Fanfic:Tempering the Blade

From Grey Tower Library
Jump to: navigation, search
Tempering the Blade
Author(s)
Character(s)
Harp-icon.png This is a piece of fanfiction.
Only the original author(s) or Librarian(s) should make content changes to this page.




There was simplicity in the woods beyond the Grey Tower. Asking for leave was not easily given but after a little convincing she was allowed to leave for a time. Carraidhin did wonder if they allowance was the Tower’s test of her more than a test she gave herself. If she thought on it long enough it was likely both. Carra did not wish to return to the Tower so quickly, nor did she like the idea of entering the White Tower to only find herself in even worse despair. Not to mention that either Tower would like a hold of her gift, one that still had not yet manifested itself.

Carra had not yet returned the Dream Ter’angreal, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to give it back yet. The past few months or so she had withdrawn a little from the Tower as she worked on her studies, was courted by Ajah’s, and took her sword to the Yard to sharpen her skills further. Dutiful was what one might describe her. A word that Carra would not have ever associated with herself, and now she felt that she had lost herself to the routines of the Tower. That her wants, desires, loves were just simple routine and of little more than nothing.

But now she was on a mission. Carra remembered the lives of her Arches worlds, memories that Carra would no sooner ignore. They were imbedded and she needed answers and there were some that might be able to help her. She had made the mistake of trying to find someone in the Dream World, in a place that would only lead to hostility. She should not have been surprised by this, but she was. Carra had hoped that she might run the luck of someone that would talk to her, but she was also reminded that any Red Ajah members she came across would not have the temperament of dear Amairwyn Sedai. That Aes Sedai was far more forgiving than any Carra had met and for that she felt truly spoiled.

Caemlyn was her destination this time. It was odd to return to such a place after only living there barely 2 years before. More? Perhaps a month or two more than that, but so much time had passed and she was so incredibly different. None would recognize her, and Carra intended to let it stay that way. She had saved her coin, what allowance Accepted and Novices were allowed, and had a few simple riding skirts made for her to fit over her sparing leathers. Carra could travel easily enough off road and could keep herself safe relatively enough. That and Caemlyn was but half a day walk away from where she started.

Carra really needed to take the time to learn how to make Gateways. Perhaps she would be allowed to learn before taking her Oaths. Chances were not. The Tower needed to keep some secrets from her and have her bound to them before sharing all the useful things. Picking up her satchel with her skirts carefully folded within, she moved her serpent ring to another finger before carrying on. She promised to continue wearing it at least, but she never specified the finger. At least Caemlyn was welcoming to channelers last she knew, and she would need it to gain access to where she needed to go.

The Aes Sedai was not a Dreamwalker. She held no gifts in this, but Carra had found her anyway. It took a great amount of doing, and was thankful that it was not Cairhien she needed to go. A curse towards Cairhien, Carra found a side door into Caemlyn that only urchins, and the unclean knew of and easily found her way into the outer parts of the city. She needed a place to change safely, but she knew that stopping at an Inn in the outer wall wasn’t going to do her any good. Finding a relatively safe corner free from leering eyes - as she had lived a lifetime running these streets - Carra pulled on her nicer skirt of heavy silken green, and a leather belt for her decorative blade. The tassel swung in silence on her hip as she walked.

The Caemlyn Library was fairly easy to locate, and the flash of her serpent ring gave her the access she needed. Aes Sedai frequently used the library, as it rivalled the one in Cairhien and the White Tower itself. Perhaps the Grey Tower as well. Carra appreciated a good library even if she did not intend to spend her entire life in one. Perhaps that was why Brown wasn’t an option for her. Carra appreciated learning, but desired to experience things for herself more.

“Is the Aes Sedai Maegan here?” Carra asked at a desk where an old man sat reading through thick spectacles. He gave her a look and shook his head slowly. “Retired for the day.” He answered, his voice raspy and deep. “I’m afraid she has appointments for tomorrow, she didn’t say. But Mae did ask to have a room set aside for her the day after.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Carra gave a slight nod of her head. “Do you know of a place that is favorable in town? It has been a long time since I last visited Caemlyn.” Not to mention she avoided the inner walls of the rich. At least she was dressed like she could pay her fare.

“The Crown and Lion is a fitting place to lay your head. With a clean common room, and good bread. I know the Innkeeper there and he will see you well cared for.” He gave her a quick look over, the tone changed slightly. Giving a hint that he was not so old as he appeared Carra gave him a nod and a smile on the tip of her lips. “Thank you. Might I return her, tomorrow, to spend a time reading?”

“You may.”

“Tomorrow then.” And Carra headed out.


It was three days before Carra was able to catch a glimpse of the Aes Sedai. It was the day after that Carra was able to find the Aes Sedai reading in one of the side rooms of the library that were set aside for private reading and study. Carra was able to gather that Maegan Sedai was looking into historical writings that predated the Hundred Years War, along with blueprints of old city structures and some novelty writings that a few librarians scoffed to be fanciful or fantasy. Carra found it curious reading for a Red Aes Sedai.

“Maegan Sedai?” Carra approached cautiously. Her previous encounter proved that confidence did not always go so well with unsuspecting Aes Sedai, so she attempted a little humbling in her voice. She wasn’t the woman’s peer, and it wasn’t because she was still Accepted.

The woman was short, like herself, Cairhien. With rich brown hair that flowed in curls like Carra’s only held back in what looked like a messy bun pinned together by two hair pins. One of a hummingbird and the other of the Cairhien Sun. She dressed like Aes Sedai, in well made clothes with embroidery, but it was still simple in design. Like those of the Brown Ajah. Why was this woman Red Ajah? The most obvious part of her look were the spectacles on her nose. At first glance Carra thought they were just glass, but her touch with Saidar told her otherwise.

Her gaze was sharp. “And you are?”

Carra indicated to a chair on a different side of the desk. “May I sit?” The Aes Sedai nodded. “My name is Carraidhin. I saw you once, but we met under different circumstances. I’m hoping to change them.”

The Aes Sedai set the book she was reading on the desk and sat back in her chair with her arms folded across her chest. “What are you hoping to change, child?”

Carra didn’t even wince at the term. “The Red Ajah.”

“You have my interest.”

“Men can Channel. The White Tower is not exactly on good terms with the Black Tower, or the Grey Tower. Both that support male channelers. The Red Ajah is the White Tower’s last defense of a certain tradition that seems to have no place in the world.”

“This is true. But why are you talking to me?” She could not tell, but there was something in the Aes Sedai’s voice that she could not read. Was it a smile? A scowl? Did this one have a sense of humor?

“Why did you join the Red Ajah, Maegan Sedai. Of all the Ajah’s I saw you as Brown. But you are Red. Why?”

“Well.” She pulled the glasses from her nose, and Carra could see a certain haze in her eyes. She was already blind. Did that mean she was born blind? Carra wondered. Maegan sat back and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Either you have Dreaming or Foretelling. I think it is safe that I do not know which.” Carra resisted the urge to smile. In this case it was her Arches. There was a joke in this somewhere, she thought to herself.

“You ask a pretty simple question, but the answer is complicated.” Maegan could see the smile then on Carra’s lips. “But you already knew that. You are.. Accepted? No, don’t try to deny it. You haven’t untapped all of your potential and the coloring of your ring finger gives you away. You are of the Grey Tower as well. There are plenty of Red Ajah members in the White Tower for you to stretch these thoughts. Why you asked me, I almost have a morbid curiosity to know, but No.” Maegan gave a shake of her head and put her spectacles back on. “I have played too much with the past and future to want to know.”

“The Brown Ajah had been my goal. From the moment I learned I could channel I wanted to be Brown. I love to learn, explore and create things. I can Create Ter’Angreal, so naturally the Brown Ajah should have been my home. But…”

“The world wasn’t what I wanted it to be. What good could I create if it fell into a world that was in such disharmony? And the men… Finding all those poor broken men who were tained from Saidin. It takes more than arrogance and skill to shield and Sever men from Saidin. Even more so to help them heal.”

Carra spoke up, “So you did more than just Still them and let them go?”

“Yes. We worked with them, walked with them as they fought the shadows and voices in their mind. Helpless, but we believed we were doing what must be done.”

“Were you protecting the world? Or the men?”

“Both, of course. We protected them from harming themselves. Assuming we could get to them in time. But ultimately our goal was to protect Humanity from something that would only do them harm.”

“What if the one doing harm was not a male channeler?”

Maegan raised an eyebrow. “Now that is a thought.”

Carra couldn’t help but give her a smile, as the Red Aes Sedai tapped her lower lip thoughtfully. “I was hoping you would say that.”

And then the real conversation started.


Carra spent the next few days with Maegan Sedai in the Caemlyn Library. They talked for hours, and even still the Aes Sedai taught her a few weaves as well. Weaves that would not normally be taught to Accepted, but weaves Maegan thought best to teach the Accepted to help her with her goals. Carra appreciated the lessons and the conversation but now her heart was heavier then ever.

Heavier, but filled with conviction.