The Grey Tower

There was a piece of paper laying in the middle of Liaran's bed. The Accepted stared at it for a moment, confused, before crossing her room to pick it up. It bore her name on the front, written in a handwriting she could easily identify as her mother's. What does she want? the Accepted wondered. Her contact with either parent was, at best, sporadic, and had been ever since she'd learned she could channel. For her mother to be writing her now meant she must have some news of particular importance. The Sea Folk woman sat on her bed, opened the letter, and began to read.

Liaran,
I hope this letter finds you well. Your father and I remain in the same posts as we held when you left us, though I have had to serve ashore on Tremalking recently, taking my turn as governor. I should have been back on the ships by now, but my replacement wrote to inform me that her darter is currently unable to leave their port in Whitebridge, as most of the crew has fallen ill. Is this Whitebridge close to your Grey Tower? I thought it was, but I know little of your shorebound cities. If it is, I wanted to ask if you could do anything to assist them. They'll never ask, but I believe their Windfinder would speak to you if you approached them first. I don't ask this merely to escape my shore duty, though I won't deny I'm ready to leave. I ask because I am concerned that the crew may begin to lose lives, if they can neither find help nor sail away from Whitebridge. Should you agree, the ship is a darter called Deep Ocean, and his Sailmistress is Shannah din Aban Soaring Gull. Will you please consider this, for our people?
In the Light,
Zerille din Chelai Bright Moon

The letter wasn't quite what Liaran had expected. She'd thought possibly her mother had some sort of news from their family to pass on. Though she agreed that the ship in Whitebridge likely did need the Grey Tower to help, the Accepted wasn't sure what she could possibly do about it. She was no Healer, nor was she Aes Sedai. By herself, she could do nothing. Liaran laid down on her bed, her mind running through possible solutions. She didn't doubt that the Yellow Ajah would help if asked, but the problem was that she knew so few of them. There was, of course, Velanya Sedai, but she was sure that the Mistress of Novices would not allow her to accompany any Yellows that were sent, and not at all certain that such a group would be welcome aboard the ailing ship. No, she needed to take the letter to someone who would at least be open to allowing her to go with them. It took her some time, but Liaran finally recalled the name of Gareth Asha'man, who had been in charge of that horrible trip to Vaidulo. She had no idea if he'd listen to her, but asking would do no harm, and certainly sounded like a better possibility than taking her problem to the Mistress of Novices.

Her decision made, Liaran left her room, letter in hand, and went straight to the infirmary. It wasn't a place she visited often, and was relieved when a dark haired Aes Sedai asked her what she needed nearly as soon as she had entered. "I'm looking for Gareth Asha'man," she said, hoping she'd remembered the name correctly. "Do you know if he's available?" Liaran desperately hoped the Asha'man wasn't out of the Tower. The more she considered her only other option, Velanya Sedai, the more certain she became that that would not be a good idea. "I don't know, Accepted," the Yellow sister answered. "If you will just wait here, I will go and see." The Aes Sedai left, and Liaran leaned against the wall slightly, anticipating that she would have quite the long wait, if Gareth Asha'man was even willing to listen to her.

"There's a Sea Folk ship in Whitebridge whose crew is falling sick and can't depart for their home port," Liaran answered. As she spoke she unfolded the letter in her hand and gave it to the Asha'man, allowing him to read the letter for himself. It explained the situation better than Liaran thought she could. When she thought he had finished, she added, "I don't know anything about Healing, but I think this crew needs help. Do you think any of the Yellows would be willing?" She took a breath before continuing. Liaran didn't know Gareth Asha'man well, and though she thought he'd be more agreeable to her going than Velanya Sedai, the Accepted just wasn't certain. "I'd have to go also. I fear that if a group of Yellows set out alone, they might not even be allowed aboard. My people don't have a great amount of trust for any of the Towers, and this crew most likely believes that if they ask the Grey Tower for Healing, they will then owe us a gift of equal value. If I am present, the Sailmistress will be more likely to believe me when I say that they will owe the Tower no debt."

Liaran bent her neck looking up at the Asha'man, trying to determine what his response would be. If he interpreted her desire to accompany them as a demand, she would likely find herself going nowhere except Velanya Sedai's office. She did not think she had misjudged the Asha'man that badly, but it was impossible for her to be sure. She straightened her back, clasping her hands together to avoid fidgeting nervously while she waited to find out what her fate, and the crew's fate, would be.

Liaran looked into the mirror in her room, staring at the unfamiliar face of a Windfinder that was reflected back at her. It was her own face, of course, but it had been years since she'd seen herself as she appeared this morning. She'd put on every piece of jewelry that she had earned during her time as Windfinder, which for her meant two earrings in one ear, three in the other, and her honor chain with its two medallions stretching between an earring and a stud in the side of her nose. The Accepted reached up and fiddled with one of the medallions. It felt odd to her to have them laying there against her cheek, and she thought the jewelry looked ridiculous with the ordinary banded dress she wore, but none of it could be helped. She needed to be able to earn the trust of Sailmistress and crew, and that meant making her former rank as Windfinder as clear as she possibly could.

She was a bit nervous as she closed the door to her room to meet with the pair of Yellows. Although she was allowed some jewelry as an Accepted, Liaran had not touched any of it since she'd left the sea to return to the Grey Tower. She'd badly wanted to fit in with the others, and still did, which for her meant not drawing attention to the life she'd once led. Even just walking the halls, knowing she appeared to be some strange combination of Sea Folk Windfinder and Accepted, made Liaran feel uneasy. She could hear her earrings clinking against each other, making her wonder if the two would be able to hear her coming before they saw her. She'd never noticed the noise on the ships, but the Tower was a much quieter place at this hour. It made her feel even more as if she stood out, a curiosity to be stared at and nothing more. The Accepted was grateful that few others besides servants were awake to notice her, though she wished the hall by the infirmary weren't empty. She had been hoping that Thea Sedai and Gareth Asha'man would have arrived first, but it looked as though she would have to wait for them. Liaran hovered by the infirmary door, twisting one of the medallions between tattooed fingers. She could have sworn they hadn't bothered her aboard the ships, but there, she hadn't been nearly as aware of them as she was now.

Liaran didn't have to stand idly in the hall for very long before Gareth Asha'man and Thea Sedai joined her, nearly at the same time. She curtsied to them both, relieved that neither had anything to say about her rather unusual appearance. She was more than ready to leave the Tower, and had already turned to go when the Asha'man asked her a question. The Accepted wasn't really sure why he asked. Does he think I haven't told him everything I know already?

"I don't know anything else about the ship's situation other than what my mother told me in her letter," Liaran said. Those were all the facts she had, but a suspicion had begun to nag at her the more she thought about the stranded ship. "I am worried that whatever illness they have may be rather severe. I've never actually heard of anyone becoming stranded like this. Most often, if someone is sick, he or she will try to keep working in order to make it to the next port on time. If enough of the crew members are so sick that they can't manage to work, I would guess that most of them, if not all, are seriously ill, but this is only a guess, and I could be wrong." Liaran certainly wanted to be wrong, but didn't think she was. Though she was ready to leave, she wasn't exactly eager to arrive at the ship and find out just how dire their situation might be.

Liaran had been trailing slightly behind the Asha'man, hardly expecting either of the Yellows to have anything to say to her. She had definitely not expected Gareth Asha'man to turn to her and ask her for advice about the coming trip. For a moment, the request rattled her enough that Liaran wasn't sure what to say, and it took the Accepted a moment to gather her thoughts. She hurried her steps, doing the best she could to catch up. "You shouldn't need to worry about offending anyone." she told him. "My people are used to trading with others, and won't expect you to know Sea Folk customs." The Accepted reached up, playing with one of the lower earrings she wore. "I'm sure you've noticed the jewelry I'm wearing," she continued. "Among the Sea Folk, the number of earrings one wears indicates his or her rank. Those who wear more are higher ranking crew members. Mine will let anyone looking at me know immediately that I am a Windfinder and have completed my apprenticeship, though I am still rather low ranking." Liaran hoped that wouldn't be a problem when she met the ship's Windfinder, but she didn't expect it to be, as the ship in question was a darter such as the ones she had served on. Most likely, the Windfinder would not rank much more highly than Liaran herself, or she would have been serving at the least aboard a soarer.

"I think the biggest problem we will all face is getting the Sailmistress to understand the concept of a freely given gift. The Sea Folk are a trading people, and will expect to have to offer us something in return for Healing, which is why they would never have approached the Tower to ask for help. I don't know if it will be possible to make this understood, and if not, we may have to come up with something that the ship has to offer us in order to get the Sailmistress to accept Healing for them." Liaran had no idea what that could be, and was honestly hoping they didn't have that problem, or that if they did, one of the Yellows would have more of an idea than she did.

She looked up at Gareth Asha'man, as much as she could considering that she walked beside him and he towered over her. The Accepted was reluctant to bring up the last thing that had occurred to her as a potential problem, but she knew she had to address it. She reminded herself that Gareth Asha'man deserved to know exactly what he might be walking into. "There's one other thing that might be a problem for you," she explained, lowering her voice. Thea Sedai wouldn't need this information, though Liaran didn't think the other Yellow was close enough to hear her anyways. "We don't have men who can channel aboard our ships. If this ship docks regularly in Whitebridge, the crew may be used to Asha'man. If they don't, you may be the first any of them have ever met." She had no idea which of those possibilities was more likely. Whitebridge had not been a common port for the ships she'd grown up on, but she knew other darters sailed there more often than those from her clan. Gareth Asha'man didn't appear offended by the information, so she kept talking. "If this crew is not familiar with Asha'man, they may very well be afraid of you, or want nothing to do with you. I'm afraid that if this happens, Thea Sedai will have an easier time working with the crew than you will." She looked away from the Yellow, well aware that that information was probably not what the Asha'man wanted to hear, necessary or not.