The Grey Tower

Elaile settled in against the broad back of a tree and folded her legs under her. The day was overcast but she was tired of being cooped up inside and fully intended on enjoying the fresh air during her free hour. She looked askance at the sky. She was not about to be scared away by the brisk wind, she reminded herself, even if it did feel like rain was coming.

Elaile wrapped her shoulders in a shawl and opened her book with a smile. It would be nice to read something for fun for a change rather than for her never-ending classes. She was fully immersed in the story when she became aware of a shuffling sound behind her. Elaile frowned, raising her head from the book. What in the world was that? she thought, twisting to look around.

In the shade of an arbor only a few feet away she saw a Drin desperately flipping through a notebook. He had a sheaf of loose paper in his hands and seemed to be checking the papers against his journal, frowning and scribbling quickly in the journal every few seconds. The Drin seemed completely immersed in his work and Elaile wondered briefly at what kind of studying the Warders made their trainees do before settling back to her book.

The free hour was almost spent when Elaile felt the first large drop land on her nose. She sighed and looked up, another raindrop hitting her in the eye as she did so. Closing her book hurriedly she wrapped it in her shawl to protect it and rose to leave. The Drin was already hurrying away back towards the Barracks, his journal held under one arm and loose papers bundled together in his right fist. Elaile was running in the opposite direction past the arbor when she noticed a paper caught in the branches of a bush, directly behind the arbor. She turned to call to the Drin but he had vanished. Grabbing the sheet of paper she ran to shelter and tucked it into her own book. She would return it when she next saw the man she told herself, hurrying off to her next class.

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Elaile had completely forgotten about the Drin's paper until she opened her book that night before bed. The sheet fluttered out of her book, landing on the rough woolen blanket and she picked it up in surprise. It wouldn't hurt to look, she told herself, maybe the paper had the man's name on it so she could return it to him? Elaile quickly scanned the slanted writing and her brows lowered in a frown. This was definitely not an assignment from the Warders she thought as she began to read more closely. The thick paper held a list of names, some she recognized as Aes Sedai and Asha'man and some she had never heard of before. Next to each name the Drin had made the strangest notes. Notes on that person's habits, friends, and more. Elaile got up and tucked the paper into her pouch, before falling asleep mulling over the implications of this Drin's strange writings.

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It wasn't until a week later that Elaile ran into the unknown Drin again. As she was dusting the Library shelves, Elaile turned a corner and found the Drin sitting at a long wooden desk alone. Again he was hunched over the same journal, his hand practically flying across the page as he wrote. Elaile put her duster down and brushed off her hands, it was time to see just exactly what this Drin was up to. She strode up to the man and pulled his paper out of her pouch, tapping him on the shoulder as he did so. "I believe you may have lost this." she said, holding the sheet out where he could clearly see it.

"Are you sure?" the Drin asked seeming surprised and just slightly shaken. He grabbed the paper from her and made a show of examining it although the handwriting was identical to the journal before him. His hand still held a pen and meeting her eyes it was clear the Drin was not going to insult her intelligence by equivocating any further.

"Thank you for returning this to me." he said with a sigh. "What do you want?" He sounded resigned.

Elaile paused in surprise and considered what to say next. She had acted thoughtlessly, approaching this man and confronting him with the paper without considering her next move. She circled the wooden table to buy her a moment to think, pulling out a chair and sitting slowly and gracefully to face the young Drin.

"I don't want anything...specifically." she said. "I wanted to return it to you. I saw you drop it in the gardens." She tucked a thin blonde braid behind her ear and regarded him levelly. "I'm not going to pretend to have not read it though. I found it....strange that a Drin would be collecting notes such as these on Aes Sedai and Asha'man." Elaile decided quickly that it was best not to hover around the issue. "It looks to me like the kind of thing a spy would note. Are you working for someone outside of the Tower?"

She narrowed her eyes and tried to look intimidating. She had seen her grandmother, the Panarch of Tarabon still kings into surrender with the same stare. If this man was a spy she may have just put herself in immense danger.

"You really didn't think this through much did you?" the Drin asked incredulously.

Elaile raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes. Was he actually giggling? At her?

"No, I'm not a spy. Though if I were, I would probably have to kill you now." The Drin started muttering to himself then said "No, milady I am not a spy. It's more of a- a hobby I guess. Something to do. It keeps me sane- saneish." He giggled again, and Elaile sniffed, drumming her fingers on the table sharply. Was this man mad? His laughter was edging on hysteria and Elaile's hand itched to slap him. Her earlier curiosity had swiftly morphed into anger. This man clearly saw her as a naive Novice, and Elaile hated nothing more than being patronized.

"Light, you're going to get yourself stabbed and left in a ditch if you don't learn to think before you act" He finally gasped out, one word at a time.

At his last words Elaile slammed her hand down on the table, although she still thought a sharp slap would have done more to bring the man to his senses. "Pull yourself together!" she exclaimed "What in the world are you talking about- a hobby? Spying on Aes Sedai and then making notes about it is not a hobby. It is madness." She leaned in, her bright green eyes flashing in annoyance. She had never been spoken to in such a manner before and was not amused by this man's flippant attitude toward her. "What do you do with those notes?" she hissed.

At that moment a Brown Asha'man flew around the corner of a stack of shelves. His white hair was askew but his eyes were sharp as he reprimanded the two for excessive noise. Elaile sat back hurriedly and smoothed her face into one of contrition waiting until the Asha'man's tirade had run down and then apologizing with a sweet smile. The older man scowled but eventually left them with a threat to ban them from the Library if they didn't quiet down.

Elaile looked at the Drin across from her. "I want to know exactly what your plans are or else I will need to go to Mirin Sedai with this information. It is simply not natural and if you won't explain yourself, I'm sure she will get to the bottom of it."

Elaile listened in stunned silence as the Drin rattled off a list of facts about the Asha'man who had scolded them. She looked curiously at the man across the table from her. If he wasn't a spy...it would be useful to have such a resource in the Tower.

"I was taught Daes Dae'mar nearly from birth. As soon as I learned to speak and read I was gathering information on people. Useful information. I've been doing it, in one form or another, for near on fifteen years now. It calms me." He shrugged. "What do I do with the notes? I avoid mucking the stables and scrubbing floors. I know who to talk to so I can rake a nice path in the gardens instead of spend an afternoon elbow deep in soapy water. As for plans, I plan to continue improving my skills until one day the Master of Training thinks me fit to be elevated to Ji'alantin. At that point I'll likely teach a few classes and hopefully get to the point where I can be elevated to Gaidin and find a Bondmate."

Elaile nodded but stayed silent. If this man had been taught Daes Dae'Mar from birth he could probably read her thoughts plainly from her expressive face and actions. She carefully kept her hands still as she considered the implications. Her mother had led an extensive network of Eyes'n'Ears for her grandmother in Tarabon but Elaile had never been taught the Great Game herself. Would this man teach her? Elaile's actions were primarily guided by her mood but she had seen the skill with which players of Daes Dae'Mar manipulated the world around them. Now that she was going to be Aes Sedai, maybe she should learn to be a little more discerning, a little more strategic.

"I didn't mean to demean you when I said you'd get yourself killed. But what exactly did you think would come out of confronting me with this in a place like this? What was your plan for if I was what you thought? Do you think someone doing this out of malice would simply let you sit and chat for you to decide to go to the Mistress of Novices, or more properly the Master of Training, and get them caught?"

By this point Elaile's anger had cooled and she had to admit her hasty confrontation had been ill-conceived. She felt a flush of embarrassment rising in her cheeks. "It was a rude thing to say, but that doesn't change the fact that you were right. I didn't have a plan, I just....acted." She wrinkled her nose at her own naivety. "I know of the Great Game, but nothing further. It may be nice to learn more." She glanced up at him unsure of how much to say, and decided less was more in this case.

Avram

OOC: If you can think of somewhere else, he'll follow her their and you can describe it. Otherwise he can lead her to his room and we'll go from there.

Elaile listened with barely contained glee as Avram offered to talk with her further. He didn't exactly come out and say he would teach her, but Elaile felt she was on the right track. He closed his journal and tucked it into his uniform before standing.

"My roommate just got promoted and they haven't gotten around to giving me a new one yet. If you can think of somewhere else where we won't be overheard I'm all ears, but otherwise follow me." he said.

Elaile rose also but shook her head. "No that won't do. If I'm caught in your room we'll both be scrubbing floors till we can't stand up. No we need somewhere private, but not that will lead someone to think we're.....socializing inappropriately." Elaile blushed. She looked back over her shoulder and motioned for the Drin to follow her. "I know just the place. And my name is Elaile." She smiled at him "It may be nice to know each other by name if we plan to work together."

Elaile led the Drin out of the library and down into the gardens. She had always been one who preferred being outside and she had spent most of her free hours exploring the green expanses, trying to find a place where she could enjoy nature in solitude from her fellow learning ranks. Elaile stepped off the path they were following, and pushed aside a section of the hedgerow that bordered the path. Some enterprising person before her had expertly made the hedge look more solid here than it actually was. She had hastily stepped off the path a few weeks previously in the hopes of avoiding a band of running Drin and Ji, and tripping over a root actually fell through the hedgerow. Her face colored at the memory. It may not have been her most ladylike moment, but it had led her to her new favorite place. Elaile held the hedge up for the Drin to duck through and then quickly smoothed the shrubbery back into place.

Past the hedgerow was a small clearing, bordered on 3 sides by the high bushes and on the final side by the towering walls of the Grey Tower. A small brook ran from one side of the clearing and vanished under the hedgerow on the opposite side. Elaile had followed the brook before and found that it emptied into the large pond that the main path led to. The pond was often swarmed with students sitting on its banks, but here Elaile found she was able to sit in peace and quiet without anyone bothering her. She gestured to the grass "You can sit anywhere." she said "This is one of my favorite places to come when I need privacy. I've found that the sound of the water masks voices in both directions, so no one on the path can be heard in here and vice versa. Also, no one can sneak up on us here." She sank onto a mound of grass and leaned back against the Tower walls, arranging her skirts as she waited for the Drin to join her.