The Grey Tower

Leala sat at a table in Asha'man Aeyln's rooms, pouring over her notes for the class she would be teaching. He knew that she wanted to join the White Ajah when the time came for her to be raised. The White was always her first choice, since her first day. Perhaps the only other Ajah that was a contender was the Indigo, but that was an entirely different matter. He had come to her, because he was volunteered to teach a detailed lesson on logic to a novice who had shown interest in learning a bit more from another, more basic class. Aeyln, who enjoyed "teaching" such as interjecting into others' conversations felt he was unqualified for this kind of class and offered Leala the honor.

Aelyn himself sat a few feet away, facing away from the door, reading a book on logical applications of mathematical equations to everyday situations. Leala had read that book before. It was strong on some points, but weak on others. Leala herself knew that she had an interesting task ahead. Logic was a frame of mind, a way of thinking, art applied to science. It was something that never left her, and teaching it to someone else was just...it would be a challenge.

A knock at the door caused Aelyn to turn in his chair. He squinted behind his glasses and blinked, as if confused. The door opened, likely from a flow of Air that Leala could neither see nor feel. A girl presented herself and curtsied, saying, “I’m here for my lesson, Asha’man.”

"Yes. Mirin. Come in, child," Aelyn said, waving her in. "Have a seat across from Accepted Leala. She will be your instructor while I...edit this mess of a book..." he said in a distracted tone, pouring back into his tome. "I know you were likely expecting a member of the White Ajah, but Leala is the next best thing."

Leala turned back to the girl as she settled in across from her. She had seen her a few times. Not enough times to remember her name, though. She kept a calm face and absently stacked her notes before pulling a golden curl back behind her ear. She carefully laid her hand on the table, calmly taking her lavender-tipped feather quill and laying it casually between her fingers.

"It is good to meet you, Mirin," she said evenly. "I'm going to begin this lesson with a riddle." In his chair, Asha'man Aelyn chortled. "A mystery to solve, if you will," she added, ignoring her mentor's attempt at humor. "An Aes Sedai visits a female monarch, very close to giving birth. She tells the future mother that she will have twins, and both will be exemplary in every aspect that a ruler should have. They will be kind, fair, and studious. Everything that the mother is hoping for. However, one will be forced out of the country at a certain age, but they would not if only a certain law of the land were repealed. Years pass, and the twins display all qualities the Aes Sedai described. The mother watched, knowing that she could prevent what was to come, and yet the law was never repealed. The law is still effect to this day. And so...the twin poised to take the crown is sent away after saving their mother's life, under their own power. " Leala paused, letting the details so far sink in. "In what country were these twins born?"

Leala sat back. Of course, she knew the answer to this one. Her mentor did as well. He was the one who posed it to her when they first met. She had solved it relatively quickly, but she was rather savvy in legal matters. At least she was for a novice at the time. But, she had been born into a noble family, so it had been ingrained in her. She allowed for a pause for Mirin to think on the riddle.

Leala waited patiently as Mirin puzzled over the question. She did not offer any help that was not requested, and Mirin did not request any help. Aelyn sat quietly in the background, puzzling over his book, scoffing at it sometimes, then taking notes. As for herself, Leala sat erect, her hands clasped on the desk with a patient look on her face. She watched as Mirin mulled over the riddle. At least she was giving it some thought before answering. Most novices or soldiers who just wanted to impress those of a higher rank would answer off the cuff, saying that Andor was the answer. She had seen it happen. Aelyn always gave the most dispassionately disappointed look when they did. Now it was her turn to ask this question to a novice.

She wanted to encourage her and help her along, but this first question was to see where the student is as far as using logic and deduction. Finally, after perhaps a quarter of an hour, Mirin began to answer. She presented a theory and gave her answer, saying that it did not matter what country the twins were born in. And, while she had heard a good number of open-ended riddles, this was not one of them.

"That was a good try," Leala said gently. "However, this riddle does have a specific answer. Do not fret, though. Most people don't know the answer when first confronted with it. The clues are hidden as the story goes along. The first clue is that the Aes Sedai wants a law repealed. She tells the monarch that she will lose one of her children unless it is. She does not say for how long. The second clue is that the twin is sent away only after they save their mother's life with their own power. In Tear, it is illegal to channel. The Aes Sedai saw in her Foretelling that one of the twins would eventually channel. So, at a certain age, the twin was faced with losing their mother and channeled, likely for the first time, to save her. While channeling is not attached to a death sentence in Tear, channelers are still sent away for training as soon as they are discovered."

"The twin might have still taken the crown, but after training in the One Power, even if they did not achieve the dragon pin or the shawl, it's likely they wouldn't be able to hide their ability," Aelyn interjected. "I'm sure Tear wouldn't appreciate having a Tower-trained monarch, either."

Leala calmly stacked her papers and turned her head to the Asha'man. She wanted to ask if he intended to take over, but she would not dare be so rude to someone above her station. He tilted his spectacles and raised his eyebrows before turning back to his studies. "Logic is in all of us. Everyone uses it every day of their lives, but not in every instance, and it's not always extravagant. For instance, on a cold day, we like to eat warm food, but on hot days, we tend to favor chilled food. It can also help us to solve complex problems. However, we are all human. Complex problems, even with logic used, can sometimes frustrate us and block our reasoning skills. So, at this point in the lesson, I'd like to offer you some help. Explain a problem that is currently frustrating you, and it could be anything. It could even be a problem that a friend of yours is having. If you'd rather not divulge details of a personal problem that is actually happening, you can make one up. Looking at an imaginary problem may even help with one you would like to keep to yourself."

Leala calmly waited while Mirin sifted through all her problems before she finally landed one. She wondered if this dilemma with her pale skin was really the most troubling thing that she could not find a fix for. To be a novice was not an easy thing. "The problem there seems to be a lack of knowledge about the resources provided to you," Leala explained. "While Aes Sedai and Asha'man may be a bit hard to approach, I would suggest visiting with one of the Yellow Ajah. Even if your burns are not bad enough that they would warrant a Healing, you would still likely benefit from an herbal remedy or a salve. It's very likely that they even have a salve that would stave off the severe burns. It's also very likely that one of them would have a wide-brimmed hat that they would be willing to let your borrow. Although, I think the Mistress of Novices would like you to have a white one." Even Accepted were still subject to wearing absolutely nothing but white along with their banded dress. "If you are still unable to find an Aes Sedai or Asha'man willing to help, the Library would likely hold many books on how to make your own salves. If you still find that you are having this problem, I would be willing to offer more help." This was just a private class, and would only take the afternoon, but being a teacher extended beyond just the classroom.

"The next part of our lesson will be to work a riddle in reverse. I will supply you with the culprit, and you can find the details that allowed us to come to this conclusion. We'll use Asha'man Aelyn's quarters as a setting." She heard the Asha'man close his book. She looked behind herself. He was looking straight at her. He squinted his eyes at the both of them and cleared his throat.

"Please keep it in this one room," he said before going back to his book.

"Yes. We will. Now. Let's say Asha'man Aelyn asked you to fetch the book he is currently reading. When you come to his door, you see another novice and a soldier exiting as you come toward it. They are both holding bags that are not empty, and they both look very guilty. You alone have the key to his quarters. An Aes Sedai of the White Ajah stops the three of you, and you present his key as evidence that you are supposed to be there. The Aes Sedai conducts an investigation of her own. She questions Asha'man Aelyn to find you innocent, freeing you to give him his book, if a little late. When you see him next, he informs you that the soldier was found to be the instigator of the theft, because of what was taken, but the novice had another agenda all her own. What both of them took was in this room."

Aelyn's room was full of things from all over the world, most of them books. The topics could be rather surprising. He even had novels along with his books full of essays about philosophy. Books, notebooks, diaries, anything. One in particular was a book on how to manipulate others' emotions without using Complusion. He also had a rather impressive collection of angreal and ter'angreal that many soldiers and Dedicated talked about from time to time. He used them to study, and often forgot to return them to the storeroom. It was about time for him to clean them out before a Sitter approached him about it.

"Feel free to look about and try to identify the objects," Leala said.

"Just don't..." Aelyn stopped himself and shook his head. "Please try not to get anything out of place. If you must move it, please put it back.

Leala watched as Mirin looked around the room. She found the angreal fairly quickly. Angreal could look like anything, but tiny statuettes of animals sitting in a cluster were usually a good indicator. Aelyn, who watched Mirin's every move now, looked thoughtfully at the angreal, probably thinking that he would need to return a number of them soon, but not admitting it aloud. It took her a moment, but Mirin found the book on manipulating emotions as well. When Aelyn was satisfied that his organized mess would stay that way, he went back to his book. "Very good, that's correct. And that was an actual case."

"Yes...I believe the novice got the usual punishment for stealing from a full member of the Towers," Aelyn added. "But...the soldier...his punishment was a bit harsher, since he attempted to steal objects of the One Power. He was doing extra chores well into his stint as a Dedicated." He glanced again at his stash, likely thinking of which ones he could do without for the time being.

Leala wondered if perhaps Aelyn was enjoying this lesson. He normally didn't talk this much with novices and soldiers around. Mirin was showing promise. While she didn't get the first riddle, not everyone knew that Tear had outlawed channeling. The second was answerable, if one used one's head.

Turning back to her pupil, Leala spoke again. "As you saw, the details of a case can be important. Let's take the same two again: the novice and the soldier, and change the details of the case to find motivation. What could we surmise if the novice and the soldier had both stolen the same thing, but the novice was given no punishment?"

Leala listened patiently as Mirin explained her reasoning in finding that the novice had possibly been blackmailed into helping the soldier steal from the room. This question was more open-ended than the others she had been asking. There were a number of explanations. The main goal was for the student not to completely disagree with the decision. It seemed unfair at first, but there existed different trains of logic that would lead to the soldier receiving all punishment. "That is correct," Leala said with a smile. "Blackmail could have been an explanation, or even Compulsion. However it was accomplished, the novice would be an unwilling participant in the theft, if she was exempt from punishment. Without knowing the whole case, one can still find reason after the decision has been made.

"Now..." Leala leaned back, picking up her favorite feather quill, white tipped with gray and lavender, idly running her fingers across it. "You must make a decision. I want you to picture yourself as the ruling lady of a number of villages, and it does not matter in which nation. In your lands, there are two rival villages separated by a small river. A married couple with one child has decided to go their separate ways. The child is rather attached to both parents, and in protest of the separation, the child comes to you, by herself." As Leala spoke, she opened her notebook, to have something to refer to. This case became complicated as she thought of it. "She asks you to make her parents stay together. However, being a fair ruler, and a mature adult, you know that two people who wish to separate will, and there is nothing you can do about it.

"As the child makes her case, her parents hurry into your presence. The mother claims that the child was born on the east side of the river, and that has been her home the whole of her little life. She asks you to see to it that the child stays with her. The father contends that the child has another family from the west side of the river, where he is from. These two villages have a reputation for being hated enemies of one another. Going back and forth between the villages would be out of the question. Your decision will decide the child's fate.

"The child wishes that the parents stay together on the east side of the river. The mother explains that the couple's love story is somewhat of a legend where they are from. They met on the bridge between the villages and fell in love, knowing where the other was from. The villages learned little from their union. The father further explains that he risked much coming to the village of the east, and he hasn't seen his family since they were married. Their impending separation came about from disagreements from his father's untimely passing. The couple decided they could not work past this particular disagreement, and they were beginning to separate when the child disappeared.

"Both parents obviously love their child. The mother says that the child is bright enough and assertive enough to make a good heir to her inn, and she has found a good confidant in her as well, claiming that the child is the best friend she has had as well as a good child. The father claims the girl is the light of his life, guiding him, while unwittingly, through the darkest of times in his life. The child claims that her parents truly love each other, and that if they just tried to reconcile, they could.

"When you give the parents to do just that, they both sadly decline. They have both reluctantly realized that their marriage has come to an end. Compromise cannot be reached, and you, as the ruling noble, are asked to rule in this case. You can either send the child with the mother, who has come to love the child as a trusted friend and heir to her livelihood, or you can send the child to live with her father, who has come to rely on her bright personality in times of hardship. The mother can live a life without her heir and friend, or the father can do what he can to battle his demons, so to speak. Your job as the ruling noble, however, concerns the child. Which situation would be better for the child?"

Leala stopped stroking the feather of her quill and set it down. She knew the outcome of this case. The objective of the case was to see through the emotions and the child as well to find one, conclusive decision.