The Banner (Fanfic)

[Leala]

((OOC: As I'm developing the White Ajah, I'll put forth some ceremony threads like this one. Enjoy.))

Leala stepped out into the White Ajah quarters after her breakfast and was greeted with...nothing. No one was around. She heard nothing human within the White Ajah Halls. She didn't even see any servants flitting about. No trainees, either. She immediately concluded that her Ajah must have set this up. They must have met somewhere, quietly, without consulting her after making sure that no one was allowed within the halls. Leala had been a Sitter in the White Ajah for longer than most older members of the Grey Tower appreciated, but she was a Sitter, and there was nothing they could do about it. She represented the White Ajah in the Hall of Sitters, and she would not step down from doubts of others, especially others outside her own Ajah.

Something stirred within her. There was only one reason she could find that her Ajah would arrange for a meeting and bar others from entering their Ajah's halls without consulting her. Well, two reasons, but the second had never been done before. She knew where they would be meeting. She walked to the stairs and climbed until she found the rooms set aside for the Ajahs. As she expected, the White Ajah's designated room was stark and silent while other Ajahs milled around, tending to business. Some astute Aes Sedai and Asha'man cast confused glances in the direction of the silent room, and then looked to her for answers. She simply returned their glances and walked toward the room, as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

The door was closed, and when she opened it, she closed it behind her. She saw two parallel lines of her sparse Ajah on either side of her, making an aisle to the head of the room where Aelyn sat, facing her. They all acted preoccupied with their studies, but Leala knew what this was. This was the ceremony that she had reasoned that it was. As soon as she took her first step into the room, she knew that the ceremony would begin. The White Ajah was known for making decisions that were confident in tone, and sticking with them, adding reasons and philosophy as they went, but this was her final test. They had made a confident decision, and it was now up to her to prove them right.

Her composure intact, Leala met her old mentor's eyes and took the first step forward, and the ceremony began.

[Leala]

"We have accepted you," the first member of her Ajah, an Asha'man with dark skin and a deep voice said after she closed the door. "And you chose us when you earned your title. Most do not. Why did you choose us? What purpose in the Grey Tower did you see in us?" he asked as she slowly moved forward. The room was well lit, a sphere of light conjured from the One Power of each member of the White Ajah hovered next to them, illuminating their desk and their work.

"I chose the White Ajah, because it is a part of me," she intoned as she kept her slow pace. More questions were to come, and they were to stop when she reached the Head of the Ajah, waiting for her. A slow pace meant that she was not afraid and welcome the challenge. She knew that she could easily explain herself and walk up to the Asha'man waiting for her as a show of confidence, but that was not her. "Reason and logic guide my life and my philosophies and always have. Whether or not others see it, the White Ajah can be found in the other Ajahs as well." She noticed a small smile on Aelyn's face as she said that. He remembered their conversation they had had the day after she was raised to Accepted. "The White Ajah is needed to keep order and balance within the Tower and throughout the world. We keep cool heads when others would panic. We strive to find reasons in places others would not. We decipher every puzzle in order to find the calculations in the Pattern."

"And all is well," Aelyn said in a neutral voice. This was the rote answer of the current Head of Ajah, or the moderator, if the Head of Ajah had passed on, if the answer had been accepted.

The next member of the White Ajah spoke, a small Aes Sedai with gray at her temples. "You speak for us in the Hall of Sitters and were given that role accordingly by us," she said in a voice that did not suit her stature. "We offered you this role in good will. Why? And why did you accept it?"

"The role was offered to me, because I also represent my family in the court of Caemlyn," Leala said in the same neutral tone. "I show leadership in how I oversee my family's lands and how I speak for my house and for the Grey Tower in front of courtiers and royalty. I represent the Ajah in how I speak and reason with those that my see the world differently than I, and I do so confidently, knowing that my reason is sound." Much of this was explained to her when the role was offered to her, but she knew the other reasons as well. "I accepted this role in the confidence of the reasons given to me, as I saw them sound. It was an honor to accept the role, as I know that responsibility is not taken lightly. Likewise, I did not accept it lightly. I represent the Ajah in the Hall, as I should, and make certain that the Ajah's voice is heard."

"And all is well," said Aelyn.

The third member of the White Ajah spoke, another Aes Sedai, this one rather newly raised, a girl with black hair who did not have the ageless look quite yet. "The White Ajah is small in numbers and seems dwindling and weak to others. Why is this not so?" she asked. The shawl was still new to her, and she still bore it on her shoulders. Her tone was not quite what it needed to be, still sounding like a student asking a teacher a question.

"The White Ajah is small in numbers, but it is not small in its character," Leala explained, keeping her snail's pace across the room. She was perhaps halfway there now. "The White Ajah thrives, because its members understand that the world craves logic. It is why humans band together. It is why the White Ajah exists, in order for the rest of the world to have a reference when the world seemingly offers no order. The White Ajah is not for everyone, but it is there for everyone, if ever it is needed."

"And all is well," the Altaran Asha'man said as he pushed his glasses up a bit.

[Leala]

Leala strove forward, slowly closing the gap between her and her old mentor as the fourth questioner spoke. "You seem to understand our gathering here today, though no one consulted you," said the lanky, pale-skinned Asha'man. "Explain your reasoning for comprehending our presence."

After this question, there was just one more. "When I left my rooms, there was not a soul in the White Ajah Halls, not even servants, tending to the up-keep for appearances. The Halls had been closed off to the rest of the Tower. Normally, this would be something that I would be alerted to, being a Sitter. I trust that the White Ajah maintains reasons for everything that it does and for what it does not do as well. If I were the only member of the White Ajah not notified, despite my role in the Hall, then I have been selected to go through a rite of passage. Having already completed my rite of passage in entering the White Ajah, and having already accepted my role in the Hall, I conclude that this is the rite of positing a new Head of Ajah."

"And all is well," Aelyn said, standing as she finally closed the gap between them.

"You have answered all queries put forth to the First Reasoner's satisfaction. Before you are made as such, do you have a question for him?" the first questioner asked from the back of the room.

Leala's silver eyes examined her old mentor's eyes. She knew that she must ask a question before moving forward. She knew what question it was as well, as it was as rote as the rest of this had been. She had known this man for longer than she had known most of her friends. She could see the answer to the question in his eyes before she asked it. "Why do you step down from your post, Brother?" she asked.

He smiled a crooked smile, one that he expressed when a student got an answer correct on the first try. "I have been the First Reasoner for several years, Sister," he answered. "I have led us through many things, but I feel that I am not the leader that the White Ajah needs. While others disagree, this is simply a feeling that I know to be true for myself. It is a feeling that cannot be abided by one selected as a leader. Additionally, I have known the other members of our Ajah also harbor this feeling for themselves, and we feel that you have the confidence and see yourself as one who leads. If this is something that you feel is true, we would have you as our First Reasoner."

[Leala]

Leala listened and took great stock in what Aelyn was saying. He had approached the Ajah about this beforehand, to make sure that they all felt the same. She was not one to boast, but she did feel that her leadership skills were up to the task of leading the Ajah, if Aelyn's own were not. "That is indeed something I feel true of myself, Brother," she said, returning his smile, "and I would be honored to lead my Ajah wherever the truth leads us."

He nodded his head full of dark hair, his spectacles glinting in the light as he turned around and took up the banner of the First Reasoner. Against a goose gray field that represented the Grey Tower was a symmetrical landscape of mountains, each peeked with pure, white snow. In the center, positioned above the tallest peak, was the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai: the Flame of Tar Valon and the Dragon's Fang in harmony. Around the symbol was an intricate web of white that nearly looked like lace and was the thickest and most pure when it touched the symbol. It was a piece hand-woven upon the founding of the Ajah in the Grey Tower and hung in the First Reasoner's rooms. It was delicate and beautifully crafted, representing reason and truth. It was to remind the First Reasoner to keep their thoughts on the truth and logic, no matter what they did, no matter where the Pattern took them.

Aelyn handed the piece to Leala and stepped away from the chair where he had been sitting. Leala stepped forward and into the chair, draping the banner across her lap. Aelyn took a chair in the White Ajah's room, and they waited.

Logically, this was not a meeting held by all members of the Ajah. It was a ceremony. If she wished it, Leala could hold them there without dismissal until she laid out all her plans. Other newly raised First Reasoners had done this, but not all. Leala was not that presumptuous.

"Brothers and Sisters," she said from her chair, "I swear to uphold our beliefs and philosophies, to continue to strive for the truth in all that I do, and to lead you in the direction that logic dictates." Some members of the Ajah sat a little straighter at that. "It has been a pleasure to represent you in the Hall, and it is an honor to accept this new title. As for today, may the Light illumine you, and may you have a pleasant and productive one, led by reason and truth." She stood as did the rest of the White Ajah. She walked out first with the banner carefully draped over her arm, the rest of the Ajah filing out after her, free to go on with the rest of their day.