija Kosola.

Even if that happened, which it won't, you can't speak to her. You're a voice in my head.

A difficulty that will be easily overcome with you to translate.

You spend your days being as unpleasant as you can possibly be and yet you think I'll help you speak to her? Blood and bloody ashes the taint really did drive you mad.

You know I am not mad. No more than you are. I only wish to speak to her for both our benefit.

How does Taija put it in your language…? Go fuck yourself.

Very well. A deal. I shall restrain myself and will work to be more helpful for you. In return, you will let me speak with her.