The Grey Tower

Over her relatively short time in the Grey Tower, Delaine had already gone through a number of roommates. The first one, Lara, had barely been strong enough to light a candle and had decided to go back home once the Mistress of Novices had deemed it safe to let her go. Jesi had gotten herself raised to Accepted — and then killed by a Darkfriend Amyrlin, but at that point she’d no longer been Delaine’s roommate. After Jesi, there had been a girl called Reesa, but she had been enough of a nuisance that Delaine had begged the Mistress of Novices to relocate her. Apparently she’d had a history of such things because it hadn’t taken too much effort to make Tamsin Sedai believe her, and Reesa had been relocated, to a farm as of the last Delaine had heard.

So it was perfectly reasonable in a way that the track record made her expect that whoever her new roommate was, she wouldn’t be sticking around long, either. Rationally thinking there was no reason for their acquaintance to be short-lived, none at all, and as she approached her room, Delaine was mildly frustrated with the less rational part of herself that couldn’t shake the feeling that this, too, was temporary. Though, of course, ultimately everything was. Who knew, maybe this time she would be the one to get raised and leave the small room in the Novices’ quarters.

Not that that seemed likely.

She reached the right door and opened it, making a beeline to unceremoniously dump the armful of books she was carrying on her desk. Then she sighed and turned to face the room’s other occupant, presumably her new roommate. “Hi,” she said, with a little wave of her hand. “I’m Delaine, though they probably told you that.” She sat cross-legged on her bed and raised one hand to her mouth to hide a yawn. “Sorry. Just… they don’t let us sleep enough! You’re new here?”

She listened to the other girl’s story, unsure what to say. She’d needed time to collect herself? At the farm? Delaine didn’t quite understand, but she figured it was none of her business in the end, and Laoise would elaborate if she wished.

“I’ve been here for two years,” she replied, then frowned and added, “…two and a half? Light, it’s difficult to keep count when days are all the same.” Except when war was declared and people were killed. Laoise was lucky to have missed all of that, at the farm, not that Delaine was going to bring that up. If the other girl didn’t know that there had been a Black Ajah Amyrlin, who had killed an Accepted in broad daylight in front of half the Tower, she was probably happier not finding out.

Pushing the thoughts of that aside, Delaine gave her new roommate a tentative smile. Smiling at strangers still felt unnatural; or rather, it felt unnatural to smile at a stranger she wasn’t trying to manipulate. Being genuine, she figured, wasn’t something Cairhienin were raised to do well. “Do you know what classes you’ll be taking? Or do you have to start from the beginning again?”

It must be confusing, Delaine thought, to come back to the classes after such a break, but she supposed it made little sense to start from the beginning completely. Either way, Delaine didn’t envy her in the least. Imagine the sheer awkwardness of coming across old classmates who’d all progressed in their studies while you were away!

At the other girl’s question, her face lit up a little and she flashed a quick smile. “I assume you don’t mean Tower history,” she said. Then she snorted softly and added, “Though for the record we were just going over the exciting times of Miahala Sedai’s first time as the Amyrlin Seat. Truly riveting.” Without waiting for an answer — it had been a very rhetorical question, after all — she went through the mental exercise of opening oneself to saidar, letting the light of the True Source fill her. She didn’t draw much, very aware that she wasn’t supposed to be channelling at all outside her classes, just enough for the weave she wanted to demonstrate. A web of Spirit, with delicate threads of Air laced in just so… She pulled the flows together, forming the Ward around herself.

She tilted her head slightly, looking at her roommate. “See?” she said, though of course Laoise wouldn’t be able to hear her. She dropped the Ward and released the Source again. “Sorry. That was a Ward against sound. One of the most common Wards for everyday use. Of course we’re not supposed to practice on our own, but…” She let the sentence trail off; everyone knew everyone was doing it anyway, it was only a question of who was unfortunate enough to get caught.

Laoise perked up at the thought of talking about Miahala Sedai’s occupying the Amyrlin Seat. Things had really changed since she’d gone to the farm. Miahala Sedai was a legend, of course, but Laoise didn’t know really much about her. She came from the Green Ajah, or so Lee thought. Perhaps, she’d do well to pay attention in the Tower history lessons so that she could glean more information.

When Delaine embraced saidar, Lee’s eyes studied the various flows used to form the weave. So much time had passed since she last saw a new weave that Lee felt like dry ground receiving rain for the first time in decades. The sight filled her with joy, and her smile split her face from ear to ear. When the weave came together and the ward formed, Lee studied the effects of the barrier. She watched as Delaine’s mouth opened and closed, but she couldn’t hear a sound of what she said.

As the ward dissipated and Delaine explained what the ward did, Lee struggled to keep the surprise off her face. That was amazing! “Who would’ve thought of such a weave!” Lee explained. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the like. Would you show me again? I think I could do it if you showed it to me one more time.” This was why she’d come back to the Tower after removing her block. She could learn freely now, and so many things could be done with the power. What if she could ward people to keep them from being hurt or doing violence? Could a weave hide her people from others who wanted to hurt them? Embracing the source, Lee readied herself to copy Delaine’s weave.