Re: Sweeping away the Past [open]
Posted: April 5th, 2017, 3:43 am
Lee’s body began to rack with the sobs that she’d held tight inside of her since coming to the Tower. The fear, the worry, the sheer terror of her actions haunted her, thick claws of shame digging into her flesh and tearing out pieces of her soul with every passing day. It was only in this conversation with another, with this Aes Sedai, that Lee had even been able to admit her fear to herself, let alone to someone else, and the confession of her deepest secret had pried loose one of those claws, leaving a gaping hole inside her. How could she go on being? How could she be Laoise Arged? Better that she cut off her own hand than ever do violence to anyone! She felt more than hearing the words that the Aes Sedai spoke over her, words of instruction--always instruction first. Every moment was a lesson, and Lee sobbed harder as she realized that she had so much to learn.
The whole of it was worthless.
The touch of the Aes Sedai’s hands on her shoulders brought Lee up short, the sobs receding at the connection made by physical touch. She still shook from time to time as her lungs fought to regain the air lost in crying. “I…” started Laoise, fighting to regain her composure. “I will, Aes Sedai,” she replied, “I will not be afraid.” Her conviction was flimsy, a small leaf floating in the maelstrom of her emotions, but it could not be destroyed. It was the leaf, accepting all that came to it and riding the winds until it found its resting place. Lee could survive this. She could overcome the whirlwind within her. She was the Leaf, and she knew her way.
“Thank you, Aes Sedai,” Lee said as she tightened her grip on the broom and set her bloodshot eyes on the path before her. “If you’ll excuse me, I do not think Velanya Sedai would be pleased if I missed my next lesson because I was finishing a chore she set me.” Lee tried a weak smile on the Aes Sedai, but her heart was not fully in it. Soon enough, though, she would smile like she had before coming to this place. She just had some answers to find within herself first.
The whole of it was worthless.
The touch of the Aes Sedai’s hands on her shoulders brought Lee up short, the sobs receding at the connection made by physical touch. She still shook from time to time as her lungs fought to regain the air lost in crying. “I…” started Laoise, fighting to regain her composure. “I will, Aes Sedai,” she replied, “I will not be afraid.” Her conviction was flimsy, a small leaf floating in the maelstrom of her emotions, but it could not be destroyed. It was the leaf, accepting all that came to it and riding the winds until it found its resting place. Lee could survive this. She could overcome the whirlwind within her. She was the Leaf, and she knew her way.
“Thank you, Aes Sedai,” Lee said as she tightened her grip on the broom and set her bloodshot eyes on the path before her. “If you’ll excuse me, I do not think Velanya Sedai would be pleased if I missed my next lesson because I was finishing a chore she set me.” Lee tried a weak smile on the Aes Sedai, but her heart was not fully in it. Soon enough, though, she would smile like she had before coming to this place. She just had some answers to find within herself first.