The Grey Tower

Ravak Darrow, the esteemed Master of Training, was being sulky and sullen. He lounged lazily in one of the Library's chairs, book propped up on his chest. He was frowning, apparently concentrating on the book in front of him. It was the same chair he had used since coming to the Tower, and he was sitting and reading like he had hundreds of times before. But today, he was plainly unhappy.

Elia stretched across the table, fingers wrapped themselves around the edge as she leaned over towards him. His blue-grey eyes didn't even flicker in acknowledgment of her presence, although he had requested her to meet him. Sprawled out like a cat, she drummed her fingers against the table edge. When that didn't work, she leaned further forwards and poked at the cover of his book.

"What?" Oh Light, he is so petulant today! Elia stifled a chuckle, but not the wide smile. His eyes were still transfixed on the page, but he was no longer reading.

"You asked me to meet you here, and I have. Are you just going to sulk, or are you going to tell me what the matter is?" Despite the plain white of her dress, and the golden pin on his lapel denoting his office, there was no deference to be found in her voice. Ravak was very much being the little brother now.

"Can a man not just appreciate a woman's company in silence?" His eyes did move this time, steel grey boring a hole into Elia's head. She looked away, a tad frightful under that hard stare. It was completely unfair that he could do that, make her nervous with a look or a word. She wasn't one of his Drin!

Elia pulled back, fingernails scraping along the tabletop purposefully. I haven't caused this, so I need not put up with it. "If you actually want to talk about something, then talk. But I'm not mothering you if you don't say why." She touched the back of her hair gently, feeling the top of her braid. She really wanted Ravak on side, so he could plait her hair into an elaborate braid - he was much better at that than she was - but the cost of having beautiful hair was a little too high this time. She rose from her chair, looking at Ravak above his latest read. "Ravak, I love you, but you do frustrate me. Also I have precious little time to myself, and I'd rather not do it watching you read."

That made him look up, his bluey eyes now much softer. "Apologies. I'm just... Having difficulties reasoning out something." He scratched at his beard with his right hand, the one with the shorn finger. That gave her an idea. Maybe it was possible to Heal that finger of his, with the right weave. She needed books.

"Is it Sinead?" His eyes fleeted away, back to the pages. "Do you want my advice, is that it?"

"I, no. I think I have that... handled." He did not sound confident. As well he shouldn't. The rules for novices concerning the pursuits of 'inappropriate relationships' were clear. Maybe it was only Sinead taking the risk - that rule did not apply to Gaidin - but their liaisons would be as good as over if anyone found out. Well, anyone but herself. It was not as awkward as she thought, knowing her roommate and her brother were together, or however the Aiel perceived these things. She didn't wish to inquire, however. Sinead could be very blunt about certain things, and she did not want to know what they did together, or how, or where. "Sorry, maybe you can't help."

"Fine." It was a definitive statement. Elia decided to leave the little boy to it, moving back towards the shelves. She had some skill in Healing, so maybe with the right guidance, she could repair or regrow his finger. "I just need to find the right book," she murmured softly.

The Grey Tower's Library was extensive. Even if you started reading at the very instant of your birth, you couldn't get through half of the books stored here before you died. It would have been mindbogglingly big, if she wasn't becoming accustom to it. This had been Ravak's favourite haunt before his raising to Gaidin, and there was plenty of reading required for being a novice.

Several minutes later, she found herself amongst unfamiliar stands. She knew where Healing was not, which meant she would have to trawl the shelves that she didn't know for a while. She played with her braid as she looked around, plucking out long strands of ginger hair, still irritated at Ravak.

As she moved down one set of bookcases, she realised upon another reader. Well, not entirely. A soldier was standing eyes closed, back set against one of the shelves in... She wasn't sure what his body language said. She considered that as she approached. He was only a little taller than herself, with dark blonde hair and a decent body. Viewing him side-on, he had a wonderfully chiseled look. This one shows some promise, a mischievous voice told her. She didn't bat that thought away, although she wasn't entirely here without purpose. Getting nearer, the soldier's light blue eyes moved upon her with a... grateful look? Strange.

"Hello." Her voice was soft and honeyed. "I don't suppose you happen to know where I could find..." There was something about the way he looked at her that answered the question. "Are you okay? Anything I can do to help? My name's Elia." She extended a hand in greeting.

Elia's face brightened. She didn't have much interest in cuendillar or angreal, but ter'angreal was a growing concern of hers. She had a productive encounter with an Indigo sister, and it was clear that she had a talent for ter'angreal that just needed some nurturing. She tilted her head, considering him. Lowering the hand when he didn't accept it, she offered a little pout, more cute than truly sullen.

"I know where the books on objects of the One Power are. And you're nowhere near them." Almost the other end of the Library, in fact. "I'm guessing you're new to the Tower, soldier Phineas. You'll soon learn your way around. At least, the important parts of the Library. I'm not even sure what these stacks are for." She glanced at some of the titles. Tax Reforms in Ghealdan. Observations of Trade from the Mountains of Mist. Other dry topics about money and commerce and economics. She made a disapproving sound. "I'm guessing you weren't here to read up on... consularisation?" The Light alone knew what that meant.

Elia led the taller soldier back through the rows of books she had just come from. Watching out of the corner of her eye, she admired his build. He was built more like a Ji'alantin rather than a soldier. There was also a bit of a swagger, not quite with a Gaidin's cocky arrogance, but something that could fool untrained eyes.

"So," she started with exacting innocence, "why do you need books on ter'angreal? Is that any part of why you came to the Tower?" Elia said "the Tower" now with the inferred meaning of the Grey Tower, but her question was really directed at the differences between the three Towers - ignoring the rebels from the White Tower. She knew from experience that the White Tower did not study or produce ter'angreal like the Grey Tower did, and she could imagine much the same of the Black Tower, although she knew next to nothing about it.

Stealth was just one of the many skills taught to the trainees of the Warder Yards. Ravak had only truly got good once he was a Ji'alantin, and he was better experienced to handle urban environments than the wilderness. It had served him well in the Blightborder, creeping along corridors filled with the fallen bodies of Aes Sedai and Warders. It served him now as he tracked his sister through the Library. He had never been a protective or overbearing sibling; that was hard to do when you were rake-thin and the youngest in the family. But times had changed since he had left Shienar. Now he was consciously worried over El, especially around black-robed men. He had never liked male channellers, a preference that his sister clearly did not share.

"What about you?" That was whatever soldier Elia was flirting with now. Rav was out of sight from the two initiates, but only within a few seconds of having steel against either of their throats. "What brings you to study here?"

He heard Elia make a thoughtful noise beyond the bookshelves. "I have a talent when it comes to ter'angreal, although I've only really discovered that within the last few weeks. That's not the reason I came to the Tower. I was found by an Aes Sedai back in Fal Dara, who told me I could channel."

"I was found by an Aes Sedai back in Fal Dara, who told me I could channel." She wasn't about to say that she had already channelled when the sister found her. Wilder. The thought flickered in and out of her mind before she could latch onto it. "So she took me to the Tower." The White Tower. She slid over the truth gracefully, pleasing herself in a small way that she could both avoid embarrassing truths whilst practicing the subtleties of keeping the Three Oaths. That, apparently, was something that Accepted tried to do, but she didn't see the harm in an early start.

"As for why I'm here now, I was just talking with my brother." She had already made two lies. She didn't see the need to conceal the truth about this. "You may recognise the name, Ravak Gaidin? The Master of Training? He's a bit of a bookworm, so if you find yourself in the Library often, you will likely bump into him eventually. Funny how he didn't end up with a Brown."

Elia sniffed dismissively. What Ravak did was his business, clearly. "You say you're a blacksmith? Have you been to the Tower's forges? If you want chores there, I could probably swing something with my brother? May be better than cleaning corridors or scrubbing pots."

"Mm." It was a thoughtful sound. "Zae Sedai, one of the Indigo sisters, went through a few tests with me. But actually, I found it when I was... oh, er, well." She had stepped into the quagmire again. "My brother, he has a ter'angreal. I was probing it with the One Power, sort of hard to explain, but I could sense what it did." The beautiful novice pursed her lips together. "Not a very satisfactory explanation, I realise. But apparently most people can't sense what a ter'angreal does by... well, whatever I did. Each ter'angreal needs different parts of the Power to divine what they do."

She hurried on when she realised her cheeks felt a little warm. "Zae Sedai gave me a few ter'angreal to practice on. Then we moved onto how you make a ter'angreal. That can be taught, to Accepted and Dedicated, but some people have the innate ability to make them without teaching. She thinks it's possible I also have that Talent."

"If you're interested, you should seek out an Indigo. I think Ravak mentioned it to someone, and that's how word got to the Indigo Ajah. I didn't..." Elia let the sentence trail off with a small shrug.

Elia shrugged. Her path towards uncovering the mysteries of ter'angreal had skipped beyond classes. Private tutoring had been assigned to the novice, which she was more than grateful for. Also, she didn't know of any Asha'man to approach on the matter.

"Ah hah!" Elia pulled out a large, well-weather tome from the racks of books. The front cover proclaimed that it was A Comprehensive Discussion of Pre-Breaking Relics. She held the volume with both hands as she carried it to a nearby reading desk. "This isn't about making ter'angreal, but it has an extensive list of Objects of Power known to be out in the world, not within the walls of any Tower. Look... here!" She turned the page to a chapter headed 'The Stone of Tear'. "The largest collection of objects associated with the One Power outside of the walls of Hama Valon and Tar Valon," the beautiful novice quoted.

Something seem to move in the corner of her eye, but when she turned there was no-one there. Frowning in confusion, she turned back to Phineas. "If you can't currently get training, you can at least have a look and think about what you would want to do. That's something I'm trying to work out myself."