Bad Seed (Attn: Matty)

[Craig]

Elia Darrow

The colour-shifting cloak flickered fitfully, making an nauseating display against the backdrops of the Tower's library. Unable to fit in amongst the leather-bound tomes, it sought out other shapes to fit against. None of it worked. Fortunately, it wasn't visibility that the Gaidin was concerned about. His boots were soft, his footsteps carefully placed despite the fact his eyes were focused straight ahead. He paused at the junction between bookshelves, the cloak resolving into something more concealing for a moment. He sniffed, sensing out the way, before stepping off again.

Elia followed the fancloaked form, imitating as best as possible the Gaidin's grace. Soft slippers hushed her own footfalls, but she was relying primarily on Ravak's talents. That irked her, even if she had no training in tracking. Plenty of things were irking her, to put it mildly. One of those things were leading her into the depths of the Grey Tower's library.

Ravak paused preternaturally before a barrier of saidar; a ward set up to warn of someone crossing it. Beyond lay the Brown Ajah's Archives, their private repository of knowledge known only to them. As important to them as the Vaults is to me. Rav sniffed at the air before him, seemed to find whatever it was he was following, and stepped to the side. His grey-blue eyes seemed both glassy and sharp at the same time. Elia could still make out the slight tremors in his vision, as he failed to find anything to focus on. She looked at him sorrowfully, as she plucked strands of Spirit from his mind. "Go now brother, and forget." Silently he departed, his cloak struggling once more to blend in with the background. She watched him go, the Gaidin never looking back or seeming to question where he suddenly found himself.

Turning back to the barrier, Elia reached up to touch the small amber amulet that hung in the hollow of her neck. Not a piece of jewellery; at least, not only that. It was no bigger than the nail on her pinky, but it was a ter'angreal. Very small, and very focused in its purpose. Still, she paused at the edge of the barrier, concern building in her chest. Nothing in life was certain, and when it came to ter'angreal it was doubly so. This amulet should stop the wards from triggering... but should and would were not bed fellows. Even for a Sitter, the punishment for transgressing the Brown Ajah's privacy and sanctuary would be severe.

She took a deep breath. Three... two... one... Her slipper crossed the line, followed by her leg, and torso, and...

Nothing. The barrier behind her was still in place. Nothing seemed different; no alarms were ringing in the background; no tingling of women embracing the Source in response. Elia let the lungful of air out, then moved deeper into the archives.

It didn't take long to find her quarry. He was a tall man, dark of hair and eyes, but pale skinned. He should have dominated a room, but the slight stoop to his form (due to his bad leg and reliance on a walking stick) and his demeanour made him strangely unassuming. Doubly strange as one of the most prominent Asha'man in the Grey Tower. As she approached him, he turned, dark eyes flashing not in anger or surprise, but in exasperation. The relationship between Elia Darrow and Murdock Mather was not one of mutual respect, but begrudging dependence on one another for their abilities. Elia stopped a little distance away, giving the slight bow that was respectful between Sitter and Keeper. "I wish to talk to you," the Shienaran said without preamble, "Are we alone down here?"

[Chris]

Murdock Mather The Fourth Depository was quiet, and for that Murdock was thankful. No trainees scuttling around, no Browns whose interests lay in similar areas to the Keeper's. Just Murdock, the tomes, and his thoughts. It was relaxing, and the man came to enjoy his time here just looking up whatever interested him at the time.

Given his skill in Healing - a loss to the Yellow Ajah, when he chose the Brown - Murdock was not out of place amongst the writings concerning the human body. He was currently stood with a book open on the shelf rather than heading over to take a seat elsewhere, the book at a good height for his tall frame. He was currently inspecting a diagram of the human foot. Who would have thought that there were 27 bones in the foot alone? So many to manipulate. Why, it would seem that snapping just that one there would render the entire foot useless. It was certainly something to try. The human body was quite the mystery and the discovery of what made it tick - and what made it break - fascinated him.

The man tried not to sigh as someone else entered the Depository, but when Murdock turned to see that it was Elia bloody Darrow of all people, sitter of the Indigo Ajah and fellow Black in the making, he didn't bother to suppress it any longer. She stopped short of him as if there was a barrier between them, and that was fine. She wanted a word, did she? Well, good for her.

The Brown Keeper closed the book regretfully and tucked it under his arm, taking his stick up with his left hand and starting to limp over to where he was keeping a small pile of tomes to look at later. The small table was neat and tidy, with stools and a single soft chair. This was earmarked as Murdock's. "You decided to enter the Fourth Depository, without invitation, to have a word with me when you could have come to my room or my office." The man spoke quietly, his deep voice more bemused than anything else. He stopped in front of the table, placed the book on the small pile already there, and took a seat with a grunt. He had been standing for too long and he was feeling it now, but that wasn't Elia's fault. "What is so important that you had to find me in here, Elia? I am sure if I were to stroll into the Vaults I would not be welcomed. But then I lack your ability in Compulsion so I would not have been able to force my way in as you have here."

He had the feeling he knew, and this was why he hadn't turned her away. They shared the same Master, for different reasons. He wanted to be left to study his craft in peace; she wanted to corrupt the minds of everyone around her to get what she wanted. They weren't friends but they had to work together if they were to survive this experience and be allowed to learn more about their respective talents. Like it or not they couldn't simply ignore one another.

Still, Murdock took that moment to seize Saidin, weaving a shield of Spirit just in case he felt a tingling along his arms. His head might tell him to trust Elia, but experience dictated otherwise, its voice more powerful than it used to be where this woman was concerned.

[Craig]

Elia

Even if Elia had been aware that the Keeper of the Archives was holding onto saidin, the Indigo would not have followed suit. She wanted to draw no additional attention to her presence here.

She glanced down at the stools, regarding them in the way one would look down upon a da'tsang. She was not about to perch on one of them for Murdock's amusement. Instead she positioned herself near the table, but still a respectful distance away from the Brown. Brown eyes watched her judgementally, but she refused to react an inch to that.

"Your office is too public, and your room's too private," the Shienaran replied, a touch tartly, "and you warned against being seen together too often. A meeting between a Sitter and a Keeper would not go unnoticed, no matter where it was held." She glanced around the room. "And traipsing amongst bookshelves is a less contentious issue than being in the Vaults. Books are safer than angreal."

Elia's hand twitched before she halted it. Habitually she was about to check on the ter'angreal around her neck, but she didn't want to show anything other than an exterior of placid calm. He can be the acerbic one. The man still thought far too much (and not at all fondly) about her use of Compulsion. She would resist making any similar comments about his heinous uses of Rending.

"I may give you a private tour of the Vaults yet." The Indigo sister let that hang in the air for a long moment. A malachite glaze watched for any response; that was quite the offer she had made. The corners of her mouth curled up in satisfaction as she watched the cogs turn in the Brown's head.

Now for the real point of this tête-à-tête. "How satisfied are you with the direction our actions are having?" No need to specify what actions. There was no collaboration between them on anything related to the Grey Tower.

[Chris]

Murdock didn't overly care whether Elia stood, sat, perched on one leg like a crane, or chose to splay on the ground with her arms spread like a bird. He couldn't decide if she was spurning books compared to her precious angreal because she was an Indigo, or if she was simply being rude. He found that ultimately, it didn't much matter and he didn't really care. This wasn't a social call, it was a part of the agreement he had made with the Shadow that someone somewhere took great amusement in.

He didn't believe her offer of a tour of the Vaults for a second. She claimed that she was unable to provide him with a ter'angreal, but on the other hand, maybe this was a way for him to... procure... one for himself? There were few opportunities for people to visit the Vaults outside being a member of the Indigo Ajah, so maybe Murdock ought to not look the gift horse in the mouth. Or at least, look at it suspiciously but no more than that. The slight furrow of his brow was the only indication that he heard her offer, as he steepled his hands together and listened to what she had to say. She was offering him something straight away, without asking for anything first. The request was going to come, he was sure of it. Nope, not a social call. As if she ever would, that was what friends did and it was clear that they would never be such. Elia couldn't stop herself from Compulsing everyone in sight, himself included. It really was the ultimate breach of trust; at least people knew what Murdock was doing as he did it.

"Are you seriously asking me for a review of our circumstances and the tasks involved?" Murdock asked in his detached voice, and if his brow had furrowed before, well, his eyebrows had both raised at Elia's question. This wasn't what she was here for, she had something else in mind that this was leading towards. Murdock didn't know what, but he was sure he would find out soon enough. The inevitability of more forced business together was going to come shortly, and he was going to have no choice but to go along with it. No wonder Elia was so curt with him when he appeared at her room, telling her they were going on a dark adventure together. "I have no strong opinion. I do what I have to in order to get the resources and the training that I want. What we do, and how we do it, is beside the point as long as I get what I want." The true depths of his depravity were subtle, but still waters run deep. The slightest smile on his face said more than his tone of voice could convey; their circumstances were not exactly ideal, but they were a step closer to what he wanted and needed. Besides, the golden prize, the briefest possibility of being reunited with Giselle was worth more than any amount of Rending study time.

His dark eyes shifted to the books before him and Murdock exhaled softly. "There are nerves which send signals from the brain to the rest of the body. We are the fingers; we are at the mercy of the brain. I don't know who they are, and I don't care for that, but I will do what I have to in order to get what I want. I am sure you are as ambitious. Why do you ask? Is there something else we need to do?"

[Craig]

Elia

Elia smiled in response to the imagery. It was quite a charmed way of thinking about it. Did the Grey Tower work in the same way, or was this just how the Black Ajah operated? A quandary for later.

"Is there something else we need to do?" Elia said, with emphasis on the first word. "What have we done so far? Nothing but a few trifling matters for my own part. I feel more like one of your signals, carrying information back and forth without really acting upon it." A crease of disdain marred her brow. "On what fronts are we acting? Unless you stand higher than me-" and Elia's glare said she did not like that possibility "-then I have seen nothing in terms of progress. The Tower was just attacked and near overrun by Seanchan, a foreign invading army. They did not even have agents inside the walls of Hama Valon." She perched towards Murdock, hands flat on the table, her voice getting quieter and firmer. "And how close have we got to such things?" She stared at the Keeper for a few seconds, determination clear in her malachite glaze, before backing away and straightening.

He wanted to be a finger in this automaton? Did he really? Was he contented to act as instructed, without any idea on what course lay ahead? Maybe, for now. Aside from that first outburst in his room where he became overzealous about his malefic powers, Murdock had seemed to have a deliberateness about him. Nothing obvious on the surface, like a meandering White or Grey, but it was still there. He would merrily plod along this course of being until he grew genuinely irritated, or had another avenue open up before him.

"You say ambition, but I think merely of prudence. We may not age as fast as others, but we still age. I'd like to still have some red in my hair before we see our just rewards, but as it stands..." She spread her hands in a sign of ignorance. "Maybe another army will come along and succeed before we've begun to pick away at the tapestry of the Tower, and then they can revel in the glory we shall be denied."

Murdock was watching her carefully, although what thoughts ran through the man's head was anyone's guess. But he is listening. That was a start, because that meant he was considering. Had she said anything that Murdock could use against her? Yes, sadly, of course. But the risk, as much as it was a risk, seemed worth it. They still had their pact, and she was still useful to him. It was doubtful that placid, stoic Murdock would give up their pact for just the suggestion of... well, let him decide what she was referring to precisely. The Indigo just stood and watched, waiting for his reply. How badly did he want his rewards from the Great Lord? How motivated was he to actively seek them out?

[Chris]

It was too much to hope that Elia would agree with his assessment without getting argumentative, wasn't it? Murdock should have figured he was only being asked what he thought so it would be argued against. Murdock was ever so tired of people sniping at one another. He had a lot of reading to do, reporting for the M'Hael, and no small amount of personal time to invest in. The last thing he wanted was angry Black Ajah aspirants getting ideas above their station. Those green eyes were the eyes of an ambitious woman; they were at a stark contrast with his own dull, dark pair.

He wanted to argue with Elia simply because any act of agreement could well be his broken head at play, but Murdock was normally a rational man. He listened to what he was being told and pretended it was someone he actually liked, rather than Elia.

"It sounds to me," Murdock said softly, "that you are having ideas above your station." A wry smirk crossed his face, "I don't know whether our superiors would be pleased at your ambition, or annoyed at someone expressing such sentiments." Ambition was not something Murdock was renowned for. He knew his position was not a high one in spite of being the Keeper of the Archives, and so far he was content with all that was required of him.

On the other hand, there was someone here who seemed to be looking for change, for better or worse. Elia's own ambitions would drive her, and if this meant moving from the fingers to the brain, well, Murdock did so prefer to know what he could study. Keeping a reign on the person who wanted the power was not the worst of ideas; they could implement the dangerous work and take all the glory, whilst Murdock could back them up if it went well, and throw them to the dogs if it went wrong.

"So tell me Elia, what do you have in mind? And why would you come to me with this implication? You trust me to not forewarn them that you are discontent with the life you chose?" Murdock wasn't interested in doing that, he really was okay with the current arrangement and change would mean learning the rules all over again. He didn't think there was any great rush to upheave the Black Ajah but then, he wasn't really bothered as long as they gave him what he wanted still. If Elia was more than a finger or a nerve as she felt she was, then he might have more weight in getting what he had joined for in the first place.

The man remained where he was sitting, but he was still calm and listening to the Indigo Sitter.

[Craig]

Elia

Ideas above my station! Oh, how that bristled inside the Shienaran's head. I became a Sitter of the Grey Tower almost as soon as I earned the shawl! At least I have influence here; I'm no feckless secretary. If the thoughts could be given form then steam would have billowed out from Elia's skull. Instead she appeared as unshaken as a mountain, only the fire in her eyes giving away any part of her frustration at being spoken too so offensively.

"I am not ambitious," she said coolly. It was a lie, as plain as any. "I merely want what is best for the Ajah, and that involves more than snatching a few angre-" She stopped with a strangled squeak, eyes as wide as saucers as she stared into Murdock's collected face. Self directed insults that would make a sailor blush ran through her head as she struggled to regain her composure. It took only a few seconds, but for an Aes Sedai that was an eternity. Red coloured her pale cheeks. "Regardless, there are more things we could be doing."

She didn't answer his question about 'the life she chose'. She knew many secrets, and had to mentally juggle who knew what on a daily basis. The truth behind how she had come to be a part of the Black Ajah was one secret that no-one knew. Murdock had undoubtedly been courted by a member of the Ajah, just as Mirin had courted her. The difference lay at the point where they had been put to the question. Just one question in truth, but with a knife to your throat and your own scared expression staring back at you, the incorrect answer meant death.

"Do you wish to join the Black Ajah?"

They were both Oathsworn. That would have been clearly known to the people in that room, the person with the knife asking the question. Bound by the Three Oaths, and unable to lie. When Murdock had said yes, or whatever specific snarky wording he chose, they would have been the truth. He had wanted to join the Black Ajah, become a Friend of the Dark, and foreswear his Oaths to the Grey Tower. With the Oaths, the Black Ajah knew for true and for sure that you were with them.

But Elia had lied. When she had sworn on the Oath Rod for the first time, the Three Oaths had never bound her. It didn't take long before she caught herself in a mistruth, and took very little time after that to realise that none of the Oaths held her, in spite of the shawl draped over her shoulders. So when the question came, she had lied. The Shadow was an unimaginable darkness, but death was a certainty, and Elia Darrow did not wish to die.

Her mind returned to the present. She still did not wish to die, but now the dangers lay all around. Discovery of her allegiance was one way to die, although stilling would be a slow and agonising death. Murdock and his Rending was another. Being dissolved into nothingness was stomach-churning, yet it still may be a better fate then what the Hall would mete out. After that was the rest of the Black Ajah - Emmond and Mirin and whomever else. Mirin was probably not an immediate danger, although she had to be dangerous. Emmond was most assuredly deadly, and also a member of that cabal of four that had abducted her. The Supreme Council. The leaders of the Darkfriends in the Tower. Emmond Salere, his Andoran voice maybe unremarked by most, but Elia had an ear for accents.

Finally, Elia slipped down onto one of the stools. She wanted to meet Murdock eye-to-eye for this. "The Council does nothing, and whilst it does so, our rewards are like grains of sand in the wind. If we want what we were promised, we must move against the Grey Tower. But so long as the Council are whom they are..." She spread her hands again, but the implication seemed clear.

Again, Murdock's careful look. Maybe he would have made for a good Grey. The Light alone knew what thoughts were lurking behind those eyes. One thought that had to be there, of course, was the fact that the Black Ajah was organised in such a way that knowledge of the hierarchy was segregated. Elia knew of Murdock, and of two others: their heart as it was called. Then there was Mirin, a step above. But that was meant to be it, the extent of their knowledge. Mirin probably knew of three more, plus one a step above her. That had to be Emmond. So how could they strike at the Council? That had to be one of Murdock's many thoughts.

Elia smiled. It was a beautiful smile on a perfect face. "And I know who one of the members of the Supreme Council is."

[Chris]

Not ambitious? Ha! Even Murdock, who thought of himself as one of the least ambitious people there was, had his own dreams and aspirations. Elia was lying through her teeth if she said she had none of her own. Everyone had their own agenda, be they Black Ajah or not. The Blacks were simply a little more forthright in how they achieved their goals. He didn't say anything as she choked on her words, but the slight tilt of his head and the slightest tug of his lips upwards said that he noticed, and was amused. She wasn't as serene as she liked to think she was, and these breaks in her affected manner were satisfying to see.

Elia joined him by sitting on one of the stools so they were facing on another. As a man who did a lot of work sitting down, this was more what he was used to, and Murdock did offer her a very thin smile at what she said next. She was not satisfied with the return she had made in her investment to join the Black Ajah, and was taking the necessary steps to get what she felt she was entitled to. Not ambitious? Oh Elia, you were not fooling old Murdock.

"I do not presume to know who the Council are or what they do," he told Elia, though it wasn't an admonishment for her own presumptions. If she knew then he was most curious as to how she came about that information. "The Black Ajah operates based on a foundation of secrecy and subterfuge; it is not our place to know the workings of our superiors. And yet, you seem to want to change this hierarchy some. With my help."

Here Murdock steepled his hands together and sat up a little straighter, dark eyes shifting to the only entrance into the archives before he looked at the Indigo Sitter. "You know a lot about our superiors for someone who has no ambition," he said, a bare hint of mockery in his tone. "Do not dangle these trinkets in front of me, I was rather busy and have much to do. Who are these people of which you speak, and how do you intend on upgrading from the breadcrumbs to the loaf? I assume you did not come here to brag or hint at what you know - you want change, and you think I will be able to facilitate that in some way. But tell me, in all of this you are doing for yourself, what do I get out of this arrangement? Why should I listen to what you have to say, rather than leave a discrete note letting our friends upstairs know you are dissatisfied with your current arrangement?" It wasn't delivered as a threat, and there was no suggestion in his tone that Murdock was inclined to go and report Elia. Better to know who he was dealing with than not, and there were worse people than Elia out there.

[Craig]

Elia

Elia peered down into her lap as she worked open a small cloth pouch that was tied around her waist. With a careful reverence, she produced a small metal belt buckle, and placed it on the table in front of her. It was an ornamental piece, shaped like a hawk in flight. Without saidar, she couldn't see the hawk's two eyes, but they were a paler metal than the rest of the piece. "I'm sure this trinket will be to your liking." She slid the buckle slowly across the desk, watching Murdock's eyes grow hungrier as it neared him. It was a lot heavier than it looked.

She continued to talk whilst the Keeper feasted over his new toy. "The name of the individual is not something I'm willing to divulge. You saw it fit not to tell me about our last errand; I'm merely returning the favour. But maybe after this you will be a little more communicative with me?" It was a fool's fancy, but maybe that cluster of weaves that had made him so mindlessly giddy once could prove useful again. "I believe the three of us have enough of the Power to shield him, especially with such gifts." She gestured to the angreal now resting in Murdock's palm.

Even if he was a child with a sweetie, he wasn't deaf. His eyes asked "three of us", and Elia merely smiled. "Yes, there shall be three of us. I hope that gives you more confidence in what I am saying."

[Chris]

Murdock was not known to be a particularly expressive man, but then that was mostly because the circumstances in which he found himself were somewhat lacking. People were not generally interesting or entertaining enough to elicit more than an exasperated response from Murdock. But as Elia took out a rather ornamental belt buckle, he felt his breath hitch in his throat and there was a gleam in his eyes that was never there normally. An angreal. Murdock was not a powerful channeller, in fact as far as Saidin went he was rather unimpressive, but he was dextrous with his weaves. This was what he needed to get an edge over the other channellers and finally, after Murdock's request for one, Elia had provided. She really must have needed his support for this, he realised. The Black Ajah did not lend itself to having many supporters within it, and so Elia's options were limited. She was pulling out all the stops to appease him and gain his support.

He didn't care if she didn't give him names, not when he had this new object to observe. "Yes, yes, as you like," he supposed. She'd given him an angreal so it stood to reason that he could probably trust her a little bit more. Maybe after this whole crazy idea of hers reached fruition, he could see how he felt based on her performance. He would learn who the third person was soon enough from the sounds of it.

"With this, and enough surprise on our side, I can hold a shield on most people." Murdock twisted the buckle in his hands, smiling. He wasn't going to wear it as a buckle, that would be too obvious. He could keep it in his pocket, that would be fine. He didn't want it to be traced back to Elia in any way, and he didn't want people to know he had an object of the Power either. "Alright Elia, you have my full attention and probably my support as well. As long as this is more than a harebrained stampede into an office, I will lend you my strength and my skills." Then if it did go wrong, he would put the whole blame on her. "Tell me where to be and what to do, and I will be there. Of course, this conversation never happened, and I get to hold onto this trinket indefinitely."