The Grey Tower

Mirin giggled along with Betrys at the mention of their silly pranks as novices. But then, her expression darkened, although she tried to hide it. Her change in mood came swiftly and suddenly.

She had never kept very many secrets from Betrys. But ever since being raised to Accepted, she had begun to hold back information. The events of the three arches, for instance, were too terrible to speak of. And of course, there was her project with Aria Sedai…

The Black Ajah existed. Mirin was sure of it now. She had seen them in the arches. She had seen Compulsion kill a boy. The Grey Tower had channelers who worked for the Dark One, and Mirin aimed to find them. It was all very good to joke about Bonding and romance, but this conversation was becoming too raw.

“No, Betrys,” she said quietly. “I cannot fall in love. I – I saw something in the arches. I cannot, Betrys.” Her voice was sad. Love had ceased to become a possibility when she watched her future daughter die. Perhaps she could find love after Tarmon Gai’don. But not now. The world was too dangerous; the Dark One’s touch was too strong. People close to her stood too great of a chance of getting hurt. If her enemies could not capture her child, they could perhaps capture a lover. Or a friend.

Even Betrys. She realized this with sudden horror. Betrys could defend herself with her budding Talent in Earthsinging, but Mirin could not, in good conscience, expose her friend to danger. Again, Mirin thought of Compulsion, of the boy’s blank, empty stare. She thought of the woman who had appeared in her arches, her strength in the One Power completely dwarfing Mirin's ability. She thought of the Myrddraal slitting Lina's slim throat and shivered. The Black Ajah was far more dangerous than anything that the two Accepted could face.

One day I will have to leave Betrys, she thought. Or Betrys would be in danger. But not yet. Mirin was afraid that she would fall apart if she had to leave her friend. Her only friend. One day I will be strong enough to leave, she thought. One day I will be hard enough. But not today.

She hoped that the day would not come too soon – or too late.

“We’ve talked enough,” she said, and stood up. “I have to study. But before I go –,” she looked at Betrys hopefully, “– perhaps you could show me a little of the weaves that you have been working on?”

They had been good times. In retrospect, they had perhaps been the best of times, even if Betrys hadn't truly appreciated how much that had been the case, she had been happy to be caught up in the recollection and shared humor of the shared moments with one another...and then suddenly it all changed again in an unexpected and sudden way.

At first Betrys worried that she might have somehow upset or offended Mirin by accident - after all that was how their whole relationship had begun in the first place.

However, she was older now and far wiser. Betrys knew that simply wasn't the case, couldn't be and so she gaped a little open-mouthed and more than a little confused by it all "Mirin? What is wrong? Ya can tell me, ya know that right?"" she reached out and touched her hand "...are ya sure ya nae want tae say - alright I suppose it be ya choice and all" the shrug was an effort to see casual when in fact Betrys was actually rather seriously worried about just what was going on with her friend.

Perhaps a Weave would serve as a suitable distraction or at least help her relax a little bit.

She still looked worried though, even as she breathed slowly in and out, reaching out for that connection to the One Power, embracing all of it the wonder that represented and smoothly, easily shaping the selected elements with her hands into a shining braid of Earth, Spirit, Water and Air before she flung it out, causing it to spill down and into the plant causing it to spring up and start to form once more into what appeared to be a living, breathing thing. A frightening shape indeed as it grew up from the rather slim sapling it had been moments before.

Mirin saw Betrys’ confusion, and she hesitated. Part of her wanted to tell Betrys everything that had happened in the arches, everything that haunted her dreams. But some words were better left unspoken. After all, she had never dared to ask Betrys about her arches. It was simply not proper to ask about a person’s deepest fears. Mirin bit her tongue and looked down at the ground, avoiding Betrys’ eyes. She was too afraid to face her fears, too afraid to speak, because it seemed to her that speaking her fears would somehow make them true. She was simply taking the coward’s way out.

She massaged her temples. “I suppose that I’m just stressed, Betrys,” she lied. Then she smiled gently. It was difficult, when all she wanted to do was bury her face in Betrys’ skirts and spill out the truth, but she did it. And the warm affection in her voice was genuine. “Thank you so much for being here for me. I know that I’m not the easiest of people to get along with, but you’ve never, ever, let me down. I just want you to know that, even if we end up in different Ajahs, I will always be here for you, too. I promise, Betrys. Always.”

The glow of saidar appeared around Betrys as she began to channel. Mirin’s eyes lit up. The weave was breathtaking, a shining, complex braid of the One Power, woven from multiple elements. Not for the first time, Mirin felt a small stab of jealousy at the ease with which Betrys wove Earth, but she forced it down. She had realized her own strengths and weaknesses long ago. She was glad for her friend – that’s all.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed. Then, she giggled, covering her mouth. “The weave I mean. The plant is hideous, but in a good way, of course! I’m so proud of you. What is it for?”

Betrys knew her friend well enough to understand when she was holding back but she also understood that pushing her on the subject she was clearly not ready for sharing would be a seriously bad idea and not one that would result in either of them leaving here satisfied or happy.

It was why she'd concentrated on the Weave, allowing it distract both of them from the line of questioning that would only lead to pain, they both had years before being Raised again which was more than enough time to figure out which Ajah was best suited to them and vice versa. At least that was what Betrys believed "I hae tae admit I find my thoughts tumble from one to the other and back again when it comes to Ajah and the choosing of them" she admitted softly.

Did Mirin ever feel like that as well?

"Use? Well I saw them as guards..." she suggested and looked over at Mirin "What do ya think?" Betrys had been toying with ideas and thoughts for some time and this was what she'd come up with so far, the idea doubtless needed work though.

"My thoughts tumble too," Mirin admitted. Her mind spun. Grey, Blue, or Indigo? She didn't know. She looked at her friend thoughtfully.

"Some of the other Accepted seem so certain. For example, Leala has chosen the White, Rhykana will join the Indigo, and Makenna has already declared for the Brown. But I think that it is acceptable for the two of us to be uncertain. After all, we are the youngest here. Betrys, you said that you liked Yellow or Green, right? Yes, I can see you in one of those Ajahs. Either one would suit you beautifully."

She beamed at her friend, and then glanced again at the plant. It stood awkwardly in the center of the room, its "face" twisted in a grotesque expression. Mirin stifled a shudder. It was truly a hideous... thing. She stepped in a careful circle around it, careful not touch any of its razor-sharp leaves. A sudden thought occurred to her. If it could serve as a guard, then did it have a mind? If so, then would Compulsion work on it?

"Does it move?" she asked. "Does it think?"

She felt herself flush at the comment regarding the Ajah "I've imagined picking them both sometimes. Which is impossible but actually making the choice is going tae be so hard. Perhaps...perhaps it just comes to you" she shrugged, the mysteries of how the others had picked their chosen Ajah were far beyond her ability to guess and Betrys wasn't going to make the attempt "We are young! I forget sometimes, compared tae the other Sisters here we are wee babes in arms" in fact they had been young when her own grandparents had been babes in arms, not that age was ever directly mentioned or applied to the various older women (and men) in the Tower as a matter of courtesy.

"Not...think. I am working on it having some responses but it is still the early stages. I was concentrating on making it look fearsome!" she grinned and stood up to walk over to her friend.

Betrys wove some more air and directed the plant to push out, in a sudden movement towards Mirin intended to startle her with the sudden movement, not that she imagined it would be that terrible or surprising but she wasn't looking to actually truly terrify the other woman but rather make it more of a joke than anything else. Betrys was definitely looking forward to spending time working on her pet project and at at least Mirin wasn't dismissing her whole idea at all.

Mirin sensed the other woman channeling. A weave of Air? she thought. She turned to look at Betrys, and felt something touch her from behind.

The plant!?? She screamed. "EEEK! Betrys, help! It moved! .... oh." She suddenly realized what had happened and blushed bright red. "Very funny," she said sarcastically in mock anger, but she could not hide her smile. Her smile wavered, and then she dissolved into a fit of giggles. She collapsed on Betrys bed.

She managed to gasp out words in between bursts of laughter. "Can you imagine if you managed to copy this weave all around the Tower gardens? Hahaha, oh, that would be a hilarious prank! Oh Light, we haven't played a prank since we've been raised! What do you think, Betrys? Should we do it?"

She couldn't stop the laughter that fell from her own lips, the world had appeared to become so serious in the wake of her Raising and Betrys missed the innocence that she had once known.

She was glad that Mirin was so willing to share in the moment without taking offense, they had both come a long way from their early days here when it would have been far better to have described them as enemies or at the very best careful acquaintances.

They'd learned a lot since then and it showed.

"I couldnae resist and ya face was totally worth it!" she answered, struggling to get the words out from around her own laughter about the whole situation. It was just to much fun to scare Mirin like that "You mean can I? hmm...I ken I'd be doing all the work, right? But...we could - whom did you hae in mind for this?" she asked. The idea of a prank should have worried her but Betrys couldn't deny that as much trouble as it had often landed them in it had always been worth it.

Mirin's eyes gleamed. "Our target? Why, the entire Grey Tower! I was thinking that you could transform every plant in the garden into a different monster. The sisters and brothers will have such a fright when they wake up and see a fist of Trollocs sitting in the garden! Do you think that would be difficult, Betrys? We could do it sometime next week, at night. I don't have any ability with Earth, but I'll watch your back and make sure that we don't get caught."

She suddenly glanced out the window and leapt up from the bed. "Oh no! It's getting late and I really need to gather my materials for class tomorrow. Think on it, Betrys, and let me know your thoughts later. We can plan this out tomorrow."

They embraced and bid each other good night.