Conversation by star light (attn: Mirin Sedai)

[Jack]

This thread follows "We All Fall Down"
Jerid Walker Asha'man For perhaps the second time in nearly as many months, a small glade in the Gardens was filled with a soft light. Silver-blue motes danced almost at random, almost with a life all their own. The area, far from where the phenomenon last appeared, was filled with almost a serene feeling, as if attempting to soothe those who entered it.

Jerid Walker sat at the heart of it, his gold-green eyes dancing almost in sync with the star motes that were his creation. It was one of the few weaves he knew based in Illusion, and unique in its creation. Rare were the days he wove it.

But it was ever so useful and very much needed at times.

More than a week had passed since discovering that his granddaughter had been poisoned and her dreams manipulated into making her see things no girl should: images of the man she had killed in defense of her brother, and those who died defending her on her journey to the Tower.

Jerid’s suspicions about Black Ajah involvement had been confirmed that day, and he had set a plan in motion to keep danger at bay for people who knew he would become involved and seek to hinder his efforts.

The Asha’man had quietly vanished in the days he stepped down as First Seeker, and with him other talented or strong Aes Sedai and Asha’man, many to Camden Corelle where Jerid now ruled as its lord.

Most speculated that he was tired, but the Indigo had made a few appearances in Yellow Hall over the last few weeks since his departure. To think the man was having an affair with Nyoma Sedai, the Yellow he saw, was absurd, and that he was dying was impossible to think, especially after rumors circulated he stood on his own when challenging a certain Aes Sedai and escaping with his skin intact.

It was a deliberate act on his part, and one he regretted as only necessary. But he extended the offer in a letter two days ago to impart details he’d learn and perhaps offer an explanation. The Asha’man sat there, waiting patiently, dressed in simple hunters’ greens and browns. The long knife at his side was a constant companion, as if it were a part of him. In his hand, he held a half-empty cup of tea and nearby a second cup and still warm pot.

He lifted his eyes briefly as the silver-blue motes pulsed in their dance, never stopping. He heard footsteps on the grass, but didn’t look from his gaze across the glade. He seemed singularly interested on a small pillar on the far end.

“Perhaps the one good thing I ever did beside my children was this weave,” Jerid said to the approaching figure. “It’s an attempt to remind me that even in dark times there is some small grace. Plus it’s ever so useful in preventing eavesdropping from external forces.”

[Jenny]

Mirin walked along the garden path. Her hands cradled below her belly to support its weight. The night breeze warmed her skin and rustled the leaves - otherwise, there was only silence. Under the sprawling starry sky, the world seemed at peace. Perhaps I should do this more often, she thought. She stepped into a small clearing and stopped in delight. Dancing lights swirled in beautiful, dizzying patterns among the foliage. Her lips twisted into a smile.

"This is certainly quite beautiful," she said. "A pleasure to see you again, Jerid Asha'man."

Her tone was pleasant, disguising her trepidation. She had received and accepted Jerid's letter, but had decided to reserve judgment until this meeting.

"Perhaps the one good thing I ever did beside my children was this weave," said Jerid. "It’s an attempt to remind me that even in dark times there is some small grace. Plus it’s ever so useful in preventing eavesdropping from external forces."

"Surely you've done more good than just that," she said. She sat next to him and gazed across the glade at the swirling lights. "Two more girls have been found to have ingested poison. Not so much as Cassie, thank the Light. I am glad that they were found. Nyoma Sedai has been treating them as well.

"And how are you, Jerid? I trust that your affairs are going well?"

[Jack]

Jerid looked up briefly, his gold-green eyes glittering in the starlight dancing in the small glade. Like the motes of light, the flecks of gold possessed a life of their own at times.

A faint smile touched his lips as he saw Mirin enter the glade, though it did not last long. Like everything else in life surrounding the Indigo, it vanished like a ghost.

And the smile was centered around the pregnant Aes Sedai’s choice of words than anything else. After more than 150 years of fighting and living as the Tower’s soldier, he knew one thing: his children were the best of him, both living and dead, for they didn’t follow in his footsteps.

“It depends on who you ask,” Jerid murmured. “There are some who would ask what truly separates me from the Dreadlords whose lives came to an end after I sauntered away. At the close, one often wonders if you’ve become the thing you’ve helped destroy.”

Jerid sipped his tea and inclined his head briefly as he murmured, “But it is good to see you as well, Mirin Sedai.” There was no deception in the Indigo’s voice, no hint of the arrogance or anger that one might expect given the events of last week’s encounter.

But he did frown as he set his cup aside to pour a second cup from the still-hot teapot. With simple grace, the Indigo handed it to the Blue Aes Sedai without so much as a word as he deliberated on the news given to him.

“I had hoped that would not be the case,” he murmured. “Either someone is wanting very much to hid his or her tracks or they have an agenda greater than my granddaughter.”

His gold-green eyes flashed toward the child-heavy Aes Sedai and he shook his head. “My affairs are as much to be expected given the demands of lordship. And then there is hunting rats, which are proving more difficult to pursue. It seems they have gone to ground, though one was desperate enough to try and enter Camden Corelle to strike at my son.” One thing was to be said about some Dreadlords or Black Ajah; they were not exceedingly prudent in their plan, because they hadn’t counted on Cade’s mother being there to cut the would-be assassin’s tendons. Lysira Walker was ever so protective of her son.

“The information the man gave me before he tried to escape was alarming, but sadly minimal,” Jerid said simply. “It appears someone may be trying to get their way up in the ranks of our darker brethren here and using the children as a ploy. What better way than to show you can get to any child?” He’d admire the tenacity of the plan, but the Indigo had a soft spot for children, and this crossed the line.

His gaze once more shifted toward the Blue Aes Sedai and he said, “For the behavior I demonstrated earlier, I apologize, but I learned long ago that those close the situation who might be of help often become the first casualties of war. I thought if it the appearance of your anger toward me was sufficiently justified, then the person or people behind this might overlook you as a threat. It would not do to have the Learning Ranks without a shepherd, especially one I respect greatly.”

[Jenny]

Mirin nodded and sipped at her tea. She was not yet ready to forgive him, though her temper had been mollified by his apology. His reassurance made no sense to her as she considered herself enough of a threat in her own right, but she decided not to point out this logical fallacy. Her brows furrowed as she received the news of the attempt on Cade's life.

"Was your son hurt?" she asked. "No? I am glad." For all the blackness of her soul, Mirin was fiercely protective of children, including her students.

"I am not the only shepherd," she said, lightly. "I have no doubt that Ravak and Jhanic could carry on very well without me. Especially as I plan on taking a few weeks off after... this." She gestured to her protruding belly and smiled softly.

But that's not why they were there. Mirin turned her attention back to the Indigo Asha'man.

"What exactly did you learn, Jerid? What do you know of this mysterious... "someone"? Is it a man or a woman? And what do you think their purpose is?"

[Jack]

Jerid tilted his head slightly, glad that Mirin might have support among her fellow administrators. The Indigo knew the role all too well, and was perhaps at his best when Miahala was Mistress of Novices. The two had complimented one another, at least when it came to their respective charges.

But he also knew the burden one held when faced with overwhelming odds. He had been Master of Soldiers for longer than perhaps a select few, and in that time, he’d had to defend his charges against the Black Ajah who sought to prey upon and recruit them.

In his time, few were lost, and Dreadlords died aplenty. When the White Tower started kidnapping members the Tower, including his Amyrlin Seat, and the Mistress of Novices had upped and vanished, things changed. He’d been put in command of all channeling learning ranks for that brief period, and had issued the orders to one of his Dedicated, a Black Tower runaway, to begin training the Soldiers and Dedicated in the methods that the Black Tower trained.

“I’m happy for you Mirin, and for the support you have,” he murmured. “I envy you that position and glad that you have such solid support.”

And then Mirin’s question came and he shook his head. “Not much. The fool tried to break through the shield I had in place, and underestimated the fact that a captured sword does not make you a threat when your Warder was trained by Caden Ives himself.”

He smiled grimly. “I think he realized that and committed suicide by Warder just to escape either what I had in store for him or that the Black Ajah would kill him,” he murmured.

His gold-green eyes were still and for an instant the silver motes dancing in the area ceased movement before resuming their own life.

“But what he did say, based upon the mannerism in which he spoke, the fear he spoke, revealed a lot. This Dreadlord is a man, and perhaps a low key member of the Black Ajah who hopes to either regain power, or rise from his current status. He’s a lieutenant at best, and but more than likely rank-and-file who wants to sow chaos and throw off the Black Ajah’s grand council.”

His gold-green eyes flickered in anger and the lights pulsed. “The man who slipped into my house revealed one thing: He wishes to become the next Fiery Serpent, to claim the position left so long vacated by Lycos al’Sep when he returned to the Tower and brought the Battle of Lights with him, and by his successor Lucan din Nicander Riven Sail, after the former was killed at the end of the conflict,” Jerid murmured.

Every Aes Sedai, Asha’man and Gaidin knew who Lycos al’Sep was, for the man had orchestrated a master plan to sow chaos in the Tower, including discord among the Ajahs, a Whitecloak battle, and finally a mass assault by Dreadlords and armies of Trollocs. He’d been a Dedicated then, and one of the Sovin Tar. All remembered that someone who had direct control over the Black Ajah simply for one purpose was infinitely worse than a faction constantly at odds.

What most people didn’t know was that the Healer M’Hael, Lucan Riven Sail, was Black Ajah, and the Second Fiery Serpent. Jerid knew through unique circumstances, and the man he once loved like a brother was perhaps better off dead for the crimes he had committed against the Indigo’s family.

“I imagine that this man thinks if he can poison and drive the learning ranks insane, he might distract the Black Ajah’s leadership,” he said. “His first mistake was making my granddaughter his first victim, his second was assuming he could attack my Tower’s children without repercussion.”