Shared Secrets [Attn: Lisari]

[Hannah]

Eveayla walked into the small room and threw herself on the left-side cot with a deep, exhausted sigh. She turned over, flopping an arm over her forehead and allowing the other to dangle off the edge of the mattress. Her eyes scanned the ceiling above, a slate gray expanse of stone with a strange scorch mark in one of the corners. At least some novice, at some point, had figured out how to grasp the Source for more than a few moments. Eveayla could sense saidar but couldn't seem to do much more than feel it's warming glow. It probably didn't help that they worked her half to death so she was fully exhausted every day and every evening. Every part of her body was sore -- muscles she didn't even know she had were aching from all the scrubbing she had been doing. There had to be something redeeming about becoming an Aes Sedai, or all these girls wouldn't be here. She could certainly see why someone would consider running away.

"Sometimes, I just wish I'd never left Far Madding! Being an Aes Sedai can't be worth all this nonsense." she declared, forgetting that she probably wasn't alone. She had been careful so far around Lisari, unsure how if she trusted or even liked the other novice. Rumor had it that the other girl had an aunt that was fully raised to the shawl. That meant she was probably a premium boot licker, worshipping the ground every sister walked upon. Eveayla was pretty sure she knew the type, and it seemed likely that someone of that variety might be a tattle tale, too. The last thing she needed was more chores! She glanced over to see if the other girl was on her cot.

[Heather]

Lisari From under her blanket, Lisari stifled a groan when she heard the door open. She had just about fallen asleep when her roommate came in. It wasn't that she disliked Eveayla per se, though she definitely had an attitude about her. But the woman clearly didn't trust her. In fact, she barely spoke three words to her at any point during the day.

Lis peeked her nose out from the blankets and caught the other Novice glancing in her direction. If she could just figure out why there was so much distrust! She knew that Evvy didn't come to the Tower willingly, though few did. And from what she had gathered, the girl came from money, if not nobility, so she likely wasn't used to working for things, either. If there was one thing being a Novice would teach any woman, it was how to appreciate those who actually did work hard to earn their coin.

But it probably didn't help that the girl seemed to be having trouble with the One Power, as well. Lis wondered if that was by choice, as well. After all, if you didn't want to be here, she reasoned, you probably didn't want to learn much, either. It was hard for her to say because, to her surprise, channeling was coming somewhat quickly. She could see it in her teachers' eyes that they were surprised, probably in part because of Saowynn (who had been a notoriously bad student by all accounts) but also because she chose to hide that fact in class. Whenever Lisari was placed in a classroom setting, she made very sure to remain somewhere in the middle of the pack lest she stand out. But in one-on-one sessions, she felt freer to let down those guards she held up to see what she could do.

She flashed Evvy a sympathetic smile. "I'm pretty sure my fingers won't unprune before Tarmon Gai'don gets here." She looked at their tips, wrinkled and chapped, and made a face. "You'd think that with all the gold they have here, they could hire more servants to do dishes instead of us." Of course, she understood why they forced it on the lower ranks - to teach humility and build character, blah blah blah - but she desperately wanted to be friends with her roommate instead of strangers.

[Hannah]

Eveayla sat up in surprise. Not what she had expected to hear from anyone in the tower. It sounded instead like her roommate might actually be somewhat decent to talk to.

"You're not joking," she said, sitting up and tucking her legs beneath her. "I can't believe that they expect us to work this hard, and then concentrate for hours on end at doing the impossible. Don't Aes Sedai get treated like kings and queens wherever they go? Why would we ever need to learn how to do laundry of all things?"

She observed the other girl. In novice white, it was very hard to tell from clothing who was somebody and who was just a boring commoner. She wasn't sure how Aes Sedai ranks were determined, but she was fairly sure that it must have something to do with where you came from. There was no way that the Ammyrlin Seat could manage nations without having been nobly born and raised, she was sure. The girl looked a bit like those from back home, but didn't dress herself up at all or play up her features. Probably not Domani raised then, even if she was Domani-born. Maybe her family were refugees from the Seanchen invasion, from Ebou Dar. That might make sense. Her accent seemed right.

"Where were you from, before here? Did you want to come here, or did they just bundle you up and ship you off," she asked, voice flat. "If I could, I'd go straight back to Far Madding. Nobody has any business spending this much time around Channelers, and I'm not sure that they were right to send me anyway. They aren't having much luck teaching me how to Channel, no matter what that Aes Sedai in Murandy said. I think she just wanted to confiscate some of my clothes for herself."

[Heather]

Lisari Lisari's smile widened as she got the reaction she wanted out of Evvy. It was tough enough to be a Novice when she wanted to be here. She couldn't fathom how much more difficult it must be to be here against her will. Eventually, when the other girl finally started being able to touch the One Power at will, she'd learn to want to stay. But until then, it was just going to be a rough ride.

"Me?" Her smile faded slightly, knowing this would be a bit more difficult to dance around. "I spent all eighteen summers in Bandar Eban. It was nice there, but..." she paused, choosing her next words with care. "I have three older sisters, who're all married with kids and that's not really what I wanted. I hadn't really thought about becoming an Aes Sedai before, but my aunt -"

"Is she really Aes Sedai?" Eveayla asked, her words curious yet knowing.

"Yeah, she's in the Green Ajah." Seemed so typical for an Domani to choose Green, she knew. "Anyway, she had an encounter with some Whitecloaks...." Lis scooted to the edge of her bed to embellish a little. "She pretty much took out an entire company by herself. It was kind of amazing." The look Evvy gave her made her chuckle. "Anyway, she was is really bad shape there for awhile afterward, so we had a bunch of channelers in the house. Getting tested just sort of happened." She didn't add that it was by her own choice. Why ruin a potentially good thing. "And to be honest, my aunt didn't want me coming here. She's never had an easy time of it here and didn't want me to have any problems because of her. So, you know," she made a face, "if you could kind of keep that information on the down low. I don't want anyone thinking I'm trying to bank on her name or anything."

Of course, she had her own curiosity. "I don't know much about Far Madding. What's it like there?"

[Hannah]

"Well, for one, nobody channels there," Eveayla said. She was definitely intrigued by Lisari's background. A single Aes Sedai taking out a whole lot of Whitecloaks? She didn't think Aes Sedai were allowed to use the power as a weapon. Something really interesting must have happened.

"We have the Guardian, of course. It keeps anyone from Channeling in the city, and if someone brings in a Well -- that's a fancy ter'angreal, you know, -- well, the Council finds out about it and the Guardian can tell them where those people are Channeling. We don't have to worry about people wrapping us up in air or blowing us up or anything like the rest of the world does. Far Madding is one of the safest places in the world. It's very civilized."

Bandar Eban. Interesting. Who was the ruling house in Bandar Eban these days? Evvy searched her memory but the words didn't come. Lisari kept looking at her, as if expecting more information. Of course, she would want to know more. It was only natural. She was, after all, a very interesting person.

"My mother is the city's favorite weaver, and my father is a master tailor," she continued, looking at her nails with feigned disinterest. "They know positively everyone, all the members of the Council get clothes from them. That's how I ended up in Murandy, I was in charge of doing business with the royal family there, and one of the Aes Sedai happened to be there on envoy." She shrugged.

"I suppose you've already learned to Channel? I think everyone has except me, sometimes," she said, a moment of frustration showing on her face. "Do you imagine a flower or the river? I keep trying to do one or the other but I just end up feeling like there's something warm and glowy just out of reach. I'd keep it up on purpose but my mother would be mortified if they turned me out. If you leave Far Madding to become a Channeler you really should come back as one. I don't think I could go home again otherwise. Maybe I'd go to Andor, I have a friend there married to a noble." She was only stretching the truth a little . Surely Sabine had secured someone by now.

[Heather]

Lisari listened with rapt attention as Evvy talked about Far Madding. Like so many places, she'd heard of it but knew almost nothing. She considered it nothing short of a miracle that the girl had been found at all. While still listening, she wondered what it would be like to be a natural channeler like Eveayla in a city where you couldn't touch the One Power. Would she just never have done it at all? Would she start going slowly mad at the piece of her was missing?

When the other Novice started asking her about the One Power, Lis shifted her eyes away for a moment. Her ability to find and touch the True Source was pretty good. In the weeks since Leala Sedai had begun tutoring her, she embraced saidar more often than she didn't, which she considered a blessing. But she didn't want to make Evvy feel bad, either, or make it seem like she was bragging. "Well, I've managed to touch it a couple of times," she replied, hating that her voice grew breathless just thinking about it. It was worse than the crush she had on a man she couldn't have. "I found that the flower trick worked well for me."

She offered her compatriot an encouraging smile. "It's hard at first, though, for everybody. I mean, it could be worse - you could be a Wilder and not even get close enough to sense it." She shuddered, having heard some tales from Saowynn about the lengths the Tower would go to in order to break a block. "You'll get the hang of it," she added, sounding more confident than she felt. As much as she wanted to be friends with Evvy, she also noticed that she dropped a lot of names. Lis wasn't about to tell her that she'd gotten the chance to attend a feast held by the king of Arad Doman once, thanks to some service her father had rendered as captain of the city guards. What difference did any of that stuff make now?

Hoping to change the subject, Lis asked with a mischievous smile, "Have you snuck down to the Training Yards yet? There are some really cute Drin out there." And maybe a Warder that I would want to see again, her mind added as her heart raced at that thought.

[Hannah]

"I haven't," Eveayla answered, smiling back. Her roommate really wasn't so bad. Very tolerable. She might even become a friend over time. "Do you have your eye on one already? I haven't met much of anyone in the tower yet, besides you and the Accepted who brought me here, and the Mistress of Novices, of course."

She looked around at the room. It wasn't really so tiny, which was nice. There was room for them to have their own space and everything. Maybe her time here wouldn't be miserable, if she had Lisari to talk to.

"I have seen some of those fellows walking around in black coats, too," she said thoughtfully. "Soldiers, they're the same as us, right? Basically just male Novices. Do you know any of them?"

[Heather]

Lis could feel her face heat when Evvy asked her if she had her eye on anyone in particular. Try as she might, she couldn't get Jahn out of her mind. It scared her a little, to think of him in that way. He was attached to Saowynn, not her, and she knew they were intimate. But there was just something about him that drew her to him. Frankly she was grateful she hadn't seen him since they arrived in Hama Valon. She was pretty certain she'd make a fool of herself.

"The soldiers? Um," she thought about it, "no, I don't think I've met any of them yet." Her face scrunched up as she thought about them for a minute. "I suppose we'll probably have some classes with them but I don't know which ones. Maybe not even until we're Accepted." With a shrug, she decided she didn't much care.

A bell rang somewhere within the Tower, and she groaned. "Dinner time. That means I have to get up," she whined. "At least I'm not on kitchen duty tonight. You? Because if you're not, maybe we can do some exploring after we eat." She flashed her roommate an anticipatory grin.

[Hannah]

"I'm not either," Eveayla said, smiling back. She couldn't keep a hint of excitement out of her voice as she stood up and smoothed her dress, glancing quickly at her hair in the mirror and primping a few wayward curls.

"I actually heard that there's something happening with some of the other Novices later tonight," she said conspiratorially. She had overheard some girls in the kitchen whispering about it. Didn't they know that the inside of a kettle echoed?

"We should see if we can find out more about it, it's a secret meeting of some sort. It could be fun, if it's not all Novices and includes some of the Soliders and Drin. I could meet you there?"