Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah
The Sparrow’s Song was a small inn in Far Madding. It was nestled between a seamstress’s shop and a bakery. Torianin had worked hard to forge a relationship with the innkeeper, a young mother by the name of Kyell. Far Madding was a place that Aes Sedai and Asha’man avoided. Being unable to touch the True Source put one at a certain disadvantage. She had the advantage of being unbound by the Three Oaths, though. Even though she still could not channel here, her status as Aes Sedai was known only to those who needed to know. Kyell had signaled to her very recently that a woman Torianin had been targeting was not only in Far Madding, but she had brought children with her.
For years, the Red Aes Sedai had researched Sueinne Keilar. The woman sold children foremost, and other innocents to darkfriends. She had worked mostly as an assassin before her husband was killed for similar crimes. When Torianin’s daughter Abby was rescued, she had been under the control and abuse of Viktan Keilar. Now with Sueinne in her sights, Torianin had formulated a plan.
She and her two Warders had entered Far Madding two weeks ago, pretending to be visiting family. Her newest Warder, a young man named Dezan, was from Illian, so passing through to visit his family made sense. During the first couple of days they were there, they seemed like a happy married couple and their friend on their way to introduce a new bride to Dezan’s family. Torianin had dyed her orange hair black for this, and practiced a Shienaran accent with Erishar until it was perfect.
Dezan personally knew some citizens of Far Madding and exchanged pleasantries with them. Torianin played the shy newlywed bride “Erinda” perfectly. Keeping her head down and blushing made for a good way to observe details that someone more engaged in the conversation would miss. Displaying affection to her Warder that neither of them felt was awkward, but the act must be kept up.
Sueinne made an appearance on their second day in the city. Her red cheeks and plump hands spoke of a doting mother. She walked around with either a young boy or a young girl, always the same two. They were always quiet, and Sueinne always outwardly complimented them on how they were dignified and graceful for children. Erishar and Dezan praised her afterward for how well she kept her anger in. Truth be told, she felt anger coming from them as well, through the bond. With Kyell’s help, they were able to keep track of her movements she made public. Then, the trio left Far Madding to regroup.
A few miles outside of the city, they all three sat in a private room in an inn. For a long time, they were all quiet. As Torianin sat in thought, she stared at her hair, orange coming through the black. She would need to dye it again tonight. Looking up, she realized that Erishar and Dezan were staring at her. This was her mission. She would need to direct their movements. From what Kyell had gathered, and what the three of them had observed, Sueinne was keeping the children in a large house, half a mile from the one she was living in. For all the little figures that were glimpsed in the windows, the house had been utterly silent.
Dezan’s hands twitched, and he ran them through his dark hair nervously. “I wish we could have brought weapons with us, at the very least…”
“Peace, how do you think we feel?” Erishar asked with a scoff.
Her second Warder stood up, now angry, and Erishar had a trapped look in his eye. He would not fight a brother-in-arms, but Dezan was easily excitable.
“Brothers,” Torianin said sharply. Both men shot their gazes at her immediately. Her Illianer Gaidin sat down and crossed his arms to collect himself. She felt a wave of gratitude from Erishar’s bond. “I understand. We are all frustrated. First, let’s consider the situation in detail. We know there are innocents in the hands of the Shadow.”
“Light willing, they haven’t sworn themselves…” her Shienaran Warder offered.
Dezan tapped one finger against his arm, and Torianin could feel his frustration building.
“Sueinne has settled herself in Far Madding, it seems. She knows I am after her,” she concluded. “Where best to hide from an Aes Sedai than Far Madding? That being said, we must make sure that we do have weapons.”
“But that…”
“Light, Kurian!” Dezan exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. “We know they are against the law. We are here to save the lives of children, not apply for flaming the city guard.” Thankfully, he had the sense to keep his voice down. She did not know if she was outside the reach of the ter’angreal in the city, but she wasn’t going to risk it, but she did miss her wards.
Erishar wisely bit his tongue and cut a glare at his fellow Warder. “I meant that it would be difficult, and the weapons we bring will likely be small.”
“But not ineffectual.”
“I will finish speaking, gentlemen.” The Aes Sedai was beginning to feel the anger she was keeping at bay, and she did not want to take it out on the two men who had sworn to protect her and fight alongside her against the Shadow. “We will take weapons and hide them where we can. I trust you both to be discreet and use them as effectively as you see fit. That being said, we can assume she is not alone. I think we should continue this charade for...a time. Lay low…”
She felt concern through Erishar’s bond. Her first Warder felt a loyalty to her that the second only felt in killing darkfriends. He could tell that she wanted to act now. He knew that it would hurt for her to wait, to know that the longer they waited, the more children would be sold.
“We should lay low and watch her patterns,” Erishar finished for her. “Give off the illusion that we are still going to Illian.”
“Yes. While we do, we can think of ways to hide weapons, or bring tools that can be used as weapons, but will not stop us at the gates…”
The weeks of waiting and preparation were difficult ones. They kept on the move, but carefully, and never too far away from Far Madding. Erishar and Dezan continued to argue. Torianin continued to remind them whose mission this was. They gathered information on Sueinne, and sent letters to Kyell when they could. They crafted ways to hide weapons, and every now and then, Torianin would write a letter to Abby. She hadn’t sent any of them, because she did not want them to be intercepted on the way to the Grey Tower. Sometimes, she wrote her daughter on missions, as a way to keep her in mind. It helped her focus, and Abby did the same. She knew that her kind and quiet daughter would not want her to hurt Sueinne Keilar. She would want the children rescued, and justice brought to their captor.
However, the only justice Torianin saw for the woman was death.
Some of her contacts had given clues and hints to horrifying things done to these children. It made her want to rush the woman and simply end her reign of terror. She would not lie to Abby when it was done.
Finally, the day came. Before they headed to the road, all three members checked their makeshift weapons, and made sure their knives were hidden well. She could tell that Erishar was itching for his sword, but he understood that he would have to wait. Dezan played off his excitement about the mission as being the excited new husband when they re-entered the city from the south. He would continually take Torianin’s hand and gingerly rest his hand across her shoulder, but not too close to her neck. She continued to act like the shy bride, keeping a close watch on their surroundings.
Torianin caught a glimpse of her target as they headed to the Sparrow’s Song. She did not let her gaze linger, though. Light, how she wished she could channel here.
After the group checked into the Sparrow’s Song, Torianin and Erishar settled in at the common room. They were siblings for the mission. This painted her Warder as the unnecessarily jealous brother, but he was willing to tolerate it for the mission. As they made a show of chatting with each other, Erishar lifted his eyebrows and looked behind her. Turning around, Torianin nearly let her disguise slip when she saw Sueinne Keilar, greeting her with a smile on her face.
“Erinda, it’s good to see you back in the city,” she said.
Torianin returned the smile, all her attention shifting to her target. “It’s good to see you as well, Mistress Keilar.” Her attention turned to sharp focus when she saw neither of the children she paraded around were with her. She felt Erishar and Dezan’s emotions change with hers. “Where are Tanen and Kila today?” she asked sweetly. “I was hoping to see them at least once before we left…”
The woman smiled, tilting her head of silver curls. “Oh, now you are a caring one, Erinda. You’ll make a good mother some day. Some day soon, I hope.” She giggled, and Torianin blushed slightly and turned away. If she was following Sueinne was saying correctly, they may be able to execute their plan sooner than they had intended. “Tanen and Kila are simply at home. I set them to cleaning and cooking before I left. If you’d like to see them…”
Looking up, Torianin searched the darkfriend’s eyes. There was a sinister shine to them.
It was time to see which trap snapped closed first.
“Rollen can stay here. I’m sure he would rather stay here with his new brother than visit the little ones with us, after all,” their target said sweetly. The Aes Sedai wasn’t sure if she was saying that because she had spoken more to her than her other two partners and thought her an easier target, or if she knew that “Rollen” was really her Warder.
They did have a plan for this contingency. The city was well-guarded, but sneaking in weapons had gone well enough. Erishar shrugged at the situation and bid them a good afternoon. Torianin felt through her bonds that he was walking toward the room she shared with Dezan. The plan had been that if Torianin separated from the two of them, her pair of Gaidin would go to the house that held the children and do everything they could to free them. Torianin would handle Sueinne personally.
As she walked through the streets of Far Madding with the darkfriend, the Aes Sedai was acutely aware of her left hand. She was very careful not to move it, or make any movements toward it. Sueinne talked about Tanen and Kila along the way, and how she had cared for other children, but they were never as well behaved. Erishar and Dezan began to move parallel to them, but out of sight. The energy and stamina that the Warder bond gave them allowed them to run faster than they normally would have without it. She felt them pass as they walked toward Sueinne’s home. “Tell me, dear,” the darkfriend said with a twinkle in her eye, “what kind of children have you dreamed of having?”
“Peace…” Torianin said, looking at the ground. “One with black curls like mine and gray eyes, like Dezan’s...I would like it if they were bright and cheerful, with a free spirit.”
“You wouldn’t want one that’s obedient?”
She blinked, to cover the jolt she felt in her chest at the question. Her right hand nearly flew to her neck, but she stayed it. “I suppose that would be nice…” She smiled at Sueinne, holding tight to her Aes Sedai mask, but not so hard that it would crack. Thanking the Light that she had released herself from the Three Oaths, she calmed her irate mind. She had wanted to kill the woman where she stood for that question, but she did not want her cover revealed in the streets, and she did not want her slipping away before evidence of her crimes was revealed.
“I thought so.” Mistress Keilar sped up a bit and passed the building she lived in.
Torianin knew why they were passing, but “Erinda” would not have. “Oh, but...isn’t that your home?” she asked in a small voice as she sped up a bit to catch up.
Sueinne Keilar turned her head toward her without looking at her and said, “Yes, dear, it is.” Her voice was soft as well, but it was not caring anymore. It had the ring of someone trying to sound distracted.
They walked in silence, and Torianin made something of a show of looking around, wondering where they were going. She felt Erishar and Dezan station themselves at the house, trying to figure out a way to enter without setting off a commotion. They were on high alert, and likely talking to each other. Occasionally, “Erinda” would ask Mistress Keilar an innocent question, but all Sueinne would do was smile. If Torianin really had been a young girl from Shienar, she would have been lost in an unfamiliar place, and having to rely on this woman to guide her to her destination.
She knew where the house would be, because her Warders were there, but she made no show of it. As they neared it, she felt them move to strategic places. This far away, she couldn’t tell if they were in the house or not. They moved slowly and methodically.
Torianin acted surprised when they reached the house. There was one light visible from the street. The house was three stories tall, and it was silent as the grave. Now that they had found the house, she was sure that her Warders were inside, still moving, minds removed from danger as they worked. She did feel a small amount of pain from Erishar’s bond on his side, but he didn’t seem to be too bothered by it. That meant they had encountered guards, though.
“M-Mistress Keilar, where…?”
Sueinne placed a gentle hand on Torianin’s shoulder. Instinctively, she pulled it away, but that still played into her cover, even though she moved from disgust. “Come now, dear, I won’t hurt you.” She followed the other woman to the door of the house. “You are young and have your whole life ahead of you. You’ll need some help along the way, certainly.”
“Y-yes, Mistress…” Torianin answered, prompting the woman to open the door. When Sueinne tried to usher her in first, she acted nervous. The ploy worked, and the darkfriend entered the house first, reassuring her as she did.
A scuffle caught Sueinne’s attention. Their entrance stirred her guards, and Torianin’s Warders got to work. Erishar and Dezan moved quickly and decisively. Her second Battle Brother had always seemed a foolish fighter who jumped at the chance to take down an opponent, but Torianin had seen him in action before she bonded him. When he was serious, he was deadly, with or without a weapon. Erishar was comfortable with a sword, but he was making due with knives at the moment.
Torianin watched Sueinne before she made her next move. Dezan made his way into the hall, pummeling a smaller man in front of him. The darkfriend looked at Sueinne in the doorway. “Sueinne, they just--” Torianin’s Warder did not look in her direction as he landed a blow to the man’s face. “Quiet as death…” he tried to continue, lifting his arms to guard himself as he was backed through a doorway.
In the other woman’s distraction, Torianin had closed the door slowly and quietly. The Aes Sedai made a move to her left wrist and took hold of a thin wire bracelet. She had found the wire in Dezan’s things and fashioned a pliable accessory that she could use for her mission. It wrapped gracefully around her wrist twice, and it had been polished to perfection. It was simple but pretty. She uncoiled it with her right hand and lunged behind Sueinne, throwing the wire around the woman’s neck.
At that moment, the woman watched as a mountain of a man barreled through one door in the left hallway and flew into the right, chasing after Dezan. Sueinne realized there was movement around her throat and turned her head. Torianin sneered when the wire didn’t cover her throat, but she twisted her body and grabbed the wire with both hands, holding it securely.
As well as the sting in her hands from holding her wire around the woman’s throat, Torianin began to feel pain coming from Dezan’s bond. She wanted to help him, but if she let go, Sueinne would surely attack her. As it stood, her target was moving shaking hands toward her sleeves while trying to kick Torianin. When kicking and stomping did not work, she found a small dagger in her sleeve. The Aes Sedai kept her fear in check and did not flinch at any of it. The dagger bit her hand, but she did not move. It felt slick, but she did not move. She felt a particularly deep throb in her head from Dezan’s bond, but she just ignored it, focusing completely on her task.
She thought she saw Erishar dart across the hallway. The pain from Dezan’s bond stopped increasing, and her first Warder began to fight the gigantic man. After minutes of staring into Sueinne’s eyes, she saw blood vessels begin to burst. Had she been completely aware and lucid rather than seeing things through a tunnel, she was sure she would be disgusted with herself. The darkfriend’s trembling hands began to falter as they dropped her knife and desperately grabbed for the wire. “I have witnessed your crimes, Sueinne Keilar. They are atrocious, but they can be mended, but not for you.” Sueinne opened her mouth, her jaw opening, but no air getting through. “I did not sentence your husband, but I truly wish I had.” Her eyes began to close when Torianin felt it.
A bond was severed.
Dezan’s pain had reached a fever pitch, and his light was extinguished. It was her turn to open her mouth soundlessly. But, revenge for her daughter, revenge for the children, and now revenge for her Warder drove her to push her body to the limits. She tightened the wire even further. She felt something warm and wet spray her face as Sueinne went limp.
She could hear and feel Erishar still fighting nearby.
Bending down, she grabbed the dagger that the darkfriend had dropped. Using her pain and anger as motivators, she began to assist her first Warder. He had begun to feel frightened, and she had a feeling it was because her own emotions had been let loose. She wanted to scream, but she did not want to fail in her mission. Tears streamed down her face as she rushed toward one of three men and plunged the dagger into his back, between his ribs. He howled, and she silenced him by slicing his throat.
Erishar’s topknot flew by as he lunged at the large man who had Dezan’s blood on his wrist. The third man looked at Torianin and his eyes widened in shock. This was Kyell’s husband Siemon. He was not a point of contact. “E-Erinda!” he stuttered. He did not have a weapon. He was young and quite handsome. Women fawned over him, but Torianin knew something about him others did not. She knew what he did to his wife behind closed doors. “Let’s talk about this. Obviously, you’re useful enough for the Great Lord to--”
Torianin heard a thud, and Erishar stopped fighting, but he was still alive. Her Shienaran Battle Brother joined her. He had also thrown a knife that had landed in Siemon’s abdomen. As he looked down, Torianin quickly walked over to him and grabbed him by his dark hair and drove her own knife into his neck. She had wanted to say something to him for her agent, but words failed her with a bond severed.
She was no help gathering the children. She was certainly no help comforting them. Some citizens that Kyell trusted were found waiting for them, and helped slip them out of the house. Erishar didn’t ask anything of her or say anything to her, thank the Light. He found a clean cloak in the house and draped it over her shoulders.
Before she knew it, Torianin was riding between Erishar and the driver of a cart. She knew the children were there. A small transaction happened at one of the gates, and the cart plodded along. She began openly sobbing when she could reach out to Saidar again. Her shoulders shook, but she couldn’t do anything with the One Power. Her surviving Warder draped an arm around her. When he could finally channel again, he wove a large gateway, and the cart arrived on the grounds of the Grey Tower.
Torianin was vaguely aware of movements as she was moved from the cart. Children were greeted with Gaidin and Aes Sedai. They were in good hands now. “Torianin,” Erishar said gently. “I made sure we brought Dezan with us.”
She nodded and covered her head with her hood. Light, but it hurt. She could not see through the anguish to answer verbally. She just took his arm when he offered it. Her Asha’man Warder spoke with another Gaidin who nodded in acquiescence and moved toward the cart.
The brother and sister of the Grey Tower moved slowly toward the Red Ajah Quarters. The world was a slow blur as they crossed the yards and climbed the stairs. New faces flashed by them. When they reached her door, a small batch of Aes Sedai were at her door. They demanded to know who she was. She flashed her Great Serpent ring at them and unlocked her door. Erishar tried to explain, but only managed to keep them from entering.
Looking down at her dress, she was surprised she didn’t have any blood on her. Had Erishar channeled it away and she hadn’t noticed? It was hard to notice anything but this blinding pain.
She heard small footsteps and looked up to see Abby running in from her room. “Mother!” she exclaimed. Torianin had planned to become presentable when she returned, but that had become impossible. Still, Abby recognized her with her hair black and stringy now. Her daughter threw her arms around her waist. For a moment, she wasn’t sure how to react. Then, it was clear.
Torianin returned her daughter’s embrace and rested her head on her shoulder. Without wanting to, she began to shed tears again. She could hear Erishar quietly explain that Dezan hadn’t come back, and Abby calmly walked her toward her couch. There, with her daughter and her Warder, she was safe, and began to heal.
A few weeks later, she was a functioning Aes Sedai once again. After she had cried until she couldn’t anymore, after she had received Healing from the Yellows, and a stern lecture about not coming to them before she had gotten sick from the poison in the blade. She was livid when she found out that the sisters in front of her door were Aes Sedai from the White Tower, trying to test Abby for the ability to channel. She quickly set them straight. Although, she would catch glimpses of strange looks when they realized she was bonded to an Asha’man not only with an Ajah, but who was a member of the Red Ajah.
One evening, she received a coded letter from Kyell. The help she had gathered from around the city had helped clean up Sueinne’s house that held the children. She didn’t say what had happened to their corpses, except that the other woman’s body was put back in her home, to make it seem as though she had been assassinated there. None of the recruited men were arrested. She ended the letter by thanking her. She assumed that meant she knew that Siemon was gone.
Torianin was thankful for her bond with Erishar. He was careful with her emotions, not that he wasn’t before. He knew when to stay quiet, although he stayed a bit too quiet about that night in Far Madding. He said that he worried she would revert back to how she was when he brought her back. The answer annoyed her, but she was at the very least thankful he was honest with her.
Some days she would find Abby in the Gardens, and sometimes she was in the Library. She was coming out of her shell and chatting with novices sometimes. Torianin was so glad to see her grow up. As she watched her daughter scribble notes from a book, as she had done in the years they had become a family, she felt the pain dull just a bit, and she decided she would stay in the Grey Tower perhaps a bit longer this time.
For years, the Red Aes Sedai had researched Sueinne Keilar. The woman sold children foremost, and other innocents to darkfriends. She had worked mostly as an assassin before her husband was killed for similar crimes. When Torianin’s daughter Abby was rescued, she had been under the control and abuse of Viktan Keilar. Now with Sueinne in her sights, Torianin had formulated a plan.
She and her two Warders had entered Far Madding two weeks ago, pretending to be visiting family. Her newest Warder, a young man named Dezan, was from Illian, so passing through to visit his family made sense. During the first couple of days they were there, they seemed like a happy married couple and their friend on their way to introduce a new bride to Dezan’s family. Torianin had dyed her orange hair black for this, and practiced a Shienaran accent with Erishar until it was perfect.
Dezan personally knew some citizens of Far Madding and exchanged pleasantries with them. Torianin played the shy newlywed bride “Erinda” perfectly. Keeping her head down and blushing made for a good way to observe details that someone more engaged in the conversation would miss. Displaying affection to her Warder that neither of them felt was awkward, but the act must be kept up.
Sueinne made an appearance on their second day in the city. Her red cheeks and plump hands spoke of a doting mother. She walked around with either a young boy or a young girl, always the same two. They were always quiet, and Sueinne always outwardly complimented them on how they were dignified and graceful for children. Erishar and Dezan praised her afterward for how well she kept her anger in. Truth be told, she felt anger coming from them as well, through the bond. With Kyell’s help, they were able to keep track of her movements she made public. Then, the trio left Far Madding to regroup.
A few miles outside of the city, they all three sat in a private room in an inn. For a long time, they were all quiet. As Torianin sat in thought, she stared at her hair, orange coming through the black. She would need to dye it again tonight. Looking up, she realized that Erishar and Dezan were staring at her. This was her mission. She would need to direct their movements. From what Kyell had gathered, and what the three of them had observed, Sueinne was keeping the children in a large house, half a mile from the one she was living in. For all the little figures that were glimpsed in the windows, the house had been utterly silent.
Dezan’s hands twitched, and he ran them through his dark hair nervously. “I wish we could have brought weapons with us, at the very least…”
“Peace, how do you think we feel?” Erishar asked with a scoff.
Her second Warder stood up, now angry, and Erishar had a trapped look in his eye. He would not fight a brother-in-arms, but Dezan was easily excitable.
“Brothers,” Torianin said sharply. Both men shot their gazes at her immediately. Her Illianer Gaidin sat down and crossed his arms to collect himself. She felt a wave of gratitude from Erishar’s bond. “I understand. We are all frustrated. First, let’s consider the situation in detail. We know there are innocents in the hands of the Shadow.”
“Light willing, they haven’t sworn themselves…” her Shienaran Warder offered.
Dezan tapped one finger against his arm, and Torianin could feel his frustration building.
“Sueinne has settled herself in Far Madding, it seems. She knows I am after her,” she concluded. “Where best to hide from an Aes Sedai than Far Madding? That being said, we must make sure that we do have weapons.”
“But that…”
“Light, Kurian!” Dezan exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. “We know they are against the law. We are here to save the lives of children, not apply for flaming the city guard.” Thankfully, he had the sense to keep his voice down. She did not know if she was outside the reach of the ter’angreal in the city, but she wasn’t going to risk it, but she did miss her wards.
Erishar wisely bit his tongue and cut a glare at his fellow Warder. “I meant that it would be difficult, and the weapons we bring will likely be small.”
“But not ineffectual.”
“I will finish speaking, gentlemen.” The Aes Sedai was beginning to feel the anger she was keeping at bay, and she did not want to take it out on the two men who had sworn to protect her and fight alongside her against the Shadow. “We will take weapons and hide them where we can. I trust you both to be discreet and use them as effectively as you see fit. That being said, we can assume she is not alone. I think we should continue this charade for...a time. Lay low…”
She felt concern through Erishar’s bond. Her first Warder felt a loyalty to her that the second only felt in killing darkfriends. He could tell that she wanted to act now. He knew that it would hurt for her to wait, to know that the longer they waited, the more children would be sold.
“We should lay low and watch her patterns,” Erishar finished for her. “Give off the illusion that we are still going to Illian.”
“Yes. While we do, we can think of ways to hide weapons, or bring tools that can be used as weapons, but will not stop us at the gates…”
The weeks of waiting and preparation were difficult ones. They kept on the move, but carefully, and never too far away from Far Madding. Erishar and Dezan continued to argue. Torianin continued to remind them whose mission this was. They gathered information on Sueinne, and sent letters to Kyell when they could. They crafted ways to hide weapons, and every now and then, Torianin would write a letter to Abby. She hadn’t sent any of them, because she did not want them to be intercepted on the way to the Grey Tower. Sometimes, she wrote her daughter on missions, as a way to keep her in mind. It helped her focus, and Abby did the same. She knew that her kind and quiet daughter would not want her to hurt Sueinne Keilar. She would want the children rescued, and justice brought to their captor.
However, the only justice Torianin saw for the woman was death.
Some of her contacts had given clues and hints to horrifying things done to these children. It made her want to rush the woman and simply end her reign of terror. She would not lie to Abby when it was done.
Finally, the day came. Before they headed to the road, all three members checked their makeshift weapons, and made sure their knives were hidden well. She could tell that Erishar was itching for his sword, but he understood that he would have to wait. Dezan played off his excitement about the mission as being the excited new husband when they re-entered the city from the south. He would continually take Torianin’s hand and gingerly rest his hand across her shoulder, but not too close to her neck. She continued to act like the shy bride, keeping a close watch on their surroundings.
Torianin caught a glimpse of her target as they headed to the Sparrow’s Song. She did not let her gaze linger, though. Light, how she wished she could channel here.
After the group checked into the Sparrow’s Song, Torianin and Erishar settled in at the common room. They were siblings for the mission. This painted her Warder as the unnecessarily jealous brother, but he was willing to tolerate it for the mission. As they made a show of chatting with each other, Erishar lifted his eyebrows and looked behind her. Turning around, Torianin nearly let her disguise slip when she saw Sueinne Keilar, greeting her with a smile on her face.
“Erinda, it’s good to see you back in the city,” she said.
Torianin returned the smile, all her attention shifting to her target. “It’s good to see you as well, Mistress Keilar.” Her attention turned to sharp focus when she saw neither of the children she paraded around were with her. She felt Erishar and Dezan’s emotions change with hers. “Where are Tanen and Kila today?” she asked sweetly. “I was hoping to see them at least once before we left…”
The woman smiled, tilting her head of silver curls. “Oh, now you are a caring one, Erinda. You’ll make a good mother some day. Some day soon, I hope.” She giggled, and Torianin blushed slightly and turned away. If she was following Sueinne was saying correctly, they may be able to execute their plan sooner than they had intended. “Tanen and Kila are simply at home. I set them to cleaning and cooking before I left. If you’d like to see them…”
Looking up, Torianin searched the darkfriend’s eyes. There was a sinister shine to them.
It was time to see which trap snapped closed first.
“Rollen can stay here. I’m sure he would rather stay here with his new brother than visit the little ones with us, after all,” their target said sweetly. The Aes Sedai wasn’t sure if she was saying that because she had spoken more to her than her other two partners and thought her an easier target, or if she knew that “Rollen” was really her Warder.
They did have a plan for this contingency. The city was well-guarded, but sneaking in weapons had gone well enough. Erishar shrugged at the situation and bid them a good afternoon. Torianin felt through her bonds that he was walking toward the room she shared with Dezan. The plan had been that if Torianin separated from the two of them, her pair of Gaidin would go to the house that held the children and do everything they could to free them. Torianin would handle Sueinne personally.
As she walked through the streets of Far Madding with the darkfriend, the Aes Sedai was acutely aware of her left hand. She was very careful not to move it, or make any movements toward it. Sueinne talked about Tanen and Kila along the way, and how she had cared for other children, but they were never as well behaved. Erishar and Dezan began to move parallel to them, but out of sight. The energy and stamina that the Warder bond gave them allowed them to run faster than they normally would have without it. She felt them pass as they walked toward Sueinne’s home. “Tell me, dear,” the darkfriend said with a twinkle in her eye, “what kind of children have you dreamed of having?”
“Peace…” Torianin said, looking at the ground. “One with black curls like mine and gray eyes, like Dezan’s...I would like it if they were bright and cheerful, with a free spirit.”
“You wouldn’t want one that’s obedient?”
She blinked, to cover the jolt she felt in her chest at the question. Her right hand nearly flew to her neck, but she stayed it. “I suppose that would be nice…” She smiled at Sueinne, holding tight to her Aes Sedai mask, but not so hard that it would crack. Thanking the Light that she had released herself from the Three Oaths, she calmed her irate mind. She had wanted to kill the woman where she stood for that question, but she did not want her cover revealed in the streets, and she did not want her slipping away before evidence of her crimes was revealed.
“I thought so.” Mistress Keilar sped up a bit and passed the building she lived in.
Torianin knew why they were passing, but “Erinda” would not have. “Oh, but...isn’t that your home?” she asked in a small voice as she sped up a bit to catch up.
Sueinne Keilar turned her head toward her without looking at her and said, “Yes, dear, it is.” Her voice was soft as well, but it was not caring anymore. It had the ring of someone trying to sound distracted.
They walked in silence, and Torianin made something of a show of looking around, wondering where they were going. She felt Erishar and Dezan station themselves at the house, trying to figure out a way to enter without setting off a commotion. They were on high alert, and likely talking to each other. Occasionally, “Erinda” would ask Mistress Keilar an innocent question, but all Sueinne would do was smile. If Torianin really had been a young girl from Shienar, she would have been lost in an unfamiliar place, and having to rely on this woman to guide her to her destination.
She knew where the house would be, because her Warders were there, but she made no show of it. As they neared it, she felt them move to strategic places. This far away, she couldn’t tell if they were in the house or not. They moved slowly and methodically.
Torianin acted surprised when they reached the house. There was one light visible from the street. The house was three stories tall, and it was silent as the grave. Now that they had found the house, she was sure that her Warders were inside, still moving, minds removed from danger as they worked. She did feel a small amount of pain from Erishar’s bond on his side, but he didn’t seem to be too bothered by it. That meant they had encountered guards, though.
“M-Mistress Keilar, where…?”
Sueinne placed a gentle hand on Torianin’s shoulder. Instinctively, she pulled it away, but that still played into her cover, even though she moved from disgust. “Come now, dear, I won’t hurt you.” She followed the other woman to the door of the house. “You are young and have your whole life ahead of you. You’ll need some help along the way, certainly.”
“Y-yes, Mistress…” Torianin answered, prompting the woman to open the door. When Sueinne tried to usher her in first, she acted nervous. The ploy worked, and the darkfriend entered the house first, reassuring her as she did.
A scuffle caught Sueinne’s attention. Their entrance stirred her guards, and Torianin’s Warders got to work. Erishar and Dezan moved quickly and decisively. Her second Battle Brother had always seemed a foolish fighter who jumped at the chance to take down an opponent, but Torianin had seen him in action before she bonded him. When he was serious, he was deadly, with or without a weapon. Erishar was comfortable with a sword, but he was making due with knives at the moment.
Torianin watched Sueinne before she made her next move. Dezan made his way into the hall, pummeling a smaller man in front of him. The darkfriend looked at Sueinne in the doorway. “Sueinne, they just--” Torianin’s Warder did not look in her direction as he landed a blow to the man’s face. “Quiet as death…” he tried to continue, lifting his arms to guard himself as he was backed through a doorway.
In the other woman’s distraction, Torianin had closed the door slowly and quietly. The Aes Sedai made a move to her left wrist and took hold of a thin wire bracelet. She had found the wire in Dezan’s things and fashioned a pliable accessory that she could use for her mission. It wrapped gracefully around her wrist twice, and it had been polished to perfection. It was simple but pretty. She uncoiled it with her right hand and lunged behind Sueinne, throwing the wire around the woman’s neck.
At that moment, the woman watched as a mountain of a man barreled through one door in the left hallway and flew into the right, chasing after Dezan. Sueinne realized there was movement around her throat and turned her head. Torianin sneered when the wire didn’t cover her throat, but she twisted her body and grabbed the wire with both hands, holding it securely.
As well as the sting in her hands from holding her wire around the woman’s throat, Torianin began to feel pain coming from Dezan’s bond. She wanted to help him, but if she let go, Sueinne would surely attack her. As it stood, her target was moving shaking hands toward her sleeves while trying to kick Torianin. When kicking and stomping did not work, she found a small dagger in her sleeve. The Aes Sedai kept her fear in check and did not flinch at any of it. The dagger bit her hand, but she did not move. It felt slick, but she did not move. She felt a particularly deep throb in her head from Dezan’s bond, but she just ignored it, focusing completely on her task.
She thought she saw Erishar dart across the hallway. The pain from Dezan’s bond stopped increasing, and her first Warder began to fight the gigantic man. After minutes of staring into Sueinne’s eyes, she saw blood vessels begin to burst. Had she been completely aware and lucid rather than seeing things through a tunnel, she was sure she would be disgusted with herself. The darkfriend’s trembling hands began to falter as they dropped her knife and desperately grabbed for the wire. “I have witnessed your crimes, Sueinne Keilar. They are atrocious, but they can be mended, but not for you.” Sueinne opened her mouth, her jaw opening, but no air getting through. “I did not sentence your husband, but I truly wish I had.” Her eyes began to close when Torianin felt it.
A bond was severed.
Dezan’s pain had reached a fever pitch, and his light was extinguished. It was her turn to open her mouth soundlessly. But, revenge for her daughter, revenge for the children, and now revenge for her Warder drove her to push her body to the limits. She tightened the wire even further. She felt something warm and wet spray her face as Sueinne went limp.
She could hear and feel Erishar still fighting nearby.
Bending down, she grabbed the dagger that the darkfriend had dropped. Using her pain and anger as motivators, she began to assist her first Warder. He had begun to feel frightened, and she had a feeling it was because her own emotions had been let loose. She wanted to scream, but she did not want to fail in her mission. Tears streamed down her face as she rushed toward one of three men and plunged the dagger into his back, between his ribs. He howled, and she silenced him by slicing his throat.
Erishar’s topknot flew by as he lunged at the large man who had Dezan’s blood on his wrist. The third man looked at Torianin and his eyes widened in shock. This was Kyell’s husband Siemon. He was not a point of contact. “E-Erinda!” he stuttered. He did not have a weapon. He was young and quite handsome. Women fawned over him, but Torianin knew something about him others did not. She knew what he did to his wife behind closed doors. “Let’s talk about this. Obviously, you’re useful enough for the Great Lord to--”
Torianin heard a thud, and Erishar stopped fighting, but he was still alive. Her Shienaran Battle Brother joined her. He had also thrown a knife that had landed in Siemon’s abdomen. As he looked down, Torianin quickly walked over to him and grabbed him by his dark hair and drove her own knife into his neck. She had wanted to say something to him for her agent, but words failed her with a bond severed.
She was no help gathering the children. She was certainly no help comforting them. Some citizens that Kyell trusted were found waiting for them, and helped slip them out of the house. Erishar didn’t ask anything of her or say anything to her, thank the Light. He found a clean cloak in the house and draped it over her shoulders.
Before she knew it, Torianin was riding between Erishar and the driver of a cart. She knew the children were there. A small transaction happened at one of the gates, and the cart plodded along. She began openly sobbing when she could reach out to Saidar again. Her shoulders shook, but she couldn’t do anything with the One Power. Her surviving Warder draped an arm around her. When he could finally channel again, he wove a large gateway, and the cart arrived on the grounds of the Grey Tower.
Torianin was vaguely aware of movements as she was moved from the cart. Children were greeted with Gaidin and Aes Sedai. They were in good hands now. “Torianin,” Erishar said gently. “I made sure we brought Dezan with us.”
She nodded and covered her head with her hood. Light, but it hurt. She could not see through the anguish to answer verbally. She just took his arm when he offered it. Her Asha’man Warder spoke with another Gaidin who nodded in acquiescence and moved toward the cart.
The brother and sister of the Grey Tower moved slowly toward the Red Ajah Quarters. The world was a slow blur as they crossed the yards and climbed the stairs. New faces flashed by them. When they reached her door, a small batch of Aes Sedai were at her door. They demanded to know who she was. She flashed her Great Serpent ring at them and unlocked her door. Erishar tried to explain, but only managed to keep them from entering.
Looking down at her dress, she was surprised she didn’t have any blood on her. Had Erishar channeled it away and she hadn’t noticed? It was hard to notice anything but this blinding pain.
She heard small footsteps and looked up to see Abby running in from her room. “Mother!” she exclaimed. Torianin had planned to become presentable when she returned, but that had become impossible. Still, Abby recognized her with her hair black and stringy now. Her daughter threw her arms around her waist. For a moment, she wasn’t sure how to react. Then, it was clear.
Torianin returned her daughter’s embrace and rested her head on her shoulder. Without wanting to, she began to shed tears again. She could hear Erishar quietly explain that Dezan hadn’t come back, and Abby calmly walked her toward her couch. There, with her daughter and her Warder, she was safe, and began to heal.
A few weeks later, she was a functioning Aes Sedai once again. After she had cried until she couldn’t anymore, after she had received Healing from the Yellows, and a stern lecture about not coming to them before she had gotten sick from the poison in the blade. She was livid when she found out that the sisters in front of her door were Aes Sedai from the White Tower, trying to test Abby for the ability to channel. She quickly set them straight. Although, she would catch glimpses of strange looks when they realized she was bonded to an Asha’man not only with an Ajah, but who was a member of the Red Ajah.
One evening, she received a coded letter from Kyell. The help she had gathered from around the city had helped clean up Sueinne’s house that held the children. She didn’t say what had happened to their corpses, except that the other woman’s body was put back in her home, to make it seem as though she had been assassinated there. None of the recruited men were arrested. She ended the letter by thanking her. She assumed that meant she knew that Siemon was gone.
Torianin was thankful for her bond with Erishar. He was careful with her emotions, not that he wasn’t before. He knew when to stay quiet, although he stayed a bit too quiet about that night in Far Madding. He said that he worried she would revert back to how she was when he brought her back. The answer annoyed her, but she was at the very least thankful he was honest with her.
Some days she would find Abby in the Gardens, and sometimes she was in the Library. She was coming out of her shell and chatting with novices sometimes. Torianin was so glad to see her grow up. As she watched her daughter scribble notes from a book, as she had done in the years they had become a family, she felt the pain dull just a bit, and she decided she would stay in the Grey Tower perhaps a bit longer this time.
