The problem with gossip (Seth)

[Sunny]

Jaryd Kosari

Jaryd worked his way out of the basement, his mind lost in the intriguing conversation he had just had with Carra. Despite her cold dismissal, he could not shake the feeling that he had surprised her….connected with her. He could not help but feel good even in the face of an impending penance.

He strode through the Tower, whistling softly, his arms clasped behind his back. As he rounded the corner into the main corridor that would take him toward Seth’s office, a pale thin arm snaked out of a door and caught his arm. “What did you and that woman talk about?”

Blinking, the Altaran turned to face his assailant. Malinda of the Grey Ajah stood there, her normally warm face cold with disapproval. “I asked Carra Sedai about her Ajah,” Jaryd said, truthfully enough. “I created a Ward without her permission, she had me help her with some chores as penance.” The Grey’s eyes narrowed, but her grip on his arm relaxed.

“Why would you ask about…..that?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He countered. “Everyone is curious, so why not go directly to the one person who knows all about it? Gossip can turn the best of situations into a nightmare, you know. It was quite educational- I recommend you talk to her yourself when you get a chance. She has fascinating ideas, I'm certain you would enjoy hearing about them.” He smiled brightly as he took a measured step back and bowed. “If you please, Aes Sedai, I must report to Asha’man Seth now.”

He strode away quickly before she could intercept him again. He could practically feel the shock and irritation oozing off her as he departed, and had to hide another smile. Serves her right. After that he made good time to the Master of Soldier’s office, wanting to avoid any more such encounters.

He hesitated outside the door, then rapped sharply three times. Then he waited.

[Cheiron]

Seth Arcuraim

In his office, Seth had finally finished the morning's paperwork. It was the ire of his day, but it had to be done. If there was someone else to do it, he would have left them with the lot and the title to go with it, but he couldn't, Riven had made him the Master of Soldiers, and so he had to deal with the good and the bad that came with the title.

Reclining in his chair, Seth wanted so much to go to his room and pluck some strings, or perhaps go for a walk, anywhere. Even, maybe, he could spend a few hours in the infirmary, tending to so of the regular patients, helping with the emergencies as they came in, the odd Drin'Far'Ji that broke a finger or got a cut. It was always fun watching them squirm while the Yellows wandered around making those sorts of injuries wait.

All of these appealed to Seth's desire for adventure, but he was stuck in his office, supposed to stay there as long and as often as he could. Apparently going to the infirmary was an inconvenience to Aes Sedai and Asha'man who sent Soldiers for punishment. Seth didn't like exacting any sort of discipline, and more often than not many of the Soldiers that under any other Master of Soldiers would have left with a raw hide, Seth didn't like administering the switch. By the time they had arrived at Seth's office, judgement had already been passed, it was just up to Seth to figure out what the punishment was.

Seth started humming a tune, memorizing the notes as they passed through his closed lips for later reference. Three short, sharp raps on his office door caused Seth to illicit a discordant note, and nearly topple his chair in surprise. He thanked the light that he didn't go tail-up, and settled himself in the same manner he took when assessing those that took his appearances class.

"Enter," he called.

Once the person had opened the door, Seth smiled broadly, and said, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

[Sunny]

Jaryd Kosari

He opened the door and walked in. The room was certainly very different from when Landrin had sat in that chair. Seth had never been as serious as the old Master of Soldiers, and it seemed that gaining the title had not changed him.

Jaryd bowed to the exact degree required of a Dedicated to his superior, and stopped just short of the Yellow's desk, his hands still clasped at the small of his back. "Carraidhin Sedai sent me, Asha'man Seth," he said. "I engaged in a philisophical conversation with her earlier, and in the midst of our conversation I grew tired of listening ears. I Warded the space we stood in without begging her permission first, which she rightfully took exception to."

He kept his face carefull blank, the way he had been taught as a soldier of the Black Tower so many years before. "After she was finished talking to me, she sent me to you for penance." If Seth had done any kind of research in his time as Master of Soldiers, he would know that Jaryd had spent a considerable amount of time standing in that very spot awaiting penance. He would also know that it had been over a year since Jaryd's last encounter with Landrin, and that by all accounts, the "uncouth thief" had begun to reform.

All he could do was wait to see which way this rather peculiar choice for an authority figure would choose to go with his punishment.

[Cheiron]

Seth Arcuraim

Jaryd Kosari walked into Seth's office, and didn't close the door behind him. Seth was the younger of the pair, he knew that much. Though, by virtue of it being him sitting behind the desk with the Dragon pin adorning his collar, he was the superior, not that he lorded the fact. He just kept smiling.

"Carraidhin?" Seth asked rhetorically.

Seth knew the woman. She had been raised just ahead of himself, and had been the Accepted that had retrieved him when the M'Hael had needed his attention. Seth had heard the rumors from the other Yellows that she had gone against tradition and chosen to create her own Ajah.

The Grey Tower created an Indigo Ajah, I don't see why she shouldn't be allowed to create an Ajah. How do Ajah's come about anyway apart from one person deciding to start it. Light, I sound like a White.

Seth blinked when he realized he hadn't spoken since Jaryd had entered and explained why he was gracing Seth with his presence.

"Right, punishment..." Seth trailed off when he realized he had no idea how to deal with that sort of transgression. He didn't exactly have an instruction booklet detailing how to punish someone for every minor, and not so minor, misdemeanor.

"I know!" Seth exclaimed. "You can muck the stables, and you are forbidden from channeling for a week."

Seth smiled smugly inwardly. "You can report back to me in a week. If however I hear that you channeled the time frame will increase. You are dismissed."

Seth was happy with his decision, he had to be as firm as he could be, given his age, even if the whole idea of punishing someone didn't sit well with him.

[Sunny]

Jaryd Kosari

Jaryd refrained from arching an eyebrow at the man behind the desk- barely. He didn’t know much about Seth, but the Asha’man reminded him of nothing so much as a boy wearing men’s clothing. And yet he is so much more, Jaryd reminded himself sharply. He has passed the Great Stair, and therefore age no longer has meaning for him.

He did grimace when he heard his punishment. Mucking stables, and forbidden from channeling? Light! What a disaster the next ten days* would be! He clenched his fists behind his back, but forced himself to bow again. “As you say, Asha’man,” he said, struggling to keep his voice even. “It is past time for stable mucking today- I will report during my free time tomorrow morning.” He started to turn to leave, then halted, waiting until Seth dismissed him before fleeing.

Already saidin tempted him, lurking in the depths of his mind. When did I grow to love it so? He could remember hating that baleful glow. The sound of Marisa’s screams as flames he had created consumed her were still seared into his memory. They had been tempered by time, however. He knew how to control the One Power, now, and would never burn another human being again. He could use it to protect, to deflect, to defend…except that for a week, he wouldn’t be able to use it…at all.

With a shudder, he stalked down the corridor to the Library to finish his studies for the day, unaware that his expressive face somewhat resembled a mounting thunderhead. So absorbed in his thoughts was he that he didn’t even notice soldier and novices scattering before him as if he, too, were an Asha’man.

OOC: I’m going to post (at least) two more consecutive posts after this detailing his penance and some other details, and then his return to Seth at the end of the week. I hope that suffices?

* weeks in WoT are ten days long. =P

[Sunny]

Jaryd Kosari

The first morning of his penance, Jaryd woke up with the taunting flicker of saidin filling his thoughts, and for the rest of the day he spent every second fighting the urge to seize it. He was snippy to the groomsmen who showed him around the stable, and nearly got sent back to Seth for his attitude before he pulled himself in line. He scrubbed himself raw in the bath before heading to dinner, and even then he could still smell manure if he turned too fast.

He found out on the afternoon of the second day that the no-channeling ban extended to classes he had been assigned to teach. An Asha’man met him at the door of the classroom, and directed him to report back to the stables for that period…and any other that he was supposed to teach until his penance had concluded. Cursing silently, the Altaran retraced his steps and donned the work clothes he had been assigned. With weary shoulders and blistered fingers, he went back to work.

The hardest effort passed by the time the third day dawned. By that time his muscles had grown accustomed to the new work load, and though saidin baleful fire still tempted him, he could ignore it a little easier. More importantly, he had found a sort of inner peace with both his actions and his penance. He had done what needed to be done to have an honest conversation, and he had to pay the price in order for balance to prevail. Perhaps I’m taking the balance thing a little too far, he told himself, but he could not deny that the thought comforted him.

He walked out of his room with his chin up and his shoulders back, and his black eyes that usually flashed with defiance met every observer with a quiet dignity that no one had ever seen. He could hear the whispers as he walked between classes and chores, and ignored them. I will be Asha’man. The thought kept him strung as he once again prepared himself for a long day of temptation and work.

[Sunny]

Jaryd Kosari

Jaryd straightened from cleaning out Juniper’s stall. He grabbed his jaw with one hand and jerked his head sharply to one side, shivering as his neck cracked in three places. The pony two stalls over regarded him with one great eye, then whinnied and stomped one foot. “No worries girl, I’m coming to you next,” the Dedicated said. He stuck the square head of the shovel into the muck in one corner of the stall and shoved, prying a block of rank mud and straw out.

An hour later, he had cleaned four stalls. Two hours after that, and he had re-bedded them with wood shavings, filled the horses’ mangers with straw, and refilled the grain bags that hung across the aisle. He knew he worked slowly compared to the hired grooms, but he had certainly improved in the seven days he had been working, and he could not help but feel a burst of pride at a job well done as the head groom inspected his work and dismissed him.

It had grown dark while he worked; he stretched, then sauntered out into the evening air. He moved along a southbound path that would take him directly to the learning ranks quarters, lost in thought. Something had changed in him, and he couldn’t put a finger on what.

The bushes rustled in the wind, and he smiled. He did enjoy an evening breeze occasionally. Abruptly he realized that the only wind he felt was that of his own movement. He froze, and as he did a figure shrouded in dark fabric emerged from the greenery to the left of the path. The moonlight glittered on an arm-length blade in the person’s hand.

Jaryd realized he had fallen into the Void and started to reach for the Source. He forced himself to ignore the urge, instead dropping one hand to Watari's looped hilt and gave the other a flick to release the dagger strapped to his wrist. His assailant threw itself at him, and Jaryd’s fingers twitched, bringing Watari out, up, and across to parry the blade. “Who are you?” he demanded.

The person did not respond, but instead broke away and circled, darting in to slash at him again. Jaryd shifted his feet and dropped into a crouch, following the shadow-figure with eyes and body. Even so, he missed the tell-tale signs of an attack, and yelped as the long blade cut into his cheek just below his eye. “Light!” he gasped, falling back. “What do you want?” Again, silence.

The cut stung abominably. Jaryd gave his head a sharp shake to clear the shock, and spun, darting forward to slash at the stranger with both knives. It stumbled back, clearly not expecting the attack, and he pressed forward, intent on getting something –anything- that could identify the person. Instead, the shrouded figure broke away and ran, disappearing into the shadows so fast that Jaryd knew he would have no hope of finding it.

Suddenly feeling more unsafe than he had since leaving the Rahad, Jaryd Kosari dropped his pride and ran for the light of the learning rank halls, his heart pounding in his ears. Someone just tried to kill me. Why?

[Sunny]

Jaryd Kosari

The cut would scar, Jaryd knew as soon as he saw it in his chambers that night. The knife point had bit deep and cut from his right temple to the dip below his nose. It missed his eye by less than a fingerbreadth, and he breathed his thanks to the Creator for that small mercy as he carefully wiped away the blood.

Realistically aware that Dedicated did not normally get accosted by assassins on Tower grounds, he did not feel telling the truth would benefit him. Instead, when the groom who met him at the stables the next day inquired, he contrived a story about falling on a bench in the dark. As a result of his assumed clumsiness and his ongoing penance, he did not receive Healing.

He kept his wound clean, stayed on lighted paths, and mulled over what had happened for the remaining days of his penance. Who would want to kill me? It struck him as suspicious that the attempt had come only a few days after having a brazenly private conversation with Carra. Was sentiment against the Red so strong that some unknown “they” would resort to murder to stop it? Curious....and terrifying, though Jaryd would not admit so even to himself.

On the tenth day, the head groomsmen joined him a few bells before supper. “When you’re done with this row, you are to report to Asha’man Seth,” the taller man said. He turned as if to walk away, then hesitated, turning back. “You did better than most as get sent to me,” he said. “I’ll be sorry to lose you.” He clapped Jaryd on the shoulder and walked away.

Once done with his allotted chores, Jaryd cleaned himself off and headed for Seth’s office. This time when he knocked, it was a gentle rap, and when he was bid enter, he closed the door softly behind him. “I have completed my penance, Asha’man Seth,” he said quietly.

[Cheiron]

Seth Arcuraim

Yet another boring day in the office of the Master of Soldiers. Though, Seth had an appointment with the subject of his first penance ruling in the position, Jaryd. It was that reason alone why Seth sat in his office, waiting. He had migrated his harp to his office to alleviate his boredom when he didn't have anything to do.

Once I'm finished with Jaryd, I'll head over to the infirmary, and hopefully have something to do over there.

Seth continued to pluck chords at random, or at least as random as he could, because the sounds produced all worked. He was a little more expecting of the soft knock on the door when it came, than he had been the last time. The last chord hung briefly as Seth bid entry. Jaryd walked through the door, and closed it, unlike his last visit.

Jaryd announced that he had finished his week of penance. Seth nodded.

"So I hear," was all Seth said, as he observed the gash across Jaryd's face.

"How did you find having saidin within your reach, but not being allowed to touch it?" Seth asked, and awaited the response.

Once the reponse came, Seth continued, asking,

"How did you receive that?" Referring indirectly to Jaryd's face.