Fanfic:To Catch a Thief

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To Catch a Thief
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Amadie sat on a bench near the entrance to the Tower grounds. It being mid-morning, a decent amount of traffic moved to and fro along the paved road. Amadie held an embroidery hoop in her hands, and her fingers nimbly guided the needle and thread in their pre-determined pattern, but her eyes were fixed elsewhere. It had been a long time since she had had a truly free spell to simply relax. Over the last year and a half her routine had grown more and more grueling. At times she felt she would never make it -that she would simply shatter and be swept away like broken glass- and yet she still kept going, an obstinate desire to prove them all wrong growing in her heart. Today, she simply enjoyed the sun, her embroidery...and the people.

There, with a mule ambling along behind him, trudged a man in rough clothes. She did not recognize the cut or cloth, and he lacked a veil, yet she knew without a doubt he came from Tarabon. His mule carried his wares, and it was clear he hoped to end his journey at the Grey Tower, rather than risk the longer journey to Caemlyn or Tar Valon.

A little ahead of him, a woman in a Tairen gown glided along, her head held high. She seemed all cool, disdainful, grace- and yet her hands were twisting and untwisting her handkerchief, and she looked about her as if afraid she might get jumped. That one's coming to be tested,Amadie thought with some amusement. She could sense the spark in the woman- like it or not, she would be in novice white by evening.

Coming the other direction, Maelyn Gaidar strode, magnificently tall in brown breeches and a white linen shirt unlaced nearly to her belly button, her dark hair bound up in a braid thick enough to serve as a dinner plate, and an enormous sword slung across her back. Her dark eyes were hot as she spoke in a low voice Jonese Sedai -her bondmate- in an inaudible tone. Very curious.

Several spans behind them, a group of men in black -some soldiers, some Dedicated she thought- ambled along, one of them tossing a coin, another clearly channeling, as blue flames danced above their fingers.

She could pass hours in this fashion, simply watching people, reading them, making up stories about their lives. This one was a fur merchant. That one had been a tavern girl. That novice and Dedicated were going to have a tryst in the garden after the bells struck Low. Some of them she knew were true, others she made up on the spot, and all of them entertained her.

A man in gray passed her, heading away from the Tower. He had brown hair pulled back in a tail, a decently attractive face, and whistled cheerfully as he walked. He bore a sack over his shoulder, but otherwise nothing else. He saw her looking, and winked at her. "I thought I could channel," he said ruefully. "It seems I thought wrong."

"How awful," she said, her tone sympathetic. Which is worse- wanting to channel, but not being able to, or not wanting to channel, and being forced to train? She thought. "My name is Amadie, I'm a novice," she said, when he didn't move on.

"I am Lemm, from Andor," the man said, bowing slightly. "I am glad that the last thing I will see of this place is a face as pretty as yours."Amadie restrained herself from rolling her eyes -barely. Instead, she simply shook her head and returned to her embroidery.

After a moment, the man moved on, and Amadie looked up to watch him walk away. Something did not seem quite....right....about this Lemmfrom Andor. She frowned, squinting at his retreated back. He walked funny. He walked... He walks like Jaryd Kosari. Like a thief.

Suddenly suspicious, she set her embroidery down and followed him. No need for silence or stealth- the traffic now served as her disguise. As Lemm approached the gates, his pace perceptibly altered; he had confidence now, even arrogance. He had just come abreast of the guards when Amadie called "Stop a moment, friend."

He turned, smiling, and Amadie smiled back, closing the distance quickly. He opened his mouth, but Amadie cut him off. "Ji'alantin Tegoro, it would do you well to search this man's pack," she said calmly.

Lemm stared at her in shock for a moment, and then broke into a run. The two guards -boys they were, really- shouted, and ran after him. He made it twenty paces before a net of Air caught him, wrapping him tighter than a spider's web. Amadie did not know the woman in green who came around the wall, but her ageless face was all that was needed. As Lemm struggled, the Aes Sedai channeled, lifting his sack from his back, and dumping the contents on the ground.

Metal and gems spilled in a small waterfall from its mouth- coins, candlesticks, silverware, brooches. How had the man gotten all that? Amadie stood still and stared until the Aes Sedai turned. "You have done well, child," she said. "It is a rare girl who can see beyond a pretty face and perceive a man's real intentions. Don't lose that skill."

She tilted her head slightly -a dismissal- and Amadie hurriedly returned to her embroidery. It seemed her perception might come in use to the Tower after all.