18 April 2002 (10:42am)
Opening her bag, Siofra pulled out the parchment with her notes for this meeting on them. She hoped that all of the sisters had visited the spot in the Tower with the note about the meeting. The ashes from the parchment that she had written the note on had flitted out the window after she had lit it with a small spark. That had been moments ago as she made her way down to the basement and into one of the rooms that most thought of just a storage room which was when it wasn’t being used for the Black Ajah’s purpose.
Reaching into her bag Siofra pulled out her cape and swung it onto her shoulders fastening it with the clip she had had personally detailed for her in town many years ago. She ran her fingers down the smooth midnight fabric, as a small smile creeped across her face and Siofra took that opportunity to twirl and feel the air swirl up under the cape and make the ends flap and flutter. Composing herself, Siofra set to making sure the chairs were in the exact spots so that the sisters could find their asigned spots so that Siofra only would know who was missing. The girls knew her, but only the Supreme Council knew each other as well and so the capes were worn. Siofra wore hers to make the others feel comfortable.
She heard her ward tone telling her that someone was apporaching and heard the knock as a Sister arrived for the meeting.
Siofra
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18 April 2002 (11:44am)
Brisk night air greeted her as she stalked silently through the empty halls of the Tower. There were stairs and halls that few knew of, and even then they avoided them due to the lack of occupancy. She knew almost every twist and turn of this place, since she’d been here as long as she had, moving about during the night to her objectives. The most recent list of hits had been completed the night before, with the death of a trader and an inn keeper, the large man having been planning to sell out names of supposed Black Ajah members. Even if the information had been false, it still would’ve raised unloved rumors about said Sisters, and they couldn’t gamble even a rumor on an actual member of the Ajah. Such was the life of an assassin.
Right hand absently tugging the black gauntlet on the left tighter, she counted the days it had been since she’d taken this path. Cara was asleep back in her room, and wouldn’t wake until well into the morning, and even if she did wake, Tod was there to calm her down. In this disguise, she could end anyone’s life who she happened across on the way to the meeting. She gave the bond a flicker of calmness followed by relaxation, letting Jonas know she’d be fine tonight. She would need him in the near future if never.
It had only been an hour, and she was a bit early, but brushed inside anyways. their leader was already there, and looked at her patiently as the door closed on silent hinges. “I’ll wait here, in case . . . ” she stated calmly to the Head of the Ajah, her voice altered to sound differently. She needed no Weave for the emotionlessness in her voice however. And she had left the sentence unfinished purposefully. In case anyone other than members entered, they’d be dead before they crossed the threshold entirely.
Tania Ramsey
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18 April 2002 (1:12pm)
The dark green hood fell just down to Jileyna’s nose and covered her entire face with fabric and shadow. She hooked the golden clasp at the neck and checked her appearence in the mirror. It was risky, for her to leave her rooms in her true appearence, but her face was invisible and she and Desandre had similar body types.
The Tower itself was huge. Ever since her arrival Jileyna had found that suprising. Hundreds of floors were contained within it, and there were many more below. That was where she was off to, the bowels of the White Tower. As she descended the stairs, she kept a watchful eye out for anyone that just happened to be passing by in the middle of the night. Great Lord if she was caught these foolish children would probably try to STILL HER! The thought made her knees weak.
Finally she reached the floor at which the room where the Black Ajah held their meetings was. It was dark, and dusty, a perfect place for rats or spies, and yet none crawled on the dust covered white floor. She saw the doorway at the end of the hall, a storeroom to anyone else, a meeting room for her. At the door she knocked, the same knock used the previous day on Siofra’s door, and it opened quietly.
Inside, two women, garbed similar to Jileyna stood quietly as if they were waiting for an enemy to burst through any second.
One woman pointed to a seat and then nodded to Jileyna, she supposed she was to sit there. She complied, walking slowly across the room, checking her hood as she did. After taking a seat, she looked at the other women, both had their eyes fixed on the door like hawks stalking their prey.
Jileyna
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18 April 2002 (1:51pm)
A gray tabby cat rubbed at Muirenn’s ankles, leaving tiny hairs on the hem of her cloak. She made a tsking noise, the black silk was spotless except for that, and she reveled in neatness. Using a weave of air, she brushed the garment clean again. The feel of saidar was sweet, but she could not use the Power where she was going tonight.
The message had been left in her pocket, where the sender had known she would find it. She shivered to think how it had gotten there, within her room, within wards none should be able to cross. Perhaps it was better not to know. She was summoned, and so would she appear. One did not refuse a summons from the Black Ajah.
She finished her preparations by tucking every last strand of her silver hair into her hood. Not many Aes Sedai had white hair, and she needed no speculation as to her identity. She also made sure her face was hooded and masked to prevent further identification. She stepped outside her rooms into the Halls of the Red Ajah. She knew exactly where each of her sisters should be now. And most of them should be asleep, thanks to a little something extra in their nightly tea. Still, it would not do to be careless.
There were passages here known only to the sisters of the Red. Some known only to her; one learned a lot in two hundred years. She entered a passage near her own quarters by undoing the weave of illusion that made it look like any other part of the wall. She entered the door, heard it click shut behind her, and began her long descent into the uttermost depths of the Tower. After many minutes she emerged in one of the lower basements and made her way to the meeting room. Anyone here at this time of night was either on the same mission as she, or dead.
As she came to the door, she knocked and entered, showing the signs that she was of the Black. The womyn at the door nodded and allowed her to pass. Muirenn looked at the Head of her true Ajah, who indicated where she was to sit. Muirenn nodded and took her place halfway down the table. She was neither first nor last here. She only knew a few of the other Blacks, but cloaked and hooded as they were, there was no way to tell which sister was which. Studying the others closely, she tried to find some indicator of who was hiding beneath those masks, but to no avail. Any Black sister that careless would already be dead. She sat patiently and waited for the rest to arrive. There were important plans to discuss this night.
Muirenn
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18 April 2002 (2:04pm)
Lifting Sebastian out of her lap carefully Myriam murmured an appology to her feline friend. She lifted her cape delicately around her shoulders and settled it over her forhead, sweeping loose strands of her dark red hair under the deep gray cape.
Meetings were nothing new, but there had been an air around Siofra in her room earlier that day… She shook her head and completed her walk through the dark back passageways of the White Tower. A small hallway leading from the quarters of the Gray to a smaller staircase…
Turning the nob slowly Myriam slipped into the room, noting each similarly robed character with a nod before proceeding to her seat. Tania was there already, Myriam occupied a seat beside where she knew her fellow Gray would be, although Tania remained at her post beside the door, not bothering to hide the whip cord tension of her mood.
She always did know her way around an attack… Myriam smiled and took her seat, watching the other women in the room with mild interest from the folds of her hood and cloak.
Myriam
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18 April 2002 (5:37pm)
Peering her head out of her rooms, Raeyn smiled. Once again, she thanked the Great Lord for the Brown sisters, and their inwardly focusing solitude. Closing the door in a manner mindful of her long dark hooded cloak, she started down towards their meeting place. Although many of the occupants in her hallways tended to be up at erratic hours, not a one would ever be more attentive to anything outside than within their own rooms. “I sometimes really think that i could commit murder out here, and not a one of those fools would noticed,” Raeyn thought disparigingly as she turned down a servant’s stairway.
Raeyn paused for a minute to make sure nothing distinguishing was showing. Sure enough, her hair was already thouroughly tucked back, and noone would be able to distinguish the plain silk slippers sticking out from under the edge of the cloak. Taking a breath, Raeyn rounded the corner and finished the rest of the trek to meeting. She nodded a slight greeting to her fellow Council Member before going to her usual seat.
She settled herself, and felt the atmosphere of the room. “Something big is going on,” Raeyn thought to herself.
With a shrug, she resigned herself to waiting…
Raeyn
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19 April 2002 (8:56pm)
Siofra looked over the women seated around the table. These women she trusted. These women trusted her with their lives. She held their lives in the palm of her hand. Siofra shook her head and went to the business at hand.
Covering some basic points about the status of the Ajah and other basic points of interest, Siofra went over her list and marked that all were present. She then moved to what she found to be the most important item. “We have not been finding or receiving enough information about this Dragon Reborn that the prophecies mention. I’ve been scouring the prophecies looking for things I may have missed. I have heard word that there will be a meeting of the Hall in the near future. There may or may not be information there, but from what I know, we shall be well represented by 3 members of our Ajah among the sisters of their former Ajah.
“Are there any comments, tidbits of information, or any other points we need to cover?” Siofra asked scanning the women.
Siofra
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20 April 2002 (6:57pm)
Raeyn looked around the room. Most of the women appeared to be a little nervous under their general calm. This was an issue of serious importance, and Raeyn felt that, perhaps, noone had thought as hard on this issue as all should have…. Noone wants to think about anything that could be their undoing, and the coming of the Dragon Reborn would undo the world.
Straightening in her chair, Raeyn composed her thoughts and spoke, “It has come to my attention through close proximity with the Amyrlin that she might know more about the the Dragon Reborn than she lets on. She has taken me into her… confidences, you might say,” Raeyn said, barely containing a mirthful laugh, “Though I cannot fathom her on personal thoughts, perhaps an interrogation could aid our cause. What is the consensus?”
She sat back, and waited for a reply.
Raeyn
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21 April 2002 (12:16pm)
Jileyna, although rather nervous to speak up, did so in a deeper voice than she normally used when disguised as Desandre. “An interrogation of the Amyrlin? Have you gone mad Sister? No, I’m afraid if you want to question the Amyrlin, you’ll have to make sure that is her last interrogation. I agree with you, however, she knows much more than she lets out.”
It was an absurd idea. Killing regular Sisters was troublesome and tedious. THE AMYRLIN! That would surely be a triumph for the Blacks, killing the leader of the White Tower. The idea was so insane that it became possible, or concievable at least. Kathana was getting older, even for Jileyna’s standards.
An uncomfortable tension hung like fog in the room. Jileyna looked around to the other hooded figures, some were fixing their skirts, others dry-washing their hands. Great Lord, one was even biting her nails! Obviously, the idea had struck a nerve in all of them, it was true, to question her would mean killing her. Could they accomplish that without capture. And all of the downfall of problems that came with capture, could they handle that?
Jileyna
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21 April 2002 (5:58pm)
Myriam sat forward in her chair as Raeyn Sedai spoke. Here was a sister she had known for some years, yet her words, although not completely outlandish, struck an odd chord in Myriam’s breast.
In the quiet that followed she found she could hear her fellow sister’s of the dark breathing catch, she pushed her agitation out of her mind and focused on the ideas that made the air in their private storage room meeting thick and chocking, a slow smile spread accross her lips.
Checking herself short of licking her lips outright, Myriam composed herself and addressed the room with a smooth voice, slurring her words slightly.
“The points both merrit further attention. Although perhaps not for those who may be in posession of fainter hearts…” Myriam took a moment to gaze upon her fellow sisters, some of whom seemed more than slightly distressed, though attempting to hide it, years as a gray and one who works close with people had taught her the signs of explicit discomfort. She turned her eyes back to Raeyn, and to the second sister that had spoken, her eyes squinting and idly wishing to herself that she knew the identity of each woman behind her cloak and cape..
“It is very well pointed out that the Amyrlin would not be highly amendable once such an interrogation came to pass. Her condition of hostility would prove to make our motions next to impossible. Her information and then her silence would support our cause to perfection…” Myriam let her slurred voice trail off in a disorderly manner, looking about the room once more, slowly.
A word from Siofra brought her attention to the fore again, and stopped her busy mind. Allowing herself a feeling of satisfaction she shifted back into her seat again, not wanting to look over eager.
Myriam
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21 April 2002 (7:31pm)
Listening to the points and information each sister brought up, Siofra came to a decision. Composing herself as the last sister spoke, Siofra nodded at the sisters and began speaking.
“Yes, I do believe we must interrogate Kathana. She is getting rather old so if we are careful enough things could go just perfectly.” Siofra paused and looked at each woman in turn coming to her conclusion. “If the sisters who’s candle infront of them goes out could please meet me in my room tomorrow after lunch.”
Siofra weaved the thread she had learned when she was a much younger woman and snuffed out the candles in front of Raeyn and Muirenn. “You are all dismissed. I’ll await our meeting tomorrow,” Siofra said nodding at the two sisters she had chosen.
Siofra watched the women file out of the room and returned the room to it’s previous set up. Wandering through the hallways, Siofra stopped in the kitchen for a cup of tea before returning to her quarters to get some rest.
Siofra
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22 April 2002 (5:36pm)
Muirenn watched and listened carefully during the meeting. She knew only one other sister present by face. She recognized the disguises of all but one other womyn from previous meetings, and wondered who the sister in the dark green cloak was.
She was taken aback when one sister suggested the interrogation, and subsequent execution, of the Amyrlin Seat. The silence in the room was palpable, and Muirenn could tell she was not the only one uncomfortable with such a suggestion. It would be difficult, to say the least, to take the Amyrlin away for a while, unnoticed. Kathana was known for her paranoia. Tapping a finger to her lips, she thought of several possible ways to accomplish such a goal. It would not be the first time she had been required to dispose of a prominent personage. She was not surprised when her candle was snuffed out after Siofra finished speaking. She bowed her head to the Head of the Black and hurried back to her rooms. There was much to do.
Muirenn
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22 April 2002 (6:48pm)
As the others began to depart, Jileyna rose and left herself, ascending the long climb to the Green’s Quarters. She was fascinated by the meeting, she hadn’t thought of the Black’s as such a volatile group, and they surely surpassed her expectations. What an addition to the Radiant they would make! Aginor would surely be pleased with her now, Rasputin would most likely be annoyed.
In her quarters she made some notes in a small book of hers and tucked it away beneath the cushions of her over-stuffed sofa. She undressed and burned the dark green velvet dress she’d worn, she didn’t want to risk revealing her identity…yet.
The sun was beginning to rise, and it was time for Jileyna to get some rest. She would rise soon, however, to make sure rumors did not start to spread about how Desandre Sedai was sleeping in her rooms all day long. The White Tower was filled with mouths, large ones at that…
Jileyna