Fanfic:My Life as a Drin'far'ji/Chapter Nine

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My Life as a Drin'far'ji/Chapter Nine
Author(s)
  • Kanamai Hukini (player)
  • Revelin Alder (player)
Character(s)
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Only the original author(s) or Librarian(s) should make content changes to this page.




Chapter Nine - Fixing the Mess

Nobody could describe the punishment as excessive. All they had to do was repair the horse-trampled gardens and wash the Green Ajah corridor clean. Nothing had been said about the chips to the tiling; though it was possible Miledha's well-trained eye had been the only one to notice until now. She briefly considered leaving strategic splashes of mud over the damaged areas, but Nesra had made it plain she intended to scrub the tiles to within an inch of their lives. The girl actually seemed to relish the task. Perhaps she could be persuaded to do the floors while the Aiel did something with the damaged courtyard. Miledha sighed with resignation as she realised her talents in gardening were severely limited as well. Left to her own devices, she would trim the bushes off just above ground level and hope they would sprout fresh greenery by the afternoon. How fast did trees grow anyway? There were so few green things in the Threefold Land.

Miledha's fingers kneaded the bottom of her coat restlessly. She had caught the meaning of Nesra's wink only too well. Despite the explanation of their equality, the Novice had it firmly entrenched in her mind that the drin'far'ji was a Lady. It seemed that no amount of persuasion would deter her from such a secure line of thought and the only thing left to convince her was getting down on hands and knees to join in with scrubbing the floor. Perhaps the only redeeming point of this morning's fiasco was that the Master of Training had so far not made an appearance. Miledha was perfectly certain he would find the punishment inadequate and supplement it with a few strokes of his rod. She winced in memory of her last experience with that object and hurriedly began to search for a cleaning cupboard. There seemed to be one in every corridor.... Ah, there it was.

"Come on, Nesra. This must be the cleaning cupboard, over here." She strode towards an unpretentious door just inside the corridor. Even with a horse trying to jerk the reins free of her grasp, a Gaidin on one side, and an Aes Sedai on the other, the Maiden had noticed every detail on her way back to the entrance. She had imprinted it all on her memory with the expertise of a warrior readying for the battle, where the slightest missed clue could result in death. It was not easy for an Aiel Maiden to cast aside training engrained from early childhood. Perhaps, in this case, it would prove useful.

The plain wooden door opened easily, fuelling Miledha's belief that she had found the necessary equipment straight away. "Now, let's see," she thought aloud in Nesra's direction. "I think we might need a bucket, and something to scrub with ...." That was the limit of the drin'far'ji's knowledge of cleaning floors. If they had asked her to make a buckler, it would be a different story. Miledha could tell you how hot the water had to be to harden leather and even the precise second it had to be removed and stretched over the base, but floor scrubbing was almost a complete mystery. She frowned at the Aes Sedai who had dreamed up such a malicious revenge. After all, it wasn't really their fault the horse had galloped off out of control and decided the Green Ajah hall looked exactly like a stable. Perhaps, if they poured buckets of water on the floor and swilled it about with a stable broom ....

Expecting a jumble of brushes, buckets and strong smelling liquids, Miledha was completely unprepared for what actually met them as the door swung open. It was a storeroom - that much was obvious, but not one for buckets and brooms. The young women had found their way into a magnificent collection of objects, which must have some significance to the Green Ajah. The most outstanding of these, to Miledha?s mind were stands of carefully polished weapons, hanging temptingly within her reach. Among them all, there was one that seemed to call her, shining like a beacon as the rest faded into insignificance. It had been many years since a sword beckoned to Miledha as this one did. It hung horizontally, supported by two pegs, with it's scabbard hanging below. The blade alone must be forty four inches long, with two fullers running two thirds of the length. It tapered to a point and the metal was almost white. The crossguard turned down slightly, made of a brownish gold metal, rounded, with small knobs on the end. The hilt was wrapped in dark red leather and long enough for a warrior to hold with both hands. The pommel was round and had an eagle engraved into the flat, coinlike surface.

Miledha walked towards the sword, oblivious of anything else. There was someone speaking but it was distant and indistinct. Time seemed to have stopped as she reached towards the sword. She knew Aiel should never touch one. All her training screamed at her to stop, but she wasn't listening. Suddenly, Miledha came back to reality with a thud. She had no idea why someone would leave a velvet footstool right in her way. There was an ominous creak as she plummeted headlong into the weapons rack. This was quickly followed by a frightening clatter as razor sharp weapons made their way to the ground all around her. The young Aiel blinked in disbelief. Several blades had upended themselves into the polished wooden floor, but not a single one had pierced her flesh. Hastily pulling her wits together, she stared, wide eyed, at Nesra. "That was too close. Remind me never to touch a sword. Let's get out of here and find the cleaning closet," she stammered.

Following on Miledha's heels like a trotting dog, Nesra was glad that there was someone here who knew their way around. A non-descript door in the corridor might very well contain cleaning tools, or anything else, and Nesra would never have wanted to open it on her own. As the Lady Miledha drew open the door, however, Nesra spotted a small plaque next to the door. Squinting to see what it said, she reached out a hand to make the Lady pause. She did not know what Enhanced Weapons Rack meant, but it didn't sound too much like cleaning tools.

That was when she realized that Miledha had entered the room, and seemed to move towards a brightly shining sword in the middle of the room. Licking her lips nervously, Nesra darted her eyes this way and that to see if someone was coming. This was surely not the right place to be.

"My Lady Miledha, I do be thinking we should be moving away from here... My Lady, do be so kind as to leave that sword where it is, if it do please you? My Lady? Lady Miledha?!"

Her last words were more of a shout, but they drowned in the terrible clatter that erupted when Miledha tripped on something and pulled down all the weapons in the room with her. Gasping and clasping her hands to her eyes, Nesra didn't dare watch. Truly Lady Miledha was going to get her head cut off by one of those swords, and it would all be her fault for not warning her earlier!

Yet when all fell silent again, Lady Miledha sat in the midst of steel with a dazzled look on her face. She did seem unhurt though, and Nesra let out a small squeal of delight at that. Helping the Lady up, Nesra tried to brush off dust from Miledha's clothes as they moved out of the closet.

"Yes my Lady Miledha, that do be most wise to do. Never do be touching a sword, my Lady. Maybe we should be moving out to the gardens instead, and do begin with that?"

Closing the door carefully behind her, Nesra made a mental note of its location and reminded herself to come back here later tonight to set everything in order. Leading the Lady outdoors was no problem, but then she stopped and overlooked the devastation that had been done. A lot of work for her... Shaking her head, Nesra tried to find some sort of gardener, or at least someone who knew where to find the proper tools for this.

Still rather stunned from her close encounter with sharp edged steel, Miledha followed Nesra obediently and completely ignored her My Ladying for a few minutes. She decided the Novice was probably more suited to cleaning up anyway and would probably find the right equipment long before she could. As the fresh air hit her face, two realizations did as well. The first was that Nesra had left her spears and buckler somewhere on the way to finding the horse. This was quite disastrous. Any passing Gaidi would spot them and quickly trail them back to her. There weren?t that many Trainees working with Aiel spears.

The second was worse. There was a slice of material missing from the hem of her coat - a new one, not torn by the incident with the bushes. It must?ve been one of those flying swords. ?Er, I?ll be right back, Nesra. I just have to find a couple of things. Do see if you can find the tools and get started.? Without waiting for a reply, the young Aiel sprinted back in the direction they had originally come. The weapons were back in hand in a flash. It was fortunate the Tower inhabitants were so honest. No one would think of stealing practice weapons laid momentarily along the path. She would never steal again either - not after having to own up to Caden about the jam. She hadn?t been able to sit down for a week.

Miledha?s next stop was the laundry. She did have a fresh uniform in her room, but the laundry was closer and the risk of being seen in such an unruly state, greater, if she took that course. It wasn?t stealing to take a fresh uniform from the laundry. They were there to be handed out to new Trainees as necessary. Although Miledha didn?t strictly qualify as a new Trainee, and she was taking it herself, rather than being issued with it, she did have a need, and that was reason enough.

Using her best hunting skills, the drin?far?ji glided around the open door, white steam enshrouding her and concealing her approach. There were few people in the laundry, with the Learning Ranks now in class - only the regular workers who made a living from cleaning other people?s clothes. Miledha sank to a flat feline crawl beneath a rack of silk dresses. It was the same movement she had used to escape the dining hall earlier this morning. The drin uniforms were in their usual place, hanging in sets according to size. Miledha had done this before and knew exactly where to find the right one for her. Slipping off her boots and the ruined clothes, she dressed hurriedly in a spotless outfit that would pass the closest inspection, used the torn shirt to polish mud from her boots, and crawled back beneath the row of dresses. A spear caught on the hem of a white one, leaving a small hole, but Miledha thought that wouldn?t be noticed. She ducked for the door and headed for the kitchens, not far away.

The drin?far?ji smiled sweetly at her favourite cook, adjusting a few plates on her way to the oven, and opened the door. There was nothing cooking inside this particular one, but the fire was burning hotly. The torn coat, pants and shirt disappeared into the flames in seconds and she shut the door, slipping out as silently as a cat. The girl hoped Nesra would have found gardening tools by the time she returned, though it was certain. She couldn?t have been gone more than fifteen minutes.

Stepping confidently into the garden, Miledha laid her weapons neatly beside a central fountain and looked for the Novice. Ah, there she was. ?Did you find the tools, Nesra?? she enquired innocently.

Nodding apprehensively as Miledha announced she would go to find some things, Nesra made a curtsy in her direction as she hurried off back towards where the horse had first entered the gardens. To examine the damage done, no doubt. Lady Miledha was very wise, and Nesra was glad to be in her company.

The sun had risen a bit while they were indoors, and Nesra squinted in the bright light. The entire garden wasn't destroyed, luckily, but a clear trace could be seen where the horse had moved on towards the point where she now stood. Through bushes, to the fountain, a circle there to eat some purple flowers, and then down a wrong path until it had realized this and pushed its way through another set of cut bushes. She knew there were still one or two mounds of horse droppings on the paths, and she decided this would be the best thing to see to first. Her tiny face paled at the thought of a Lady Aes Sedai stepping into such a pile.

Looking around uncertainly, she began walking in the opposite direction of where Lady Miledha had gone. She supposed this would lead to the deeper parts of the garden, perhaps even to the servants' quarters, and there might be someone there who knew where she could find the necessary tools. Admiring the flowerbeds as she walked past, she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. How were they ever to restore the trampled soil and broken flowers to this beauty?

Eventually, after walking along the spiralling paths covered in neatly raked grovel, Nesra spotted a small shed near the corner of the garden, and with a small squeal of delight she quickened her pace. Not running, no one liked running servants since it spoke of panic or bad manners, but she lifted her skirts a bit to be able to walk faster. True enough, by that shed she had found all she could want and more. A wheelbarrow stood propped against the wall, and next to it hung rakes, spades and shovels, and a variety of garden tools she had no name for. Opening the door to the shed, it creaked pleasantly and allowed her to look inside. There were workbenches with wooden trays of soil, where apparently new flowers had been planted to see if they would grow. Cutting equipment for the bushes was there, as well as small spades and pokers to use for the flowerbeds. The best of all though, was a large bowl filled to bursting with flowers of all colours. They would work wonderfully with the ruined flowerbeds! Clapping her hands in joy, Nesra hurried outside to bring the wheelbarrow to the door. She realized that she would never be able to lift the bowl alone, but she quickly chose a few tools and placed them in the wheelbarrow, along with a spade and a rake.

Nodding to herself, she grabbed the wheelbarrow and made her way back towards the disaster. Following the horse's path was easy, but she stopped by the flowerbeds that looked the worst and placed the small tilling tools there for later. Retracing the horse's way through the garden, she found one stinking pile by the fountain, as she had seen before, and one by a bush cut like a bear. It was partly hidden in the grass, but Nesra set to work with the efficiency that came from years of serving a noble lady.

Using both the spade and the rake, she managed to get most of the droppings into the wheelbarrow. Not all, but pursing her lips she realized that wasn't possible. Leaning closer to inspect the ruffled grass and whether or not someone passing by would notice, Nesra became aware of a chittering sound coming from her left only an instant too late. Straightening in confusion, she turned her head to look at whatever made that sound and found herself face to face with a flurry of feathers and beaks. Or well, one beak, but it seemed to be attacking her from everywhere. Screaming in startlement, Nesra flung up her arms and staggered backwards, tripping over the rake she had leaned against the wheelbarrow. The angry bird wouldn't give over with that though, for apparently she had intruded on his private area. Shielding her eyes, it was all she could do to roll aside, still entangled in the rake. Pulling frantically to get free and away from the bird, Nesra heard with terror how a tearing sound accompanied her sudden freedom. Not daring to look at the torn dress, she got to her feet and staggered away, blinded by tears. There were small downs whirling around her face, and one of her eyes itched to no end. She must have gotten dirt in it during her escape.

Hearing footsteps on the path, she swallowed a sob and smoothed her dress as well as she could. Seeing Lady Miledha appear was a sight for her sore eyes -literally sore, she kept rubbing that right eye furiously- and she leapt forward to tell the Lady about the awaiting danger. Lady Miledha had changed her garb, and looked spotless now, something that made Nesra feel even worse. Had she found the tools?

"Yes, my Lady Miledha, I did be founding them soon after you left, but my Lady... There do be a mad bird back there, by the bear-shaped bush. I do no be going back there, my Lady! But the wheelbarrow do be standing next to it... Oh Light." The last came out as a sigh, and she knew she couldn't be sending a Lady to deal with a bird. Suddenly, it sounded so ridiculous that she blushed.

"A mad bird, is there?" Miledha repeated. "Is it a nice big one? I mean .... would it do for lunch?" It was the opinion of the Aiel Maiden that any bird intruding on the freedom of herself or one of her companions had volunteered to join them as dinner. A purposeful gleam entered her eye as she strode back to the fountain and decided between a spear and the longbow. She was vastly superior with a spear, seldom missing her quarry, to the great consternation of the Grey Tower's garden squirrels. The thought of a bit of bow practice was tempting though, so drin'far'ji bent the bow and strung it deftly, chose five of her best arrows, and marched back to Nesra where she stood.

Nocking one of her yellow fletched arrows, Miledha stalked with the grace of a cat hunting a sparrow, in the direction the Novice had pointed. Her expertise with a bow was severely limited, but this fact failed to register with Miledha, let alone deter her from the task. If a bird had attacked her friend, she would attack the bird. The young Aiel felt every inch a Warder protecting an Aes Sedai as she slipped behind the bushes, listening for the slightest rustle. The drin'far'ji had forgotten even an average bird has an advantage. From its lofty perch in one of the taller trees, the abysmal creature dived, squawking and flapping, beak first, straight for Miledha. It was every bit as ferocious as Nesra had described. Ducking at the last minute, Miledha avoided the dive-bombing bird and rose to shoot it from behind as it gained height for another attempt. She drew the bow to the full stretch of her arm. This was quite unnecessary as the bird was not far from her position. Sighting carefully, the Maiden relaxed her hand and released the arrow in what should have been a perfect shot.

Squinting against the sun, Miledha watched the path of her arrow as it ascended gracefully into the atmosphere, missing the bird by a good foot and continuing upwards almost out of view. The young woman estimated it must have climbed sixteen floors in height before curving towards what looked like an open window. Miledha hoped there wasn't someone important sitting at a desk up there, or anyone at all really, important or not. She had no idea who resided on the top floor of the Grey Tower as the Trainees were forbidden to explore that particular part of the building.

As no head appeared from the window, she let out the breath she had been holding and nocked another arrow. This time the bird dived towards Nesra again. Perhaps it preferred white to the light grey she was wearing. Miledha sighted with the arrow from the tip of her nose and closed her left eye, releasing with uncharacteristic accuracy and sinking the arrow straight through the creature's chest. She drew a knife as it fell to the ground, and relieved it of its head.

"This is too small for lunch, Nesra," she shrugged disappointedly, throwing the head on the barrow along with the horse manure, and pulling her arrow from its twitching body. The body followed the head. "I suppose we'd better get on with the gardening," she said. "I hope you know what to do because I've never done any gardening before."

Staring in disbelief as the Lady returned from the fountain with a bow and arrows, Nesra clutched her skirts and bit her lip worriedly. For once not thinking about wrinkles on her dress, she followed Miledha to the bear bush where the bird had attacked. The wheelbarrow lay on its side, toppled over when she escaped, and the carefully gathered horse dung once more littered the white gravel on the path. Sighing, Nesra shook her head ruefully, but was soon interrupted in her misery by the Lady who aimed at the bird and shot. Nesra clapped her hands to her face and gasped as the arrow flew by, almost touching the evil bird. "Well shot my Lady! You almost had it there!" she exclaimed, but her glee didn't last long. Following the arrow with her gaze, she had to crane her neck and shade her eyes from the sun to see where it went. When she saw where it disappeared, she squeaked and immediately backed away a few steps. Into the Tower... Light!

Lady Miledha was unstoppable though, already aiming again and this time hitting the bird in full flight. Applauding quietly, all the while watching the window for an angry Aes Sedai or a mad Asha'man, Nesra followed to where the bird had fallen. At Lady Miledha's comment though, she was taken aback and momentarily forgot about the lost arrow. Lunch?

"I do no understand my Lady... It do no be near High yet, and why would my Lady be wanting this bird to eat?" Frowning, she wondered if it was some kind of nobility joke she didn't get. Probably. Instead, she turned to matters she could handle.

"Well my Lady, there do be a large bowl of new flowers in the shed over there. But first, I do think we should be removing all the broken and... umm... eaten flowers from the flowerbeds. Perhaps my Lady do want to begin with that, while I be finishing the horse dung?"

Realizing what she had said nearly drove her out of her shoes. Suggesting that a Lady get her fingers dirty in the flowerbeds?! Wide eyes widening more, she stuttered as she tried to cover her mistake. "I do be meaning... My Lady... Perhaps you do wish to be sitting down? There are very comfortable benches by the fountain, I do think."


Narrowing her eyes to make out the spidery handwriting on the page before her, Revelin muttered a curse and pulled the paper closer. Some of these Browns were hopeless when it came to writing clearly! She had gotten the general idea of the report, something about books missing from the Library and a demand that a search be undertaken in the learning ranks' rooms, but it was impossible to see the arguments. Sighing, Rev leaned back and stretched her arms above her head...

...and froze as something thumped into the back of her high-backed chair, about where her head was. Dark eyes wide, she clasped her jaw shut and slowly lowered her arms. Saidar filled her to the brink, sweetness and joy mixing with the fear she felt in her entire being. That sound... While Urikanu had mostly used melee weapons, she had been around enough people who used the bow to recognize the sound of an arrow hitting a target. But Light, why was she one?! Sinking to her knees on the floor, she slowly made her way away from the window. True, a yellow-fletched arrow stood out from the dark wood in her chair, still quivering from the impact. Her face pale, the Keeper wove a shield of Air and Earth to keep her safe as she crawled up to the window.

Looking out and down, she saw nothing. Frantically scanning the sky, the treetops and the marble pillars making the walkways lie in shadows, Rev was sure of the assailant. It was clear as the sky overhead that it was another attempt by the Black Ajah to eliminate her, and the knot in her stomach reminded her too much of the last time. It had been too close then. Too close all of the times, come to think of it. Gritting her teeth, she made another scan of the surroundings, and only by chance caught a glimpse of something yellow moving among the bushes in the Green Ajah garden. Triumphant she rose, in cover of the shield, and strode out of her office with the face of someone ready to kill.

The walk through the Tower took a while, but her pace did not invite conversation, and her face sent those running who saw it. Still holding saidar to the brink of pain, she chose the quickest route and emerged in the Green Ajah gardens only minutes later. The shield was in place, and she moved more hesitantly now. She was scared, yes, but it was overshadowed by the fury that seared through her body. To kill her in her own office with an arrow from the ground...! Spotting the yellow arrows again, she drew nearer until she heard voices. An Illianer woman, and... an Aiel? Straightening where she stood, she stepped out on the gravel path ready to strike down whoever hid in plain sight.

A gasping Novice looking frightened enough to faint and one of the drin'far'ji met her burning gaze, and it was all she could do not to burn them to cinders on the spot. Her voice was molten rock when she spoke. "Do you find it amusing to practise your aim on Tower Officials, drin'far'ji? Quiet! Not a word, or I will hang you upside down from that tree and leave you there for the crows! I will take that bow and the arrows now, child."

Holding out her hand, she waited until the girl had handed her the weapons before she continued.

"Also, it seems you have interrupted this Novice in her garden work? Or was she merely encouraging you, Drin? Light, but how far can stupidity run in you two? You will both spend a month on the Farm for this, beginning tomorrow. And don't think I won't tell anyone about this, children. You are far too dangerous to be kept out of sight. Now, you will choose a stick about the thickness of your thumb in this garden. One each, and then you will go to Kirenna Sedai and Caden Gaidin and ask them to give you a switching you won't forget. Exactly those words, children! Understood?"

She was going to explode. Holding onto the calm delivery of the words was an effort, and both her face and voice spoke of a rage ready to be unlashed. At least these two would be away from the Tower for a month, now! Almost breaking the bow in two, she gave them one final glance before striding back the way she had come. Kirenna and Caden were definitely going to hear of this. Now.

"If you call me My Lady one more time...." Miledha was at a loss for words. She had no idea how to convince the Novice there was nothing noble about her. Suddenly an idea sprang to mind. Glaring at Nesra, the drin'far'ji grabbed the shovel and began clearing the path of horse manure. If there was one thing she knew how to do, it was stable work. Caden had seen to that with her two months in the stables from after dinner until bedtime every night. There probably wasn't a drin anywhere in the warder yards more proficient with a shovel than Miledha. "Look at this, Nesra," she said testily. "Does this look like the skill a Lady would have? I'm not a Lady. I'm a Trainee Warder. No, I don't wish to sit down by the fountain. You start on the flowers if you like. I know how to shovel manure and I've done more of it than you ever will."

Miledha was so intent on cleaning up the manure, burying the decapitated bird as she did so, she only saw the woman approaching from the corner of her eye. The young Aiel took little notice as she fumed and shovelled. The woman didn't pass by though. She stopped and spoke angrily to both of them. Suddenly realising who the woman was, the drin'far'ji dropped to one knee, bowing before the Keeper. She wanted to let the Aes Sedai know it wasn't Nesra's fault, but the woman wouldn't let her speak. She demanded the bow, holding out her hand and expecting Miledha to hand it over. It wasn't such a great loss. The weapon had been confiscated from a criminal after all and she could easily borrow another from the Warder Yards until she was able to make a new bow. She could make arrows with very little trouble too.

Kneeling once more, after handing over the weapons, Miledha listened in silence to the Keeper's judgement. She shuddered at the thought of visiting the Master of Training with a switch. He was most unlikely to use it, having a much more painful instrument sitting on his desk. She fully expected another dose of the rod of discipline after this incident. A month on the farms sounded almost fun in comparison. Miledha wondered if she would still have welts and bruises when it was time to return to the Tower.

Watching the Keeper's back until she had left the garden, Miledha sighed deeply, quite troubled at the thought of such punishment. She would have to be braver this time. Rising to face her quaking friend once more, she said, "I'm so sorry, Nesra. It wasn't your fault. She shouldn't have punished you because you didn't shoot the arrow. I did. I'm afraid there is very little we can do to get you out of it though. Neither Caden Gaidin, nor Kirenna Sedai are likely to ask questions until after the punishment. I suppose the switching won't be too bad. You're lucky there. I'm afraid Caden will be able to hit a lot harder than the Mistress of Novices. I don't mind working on the farms though."

Indeed, it would be almost a holiday. There would be no early morning runs or getting injured in training, no study or having to have perfect uniforms. Most of all, there would be no Master of Training for a whole month. Miledha smiled just a little bit at that thought.

The rest of the morning passed with only minor incidents. The bear shaped bush looked rather like a sheep by the time the Maiden had finished trimming it. Surely no one would mind that. It seemed the dive-bombing bird had a mate. The unfortunate creature met a spear on its second attempt and was now buried under the new flowers to act as fertiliser. As Miledha shovelled the horse manure into the garden beds to dig it in, more than one shovelful made its way into the fountain, clouding the once clear water with a murky greenish tinge. Other than that, the garden was looking quite respectable within a couple of hours.

Stretching and rubbing her weary back, Miledha walked to one of the larger trees, picked her switch and flung it on the ground beside her spears. She would certainly clean up properly before taking the nerve wracking journey to the Warder Officer Studies.

Staring wide-eyed at Miledha as she practically growled at her, Nesra clutched her skirts again and bit her lower lip. So, she had misstepped, but Light she didn't know how! Apparently Miledha didn't want any titles, so perhaps she was in disguise? That must be it! And she had nearly ruined it in front of the Aes Sedai... Blushing furiously, Nesra curtsied as she would for a queen, murmuring, "As you say Miledha" under her breath.

That was all she had time to do before another woman approached, seemingly out of nowhere and with a face that spoke of thunderclouds and storms. Squeaking, Nesra bobbed into another curtsy and stayed down, head bent during the entire tongue-lashing this woman put them through. Nodding vigorously that she understood every word, the Illianer Novice was more than relieved when the woman left. And then came another surprise, from Miledha.

"I'm so sorry, Nesra. It wasn't your fault."

Wide eyes widening, she was sure Miledha was saying more than that, but she didn't hear it. The Lady was apologizing, when it was she who had done wrong?! Staring in disbelief as Miledha went back to shuffling the manure into the wheelbarrow, Nesra shook her head slightly. She would never understand the ways of this place, of that she was sure!

After that, they didn't say much but instead laboured energetically to be done with it. Nesra didn't look forward to a lashing, but she knew she could endure it. This farm they were to go to sounded strange though. Perhaps they had realized she didn't belong here among nobles? And Miledha would go too of course, being in disguise and all.

They finished sometime during mid-afternoon, the flowers in the shed placed out among the ruined flowerbeds and the soil raked and patted until it looked as new. Miledha handled the bush, and Nesra was stunned by what the Lady must have witnessed to create such a monstrous being out of the bear. By the time they were done, Nesra's stomach rumbled noisily, and her dress had more wrinkles in it. She would have to change before going to the Mistress of Novices.

Finding a stick of the kind the woman had ordered took a while, but finally she found one in a pile of leaves and sticks, obviously gathered to make a fire of. No one would miss one stick though, so she grabbed it and went back to find Miledha. Telling the Lady that she would go and change before seeing the Mistress of Novices, she added a few lines wishing her luck and such without really mention her title. She could be conspiratory if need be, Lady Valindren had taught her that.

And with that, she headed for the laundry which she had been in before, although not very much. It wasn't too hard to get there, but it took a while still. The hunger in her stomach had subsided by the time she found a clean dress for herself, and set off for the Mistress of Novices, stick in hand