The Grey Tower

Once again Amadeo walked towards the library. After his return he had either been there, in his champers writing his study, or with Miliane Sedai. This time he was there to research how the cataloguing system had changed, and how it was updated. He was sure that in 80 years the library had gotten some, or more likely a lot of, new books. Not only would he find out in what shape the catalogues were, but if there were any new written materiel that would interest him.

Almost at the door of the library he noticed a folded paper. He frowned at the sight. Learning ranks should take better care of their papers when they go to study, he thought as he picked it up. The paper had been folded twice so Amadeo opened it. After opening the first folding he saw a list of books and a note that they needed to be studied. Very heavy reading for a student... he thought. He knew the books, he himself had studied them at one point before he and Miliane had left the Tower. They contained the laws of each country by every little detail. Even to him it would be tedious task to read all of them and he enjoyed reading, especially books with lots of detailed information. He folded the paper completely open and blinked once with surprise. There was a full list of the meetings Amyrlin would have during that day. The Amyrlin needs these books?

Amadeo didn’t hesitate for long and went to get a cart the Browns sometimes used to transfer the books from one location to another. Then he went and picked all the books that had been listed in the paper. He checked them out and began pushing the carts towards the Amyrlin’s office. He didn’t know about a lot of Carraidhin Glaisne, the current Amyrlin Seat, but her rank. If the Amyrlin wanted some books, she would get them delivered to her by him. He might have told someone from the learning ranks to fetch the books, but he wasn't busy at the moment and he was interested in meeting the Amyrlin, as he hadn't had the chance to talk to her yet.

He reached the administrations offices and went towards the Amyrlin’s office. He knocked to the door and waited. If she isn’t here, I need to go look for her from her quarters.

Carraidhin Glaisne It took time in her office to understand and appreciate the work she had done as the previous Keeper of Chronicles. Having served in that position it had allowed her to keep up with outside Ajah politics and also understand the state of the Tower as it was in relation to the other Towers and foreign dignitaries. Her precise notes made it easy to keep up with the references made in other notes of Eyes and Ears, along with the Heads of Ajah's. Carra had not yet met with any since her raising, but she had meaning to do soon once she had a chance to settle in. She was grateful to Riven who had been help during the transition, along with Viyra her Keeper. Both were excellent resources to her, although she did feel that Viyra may not be permanent if just to help her keep peace in her Ajah. The Blue Ajah was still rather prickly towards her which was unfortunate.

The small red haired Amyrlin Seat worked diligently behind her desk. The Amrylin Stole around her neck as a forced sign to remind herself that she was no longer a simple Red Keeper of Chronicles, Carraidhin quickly noticed the light knock at her door. A small frown when Viyra did not escort the petitioner it, but then Carra remembered that just minutes ago she had asked the Keeper to fetch them lunch and to take a good long break to visit her sisters. Which meant that Carra was alone in her office for the time being.

Not that it bothered her to answer her own door. "Enter, my child." Carra called, giving the most general of greetings to whoever was on the other side. Surprised to see a rather young faced Brown Asha'man enter with his collection of books on a cart.

"Greetings Asha'man Amadeo. Congratulations are in Order, First Scholar. What can I do for you?" The greeting was neither warm nor cold, but she had no prior experience with the man, although she did have a soft spot in her heart for the Brown Ajah. She missed Amairwyn deeply, who had left on a mission of some kind. What, Carra did not know nor would likely find out until her return.

Amadeo opened the door and stepped into the office after he heard the invite. He bowed his head slightly; to be polite to the higher ranking member of the Tower and at the same time thanking her for the congratulations.
“Greetings Amyrlin Carraidhin and thank you. I am greatly honoured that my Ajah has chosen me to be the First Scholar.”
With a polite smile he looked at the woman behind the desk, trying to get a better look at the current Amyrlin. She was a completely opposite of him. Her red hair and green eyes seemed to compete with her brightly coloured dress. Her posture seemed to hint that she could handle herself one way or another if needed. She made Amadeo feel a bit dull, but that kind of was what he was aiming for. Well made but not-that-fine clothes with a few ink stains on the sleeves seemed somehow make people ignore him, most of them anyway. Being the boring Brown Asha’man suited him. No need to meddle in the politics or teaching things to anyone ever; or that how it had been this far. Now he was the First Scholar. Being the head of his Ajah had to mean that he would need to sooner or later be part of the Tower politics and teach something to the learning ranks.
*sigh* Why did they choose me? I was just gone 80 years and I still haven’t dared to find out what happened to my sister. Do they want to concentrate on their studies and want the new one be the one taking care of the necessary but less interesting things? Or are they planning on making me a puppet ruler of some sort? A puppet that they can order around as they please? This is not the place to ponder that though...

He concentrated his thoughts back on the matter to give the answer she wanted and hoping he hadn’t been in his thoughts for too long, as it must have looked weird the way he had smiled the whole time. He picked up the note he had found from the cart and offered it to Carraidhin. “I found this note from a corridor, near the library. It looked like it has your schedule for today on it. I thought then it would be you, Mother, who wanted to have these books and decided to deliver them. I assume you sent a novice or a soldier to pick them up and they lost the note...”
He stopped talking as he didn’t want to end up babbling about why he was there and how he ended up there. “Do you want to keep this cart where you can keep the books or should I pile them up somewhere?” He looked around the office. The cart would take some room there, but so would a pile of books and the books he had brought weren’t that light either, and it would be arduous to lift them up from the floor and put them back down again, if Mother would be studying.

Carriadhin Glaisne Surprised, Carraidhin set down her work and quill, she stood from her desk and walked over holding out her hand. "Please, if you do not mind?" Reaching for the letter, the Brown handed it over. Carra scrolled through the list and noted not only the titles but also the penmanship. It was far too tidy to be hers, even if she did work at writing neater. Orders were followed better when they were written in a legible hand.

"I am afraid that I did not write this. Either someone was trying to be helpful, or was doing a little research on their own." She glanced over the titles, aware of not just the height difference between herself and Amadeo but also how they stood. Carra stood stiffly, formally and like stone. Amadeo, there was a hesitancy to his movements that spoke more to the scholarly types. "It was very kind of you to bring these yourself. You could have sent anyone, but I appreciate the gesture." She needed to make allies, which meant she had to be nice. And she did appreciate the effort as so few bothered. "I do not think I have the time to read through all of these, but if you don't mind too terribly I could keep a few to read. I can have a novice or soldier return the rest to save you the trouble."

Carra slipped the list into her sleeves, something to research later, and gave the Brown a kind smile. "I trust you have been settling in?"