No New Tale to Tell (Attn: Bella)

[Heather]

Dawn found Saowynn sitting on the floor beside her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Another sleepless night left her exhausted, with dark bags circling her bloodshot eyes. She didn't know where Jahn was, which was the point of course. He'd been taken away for an unknown period of time in order to do some weapon work and see if he could pass the tests to truly be considered a Gaidin. As a result, they both wore rings that prevented them from sensing one another so the bond would not interfere with the testing.

A piece of Saowynn was pleased to have him out of her mind. He was a jumble of emotion and so was she. Even under ideal circumstances she thought their pairing would be difficult, but after what had happened in Arad Doman....Time and distance might help. But without the sleeping draught he mixed for at night, insomnia held her in its grasp and wouldn't let go. Last night was the third night without anything but fitful dozing.

Rather than get up, she sat there, mind blessedly blank. As a result, it took her a long while to notice someone knocking on her door. Before she got up, a young woman in a banded-hemmed dress poked her head around the open door of her bedroom. "Sorry, Aes Sedai," the Accepted breathed as she dropped a hasty curtsy. "I was told to deliver this directly to you." Saowynn noted how jumpy the girl was and suspected she hadn't worn the ring for a fortnight yet. The Green remained where she was and held her hand out with a weary smile. The Accepted hustled to give her the note before dropping another, deeper curtsy and scuttling off.

With a shake of her head, Saowynn groaned as she saw the handwriting on the outside. "Mia-bloody-hala," she grumbled as she opened the note. She supposed it had just been a matter of time before the Captain-General wanted to see her, especially after she had met with the M'Hael. If nothing else, she would need to brief the woman on what happened. But, as it was with most of her fellow sisters, she and Mia had, at best, a cordial relationship. The Saldaean gave her a little more slack than her predecessor had, but only a little. So it was with a grunt that Saowynn got herself up and moving in order to see what her fearless leader wanted.

[Bella]

As Captain-General, Miahala Sedai did not maintain an office. Greens rarely had use for such things, after all, and it was an aspect of being Amyrlin that she certainly did not miss. In fact, there was little about bearing the staff and wearing the stole that Mia did miss. If there was anything at all. She'd have to work to know if there was, and it was a task she saw no point in.

However, occasionally, she did wish to request the presence of others. If they were not close enough for tea in her quarters, that left a few choices and she generally chose the common room of the Green Ajah Wing. It was meant for common use, after all.

She had chosen to release the Three Oaths following that...heated discussion in the Hall, so she now longer bore the appearance of a statue cast in porcelain but instead looked like a woman of her forties, roughly. Still handsome past the blush of youth, still stately. Grey streaked her long auburn hair, pulled back in a loose braid down her back over her dark green riding dress with its high Saldean neck.

Sitting back in one of the armchairs, there was a pot of tea and two cups on the table beside her. She sipped hers while reading correspondence and waiting for Saowynn Sedai. Given what she knew of the woman, though their acquaintance was slim, she expected an...interesting meet. But it was unavoidable, at this point. Thus, she waited.

[Heather]

The moment Saowynn stepped outside of her room, she felt eyes on her. The feeling was not unusual for her. It seemed like people had always been watching, waiting for her to trip and fall and prove them right that her flaws were greater than her assets, or to find a way to make use of her. The Green never allowed those eyes to change how she presented herself, though. She knew that even if she dressed as demurely as an Amadician bride, people's eyes would still find her, measure her and somehow judge her lacking.

It didn't occur to Saowynn that today was different. Since returning with Jahn in tow, she secluded herself in her quarters, venturing out only to visit the infirmary once or twice before the previous day's meeting with Zarius. New stories circulated now, and they weren't filled with derision. More than a few of those looks reassessed what had been thought to be a known quantity.

Yet Saowynn didn't noticed. She was so used to ignoring everyone around her that she didn't see that these looks were any different. She walked with her head high but eyes straight ahead, her stature covering up the anxiety she felt. Her palms pressed against the soft woolen dress, though she refrained from smoothing the deep purple fabric beneath them. Instead, she relaxed and brushed an errand strand of hair out of her ageless face and tucked it behind her ear.

She stopped outside Miahala's door, took a deep breath, and knocked with a confidence she didn't feel. Light, she hoped this wasn't going to end with yet another trip to a farm.

[Bella]

Miahala glanced back at the door when she heard the knock. Usually, people didn't knock before entering the common room, and she wondered suddenly why there even was a door. But then, everything in this place could be locked if it needed to be. These were safety measures, and she had seen enough of the reasons why firsthand.

"Enter," she called, turning to the teapot and pouring the second cup. She reheated it with a filament of Fire before turning to see the woman who entered.

Politely, since she wasn't a totally witch of an Aes Sedai, she rose to greet her guest. "Aes Sedai," she greeted with a faint inclination of her head, though her keen blue-green eyes never lowered. That unscrutable, Saldean gaze took in the other woman for a moment and then gestured to the arm chair on the other side of the end table. "Please, have a seat. Thank you for you responding to my invitation."

[Heather]

Saowynn stepped into the room after providing the Captain-General with the appropriate amount of respect. After all, she had not come here for a fight, or hoped not anyway. She sauntered over to the indicated chair and dropped into it. Her dark eyes took in the room - like most, it was a clear reflection of its owner - but avoided in looking at that owner. She really had no idea what to expect.

Thankfully there was tea. She picked up her cup and inhaled the scent before taking a drink. How long, she wondered, would it be before she was able to accept a drink from anyone without trepidation? She knew full well that her fellow sister had no reason to give her forkroot or any other harmful substance, and yet....With the hope that she'd not been too obvious, she took another sip before setting the cup back on its saucer.

Then, to her surprise, Miahala said, "My condolences on the loss of your father." Saowynn swallowed hard around a lump in her throat that had not been there a moment before. With everything else that had gone on in Bandar Eban and with Jahn and her niece suddenly being at the Tower, she hadn't given herself much time to think about that.

The Domani looked down at the table for a moment, her fingers tracing out an unseen pattern on its top. "Thank you," she said, her voice soft but, thankfully, not small. "He and I were not particularly close, but it's never easy to lose a parent." Even her mother, who Saowynn despised, had left an unexpected hole in her life. "In the end, though, it was a mercy. He didn't recognize any of us anymore by the time he passed."

She could feel tears threatening to rise to the surface, and she pushed them down. For later, she told herself. "I'm assuming this wasn't just a social call." Saowynn looked back up, knowing her eyes were blood-shot and watery, but determined to meet the gaze of Miahala. She picked up the tea again, grateful that her hands were steadier than her emotions.

[Bella]

OOC: 1) I'm SO SORRY that this reply is so late. Somehow, this got lost in the post shuffle. >.<
2) The meeting is in the Green Ajah Common Room, which isn't Mia's in ownership. It's a room open to all Greens in the midst of the Green Ajah Halls. <3

Condolences had been proper, for again Mia was still human...somewhere inside. It surfaced from time to time, when the time called for it and the time called for it now. She listened to the woman's reply, nodding slightly at the right intervals. She knew a little of what Saowynn spoke of, although Miahala had not been there when her parents passed.

She had loved her father dearly, and he was a devoted and doting man, but her mother... Well, that woman had been what chased Mia from home and to the Tower. In some ways, she owed all that she was to Miashala Sha'hal...but she still did not remember her fondly. Yet the losses of both were, indeed, affecting.

"Not precisely," she replied to the last statement. "I know a little of matters of your departure and return." What the Captain-General, particularly this Captain-General, didn't know was little...but still. She may know the bare bones, but wished for a full body. "I would wish to hear the story more thoroughly from you, as a returning Green Sister."