Fanfic:Morning Bell

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Morning Bell
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Bells rang out across the buildings of the Grey Tower, signalling the next shift of lessons and chores. For those blessed to be in the simple white garb of a novice, this hour was usually given to free time. If one should choose, they could while away the time in the Tower's beautiful gardens, tended to by plantweavers and expert gardeners, even the occasional Ogier. The stables and its adjacent field was another opinion for those that loved to roam free, but were kept from going anywhere by Tower law. The wiser ones used this time to catch up on other work, making sure they had full notes on whatever lesson they had just escaped from.

For one novice, her free hour was going to be spent in an activity not of her own choosing. A message had been passed down, from one Aes Sedai's hand to an Accepted's, from that Accepted to a novice, then from that novice to another's. The paper was white and thick. The seal on it was a deep blue, marked by the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai before the Breaking. In a fine hand on the front was written Farah Kattan. Farah still held the letter as she followed its commands, one nail idly digging into the wax. A shiver of nervousness moved through her body, starting in her chest and expanding out towards her feet and fingertips.

The indigo tiles below her feet went unnoticed as she climbed the stairs towards the Tower's fifth floor. She stepped aside as Aes Sedai and Asha'man came in the other direction, making herself as scarce as the Tower's servants. She was older than some of the servants, and perhaps even older than some of the full ranks she ducked out of the way from. Resentment had long died with her heart, replaced now by a vague acceptance.

Before she realised it, Farah found herself standing opposite a doorway. It was like countless others within the Grey Tower, with the exception of a small brass plaque next to the door. It simply read First Seeker. Farah raised her hand to knock when the door abruptly opened. Startlement never crossed her mind. Instead the novice stepped out of the way as a dark-haired man left the First Seeker's apartments. He flashed a grin Farah's way. "Sorry love," he apologised in a Tairen accent, before he walked down the corridor. Farah watched him walk away.

"Are you going to stand outside all day, child?"

Farah shook herself awake. The man hadn't closed the door, and before the open portal stood Elia Sedai, the First Seeker. The letter in Farah's hand had been from her. With an apologetic nod, Farah scuttled into the room, closing the door behind her. The novice kept her eyes low as the Aes Sedai approached. A black cat moved ahead of the Indigo sister, brushing up against Farah's legs. Looking up, the cat meowed loudly.

"Messy, tsk," Elia Sedai hissed. With a show of nonchalance, Messy made another half circuit around Farah's legs before moving off into the room again.

The Aes Sedai stopped in front of Farah, placing a finger under the novice's chin to tilt it upwards. "No need to look at the floors. You aren't here to sweep them." Elia's tone held both a note of irritation and amusement, as seemingly impossible as those two should have been in tandem. "Farah isn't it?"

"Yes, Aes Sedai." It was a bit hard to say the words clearly with Elia's forefinger beneath her chin, so Farah was forced to tilt her head back further.

"That's quite the chin," Elia noted. "How many men have cut themselves on that I wonder?" The finger vanished, allowing Farah to lower her head to look at Elia Sedai directly. They were of a similar height, Farah noted.

With a flick of her hand, the First Seeker directed Farah towards the table at the back of the room. Tall windows dominated the far wall, allowing for a wonderful view over the southeastern bounds of the Grey Tower. Farah stopped herself from staring out, instead scanning the table. There was an unusual tea set, consisting of a glass teapot and what looked like flower bulbs. At least the jug of milk looked normal. There was also a glass rose in the centre of the fine lace tablecloth. It seemed familiar to Farah, but she didn't immediately place it.

When both women had taken their seats, Elia smiled. Farah remembered when Elia was the Mistress of Novices, not that she had much interaction with her back then. From all accounts, Elia had been pleasant, but this was also before the Indigo's injury. Elia's withered arm couldn't not be mentioned, and rumours about what had caused it bubbled around the Great Serpent on occasion. Some said it was the Dark One's touch.

"You're staring, child." Farah blinked. Her gaze had been lingering on the Aes Sedai's right arm, although it was concealed by a long green sleeve.

"Sorry, Aes Sedai."

Elia shook her head in amusement. "There are a great many mysteries in the world, child. You may even have an opportunity to uncover some of them, but what happened to me is not one." Suddenly a light enveloped the Indigo Aes Sedai as she drew upon saidar. Farah just watched as Elia heated the teapot. "What have you learned in the last six months, Farah?"

"What have I learned?" Farah repeated. "I'm not sure I und--

"About the One Power," Elia interjected. "About saidar. What have you learned to do with the One Power in the last six months that you weren't able to do before?"

Farah paused to think. That question had a narrow scope. What have I learned to do recently? It seemed like a simple question but the novice struggled to come up with anything.

When the pause grew past the state of an awkward sentence, the light of saidar faded from around the Indigo. "That's what I thought. In fact, I'm not sure if you've been able to learn anything new for quite some time."

Farah just looked at Elia. The words should have stung, or at least felt like an indictment of some sort. Instead the Domani felt nothing. What Elia stated was true and Farah just accepted them. Somewhere deep inside, she already knew she'd hit a plateau, but her life for the longest time had been the Grey Tower. This is who I am.

Elia smile softened. "I think it's time you were freed from this glass tower, Farah. I think, perhaps, that we should have loosened the shackles long ago."

The calm acceptance that Farah had embraced started to warp as Elia spoke. Freed? Free to go where?

"The Grey Tower only looks to train those with the gift until they are safe to be left to their own devices, assuming they do not find a permanent place within the Tower."

But I have a permanent place. The voice within Farah's mind was beginning to fill with panic.

"In your case, that time has--

"No!" Moving around the table, Farah gripped a hold of the Aes Sedai's hand with both of hers. "Please, Elia Sedai, but no."

The Indigo's smile softened in sympathy. "I'm sorry child, but it is time. Your abilities are not increasing and they haven't been for a great deal of time. It is not the case that everyone who comes to us is destined for the shawl. Life doesn't work that way."

"But I've been here for years!" Farah cried out. "You haven't kept me here for so long just to loose me now."

"It isn't so simple as that. Everyone develops at a different rate, but in your case, your development ceased early. What you are capable of doing with the One Power is all you will be capable of doing." Elia placed her other hand over Farah's. "I'm afraid this is it."

Farah spluttered. "But what now? I'm thirty-five. I've given my childhood to the Tower, my adulthood too. You can't just send me away."

Elia tilted her head, her slanted green eyes looking through the tall windows. "I'm afraid that is not within my power, child. What happens to you now is up to the Mistress of Novices."

Farah sank to her knees beside Elia's chair. "But I gave the Tower my life."

"I know, child. I know."