PoV Moiraine
"The unstained tower, broken, bends knee to the forgotten sign.
The seas rage, and stormclouds gather unseen.
Beyond the horizon, hidden fires swell, and serpents nestle in the bosom.
What was exalted is cast down; what was cast down is raised up.
Order burns to clear his path."
Moiraine read the prophecy again, from her copy of the Karaethon Cycle. She dearly wished she had a copy of the unadulterated original written in the Old Tongue.
She knows her copy of the Prophecies of the Dragon is the best translated one available, several Brown Sisters, who dedicated majority of their lives to the study of the Old Tongue collaborated to translate this copy, when the spoken and written language of the continent finally completed its transition from Old Tongue to the modern Common Tongue during the Hundred Years War. And that it is entirely possible even if she had an original, she would have utterly failed to make any sense of it. Old Tongue is a language heavily dependent on context and nuance to convey its meaning. And context and nuance change with time.
I don't have the scholarship to make use of one of the few Originals anyway! I should stop wasting time on idle daydreams.
The unstained tower, hmmm, that could only be the White Tower. I mean, what else could it be?
One legendary Tower of Ghenjai, comes to mind, it's said to be two hundred feet high, solid and spotless metal tower, that's an unstained tower too, isn't it?
Moiraine sighed gustily and messaged her head, the prophecy is four lines of poetry and I couldn't work out the first three words of it!
Light burn me! But I am starting hate prophecies!
No matter! Why not interpret it both ways? If I am on the lookout for both interpretations, I will not be surprised when I see signs of one of them happening.
So either, the White Tower will break, discounting the literal interpretation, some schism among Aes Sedai?
Bends knee to the forgotten sign, hmmm, that could mean the Aes Sedai once again adopting our old symbol, from before the Breaking, a Circle split by a sinuous line one half white and one half black, what are called the Flame of Tar Valon and the Dragon's Fang, respectively, in the present day. Why would Aes Sedai do that though?
Some attempt at fully repossessing old legacy? Or an attempt at reinvention?
Thoughts for later.
If it was about Tower of Ghenjei though, what does it mean? Tower of Ghenjei is said to be an entrance to the world of Aelfinn and Eelfinn, what do those walking nightmares have to do with the Dragon Reborn?
Before Moiraine could really dive into that proverbial rabbit hole, she heard boots on the floor, coming towards the library.
That's not Lan, he would have been lot more quieter. Not the innkeeper, the tread would have been heavier, not Owyn, no accompanying footsteps of Cien, and not enough drag to indicate the young man's sheer listlessness. Not Serving-girls either, the heels are too hard and too loud.
Thom Merrilin then.
Moiraine nodded to herself, and returned her eyes to the book and her notes, writing down her previous thoughts, in code, as all her notes are. But she kept a part of her focus on what she is hearing.
A door opened and shut and a man walking nearer.
Moiraine said, without looking up, "So when does Morgase want to meet with me? Tonight or Tomorrow?"
Thom Merrilin stuttered for a moment, obviously caught off guard, took a moment and answered, "Tonight. I have suitably impressed upon her your desire for secrecy and subtlety, Moiraine Sedai. She wants to meet with you an hour after midnight."
Moiraine hummed to herself and said, "I had hoped you had tired her enough for today, that I can postpone this meeting until tomorrow, Master Merrilin. A pity. Go, rest, Master Merrilin, you no doubt have need of it, I will be ready by the appointed time. I am not so crass as to be late to an audience with Royalty, much less one so accommodating of my desires."
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Moiraine and Lan were ready by midnight and set off on foot alongside Thom Merrilin, Owyn was dosed enough on soporific to sleep like the dead for next nine hours.
Need to find a better system to guard Owyn during the nights than dosing him with herbs, it is surely not good for the young man's health to be dosed so often and he would surely develop resistance if not immunity to the herbs.
The walk to the palace was by necessity a slow one, they had to avoid three night patrols, it took forty minutes to reach the secret gate.
Thom Merrilin led the way towards the Queen's apartments, deftly avoiding the several servants who worked during the night, but the baffling thing was their party did not encounter one guard after entering the palace. True, they mostly traversed the servants paths for majority of their sojourn through the palace. But surely there should have more guards.
Perhaps, the Queen dismissed them for the night in anticipation of this meeting.
As they went through one of the still lit main hallways of the palace they had to go through, something in the corner of her eye got her attention.
She stopped their party with a soft, "A moment, please"
And drew nearer to what caught her eye, it was a portrait, from the inscription at the bottom of the frame its a portrait of the previous Daughter Heir, Tigraine Mantear, from when she was a teenager Moiraine estimated from the baby fat still clinging to her face, and the one next to it is a portrait of a young Queen Mordrellen Mantear, holding a Tigraine as toddler, alongside Queen Mordrellen's consort.
Moiraine memorized those portraits with a muttered, "Interesting", before restarting their journey.
They reached the Queen's apartments by the appointed time.
Thom knocked the bronze panelled door in a specific sequence held for a moment, repeated the pattern of knocks, and held another moment before knocking in a completely new pattern.
After a few moments of stillness, Moraine can hear someone light on their feet drawing near the doors and they opened.
Thom strode in first to stand beside the beautiful curvaceous woman with luscious red gold curls, with palpable regal bearing.
Moiraine has seen Morgase before, even if they had never spoken before, there is a year overlap in the time they spent in the White Tower. They never had any classes together, Morgase attended classes with the Accepted and her quarters were in the Accepted wing of the White Tower. By the time Moiraine herself became an Accepted, Morgase has been gone from the Tower for months.
Once fully entering the room alongside Lan, Moiraine gave a minute curtsy, it would not do to be too deferential here. And Lan gave barest nod of his head.
Before Morgase could open her mouth, Moiriane said in a conversational tone, "Greetings Sister-by-Law, it is good to finally meet you. Congratulations on your widowhood. It clearly suits you. Now, I understand you have some questions for me?"
Moiraine could read the emotional whiplash Morgase went through at those words. But the woman regained her calm with impressive speed. Clearly, the Tower training has been put to good use.
Even so, the words did have their intended impact as Morgase obviously set aside her planned approach and snapped out, "Why would you congratulate my widowhood?"
Moiraine shrugged with feigned indifference, "From my understanding Taringail, who was a terrible brother, grew into a terrible man and acted as a terrible husband. I even heard that he planned to kill you after Elayne was born. May the Light take pity and have mercy on his soul, because apparently he did nothing to earn any mercy in life."
Morgase digested that answer, it took her a few moments, just she was once again about to open her mouth, Moiraine gave a pointed look at everyone and then at the comfortable chairs just a few feet away.
Moiraine could see Morgase struggle between choosing politeness or rudeness, a lifetime of polite upbringing won out against a Queen's stubbornness and pride, and Morgase clearly gestured towards the chairs and the table in between them, laden with wine carafe and several variety of fruit.
Moiraine took the unspoken invitation, but waited until the Queen seated herself before taking a seat herself. Thom and Lan refrained and situated themselves behind and beside the women they swore to protect. They made a very good show of being completely relaxed, when is entirely the opposite in actuality.
Moiraine and Morgase exchanged a look at that, their lips quirking up involutarily.
But then, Morgase firmly took her own expressions in to her control, while Moiraine let that little quirk expand into a small smile for a moment before letting her face rest in its usual expression of utter serenity.
Morgase asked in a firm tone, "I want to know why? Why make a spectacle? Why target Elaida? I have studied in the White Tower. I know Aes Sedai solidarity, especially when their collective reputation is at stake. So why?"
Moiraine studied Morgase for a moment, and answered, "None of this started off as some scheme to target Elaida in particular or even the Red Ajah in general. For years, there is a silent, secret, unsanctioned by the White Tower, pogrom against men, even boys who were deemed 'too lucky'. We never had any proof, but there were rumours. Efforts have been made by my faction to inform the previous Amyrlin of these rumours, in an effort to open an investigation and find the truth. Me learning about Elaida's unexpected trip and the probable agenda of said trip were a complete coincidence and some speculation on our part," here Morgase gave a tiny shrug before continuing, "The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, Elaida did what she did, I saw what I needed to see. In the aftermath of that, my intent, and actions were in line with that intent, is to take this to Tar Valon, to the Amyrlin and the Hall of the Tower. And then..", Moiraine trailed of leadingly.
Morgase who paled at Moiraine's unspoken words, her hands clenched on her chair armrests, "Then the Amyrlin died, and your plan changed, you thought it is too great a risk to go the White Tower. What you are hinting at, it cannot be. The Tower has ever been adamant in denying it."
Moiraine gave another bland shrug, "I haven't said anything. And I suggest you do not voice it either. I assure you I have good reasons for thinking it. Let us set it aside for now, and deal with problems we can do something about in the moment," Morgase almost interrupted Moiraine at that, but Moiraine overrode her concerns, "There are already plans in motion to tackle with that problem. What happened has already reached the Tower, no doubt. This is now too public to bury. Too many interested party's and too many scrutinizing eyes on the issue. Some nightmares, however powerful they might feel in the dark, are without substance in the day's light."
Morgase gave another long look towards Moiraine, but she finally relented and nodded in understanding.
Moiraine gave small pleased smile and said, "As I understand it, that before today, as I have no true inkling on your feelings are after today, you considered Elaida as something of a friend. That you have considerable fondness for her. I admit, I was surprised that anyone would consider Elaida their friend, as surprised as I was when I learnt that she took up a position as your advisor. Because, the Elaida, I remember, did not like anyone, trust anyone or, even truly respected anyone. And her heart's desire was to be the Amyrlin, not because she wanted to accomplish something by becoming Amyrlin, but because she believed with complete certainty that she truly deserved that Seat.
I remember asking her after one particularly harsh lesson during my Novice classes, Elaida was an Accepted then, why was she so hard on me and my friend. She told us that, we, my friend and I were two people who had the potential to match her strength in One Power and that we have to meet the standards she set, because if we did not, when we were all Aes Sedai, we will decrease her prestige if other Aes Sedai treated us as her equals. That moment defines Elaida for me. Elaida does everything for Elaida. So why did such a person accept to become your advisor, Your Majesty?"
Morgase started a little at Moiraine addressing by title, but answered slowly, "When Queen Mordrellen died, I returned to Andor from the White Tower, to stake my claim. Elaida just appeared one day. We were not exactly friends, but were well acquainted during our shared time in the White Tower. And from then on, she was my most ardent defender. When I finally gained the Lion Throne, Elaida becoming my Aes Sedai Advisor was not questioned, not even by me."
Moiraine slowly nodded and said, "Someone in my faction theorized that Elaida had some Foretelling regarding either you or your bloodline. That Foretelling convinced her that it was well worth her time to cultivate her relationship with you. That staying away from the White Tower and to not actively scheme to become the Amyrlin is a price worth paying just to stay near you. We won't know unless Elaida herself tells us and I do not see that happening. I have some advice for you if you would heed it, about who you choose as your next advisor, Elaida was too proud, too brittle and too much of a Red to have served all that well as your advisor anyway. Would you like to hear it?"
Morgase seemed to want to sigh, but she did not and answered, "Very well."
Moiraine flashed a small smile at her before answering, "Choose someone from either the Grey or the Yellow or the Blue Ajah. Alongside being the one of the best negotiators around, the Greys usually maintain great networks of contacts with nobles from all over the continent. Alongside having all most all Aes Sedai who are good with the Healing Weave, the Yellow Ajah have some of the most compassionate Aes Sedai among them, and compassion should be prized whenever we find it, The Blue Ajah are the best schemers around. If you are interested, I will compile a list of Sisters I think will best suit you."
For the moment Morgase has look of a rabbit being hunted, but she suppressed it quickly, "I will think on it."
Moiraine looked Morgase in the eye, nodded and said, "Before I withdraw, there is one favour I would ask of you, Your Majesty. When your Bailiffs are sent to Falavin's Rest, the descriptions of people who have taken away Owyn and Cien will be easy to match with me and my Warder. I ask that when you send their testimonies to the White Tower, that we were only mentioned as friends of the Merrilins and our descriptions are omitted. Now, if I may be excused, Your Majesty"
Moiraine already vacated her chair and smoothed down her skirts with obvious impatience.
Morgase almost nodded her assent for Moiraine to withdraw, before regaining some her control and asked, "Before you go, I want to ask one more question, where are you going next, if you are going from Caemlyn tomorrow?"
Moiraine smiled and said, "Cairhein. It was nice to meet with you, You Majesty. If the Light and the Wheel are willing, I would love to meet again."
And Moiraine and Lan exited the Queen's rooms, Thom Merrilin joined them only a few moments later and led them out of the Palace.