Chapter 12 - The Amyrlin Is Coming!

  

  It wasn't long after Moiraine's aggressive entrance to the top of the tower that the little group broke up. Rand told Taija that he'd said he'd meet with Mat and Perrin, Moiraine had her own business to attend to and Lan trailed off after her.

  As Taija went back to her own quarters, she was picking over everything that had happened. The more she thought about it, the clearer it was that Moiraine had panicked about her being alone with Rand. Lan running away like that, all the interference with her trying to meet him and then Moiraine coming in blazing like the Sun with saidar.

  Taija still didn't think Moiraine was her enemy. If she wanted her dead she'd had plenty of opportunities to strike at her. Certainly Taija was entirely confident that if it was her that wanted Moiraine dead she'd never have had the chance to hit back.

  Moiraine had also always been friendly to her, although admittedly keeping her distance. She was fairly sure that was just her personality though. Or maybe a 'modern' Aes Sedai thing. It was frustrating the way that Moiraine, and from her limited experience Elaida too, seemed to have to try to sound mystical and in control all the time.

  Obviously that was foolish. Channelers were just people, citizens like any other and it was their honour to serve society, not to have society serving them. That was why they were called servants of all rather than masters of all.

  In the end it didn't matter what they did. Being a bit up oneself was hardly the greatest crime. Take Lews Therin as an example.

  Still though, there was clearly more going on than Taija had been aware of and she shouldn't allow Moiraine's pleasantness to blind her to it. She needed to be a bit more careful around these people and make sure that she didn't leave herself in a vulnerable position.

  She sighed to herself and slumped a little as she walked back to her rooms. She'd always hated playing politics.

  Without the pressure of the War going on and with all the distraction of learning about what as essentially a new world to her it was too easy to forget herself. Taija also needed to remind herself that just because these people were deeply backwards, it didn't mean they were stupid or couldn't be dangerous. At times it was easy forget.

  It wasn't like she was leaving herself completely vulnerable though. She already held saidar whenever she was around Moiraine, concealed under an inverted web of course. She'd warded her dreams as a matter of course since her late teens too. She still shuddered when she thought of the series of 'pranks' Jel Valolrin had carried out on her and the other girls at the university. He'd almost been thrown out over that.

  Obviously Taija kept her room warded too. Basic precautions that she'd learnt the hard way during the War. However, there was more she could do.

  =====

  Over the next couple of weeks Taija made sure to seek out both Rand and Moiraine. In Rand's case the boy clearly needed a friend and frankly the way people of this time viewed male channelers was shamefully bigoted. It disgusted her in fact.

  She could accept intellectually that something went badly wrong with them around the Breaking, but that was 3,000 years ago. Even if their talk of madness was true, and frankly it seemed far more likely to be a fantasy of these's people's obvious ignorance, Rand didn't seem at all mad, they should be helping the poor men, not hunting them down and severing them. She didn't need to try particularly hard to come up with three or four better ways of helping them.

  In Moiraine's case, Taija needed to deliver a more nuanced message. She'd never been one for manipulating others or political games. She'd spent far less time in the Hall of the Servants than she probably should have as a result. Uncomfortable formal coats, pompous speeches and networking, eugh. It was interesting though, even back then people had tended to forget just how strong she was because of that. Out of sight, out of mind or something like that. Anyway she'd left the politicking to her fiancé, not only was he better at it, he was also just much more interested.

  Still, Taija hadn't gotten as far as she had by living completely in an academic bubble and she could deliver a message if she wanted to.

  So, in her meetings with Moiraine, she did did her best to reassure her that she wasn't looking to be a threat to her or the Light. Obviously just coming out and saying it wouldn't convince anyone. It wasn't so much that as using topics of conversation. Telling her about battling the Shadow, the great deeds of the Aes Sedai and her own dreams of being able to simply return home and get to her research. Not the sort of things she thought an enemy of the Light would want to talk about or be very convincing about if they did.

  Taija made sure to also tell her about her conception of what it was to be Aes Sedai. How being Aes Sedai was serving the people, but not being apart from the people and the importance of doing what was right.

  Finally, she made her own veiled threat during their conversations. In case Moiraine had any ideas about trying to overwhelm her for whatever reason as Elaida had, it would be better if she knew it wouldn't work.

  Taija had set out her own views, tried to be clear that she was on the same side as Moiraine, or at least she hoped she was. However, ultimately power came from the ability to enforce one's position on others, or at least to defend it from them. Actually, she shuddered, that might have been something Elan Morin had said.

  She'd never met Moiraine without the inverted web concealing the fact that she was holding saidar. However, that didn't stop her from channeling. Telling Moiraine about one of the battles of the War it was easy enough to make a point.

  "Let me show you, it's hard to explain." Taija smiled as sweetly as she could. Moiraine wouldn't be able to see the glow of the Power around her, but that was fine she'd see the effects and Taija didn't want the woman to get an accurate read on her strength.

  Figurines, ornaments, tea cups and other small items from around Moiraine's room lifted from where they rested on inverted flows of air. She did her best not to show the strain on her face as she split her flows over thirty ways. This was something she'd always been good at, practically a Talent, and the amount of the Power in each web was utterly trivial, but it was still right at her limit, like trying to juggle ten different things and paint a masterwork with her feet at the same time. Everything came together into a facsimile of a battlefield map for her to point out cities, armies and movements to Moiraine. A minute later, more carefully channeled, inverted webs returned them.

  Internally Taija breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't messed that up. Splitting things that many ways while inverting her flows was beyond difficult, but hopefully Moiraine got the message that she was no pushover.

  In fact Moiraine had seemed unphased, keeping up a facade of polite interest, which was a bit disappointing. Of course they were all very small flows and the amount she had split them strained her to her limit. Not so much the maximum Power she could channel, but the sheer dexterity required to do it. Hopefully Moiraine didn't realise that though and the fact that the webs were inverted should add to her caution.

  Reading between the lines, Taija was starting to suspect that many things she took for granted had been lost by these 'modern' Aes Sedai and she wondered whether how to invert a web was one of them.

  Her conversations with Rand were more relaxed. He was actually quite a sweet boy, a bit obsessed with duty when he should be chasing girls and having fun, but then it didn't feel like this time had much scope for that if you were a male channeler. She'd read about bigotry and prejudice in school, artifacts of a distant past and it was beyond strange seeing them in action here.

  Rand loved stories about the 'Age of Legends' and seemed to quickly lose the feeling of scepticism that Taija initially got from him. Oddly enough Moiraine always had a slight feeling of it around her even though Taija had actually told her where she was from.

  Perhaps that was just what the woman was like. Taija supposed Rand was still very young and so would be more accepting, while she couldn't quite put her finger on how old Moiraine was. Which was odd, there was something about that that made her slightly uncomfortable, but she couldn't work out what it was.

  Anyway, she felt Rand just needed someone friendly and understanding to talk to. Especially with the way that Moiraine seemed to be ignoring him. He was a much happier young man when he was able to vent about his fears, hopes and dreams. She did her best to reassure him as well as she could and the way he talked about things let her deduce more about the time she was in. She was still shocked to the point of disbelief that severing was the penalty for being a male channeler, regardless of any crime or lack thereof. It was horrible. Disgusting. The worst penalty short of death, or arguably binding, that could be inflicted on a channeler and for many it was a death sentence anyway.

  As a result Taija could see why Rand was in a state of terror about his channeling and it wasn't so surprising that it was a topic he was completely unwilling to discuss. She actually felt a bit more sympathetic towards Moiraine. She still disapproved of the way the woman was treating Rand and suspected she was trying to manipulate him in some way, but it probably spoke well of her that she hadn't just leapt to severing the boy, even if she should really be trying to help him.

  =====

  After a couple of weeks Taija was feeling much better about the way things were going. She'd made good progress in her relationship with Moiraine and the two of them were meeting and talking regularly.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  She was also sliding into a sort of half-mentor, half-friend position with Rand. He spent most of his time training in the sword with Lan, but often sought her out for conversations and advice. She'd spent a fair few hours telling him about the Aes Sedai philosophy on life and service. It even seemed to fit with some of the things Lan was putting in his head, although Taija's view was rather less couched in terms of war and death. It was cathartic for her too, being able to pass on the best of her time's thinking, rather than having her mind constantly drawn back to the hell that was the War of Power.

  =====

  One day, while Taija was taking tea with Moiraine she calmly informed her that Siuan Sanche, the Amyrlin Seat was coming to Fal Dara and would arrive in the next two days. It took Taija a couple of seconds to remember what an Amyrlin was, but when she realised it was the leader of this time's Aes Sedai it was actually exciting. Perhaps this would be an opportunity to find a proper place in this world. Or even a way home. The Amyrlin must have incredible resources and knowledge at her disposal.

  However, Moiraine seemed a little concerned. "Are you aware of how the White Tower treats those that claim to be Aes Sedai?"

  Taija shrugged. "I think Elaida mentioned some kind of punishment." It didn't really seem important under the circumstances.

  That got her a sharp look from Moiraine. "You know Elaida?"

  Taija grimaced, she hadn't meant to mention that. While she'd told Moiraine she'd been in Caemlyn, it hadn't seemed like a good idea to bring up her fight with one of Moiraine's colleagues. "Yes, we met under… difficult circumstances while I was in Caemlyn. It was a bit unfortunate, but no one got hurt so in the end it wasn't that bad."

  Moiraine's look promised questions in the future, but Taija got the strange feeling that she wouldn't have been too upset if something had actually happened to Elaida. However, Moiraine clearly decided not to engage with what she'd said. "It would be difficult to explain your presence as an Aes Sedai here when any Aes Sedai from the White Tower will assume you are an imposter." She shrugged delicately. "They are unlikely to simply accept your origin without evidence that you might struggle to provide."

  Taija raised her eyebrows at that. "Well… I am Aes Sedai. If I was going to push the point, I'd say I have a better claim to the title than any of you." That got a small wince from Moiraine.

  "I thought you might say that." She hesitated before continuing. "It might be better for you if you removed yourself from Fal Dara, at least temporarily, until the Amyrlin's visit is over."

  Taija immediately started to shake her head, but Moiraine continued, speaking over her. "That is one option, but I am aware that it is unlikely to be your first choice and you will doubtless wish to meet the Amyrlin. So I will offer my help in facilitating that. I will speak with the Amyrlin and inform her of your situation, so that she understands the potential difficulties and then you can met her. With her support, I am sure that the difficulties caused by your presence can be resolved."

  "Thank you, I'm grateful." Taija really did feel that her friendship had been growing and Moiraine's willingness to help her here was evidence of that. She'd be in a far better position if she could get good relations with the head of this time's Aes Sedai.

  Still, she thought back to Moiraine's face when she'd seen her talking with Rand on top of the tower. A few precautions wouldn't go amiss. While Taija was always careful, by that point she was pretty confident that Moiraine wasn't going to attack her. However, she didn't know this Amyrlin or how she'd react to her, let alone how strong she was or what other tools she had at her disposal.

  Taija only had a couple of days to get ready, so she figured she'd better get to work on a few places around the keep.

  =====

  Watching from the walls of Fal Dara under a web concealing her from sight, Taija saw the Amyrlin's party arriving. The guards were very unlikely to catch her and it was the kind of sight she'd never have seen in her own time.

  The rows of soldiers, drummers, banners. What must be the Amyrlin's palanquin in the middle of it. Finely-dressed women on horses riding alongside. It was incredible. Like something out of a film.

  Still, gawking aside, Taija made a note to herself to be particularly careful. If all of the mounted women were Aes Sedai then she would have to make sure that she wasn't cornered by too many of them. It didn't matter how good anyone was, a sufficiently large circle would bring them down regardless. If they could catch you anywa.

  Moiraine had asked Taija to keep herself scarce until she could talk to the Amyrlin, because of the potential for misunderstandings with the other Aes Sedai and Taija was willing to go along with that. The night before the Amyrlin's arrival she had told Lord Agelmar she needed to leave on urgent business, but expected to return in the next few days and moved herself to an inn, disguised with a different face. Moiraine had even been generous enough to supply some money to help, which was a relief given that the funds Taija had 'requisitioned' in Caemlyn were starting to run out.

  She'd left Aleksi behind so that he could act as a go between and let her know when the Amyrlin had been 'warmed up' to speak to her. There was still that niggling feeling though, poking at Taija's instincts, so even though she hadn't told anyone other than Aleksi where she was going and certainly hadn't used her own face, she still put up a number of wards around the inn, inverted of course. If any channeler came too close she would know and be able to make a discreet exit before they ever reached her.

  =====

  The next evening Taija was sat in the inn's common room, picking at a mediocre meal, some kind of peppers mixed with what she thought might be beef. At the same time she was idly musing over whether she could increase the resolution of an intriguing little web that would normally be used to measure certain esoteric particles, repeatedly spinning it inverted, tweaking it and then releasing it. Yet she couldn't really focus, there was too much going on. Too many things to worry about.

  Her musing was broken when she heard alarm bells starting to ring across the city. Suddenly men all around the inn were grabbing for weapons and the innkeeper breathlessly hurried over to her with a bow. "My lady the city must be under attack. Do not worry, it will be dealt with, but you should take shelter in your room until it's over, for your own safety!"

  Without waiting for an answer he rushed off, presumably to grab his own weapon. Of course Taija wasn't going to sit around, but appearances needed to be kept up, so she gasped with exaggerated fear, getting her a few odd looks, before she hurried up the stairs towards her room.

  As soon as she was out of sight she spun an inverted gateway, going from the inn's stairs to the city walls in a single step, ready to rain fire on any attacking army of shadowspawn that she could see.

  She slumped a little when she realised she couldn't see anything in the moonlight. There was no army, just the sounds of shouts, chaos and fighting from inside the city. So they were were already within the walls? That was bad, very bad.

  Taija couldn't help from up there on the city walls, so she channeled again, stepping through another inverted gateway to the walls of Lord Agelmar's central keep. Looking down from there she could actually see fighting in the well lit passages and squares. Trollocs struggled against Shienaran armsmen, some of them barely dressed, but still fighting bravely. Myrddraal stalked among them, killing whoever they met.

  With a thought Taija spun saidar and fire engulfed the shadowspawn below her, precise bursts to avoid collateral damage. A moment later she stepped through another inverted gateway to ground level. She needed to be careful of the other Aes Sedai, but she was hardly going to tolerate shadowspawn rampaging through the people's homes when she could do something about it. Let alone rampaging through the homes of people who had been as kind to her as the Shienarans. Looking completely different would have to do for discretion.

  With no shadowspawn outside it, she entered the keep, stalking through its corridors and passages, hunting for the filth polluting them. She avoided anywhere she could feel a woman channeling, Moiraine's advice prominent in her mind, but that still gave her plenty of opportunities.

  She came across a small group of trollocs hemming in a pair of Shienaran armsmen who were desperately trying to shield a small group of servants. Fire, spirit and water came together and the trollocs exploded in showers of gore.

  Without waiting to hear the frantic thanks of the Shienarans Taija strode on. Enclosed spaces were not ideal ground for a channeler, it was too easy to ambush them. She needed to keep moving, but at a steady pace, no running or she might not have time to react.

  A myrddraal was directing a squad of trollocs, she seized it in a fist of air and squeezed. At the time she spun fire and the trollocs erupted into guttering torches.

  Wherever Taija went, shadowspawn died and Shienarans rallied. However, it wasn't long before the sounds of fighting came to a stop and instead of soldiers rushing to face attackers she saw tired men returning from battle.

  There probably wasn't much more she could do if the fighting was over, so Taija decided it was time to quietly return to the inn. Anyone that had seen her channeling would assume she was just one of the Aes Sedai accompanying the Amyrlin. No one would be likely to associate the tall, pale blonde she'd appeared to be with short, dark Taija.

  =====

  It was the next day that Aleksi came to the inn with a scabbed cut across his face. As she soon as she saw his face Taija grabbed him and half dragged him up to her room.

  "What in the Light happened to you Aleksi? Are you badly hurt?"

  "Oh?" He looked confused for a second, "no! It's just a scratch, nothing more. I was a bit too slow and…" he smiled and shrugged embarrassedly, "… fell over while I was fighting a trolloc."

  Taija frowned, not amused at all. "You need to look after yourself better! Can I heal you? I can't do much, but if it's just a scratch…"

  Aleksi looked hesitant, she needed to remember he wasn't used to the Power, but he did nod. Taija immediately grabbed his hand and spun air, water and spirit, as strongly as she could. They might well have felt it in the keep actually, she should have inverted the web. She needed to think before acting! The flows merged into Aleksi leaving him shivering and the cut faded from his face, going from an angry scab that would likely scar, to a thin line. "There, that's the best I can do I'm afraid, I've never had any real Talent for healing."

  Tentatively Aleksi reached up and rubbed his face. "Still… thank you Taija."

  She smiled at him and stepped back. "So, why are you here? Is it the Amyrlin?"

  "Oh!" Aleksi jumped, "yes, sorry! She's sent for you, said that you were to come at once." Taija was fairly sure he was uncomfortable with the whole concept of talking to Aes sedai, but he also seemed irritated on her behalf at the idea of her being sent for in such a perfunctory way, which was sweet.

  It took her twenty minutes to walk back to the city's central keep with Aleksi, which at least gave them the opportunity to catch up on what had happened last night. She was just glad he hadn't gone and gotten himself killed!

  Taija maintained her disguise, keeping the appearance of a tall, blonde woman with an inverted web. Of course she also held the Power, concealed under a tied off, inverted web.

  It took a while, getting through various guard posts, but at least the false name Moiraine had told Taija to use was recognised. Finally she was led to the anteroom for Lord Agelmar's secondary audience chamber and told to take a seat.

  As she took in the finely carved wooden frame surrounding the entrance to the chamber, Aleksi at her side, Taija breathed a quiet sigh of relief that they'd chosen this room. She'd guessed it would be here or the main audience chamber when she'd been getting ready for the Amyrlin's arrival. If it had been whichever rooms the Amyrlin was staying in then she'd be feeling much less prepared.

  Thankfully she didn't have to wait long before the door opened and Moiraine leant her head out. "Ah, Taija, I am glad to see you are here. Please come in, the Amyrlin will see you now. Aleksi, please wait outside."

  Taija frowned at the lack of a title. That felt like a power play, she was already nervous about meeting this Amyrlin and she wasn't going to let them isolate her just like that. Also who did Moiraine think she was giving orders to Aleksi? He was a free man, not her servant. "I'd prefer if Aleksi came with me Moiraine Sedai." Without waiting for a response Taija stood and headed for the door, Aleksi following after her, although she could practically feel his nervousness at defying an Aes Sedai. She'd have to apologise to him afterwards.